AAA: Round Rock 4, @ Oklahoma City (LAD) 3
Round Rock: 6 hits, 5 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 30-27, 6 GB
SP Adrian Sampson: 5 IP, 5 H (2 HR), 3 R, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 5 SO, 93 P / 56 S, 4.37 ERA
RP Brock Burke: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 3.86 ERA
RP Daniel Robert: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 2.89 ERA
RP Grant Wolfram: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 4.79 ERA
LF Dustin Harris: 1-4, BB, SB (14), .256/.358/.383
SS Jonathan Ornelas: 1-3, BB, SB (4), .264/.310/.358
Sampson was Sampson, and three relievers combined to no-hit the Baseball Club* and maintain the one-run lead. Technically, this was the completion of Tuesday’s suspended game, and as the announced starter, Jack Leiter appears in the box first with a bunch of zeros trailing after his name. I suppose that since he completed his pre-game warmup at least once, maybe twice, Texas decided not to send him out the next day. What was supposed be a doubleheader was truncated to a single game, and they’ll play two today, headlined by Leiter.
IF Justin Foscue (oblique) returned to action with the rookies in Surprise, collecting a single and walk in five trips to the plate.
* That’s the name. Oklahoma City Baseball Club.
AA: Frisco 4, @ Corpus Christi (HOU) 8
Frisco: 9 hits, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 10 hits, 7 walks, 7 strikeouts
Record: 34-19, 3 G up
SP Ryan Garcia: 4.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 BB, 3 SO, 93 P / 51 S, 4.81 ERA
C Liam Hicks: 3-4, 2B, BB, .272/.374/.343
SS Frainyer Chavez: 2-3, BB, 2 SB (11), .253/.355/.342
Frisco lost again to the mighty Hooks, but second-place Midland lost as well. Liam Hicks has four multi-hit games in his last seven. Hicks began the season with five straight two-hit games, but between those hot stretches he batted .194/.313/.242. Still, he’s the answer to a question perhaps only I would ask: What if Hanser Alberto could draw walks? Hicks doesn’t smash the ball but has a .272 average built on a remarkable 10% strikeout rate, and he’s walked or been hit in 15% of his plate appearances.
Hi-A: Hickory 4, Greenville (BOS) 0
Hickory: 7 hits, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 4 hits, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts
Record: 22-31, 7.5 GB
SP Ryan Lobus: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 80 P / 56 S, 1.99 ERA
RP Gavin Collyer: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 4 SO, 3.74 ERA
SS Sebastian Walcott: 2-3, HR (4), .208/.333/.346
CF Anthony Gutierrez: 1-2, 2B, HBP, 2 SB (13), .267/.302/.378
Sebastian Walcott banged his fourth homer and improved his OBP to an even .333, above the league rate of .327. Quite impressive for someone who won’t turn 19 until next March. Five years older but also impressive is Ryan Lobus, who has struck out 55 and walked 10 in 40 innings amongst Hickory and Down East.
Hickory played as the Llamas last night, part of MiLB’s “Copa de la Diversión,” described as “a season-long event series specifically designed to embrace the culture and values that resonate most with Minor League Baseball teams’ local U.S. Hispanic communities.” I’d say it’s as much about selling more merchandise as anything, but some of the designs (including Hickory’s) are glorious, and I own a Llama shirt, so who am I to judge. I have a Llama logo for you today as a little treat, because you’ve been so polite and picked up after yourself.
Lo-A: Down East 11, @ Salem (BOS) 2
Down East: 15 hits, 5 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 3 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 29-23, 3.5 GB
SP Brayan Mendoza: 6 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 7 SO, 77 P / 48 S, 2.61 ERA
RP Josh Trentadue: 3 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 4.46 ERA
3B Gleider Figuereo: 3-4, BB, .239/.352/.483
DH Jesus Lopez: 2-5, 2B,, HR (3), .293/.348/.423
C Beycker Barroso: 4-4, 3B, HR (1), BB, SB (1), .353/.500/.647
2B Chandler Pollard: 3-4, 2B, 2 SB (19), .241/.291/.276
Gleider Figuereo posted his first three-hit game of the year. Fresh off the IL, Jesus Lopez knocked his third homer and doubled. Chandler Pollard is hitting .308/.352/.354 since the end of April. His power and walks remain down from last season in the complex league, but he’s resumed his contact.
Today’s Starters
AAA: Leiter / Cueto
AA: B. Anderson
Hi-A: Bratt
Lo-A: TBA
Five Years Ago Yesterday
Texas announced lefty Joe Palumbo would make his MLB debut in a doubleheader against Oakland. My thoughts at the time: “Palumbo isn’t what I’d call fully ready, but he’s probably the best choice… He’s a work in progress, incorporating a new changeup grip and occasionally struggling with his control. Still, he’s had the best season of Texas’s top-four rotation prospects. At times, he’s been dominant. If he can give four or five innings and keep the Rangers in the game, I’ll be happy.” He did that, more or less, giving up four runs in his fourth and final inning after three zeros. Texas led 6-4 and would go on to win 10-5.
More recently, Palumbo had been out of baseball for nearly a year after the Rangers released him in May 2023. He signed with indy Hagerstown in April but was released yesterday, having walked 17 and allowed 13 runs in 15.1 innings. 1B Curtis Terry and RHP Nick Gardewine are also with Hagerstown.