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AAA: Round Rock 5, Sugar Land (HOU) 2
Round Rock: 8 hits, 7 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 2 walks, 14 strikeouts
Record: 15-14, 4.5 GB, 52-51 overall
SP Aidan Anderson: 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 45 P / 30 S, 3.19 ERA
RP Blake Taylor: 2.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 4.46 ERA
RP Walter Pennington: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 0.00 ERA
2B Justin Foscue: 2-2, HR (4), 2 BB, .250/.423/.440
1B Blaine Crim: 2-4, 2B, .264/.374/.414
Round Rock brought in trade acquisition Walker Pennington with the bases loaded and one out in the 6th. His first pitch in the Texas organization was a slider for a called strike, challenged, upheld. He would strike out Zach Dezenzo with a 90 MPH cutter, then fostered an easy comebacker from Jacob Melton. Pennington walked the leadoff batter the next inning but retired the rest.
AA: Frisco 1, @ San Antonio (SDP) 0
Frisco: 10 hits, 3 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 2 hits, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts
Record: 19-11, tied for first, 63-36 overall
SP Mitch Bratt: 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 SO, 76 P / 47 S, 0.00 ERA
RP Reid Birlingmair: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 4.09 ERA
RP Robby Ahlstrom: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 1.85 ERA
RP Skylar Hales: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 HBP, 0 SO, 1.93 ERA
DH Cody Freeman: 2-4, 2B, .275/.336/.463
RF Luis Mieses: 3-4, 2B
Mitch Bratt excelled in his AA debut. San Antonio’s only at-bat with a runner in scoring position was a strikeout in the 1st after a walk and stolen bases.
In the 6th, after a close play at first ruled a single for Luis Mieses, the sides began an argument that slowly escalated to a bench-clearing not-quite-brawl in the midst of Daniel Mateo’s plate appearance. Ejected were Frisco manager Carlos Cardoza, pitching coach Jon Goebel, development coach Kawika Emsley-Pai, and shortstop Alex De Goti, along with San Antonio manager, Luke Montz, shortstop Ripken Reyes, and CF Connor Hollis. If Goebel is ever as mad at you as he was at the umps last night, move and change your name.
Mateo’s four-pitch strikeout lasted 26 minutes.
Hi-A: Hickory 3, @ Asheville (HOU) 1
Hickory: 8 hits, 1 walk, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 2 walks, 13 strikeouts
Record: 18-15, 3.5 GB, 46-53 overall
SP Izack Tiger: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 SO, 72 P / 47 S, 0.00 ERA
RP DJ Peters: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 HBP, 4 SO, 5.79 ERA
3B Sebastian Walcott: 2-4, 2B, HR (10), .254/.346/.439
1B Arturo Disla: 2-4, HR (1)
2023 7th-rounder Izack Tiger replaced Mitch Bratt in the rotation and matched Bratt’s five scoreless innings in his high-A debut.
Sebastian Walcott is batting .500/.500/1.500 in August. Let’s see if he can keep it up.
When Texas released or moved several hitters from Hickory a few days ago, I checked the Down East roster for potential promotions but didn’t see any obvious choices. Arturo Disla occurred to me, and I thought he was doing well (.281/.359/.438, 11 homers in 87 games) but not exactly wasting his time in low-A. He did in fact receive the upgrade and hit his first high-A homer last night. The undrafted Disla is 23 and very much the “have bat, will travel” prospect.
Lo-A: Down East 6, @ Augusta (ATL) 4
Down East: 12 hits, 3 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 3 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 17-15, 3.5 GB, 52-45 overall
SP Kolton Curtis: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 40 P / 28 S, 2.91 ERA
RP Willian Bormie: 4 IP, 5 H (1 HR), 4 R, 2 BB, 5 SO, 3.60 ERA
RP Bryan Magdaleno: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 1.76 ERA
SS Echedry Vargas: 2-5, 2B, .269/.320/.448
DH Beycker Barroso: 2-5, HR (4), .254/.379/.493
C Julian Brock: 2-4, HR (4), BB, .222/.304/.331
Walks have troubled 20-year-old Kolton Curtis at times but not last night. Newcomers Jose De Jesus and Yeremi Cabrera singled.
The Woodies have won seven straight. They won’t play either team above them in the standings (Fredericksburg, Carolina) but have a favorable schedule down the stretch. Only six of 33 games are against teams with a winning record at present.
Today’s Starters
AAA: Leiter
AA: Rocker
Hi-A: McCarty
Lo-A: TBA (Davalillo maybe)
Five Years Ago Yesterday
Texas called up OF Scott Heineman for his MLB debut. He singled twice. It’s not well-remembered because of the overall 78-84 record, but the Rangers were above .500 for much of the season and would soon reach 58-54 before an extended slump put them below .500 for the duration.