'Topes Tidbits - April 17

Setting The Stage // Game 14
The Isotopes played an all-around clean game en route to a 3-1 victory against Tim Hagerty's El Paso Chihuahuas on Wednesday night. Game three of the four-game series is Thursday night with right-hander Henry Sosa (1-0, 3.86) making his third start of the season. El Paso will start RHP Matt Branham, recently called up from double-A San Antonio. Coverage begins at 6 p.m. on 610 The Sports Animal as 'Topes radio announcer Josh Suchon joins "The Sports Bar." The Bank of the West on-deck show begins at 6:15 and the first pitch at 6:35 p.m. Audio is available at ABQIsotopes.com and video at MiLB.com.

Zach Attack
Right-hander Zach Lee pitched six scoreless innings Wednesday, lowering his ERA to 1.62 in the process. Lee has surrendered fewer hits than innings pitched in all three starts, a combined total of 10 hits in 16 2/3 innings. Lee has struck out three in each of his three starts. Last night's effort was the first time he's walked two, after walking one the first two outings.
 
New Mexico Homecoming
El Paso first baseman Kyle Blanks prepped at Moriarty High, which is 41.5 miles east of Isotopes Park, and accounted for the Chihuahuas only run with a ninth inning solo homer. Blanks was born in Souderton, PA, and now makes his offseason home in Arizona. According to baseball-reference.com, there are 27 major leaguers who were born in the state of New Mexico. The most famous is Ralph Kiner: six All-Star games, the state's all-time home run leader (369) and a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Two active players were born in New Mexico: Marlins pitcher Mike Dunn and Rockies utilityman Jordan Pacheco, plus Cody Ross is rehabbing an injury for the Diamondbacks' triple-A team in Reno.

Barnstormers
While they await construction to be completed on the new Southwest University Park, the El Paso Chihuahuas are starting this season scheduled to play 24 games in 25 days - going from spring training in Peoria, AZ, to Reno to Tacoma to Tucson (for a "home" series) to Albuquerque to Las Vegas to Sacramento. The first game in El Paso is scheduled for April 28. When the Sacramento River Cats debuted in 2000, their first home game wasn't until May 15, due to weather delays that slowed the construction of their ballpark. In 2012, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees barnstormed through a 144-game regular season (a 16,334-mile roadtrip) while their ballpark underwent a $43.3 million renovation. The 1992 Houston Astros played a 26-game roadtrip went the Astrodome was used for the GOP Convention. The 1991 Montreal Expos played a 26-game roadtrip to end the season, after a 55-ton concrete beam crashed onto the course at Olympic Stadium. The 1899 Cleveland Spiders, the worst team in baseball history, played a 50-game roadtrip because their attendance was so terrible visiting teams refused to show up when their receipts from ticket sales didn't cover their travel costs. In 1998, the independent Gray Harbor Gulls finished the season on a 62-game roadtrip when the franchise folded but the league insisted they finish the schedule as planned with road games.

 Tidbits
• First baseman Clint Robinson extended his hitting streak to nine games with a single in the first inning
• Outfielder Nick Buss singled home a run in the first inning Wednesday, giving him at least one RBI in five of the last seven games, and nine total in that span