Alfaro bats 'Riders to 8-1 win over Tulsa

FRISCO, TEXAS (August 9, 2014) - A combination of strong pitching and a four-hit game by Jorge Alfaro sent Frisco to an 8-1 win on Saturday at Dr Pepper Ballpark. Derek Holland pitched well to provide momentum for his team and Jake Thompson pitched an efficient four frames in the cause.

Holland pitched three clean frames and gave up three hits with four strikeouts, while throwing 30 of his 49 pitches for strikes.

The Frisco bats channeled the momentum of Holland and drew first blood in the second inning off of Tulsa starter Richard Castillo. 19-year-old Nomar Mazara led off the frame with a long single ripped off the wall in right and was singled to second by Hanser Alberto with one out.

Drew Robinson popped out to right for a huge second out, but Patrick Cantwell drew a walk to load the sacks for Jorge Alfaro. The 'Riders backstop singled to right bringing home Mazara and Alberto, and Frisco took a 2-0 lead.

Trever Adams was an inch shy of plating two more runs but the first baseman lined out to Irving, Texas native Trevor Story.

The RoughRiders (28-21,68-50), however, successfully added to the run column in the third with another productive inning. Joey Gallo drew his second walk of the game and then stole his first base at the Double-A level to advance into scoring position.

Teodoro Martinez hit a hard single through Gallo's legs as he took his lead towards third and Story was shielded by the 6'4" base runner allowing Gallo to trot to third.

Gallo finished his tour of the bases when Mazara singled to right and put the 'Riders on top 3-0.

Ryan Rodebaugh (2-0) came on in relief of Holland and gave up a leadoff double to Taylor Featherston, but the righty retired the next three he faced to get his team back into the dugout. Rodebaugh's scoreless frame cued the entrance of Jake Thompson in the fifth frame and the righty retired the side in order.

The Drillers (21-27,59-58) made some noise in the top of the sixth by using consecutive singles to put runners on the corners with one out, but Thompson silenced the action by striking out the side and held Tulsa scoreless.

Castillo issued a leadoff single to Alberto in the sixth and retired Robinson on a fly ball smashed to the wall in left, and his outing was complete as the Drillers' staff signaled to the bullpen for Josh Mueller.

The right-hander walked Cantwell to put men on the corners and Alfaro hit an RBI infield single, his third hit of the night and fourth RBI of the game, to put the RoughRiders up 5-0 in the sixth.

Castillo (3-10) pitched 5 1/3 innings giving up eight runs on five hits with three walks and two strikeouts. The righty gave up one homer and tossed 62 of his 101 pitches for strikes.

It took the Drillers a few innings to figure out Thompson's tactics and they finally made their mark in the run column in the top of the seventh. Story drew a leadoff walk off and later scored making it 5-1 when Chris O'Dowd sent an RBI double into the left-field corner.

Frisco blew the game open with three more runs in the bottom of the eighth off of Ryan Arrowood. Martinez drew a bases-loaded walk and Mazara popped a 2-RBI single to right to make it 8-1 RoughRiders.

Thompson's outing was complete after the four innings pitched in which he gave up one run on three hits with one walk and eight strikeouts. Keone Kela closed out the game for Frisco and the 'Riders earned their 68th win of the season.

Alfaro finished the night going 4-for-5 with a home run and four RBI.

The RoughRiders look to take the series with a win on Sunday at 6:05 at Dr Pepper Ballpark. Right-hander Alex Gonzalez (5-3, 2.32 ERA) pitches for Frisco and challenges fellow righty Eddie Butler (5-6, 3.00 ERA). For tickets to see the 'Riders in 2014, call 972-731-9200, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.ridersbaseball.com.