Daytime Fireworks
The RockHounds game on Saturday night was followed by a fireworks display. Sunday afternoon's game also had fireworks, but this time the show was put on by the RockHounds and Northwest Arkansas Naturals.
Ryon Healy's second walk-off hit in the last three games delivered the tie-breaking run as the 'Hounds defeated the Naturals, 9-8, in a game that saw the RockHounds trail, 7-2, after the fifth inning.
Matt Chapman drove in five runs, going 3-for-4 with a double and a pair of home runs, leading a 15-hit RockHounds attack. His second home run of the game - a two-run shot to right-center in the sixth - started the comeback, reducing Northwest Arkansas' lead to 7-4. "Chappy" then drove in two more runs in his next at bat with a double to left field in the seventh, bringing the 'Hounds within 7-6.
Franklin Barreto's first home run with the RockHounds (and first at the Double-A level) could not have been much more dramatic. After Carson Blair led off the bottom of the eighth with his third base hit of the game, Barreto sent a two-run home run over the high wall in left, completing the comeback and putting the 'Hounds in front, 8-7. The Naturals then countered when, with two out in the top of the ninth, Hunter Dozier hit a game-tying, opposite field home run into the right field corner (the game's sixth home run).
In the last of the ninth, Jaycob Brugman capped an outstanding day at the plate (3-for-4, home run, walk and three runs scored) with a leadoff single to center. Healy then took Benino Pruneda's 1-2 pitch into the left field corner and manager (and third base coach) Ryan Christenson "rolled the dice," sending Brugman home on the play. Jaycob narrowly beat the relay throw and tag on a bang-bang play at the plate, his diving, head first slide avoiding the glove of Naturals catcher Allan de San Miguel. Healy's game-winning double came on the heels of his walk-off home run in Friday night's 1-0 win over Arkansas. In each contest, the game-winning hit came in the last of the ninth and on a 1-2 pitch.
The RockHounds
… are 5-5 (3-1 at home and 2-4 on the road), trailing first-place Frisco by 3.5 games and second-place Corpus Christi by two.
… continue their season-opening home stand with games Monday evening at 6:30 p.m. and Tuesday morning at 11:00 a.m. (the first of our two Safety Awareness / Kids Days). Tickets are on sale at the Security Bank Ballpark ticket office and online at midlandrockhounds.org.
Kibbles & Bits
STAT OF THE DAY Matt Chapman's five-RBI game was the RockHounds' second of the homestand, as Ryon Healy drove in a handful against the Arkansas Travelers in the 'Hounds' 9-3 Opening Night home win. Healy is second in the Texas League with 11 RBI.
- Northwest Arkansas' five-run rally, broke a 2-2 tie in the fifth, began with the bases empty, two-out walk. Zane Evans then singled and Viosergy Rosa's error at first base allowed the tie-breaking run to score. The Naturals tacked on four more, capped by Jack Lopez's two-run double.
- After giving up two hits (an RBI flair single to right-center and Lopez's two-run double) in relief of Dylan Covey in the fifth, Corey Walter was outstanding out of the bullpen. The right-hander went 3.1 innings, retiring the last 10 batters he faced.
- The attendance on Sunday was 3,723, bringing paid attendance for opening weekend (Thursday-Sunday) at Security Bank Ballpark to 18,289.