Lopez debuts with big day for RoughRiders

A little bit of leeway usually applies to a young player making a jump to a difficult level. Frank Lopez needed none of it on Sunday afternoon.

Making his Double-A debut Lopez allowed two hits and a walk while striking out five over 6 1/3 innings, spearheading Frisco's shutout effort in a 2-0 win at San Antonio.

"Everything I heard and what I saw on the reports that he did in [Class A Advanced] High Desert, he showed today and more," RoughRiders manager Joe Mikulik said of his southpaw. "He attacked the strike zone, kept the ball down. He was not afraid. He looked like a crafty veteran out there pitching."

After going 4-1 with a 2.95 ERA in seven California League starts, Lopez introduced himself to Double-A with a dominant showing. The 21-year-old retired his first 11 batters before Padres No. 3 prospect Trea Turner singled with two outs in the fourth. Lopez erased a one-out walk by Alberth Martinez in the fifth by getting Jason Hagerty to hit into a double play.

Lopez's manager praised his advanced approach against a talented Missions lineup.

"[He got] strike one with his fastball. He threw some breaking balls for strikes and his curveball was really good," Mikulik said. "Even full counts, he had confidence to throw the breaking ball. He threw it anytime, and it was pretty effective."

After a clean sixth, Lopez retired the leadoff man in the seventh before Turner's second single of the game brought an end to the Venezuela native's night.

"The tempo he worked with, he got the ball and was ready to go. [Catcher Patrick] Cantwell put the signs down and he was ready to go. He kept a good rhythm, good tempo and for the most part, he kept the ball down in the strike zone."

Lopez also matched the effort of San Antonio starter Chris Smith. The 34-year-old right-hander allowed one hit and two walks over six scoreless frames, fanning seven.

"I think if you walked in the ballpark and never looked at the roster, didn't know ages on either guy, you probably would've thought they were about the same experience the way they were both pitching," Mikulik said. "We weren't able to do much against their guy and they weren't able to do much against Frankie. It was just going back and forth, real quick outs early on. Eventually, we got a couple hits, a couple runs, but when you see Frankie do what he did against a guy 13 years older than him, you would not be able to tell who's the veteran guy."

Lopez needed only 75 pitches and recorded 12 groundouts in his Double-A debut.

"You see a lot of times when guys get promoted, they try to do more than they're capable of doing," Mikulik said. "Either they're a little nervous or you want them to get their feet wet. Don't judge too soon because it's long travel, they've got a different level, they're going to try to do more than they're capable. They want to prove to everybody, 'Hey, I belong here.' This guy showed no signs of any of that. It was like he's been here for a couple years now and he's been pitching for a long time.

"It was impressive."

The RoughRiders finally broke free in the bottom of the sixth to get Lopez into the win column. With runners at first and second and two outs, Drew Robinson doubled home top Rangers prospect Joey Gallo.

Jesus Pirela got the final two outs in the seventh, Will Lamb retired all four batters he faced and David Martinez recorded the final two outs for his first save since June 11, 2013.