RockHounds Rally For Fifth Straight Win

RockHounds 6, Frisco RoughRiders 2 (completion of game suspended at Frisco on April 7)
RockHounds 7, Frisco RoughRiders 6                                                                
Thursday, April 18, 2019
Dr Pepper Ballpark     Frisco, TX
The RockHounds captured a "double-header" of sorts Thursday night in Frisco and took over the top spot in the Texas League's South Division in the process.
The 'Hounds won the completion of the April 7 game, suspended in the 11^th inning (also at Dr Pepper Ballpark in Frisco), and defeated the RoughRiders, 7-6, in the regularly-scheduled contest.
       
The press box at Frisco uses a text thread to communicate official scoring. The text at first [pitch (6:06 p.m.) indicated a resumption after a "delay of 262 hours, 34 minutes." Touché!
Mikey White's two-run double (as the game resumed in the top of the 11^th) boosted the RockHounds' lead to 6-1 and the 'Hounds went on to close out the RoughRiders, 6-2, in a game that had been suspended by rain on (Sunday) April 7.
One rather unusual "holdover was pitcher Zack Erwin, who had pitched the 10^th inning on April 7. Zack was, as fate would have it, due to pitch and his turn found him back on the mound for the completion of the game. He allowed one unearned run to claim his first win at the Double-A level.
The RockHounds took a 2-0 lead into the fifth inning of the "nightcap," with Luke Persico scoring the first run and driving in the second, before the RoughRiders got to starter Matt Milburn for three runs in the fifth. A pair of unearned runs in the sixth inning then gave Frisco a 5-2 advantage as Mother Nature, again, intervened.
The game wasn't halted, but the wind was very strong (perhaps more so than the RockHounds have ever encountered in the Metroplex since Frisco joined the league in 2003) over much of the final four innings with heavy rain during part of that time.
Greg Deichmann's three-run home run in the height of the "weather" tied the game at 5-5 in the seventh and Anthony Miller's opposite field single (on a 1-2 pitch with two out) gave the 'Hounds a 6-5 lead.
In a game that included 13 runs on 21 hits, a bases-loaded walk drawn by Kevin Merrell (2-for-4, walk, RBI, stolen base) proved to be the game winner. It came against reliever Locke St. John in the top of the ninth … the first run the Frisco lefty has allowed in 2019.
The Riders scored once against Kyle Finnegan in the ninth before the RockHounds' closer struck out Preston Beck to seal the win.
The RockHounds have now won five straight games while Frisco has dropped five-in-a-row (the completion of the suspended game does not factor into those streaks, as the game reverts to April 7).
The RockHounds (9-6) lead Frisco by one game … Corpus Christi by two … and the Amarillo Sod Poodles by three in the South.
Basics
WP:                      John Gorman        (2-0, 4.91)
LP: Yoel Espinal          (BS, 1-2, 7.88)
Sv: Kyle Finnegan (3, 3.86)
Notables
Trey McNutt earned a "hold" in the 7-6 win, but that doesn't do his performance justice. The right-hander pitched two perfect innings and did it not only in a critical situation (the seventh and eight) but during the worst of the severe weather.   He did get help from catcher Collin Theroux on a strikeout on which the ball went near the backstop. Theroux showed great hustle in retrieving the ball and made a strong throw to first base.
Luis Barrera (right shoulder) has been placed on the Injured List.
His place on the roster has been filled with the arrival of outfielder Chase Calabuig, who joins the RockHounds from the Beloit Snappers of the (A) Midwest League. Chase was selected by Oakland in the 27^th round of the 2018 draft. The 23-year-old California native (Mission Viejo) was drafted out of San Diego State University.
Next Game
Friday, April 19      vs. Frisco RoughRiders
Dr Pepper Ballpark     Frisco, Texas
First pitch 7:05 p.m.   
- Second of a three-game series and road trip
- Radio: NewsTalk 550 with Bob Hards ... airtime 7:00 p.m.

Probable Starters
FRI: Joe Palumbo    (LH,       0-0, 4.35)
RH: James Naile      (RH,      2-1, 5.06)
Next at Security Bank Ballpark:
The RockHounds open an eight-game homestand on Monday, April 22
April 22-25       vs. Tulsa Drillers
April 26-29       vs. Northwest Arkansas Naturals