Game Notes, May 30 at Arkansas

May 30, 2012

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Corpus Christi (23-27) @ Arkansas (21-29)

The Hooks open a six-game road trip tonight with the first of three at Dickey-Stephens Park against the Arkansas Travelers. The Hooks dropped Monday's home stand finale to Springfield 3-2, leaving the tying run stranded at third base in the ninth. Despite losing two of three to the Cardinals, the Hooks were 4-2 on the home stand. The Hooks enter play here tonight with wins in six of their last nine - and have won two of their last three on the road.

The Hooks swept the Travs last week in the series at Whataburger Field. Arkansas, though, is coming off a series in which it won two of three at San Antonio. The Travelers have won seven of their last 12 games.

Tonight's Matchup:
RHP Ross Seaton (4-3, 3.35) vs. RHP Matt Oye (1-2, 4.08)
Seaton, a third-round selection of the Astros in the 2008 draft, makes his 10th start for the Hooks and his second against the Travelers. Last Friday at Whataburger Field, Seaton held the Travs to two runs on three hits and a pair of walks over seven innings in a 7-2 triumph. He tied his season high with five strikeouts. Seaton has worked his way to the top of the rotation in terms of status, and over his last six outings is 4-1 with a 2.50 ERA. In that time, Seaton has limited the opposition to two or fewer earned runs in five of six starts. Seaton led the Hooks and the Texas League with 28 starts last season, posting the second-highest single-season total in team history. A valedictorian at Houston's Second Baptist High School his senior year, Seaton has not missed a turn in the rotation since July of 2009 when he pitched for Lexington - a span of 73 starts.

Has not allowed more than 4 earned runs in any of his 9 starts with the Hooks
Is 2-2 with a 3.94 ERA in 6 road starts (2-1, 2.37 ERA in 3 home starts)
Made AAA debut with OKC April 22 vs. Albuquerque (4.2-7-6-5-2-1, ND)

Oye, signed by the Angels as a non-drafted free agent in April of 2009, makes his 17th appearance and first start for the Travelers tonight. Oye has been pushed into service with RHP Eddie McKiernan, originally scheduled to start here tonight, getting the call to AAA Salt Lake. Oye last pitched Saturday in San Antonio, allowing one hit and striking out one batter in his two-thirds of an inning of relief. Oye's longest outing this year was his first appearance of the season, April 6 versus Midland, when he went 2.2 innings and 36 pitches. Oye did make nine starts last year split between the top three clubs in the Angels' chain. His most recent start came last September 1 for the Travelers at Northwest Arkansas (5.0-6-2-1-3-3, L). Oye pitched briefly over two seasons at Washington State (2005-06), going 0-1 with a 5.75 ERA in 14 games and 4 starts.

Has not allowed a run in his last 3 appearances, covering 4.0 innings
Appeared in relief against the Hooks last Wednesday (2.0-2-0-0-0-1
Currently second on the Travs' staff with 4 saves

Singleton TL Player of the Week
Hooks 1B/LF Jon Singleton has been chosen as the Texas League's Player of the Week for the period May 21-27. Singleton, who had his 11-game hitting streak snapped Monday, batted .500 (12x24) this past week with 1 walk, 1 double, 4 HRs, 8 runs and 12 RBIs. His recent RBI surge has moved him to third in the league in that statistical category. Singleton knocked in 12 runs over six games in the just-concluded home stand and has 20 RBIs in the last 15 games.

Singleton becomes the third Hook this season to be so honored. Outfielders Brandon Barnes and Jacob Goebbert shared the distinction in the extended opening week of the season. Barnes was a repeat winner in week two.

Last season, Singleton was named the Florida State League Player of the Week (June 20-26) while with the Phillies in Clearwater.

Cosart scratched
RHP Jarred Cosart, originally scheduled to start tonight's game, has been scratched. Manager Keith Bodie says that Cosart has been scratched for "not conforming to organizational policy." The other starters in the rotation have been moved up and, with the off day, they'll all be on their regular schedule of pitching with four days rest between starts. Seaton goes tonight, with RHP Jose Cisnero now on the docket tomorrow and LHP Brett Oberholtzer slotting in the series finale Friday.

Cosart is expected to rejoin the rotation Sunday in Springfield.

Bailey added to roster
Outfielder Adam Bailey joins the Hooks roster today. Bailey, who broke camp with the Hooks and homered in the April 2 exhibition loss to the Astros, has been with Lancaster all season. In 47 games with the JetHawks, Bailey was hitting .279 (50x179) with 13 doubles, 8 HRs and 25 RBIs. He also had 2 stolen bases.

Bailey joined the Hooks late last season and hit .323 (30x93) with 7 doubles, 3 HRs and 15 RBIs. A 23rd-round selection of the Astros in 2010 out of the University of Nebraska, Bailey was a combined .291-24-95 last year with Lexington, Lancaster and the Hooks. His home run and RBI totals ranked second among all Astros farmhands.

Also today, RHP Chris Hicks was removed from Corpus Christi's disabled list and reassigned to AAA Oklahoma City.

Wikoff joins club; Steele released
Veteran outfielder T.J. Steele was released by the Astros following Sunday's game. Steele had played in 26 games this season and was batting .141 (10x71) with 1 double, 1 triple, 2 HRs and 7 RBIs. Over three seasons and 211 games with the club, Steele hit .212 (154x727) with 27 doubles, 8 triples, 15 HRs, 90 runs and 80 RBIs. His 31 steals rank fifth all-time for the Hooks.

Steele didn't stay unemployed for long. The San Diego Padres signed him to a free-agent contract yesterday and assigned him to San Antonio. Steele is with the Missions for their series opener tonight in Springfield.

Infielder Brandon Wikoff made his Hooks debut Monday. Starting at third and batting eighth in the order, Wikoff went 2-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base. The versatile infielder appeared in 103 games last year for the Hooks and batted .308 with 3 HRs, 26 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. Wikoff comes to Corpus Christi from extended spring training in Kissimmee, where he'd been working to rehab his injured left wrist. Wikoff suffered the injury before spring training, then re-aggravated it in late March.

Martinez OB streak at 23
Hooks second baseman Jose Martinez has stretched his consecutive games on-base streak to 23. During the streak, which began May 4 in Midland, Martinez is batting .352 and has an on-base percentage of .402.

His streak is the longest this season for a member of the club and is currently the second-longest active streak in the Texas League. Frisco shortstop Jurickson Profar has reached base safely in 46 straight games. Martinez now has the seventh-longest consecutive games on-base streak in team history.

Pitching Rotation at Arkansas
Thursday: RHP Jose Cisnero (2-5, 5.36) vs. RHP A.J. Schugel (2-5, 3.54)
Friday: LHP Brett Oberholtzer (2-3, 5.61) vs. RHP John Hellweg (2-3, 4.14)

HOOKS PLAYER NOTES

Adam Bailey

Joins club today from Advanced-A Lancaster
In 47 games with the JetHawks was batting .279 (50x179) with 13 doubles, 8 HRs and 25 RBIs (also with 2 SBs)
Broke camp with the Hooks and homered in exhibition loss to Houston April 2
In 23 games at the end of last season with the Hooks hit .323 with 7 doubles, 3 HRs and 15 RBIs
A 23rd-round pick of the Astros in 2010 out of the University of Nebraska

Jay Fernandez

Hits in 3 of his last 5 games, 4-14 with 1 double, 1 HR, 1 run and 3 RBIs
Has a career caught-stealing percentage of 40.0 (165 of 412)
In 8 seasons in the Mariners and Twins systems hit .244-16-162 in 439 games

Jacob Goebbert

Hits in 10 of the last 12 games, 14-43 with 7 walks, 3 doubles, 1 HR, 8 runs and 7 RBIs
His walk-off, 3-run HR April 9 the first walk-off HR in his pro career
Named Texas League Co-Player of the Week (April 5-15), hit .429
Batting .232(29-125) vs. RHP; .381(16-42) vs. LHP; .317(13-41) w/RISP

Kody Hinze

Went 1-13 on home stand with 4 Ks
Hitting .111(7-63) in May with 9 walks and 5 RBIs
Batting .227(17-75) at home; .167(10-60) on the road
Batting .180(18-100) vs. RHP; .257(9-35) vs. LHP; .136(6-44) w/RISP
Ranked 4th last year in the minors in walks (94) and 15th in OPS (.961)

Jordan Kreke

Is 2-12 in his last 6 games with 2 runs and 1 RBI
Batting .235(8-34) at home; .148(4-27) on road
Batting .220(11-50) vs. RHP; .091(1-11) vs. LHP; 0-16 w/RISP
Played 1B May 1 for the first time in his career (replaced Singleton)
Has 135 career games at 3B, 126 at 2B and 49 at SS

Jose Martinez

Has 12-game hit streak, 19-51 with 1 walk, 3 doubles, 1 triple, 1 HR, 10 runs and 6 RBIs
Has reached base safely in 23 consecutive games, .402 OBP, .352 avg. - longest such streak by a Hook this season and the seventh-longest streak in franchise history
CC's defensive player of the month in April (47 PO, 56 A, 0 E)
Batting .313(40-128) vs. RHP; .333(15-45) vs. LHP; .353(18-51) w/RISP
Played just 6 games in the three-year period 2009-11

Ryan McCurdy

Is 7-26 in his last 10 games with 2 walks, 3 HBPs, 2 sac bunts, 2 doubles, 1 HR, 3 runs and 8 RBIs
Grand slam last Friday night his first pro HR (in portions of 3 seasons has played in 72 games and has 181 at-bats)
Batting .295(13-44) vs. RHP; 0-9 vs. LHP; .313(5-16) w/RISP
Had played just 2 games w/ Lancaster this season, was 2-3 with 1 HBP

Andy Simunic

Hits in 8 of the last 9 games, 9-35 with 2 walks, 3 runs and 1 RBI
In his last 23 games, at 3B, SS and RF, has 19 POs, 49 assists and 0 errors
Batting .306(34-111) vs. RHP; .154(4-26) vs. LHP; .205(8-309) w/RISP
In five pro seasons has bounced into just 11 DPs in 1,389 plate appearances

Jon Singleton

11-game hit streak snapped Monday, still, hits in 11 of the last 12 games, 19-48 with 4 walks, 2 doubles, 4 HRs, 12 runs and 15 RBIs
Was 11-24 on home stand with 1 double, 4 HRs, 9 runs and 12 RBIs
Ranks fourth in the league in hitting (.317), third in both OBP (.418) and RBIs (35) and tops the circuit in runs (35)
Named the Texas League's Player of the Week (May 21-27), hit .500-4-12
Batting .371(43-116) vs. RHP; .196(10-51) vs. LHP; .367(18-49) w/RISP
Hitting .353(42-119) when he starts at 1B; .209(9-43) when he starts in LF
Has started 33 games at 1B; 12 games in LF
Ranked by Baseball America as the top prospect in the Astros system

Jonathan Villar

Hits in 8 of his last 9 games, 15-41 with 2 HRs, 10 runs and 6 RBIs
Tied for the league lead with 21 stolen bases
Batting .258(33-128) vs. RHP; .264(14-53) vs. LHP; .286(14-49) w/RISP
Ranked by Baseball America as the No. 4 prospect in the Astros system

Chris Wallace

Returned from DL Saturday night to go 3-for-3, his first 3-hit game this season
Went 4-8 in Springfield series with 1 double, 1 RBI and 1 SB
Batting .244(12-49) vs. RHP; .190(4-21) vs. LHP; .250(6-24) w/RISP
His HR (20) and RBI (78) totals ranked third among Houston farmhands last year
Only Hook to club two grand slams last season (July 3 and July 12)

Austin Wates

Hits in 8 of the last 9 games, 10-38 with 2 doubles, 5 runs and 2 RBIs
Tied with 3 others for the league lead with 58 hits
Batting .311(46-148) vs. RHP; .245(12-49) vs. LHP; .318(14-44) w/RISP
Named Lancaster's MVP in 2011, led the JetHawks in 8 statistical categories

Brandon Wikoff

Joins club Monday from extended spring, where he'd been recuperating from a wrist injury (left wrist)
Went 2-3 in his season debut Monday with a walk and a stolen base
In 103 games last year with the Hooks batted .308 w/ 6 doubles, 3 HRs and 26 RBIs
Was the Texas League's Player of the Week (April 25-May 1, 2011), hit .600
Maintained an average of .400 or better from April 25 thru June 6 last year
Finished last season with four September games w/ OKC (.154-0-0)

BULLPEN REPORT

Starters: 13-21, 4.88 ERA, 263.2 IP, 34 HR, 96 BB, 208 K, .287 AVG
Relievers: 10-6, 4.44 ERA, 176.1 IP, 18 HR, 84 BB, 158 K, .260 AVG

Erick Abreu

Committed an error in the 8th Sunday: 4 R (2 ER) on 2 H, 2 BB, a balk & a hit batter
Broke a string of 5 consecutive scoreless appearances (5.1 IP)
Earned first save last Monday at Midland, setting down all 4 batters faced - 2 on Ks
Is 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA in 2 starts / 4-0 with a 5.47 ERA in 14 G out of the pen
His 9 HR allowed rank tied for fourth in the Texas League
Ranked among TL leaders in WHIP (1.22, 4th) and ERA (4.29, 9th) last season
Captured P-o-W award for 2nd straight year: 10 K, 1 BB, 2 H, 1 UR in 8 IP Aug. 17
CC's P-o-M in August 2010: 3-0 with a 2.39 ERA in 7 games and 4 starts
Holds the club record for strikeouts (259)...ranks 2nd in IP (292.1) & G (107)

Kevin Chapman

Worked a scoreless 9th Saturday to pick up third victory of the season
Struck out 2 in a perfect 8th Thursday night vs. Arkansas
14 of his 20 outings have been of the scoreless variety
Holding lefties to a .184 batting average (7x38), 2 RBIs, 8 BB, 16 K
K/9 IP ratio of 11.03 ranks third among Texas League relievers
A top-20 KC prospect by BA last year: 1-4, 10 SV, 4.94 ERA in Wilmington & NWA
Struck out 90 & walked 28 over 62.0 IP...save total ranked 3rd in the Royals system
Entered '12 with a career BB-to-K ratio of 1-to-3.06 & is averaging 12.38 K per 9 IP

Arcenio Leon

Permitted 1 H and 1 BB while fanning 2 in a scoreless 8th Monday night
Faced the minimum thanks to a double play in the 8th Friday night vs. ARK
Allowed inherited runners to score on a bases-loaded walk and HBP last Monday at MID
Posted a 2.45 ERA in April (7 G), holding the opposition to a .224 batting average
Led the Texas League last season in SO/9 IP ratio (10.16) for relievers
Paced the Hooks with 47 app., the third-highest single-season total in team history
Placed on 40-man in Nov. '10, going 2-4 w/ 4 SV & a 3.97 ERA in Lex. and CC
Over seven seasons has a career SO/9 IP ratio of 7.82

Alex Sogard

Allowed first 3 batters to reach in the 9th Sunday...permitted 1 R on 3 H
Charged with 3 R, 2 coming on Shaffer's 2B, in the 6th Saturday, part of a 5-run frame
Tossed 2 shutout innings last Sunday at Midland
Has surrendered a run in 8 of his 9 appearances with the Hooks
Was 0-2 with a 2.81 ERA in 6 outings at Lancaster to start the season
Held the California League to a .197 average, 0 HR, 8 BB & 17 K in 16.0 IP
3-4 w/ a 4.14 ERA in 31 G (10 starts) for Lex. last year (4-for-6 in SV chances)
Notched 148 strikeouts against 37 walks (4-to-1 ratio) in first 2 seasons as a pro
Teammate of Buchanan at NC State: 10-6 w/ a 5.16 ERA, 73 BB, 96 K over 3 years

Jason Stoffel

Struck out a batter in a perfect 9th Monday night
Notched 5th save in as many chances last Saturday at Midland
Has not allowed a run in last 9 app (10.2 IP)...15 of his 18 outings overall
3rd among TL relievers in AVG (.162) & runners per 9 (7.59)...5th in BB/9 (1.69)
Went 2-5 w/ 17 SV & a 4.53 ERA in 50 G between Richmond & CC in 2011
Tied for 4th among SF farmhands in saves, recording 13 in 17 opportunities
In 2010, led the Giants system with 25 saves and notched a SO/9 IP ratio of 11.17
Entered '12 season averaging 10.27 SO/9 IP & has a GO/AO ratio of 1.72 for career
Stands as the Wildcats career leader in saves (29) and appearances (99)

Henry Villar

Struck out a batter in a 1-2-3 7th Sunday
Has been perfect in his three outings (3.0 IP, 1 K) since coming off the DL
Activated last Saturday after spending the bulk of the month on the shelf
Made 2 starts for Cosart (4/16 & 4/10): 2 L, 6 IP, 12 H, 9 ER, 2 HR, 1BB, 4 K vs. TUL
As a reliever: 2-0 with a 3.86 ERA in 7 appearances: 10 H, 3 HR, 3 BB, 5 K, 14.0 IP
Went 4-5 with a 5.45 ERA in 42 appearances between OKC and CC last season
Made his big-league debut in 2010 as a September call-up, yielding 3 ER in 6 IP

Josh Zeid

Yielded just 1 hit and struck out a batter over two frames Saturday night
Walked 1 & hurled 2 WP before recording the final 2 outs Thursday (2 of 3 IR scored)
Tagged for 5 R on 4 H in a 1/3 of a frame last Sunday at Midland
Surrendered a grand slam to Ali Solis last Wednesday at SA
Moved to Reading's pen in late June last year: 2 SV, 2.25 ERA, 2 BB, 24 K, 16.0 IP
Joined Hooks in late July: 0-1, 10.13 ERA, 15 G, 16 IP, 6 BB, 15 K
Mid-season SAL All-Star in 2010
Top 5 for Lakewood in W (8, T-1st), SV (8, 2nd), K (111, 2nd) & IP (107.1 IP, 4th)
Has a career 3.18 K/BB ratio over 3 seasons, holding the opposition to a .245 average