Mateo comes through in 'Hounds' walk-off win

Already boasting a double and homer, Jorge Mateo turned his Friday night from good to great when the Midland RockHounds needed him most.
The A's No. 4 prospect laced a walk-off single in the ninth inning, capping his first three-hit game in his new organization and giving Double-A Midland a 6-5 win over Arkansas at Security Bank Ballpark.

Gameday box score
Mateo's recent slump seems like a distant memory. The shortstop, acquired from the Yankees at the Trade Deadline, went hitless from Aug. 9-13 to see his slash line dip from .300/.300/.500 to .218/.271/.364 through 12 Texas League games. Friday night continued a breakout stretch that's become a four-game hitting streak. After flying out in the first inning, Mateo bounced an RBI double to left field as part of a three-run second.
With two gone and a man aboard in the fourth, Mateo connected on his first Midland homer, sending a blast over the left-center field wall to stake the RockHounds to a 5-0 advantage.

"The things that he's capable of are really game-changing," RockHounds manager Fran Riordan told MiLB.com on Tuesday. "You see that come out in spurts. I think Jorge, just like anybody coming to a new situation via the trade, the first thing you want to do is show everyone, 'This is why you guys traded for me.' I think he was pressing a little bit and I think that caused him to chase a little bit off the plate. You can see how that's improving simply from his walk numbers in the last three or four games."

Already riding his first multi-RBI game as an A's prospect, Mateo had one more opportunity left. The Travelers erased their deficit with three runs in the top of the ninth, tying the game, 5-5, but the RockHounds responded quickly.
Tyler Marincov roped a leadoff double to left and took third on a sacrifice by Sean Murphy. That set the stage for Mateo, whose single to right gave Midland its fifth straight win.

During his four-game streak, the 22-year-old has bumped his slash line up to .274/.338/.452. The four RBIs on Friday were one shy of his total through his first 15 games as a member of the RockHounds.
"He probably hasn't seen any of these pitchers," Riordan said Tuesday. "You don't have that familiarity and you have to learn all your teammates' names and try to get accustomed to a new league and a new city. Sure, there's going to be growing pains. It doesn't matter who you are. But he's done a really good job of making that learning curve as short as possible."
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A's No. 26 prospect Casey Meisner went four innings, allowing a run on five hits and three walks with three strikeouts. 
Braden Bishop was 2-for-4 with a walk and a run scored in his fourth straight multi-hit game for the Travelers. The Mariners' sixth-ranked prospect is batting .362/.438/.457 in 26 games since a promotion from Class A Advanced Modesto.