Loux records Minors-leading 12th win

Barret Loux thinks he's been lucky to rack up so many wins this year. The Arkansas Travelers might disagree.

The Rangers' No. 18 prospect limited Arkansas to an unearned run over seven innings Tuesday, tallying his Minor League-leading 12th victory as the Double-A Frisco RoughRiders beat the Travelers, 5-1.

After surrendering 12 runs on 14 hits over seven innings in his previous two starts, Loux gave up only two hits and two walks Tuesday. He threw 67 of 97 pitches for strikes.

"I just slowed the game down and tried to take control of it," said Loux, who struck out five. "I got some ground balls and the defense made some nice plays."

The Travelers scored their only run in the first, thanks to top Angels prospect Jean Segura. The 22-year-old shortstop led off with a single, stole second, took third on a throwing error by catcher Jose Felix and came home on a groundout by Roberto Lopez.

Loux had little trouble thereafter, retiring 14 of his final 15 batters. The 23-year-old right-hander excelled at keeping the ball in the infield, generating nine groundouts against three flyouts.

"I had the fastball going and relied on it heavily," he said. "I tried to keep it down in the zone, moved it from side to side and got ground balls.

"It was nice. I was just trying to keep the ball down, having them hit it at people, and they made plays. It was a good way of staying out of trouble innings."

Through 15 starts, Loux (12-1) has a 3.54 ERA with 72 strikeouts over 81 1/3 innings. Although his ERA ranks 10th in the Texas League, he believes he's benefited from fortunate circumstances.

"I think luck has a lot to do with it," said Loux, who reeled off 10 consecutive wins to start the season. "You can go out and not get a run in any start and not get any wins. It's been a fun ride to be on. They seem to always score more runs than I give up."

On a Frisco team that is tied for first in the league with 44 victories, Loux would seem to have a good shot to continue collecting wins. He said he hasn't thought about how many he could end up with.

"No, not really," he said. "I don't think that really helps me. I just try to do whatever I can to make the next pitch and get ready for the next start."

Chris McGuiness had an RBI single and a sacrifice fly for the RoughRiders, while top Rangers prospect Jurickson Profar reached base twice and scored a run.