Boyd leads TL South All-Stars to victory

FRISCO, Texas -- Oakland's B.J. Boyd came into the Texas League All-Star Game ranked fifth on the Double-A circuit with 83 base hits.
The Midland outfielder showed why Tuesday night as he helped propel the South All-Stars to a 10-3 victory over the North in front of 10,317 at Dr Pepper Ballpark.

Gameday box score
Boyd sparked a seven-run fourth inning with two hits and he finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored en route to snaring BUSH'S Beans All-Star MVP honors.
After tying the game in the second inning with a two-run double to right field, the 2012 fourth-rounder opened the fourth with a single to center off Tulsa left-hander Edward Paredes in a 3-3 game. Then he blooped a single to center off Springfield's Corey Baker to cap the frame's scoring by bringing home Corpus Christi's Garrett Stubbs.

"I was telling myself to take this like it's a normal season game and just to relax," said Boyd. "I just wanted to find my pitch and hit it. I haven't been at an All-Star Game at this big of a level. I came into this season with high hopes for myself and putting pressure on myself, just showing my family I'm serious about this game."
The South squad collected eight hits while sending 12 batters to the plate in the fourth. The big blows were a two-run double by Texas League home run leader J.D. Davis -- whose 18 long balls are three more than second-place Edwin Ríos of Tulsa -- and a three-run triple by his Hooks teammate Stubbs.
Trevino feels at home at All-Star Game
Big offensive nights have become something of the norm for Boyd this season. He amassed one four-hit game and six three-hit outings in the first half of the season. He batted .305 and put together a 13-game hitting streak.
That big first half carried over Tuesday. The only difference for Boyd was that his brother, Brandon, surprised him by driving in from California to watch him play.
"I felt like I was at home here," said Boyd, whose only other All-Star appearance came in 2013 with Class A Short Season Vermont. "Motivation is the key right now."

The North opened the game with an offensive burst, scoring twice in the top of the first off South starter Rogelio Armenteros. After Arkansas' Ian Miller opened the game with a triple, Travelers teammate Chuck Taylor brought him home on a homer off the top of the wall in right-center.

The South took the lead in the second, scoring three times off Springfield's Matt Pearce. Boyd's double tied the game, and he came around to score on a double-play grounder to give the South a brief 3-2 edge.
Rios knotted the game in the third with a solo shot to right-center off Frisco's Collin Wiles.
While Boyd was the offensive star, he had plenty of company on a South squad that finished with 14 hits. Davis, the 13th-ranked Houston prospect, had a pair of hits and two RBIs. Second baseman Max Schrock, Oakland's No. 16 prospect, also had two hits and scored twice. Corpus Christi's Drew Ferguson and Midland's J.P. Sportman added two hits apiece.

Frisco's Ariel Jurado, the No. 3 Rangers prospect, picked up with win with a perfect fourth. The South's hurlers limited the North to just one hit over the final six innings.
"I just wanted to go to the mound and throw strikes, and it was good," said Jurado. "I think we settled down after the start. I wasn't nervous out there. The All-Star Game is a little more difficult, but it was all good out there."