Texas League notebook

Arkansas Travelers (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim)
THE WEEK IN REVIEW: A 3-4 week left the first-half champions wallowing in the basement of the North Division with an 11-24 second-half record, 10 games out of first place.

WHO'S HOT: OF/DH Brian Stavisky hit two home runs and drove in four runs in a loss at Springfield on Tuesday and added another RBI on Wednesday, bringing his totals in a hot stretch of seven games to 13-for-27 with 10 RBIs, nine runs scored and three of his 11 home runs in 50 games with the Travelers. Stavisky delivered a game-winning RBI in a 6-5 win over visiting Tulsa on Sunday. The key single in the bottom of the eighth inning, one of three hits Stavisky had in the game, delivered the go-ahead run after Tulsa had tied the game with four runs in the top of the inning.

WHO'S NOT: RHP Fernando Rodriguez gave up a season-high eight earned runs in 5 1/3 innings and took the loss as the Travs fell to Tulsa at home on Monday, 12-3. He lasted just four innings in a loss at Tulsa on Saturday. The two losses left the starter with a 5-9 record and 6.03 ERA. He is 0-5 in nine starts since last winning a game on June 7.

WOE THE LUCK: RHP Amalio Diaz pitched eight shutout innings of three-hit baseball during which he struck out nine and walked only one and got no decision in a game the Travelers lost, 2-1, in 10 innings at Springfield on Thursday. Springfield tied the game, 1-1, after two were out in the ninth and won the game with a two-out hit in the 10th. Diaz is 0-2 in his first two starts with Arkansas after winning four of his last six starts to improve to 7-4 and earn a promotion to Double-A from Class A Advanced Rancho Cucamonga.

NEWS & NOTES: RHP Aaron Cook, 0-0 with a 5.84 ERA in eight relief appearances, was released. He started the year at Class A Advanced Rancho Cucamonga, where he was 2-0 with three saves and a 3.49 ERA in 23 games. ... In other roster moves, LHP Doug Brandt was activated from the disabled list; C Alex Silversmith was reassigned to Class A Cedar Rapids; RHP Marco Albano was reassigned to Rancho Cucamonga; LHP Daniel Davidson was reassigned from Triple-A Salt Lake to Arkansas; and C Flint Wipke was promoted to the Travelers from Rancho Cucamonga. ... RHP Dan Denham evened his record to 8-8 in 19 starts by winning his second straight start Wednesday. He helped give the Travelers just their 10th win in 32 games by striking out nine, walking one and giving up five hits over seven innings in a 4-2 win at Springfield.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "Regardless of wins and losses, we're trying to do the things that are going to help us in the postseason," manager Bobby Magallanes said after the slumping Travelers beat Tulsa, 6-5, on Sunday to improve to 9-20 in the second half. "We need momentum. That's something we want. That gets you going." Arkansas lost its next two games.

Corpus Christi Hooks (Houston Astros)
THE WEEK IN REVIEW: The Hooks are nearing the point of no return after a 1-5 week left them 12-22 in the second half and in the basement of the South Division, 9 1/2 games out of first place.

WHO'S HOT: LHP Andy Van Hekken, who spent an all-too-brief stretch with the Detroit Tigers in 2002, is on a roll. He improved to 4-0 in four starts with the Hooks when he pitched 8 1/3 innings in a 2-0 win over powerful Frisco on Monday. "He pitched for me back in 2002 in Detroit," Hooks manager Luis Pujols told the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. He's still the same. He doesn't walk people. He throws a lot of strikes." Van Hekken didn't walk a Frisco batter Monday and struck out a season-high 10. In 27 1/3 innings with the Hooks, he's recorded 26 strikeouts and just two walks with a 1.65 ERA. Van Hekken, who has spent parts of five seasons at the Double-A level since Seattle chose him in the third round of the 1998 Draft, began this year at Laguna in the Mexican League, where he was 2-3 with a 4.01 ERA in five starts. The starter, who was 1-3 with a 3.00 ERA in five games with the Tigers in 2002, might have finished Monday's effort had he not given up two hits in the ninth inning.

STAT OF THE WEEK: Corpus Christi was charged with three errors in a 10-1 loss at San Antonio on Wednesday. That was as many hits as the Hooks had in the game, which left them 2-8 in San Antonio this season.

A NEW MAN: OF Brian Bogusevic, who began the season as a left-handed pitcher for the Hooks, completed his transformation from pitcher to outfielder and returned to Corpus Christi. He went 1-for-3 on Monday in his first game back with the Hooks, was 0-for-4 in his next effort and 5-for-24 for the week with three extra-base-hits. Bogusevic, who was 2-6 with a 5.50 ERA in 17 starts with the Hooks, batted .217 with a home run and six RBIs in eight games at Class A Advanced Salem, where he was sent to make the transformation. A first-round Draft choice of the Astros in 2005, Bogusevic is playing right field. He played several positions during his college days at Tulane.

NEWS & NOTES: 2B Drew Sutton, who has hit safely in 18 of 20 games, hit his 12th and 13th homers in a loss to Midland on Saturday. ... DH Richie Paz, who went 3-for-3 with a sacrifice, doubled and homered to pace the offense in a 2-0 win against Frisco on Monday. ... The Hooks were shut out for the 12th time this season in an 11-0 home loss to Midland on Friday. ... RHP Chance Douglass, 4-8 with a 4.56 ERA in 17 starts, was promoted to Triple-A Round Rock, where he made three appearances during a brief stay in May. ... OF Orlando Rosales, who batted .217 in 32 games, was returned to Class A Advanced Salem. ... OF Mitch Einertson was activated from the disabled list. ... RHP Jose Oyervidez, who was 1-1 with one save in 31 games with Corpus Christi, was promoted to Triple-A Round Rock, where on Tuesday he gave up three runs on four hits and three walks over three innings in his first appearance. ... C Jimmy Goethals was reassigned to Salem on Thursday and C Lou Santangelo returned to Corpus Christi from Triple-A Round Rock. ... Houston signed RHP Bo Hall and assigned him to Corpus Christi. Hall pitched at the Double-A and Triple-A levels with the Yankees this year. ... RHP Tip Fairchild had his best effort in 11 games (nine starts) since returning from reconstructive elbow surgery, giving up one run on two hits, striking out three and walking two in a no-decision start at San Antonio on Tuesday. He didn't allow a hit until there was one out in the fifth. "Today, I wasn't really thinking about pitching as much as I was going out there and throwing the ball and letting my ability take over," Fairchild told the Corpus Christi Caller-Times.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "It's hard to explain," Hooks manager Luis Pujols told the Corpus Christi Caller-Times after an 11-0 home loss to Midland on Friday. The Hooks had been outscored 21-1 in two consecutive games that were separated by a rainout Thursday and had been shut out 12 times this season. "We've been like that all year -- on and off, on and off. It's tough when you're facing good pitching."

Frisco Rough Riders (Texas Rangers)
THE WEEK IN REVIEW: The South Division leaders played 4-3 ball last week. Frisco is 22-13 in the second half and leads San Antonio by 2 1/2 games at week's end.

WHO'S HOT: OF/DH Ben Harrison continued to lead Frisco offensively. His .310 batting average ranks seventh in the league and he has 17 home runs and 66 RBIs.

WHO'S NOT: RHP Michael Schlact, who is 6-8 with a 5.83 ERA, has lost three straight starts and in his last four starts (1-3) has given up 28 earned runs on 36 hits, including six home runs, over 19 innings. He gave up eight runs on eight hits and was tagged for two home runs in an 8-4 loss at Midland on Tuesday.

NEWS & NOTES: LHP Derek Lee gave up two runs over seven innings and took the loss in a 2-0 setback at Corpus Christi on Monday, then was whacked for seven earned runs in 4 1/3 innings in a home loss to San Antonio on Saturday. The losses left Lee 0-3 in his last three starts. Overall he is 1-3 with a 5.40 ERA in five starts since joining the RoughRiders from the Mexican League. ... OF Steve Murphy hit a grand slam in a 6-3 win over San Antonio on Friday. Frisco scored all of its runs in the game after two were out. ... RHP Alfredo Gonzalez (5-1) gave up a homer at Corpus Christi on Sunday, but got the win, his second in as many appearances. ... 2B Jose Vallejo delivered a three-run triple in Frisco's 6-2 win at Midland on Thursday.

A FACT OF LIFE: "We're a great hitting team. We usually take advantage when guys leave it over the plate," OF Steve Murphy told the Corpus Christi Caller-Times after his 15th homer of the season ended a streak of 12 straight retired batters by Hooks LHP Polin Trinidad and gave Frisco a 2-0 lead in a 4-2 win on Sunday. "He kept the ball down and did a good job of that. It was here and there, leaving the ball over the plate, having to rely on his fastball and not use his slider or change-up. When that happens, it's tough for a pitcher to just rely on one pitch." Murphy's homer, which helped drop Trinidad's record to 3-4, landed in a pool beyond the right-field fence at Whataburger Field in Corpus Christi.

Midland RockHounds (Oakland Athletics)
THE WEEK IN REVIEW: The Hounds continued to tread water in a 4-3 week that left them 17-18 in the second half, in third place in their division and five games behind first-place Frisco.

WHO'S HOT: As noted in the Midland Reporter-Telegram, the change that moved RHP Andrew Bailey from the starting rotation to the bullpen has been a good one so far. Bailey, a sixth-round Draft choice by Oakland in 2006, was 1-8 with a 6.18 ERA in 15 starts. Bailey gave up just one unearned run over 12 innings in his first eight outings as a reliever. While the unearned run cost him a loss, he had 14 strikeouts, a high walk count of five and a low hit count of eight.

THE THIEF: Veteran Minor League OF Todd Donovan stole the 300th and 301st bases of his career in an 8-4 win over Frisco on Tuesday to become the 14th player in Minor League history to steal 300 bases. Donovan, who began his professional career in 1999, stole second base in the second and fourth innings and kept the bases as souvenirs on both occasions. Donovan hit the mark in front of 6,914 fans at Citibank Ballpark. The AFLAC insurance company bought out the park for the night, so all fans were admitted free.

MASTER OF THE HOOKS: RHP Vince Mazzaro improved to 11-3 overall and 5-0 against Corpus Christi with seven shutout innings of five-hit pitching in an 11-0 road game on Friday. Subtract his awesome numbers against the Hooks, he has allowed just four unearned runs over 41 1/3 innings over six starts, and Mazzaro is 6-3 with a 2.47 ERA in 15 starts against other teams in the league. "I don't think we have any doubt now," Hooks manager Luis Pujols told the Corpus Christi Caller-Times after Mazzaro's effort on Friday. "I haven't seen anybody else like that. Tonight, it seems like we didn't have any chance. We only one guy to third base and with only five hits it's tough to beat him."

FORMER NO. 1 RELEASED: IF Brian Snyder, Oakland's first-round Draft choice in 2003, was released. He was batting just .248 with two home runs and 29 RBIs in 61 games. Snyder, who played second base, third base and served as a DH in his six seasons as a professional, batted .269 with 31 homers and 179 RBIs over his first five seasons.

MORE CHANGES: RHP Andy Shipman, 2-2 with a 5.13 ERA in 37 games, asked for his release and his request was granted. Shipman, who was tried as a starter last season, first signed with Boston as a free-agent in 2003. ... RHP David Shafer, 0-1 with one save and a 1.52 ERA in 20 appearances with the RockHounds, including 19 in relief, was promoted to Triple-A Sacramento. ... RHP Jason Windsor, LHP Josh Outman and IF Frank Martinez were added to the Midland roster. Outman, acquired by the A's in the trade that sent RHP Joe Blanton to Philadelphia, had been pitching at Reading in the Eastern League. Martinez was promoted from Class A Advanced Stockton in the California League. Windsor had pitched for Midland and in the Arizona League. ... RHP Jose Garcia, 0-1 with a 4.63 ERA in seven relief appearances, didn't stay long with Midland. He was promoted to Sacramento on Wednesday.

NEWS & NOTES: Outman, making his first start for his new organization, lasted just 1 1/3 innings in a no-decision loss at San Antonio on Monday. Outman, who started five games at Double-A Reading in the Eastern League but none since April 28, gave up three runs (two earned) on two hits and three walks in a game the RockHounds lost, 4-3. Outman was 1-2 as a starter for Reading, before making 28 straight appearances in relief. ... OF Aaron Cunningham went 5-for-13 with a double, three-run homer and five RBIs in a four-games series at San Antonio. ... LH Brett Anderson may have made his last start of this season Wednesday. The Olympics-bound starter gave up two earned runs and three overall in a 4-0 loss to Frisco. He is 2-1 with a 1.80 ERA in five starts with the RockHounds after starting the season with a 9-4 record at Class A Advanced Stockton. ... RF Jon Zeringue hit two home runs in an 8-4 win over Frisco on Tuesday, which had to make a guy who struck out six times in 12 at-bats in his previous series feel a whole lot better. ... Olympian RHP Trevor Cahill pitched five innings and improved to 5-1 in the 8-4 win.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "You scratch your head and wonder what could have been," Hounds manager Webster Garrison told the Midland Reporter-Telegram after his team left 14 runners on base in a 4-0 home loss to Frisco on Wednesday. "Maybe one hit could have made it closer, or a couple of hits would have taken the lead. You never know. Their pitchers made the pitches they had to make with men in scoring position." Imagine how Garrison must have felt after his team committed three errors leading to three unearned runs in a 6-2 loss to the RoughRiders on Thursday. Seven of the 14 runs Frisco scored while winning two of three at Midland were unearned thanks to seven errors committed by the hosts. "That's the theme of the series," Garrison told the Reporter-Telegram on Thursday. "When you're playing a first-place team, you can't win the series if you're giving away runs. All of those outs are important, every one of them. If we can't make those outs, we don't deserve to win."

Northwest Arkansas Naturals (Kansas City Royals)
THE WEEK IN REVIEW: The Naturals made a strong statement in a 5-2 week that left them with a 21-14 second-half record and a two-game lead in the North Division. They were 2-1 against second-place Springfield and 2-1 against third-place Tulsa.

WHO'S HOT: RHP Chris Hayes continued his impressive performance out of the Northwest Arkansas bullpen when he pitched 3 2/3 shutout innings of three-hit, five-strikeout, no-walk baseball in a win at Springfield on Monday. The sidearm pitcher followed that effort with four innings of three-hit, shutout relief that earned him a win against Springfield on Friday. In a span of 11 games through Friday, the reliever had given up one earned run in 23 innings. He allowed 16 hits and walked just two during that period. For the season he is 4-1 with six saves in six tries and had a 1.58 ERA in 29 appearances. "He has been one of our most dependable guys coming out of the bullpen all year," Naturals manager Brian Poldberg told the Arkansas Democrat-Press. "He has developed that little riser and it gives him a different look. He keeps us in the game." Hayes has given up more than one run in a game just once, when he allowed two at Midland on May 30.

WHO'S NOT: RHP Blake Wood yielded nine runs on nine hits, four walks and two hit batters over five innings in an 11-6 setback to visiting Tulsa on Thursday. Wood, 3-5 with a 3.86 ERA, is 0-2 in his last two starts and in 8 1/3 innings in those two games gave up 14 earned runs on 12 hits and 10 walks. "We didn't get a quality start tonight," Poldberg told the Morning News on Thursday. "Wood is just not consistent with his release point. He gets frustrated out there when things start going bad and he isn't able to get things righted up." Wood faced 10 batters in the third inning on Thursday.

NEWS & NOTES: DH/1B Kila Kaaihue drove in three of his team's four runs with his league-leading 25th homer and a sacrifice fly in a 4-3 win over visiting Tulsa on Wednesday. He then drove in both his team's runs in a 2-1 win over Springfield on Friday, a victory that gave the Naturals a one-game lead over the Cardinals in the North Division. ... Tulsa had won four straight games at Northwest Arkansas until the Naturals came from behind to win 10-8 on Tuesday and then made it two straight with a 4-3 win Wednesday. ... But the Naturals' 10-game home wining streak ended with a thud in an 11-6 loss to Tulsa on Thursday. ... Daniel Cortes, 5-4 with a 4.40 ERA in 16 starts, improved to 3-1 over his last five starts with a 4-2 win over visiting Tulsa on Wednesday. Cortes was 3-1 in those five games despite giving up 17 earned runs on 25 hits and 13 walks in 23 1/3 innings pitched.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "Never in my life," Naturals 3B Ed Lucas told the Springfield News-Leader after contributing six hits, scoring once and driving in three runs in his team's 10-7 win at Springfield on Monday. "And honestly, I wish I didn't have six hits tonight because I really wished we would have ended it in the ninth." It took the Naturals 13 innings to win the game and it was Lucas who delivered a two-run triple in the 13th to break a tie. But it was also Lucas who made a two-out throwing error in the ninth that enabled Springfield to tie the game and send it into extra innings. Lucas, who raised his average to .322 with the six-hit night, had delivered six hits combined in his previous six games.

San Antonio Missions (San Diego Padres)
THE WEEK IN REVIEW: San Antonio was 4-2 and rained out once to wrap up the week with a 19-15 record. The Missions trail Frisco by 2 1/2 games in the South Division.

WHO'S HOT: 1B Kyle Blanks wrapped up a productive week by slamming a three-run homer in a 7-3 win at Frisco on Saturday. In six games through Saturday Blanks, who is batting .310, drove in nine runs, hit two homers and scored four times.

WHO'S NOT: RHP Neil Jamison, a sixth-round Draft choice by the Padres in 2005, was shut down for the season Wednesday with a sore elbow. Jamison tried to pitch after coming off the disabled list July 9, but continued to have issues with his elbow. "We decided to shut down Jamison for the rest of the season and let him rest his elbow," San Diego's director of Minor League operations Mike Wickham told the San Antonio Express-News. Jamison was 1-2 with two saves and a 2.55 ERA in 20 games with the Missions and was the second San Antonio to be lost for the season in recent days. RHP Paul Abraham, a reliever, last pitched July 6 and underwent shoulder surgery. Jamison was replaced by RHP Mike Demark, who was 1-2 with a 2.17 ERA, 53 strikeouts and 19 walks in 49 2/3 innings at Class A Advanced Lake Elsinore.

PRAYING FOR RAIN: Manager Bill Masse didn't mind that the Missions home game against Corpus Christi was washed out by Hurricane Dolly on Thursday. "The pitching needs a break," Masse told the San Antonio Express-News. "We've been using our bullpen a lot. All of our series coming up are important and we need to be ready." The Missions, starting on Friday, were to face South Division leader Frisco eight times in 11 days. The rainout is scheduled to be made up as part of a doubleheader when the Hooks visit San Antonio on Aug. 31.

NEWS & NOTES: CF Drew Macias, who fouled a ball off his knee Sunday, singled in a pinch-hit appearance Tuesday. ... IF Jon Schemmel wasn't so lucky. He bunted a ball off his face and suffered a fractured bone above his mouth on Sunday. It's the second time this season the same thing has happened to Schemmel, who isn't expected to be disabled. "I've never had anything like this happen," he told the San Antonio Express-News. "I've always been considered a really good bunter, but I've bunted two balls in my face. I have to wear the mask again, but the good thing is I can play now." ... San Antonio's shutout against Midland on July 19 was the team's 16th this season. That ranks first in organized baseball. ... RHP Manny Ayala (5-2) improved to 5-1 over his last seven starts with a win over Midland on Monday. In his last six starts he has given up eight earned runs in 34 1/3 and lowered his ERA from 4.70 to 3.14. ... RHP Jon Ellis improved to 9-4 in 45 appearances with an inning of perfect relief against Corpus Christi on Tuesday. ... LHP Steve Garrison, who had lost back-to-back starts to Midland to have his record slip to 6-5, pitched six innings of three-hit baseball Wednesday during which he gave up one unearned run to Corpus Christi to improve to 7-5.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "We had three leadoff doubles and were 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position," Missions manager Bill Masse told the San Antonio Express-News after his team stalled offensively and had two players suffer injuries in a 3-2 home loss to Midland on Sunday. "That's not very good."

Springfield Cardinals (St. Louis Cardinals)
THE WEEK IN REVIEW: Springfield, which swept Northwest Arkansas in a series at home July 18-19, finished a so-so 3-4 week by losing two straight to the Naturals in Northwest Arkansas. The Cardinals were 19-16 at week's end and trailed Northwest Arkansas by two games in the North Division.

WHO'S HOT: SS Tyler Greene tied a franchise record by extending a hitting streak to 15 games with a single in a loss to Arkansas on Wednesday, then set a new mark with a bloop double on Thursday. The infielder then went 4-for-5 with four singles on Friday and hit three more singes in five at-bats on Saturday. He has raised his average from .230 to .259 during the streak. "The guy is outstanding," Northwest Arkansas manager Brain Poldberg told The Morning News on Saturday. "I kept telling him I was going to put an 'S' on his jersey for Superman. He has done it all against us." Greene is batting .344 against the Naturals. Greene matched teammate Allen's 15-gamer established earlier this season and Aaron Herr's 15-game streak in 2005.

WHO'S NOT: RHP Jess Todd, 3-4 with a 2.45 ERA, fell to 1-3 in a span of seven starts when he gave up four runs on eight hits over 4 1/3 innings against visiting Arkansas on Wednesday. In two of those seven games Todd didn't allow a run, pitching eight innings of 10-strikeout ball against Midland in a no-decision effort on June 29 and six innings in a win against Northwest Arkansas on June 18. But in three of the starts he gave up six, five and four runs. "My mechanics are a little off now," Todd told the Springfield News-Leader on Wednesday. "I've been flying open a little bit, and it's just something I'm going to have to work on." Todd, selected by St. Louis in the second round of the 2007 Draft, has been pitching with a blister on the index finger of his right hand for nearly a month.

NEWS & NOTES: St. Louis starter Chris Carpenter was only somewhat pleased on Sunday after making his first pitching appearance since undergoing Tommy John surgery in July of last year. He gave up one hit, walked four and struck out four in a 62-pitch effort over four shutout innings in a game Springfield eventually won against Northwest Arkansas. "For me, with that command, I'm not on any fast track," Carpenter told the Springfield News-Leader. "I just want to make sure I'm right when it's time to go. Obviously you want to be up there, compete and help your club. Me being up there and not being ready to pitch is not going to do any good.". ... RH Kyle Mura, who has converted to starting status, pitched four innings of relief for Carpenter and got the win. The effort left him 3-1 with a 2.08 ERA. ... RHP Fernando Salas earned his 18th save in 24 opportunities in an 8-7 win over Arkansas on Tuesday, but the closer also gave up the 10th home run in 55 2/3 innings pitched. He was the losing pitcher at Northwest Arkansas on Saturday. ... RHP Marco Gonzalez improved to 5-0 and lowered his ERA to 3.16 in 33 appearances with 1 2/3 shutout innings. ... Six Springfield relievers had to work 10 innings in a 10-7 loss in 13 innings to Northwest Arkansas on Monday. ... 1B Andrew Brown, who had two key RBIs and played a fine defensive game in a come-from-behind win against Arkansas on Tuesday, delivered the run in the bottom of the ninth inning on Thursday that enabled the Cardinals to tie the game, 1-1. Springfield won the game, 2-1, on a run-scoring hit by CF Jon Jay. Thursday's RBI gave Brown 24 in 35 games with the Cardinals and 10 in a span of eight games. ... RHP Adam Ottavino, 7-5 in 17 starts, pitched a season-high seven innings, gave up one unearned run, walked only one, struck out seven and yielded five hits to keep the Cardinals close in Thursday's nail-biter. ... OF Daryl Jones, called up from Class A Advanced Palm Beach on Thursday, went 0-for-3 in his Double-A debut. But he drew a walk that set up Springfield's tying run in the ninth inning. Jones struck out with the bases loaded in his first two at-bats at Northwest Arkansas on Friday. Jones was batting .326 with 25 extra-base-hits and 35 RBIs in 85 games in Florida. ... OF Cody Haerther, who was batting .297, was promoted to Triple-A Memphis.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "For me it was pretty much grip and rip. He's not throwing very hard, so I just had to be patient," Cardinals 3B Allen Craig told the Springfield News-Leader after delivering his team's only run, a solo home run, against LH Rowdy Hardy, the starter for Northwest Arkansas on Sunday. Hardy (4-0) gave up just the one run, Craig's 18th homer, over seven innings in a no-decision effort.

Tulsa Drillers (Colorado Rockies)
THE WEEK IN REVIEW: Tulsa's 3-4 week included two road losses to division-leader Northwest Arkansas. The Drillers remained in sight of the lead with an 18-17 record that left them in third place and three games behind the Naturals.

WHO'S HOT: 1B Jeff Kindel was on a torrid 7-for-16 in a four-game stretch through Tuesday. During the run he hit two homers, a pair of doubles, scored three times and accounted for 10 of his 50 RBIs in 95 games. Kindel slammed a three-run homer in a four-run rally in the eighth inning at Arkansas on Sunday that tied the game, 5-5. The Tulsa bullpen gave up the lead in the bottom of the inning and the Drillers lost, 6-5. Kindel hit a three-run homer and drove in another run to help his team build a 7-0 lead at Northwest Arkansas on Tuesday, but the Drillers' pitching staff couldn't stand the good fortune and Tulsa lost, 10-8. Kindel cooled a bit Wednesday, going 1-for-4 with a double, but had hit in eight straight games through Saturday. ... Teammate RF Daniel Carte led the charge in Tulsa's 11-6 win at Northwest Arkansas on Thursday, going 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs. That effort highlighted a four-game stretch in which he went 9-for-18 with two runs scored and six RBIs. Carte hit an inside-the-park home run in a win on Saturday.

WHO'S NOT: RHP Alan Johnson on Wednesday became the first 10-game loser in the Texas League this season. Johnson gave up four runs -- three earned -- in a 4-3 loss at Northwest Arkansas. Johnson, who gave up six hits, lost for the fourth time in his last five starts to fall to 3-10 with a 5.01 ERA.

ALSO CHILLY: RH Chaz Roe pitched a three-hit shutout at Arkansas on July 11. But the nine hits, eight earned runs and five walks Roe gave up in a no-decision effort against Northwest Arkansas on Tuesday were all highs in the nine starts that Roe -- taken by the Rockies in the compensation round of the 2005 Draft -- has made since arriving from Class A Advanced Modesto. Roe lasted just 4 2/3 innings on Tuesday, his shortest work day in 12 starts overall this season.

NEWS & NOTES: Every batter in Tulsa's starting lineup drove in at least one run in a 12-3 win at Arkansas on Monday. 3B Tony Blanco, Carte and LF Matt Miller drove in two each. ... The offensive outburst gave strong support to LHP Jeff Francis, the Colorado starter who was on a rehabilitation assignment. Francis, recovering from inflammation in his shoulder, threw 51 pitches, faced the minimum number of hitters and gave up one hit while striking out two in 3 2/3 innings. Francis followed Monday's effort by pitching 4 2/3 innings of four-hit ball in another Tulsa win on Saturday. Working on a strict pitch limit, Francis gave up one run, didn't walk a batter and struck out nine. A 17-game winner last season, Francis was Texas League Pitcher of the Year in 2004. ... RHP Ching-Lung Low (8-7) took over for Francis and got the win Monday. It was Lo's first non-start in 17 games this season. ... Miller hit a three-run triple in a loss on Wednesday, giving him nine RBIs in his last five games and 85 in 100 games this season. ... Disabled Rockies SS Troy Tulowitski played his final rehab game for the Drillers on Sunday and went 0-for-5. He was 7-for-21 with two homers, five runs scored and three RBIs in his five games with the Drillers. ... Fowler and RHP Casey Weathers received their U.S. Olympic Team uniforms following Saturday's game. They were to join the Olympic team on Monday. ... 2B Corey Wimberly became Tulsa's all-time base stealer with 84 when he swiped a bag on Friday. His 2008 total is 48 after stealing 36 last year. Eddie Miller stole 80 bases in Tulsa's inaugural season in 1977.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "We've just got to keep going; you can't rely on a lead early in a ballgame. When you've got them on the ropes, you've got to put them away," Tulsa manager Stu Cole told the Arkansas Democrat-Press after his team took a 7-0 lead after two innings and then stalled in a 10-8 disappointment at Northwest Arkansas on Tuesday.