Texas League notebook

Arkansas Travelers (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim)
THE WEEK IN REVIEW: A 3-3 week left the 23-31 Travelers right where they were one week earlier in the North Division standings, last place and eight games off the lead.

WHO'S HOT: 2B Nate Sutton was on a 10-game hitting streak through June 7 during which he went 19-for-38, scored seven runs, drove in five, homered and hit four doubles while raising his batting average from .264 to .317.

GROWING PAINS: LHP Trevor Reckling (3-1), who made quite a splash when he went 3-0 with a 1.05 ERA after joining the Travelers from Rancho Cucamonga in the Class A Advanced California League, is 0-1 in his last four starts. He survived a no-decision June 5 in which he gave up one earned run on three hits and seven walks in 6 1/3 innings. He has given up 18 hits and walked 11 over 21 2/3 innings in his last four starts.

NEWS & NOTES: RHP Jordan Walden, in his sixth Texas League start, put on a show to earn his first win in three decisions. He gave up just one run on three hits, struck out nine and walked two over five innings in a 6-1 win over Corpus Christi on June 4. "He was overpowering," manager Bobby Magallanes said in a team release. "We saw the stuff that we've been wanting to see, today." The win left Walden at 1-2 with a 5.76 ERA. ... RHP Trevor Bell, 4-2 with a 2.30 ERA, has given up just eight earned runs over 32 2/3 innings in his last six starts. "The one thing about Trevor is he pitches with his fastball," manager Bobby Magallanes told a team representative. ... In two starts on a 4-2 road trip, RHP Tommy Mendoza (3-2) was 1-0, but over 15 innings he gave up just two earned runs on eight hits, walked only two and struck out seven. ... LHP Barret Browning, 0-3 with a 2.58 ERA in 18 games, lost in back-to-back relief appearances at San Antonio on May 30 and June 1. ... Travelers pitchers walked 11 batters when the team's five-game winning streak against Corpus Christi ended June 5. "I don't want to see that again," Magallanes said in a team release after that game. "It was pretty sloppy all the way around, mentally and physically. It's not about the loss, it's how we lost."

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "Momentum is a big word in sports, and that's what we want to get right now," manager Bobby Magallanes said in a team release after the Travelers beat Corpus Christi, 6-1, on June 4 for their sixth win in seven games following their season-long eight-game losing streak. "We've got the right attitude, the camaraderie. Everything is kind of clicking right now. The guys are feeling good about themselves. There's real good energy in the dugout, and we hope to keep that going."

Corpus Christi Hooks (Houston Astros)
THE WEEK IN REVIEW: Playing 3-3 baseball left the 23-30 Hooks in the basement of the South Division, eight games out of first place.

HELD TO A MERE SINGLE: C Jonathan Fixler, in his 61st plate appearance, hit a two-run single in a 9-4 win over Springfield on June 1. It was his 11th hit this season and the first one not to go for extra bases. Until the single, Fixler had hit six homers and four doubles. He'd driven in 16 runs with his first 12 hits.

WHO'S NOT: RHP Brad James, 1-4 with a 7.73 ERA, remained winless in six starts following his only victory April 19, after he gave up four runs on eight hits over 5 1/3 innings in a June 3 loss at Arkansas. His dubious totals included 53 hits, 29 walks and four hit batters in 42 1/3 innings.

NEWS & NOTES: The Hooks won back-to-back games June 5-6, their first consecutive wins away from home since May 3-4 at Frisco. ... The Hooks' 4-2 win at Arkansas on June 5 was their first victory in six games against the Travelers this season. ... OF Mitch Einertson drove in four runs -- including a tie-breaking three-run homer in the eighth inning -- to help the Hooks win, 8-5, at Springfield on June 6. The homer was Einertson's first since April 26, and it was his first multi-RBI game since April 23. ... RHP Sergio Perez (3-5) didn't get the win June 5, but he gave up just one run over six innings. In his four previous starts, he'd gone 0-4 and given up 17 earned runs in 19 1/3 innings. ... RHP Chia-Jen Low was reinstated from the disabled list June 3. ... LHP Douglas Arguello, 2-3 with a 3.29 ERA in nine starts, was placed on the DL with an elbow problem. ... LHP Andy Van Hekken was reinstated from the inactive list.

THEY'VE GOT HIGH HOPES: "With this being June, we're through with the past and look forward to this month," OF Collin DeLome told the Corpus Christi Caller-Times after a 9-4 win June 1 gave the rusty Hooks back-to-back wins for the first time since May 8-9. "We're just looking to finish [the first half] strong and start the second half off that way." The Hooks opened a road trip June 3 with a 4-1 loss at Arkansas.

Frisco RoughRiders (Texas Rangers)
THE WEEK IN REVIEW: Frisco, 25-28 overall and 1-5 during the week, dropped from second place, three games out of first, to third place and six games off Midland's pace in the South Division.

WHO'S HOT: OF Craig Gentry extended his hitting streak to 14 games June 1, a span in which he scored 11 runs, knocked in seven and raised his batting average from .227 to .265. The streak ended when he went 0-for-3 on June 3, but over the next four games the center fielder went 8-for-18 with a double, a home run and four RBIs while boosting his average to .276. His double in the first inning June 5 ended a streak of 23 2/3 scoreless innings pitched by the Tulsa staff.

WHO'S NOT: RHP Pedro Strop, after pitching a scoreless ninth inning, walked two of the first three Drillers he faced in 10th inning after Tulsa and the RoughRiders had played nine scoreless frames at Frisco on June 4. Then RHP Jose Diaz, Frisco's closer, was beckoned. He retired the first Drillers batter he faced before walking the next two. Frisco lost the game, 1-0, to extend its streak of scoreless innings to 20, five short of the franchise record. Diaz had given up three runs on two hits and a pair of walks in his previous outing. Strop fell to 0-2 with the loss, and his ERA soared to 7.98 in 12 appearances with Frisco.

NEWS & NOTES: LHP Michael Ballard, who took the mound against Tulsa with an 0-2 record and 7.31 ERA in three starts, pitched eight shutout innings of eight-hit ball June 4, striking out eight without issuing a walk. Frisco lost the game, 1-0, in 10 innings. ... In his first start since coming off the disabled list, RHP Jared Hyatt (0-3) gave up five runs on eight hits in just three innings in a June 1 loss at NW Arkansas. In five starts, Hyatt gave up 21 earned runs on 35 hits over 18 2/3 innings (10.12 ERA). Then on June 6 Hyatt came in to spell rehabilitating Rangers RHP Matt Harrison and pitched four innings of one-run, three-hit relief. ... RHP Omar Poveda, who lost his only start after being moved up to Triple-A Oklahoma City, was returned to Frisco, where he was 5-3 with a 3.10 ERA. ... RHP Kea Kometani, who was 1-0 with a 5.40 ERA in 11 relief appearances, was released by the Texas organization.

LONG TIME COMIN': Frisco, backed by four RBIs from INF Adam Fox, ended a six-game losing streak, the team's longest since 2005, on June 7. A 12-run outburst against NW Arkansas marked the first time the RoughRiders had scored in double figures since May 9.

Midland RockHounds (Oakland Athletics)
THE WEEK IN REVIEW: Midland, 32-32, played 4-2 ball and increased its lead in the South Division from three games to five.

WHO'S HOT: 2B Adrian Cardenas went 9-for-16 over a four-game span, including 3-for-3 with a double and a run scored June 4, to take over the league lead in batting with a .389 average. He still led the league with a .385 average June 7.

IT'S GOOD TO BE DIFFERENT: On a night when seven NW Arkansas and Midland relievers combined to surrender 15 runs on 16 hits and 12 walks over 11 2/3 innings, 'Hounds RHP Jon Hunton was exceptional. He pitched two perfect innings. "He attacks the zone and he did a good job getting outs," RockHounds manager, Darren Bush, told the Midland Reporter-Telegram. "He's a gamer, he wants the ball and he competes. That is all you can ask out of a guy."

WHO'S NOT: RHP Travis Banwart, who was 3-0 with a 1.31 ERA after his first four starts, gave up a season-high eight runs on eight hits in a loss to visiting NW Arkansas on June 5 and fell to 5-2 with a 4.45 ERA after 11 starts. He has given up 15 runs on 19 hits and six walks over 7 2/3 innings in his last two outings.

NEWS & NOTES: RHP Jason Fernandez, 6-4 with a 3.92 ERA, beat NW Arkansas for a second straight start when he pitched a complete-game six-hitter June 4, helping him earn the league's Pitcher of the Week honors. Fernandez gave up just one run, fanning six without issuing a walk. He is 2-0 against the Naturals, having allowed three earned runs on 15 hits and two walks with 12 strikeouts over 15 innings. "The main thing was throwing strike one," Fernandez told the Midland Reporter-Telegram. ... LHP Bobby Cramer (3-3), who had struggled in his two previous starts, fired eight innings of five-hit, shutout ball in a 2-1 win over visiting Tulsa, and tough RHP Samuel Deduno, on June 6. "He hung a loss on me last time, so I wanted to hang a loss on his head," Cramer told the Reporter-Telegram after the 'Hounds ended Deduno's and Tulsa's five-game winning streaks. ... OF Archie Gilbert went 4-for-4 on June 7 to extend a hitting streak to 11 games and lift his average to .335.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "I don't measure them," OF Matt Spencer told the Midland Reporter-Telegram after his grand slam, his first home run at the Double-A level, was estimated to have traveled 400 feet in a 16-8 win over visiting Northwest Arkansas on June 3. "As long as they get over, I'm pretty happy." Spencer homered again the next night.

Northwest Arkansas Naturals (Kansas City Royals)
THE WEEK IN REVIEW: The Naturals, 26-28, steadied a bit with a 3-3 record after going 2-5 the previous week, but remained five games off the lead in third place in the North Division.

WHO'S HOT: OF Jordan Parraz connected for four of his team's 15 hits in a 16-8 loss at Midland on June 2. In a seven-game stretch in which he hit safely in each game, Parraz raised his batting average from .315 to .351 by going 14-for-27 with six RBIs, a double, a triple and three runs scored. ... INF Kurt Mertins won Player of the Week honors after going 12-for-22 with eight runs scored and six RBIs. With eight straight multi-hit games, he pushed his average back above .300 for the first time since late April.

WHO'S NOT: RHP Matt Kniginyzky threw 34 pitches to seven Midland batters in one-third of an inning June 3 and was gone. Four of the pitches went for hits, including one grand slam, and eight were balls that led to two walks. The starter was charged with six runs that led to his fourth straight loss. Kniginyzky's record after the 16-8 setback dropped to 1-6 and his ERA skied to 6.54.

NEWS & NOTES: RHP Blake Johnson admitted manager Brian Poldberg's recent harsh comments about the Naturals pitching staff hit home. Johnson (3-4) gave up one run on six hits over seven innings and got the win against Frisco on June 1. "I just want to go out there and do good, and try my hardest," Johnson told The Morning News. "I'm working hard, but it definitely lights a fire under you and gets you going." ... RHP Dan Cortes was the main target in Poldberg's mini-tirade, but the entire starting staff was also in the manager's sites. Cortes won June 5 but gave up four runs -- three earned -- on six hits over five innings at Midland. ... OF Jose Duarte, who was batting .250 in 28 games with the Naturals before he was promoted to Triple-A Omaha, was returned to NW Arkansas on June 1 after hitting .182 in 17 games.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "I'm typically a slow starter," INF Corey Smith told The Morning News after driving in six runs with a homer and two other hits in an 11-2 win over Frisco on June 1. "I don't really get going 'til it gets hot outside. It's kind of funny, but it's kind of true. When it starts to get warm, so do I." Smith batted .179 and hit two homers in April. He began to warm with a .282 average, six homers and 20 RBIs in May before unloading on June 1.

San Antonio Missions (San Diego Padres)
THE WEEK IN REVIEW: San Antonio, 27-28, played 3-3 baseball and moved from third place to second in the South Division, but still dropped a game further back of Midland, five games off the lead.

WHO'S HOT: The way OF Mike Baxter was hitting, it was only a matter of time before San Diego promoted him to Triple-A, and on June 6, the day after his 14-game hitting streak ended with an 0-for-4 at Springfield, Baxter was moved up to Portland. At the time of his promotion, Baxter led the Missions with a .376 average, 76 hits, 23 doubles, 45 RBIs, a .441 on-base-percentage and a .559 slugging percentage in 51 games. He was also among the league leaders in all those categories. He was named the TL Player of the Month in May, having been a two-time Player of the Week. During a 14-game hitting streak, he drove in at least three runs in a game four times.

NICE GAME: OF Luis Durango singled and scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning of a 2-1 victory over visiting Arkansas on June 1, then threw out the potential tying run from center field to end the game in the ninth. "He used to have a 'two' arm, which is nothing," manager Terry Kennedy said in a release from the team. "Now he's got a plus-plus arm."

WHO'S NOT: RHP Stephen Faris, 2-7 with a 5.43 ERA in 11 starts, remained winless in eight starts since his second win April 20. The 6-foot-1 right-hander got a no-decision after giving up five runs on eight hits over five innings at Springfield on June 3. His seven losses represented 27 percent of his team's 26 losses.

NEWS & NOTES: RHP John Hudgins, who had held opponents scoreless over 10 innings in his previous nine relief appearances, allowed two runs and took the loss in a 5-3 setback at Springfield on June 5. ... SS Lance Zawadzki drove in four runs, three of them on a third-inning double, in the Missions' 8-1 victory over Springfield on June 4. ... RHP Mat Latos continued to impress, hurling 6 2/3 innings of five-hit, shutout ball in that same game, polishing his totals in three Double-A starts to 2-0 with just one earned run allowed over 17 2/3 innings as he's struck out 19 and walked six. He left the game with a streak of 13 2/3 scoreless frames. ... RHP Ernesto Frieri, 5-2 with a 3.22 ERA, rebounded nicely from a terrible outing, throwing six shutout innings of three-hit ball June 1 against Arkansas for a no-decision. His previous outing (May 27 at Springfield) had been the worst of his eight starts to date. Frieri backslid a bit June 7, taking the loss against the Travelers after allowing three runs on six hits and one walk over 5 2/3 innings.

Springfield Cardinals (St. Louis Cardinals)
THE WEEK IN REVIEW: The Cardinals' lead in the North Division narrowed from three games to two after a 3-3 week left them with a 31-23 record.

EXTRA BASES: Although they may not know it, Cardinals 1B Matt Arburr and Corpus Christi C Jonathan Fixler have something in common: extra-base hits. Arburr hit a three-run homer and drove in another run in an 8-5 loss to Corpus Christi on June 6. Four of Arburr's first eight hits with the Cardinals went for extra bases -- three homers and a double -- after five of his last 10 hits at Class A Advanced Palm Beach also went for extras: four homers and a double. Fixler hit six home runs and four doubles before he finally singled.

WHO'S NOT: "He had been given substantial opportunities in the organization," Springfield manager Pop Warner told the Springfield News-Leader after the Cardinals released RHP Tyler Herron, a first-round selection in 2005, on June 3. "He wasn't progressing the way we had hoped, and the way we thought he would. He was taking innings away from guys we thought were more deserving." Herron was 2-4 with a 4.34 ERA in nine starts this season.

NEWS & NOTES: C Steven Hill, mired in a slump in which he had just five hits in 11 games, ripped a run-scoring double in the bottom of the seventh inning that broke a 2-2 tie and was the go-ahead run in a 5-3 win over visiting San Antonio on June 5. ... the Cardinals moved LHP Brad Furnish, a second-round pick in 2006, from the bullpen to the starting rotation, with the hope that he would sharpen his command. Furnish lasted just two innings against visiting San Antonio on June 4, giving up six earned runs on four hits and five walks in the stint. He struck out two. "I'm not going to base it on one bad outing by Furnish," manager Pop Warner told the Springfield News-Leader. ... RHP Lance Lynn took the mound in Corpus Christi on June 1 with a 4-0 record and 2.54 ERA in five starts. Four innings, 83 pitches and seven earned runs later he was 4-1 with a 4.18 ERA.

LEARNING CURVE: "What are you going to do?," 2B Daniel Descalso told the Springfield News-Leader after going 3-for-4 and missing hitting for the cycle by a single on June 7. "Three-for-four is not a bad night."

Tulsa Drillers (Colorado Rockies)
THE WEEK IN REVIEW: The Drillers, 29-25, played 4-2 baseball, but the two losses rankled, coming at the end of a week in which they'd won five in a row. They remained in second place in the North Division and were two games back of Springfield.

WHO'S HOT: Tulsa's pitching staff, paced by RHP Esmil Rogers, LHP Brandon Durden and RHP Jhoulys Chacin, all starters, gave up just one run on 10 hits in a three-game sweep at Frisco that ended with a 4-2 win June 5. Drillers pitchers had a streak of 23 2/3 shutout innings in the works when Frisco scored in the first frame on Friday.

GO FIGURE THIS GAME: Drillers LHP Keith Weiser (3-4) got the win in Tulsa's 4-1 victory June 1 after limiting Midland to one run on nine hits, striking out three without issuing a walk in a 97-pitch outing. On the flip side, Midland RHP Graham Godfrey (4-4) took a bit of a hard-luck loss in the game, allowing four runs on six hits and fanning five with one walk in a 92-pitch complete game.

NEWS & NOTES: The Drillers drew four walks in the top of the 10th inning June 4 to knock off Frisco, 1-0. ... RHP Andrew Johnson finished the week 16-for-17 in save opportunities. ... C Michael McKenry drove in two runs with his second homer in as many games in the 4-1 win over Midland on June 1. In four games, he went 7-for-17 with two homers, two doubles and seven RBIs. ... Light-hitting 2B Rex Rundgren went 5-for-10 with a pair of doubles and three RBIs in the three-game sweep at Frisco.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "He was exactly the same," Midland SS Josh Horton told the Midland Reporter-Telegram on June 6 after his team handed Tulsa RHP Samuel Deduno his second loss this season. "Everything he throws is moving one way or another and it's deceptive." Deduno (6-2) had been 5-0 in his six previous starts, not having lost a decision in eight starts since April 16.