Hooks Down Hounds in Season Series Finale
There could have been no more fitting an end to the season series between the RockHounds and Corpus Christi than what transpired Friday night at Whataburger Field. The Hooks erased a 3-1 deficit and "walked off" with a 4-3 win on Erik Castro's bases-loaded single in the ninth.
The Hooks were the RockHounds baseball "Waterloo" in 2013, as the clubs completed their season series with Corpus Christi winning 23-of-32 games. The RockHounds finished 9-23 against the Hooks and are 47-51 against the rest of the league (with 10 games remaining).
In addition, the four games in the series at Corpus Christi were decided by a total of five runs.
On element of suspense missing from the game was D'Arby Myers' hit streak, but that drama will continue in Frisco (see below).
The RockHounds took a 3-1 lead in the fifth with a Chad Oberacker walk and a Vinnie Catricala single setting the table. Conner Crumbliss drove in two with a single to left and scored the inning's third run on Jefry Marte's RBI single (see "Kibbles & Bits," below). All three 'Hounds runs came at the expense of Houston Astros' prospect Mike Foltynewicz.
Corpus rallied back on a sixth-inning solo home run from Matt Duffy and tied the game when Ronny Torreyes doubled leading off the seventh and later scored on a wild pitch. Jeff Urlaub, very uncharacteristically, walked three batters (one of them intentionally) in the ninth before Castro's walk-off single up the middle. Entering the game, Urlaub had walked just 10 batters all season.
Kibbles & Bits
- D'Arby Myers hit streak of 28 consecutive games remains intact entering the series at Frisco, as he was a late scratch from Friday's line-up Friday night. The streak is the longest In professional baseball in 2013. In the 28-gamer, D'Arby is hitting .371 (43-116), and is tied for fifth (with Conner Crumbliss) in the Texas League with a .290 average (former RockHound Anthony Aliotti leads the league at .350).
- Jefry Marte has hit in nine consecutive games, and is batting over .500 in the streak (18-35, .514). The 'Hounds' third baseman has also hit in 15-of-his-last-18 games, going 24-for-63 (.381).
- Conner Crumbliss has reached base in 39-of-his-last-41 games and has hit in nine-of-his-last-ten games (16-39, .410). Despite playing in only 82 of the 'Hounds' 130 games (he opened the season at Triple-A), Conner is fifth in the Texas League with 63 walks … third in on-base percentage (.416) … and is tied (with D'Arby Myers) for fifth in the league batting race at .290.
- The RockHounds conclude their final road trip of the year with a three-game series at Frisco. The clubs play Saturday and Monday at 7:05 p.m. and Sunday at 6:05 p.m. The 'Hounds then close the 2013 season with a seven-game home stand beginning Tuesday, August 27, and running through Labor Day (Monday, September 2).
WP: Jonas Dufek (6-0, 0.55)
LP: Jeff Urlaub (2-2, 3.86)
HR: Corpus Christi - Matt Duffy (4) Solo in the 6th (off Blake Hassebrock)
Next Game
vs. Frisco RoughRiders (Texas Rangers' AA Affiliate)
Saturday, August 24 - 7:05 p.m. (Radio at 7:00 p.m.)
Dr Pepper Ballpark - Frisco, TX
Probable Starters
RockHounds: (RH) Drew Carpenter (0-1, 2.00)
Frisco: (RH) Arlett Mavare (3-2, 4.60)