Extra Bags Help 'Riders Even Series
The Frisco RoughRiders piggybacked off another strong outing from Luke Jackson and three extra base hits to earn a 6-0 win Wednesday night at Dr Pepper Ballpark.
Frisco (34-23) stopped a two-game slide, picked up its first victory in June and sustained a 3 1/2 game lead over Midland for the division lead.
The Missions (30-28) used plenty of defensive substitutions in an attempt to slow down the 'Riders batters, but the road team couldn't get their own bats going and failed to score a run in a game for the first time since May 6. Since the Midland Rockhounds shut out the Corpus Christi Hooks 2-0 Wednesday night, San Antonio is now solely in third place in the Texas League South.
The Texas League leader in wins, Jackson (7-2), showcased his talent over the course of six innings pitched. Jackson only gave up four hits with two walks and four strikeouts.
Josh Geer (2-6) took the loss and allowed a season-high five earned runs over five innings and struck out only one batter. The veteran pitcher had good command early on and used a 1-2-3 first inning to keep Frisco off the board. It wouldn't take long for that to change as the middle of Frisco's order started swinging early in the count and earning dividends because of it.
After Jake Smolinski hit a sharp grounder to left field, Tomas Telis swung on his first pitch and brought Smolinski home with an RBI double to right. Teodoro Martinez scored a run by grounding out on a 1-0 count followed by Drew Robinson hitting the first pitch he saw to give the 'Riders a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second.
Frisco continued to swing early and often in the third inning. Jim Adduci earned his first RBI with the RoughRiders when he drove one to the back wall as he sprinted all the way around to third. Telis notched his second RBI of the night with a perfectly placed sacrifice fly to center field and increased the lead to 5-0 after three frames.
Jackson, 22, remained strong while on the mound throughout the night, never giving up more than one hit in any single frame. The 6-2, 205 pound righty looked impressive when he brought the heat with a 96-mph fastball to strikeout Reymond Fuentes in the fifth inning.
The 'Riders added another run in the sixth inning after Odubel Herrera singled to left and earned his 14th RBI of the season in giving Frisco a 6-0 lead.
Francisco Mendoza relieved Jackson in the seventh inning and struck out his first two batters faced. The Frisco reliever, though, struggled to close out the inning as the 26-year-old pitcher hit the next batter and allowed Fuentes to smack a single to right. Adduci showed his big league tools with a great grab in left field to help Mendoza get off the hill unscathed.
Wilmer Font came in for the final frame and quickly used a 1-2-3 inning to give the 'Riders their 34th win of the season.
The RoughRiders and Missions will play for the series lead Thursday at 7:05 p.m. at Dr Pepper Ballpark. Frisco righty Ryan Bores (1-3, 3.57 ERA) will look to build off Frisco's win and face fellow right-hander John Hussey (1-3, 4.54 ERA). For tickets to see the 'Riders in 2014, call 972-731-9200, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.ridersbaseball.com.