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Texas League notebook 07/14/2008 10:00 AM ETBy Kit Stier / Special to MLB.com
Arkansas Travelers (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) THE WEEK IN REVIEW: The Travelers drew the wrath of their manager as the North Division's first-half champions had their second-half record dip to 6-15. They finished the week in last place, 7 1/2 games off the lead and five games out of third place. CHANGES: C/1B Ben Johnson was promoted to Triple-A Salt Lake and picked up right where he left off for the Double-A Travelers. Johnson went 2-for-4 and drove in two runs in his debut with the Bees on Monday. On Sunday, in his last game with the Travelers, Johnson tied the Texas League lead with his 20th homer and upped his league lead in RBIs to 71 in 84 games. C Anel De Los Santos, called up from Class A Cedar Rapids, won't cause the Travelers to forget Johnson anytime soon, but at least made his debut with Arkansas memorable. Batting .178 with six doubles, three homers and 25 RBIs in 26 games at Cedar Rapids, De Los Santos went 3-for-5, scored twice and doubled in a 12-5 win at Frisco on Monday. Then he went a combined 0-for-7 in his next two games. ... The Travelers also sent C Tim Duff to Salt Lake. WHO'S HOT: Chris Pettit, Minor League Player of the Year in the Angels system last year, got off to a rocky start with the Travelers when he broke his right foot and suffered a tendon injury in his first game on April 3. He recently returned to action with the Travelers and in his first nine games, including the game in April, batted .077 with just one RBI. But on Monday Pettit broke out in a big way, hitting a grand slam, driving in a career-high seven runs and going 4-for-5 in a 12-5 win at Frisco. "It definitely feels good to have a night like this," Pettit said. "Some people were trying to make excuses for me, that I had a few months off. But I don't want to make any excuses. I expect to contribute, help the team win and put up good numbers." Pettit, drafted by the Angels in the 19th round of the 2006 Draft, batted .327 with 18 homers and 30 steals with two Class A teams last season. Pettit wasn't quite as hot on Tuesday, but did double and drive in one of his team's three runs in a 9-3 loss to the RoughRiders and by the end of play on Saturday he'd hit in five straight games. WHO'S NOT: RHP Brok Butcher was 4-1 with a 4.45 ERA and opposing batters were hitting him at a .269 clip after a win against Corpus Christi on May 28. On Sunday, in his seventh start since that win against the Hooks, Butcher gave up eight runs on 12 hits in five innings in a loss at Frisco on Sunday, leaving him with a 5-5 record, 6.00 ERA and a .314 average against. His last four starts were particularly disturbing. The California native gave up 30 earned runs on 45 hits, including five homers, in 22 1/3 innings. NEWS & NOTES: RHP Rafael Rodriguez played a key role in Monday's big win at Frisco, holding the powerful RoughRiders to one hit and striking out five over the final three innings to earn his first save. Rodriguez, who began the season at Triple-A, has a 1.48 ERA through his first 20 games with the Travelers. ... RHP Dan Denham lost his third straight start when he gave up six earned runs in six innings at Frisco on Tuesday. Denham (6-8) has allowed 19 earned runs on 33 hits and nine walks in his last 22 1/3 innings. ... RHP Francisco Rodriguez (5-7) lost his third straight start and remained winless in six starts when he gave up seven runs -- six earned -- to Tulsa on Friday. ... On Saturday DH Brian Stavisky became the fourth player in the two-year history of Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock to hit a monster shot over the wall in center field. QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "If these guys need me to get thrown out and motivate them then we don't got the right guys if that's what they need," manager Bobby Magallanes ranted to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Thursday after being ejected in a 6-5 home loss to Tulsa that left his first-half title team 5-13 in the second half. He didn't consider his ejection to be a motivational tool. "It's just flat. There's no life. There's no energy. I'm seeing complacency," Magallanes said. "I'm seeing a team that's content with where they're at. In baseball, there's no room for that. You're always playing for something. You're playing to get to the big leagues, you're playing for numbers, you're playing for other scouts, you are playing for pride. And I'm just not seeing that out of our team. If I'm playing sandlot I want to win. If I'm playing marbles I want to kick your tail. If I'm playing Monopoly with my family and I'm playing against my wife I want to kick my wife's tail." ... The manager paced his team through a special drill prior to Friday's game, a 12-0 home loss to the red-hot Drillers.
Corpus Christi Hooks (Houston Astros) WHO'S HOT: OF Val Majewski homered in a loss at Northwest Arkansas on Monday, his third roundtripper in 13 games since joining the Hooks. On Monday Majewski had his fourth straight two-hit game. He went 1-for-5 with an RBI on Tuesday, then 2-for-5 on both Thursday and Friday giving him at least one hit in 15 of the 16 games he has played with the Hooks. He has seven multi-hit games. WHO'S NOT: RHP Chance Douglass (4-7) and his immediate replacement, RHP Ryan McKeller, combined to allow 14 earned runs on 13 hits and seven walks in 4 1/3 innings in a 16-10 loss at Northwest Arkansas on Tuesday that left the Hooks 3-17 on the road since June 1. RHP Samuel Gervacio spelled McKeller, threw one pitch inside to INF/DH Juan Richardson and hit the Naturals batter with his next offering. Gervacio was ejected and so was Hooks manager Luis Pujols after an incident that nearly led to a brawl. The loss left Douglass 0-4 in his last five starts. It was his shortest start in 15 this season and his shortest in 44 starts dating back to July 19, 2006. The Hooks scored four runs in the top of the first inning, or as many as they'd scored while losing 4-2 and 9-2 in the first two games of the series. "We score four runs in the first inning and then we give up five in the first," Pujols told The Morning News after his team collected 13 hits and stranded nine runners. "That's tough. We scored 10 runs, but we gave up too many." NEWS & NOTES: The Hooks were encouraged when RHP Bud Norris, out since May 14 with an elbow strain, pitched two shutout innings of one-hit ball in an abbreviated start at Northwest Arkansas on Sunday. Norris, working on a strict pitch count, threw 21 pitches, including 15 for strikes, struck out one and didn't walk a batter in a game the Hooks eventually lost 4-2. ... RHP Thomas Fairchild, normally a starter, spelled Norris and took a 1-0 lead into the fifth. But allowed four runs on six hits in four innings to fall to 1-6 with a 9.20 ERA in eight games. He's 0-5 in five games since his lone win on May 31. ... RHP Jose Oyervidez, who took over when RHP Brad James left Monday's game in the third inning with an apparent health issue, let in all three runners James put on base and gave up four runs of his own on 10 hits in four innings. ... The Hooks followed a big win against Frisco on Thursday with another one-sided victory over the RoughRiders on Friday. 2B Drew Sutton went 3-for-5 and drove in four runs. He and teammate OF Jarrad Ball, who went 4-for-5 and scored three runs, both homered in a five-run fifth inning. The offensive outburst was a big plus for LHP Andy Van Hekken, who improved to 2-0 in two Texas League starts by limiting the league's most potent offense to two runs -- one earned -- on seven hits over seven innings. He struck out six and walked one. QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "You can't put it on the jerseys," 3B Chris Johnson told the Corpus Christi Caller-Times after contributing four hits and three RBI in a 9-2 win over visiting Frisco on Thursday that helped his team snap a three-game losing streak. The Hooks were wearing the uniforms of the 1958 Giants, who were being celebrated at Whataburger Field over the weekend because they gave Corpus Christi its first Texas League championship that season. "[LHP] Polin Trinidad threw a great game and offensively we didn't need to do much to get the win. You've got to give him the most credit." Trinidad gave up two runs over 7 2/3 innings to the league powerhouse RoughRiders. But Johnson's effort was a big plus. He'd gone 2-for-23 in his previous six games.
Frisco Rough Riders (Texas Rangers) WHO'S HOT: 2B Jose Vallejo went 3-for-3, scored twice and drove in another in a 9-3 win over visiting Arkansas on Tuesday. In his first 13 games after joining the RoughRiders from Class A Advanced Bakersfield, the speedy infielder has batted .326 (15-for-46), scored 10 runs, drove in nine, hit four doubles, one triple, one homer and stole four bases in four attempts. WHO'S NOT: RHP Joselo Diaz, who gave up just one earned run over 13 innings in his first seven games with the RoughRiders, was tagged for five runs on five hits in 2/3 of an inning in a 12-5 loss to visiting Arkansas on Monday. One of the hits was a grand slam by OF Chris Pettit. NIGHT & DAY: LHP Derek Lee, who gave up two hits, struck out three and didn't walk a batter in is Double-A debut against Springfield on July 5, was ripped for seven runs on 10 hits with two strikeouts in five innings in a loss at Corpus Christi on Thursday. NEWS & NOTES: It was a dark Friday for RHP Michael Schlact, who allowed a season-high 13 hits and 10 earned runs in 4 1/3 innings in a 12-3 loss at Corpus Christi. ... RHP Andrew Laughter, who had six saves in eight attempts and was 1-1 in 17 games, was placed on the disabled list on Monday. ... RHP Neftali Feliz, promoted from Class A Clinton on Monday, gave up three runs on six hits with six strikeouts and one walk over five innings in his Double-A debut, a no-decision effort in a game Frisco lost 12-5. Feliz was 6-3 with a 2.52 ERA at Clinton. ... RHP J.B. Diaz was perfect in his first three relief outings after joining the RoughRiders from Bakersfield. He pitched two innings twice, one inning once, and hasn't allowed a hit or a walk with five strikeouts. ... OF/DH Ben Harrison drove in three runs and singled, doubled and homered in four at-bats on Sunday. He had eight RBIs in a span of six games and 56 for the season and his batting average was a tidy .322. ... RHP Trey Hodges, who had lost his previous two starts, was winless in his previous four and given up 21 earned runs in 18 1/3 innings in that span, improved to 7-6 on Tuesday when he worked six innings and allowed three runs in a win over Arkansas. Hodges struck out seven in the victory, but walked five and gave up four hits.
Midland RockHounds (Oakland Athletics)
WHO'S NOT: LHP Justin Dowdy threw 10 pitches to three Springfield batters in one-third of an inning to pick up the loss on Sunday. He allowing two runs in a 6-4 setback that ended a four-game Midland win streak. It was Dowdy's second loss in three appearances. He has given up at least one run in seven of his nine previous appearances for a total of 14 runs in 11 innings. The loss on Sunday left Dowdy 1-3 with a 7.88 ERA and one save in one chance in 30 games.
NEWS & NOTES: OF Tommy Everidge drove in three runs with his 16th homer and scored another run in a 5-4 home loss to Springfield on Monday. His sacrifice fly on Tuesday gave him 69 RBIs this season. That total tied him for the club lead with former teammate 3B Jesus Guzman, who was promoted to Triple-A Sacramento on June 30. ... INF Michael Affronti, who batted .314 with a homer and eight RBIs in 14 games with Midland, was promoted to Sacramento on Tuesday. ... INF Sean Doolittle was promoted from Class A Advanced Stockton, where he was batting .305 with 16 RBIs and 18 homers. He made his Double-A debut on Thursday and went 3-for-6 with a double in a loss at San Antonio. He was 1-for-4 with a double and a run scored in his second game.
Northwest Arkansas Naturals (Kansas City Royals)
WHO'S HOT: On Tuesday 1B Kila Ka'aihue capped a torrid five-game surge by hitting a pair of homers, including a grand slam, and drove in six runs to pace the Naturals to a 16-10 blowout over staggering Corpus Christi. After an off day on Wednesday, Ka'aihue went 2-for-3 on Thursday and drove in four more runs, including three with a homer that highlighted a five-run comeback in the ninth inning of an 11-10 win. Ka'aihue raised his batting average from .280 to .305 by going 11-for-19, drove in 14 runs, scored 10, hit four doubles and slammed five homers to take the league lead with 23. Ka'aihue, who had never hit more than 21 homers in a season, told The Morning News, "It's fun. It's hard work, it's the off-season training. Everything has come together and I'm just enjoying it right now." The infielder has drawn 62 walks and owns a fine .453 on-base-percentage.
WHO'S NOT: Kyle Crist hit a batter and gave up a home run in the bottom of the ninth inning at Springfield on Friday, marking the end of a five-game win streak for Northwest Arkansas. It was the first loss in four decisions for the reliever and left his ERA at 4.05.
NEWS & NOTES: RHP Chris Nicoll allowed three runs and suffered a loss and blown save in his first Double-A relief appearance on June 18 after being promoted from Class A Advanced Wilmington. But over his next four outings he hasn't allow a run in 7 2/3 innings and on Sunday hit the jackpot with four shutout innings of one-hit relief during which he didn't walk a batter, struck out two and earned a save in Northwest Arkansas's 4-2 win over visiting Corpus Christi. Nicoll entered the game with the bases loaded and no one out. A double-play bouncer enabled the Hooks to close to within 3-2, but Nicoll got a another groundout to end the inning. "I learned a lot from the first outing," Nicoll told The Morning News. "It's always scary when it's your first outing and it's a little bit rough. You have to wonder, 'Am I good enough for this league or not?' But I think since then I've answered those questions for myself." Chosen in the third round of the 2005 Draft by Kansas City, Nicoll had a 2.91 ERA in 20 games -- one start -- at Wilmington. ... No. 9 hitter C Adam Donachie, batting just .207 in 56 games at game time, went 4-for-4, drove in a run and scored once in a 9-2 win over Corpus Christi on Monday. He had two hits in a seven-run third inning. "I haven't got the breaks and today I was hitting them where they weren't," the catcher told The Morning News. "It just feels good right now." ... While Ka'aihue led the Naturals offense with six RBIs on Tuesday, 3B Ed Lucas drove in six runs with a homer and two singles. It was the second straight three-hit game for the infielder, who went 6-for-8 and accounted for six of his 14 RBIs in 34 games with the Naturals. ... RHP Julio Pimentel (4-9) had been 0-4 in his previous five starts before facing Corpus Christi Tuesday night. He gave up four runs on five hits in the first inning, but no runs on three hits over the next five and took advantage of his team's potent offense in a 16-10 victory.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "I feel the same at home as I do on the road, but for some reason I get it done at home. I've got to figure out how to bring that to the road," RHP Blake Wood told The Morning News after improving to 2-0 with a 1.17 ERA in three starts at home following seven innings of one-run pitching in a win over Corpus Christi Monday. Wood, who has struck out 22 and walked one in 23 innings of work at home, is 0-3 with a 5.00 ERA on the road and has struck out 15 and walked nine in those games.
San Antonio Missions (San Diego Padres)
WHO'S HOT: OF Craig Cooper went 4-for-6 with a pair of homers on Monday, giving him 11 hits in 25 at-bats over a five game stretch in which he scored six runs, drove in four, hit four doubles and three home runs. He went 2-for-3 on Tuesday.
WHO'S NOT: RHP Greg Burke (1-4) who blew his first save opportunity in 15 tries in a come-from-behind Drillers win at Tulsa on Sunday, did a complete meltdown with some help from his teammates when Tulsa scored six runs after one was out in the bottom of the ninth inning to stun San Antonio 7-6 on Tuesday. In one-third of an inning Burke allowed six runs, only three of which were earned, on one hit, four walks, a hit batter and a wild pitch. He departed with the bases loaded and all three of the runners RHP Mike Ekstrom inherited scored.
NEWS & NOTES: C David Parrish, released by Tulsa, was signed by the Missions on Monday. He went 0-for-2 in a loss to the Drillers the same night, but did draw a pair of walks. ... C B.J. Dubarry, who played in one game with the Missions after arriving from Class A, was given his release to make room for Parrish. ... RHP Paul Abraham, who had allowed two runs over 12 relief innings in nine games since joining the Missions in early June, suffered his first loss with San Antonio in just one-third of an inning on Sunday. ... OF/1B Mike Baxter led San Antonio offensively in that 9-8 Sunday setback in Tulsa, going 3-for-4 with a double, two-run single and solo home run. ... RHP Jon Ellis, who had gone 5-0 in 16 relief appearances since taking a loss on May 21, was the losing pitcher in a 5-4 loss in 11 innings at Tulsa on Monday. ... LHP Steve Garrison gave up three earned runs in a no-decision start on Monday. He had gone six starts and been 3-0 since he last allowed three runs in a start on May 31. ... A 14-game hitting streak by 2B Gabe Lopez ended with on 0-for-4 line on Tuesday. He had four multi-hit games and raised his average from .208 to .254 during the stretch. ... RHP Neil Jamison was activated from the disabled list on Thursday. ... RHP Paul Abraham was disabled with a shoulder strain the same day.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "It took a long time to get this one, but it felt great," Cooper told the San Antonio Express-News after he and new teammate Parrish played key roles in the Missions' 2-1, 12-inning victory over San Antonio on Thursday. "We had leads get away in our last three games, so it was nice to come through with a win." Parrish got the rally started with a double and Cooper hit a ball that was misplayed and enabled Parrish to score the winning run.
Springfield Cardinals (St. Louis Cardinals)
WHO'S HOT: RF Mark Shorey drove in two runs on Sunday and two more on Monday, giving him six RBIs in a five-game span in which he went 7-for-22 with a double, two home runs and three runs scored. By Friday he had extended a modest hitting streak to eight games, a mini-burst that ended with an 0-for-4 on Saturday.
THE STREAK: 3B Allen Craig extended his hitting streak to 15 games with his 15th homer on Friday and tied the franchise record set by Aaron Herr in 2005. But the infielder failed to take the record all for his own when he went 0-for-4 on Saturday. On Friday Craig stepped to the plate in the ninth inning 0-for-4 against visiting Northwest Arkansas and hit his 15th roundtripper of the year with a teammate on base to break a 2-2 tie. Craig, who was homerless in June, was 24-for-63 with four homers during his hot spell.
WHO'S NOT: If RHP Fernando Salas has been anything of late he has been inconsistent. On Thursday, in his 21st save opportunity, Salas blew his sixth chance in a big way. He allowed five runs, two of them on home runs, in the ninth inning that lifted Tulsa to an 11-10 come-from-behind victory over the Cardinals in Springfield. It was the right-hander's third blown save since June 27. In 11 appearances since June 12 the right-hander has given up 13 earned runs over 14 innings. "He just didn't execute on some of the locations," Cardinals catcher Matt Pagnozzi told the Springfield News-Leader. "I think his aggressiveness has been the same. His locations have just been a little off."
NEWS & NOTES: The Cardinals have ruled out surgery as an option for RHP Mark McCormick, who took a cortisone shot on June 20. He has had prior surgery. ... OF Jon Jay, out with a sore shoulder since going 0-for-4 on July 4, is close to returning to the lineup. ... 1B Andrew Brown homered in the top of the 12th inning on Monday to make the difference in a 5-4 win at Midland. It was Brown's fifth blast and first since June 25. ... RHP Marco Gonzalez improved to 3-0 with 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief on Sunday. In the games Gonzalez has won he has pitched 4 2/3 innings. He earned his first save with another inning and on Monday earned his second with a 1-2-3 inning. In his first 26 relief appearances Gonzalez has earned three wins and two saves. ... On Monday at Midland, RHP Luke Gregerson gave up three runs in a game for the third time in a span of six relief appearances. ... RHP Kyle Mura, who pitched five shutout innings of four-hit ball to earn a win in his Double-A debut on July 4, gave up two runs on six hits in six innings on Tuesday, but lost 2-0 to Midland. Mura, who was 5-2 at Class A Advanced Palm Beach when he was promoted, didn't walk a batter in either of his first two starts.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "You can't be Jess Todd every night. Some nights you just have to go out and compete and battle a little," Springfield manager Pop Warner told the Springfield News-Leader on Thursday after RHP Jess Todd (2-3) stepped out of character in a no-decision start against Tulsa in which he gave up a season-high six runs on six hits and four walks. The start, which was Todd's shortest since he pitched 3 1/3 innings in his Double-A debut on May 7, lasted 4 2/3 frames.
Tulsa Drillers (Colorado Rockies)
WHO'S HOT: OF Matt Miller drove in three runs in three straight games through Friday to take over the league RBI lead with 74.
WHO'S NOT: LHP Brian Bogusevic, Houston's first-round Draft pick from 2005 who was 2-6 with a 5.50 ERA in 17 starts for the Drillers this season, may be about to become an outfielder. The Drillers sent Bogusevic, an outfielder as a college player at Tulane, to Class A Advanced Salem to begin the conversion. He went 2-for-3 with a homer and two RBIs in his first two games with the Avalanche.
Big Boppers: Beat writer Barry Lewis of the Tulsa World noted that the top four batters in Tulsa's lineup combined to go 12-for-23 in an 18-hit, 9-8 victory in 10 innings over visiting San Antonio on Sunday and all four finished the game batting above .300. 2B Eric Young Jr. was batting .302, scalding-hot Dexter Fowler hit a pair of homers and was up to .339, OF Matt Miller was fourth in the league with a .349 average and 3B Tony Blanco stood at .320. ... So it was strange that slumping OF Justin Nelson, batting .195 in 190 at-bats at game time, was the biggest thumper. Nelson hit a game-tying two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth and a two-RBI triple to tie the game 6-6 in the seventh. Fowler had a 12-game hitting streak end on Thursday, a hot spell in which he had seven multi-hit games.
NEWS & NOTES: Tulsa's 12-0 victory over Arkansas on Friday was a big plus for RHP Chaz Roe, 3-0 in seven starts with Tulsa, who pitched the first nine-inning complete-game this season for the Drillers. He yielded three hits, struck out seven and walked one. ... CF Dexter Fowler's 12-game hitting streak ended on Tuesday, but his 0-for-3 included a run scored, an RBI and two walks. He scored 13 runs and drove in 11 while raising his average from .312 to .330 during the hot spell. ... C Rick Guarno joined the Drillers on Sunday from Triple-A Colorado Springs, where he was batting .237 in 24 games. He went 3-for-5 in his first game with the Drillers on Monday. ... There's a plan afoot to try out RHP Casey Weathers, who had fewer hits and more strikeouts than innings pitched in his first 33 appearances, in the closer's role on occasion. ... The Missions and Drillers combined for 29 hits in a game won by Tulsa on Sunday. There were six homers, nine doubles and a triple for the 2,401 paying customers to enjoy. ... RHP Alan Johnson (3-7) got a no-decision on Monday, but for the 18th time this year and 20th in 20 career starts with Tulsa, pitched at least five innings. ... Tulsa was 40-47 after play on Tuesday, but finished the season 9-3 against a 40-39 San Antonio team that at one time had playoff aspirations. ... RHP Ching-Lung Lo, who hadn't pitched since June 15 due to tendinitis in his shoulder, came off the disabled list and pitched five shutout innings of three-hit ball, didn't walk a batter and struck out three in a win at Arkansas on Thursday.
THE COMEBACK KIDS: On the Fourth of July the Drillers scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to defeat Corpus Christi, 9-8. Until that game Tulsa had been 0-40 in games it trailed entering the ninth inning. By the end of play Tuesday, when Justin Miller hit a two-out, game-winning single to complete a remarkable six-run rally to defeat San Antonio, 7-6, the Drillers had completed four such comebacks. "It's crazy," Miller told the Tulsa World. "But baseball can be weird like that." ... On Monday, 1B Jeff Kindel was unable to deliver a hit with one out and the bases loaded in a 4-4 game against San Antonio. But Kindel delivered in the 11th, hitting a two-out, run-scoring single to send home the winning run in a 5-4 win over the Missions. "I was pretty steamed for the whole two innings extra we had to play knowing I could have ended it there with a hit or a sac fly," Kindel told the Tulsa World. "I didn't have a good at-bat right there." It was Tulsa's third walk-off hit in a span of four games. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.
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