Last night was my last game to cover in person this year and I must say thank you to the RoughRiders for allowing me and a few other contributors the opportunity!
We had a cold front roll through in Frisco. As I drove to the ballpark it was only 95 degrees. By game time, it had cooled considerably. There was a decent crowd of 9,345 at Dr Pepper Ballpark on hand to watch an unexpected pitchers duel.
Rangers on Deck Podcast
If you are a listener of the Rangers on Deck Podcast, you’re aware that this was the night they did a live show. They sold out 2 sections and had a decent crowd watching their love show. Scott Lucas even drove in from down south. I was able to meet Tepid, who was really nice and acted like he knew who I was. Of course I’ve run into Sean Bass at just about every game I’ve been to this year. You need to give this Podcast a listen. Everyone is extremely nice, they know baseball and throw in a little of everything else as well.
Game recap
Looking at the numbers before the game, you wouldn’t necessarily think that it would be scoreless for the 1st 5 innings.
Scott Blewett, (0-3, 6.23) started for the Naturals and through 5 innings he was at 68 pitches, 44 strikes. He ended up pitching 7 shutout innings. His line: 7 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 8 strikeouts on 94 pitches, 59 for strikes.
Edinson V?lquez opened for the RoughRiders and he pitched a scoreless inning striking out the side on 15 pitches. V?lquez is hoping to pitch out of the bullpen for the Rangers in September and then retire at the end of the season.
Edgar Arredondo (7-3, 4.25) had an excellent game. I saw him range from a 73 MPH curve ball to 94 on a fastball. His line: 7 IP, 6 H, 6 SO on 104 pitches, 67 for strikes.
Jacob Lemoine kept it scoreless in his inning of work as well. He allowed 2 hits and struck out 1 , bringing his earned run average to 0.88.
DeMarcus Evans deserves a mention as well. He threw only 6 pitches to get 3 outs, including a strikeout. He picked up the win and is now 2-0 with a 1.11 earned run average. Don’t be surprised to see him as a September call up.
The Riders line-up was held to 6 hits over 10 innings. They also walked 3 times, struck out 12 times and left 13 on base.
Riders win in walk off fashion
Andretty Cordero had a 3-4 night.
Juremi Profar was 2-3 with a walk.
Leody Taveras got the game winning hit in the bottom of the 10th. He went 1-4 with a walk, 2 strikeouts and the lone RBI. By the way, Leody has a good arm and can cover some ground in the outfield.
With this win the RoughRiders move to 29-30 in the 2nd half. The RoughRiders are in the post-season discussion as we speak and only 1 1/2 games back from the Corpus Christi Hooks and the Midland RockHounds. #LetsRide
