Frisco Wins In Arkansas
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NORTH LITTLE ROCK, AR – The Frisco RoughRiders took the second game of the series with the Arkansas Travelers, squeaking by with a 3-2 win at Dickey-Stephens Park on Thursday night. A ninth-inning RBI single from Teodoro Martinez provided the difference and a season-high six innings from starting pitcher Nick McBride helped the cause.
Facing spot starter Elvin Ramirez, Frisco (4-4, 43-35) went to work early in the contest. Ramirez, starting in the spot of Michael Roth who was recalled to the Angels on Thursday, was making his first start since 2009 and his first ever Double-A start. The ‘Riders went quietly in the first but tallied runs in the second and third.
With one out in the second, Chih-Hsien Chiang doubled and reached third on a Ryan Strausborger single. Odubel Herrera then singled Chiang home to give the RoughRiders the lead at 1-0. Frisco added another in the third inning on an RBI fielder’s choice from Zach Zaneski before reliever Nick Maronde took over for Ramirez. The Travelers right-hander went just 2.2 innings and allowed two runs on five hits in the start.
The Travelers (4-4, 37-30) battled back despite a lack of clutch hits. In the fourth, Luis Montanez led off the inning with a single and reached second on a wild pitch. He slid down to third base on
a groundout and then scored on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Kaleb Cowart when Herrera’s throw home from second base came in too late, cutting the Frisco lead to 2-1.
Neither team scored again until the seventh and that came after Frisco starting pitcher Nick McBride had completed his best outing of the season in a RoughRiders uniform. Working around an 18-minute light delay in the fifth inning, the second lighting delay Frisco has experienced on the road this season (the first coming Tulsa on May 26, a 17-minute delay), the right-hander tossed six innings of one-run ball. He allowed just four hits, didn’t walk a batter and struck out one in his longest outing of the season. He left in-line for the victory, but an Arkansas rally gave him a no decision.
For the second straight night, former RoughRiders infielder Jimmy Swift knocked a solo homer off of a Frisco reliever in the seventh, this time coming off of Richard Bleier. The home run, his third of the season, tied the game at 2-2 heading to the eigth.
The RoughRiders got a man into scoring position in the eighth but couldn’t capitalize; the team went just 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position on the night. The Travelers were worse, however, going 0-for-7 in those spots, and Frisco got the hit that counted in the ninth.
Teodoro Martinez singled home Alejandro Selen after his one-out double to give Frisco the 3-2 lead that would ultimately hold up as the final score.
Richard Bleier (1-2) picked up the win despite the blown save. The southpaw allowed one run on two hits in two innings of work; he didn’t walk a batter and struck out one. Michael Cisco (2-3), who tossed two innings, gave up the game-winning run in the defeat. Wilmer Font struck out the side around a single for his tenth save.
Frisco wraps up their three-game series against the Travelers at 7:10 pm on Friday night in North Little Rock. Kevin Pucetas (8-6, 4.88 ERA) makes the start for the ‘Riders against the Travelers hurler Brandon Hynick (5-3, 3.16 ERA). Fans can tune in to the play-by-play broadcast on www.RidersBaseball.com beginning at 6:50.
Frisco returns to Dr Pepper Ballpark on Wednesday, July 3 at 7:05 p.m., beginning a six-game home stand and a three-game series against the Arkansas Travelers. For information on tickets to see the RoughRiders in 2013, please call (972) 731-9200, email info@ridersbaseball.com or visit www.ridersbaseball.com.
