"When You Come to the Fork in the Road ... Take It" - Yogi Berra
August 19, 2016 - Texas League (TL1)
Midland RockHounds News Release
RockHounds shortstop Franklin Barreto went 2-for-4 with a walk and two RBI in Thursday night's 8-6 loss to the Tulsa Drillers at Security Bank Ballpark. Barreto is hitting .381 in his last five games. (Richard A. Acosta) The above, the title of a book by the one and only Yogi Berra, applies nicely to the just-concluded series between the RockHounds and Tulsa.
The series at Security Bank Ballpark opened with both clubs playing good baseball. The RockHounds had won five of six on a road trip that included a three-game sweep at Tulsa and held an eight-game lead in the Texas League South Division. The Drillers had rebounded with a sweep of their own, taking three from Frisco, to climb back into the thick of the race in the North. Then came that "fork in the road."
Tulsa's three-game sweep, completed in Thursday night's 8-6 victory, pushed the Drillers' win streak to six games and brought the club to within a game of the top spot in the North. The 'Hounds, meanwhile, dropped their fourth straight and saw their lead in the South cut to six games.
After taking the first two games of the series at Rocky Town, the Drillers sent the league's top pitcher, Chase De Jong (12-4, 2.62 ERA), to the hill against the 'Hounds Ben Bracewell, who has been sensational in 2016 (7-1, 1.45). The Drillers jumped on Bracewell for an early lead on Willie Calhoun's three-run home run in the top of the first, but the 'Hounds answered against De Jong with a leadoff triple from Brett Vertigan and an RBI single from Franklin Barreto. After a walk to Tyler Marincov put the tying runs on with one out, Barreto was picked off second and Tulsa third baseman Edwin Rios robbed J.P. Sportman of a line drive single to left with a diving catch.
As the cliché goes, if you miss a chance to get a good pitcher early, you may not get him at all. De Jong escaped a jam in the third when Barreto's laser to first (with two on and no outs) was grabbed by first baseman Lars Anderson and turned into a huge double play, preserving a 6-1 Tulsa lead. The Dodgers prospect was barely threatened the rest of the way, going seven innings to earn his league-leading 13th win.
Two runs added by the Drillers in the seventh (against reliever Kris Hall) seemed to be "icing on the cake," building the lead to 8-1. Instead, those two scores would provide final margin of victory, as the 'Hounds scored once in the eighth and four times in a ninth-inning rally.
James Harris, in just his second game with the club, belted a bases-loaded double and Barreto drove home a run with a single to center, a play on which Harris alertly sprinted home on an errant throw, cutting the lead to 8-6. Reliever Jeff Malm, after giving up the Barreto single, then struck Beau Taylor out looking to end the threat and complete the Tulsa sweep.
The RockHounds
... are 34-19 in the second half and 67-56 overall ... have dropped four straight... are 34-27 at Security Bank Ballpark and 34-28 on the road ... finished the season series with the Tulsa 4-8 (0-6 at Security Bank Ballpark and 4-2 at ONEOK Field) ... are 26-19 against the North Division.
... now lead San Antonio by six games in the Texas League South Division second half race after the Missions (28-25) tossed their sixth shutout in their last dozen games, blanking Arkansas, 3-0, on two hits in North Little Rock. First half champion Corpus Christi (26-27) closed to within eight games with a 4-0 shutout win at Northwest Arkansas. There are 17 games remaining in the 2016 Texas League regular season.
... continue their six-game homestand, hosting the Springfield Cardinals in a weekend series at Security Bank Ballpark. The clubs play Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:00 p.m. (with fireworks following Saturday's game) before wrapping up the series on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m
Kibbles & Bits
STAT of the DAY: The road team won the last nine games of the season series between the RockHounds and Drillers, and did so in a "hat trick" of three-game sweeps. Tulsa won at Security Bank Ballpark June 3-5 (and again in this series) while the 'Hounds swept the three-game set last week (August 9-11) at ONEOK Field in Tulsa. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.
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Texas League Stories from August 19, 2016
- Naturals Rally Falls Short as Missions Claim Series Opener - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
- Creature of Habit - San Antonio Missions
- Missions Split DH with Travs - San Antonio Missions
- Simmons Stellar Outing Gives Missions Series - San Antonio Missions
- Missions Blank Naturals and Take Series - San Antonio Missions
- Simmons, Missions Two-Hit Travelers - Arkansas Travelers
- "When You Come to the Fork in the Road ... Take It" - Yogi Berra - Midland RockHounds
- Drillers Survive to Record 6th Straight Win - Tulsa Drillers
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