Road To Arlington: Rangers Farm Report (8/12)

So said our own MJH on August 3rd:

I’ve noticed that they don’t like to subject their top pitching prospects to Bakersfield for very long, if at all. My guess is that Martin will spend no more than 4-6 weeks there at some point and may skip it altogether. So there’s really no rush to get him to the Cal League. I’d bet he’ll be in Frisco no later than mid-to-late May, 2010.

Guess who’s tentatively slated to start against the Tulsa Drillers tonight?

Triple-A: Oklahoma City 7 @ Fresno 3

RHP Bryan Corey (6-5; 5.06) spun a gem, allowing just three hits and fanning four over seven shutout innings. Homers by DH Royce Huffman (.295/.384/.419) and LF Casey Benjamin (.214/.332/.323) iced the game for OKC by the 4th inning.

RHP Josh Rupe (3-7; 7.28) continued his recent struggles by allowing three hits and two runs in the 8th; he’s given up 16 runs over his last 7.2 innings. 1B Justin Smoak (.219/.323/.336) continued to creep towards a respectable slash line by going 2-4 with a double and 3B Chris Davis (.320/.403/.523) was hitless but walked twice and did not strike out. CF Greg Golson, on the other hand, donned the Golden Sombrero. Ay Dios mio.

Double-A: Frisco — OFF

Advanced-A: @Bakersfield 5, San Jose 3

RHP Kennil Gomez (5-9; 5.92) entered the game with a K/9 of 8.6 and a BB/9 of 4.5. By the time he left the mound for good Tuesday night, they had both gone up. Gomez allowed only one hit and one run, but struck out seven Giants and walked seven more in just five innings. He recorded his fifth win and allowed fewer than four runs for the first time since June 21.

A pair of first inning homers from 3B Jonathan Greene (.267/.341/.477) and DH Mike Bianucci (.235/.297/.470)  gave Gomez a four run cushion to work with, and Greene capped a 3-4, four RBI night with an RBI single in the 5th.

RHP Justin Miller and RHP Evan Reed worked a perfect 8th and 9th to ice a game in which 1B Mauro Gomez, RF Joey Butler, and LF Timothy Rodriguez combined to go 0-11 with six Ks.

Class-A: West Virginia 6 @ Hickory 3

RHP Wilmer Font (7-2; 3.14) was dominant again, allowing just two singles and three walks over five shutout innings. His four strikeouts actually dropped his K rate to 9.1 per 9 innings.

Font left with a three run lead after a solo homer by 3B Michael Hollander (.261/.324/.333) in the 3rd and a wild pitch and Andres James RBI single in the 4th, but the bullpen couldn’t hold it.

RHP Mark Hamburger (2-8; 4.53)  gave up a run on two hits in the 6th and the previously untouchable Tyler Tufts (3-2; 2.80) couldn’t even make it through an inning, allowing four earned runs on five hits in 0.2 innings of work and earning the loss.

Short Season: @Spokane 5, Salem-Keizer 3

LHP Robbie Ross (4-2; 2.82) continued his slow decent back to Earth by allowing five hits, a walk, two earned runs and fanning four over five innings. It was another in a line of solid starts for Ross, but it lacked some of the wow-factor from Spokane’s early season.

The trio of RHP Andrew Doyle, RHP Chris Matlock, and RHP Kyle O’Campo combined to pitch four perfect innings out of the pen, and a two-out rally in the 7th put the Indians up for good.

RF Jared Prince (.278/.394/.452) went 2-3 with a two-run homer and CF Miggy Velazquez (.292/.350/.508) was 3-4 with a triple, an RBI single, and a stolen base.
Rookie: @AZL Rangers 5, AZL Dodgers 4

RHP Carlos Melo (0-4; 8.20) was roughed up for five hits and four runs over five innings, although he did manage to strikeout five Dodgers in the process. Melo’s WHIP is now 1.85 for the season, but he’s still young for the Arizona League at just 18. Although he is a month older than Martin Perez, who is now in double-A. That’s ridiculous.

The Rangers managed to battle back from down four thanks largely to the relief work of RHP Jose Monegro (0-0; 2.66) and RHP Jared Schrom (2-0; 2.82), who combined for five scoreless innings from the pen.

DH Tomas Telis (.307/.317/.438) doubled in the 4th and came home on a Michael Ortiz double two batters later. Telis then drove in 2B William O’Connor with a single in the 5th to bring the Rangers within a run.

Pinch runner Braxton Lane scored on a passed ball after coming in for Ortiz in the 8th, and Edward Koncel scored the walkoff run after Dodgers LHP Roberto Feliciano threw a wild pitch while attempting to intentionally walk Guillermo Pimentel in the 10th.

C Max Ramirez, in his second game of a rehab assignment, was 0-5 with three strikeouts.