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Road To Arlington: Rangers Farm Report (8/16)

Saturday was a good day to be a Texas Ranger, even if you haven’t quite made it the show yet. The Rangers beat up on the Red Sox in Arlington, and they went 5-1 on the farm.

Triple-A: Oklahoma City 4 @ Salt Lake 3

Both teams put up all of their runs in one inning, but the RedHawks struck first in the bottom of the 4th. Oklahoma City managed five of their six hits in the inning and posted a four spot courtesy of a pair of two-out RBI hits from DH Royce Huffman (.294/.382/.417) and LF Casey Benjamin (.218/.333/.328). 1B Justin Smoak (.238/.345/.367) walked and singled in four trips to extend his hitting streak to five games. 3B Chris Davis walked but was held hitless and struck out.

RHP Guillermo Moscoso (5-3; 2.17) had a passable start, going 5.2 innings and surrendering four hits, four walks and three runs. He got the win, but it was just the second time in 10 appearances at triple-A that he’s allowed more than two runs.

RHP Willie Eyre (0-0; 2.67) loaded the bases with one out in the 8th, but got a ground ball that turned into an inning-ending double play to maintain the lead. RHP Warner Madrigal (2-1; 1.87) pitched a relatively calm 9th to earn his 16th save.

Double-A: Frisco 11 @ NW Arkansas 6

It was a rough night for RHP Blake Beaven (2-4; 4.85). In typical Beaven fashion, he allowed a ton of hits (10 in five innings) and few strikeouts (two) but also few walks (one). All six runs were charged to him, but only five were earned, his highest total since July 14.

Fortunately for Beaven, all the bats came ready Saturday night. And I mean all of them.

All nine starters managed at least one hit and drove in at least one run. 3B Johnny Whittleman (.237/.365/.386) went 3-3 with a double and two walks and was one of two RoughRiders with two RBI. The other, 1B Chad Tracy (.271/.322/.469), picked up a pair of hits and a walk in six trips to the plate.

LHP Zach Phillips, who completely dominated the very hitter friendly Cal League earlier this year to the tune of a 1.23 ERA and 0.68 WHIP,  continued his strong run in double-A with an inning of scoreless relief. In 24.2 innings for Frisco, the 22-year-old has struck out 21 batters and owns a 1.46 ERA out of the pen. Newly former Ranger RHP John Bannister pitch one inning for NW Arkansas, allowing a walk, two hits, and two runs.

Advanced-A: Bakersfield 9 @ Lancaster 3

If there’s one thing LHP Tim Murphy (8-9; 7.02) hates more than pitching in the Cal League this year, it’s pitching on the road in the Cal League this year. Although his home stadium has a center field wall just 350 feet from home plate, Murphy’s ERA is oddly higher on the road by nearly a full run — 6.72 at home vs. 7.66 on the road — but he managed to keep his demons at bay for at least a night with a solid 6.1 inning start. Murphy allowed five hits, two walks, three runs, and struck out six.

CF David Paisano (.313/.375/.475) scorched Lancaster with three extra base hits — two doubles and a homer — to go along with a walk and two RBI. Paisano has taken quickly to Bakersfield since being promoted from Hickory a few weeks ago, as his .701 OPS in low-A pales in comparison to the .850 number he’s posted in 18 games for the Blaze.

DH Mike Bianucci (.242/.301/.515) hit another homer, giving him six in his last seven games and nine in his 33 starts for Bakersfield. But while the power surge has boosted his slugging percentage, Bianucci has managed only one hit six times during his nine game hitting streak, and strikeouts continue to be a problem. He’s up to 48 Ks in 132 at bats. 1B Mauro Gomez (.279/.330/.526) doubled and belted his 23rd homer of the year, and the red hot Blaze won their eighth straight.

Low-A: Hickory 6 @ Bowling Green 2

Despite the graduation of arguably their best pitcher to Frisco, the supremely talented Crawdads rotation keeps churning out quality starts. This time, it was RHP Wilfredo Boscan (6-6; 3.14), who went six strong innings, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks. The trio of RHP Cody Eppley, LHP Yoon-Hee Nam, and RHP Matt Nevarez fired off three hitless innings of relief. The 21-year-old Nam (8-1; 3.08), whose ERA has been on a steady incline for a month, pitched just his second scoreless appearance since July 10.

The offense came mostly from the middle and bottom of the order, as Hickory’s one through three hitters went a combined 3-15 with 5 Ks. The rest of the lineup managed a line of 11-25 with four doubles and all six runs batted in. 3B Matt West (.233/.340/.337) had three hits in five trips and drove in a run. LF Cristian Santana (.198/.255/.393) is trying to improve on a miserable season to this point and managed two hits and two RBI. He has a two-game hitting streak.

Short-season: @Spokane 5, Salem-Keizer 2

RHP Trevor Hurley (3-2; 3.81) went five innings, giving up four hits, three walks, and two runs while fanning five. The bullpen was excellent, as RHP Kyle O’Campo and RHP Andrew Doyle combined to throw four innings of relief, allowing two hits and striking out four.

RF Miguel Velazquez (.274/.327/.473) drove in two runs on his only hit of the game, a double in the first. 2B Daniel Lima (.303/.331/.352) singled, doubled, and walked in five trips to the plate.

1B Clark Murphy, who might be having one of the most disappointing seasons of any Ranger prospect, went 0-4 with two strikeouts. Murphy has fared slightly better since being demoted from low-A, but not much. The 19-year-old looked poised for a breakout season after a monster stint in the Arizona League last fall, posting a slash line of .358/.435/.526 in 95 at bats. But he struggled in Hickory, going .218/.282/.273 in 33 games to start the season and he’s posted a comparable .222/.281/.299 line in 39 games for Spokane.

Rookie: AZL Giants 8 @ AZL Rangers 4

The rookies were the only team affiliated with Texas to lose yesterday. LHP Edwin Escobar (1-5; 5.35) wasn’t awful, but he wasn’t exactly good either, allowing six hits, a walk, and four runs in four innings.

The Rangers mustered only four hits and a walk all day, despite jumping out to a 3-0 lead by the third inning. 3B Emmanuel Solis belted a two-run homer in the 2nd, and C Tomas Telis (.310/.320/.448) was 2-4 with a double. The only other Ranger hit came from LF Ruben Sierra Jr. (.188/.231/.224), who has more than twice as many strikeouts (36) as base hits (16).