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Road To Arlington: Rangers Farm Report (9/6)

Triple-A: @Memphis 6, Oklahoma City 1

RHP Elizardo Ramirez (9-11; 4.63) ended his season on a sour note, going five innings and allowing five earned runs on nine hits and two walks. The bulk of the trouble came in the first, when Ramirez gave up a pair of singles and a two-out walk to load the bases for Brian Barden, who knocked it out to give Memphis an early 4-0 lead. RHP Mike Wood came on in relief and improved his infinite ERA with two perfect innings, during which he fanned three. Wood’s only other appearance saw him allow two runs without recording an out.

CF Greg Golson (.258/.299/.344) managed the RedHawk’s only extra base hit, tripling to lead off the second and scoring their only run. 1B Royce Huffman (.297/.382/.411) and RF Jared Bolden (.375/.444/.563) both went 2-4 with a pair of singles, and the team’s only RBI came from C Zach Zaneski at the bottom of the order.

Double-A: Frisco 6 @ Midland 2

LHP Michael Ballard (7-6; 3.71) won his third straight start after going seven strong innings Sunday. Ballard surrendered a run on seven hits and a walk, and despite the fact that he recorded 21 outs, it was his shortest effort since August 12. Ballard finished the regular season with four very strong starts, posting a 0.91 ERA over 29.2 innings while allowing just 23 hits.

The offense struggled through the first four innings, managing just two base runners in their first 15 batters. But 2B Guilder Rodriguez (.267/.332/.322) got his big night going in the 5th, as he went 3-4 with a triple and three RBI for the game. C Chris Gradoville (.227/.253/.271) double twice and drove in a run of his own, while 1B Chad Tracy (.277/.332/.488) tried to break out of a recent slump with two hits in five at bats.

Advanced-A: @Bakersfield 4, Rancho Cucamonga 1

The pitcher-by-committee approach Bakersfield took to this game worked perfectly, as RHP Kennil Gomez (8-10; 5.27) started things out with a perfect 1st, striking out two Quakes. RHP Michael Main followed with two more shutout innings, giving him four scoreless frames in the Cal League since returning from a mystery illness a week ago. But the win, deservedly, went to RHP Dustin Brader (4-0; 5.49) who went four scoreless, giving up just three hits and a walk.

The offensive player of the game was DH Mike Bianucci (.232/.290/.515), who belted two solo home runs in four at bats. Bianucci, who has homered in three straight games, now has 15 big flies in just 194 Cal League at bats struggling with strikeouts (69) and hits that don’t clear the wall (30). SS Jacob Kaase (.266/.285/.367) and LF Erik Morrison (.321/.406/.536) both singled, doubled, and scored a run on the night, but 1B Mauro Gomez (.286/.334/.537), who went 7-9 with 11 RBI in his last two games, was hitless.

Low-A: Hickory 7 @ Kannapolis 3

RHP Wilmer Font (8-3; 3.49) broke out of his recent pitching slump with a more familiar performance, going five innings and striking out six while allowing three hits and walking no one. Both runs Font surrendered were unearned. RHP Mark Hamburger (2-9; 4.75) pitched a pair of perfect innings in relief, although RHP Andrew Doyle struggled again, allowing a run on three hits in the 8th.

The offensive burden was shared pretty equally among the Crawdads, with CF Aja Barto standing out by going 3-4 with a solo homer and a walk. RF Eric Fry (.261/.339/.430) also had a good game, getting on base four times and driving in two runs on a double and a sac fly.

Short-season: @Spokane 11, Yakima 2

Spokane’s last game of the year was backed by the excellent pitching of  RHP Trevor Hurley (7-2; 3.36), who allowed two runs on three hits in seven innings. He also stuck out 10 batters. RHP Johnny Gunter (1-4; 4.94) was even better in relief, recording six straight outs to finish the game, three by way of the K.

C Tomas Telis (.400/.400/.750) nailed his second homer in just seven games for Spokane after getting just two in 46 games for the Rangers’ rookie club in the Arizona League. Telis also singled to make him one of four Indians with two hits in the game, with the others being LF Jason Ogata, 2B Daniel Lima, and 3B Edward Martinez. Lima and Martinez each had a pair of RBI, while Ogata knocked in a single run with a 4th ining triple.