The Frisco RoughRiders, Double-A affiliate to the Texas Rangers, drop the series finale versus Arkansas. They lost to the Travelers, affiliate to the Seattle Mariners, 3-1 on Sunday night. They failed to earn the sweep, after Yohander Mendez and Collin Wiles both earned complete game shutouts in Saturday’s double-header. Connor Sadzeck earned the loss, victimized by very little run support.
Sadzeck tossed 5.0 innings, giving up eight hits and three runs (all earned). He walked three batters and threw seven punch outs. The second inning was toughest for the RoughRiders starting pitcher. He gave up singles to the first two Travelers he faced. With runners on first and second, Sadzeck walked a batter. The bases were loaded, and Sadzeck walked yet another batter. It sent the first Traveler across the plate, making it 1-0. The final runs for Arkansas came in the fourth. Jeff Kobernus hit a single off Sadzeck that scored two more runs.
The RoughRiders only managed to send one man across the plate. This came from a Juremi Profar solo home run in the eighth inning. He would finish the game 2-4. Michael O’Neill went 1-3, drawing a walk and stealing a base. Three other RoughRiders batters got hits in the game. This included Hanser Alberto. He’s is playing on a rehab assignment from the Texas Rangers.
You can see Juremi Profar’s home run here:
Juremi Profar sends one high and deep into the Sunday night sky! pic.twitter.com/ocMrswqBwf
— Frisco RoughRiders (@RidersBaseball) June 5, 2017
Juremi Profar ended a 0-21 drought with a single in the fourth inning. After his solo Home run, he’s in a five-way tie for the team lead. Isiah Kiner-Falefa lost his 11-game hitting streak, however he walked twice to bring his on-base streak to 12 games.
Overall, the Frisco RoughRiders hit for a team average of .252. This has been around their normal average on the season. Coming into the matchup, they were sixth (out of eight) in the Texas League in batting average. Failing to hit for average has been a concern for the club. It’s also one reason they have straddled last place in the Texas League for most of the season.
In addition to failing to improve the team batting average, the RoughRiders are struggling to plate runners they have on base. In Sunday’s outing, the club left eight batters on base. They were 1-7 with runners in scoring position. Again, this has been a standard for Frisco.
The RoughRiders have a day off on Monday, before heading on an eight-game away stand. They will face the Corpus Christi Hooks, affiliate to the Houston Astros, and the Midland RockHounds, affiliate to the Oakland Athletics.