The Frisco RoughRiders fall to 0-2 on the season, with a loss to the Springfield Cardinals last night. RoughRiders starting pitcher Ariel Jurado managed to only last 4.1 innings. He gave up 11 hits, one homer, walked one, and had no strikeouts. Jurado ended the game with a 14.54 ERA, getting the loss.
The RoughRiders DH, Eric Aguilera, went 2-3. He had two doubles and a walk, but Frisco was unable to make anything come of it. Scott Heineman and Jose Trevino each had two hits. Luke Tendler and Royce Bolinger each had one. That rounded out the RoughRiders offensive action, as the team failed to score on eight total hits.
[Blake]
The night wasn’t all bad for the Texas Rangers Double-A affiliate. The RoughRiders bullpen has not allowed a single earned run, over the span of 13 2/3 innings. Lefty Adam Loewen pitched 1 2/3 innings with no earned runs, in relief of Jurado. He did look to lack control early on, hitting a batter and having a few more close calls. A visit from catcher Jose Trevino seemed to calm the 32-year-old. Loewen managed to strikeout three and left the bases loaded in the sixth, after that visit from Trevino.
After the game, I asked Trevino about the mound visit. “I just gave him some tips, some of his fire points. Something just to get him back on track,” Trevino stated. He has shown incredible leadership on the diamond. In addition to that, he is playing amazing ball himself. There was hardly a time when Springfield didn’t have a runner on base. Every step of the way, Trevino was being both proactive and reactive in holding the runners to their spots. He was quick to pop up and be ready for a throw, keeping the Cardinals runners close to the bags.
“We had a couple of rough starts. That’s obvious. We’re going to have some growing pains, and that happens. The starters will iron out their stuff. They’ve pitched well in the past. We’ve got total confidence in what they can do.” -Joe Mikulik, Frisco Rough Riders Manager
The fans and staff will look to Yohander Mendez to display that confidence. Mendez is the No. 2 ranked prospect in the entire Rangers organization, by MLB.com and Baseball America. He’ll look to live up to that ranking, and get Frisco at least one solid starting pitching performance of the series.
The RoughRiders will look to get one win from the Springfield Cardinals, as the final game in this three-game series takes place tonight. First pitch is at 7:05pm Central, from Dr. Pepper Park in Frisco.
Listen to the raw, unedited interview audio here:
Joe Mikulik, 4/7/17
Jose Trevino, 4/7/17
Checkout more of The Inscriber’s RoughRiders coverage here: