Midland (35-24, 72-57) @ Corpus Christi (26-33, 57-72)

Kyle Middleton, recently selected by Hooks’ fans as the closer for Corpus Christi’s 5-Year Anniversary Team, did some celebrating on his own last night – much to the chagrin of those same fans.  Middleton twirled a complete-game, four-hit shutout to lead the RockHounds to a 10-0 whitewash of the Hooks.  The right-hander allowed just one walk while striking out seven during his 97-pitch effort.  The shutout was the first in his 10-year pro career, and his third complete game.  Two of those complete games have come against the Hooks.

Josh Donaldson and Jemile Weeks paced Midland’s offense.  Donaldson went 3-for-4 with two runs, while Weeks had a 2-for-4 night that included a home run and four RBI’s. 

Tonight’s game is the last meeting between these two clubs this year.  The RockHounds lead the season series 18-13.              

Tonight’s Matchup:  RHP Tyson Ross (3-3, 5.03) vs. LHP Fernando Abad (4-6, 4.14 w/ Lancaster)

Ross, selected by the A’s in the second round of the 2008 draft out of the University of California, makes his seventh start for Midland and his second against the Hooks.  Sunday at home against Tulsa, Ross threw seven innings of two-hit, shutout ball to get the win in Midland’s 5-0 victory.  He walked two and fanned four in his best outing with the Hounds.  In his August 1 start against the Hooks at Citibank Ballpark, Ross gave up four runs on seven hits in seven innings and suffered a complete-game loss, 4-0, facing Wilton Lopez.  Prior to his promotion to the Texas League, Ross made 18 starts for Stockton in the California League, where he was 5-6 with a 4.17 ERA, with 82 strikeouts in 86.1 innings.                          

·        Was a non-roster invitee to Major League Spring Training with the A’s

·        Last year in 6 games and 4 starts for Kane County went 0-1 with a 4.66 ERA (19.1 IP)

·        Was All-Pac-10 at Cal in 2007 and 2008; ranked 3rd on the Bears’ career K list (271) when he left

Abad, signed by the Astros as a non-drafted free agent in December of 2002, makes his AA debut here tonight.  A native of La Romana in the Dominican Republic, Abad joined the team yesterday to take the roster spot vacated by Wilton Lopez, who officially joins Houston’s 25-man active roster today in Arizona.  Abad comes to Corpus Christi from Lancaster of the California League, where in 41 games for the JetHawks, all in relief, he went 4-6 with 6 saves and a 4.14 ERA.  In 82.2 innings Abad had allowed 78 hits while issuing just 8 walks and notching 79 strikeouts.  Abad did not allow a run over his last four appearances, covering 9.2 innings.  In those four games he gave up six hits and a walk while striking out 14.                 

·        Tonight is his first start since August 4, 2007 with Greeneville in the Appalachian League

·        Last year was 2-7 with 3 saves and a 3.30 ERA in 45 relief appearances for Lexington

·        Has 424 career strikeouts in 396.2 innings

·        Spent his first four pro seasons pitching for the Dominican Summer League Astros

Lopez with Houston

Pitcher Wilton Lopez joins Houston’s 25-man active roster today as the Astros open a three-game series in Arizona against the Diamondbacks.  Lopez becomes the second Hook in club history to get called directly to the Major Leagues while Corpus Christi’s season was still in progress.  The first was Matt Albers, who received his call in July of 2006.

Lopez is the fourth Hook to go directly from Corpus Christi to Houston.  Outfielder Charlton Jimerson in 2005 and pitcher Felipe Paulino in 2007 both made their debuts with Houston after Corpus Christi’s season had ended.  Lopez becomes the 27th player in the five-year history of the franchise to make it to the Major Leagues.

Lopez takes the roster spot of pitcher Alberto Arias, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to August 24, with a strained right hamstring.

“Spanning the globe…”

That’s probably a bit of a stretch, but infielder Chad Spann returns to Corpus Christi today.  Spann, who began the year with the Hooks and has had two brief stints with the club this year, returns from AAA Round Rock, where in 63 games he was batting .246 (32x130) with 5 doubles, 1 home run and 8 RBI’s. 

Spann has played in 10 games this season with the Hooks and is hitting .118 (4x34) with 1 double.

Spann takes the roster spot of infielder German Duran, who was placed on the disabled list (quad) today.    

More on Middleton

Middleton, with 3 career wins and 26 career saves for the Hooks, has tossed two of his three career complete games now against Corpus Christi.  In addition to last night’s shutout, Middleton also went the distance on May 23, 2005, when he led Wichita to a 5-1 win over the Hooks at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium.  In that game, he allowed just one run on three hits over nine innings.

Middleton’s other complete game came with Wilmington (DE) in the Carolina League in 2003.

The Hooks have suffered nine shutout losses this year.

Errors and unearned runs

The Hooks, who for a good chunk of this season were leading the Texas League in team defense, have slipped to third in the circuit with a team fielding percentage of .973, with 131 errors in 129 games.

This series is largely to blame.  The Hooks have committed 10 errors in the first three games, and those 10 errors, plus one passed ball, have led to 16 unearned runs for Midland.  That’s more than five gift runs per game.  Put another way, the Hooks have allowed a total of 79 unearned runs this season, so, 20% of those unearned runs have crossed the plate here in the last three games.

The RockHounds, who lead the league with 147 errors, have committed just two in this series.   

Hitters update

Jason Castro has hits in 6 of his last 8 games, 10-for-33 with 1 double, 1 HR, 1 run and 6 RBI’s.

Drew Locke had his 7-game multi-hit streak snapped last night.  Locke has hits in 7 of his last 8 games, 17-for-34 with 3 doubles, 1 triple, 1 HR, 6 runs and 5 RBI’s.  He also has hits in 13 of his last 15 games, 26-for-61 with 5 doubles, 1 triple, 2 HR’s, 10 runs and 7 RBI’s. 

Felix Molina has a 6-game hitting streak, 6-for-21 with 1 double, 2 HR’s, 3 runs and 5 RBI’s.

Jimmy Van Ostrand has hits in 13 of his last 15 games, 16-for-51 with 1 double, 3 HR’s, 5 runs and 10 RBI’s.

Pitching Rotation at San Antonio

Saturday:  LHP Douglas Arguello (2-4, 3.43) vs. RHP Ernesto Frieri (9-8, 3.60)

Sunday:  RHP Kenny Baugh (4-3, 4.26) vs. LHP Cory Luebke (3-2, 2.58)