Corpus Christi (26-34, 57-73) @ San Antonio (26-34, 65-65)

One night after Kyle Middleton tossed a complete-game shutout for Midland, Tyson Ross and two RockHound relievers accomplished a similar feat, blanking the Hooks on four hits for a 4-0 win Friday night at Whataburger Field.  Ross (4-3) carried the load for six innings, allowing just two hits and a walk while striking out five.  Jon Hunton (2 IP) and Jared Lansford (1 IP) conceded just two singles the rest of the way.

Hooks’ southpaw Fernando Abad made his AA debut and served up Josh Donaldson’s three-run home run in the first.  Abad settled in after that and finished with three runs allowed, two earned, on five hits and a walk over four frames.  He struck out four and threw 54 pitches – 40 for strikes.  Chia-Jen Lo was impressive during three innings of shutout relief, notching five strikeouts while giving up just one hit.

Tonight, the Hooks open their final road trip of the season (7 games) with the first in a three-game series against the Missions.              

Tonight’s Matchup:  LHP Douglas Arguello (2-4, 3.43) vs. RHP Ernesto Frieri (9-8, 3.60)

Arguello, signed by the Astros as a non-drafted free agent in December of 2001, makes his 13th start for the Hooks and his third against the Missions.  Monday at Springfield, Arguello allowed two runs on two hits in three innings, but equaled his season high with five walks in a 5-3, 11-inning loss to the Cardinals.  He threw 60 pitches in those three innings and left the game with the Hooks holding a 3-2 lead.  In three starts since his return from the disabled list (strained left elbow) and a brief stint with Tri-City (1-1, 5.63, 3 starts) of the New York-Penn League, Arguello is 0-1 with a 3.95 ERA.  In his two starts against the Missions, both in May, Arguello is 0-1 with a 1.80 ERA.  At the plate, Arguello is 1-for-5 with 1 walk, 1 strikeout and 2 sacrifice bunts.        

·        Texas League Pitcher of the Week May 4-10 (complete-game win over Midland May 6)

·        Is 0-2 with a 5.32 ERA in 5 road starts, with 23 hits and 16 walks in 22.0 innings

·        Was 10-6 with a 3.30 ERA for the Avalanche last season – his ERA ranked 3rd in the Carolina League

Frieri, signed by the Padres as a non-drafted free agent in January of 2003, makes his 26th appearance and 25th start for the Missions.  Monday at Arkansas, Frieri took a no-decision when he gave up four runs on seven hits over five innings in a 6-4 win over the Travelers.  In his last two starts, Frieri is 0-1 with an ERA of 8.00, with 14 hits, including three home runs, allowed in 9.0 innings.  The native of Colombia is 3-0 with a 1.52 ERA in four starts against the Hooks.  As a hitter, Frieri is 3-for-13 with 2 walks, 5 strikeouts and 4 sacrifice bunts.    

·        A member of San Diego’s 40-man roster

·        Is 6-4 with a 3.08 ERA in 15 games and 14 starts at Wolff Municipal Stadium

·        Is tied for 3rd in the league in strikeouts (109) and ranks 8th in ERA (3.60)

·        Primarily a reliever from 2003 through 2007, used mostly as a starter last year with Lake Elsinore, San Antonio and Portland, going a combined 10-6 with a 3.90 ERA

Lopez debuts with Astros

The Astros wasted no time getting Wilton Lopez onto the mound.  Thursday night, Lopez was charting for the Hooks in section 119 at Whataburger Field.  Friday night, after a 5:00 p.m. arrival at the Phoenix airport, Lopez entered the game against the Diamondbacks in the bottom of the third inning to relieve starter Yorman Bazardo, becoming the 27th ex-Hook to appear in a Major League game.

Lopez worked four innings and was charged with six earned runs on eight hits and a pair of walks while striking out three.  He threw 92 pitches, 60 for strikes.  He also went 0-for-1 at the plate.  Bazardo absorbed the loss in Arizona’s 14-7 romp.

In a unique confrontation, Lopez faced John Hester in the sixth inning.  Like Lopez, Hester was making his Major League debut.  Pinch hitting for Diamondbacks’ starter Max Scherzer, Hester clubbed a two-run home run, becoming the 101st player in Major League history to homer in his first big-league at-bat.

By the way…five former Hooks appeared in Friday’s game in Phoenix.  Hunter Pence, Edwin Maysonet and Sammy Gervacio joined Lopez on the Astros’ side, while Juan Gutierrez tossed the final inning for Arizona. 

Goose eggs

The Hooks have suffered back-to-back shutout losses for the second time this season.  Corpus Christi lost to San Antonio in back-to-back day games at Whataburger Field May 17 (2-0) and May 18 (1-0, 12 innings). 

The Hooks enter play tonight having failed to score a run in 18 consecutive innings.  The longest stretch without a run for Corpus Christi’s offense this year is 25 innings.  Catcher Brian Esposito snapped that streak with a two-out, RBI single in the top of the fourth in a 6-2 loss at San Antonio on May 20 – a game that started at 11:05 in the morning.

The franchise record for offensive futility is 31 innings without a run, set last season from May 10 through May 14.  That streak started when the Hooks failed to score over their last five innings in a win over Frisco at home on May 10.  The Missions then blanked the Hooks in back-to-back games May 12 and May 13 in San Antonio.  The streak was broken when Wladimir Sutil plated Chris Johnson with a sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth in a 4-1 loss to the Missions May 14.

The Hooks have been shut out 10 times this season.  The franchise record for most games in a season without scoring a run is 16, set by last year’s club.

Kickin’ it

And this stat is anything but relaxing.  The Hooks committed 12 errors in the four-game series against Midland and allowed 17 unearned runs.  Midland scored a total of 30 runs in the series. 

The Hooks have allowed 80 unearned runs this season, which means that 21% of the unearned runs given up by the Hooks this year occurred in the just-concluded series against the RockHounds.     

Hitters update

Jason Castro has hits in 7 of his last 9 games, 11-for-36 with 1 double, 1 HR, 1 run and 6 RBI’s.

Drew Locke is 0-for-7 in the last 2 games after stringing together 7 straight multi-hit games.  Locke has hits in 7 of his last 9 games, 17-for-37 with 3 doubles, 1 triple, 1 HR, 6 runs and 5 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 14 of his last 16 games, 17-for-54 with 1 double, 3 HR’s, 5 runs and 10 RBI’s.

Pitching Rotation at San Antonio

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