Corpus Christi (28-35, 59-74) @ Frisco (35-28, 68-65)

Logan Forsythe, Craig Cooper and Seth Johnston drove in two runs each to pace San Antonio to a 7-2 win in last night’s series finale at Wolff Municipal Stadium, thwarting Corpus Christi’s attempt at a series sweep.  Eric Sogard added two hits, two runs and an RBI for the Missions, who have won just three times in 11 second-half meetings with the Hooks.

Will Inman (6-4) held Corpus Christi to two runs on four hits over seven innings to get the win.  The Hooks scored in the fourth on Jimmy Van Ostrand’s RBI double and in the fifth on a triple by Felix Molina and Nick Moresi’s sacrifice fly to center. 

Tonight, the Hooks begin their final road series with the first in a four-game set at Frisco.  The Hooks are 5-8 this season at Dr Pepper Ballpark and are tied in the season series with the RoughRiders 14-14.                  

Tonight’s Matchup:  LHP Tyler Lumsden (1-3, 4.93) vs. RHP Andrew Laughter (3-1, 4.75)

Lumsden, acquired by the Astros from the Royals in November of 2008 for a player-to-be-named-later (outfielder Jordan Parraz named in December, 2008), makes his 15th appearance and third start for the Hooks.  Last Thursday at Whataburger Field, Lumsden carried a shutout into the fourth, but finished with six runs allowed (one earned) over six innings to suffer a 10-0 loss to Midland.  One ill-timed error and a passed ball made five of those runs unearned.  Lumsden surrendered a three-run home run to Jemile Weeks and a solo shot to Archie Gilbert.  In his last four outings, Lumsden is 0-2 with a 2.30 ERA.  In three relief appearances against the Riders, Lumsden is 0-0 with a 7.36 ERA.  The lefty opened the year with AAA Round Rock, where he was 0-0 with a 4.42 ERA in 14 relief appearances.                       

·        With AAA Omaha in 2008 went 3-13 with 1 save and a 7.21 ERA

·        In five seasons of pro ball is 27-28 with 1 save and a 4.88 ERA (478.0 IP)

·        Originally drafted by the White Sox in the first round (sandwich pick) of the 2004 draft out of Clemson

Laughter, selected by the Rangers in the 10th round of the 2007 draft out of Louisiana-Lafayette, makes his 27th appearance and first start this season for Frisco.  In fact, tonight is the first start in his professional career, not counting two recent “rehab” starts for the Rangers’ rookie-ball club in Arizona.  His first 92 appearances in the pro ranks were all in relief.  Laughter began the season with Frisco and made 25 appearances before landing on the disabled list June 18 with an injured finger.  In his return to the Riders Friday at San Antonio, Laughter allowed three earned runs on three hits in 1.2 innings of relief.  In five relief outings against the Hooks, Laughter is 0-0 with a 5.06 ERA.   

·        Longest outing this year was 2.2 innings June 7 vs. NW Arkansas (no runs, 2 hits, 2 K’s)

·        In 30 appearances with Frisco last year went 2-3 with 9 saves and a 4.80 ERA

·        Went 3-1 with 3 saves and a 2.80 ERA his senior year at Louisiana-Lafayette

Locke out for the season

Hooks manager Luis Pujols reports that Drew Locke will miss the remainder of the season after suffering a broken bone in his left hand in the fourth inning of Sunday night’s game in San Antonio.

With runners at first and third and nobody out in the top of the fourth, Missions reliever Stephen Faris threw a 2-2 pitch that hit Locke on his left hand.  Locke took his base, and later in the frame scored on Molina’s triple.  Locke played in right field in the bottom of the fourth, but when his turn to bat rolled around in the fifth, swelling in the hand forced him out of the lineup and he was replaced by pinch hitter Mark Ori.

Locke currently leads the Texas League with his .338 batting average and 109 RBI’s.  It is likely that Locke will win the league batting crown, since Midland’s Chris Carter (.337) was promoted to AAA Sacramento last Wednesday, and the next closest challengers are San Antonio’s Craig Cooper (.310) and Springfield’s Tyler Henley (.306).  Frisco’s Mitch Moreland (.326) is within striking distance, but enters play today 51 plate appearances shy of the minimum required to be considered among the league leaders.

Locke could finish first in RBI’s, where he has been for most of this season.  But Frisco’s Chad Tracy, the only player with a chance to catch Locke, now has 105 RBI’s and seven games left to play.

Locke this year set new Hooks single-season records for batting average (.338) and RBI’s (109).  He finishes the year three shy of Josh Anderson’s club record (173) for most hits in a single season.

In the unbelievably ironic stat of the year, Locke’s final act at the plate marked the first time – that is correct – the first time all year that Locke was hit by a pitch.  Almost equally hard to believe is the fact that for Faris, who has thrown 111.2 innings for the Missions, the plunking was just his second this season.

Locke, Sutil named to TL Post Season All-Star Team

Locke’s broken hand unfortunately overshadows the news that Locke and teammate Wladimir Sutil were selected to the Texas League’s 2009 Post Season All-Star Team in voting by league managers, broadcasters and beat writers.  The news was announced yesterday by league president Tom Kayser.

Locke was one of three outfielders on the honor squad, along with Frisco’s Craig Gentry and Springfield’s Tyler Henley.  Sutil was selected as the league’s All-Star shortstop.

Locke becomes the fourth Hooks outfielder to receive such recognition, joining the history books with Hunter Pence (06), Josh Anderson (06) and Ray Sadler (07).  Sutil is the first shortstop in the club’s five-year history to be so honored.  Ben Zobrist was voted onto the 2006 squad as the utility infielder.

Voters selected Midland’s Chris Carter as the circuit’s Player of the Year and Tulsa’s Samuel Deduno as the loop’s Pitcher of the Year.  Darren Bush of Midland was chosen as the league’s Manager of the Year.

New kids in town

With Locke being out and Jason Castro and Jimmy Van Ostrand on their way to Cary, North Carolina to represent their respective countries in the upcoming IBAF World Cup, two players join the Hooks’ roster today.  Those players are catcher Jose Lopez and outfielder Brandon Barnes. 

Lopez, who appeared in 39 games last year for the Hooks, played in six games in August for the Gulf Coast League Astros, where he went 3-for-11 at the plate with 1 double and 1 RBI.  In early March, the day before he was scheduled to leave his native Venezuela for minor league Spring Training in Kissimmee, Lopez felt a terrible headache and ended up at a local hospital.  He eventually had surgery for an aneurysm and, as he described it, a condition that he had had since birth.

Barnes joins the Hooks from Lancaster in the California League, where in 68 games he was batting .293 with 12 home runs and 52 RBI’s.  A sixth-round pick of the Astros in the 2005 draft out of Cyprus College, Barnes began the year with Lexington in the South Atlantic League, where in 57 games he hit .264 with 5 HR’s and 25 RBI’s.  A week and a half ago Barnes was batting .319 for the JetHawks, but in his last nine games was just 4-for-34 (.118).

Hitters update

Jhon Florentino has hits in 6 of the last 8 games, 9-for-33 with 2 doubles, 3 runs and 2 RBI’s.

Felix Molina has hits in 8 of his last 9 games, 8-for-29 with 1 double, 2 triples, 2 HR’s, 5 runs and 7 RBI’s.

Pitching Rotation at Frisco

Wednesday:  LHP Fernando Abad (0-1, 4.50) vs. LHP Michael Kirkman (5-7, 4.52)

Thursday:  LHP Douglas Arguello (3-4, 3.38) vs. RHP Blake Beavan (4-4, 4.07)

Friday:  RHP Kenny Baugh (4-3, 5.19) vs. RHP Omar Poveda (10-5, 4.38)