San Antonio (29-38, 68-69) @ Corpus Christi (29-38, 60-77)

The Hooks return to Whataburger Field to open the final series of the season against the San Antonio Missions.  The club went 3-4 on its final road trip, taking two of three in San Antonio and then winning the opener in Frisco, only to lose the last three games to the RoughRiders.  Last night, the Hooks fell 4-1, as Omar Poveda tossed his second complete game of the year, limiting the Hooks to a run on six hits over nine innings.

The Missions, meanwhile, hung a 10-spot on the RockHounds in the ninth inning of their 16-2 romp last night in Midland.  Craig Cooper and Sawyer Carroll each had three hits and three RBI’s for the Missions, who split the four-game set at Citibank Ballpark.

San Antonio leads the season series with the Hooks 13-12, with the Missions holding a 6-5 edge in games played at Whataburger Field.

Tonight’s Matchup:  RHP Will Inman (6-4, 3.35) vs. RHP Sergio Perez (10-11, 4.85)

In a rematch of Monday’s game in San Antonio, Inman battles Perez and the Hooks.  Monday, Inman allowed just two runs over seven innings to lead the Missions to a 7-2 win over the Hooks – San Antonio’s lone victory in the three-game series.  In six starts since his return from AAA Portland, all coming in August, Inman is 2-3 with a 3.72 ERA.  The right-hander is 2-0 with a 2.33 ERA in three starts against the Hooks.  Inman, obtained by the Padres along with left-handed pitchers Steve Garrison and Joe Thatcher in the July, 2007 deal that sent reliever Scott Linebrink to Milwaukee, makes his 15th start for the Missions and his 27th in the Padres’ farm system.  Inman opened the year with the Missions and made eight starts before receiving a mid-May call to Portland, where he went 1-4 with a 6.71 ERA in 12 starts for the Beavers.  At the plate, Inman is 2-for-10 with 4 strikeouts and 2 sacrifice bunts. 

·        Has given up just 2 HR’s in his last 8 starts (48.2 IP), both at Springfield August 21

·        In 28 starts for San Antonio last year was 9-8 with a 3.52 ERA and led the TL with 140 K’s

·        Originally selected by the Brewers in the third round of the 2005 draft out of high school in Virginia, is ranked by Baseball America as the No. 18 prospect in the San Diego organization

Perez, selected by the Astros in the second round of the 2006 draft out of the University of Tampa, makes his 27th start and his seventh against the Missions.  Monday, Perez allowed seven runs on 10 hits in four innings to suffer the loss.  Logan Forsythe and Cooper were each 2-for-3 with two RBI’s against Perez, while Seth Johnston clubbed a two-run home run.  Perez had an up-and-down August, finishing the month 3-2 with a 4.86 ERA in six starts.  In his six outings against the Missions, Perez is 2-3 with a 7.33 ERA.  As a hitter, Perez is 2-for-10 with 3 walks, 4 strikeouts and 2 sacrifice bunts.                        

·        Ranked by Baseball America as the No. 13 prospect in the Houston system

·        Is one of four pitchers in franchise history with at least 10 wins in a season (Hirsh, Albers, Miller)

·        Ranks sixth on the club’s all-time wins’ list with 12 (Hirsh, Trinidad, Van Hekken each with 13)

Players of the Month

Hooks manager Luis Pujols has announced Corpus Christi’s players of the month for August.  Those players are Drew Locke, Nick Moresi and Wilton Lopez.

Locke was named the club’s offensive player of the month for the fourth time this season.  In 28 August games, Locke batted .391 (43x110) with 8 doubles, 2 triples, 4 HR’s, 19 runs and 14 RBI’s.  He posted an OPS of 1.055.  Locke continues to lead the Texas League in hitting (.338) and RBI’s (109).  Locke was also the team’s offensive player of the month in April, May and July.

Moresi was selected as Corpus Christi’s defensive player of the month.  Moresi played 23 games in center field during the month and committed just one error while recording 49 putouts and 1 assist. 

Pitcher of the month honors go to Lopez, who recently got called up to the big leagues.  In five August starts, Lopez went 2-2 with a 1.23 ERA, with 19 hits, 4 walks and 22 strikeouts in 36.2 innings.  Opponents batted just .153 against Lopez in August.  Lopez made his Major League debut with the Astros on August 28 at Arizona, appearing in relief against the Diamondbacks.

Trudging to the line

Corpus Christi’s offense has struggled greatly in the absence of Drew Locke, Jason Castro and Jimmy Van Ostrand.  With all three missing the series in Frisco, the Hooks batted .184 (25x136) in the four-game set, scoring just nine runs. 

In the odd stat of the day, despite dropping three of four in the series, the aggregate score vs. Frisco was 9-9!  Hooks pitchers continue to perform well, posting a 2.04 ERA in the series at Dr Pepper Ballpark.

Hitters that are struggling:

Brandon Barnes – 1-for-12 in Frisco series

Jhon Florentino – 1-for-16 in Frisco series with 1 run

Felix Molina – 1-for-15 in Frisco series with 1 double, 1 RBI

Chad Spann – 1-for-15 in Frisco series with 1 double

Wladimir Sutil – 2-for-14 in Frisco series with 1 run

Relievers that are streaking:

Erick Abreu – no runs allowed in his last 6 appearances, covering 16.0 IP

Chia-Jen Lo – no runs allowed in his last 6 appearances, covering 13.0 IP

Danny Meszaros – has allowed just 1 ER in his last 7 outings, covering 14.0 IP (0.64 ERA)

Hitters update

Collin DeLome has a 5-game hitting streak, 8-for-21 with 1 double, 1 triple, 1 HR, 3 runs and 3 RBI’s.

Jonathan Fixler went 4-for-16 in the Frisco series with 2 HR’s, 2 runs and 4 RBI’s.

Nick Moresi has hits in 4 of the last 6 games, 4-for-20 with 2 doubles, 1 HR, 3 runs and 4 RBI’s.

Mark Ori has hits in 5 of the last 6 games, 7-for-22 with 1 double and 1 run.

Pitching Rotation vs. San Antonio

Sunday:  LHP Nathan Culp (7-9, 4.23) vs. LHP Tyler Lumsden (2-3, 4.31)