Texas Rangers First-Round Pick Stars in First Double-A Series

Triple-A, Pacific Coast League East (38-25, 82-55, 1st, 1.0 GA)

Round Rock dominated El Paso, 14-4, on Sunday afternoon to secure a series split with the Chihuahuas and remain a game ahead in the PCL East…C Matt Whatley (1-for-3, 2 BB, HR, 4 RBI) homered in his 2nd straight game after launching a grand slam in the 1st inning, the E-Train’s 9th of the season…1B Dustin Harris (2-for-4, 2 BB, HR, RBI), SS Davis Wendzel (2-for-4, 2 BB) and 2B Jax Biggers (2-for-5, BB, 2 RBI) each finished with two hits on Sunday…in his Triple-A debut, CF Zion Bannister (1-for-4, BB, 3B, 3 RBI) drove in three runs including a bases-clearing triple to put the game away in the 8th frame…RHP Kyle Cody (2.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R-ER, 1 BB, 1 SO) got the start and allowed a run across the first two innings…LHP Jake Latz (0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R-ER, 0 BB, 2 SO) retired 2 of 3 BF and is scoreless in 13 of his last 14 app. dating back to Aug. 1: 16.1 IP, 10 H, 1 R-ER, 6 BB, 21 SO.

Double-A, Texas League South (31-32, 62-69, 4th, Eliminated)

RHP Nick Krauth (7.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R-ER, 1 BB, 8 SO) struck out 8 batters across 7.1 innings of work as Frisco rolled NW Arkansas, 11-2, despite dropping the week-long series to the Naturals (2-4)…Krauth became the first RoughRiders starting pitcher to last more than 7.0 IP in a game this year…SS Keyber Rodriguez (1-for-4, 2 BB, HR, RBI) set the tone with a home run on the first pitch in the bottom of the 1st frame…LF Wyatt Langford (2-for-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI) added a double, walk, and two hits to finish his first Double-A series going 6-for-20 (.300) with 4 RBI…2B Devin Hurdle (3-for-5, 2B, 3 RBI) made his Double-A debut for Frisco, belting a two-run double to put the ‘Riders in front, 7-1…1B Frainyer Chavez (3-for-5, 2 RBI) tied his career-high with 3 hits while DH Liam Hicks (2-for-4, BB, 2B, RBI) and CF Kellen Strahm (2-for-4, BB) finished with a pair of knocks.

High-A, South Atlantic League South (43-21, 70-55, 1st, Clinched)

3B Cody Freeman (1-for-4, BB, HR, 4 RBI) led Hickory to a 14-6 win over Winston-Salem in the Crawdads final regular season game…C Cody Johnson (1-for-2, HR, 3 RBI) and C Efrenyer Narvaez (1-for-2, HR, RBI) joined Freeman with long balls of their own…1B Abimelec Ortiz (0-for-2, 3 BB) reached base three times, all on walks…2B Max Acosta (2-for-4, BB, RBI) tallied his team-leading 60th RBI…RHP Juan Mejia (W, 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R-ER, 1 BB, 4 SO) struck out a quartet of batters across 1.1 IP…Hickory will host Greenville, the first half winner, for a 3-game series in the SAL South Division Championship with game one set for tomorrow night at 6:00 CT…on the other side of the bracket, Hudson Valley will take on Jersey Shore for the right to advance to the South Atlantic League Championship Series.

Low-A, Carolina League North (29-37, 66-61, 4th, Clinched)

Down East was blanked by Augusta, 0-8, as the offense mustered just 4 hits in defeat…DH Quincy Scott (1-for-4) added a single as the Rangers 9th round pick this season has knocks in 19 of his first 24 G with the Wood Ducks with the 20-year-old slashing .376/.444/.412/.856 with 11 RBI…RHP Luis Ramirez (L, 2.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO) took the loss for the Woodies, allowing 2 runs in his 10th start this season…Down East will meet Carolina, the second half winner, for a 3-game series in the CL North Division Championship with game one set for tomorrow night at 5:30 CT…on the other side of the bracket, Charleston will take on Myrtle Beach for the right to advance to the Carolina League Championship Series.

Arizona Complex League West (23-33, 5th, 11.0 GB)

The ACL Rangers finished the season with a 23-33 record and missed the playoffs at 5th place in the ACL West…2B Echedry Vargas (.315) paced the Rangers in AVG, H (62), 2B (15), HR (11), and RBI (39)…Texas’ no. 3 ranked prospect (MLB Pipeline), SS Sebastian Walcott (.273), slashed .273/.325/.524/.849 across 35 G in rookie ball…RHP Nick Bautista (1-6, 6.05) and RHP Ivan Oviedo (1-3, 5.18) ended the season tied for the team lead with 35 SO.