Ready to play
Hector Gimenez was sure he wasn't going to play Tuesday night.
After all, it wasn't his night to catch and some guy named Bagwell was supposed to be the Hooks' designated hitter, so Gimenez took care of some painful business and had a tooth pulled.
In the end, it was Midland that really felt the pain.
Gimenez drove in all of his team's runs and three Corpus Christi pitchers combined for a shutout as the Hooks blanked the RockHounds 4-0 at Whataburger Field.
The victory, combined with Frisco's win over San Antonio, once again created a three-way tie for first place in the Texas League's West Division among the Hooks, RockHounds and Missions.
That will set up five nights of scoreboard-watching in one of the tightest pennant races in recent Texas League history. Corpus Christi will host San Antonio tonight in the opener of a five-game series to end the regular season. Meanwhile, Midland heads to Frisco for a quintet of games.
The Hooks are trying to complete a worst-to-first turnaround after finishing last in the league during the first half.
"We know what we've got ahead of us, that's for sure," Hooks manager Dave Clark said. "Those guys from San Antonio are going to come in here and try to take it from us. We've got to be ready. I like the way the boys are playing right now. They're on a mission and going about it the right way."
Houston Astros first baseman Jeff Bagwell was expected to start at DH for the Hooks, but he pushed the start of his injury rehab assignment back until today. That put Gimenez in the DH spot and he made the most of his opportunity, with a three-run homer in the fourth inning and a RBI single in the eighth.
"That's fate right there for you," said ace Jason Hirsh, who went six innings to pick up his team-high 13th win. "It just goes to show you that anything can happen in this game. If Bagwell was here, it could be a completely different ballgame and we could still be playing right now."
Gimenez broke a scoreless stalemate in the fourth inning by slamming his homer over the left-center field fence to electrify the home crowd.
"From the beginning, Midland has been throwing me a lot of change-ups when they got behind in the count," Gimenez said. "When (Drew Dickinson) threw that first fastball for a ball, I was looking for that changeup. He hung it right in the middle and I put a good swing on it."
Not too shabby for a guy who probably wouldn't have been in the lineup had Bagwell been on hand.
"That's why I pulled my tooth out," Gimenez said. "Because I thought Bagwell was going to come in and play and I thought I wasn't going to play today. When I came here and saw the starting lineup, I said 'Well, I'll do the best I can do.' That's what I did."
"Man, I don't want to even have to think about (Gimenez sitting out)," Clark said. "I told him now he's going to get two of those teeth pulled (today). He picked a good time to have a big night."
Hirsh, meanwhile, won for the seventh time after his team lost the previous night. The Texas League's pitcher of the year threw on one day's rest after a truncated one-inning start because of rain.
"He just seems to have a knack for those things," Clark said. "This kid's got something special."
Tim McClaskey - making his first relief appearance since last year's playoffs - and Chris Sampson pitched the final three innings to set up a dramatic finish to the Hooks' inaugural season.
"It's about life and death, that's what I have to call it," Gimenez said. "It's the last series of the season and we really want to make the playoffs."
How They Scored
HOOKS 4TH
Riggs grounded out to third. Phillips singled to left. Saccomanno singled to left. Gimenez homered to left-center; Phillips, Saccomanno and Gimenez scored. Norris singled to left. Fagan struck out. Robinson grounded out to pitcher. HOOKS, 3-0
HOOKS 8TH
Saccomanno doubled to right. Gimenez singled to left, Saccomanno scored. Norris singled to right, Gimenez to third. Fagan struck out. Robinson struck out. M. Rodriguez flied out to center. HOOKS, 4-0
HOOKS NOTEBOOK
SEE YA, C.J.
Roster moves in the majors and Class AAA trickled down to the Hooks on Tuesday, as outfielder Charlton Jimerson was promoted to Round Rock.
Jimerson will fill the spot created when outfielder Luke Scott was promoted to Houston. After a slow start during the first half, Jimerson was a key cog in the Hooks' second-half resurgence, hitting .283 with 13 home runs, 32 runs batted in and 17 stolen bases.
He finished his second Class AA season with a .259 average, team-high 16 homers, 44 RBI and 27 steals. Jimerson departed Tuesday afternoon for Albuquerque, N.M, where the Express is playing a series against the Isotopes.
Hooks manager Dave Clark said John Fagan would take over Jimerson's spot in right field, with Carlos Rodriguez seeing time there as well.
"Does it hurt us? Of course it does," Clark said. "I've said it before and we've seen it - (Jimerson) can carry a ballclub for a while. He makes a lot of things happen when he gets on base.
"You're always happy to see a kid get promoted. This is another challenge for him and he'll go up there and play well."
Hooks left fielder Mike Rodriguez is a close friend of Jimerson's. The two were teammates for four years at the University of Miami and then three of their first four pro seasons.
"I'm very happy for him," Rodriguez said. "This is the first time one of us has been moved during a season, but that's the nature of the game when it comes down to this time of year."
MORE MOVEMENT?
After Jimerson's call-up, Astros director of player development Ricky Bennett said the organization didn't plan to make many more changes to the Hooks' roster with the team in the throes of a pennant race.
"We're going to try to keep it intact as much as possible," Bennett said. "We have a couple of things on the table where we're trying to make some decisions. We're going to try to do the best we can to keep that team intact."
When asked if Jason Hirsh, the Hooks' ace and Texas League Pitcher of the Year, would be moved up, Bennett said, ""At this point, no."
Hirsh was thought to be a candidate for Round Rock after the Express lost pitchers Fernando Nieve and Carlos Hernandez to injuries. But Bennett said Round Rock was carrying 13 pitchers before the injuries and had some flexibility with its arms.
trophies tonight
The San Antonio Spurs' 1999, 2003 and 2005 NBA championship trophies will be on display at tonight's Hooks game. Fans can have their pictures taken with the trophy from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. inside the right-field entrance at Whataburger Field.
SAN ANTONIO ROTATION SET
Clark said he has tentatively set his pitching rotation for the season-ending series against San Antonio that begins tonight.
Left-hander Philip Barzilla will start tonight's opener, followed by righty Peter Bauer on Thursday. Rehabbing Astros starter Brandon Backe is tentatively slated to start Friday, but may get pushed back to Saturday. Righty Tim McClaskey will go on the day Backe doesn't, with Hirsh slated to pitch Sunday's regular-season finale.
Source: http://www.caller.com/
After all, it wasn't his night to catch and some guy named Bagwell was supposed to be the Hooks' designated hitter, so Gimenez took care of some painful business and had a tooth pulled.
In the end, it was Midland that really felt the pain.
Gimenez drove in all of his team's runs and three Corpus Christi pitchers combined for a shutout as the Hooks blanked the RockHounds 4-0 at Whataburger Field.
The victory, combined with Frisco's win over San Antonio, once again created a three-way tie for first place in the Texas League's West Division among the Hooks, RockHounds and Missions.
That will set up five nights of scoreboard-watching in one of the tightest pennant races in recent Texas League history. Corpus Christi will host San Antonio tonight in the opener of a five-game series to end the regular season. Meanwhile, Midland heads to Frisco for a quintet of games.
The Hooks are trying to complete a worst-to-first turnaround after finishing last in the league during the first half.
"We know what we've got ahead of us, that's for sure," Hooks manager Dave Clark said. "Those guys from San Antonio are going to come in here and try to take it from us. We've got to be ready. I like the way the boys are playing right now. They're on a mission and going about it the right way."
Houston Astros first baseman Jeff Bagwell was expected to start at DH for the Hooks, but he pushed the start of his injury rehab assignment back until today. That put Gimenez in the DH spot and he made the most of his opportunity, with a three-run homer in the fourth inning and a RBI single in the eighth.
"That's fate right there for you," said ace Jason Hirsh, who went six innings to pick up his team-high 13th win. "It just goes to show you that anything can happen in this game. If Bagwell was here, it could be a completely different ballgame and we could still be playing right now."
Gimenez broke a scoreless stalemate in the fourth inning by slamming his homer over the left-center field fence to electrify the home crowd.
"From the beginning, Midland has been throwing me a lot of change-ups when they got behind in the count," Gimenez said. "When (Drew Dickinson) threw that first fastball for a ball, I was looking for that changeup. He hung it right in the middle and I put a good swing on it."
Not too shabby for a guy who probably wouldn't have been in the lineup had Bagwell been on hand.
"That's why I pulled my tooth out," Gimenez said. "Because I thought Bagwell was going to come in and play and I thought I wasn't going to play today. When I came here and saw the starting lineup, I said 'Well, I'll do the best I can do.' That's what I did."
"Man, I don't want to even have to think about (Gimenez sitting out)," Clark said. "I told him now he's going to get two of those teeth pulled (today). He picked a good time to have a big night."
Hirsh, meanwhile, won for the seventh time after his team lost the previous night. The Texas League's pitcher of the year threw on one day's rest after a truncated one-inning start because of rain.
"He just seems to have a knack for those things," Clark said. "This kid's got something special."
Tim McClaskey - making his first relief appearance since last year's playoffs - and Chris Sampson pitched the final three innings to set up a dramatic finish to the Hooks' inaugural season.
"It's about life and death, that's what I have to call it," Gimenez said. "It's the last series of the season and we really want to make the playoffs."
How They Scored
HOOKS 4TH
Riggs grounded out to third. Phillips singled to left. Saccomanno singled to left. Gimenez homered to left-center; Phillips, Saccomanno and Gimenez scored. Norris singled to left. Fagan struck out. Robinson grounded out to pitcher. HOOKS, 3-0
HOOKS 8TH
Saccomanno doubled to right. Gimenez singled to left, Saccomanno scored. Norris singled to right, Gimenez to third. Fagan struck out. Robinson struck out. M. Rodriguez flied out to center. HOOKS, 4-0
HOOKS NOTEBOOK
SEE YA, C.J.
Roster moves in the majors and Class AAA trickled down to the Hooks on Tuesday, as outfielder Charlton Jimerson was promoted to Round Rock.
Jimerson will fill the spot created when outfielder Luke Scott was promoted to Houston. After a slow start during the first half, Jimerson was a key cog in the Hooks' second-half resurgence, hitting .283 with 13 home runs, 32 runs batted in and 17 stolen bases.
He finished his second Class AA season with a .259 average, team-high 16 homers, 44 RBI and 27 steals. Jimerson departed Tuesday afternoon for Albuquerque, N.M, where the Express is playing a series against the Isotopes.
Hooks manager Dave Clark said John Fagan would take over Jimerson's spot in right field, with Carlos Rodriguez seeing time there as well.
"Does it hurt us? Of course it does," Clark said. "I've said it before and we've seen it - (Jimerson) can carry a ballclub for a while. He makes a lot of things happen when he gets on base.
"You're always happy to see a kid get promoted. This is another challenge for him and he'll go up there and play well."
Hooks left fielder Mike Rodriguez is a close friend of Jimerson's. The two were teammates for four years at the University of Miami and then three of their first four pro seasons.
"I'm very happy for him," Rodriguez said. "This is the first time one of us has been moved during a season, but that's the nature of the game when it comes down to this time of year."
MORE MOVEMENT?
After Jimerson's call-up, Astros director of player development Ricky Bennett said the organization didn't plan to make many more changes to the Hooks' roster with the team in the throes of a pennant race.
"We're going to try to keep it intact as much as possible," Bennett said. "We have a couple of things on the table where we're trying to make some decisions. We're going to try to do the best we can to keep that team intact."
When asked if Jason Hirsh, the Hooks' ace and Texas League Pitcher of the Year, would be moved up, Bennett said, ""At this point, no."
Hirsh was thought to be a candidate for Round Rock after the Express lost pitchers Fernando Nieve and Carlos Hernandez to injuries. But Bennett said Round Rock was carrying 13 pitchers before the injuries and had some flexibility with its arms.
trophies tonight
The San Antonio Spurs' 1999, 2003 and 2005 NBA championship trophies will be on display at tonight's Hooks game. Fans can have their pictures taken with the trophy from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. inside the right-field entrance at Whataburger Field.
SAN ANTONIO ROTATION SET
Clark said he has tentatively set his pitching rotation for the season-ending series against San Antonio that begins tonight.
Left-hander Philip Barzilla will start tonight's opener, followed by righty Peter Bauer on Thursday. Rehabbing Astros starter Brandon Backe is tentatively slated to start Friday, but may get pushed back to Saturday. Righty Tim McClaskey will go on the day Backe doesn't, with Hirsh slated to pitch Sunday's regular-season finale.
Source: http://www.caller.com/
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