Thomas Saggese Hits Grand Slam in Frisco Victory

The Double-A Texas Rangers infielder is among the leaders in several different Texas League categories.

Frisco RoughRiders

All five Texas Rangers affiliates continued their week-long series on Saturday, with three affiliates winning their games.

Triple-A Round Rock beat Reno, Double-A Frisco beat San Antonio and High Class-A Hickory split a doubleheader with Rome. Class-A Down East lost to Salem and the ACL Rangers lost to the ACL Reds out in Arizona.

Here is how each affiliate did on Saturday.

Texas Rangers Minor League Update

Here is an update on each Texas Rangers minor league affiliate for the games of Saturday, July 22.

Triple-A Round Rock

Round Rock (14-6, 58-36, 1st, +2.0 GB) defeated Reno, 4-3, after an RBI single from 3B Justin Foscue (1-for-4, RBI) gave the Express their 2nd one-run victory in as many days. CF Bubba Thompson (2-for-3, BB, 2B, RBI) led off the 8th frame with a double and was subsequently brought around on Foscue’s go-ahead knock. RHP Marc Church (W, 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R-ER, 2 BB) tossed a scoreless 8th and 9th inning to earn his 2nd win of the season. 1B Blaine Crim (1-for-3, 3B, RBI) tallied his team-leading 5th triple of the season, also tied for the most in the Pacific Coast League. LHP Jake Latz (3.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R-ER, 3 SO) threw a trio of shutout innings in the start, and has a 0.75 ERA (1 ER/12.0 IP) through 6 games/2 starts in July. 

Double-A Frisco

Frisco (10-10, 41-47, T3rd, 4.0 GB) defeated San Antonio, 8-6, after 2B Thomas Saggese’s (2-for-5, HR, 4 RBI) first-career grand slam pushed the ‘Riders to a victory The 21-year-old ranks within the top 10 in the Texas League in AVG (4th, .310), H (1st, 107), R (61, T3rd), 2B (20, T4th), and RBI (70, T2nd). LF Kellen Strahm (1-for-4, 2B, RBI), DH Liam Hicks (1-for-3, BB, 2B, RBI) and SS Luisangel Acuña (2-for-4, BB, 2B) all recorded doubles for Frisco. CF Evan Carter (1-for-3, 2 BB, RBI) reached in 3 of 5 PA and leads the RoughRiders with 48 walks this season. RHP Nick Starr (W, 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R-ER, 2 SO) earned the win, while RHP Matt Bush (S, 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R-ER) recorded the final two outs for the save. 

High Class-A Hickory

Hickory (16-6, 43-40, 1st, +3.5 GA) Hickory split a twin bill with Rome (W, 3-2, L, 9-3) on Saturday night after having washouts on consecutive days. 1B Abimelec Ortiz (2-for-5, BB, HR, RBI) and LF Geisel Cepeda (2-for-4, BB, RBI) were the only two ‘Dads to record hits in both contests, each driving in a run apiece. DH Max Acosta (1-for-5, HR, 2 RBI) belted a 2-R homer in the opening contest, his 6th long ball of the season to put Hickory in front, 4-2. RHP Emiliano Teodo (4.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R-ER, 2 BB, 6 SO) allowed a lone run across 4.1 innings of work in the Crawdads victory. RHP Leury Tejada (L, 0.1 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 4 ER) recorded just one out in the second game, shouldering the loss. 

Class-A Down East

Down East (11-12, 48-36, 5th, 2.5 GB) was limited to just 4 hits as they fell, 5-1, to Salem. The Woodies fell behind in the 2nd inning as the Red Sox tagged RHP Brock Porter (4.0 IP, 1H, 1 R-ER, 3 BB, 1 SO) for a run. However after LF Zion Bannister (0-for-2, R) reached on a HBP and stole second, he was brought home by 1B Yenci Pena (1-for-4, RBI) on an RBI single to even the game at one. Salem eventually broke through for a quartet of runs off LHP Kohl Drake (L, 4.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R-ER, 4 SO) who suffered his 2nd loss with Down East after being promoted on 7/4. 2B Miguel Villarroel (1-for-4), 3B Gleider Figuereo (1- for-4, 2B) and RF JoJo Blackmon (1-for-3) rounded out the Woodies’ offensive efforts. 

ACL Rangers

The ACL Rangers (14-19, 5th, 8.0 GB) lost the ACL Reds, 6-3, despite a trio of hits from DH Christian Gonzalez (3-for-4). LF Marcos Torres (1-for-3, BB, RBI) tallied the Rangers’ lone RBI of the contest. 2B Echedry Vargas (2-for-3, BB) added a pair of hits and reached in 3 of 4 PA. DH Sebastain Walcott (0-for-5) had his 15-G hit streak snapped after going hitless, as the 17-year-old went 27-for-71 (.380) with 12 XBH and 14 RBI over that span. RHP Michael Alfonso (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R-ER, 1 BB, 2 SO) struck out 2 of 4 BF.

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