ROCKHOUNDS: Taylor, Long lead RockHounds past Hooks

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Beau Taylor had the best view of Nate Long’s stellar pitching performance on Thursday night.

The Midland RockHounds catcher also made sure that Long’s performance didn’t go to waste. Taylor, who hasn’t caught since last Saturday, was 2-for-3 with a pair of run-scoring doubles to help the RockHounds to a 3-2 victory against the Corpus Christi Hooks in front of 5,311 at Security Bank Ballpark.

But it was being a part of Long’s performance that helped make Taylor’s night even better.

“Awesome, (Long) and I were on cue today, and the past month and a half he’s been lights out,” said Taylor, who was hitting .212 entering Thursday’s game. “He keeps giving up the solo home run, and I was joking with him about that, but he was awesome today. He led the team today.”

Taylor has been splitting time at catcher with Blake Forsythe this season, and Forsythe was behind the plate for the first two games of this series with the Hooks, and Thursday it was Taylor’s chance. He took advantage.

Taylor slapped a two-out double to right-center in the second to score Dusty Coleman, and two innings later he went to the left-center field wall with that double to score Miles Head.

“For him to come in and have the at-bats he did, that’s great work in terms of mental preparation and physical work in between playing,” RockHounds manager Aaron Nieckula said. “I thought the fly out he had against (Alex Sogad) was a good at-bat as well. He had some good (at-bats).”

Even though he doesn’t play every day, Taylor said the key is still doing the work needed and to take advantage of opportunities.

Rockhounds pitcher Nate Long throws against Corpus Christi on June 9 at Security Bank Ballpark. James Durbin/Reporter-Telegram Rockhounds pitcher Nate Long throws against Corpus Christi on June 9 at Security Bank Ballpark. James Durbin/Reporter-Telegram Photo: James Durbin Photo: James Durbin Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close ROCKHOUNDS: Taylor, Long lead RockHounds past Hooks 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

“You’ve just got to keep working in the cage, and you’ve got to keep your head in it and can’t get down on yourself if you haven’t played in a couple of days,” Taylor said. “That’s not how you succeed in baseball.”

Taylor’s second double gave the RockHounds the margin needed to win the game, and Long took care of the rest.

Long gave up a run in the first inning, and then Preston Tucker hit a solo home run to left in the sixth.

Long, who improved to 6-1 this season, also worked out of a jam in the fourth when the Hooks had runners on first and third, and benefitted from some nifty RockHounds defense in the first, fifth and seventh innings.

Midland had two double plays in the game, one in the fifth and one in the seventh, and both kept runners from advancing past first base.

But even Long was a little surprised he went out for the eighth inning, though he still had enough left in the tank to retire the side. He scattered five hits over seven innings and had seven strikeouts and two walks.

“I was trying to be in the zone and trying to get early contact, when guys hit the ball early you tend to get more outs, and let my defense play” Long said. “I thought my pitch count was a little high, and didn’t know if I was going out again. But in a 3-2 game I thought I had a chance of going out. When I walked in the dugout and didn’t get a handshake from (manager Aaron Nieckula), I knew there was still a chance of me going out there.”

’HOUNDS BITES: A Twitter post from the Stockton Ports stated that Oakland A’s prospect Addison Russell is expected to make a rehab start there on Sunday afternoon. Russell started the season in Midland but played two games before another hamstring injury sidelined him. … Hiroyuki Nakajima didn’t play in Thursday’s game because of an apparent leg injury he suffered on Wednesday. Midland manager Aaron Nieckula said on Wednesday night that Nakajima could be out of for a few games, but didn’t specify his injury … Billy Burns stole his 29th base on Thursday, which leads the Texas League. … Hooks manager Keith Bodie apparently used a balloting system to choose a lineup for Thursday’s game. He left a blank ballot in each player’s locker and then tallied them up, which produced a little bit different lineup than the first two games. Regular leadoff hitter Delino DeShields Jr. hit fifth, and Nolan Fontana took the leadoff spot.

TODAY’S PROBABLES: The RockHounds will send right-hander Chris Jensen to the mound today for the final game of this four-game series. Jensen is 2-5 with a 4.72 ERA this season. Right-hander Jordan Jankowski will start for the Hooks. Jankowski is 0-1 with a 3.89 ERA this season.

ROCKHOUNDS 3, HOOKS 2

CChristi ab r h bi Midland ab r h bi

Fontana 4 0 0 0 Burns cf 4 1 2 0

Heras lf 4 0 1 0 Crumbliss 2b 4 0 2 0

Perdomo 1b 4 1 0 0 Muncy dh 4 0 0 0

Tucker rf 1 1 1 1 Whitaker lf 4 0 1 1

DeShields cf 4 0 2 1 Matthes rf 4 0 0 0

Meyer 3b 4 0 1 0 Aliotti 1b 3 0 0 0

Heineman dh 4 0 0 0 Head 3b 3 1 1 0

Garcia c 3 0 1 0 Coleman ss 2 1 1 0

Mier 2b 3 0 0 0 Taylor c 3 0 2 2

Totals 31 2 6 2 Totals 31 3 0 3

Corpus Christi 100 001 000 —2

Midland 110 100 000 —0

E - DeShields (3). DP - Corpus Christi 1, Midland 2. LOB - Corpus Christi 5, Midland 5. 2B - Taylor 2 (7), Crumbliss (10). HR - Tucker (14). SB - Burns. S - Coleman.

IP H R ER BB SO

Corpus Christi

Hauschild L, 1-1 5.0 9 3 3 0 5

Sogard 3.0 0 0 0 0 3

Midland

Long W, 6-1 8.0 5 2 2 2 7

Frankoff S, 11 1.0 1 0 0 1 2

WP - Long.

T - 2:29. A - 5,311.