It Definitely Isn’t a Night for Pitchers at Midland

MIDLAND, Tex. â€”  The hitters were ahead of the pitchers in Saturday night’s Texas League game between the Midland Angels and Wichita Wranglers--way ahead.

Midland, the Angels’ double-A affiliate, and Wichita, the San Diego Padres’ affiliate, combined for 50 runs, 47 hits and nine errors as the Wranglers won, 33-17.

Amazingly, the 50 runs were not a Texas League record. Seven years ago, Beaumont and El Paso combined for 56 runs.

Starter Kyle Abbott, who was the Angels’ first-round draft choice last June out of Cal State Long Beach, gave up a home run to Dean Palmer in the first inning, and Midland’s Mark Davis hit a home run in the bottom half of the inning.

The Angels got five runs in the bottom of the second. The Wranglers then sent 15 to the plate in a 10-run third inning highlighted by Dan Walters’ grand slam.

Wichita scored 15 runs in the fourth through seventh innings off four relievers before Midland Manager Eddie Rodriguez decided to stop using pitchers.

Right fielder Steve DeAngelis came in and walked Brian Cisarik to start the eighth. He retired the side on a fielder’s choice and a double play. But he yielded six runs in the top of the ninth.

“It was like the ‘Twilight Zone,’ � Midland catcher Jeff Barns said. “They would turn two-strike pitches into hits on checked swings and broken bats--just little bloops over the infield. All I could think was, ‘What do I call now?’ �

Although the game was a rout, most of the 3,527 fans stayed until the seventh inning.

“That’s when it started getting real ugly,� Barns said. “Our scoreboard only goes up to 20 runs, so it might have looked to someone that got there late like we were doing OK. We weren’t.�