Hounds Edge Hooks in Pitchers’ Duel
MIDLAND – Ryan Cusick, Chase Cohen and lefty Austin Briggs held the Hooks to a pair of singles as the RockHounds clipped Corpus Christi, 2-1, Wednesday night at Momentum Bank Ballpark. Cusick, packaged in the trade that shipped first baseman Matt Olson to Atlanta last month, struck out eight over
MIDLAND – Ryan Cusick, Chase Cohen and lefty Austin Briggs held the Hooks to a pair of singles as the RockHounds clipped Corpus Christi, 2-1, Wednesday night at Momentum Bank Ballpark.
Cusick, packaged in the trade that shipped first baseman Matt Olson to Atlanta last month, struck out eight over five shutout innings in his A’s system debut. The 6-foot-6 right-hander was around 98 MPH with his fastball, throwing 44 of 70 pitches for strikes.
Angel Macuare matched Cusick over the first four frames before allowing two runs in the fifth. Jordan Diaz opened the stanza with a single into center and then went first to third on a Kyle McCann base hit. Macuare countered with a strikeout but the next batter, Chase Calabuig, lined a single into left to break the stalemate. Zack Gelof accounted for the decisive run with a two-out RBI double.
Macuare fanned five and did not issue a walk in his first start of the year.
Misael Tamarez was electric in his Double-A debut, striking out six of the 12 batters he faced. The 22-year-old Tamarez, touching 96 MPH, permitted just two singles and one hit batsman in 3.0 shutout innings.
Cohen and Briggs pitched to just two over the minimum thru the final four innings. Corpus Christi’s marker in the eighth was unearned.
The two-hour and 15-minute affair was the quickest nine-inning game involving the Hooks since June 11, 2019 at Arkansas.
With the series level at one, Hooks right-hander Jaime Melendez is slated to face Jack Cushing Thursday night. First pitch 7:00 PM.