Minor League Schedule and Recaps

MONDAY'S GAMES

DSL Astros at DSL Mariners at 9:30 a.m. CST

Iowa at Oklahoma City at 7:05 CST
Probable Pitchers: LHP Chris Rusin (4-4, 3.53) and RHP Brian Bass (1-0, 0.00)
Available on MiLB.tv

Corpus Christi at Springfield at 7:08 CST
Probable Pitchers: RHP Ross Seaton (4-3, 3.28) and LHP Tyler Lyons (4-4, 3.88)

Rancho Cucamonga at Lancaster at 9:00 CST
Probable Pitchers: RHP Angel Sanchez (4-3, 4.95) and RHP Rueben Alaniz (5-1, 3.69)

SUNDAY'S RESULTS


[Note: Alas, the all over .500 results for the Astros minor league teams only lasted a single day as Corpus fell back to one game under, but the other three are starting to get some nice win streaks going.]

Lancaster over Rancho Cucamonga 15-8
The Lancaster team must delight in making me try to recap some of these ridiculously high-scoring games without writing a Victorian novel. Here goes. Jorge de Leon (W, 1-5) finally got that elusive first win as he pitched five innings and allowed three runs on four hits and three walks while Zachary Grimmett pitched the final four allowing five runs on eight hits (including two home runs). Rafy Valenzuela (3x4, 2B, 2R) and Ben Heath (2B, HR, 3R) accounted for 10 of the runs as they had five RBIs each; Ben Orloff added another three. Erik Castro (2x4, 2B, 3R), Jonathan Meyer (2x4, 2B, RBI, 2R) and Grant Hogue (2x3, 2-2B, 2R) also had great days at the plate. Lancaster had 12 hits, but they were also helped out with ten walks, two wild pitches, five hit batters and an error from Rancho Cucamonga.

Oklahoma City over Iowa 6-5
Dallas Keuchel gave up five runs (four earned) on six hits and a walk with six strikeouts over 6.2 innings. Sergio Perez was charged with a blown save as he allowed one of Keuchel's runners to score while failing to record an out against his two batters. Enter Enerio del Rosario (W, 1-1) and Jose Valdez (S, 13) to save the day. Mike Hessman literally supplied half of the offense with three solo home runs. [Note: Before you get terribly excited about Hessman, keep in mind that his career minor league average over 17 seasons is .232 and his career major league average over 109 games is .188. He's doing great right now, but he's 34 and should not be taking a lot of playing time away from younger players who are going to be a part of the future.] The other big hitter of the day was Dallas Keuchel who had two hits for the day and is now batting .263.

Springfield over Corpus Christi 8-3
Corpus Christi managed to get within one run in the top of the eighth only to have the wheels fall off in the bottom of the frame. Starter Jarred Cosart (L, 3-3) pitched well through five innings, but gave up three runs in the sixth for a total of four runs on seven hits and a walk with four strikeouts over six innings. The bullpen imploded in the eighth with Alex Sogard and Arcenio Leon allowing four runs between them and sealing the Hooks fate for the night. Jordan Kreke was the owner of the only extra base hit of the game, a double. Jonathan Villar, Jake Goebbert, Ryan McCurdy and Kreke all had multi-hit games.

GAME OF THE DAY
Lexington over Rome 4-1

What went right: Mike Foltynewicz, Mike Foltynewicz and Mike Foltynewicz.

Um, Mike Foltynewicz is good. He just got his seventh win in twelve starts pitching eight innings of one hit ball while lowering his ERA to 2.14. Unfortunately, the one hit was a solo homer, but I'll take that any time. Carlos Quevedo pitched a perfect ninth to record his first save. Zach Johnson got his 55th RBI of the season on a ground out. The other runs came on a two RBI double by Chan Moon and a single from Delino DeShields. Deshields stole four bases to increase his total to 36.

Mike Foltynewicz (W, 7-1) - 8IP 1H 1R 2BB 5SO 1HR
Carlos Quevedo (S, 1) - 1IP 0H 0R 0BB 0SO

Delino DeShields - 2x4 RBI SO R 4SB
Drew Muren - 2x4 R SB
Brandon Meredith - 2x3 2B BB SO
Chan Moon - 1x3 2B 3RBI R

What went wrong: The .313 hitting Matt Duffy showed he was human as he went hitless for the day, but he did hit the ball into play in every at bat so I can live with that.

PITCHER OF THE DAY
Mike Foltynewicz did the one thing I asked of him. He pitched deeper into the game which is something I want to see him do routinely, and he was still hitting 95 on the radar gun as late as the seventh when I checked in on the game.

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Rafy Valenzuela and Ben Heath get to share the honors with their 5 RBI days. Valenzuela got his on two singles, a double and a bases loaded one-out force out. Heath got his with a two-run double and a three-run home run. Different approaches, but equally effective!