Minor League Schedule and Recaps

MONDAY'S GAMES

DSL Astros at DSL Dodgers at 9:30 CST

West Virginia at Lexington at 6:05 CST
Probable Pitchers: RHP Zach Von Rosenberg (0-0, 0.00) and TBD
Available on MiLB.tv

Oklahoma City at New Orleans at 7:00 CST
Probable Pitchers: RHP Armando Galarraga (0-0, -.--) and RHP Tom Koehler (6-5, 3.51)
Available on MiLB.tv

San Antonio at Corpus Christi at 7:05 CST
Probable Pitchers: LHP Tom Layne (0-1, 6.00) and RHP Jose Cisnero (2-6, 4.58)
Available on MiLB.tv

Lancaster at Rancho Cucamonga at 10:05 CST
Probable Pitchers: TBD and RHP Garrett Gould (1-5, 5.05)

SUNDAY'S RECAPS

[Note: All Astros minor league affiliates are at still at .500 or better.]

Greensboro over Lexington 13-4
If you're going to lose, go ahead and lose spectacularly and get it out of your system. After taking two games from the Northern division leading Greensboro team, Lexington did just that as starter Luis Cruz (L, 5-3) gave up five runs (three earned) over four innings; Nathan Pettus added another five runs in only one inning of relief; and Blake Ford added three more in his first inning of work as a Legend. Only Euris Quezada went unscathed as he pitched the final two innings and allowed only three hits and no runs. Adding insult to injury, there were errors on Delino DeShields, Matt Duffy and Chan Moon, a passed ball from Roberto Pena, a wild pitch from Ford and a hit batter by Pettus. Again, if you're going to lose spectacularly, go all the way. But there were a couple of bright spots. Mike Kvasnicka hit two two-run home runs, one from each side of the plate, and Matt Duffy was three-for-three with a walk and two runs scored.

Inland Empire over Lancaster 8-7
David Martinez had another tough start as he allowed seven runs over six innings, but he ended up with a no decision as Lancaster battled back to tie it in the top of the ninth, only to lose in the bottom of the frame. Kirk Clark was charged with the loss. Domingo Santana hit a triple in his first game back from injury; Telvin Nash hit his 18th home run of the season; and Ben Orloff was three-for-four with a walk.

Oklahoma City over New Orleans 12-9
This one was not exactly a pitcher's duel. As a matter of fact, Brian Bass and five other pitchers came in for the Redhawks and collectively allowed nine runs on 13 hits and five walks. Of those, Mickey Storey got the win; and Enerio del Rosario and Fernando Abad (S, 2) on a rehab assignment were the only pitchers who didn't allow a run. The offense may wish they saved a little for the next game with Jimmy Paredes having another four-hit game; Mike Hessman hitting two more home runs; Scott Moore going two-for-five with a home run and four RBIs; and Angel Sanchez going two-for-four with three RBIs.

I feel the need to interject here. Some people have gotten a little overly excited about Mike Hessman's gaudy home run numbers as of late. Here are the facts. Mike Hessman is 34 years old. He has a career minor league average of .232 and a career major league average of .188 (albeit a small sample size). If you are calling for Hessman to get  ticket to Houston, who goes back down to AAA? That would be Brett Wallace because Hessman is a first baseman and we're not in the American League yet so there is no DH. Brett Wallace appears to finally be figuring something out and getting in a rhythm. Do you really want to send him down while he's hitting .400 with two bombs because that is what would happen.

GAME OF THE DAY
Corpus Christi over San Antonio 11-6

What went right: Good pitching (if you just kind of forget about that whole fifth inning) and solid offense.

It looked like this one was going to be a laugher for a while, but a five run fifth inning from San Antonio made it a bit closer than it should have been. Ross Seaton was cruising through the first four innings, but he wasn't fooling too many batters as he gave up five runs on a single, three doubles and a home run before finally inducing a ground out to end it. Alex Sogard pitched two very effective innings of relief. All of the starters had hits except for Jon Singleton and Ryan McCurdy. Adam Bailey had two doubles and two RBIs; Jonathan Villar hit his fourth home run of the season; and Jose Martinez was three-for-five. Ross Seaton also got into the act with a double and a run scored to help his own cause. Sunday night was the return of T.J. Steele to Corpus. As a San Antonio Mission, he was one-for-five with a single and two strikeouts. He also tried to kill me with a flying bat but that's another story.

Ross Seaton (W, 5-3) - 5IP 6H 5R 1BB 5SO 1HR
Alex Sogard - 2IP 2H 0R 1BB 3SO
Henry Villar - 2IP 4H 1R 1BB 2SO

Jonathan Villar - 1x4 HR RBI BB SO 2R
Brandon Wikoff - 2x3 RBI BB 2R
Jose Martinez - 3x5 BB 2R
Drew Locke - 2x5 2B 2RBI 2R
Kody Hinze - 2x5 RBI
Adam Bailey - 2x4 2-2B 2RBI SO
Jordan Kreke - 1x3 BB SO R 2SB

What went wrong: Jon Singleton was hitless with three strikeouts for the night.

PITCHER OF THE DAY
I'm going to go a little outside the box on this one tonight. Alex Sogard has really struggled as of late so it was particularly good to see him have a really solid outing.

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Mike Kvasnicka gets the honor for accomplishing something that no Legend has done to this point ... hitting a home run from both sides of the plate in the same game.