Minor League Recaps

Thursday's Games

DSL Astros over DSL Cardinals 3-1
I'm so proud. These kids who have struggled mightily this season have won two in a row! Like I said yesterday - baby steps. And they held the Cardinals to two hits. And they had 10 hits. Yay! Elieser Hernandez got his first win of the season on a very good start as he allowed only one hit and one walk with four strikeouts in five innings. Victor Mesa earned his third save of the season. Hector Roa was two-for-four with a double; Pedro Coa was two-for-four with an RBI; and Jarico Reynoso was two-for-three with an RBI and his 13th stolen base of the season.

GCL Astros over GCL Marlins 4-2
Edison Frias gave up two runs early, but hung on for his fourth win of the season thanks in large part to scoreless relief appearances from Raul Rivera and Erick Gonzalez (S, 9). Edwin Gomez had a great day as he went three-for-four with a triple and an RBI, and Juan Santana was two-for-three with two RBI.

Elizabethton over Greeneville 10-2
Christopher Lee went to 1-2 on the season as he gave up five runs in only 1.1 innings. He was followed with a good outing from Andrew Walter, a not so good outing from Christian Garcia and a perfect inning from Scott Zuloaga. Greeneville scored two in the fourth inning on a Terrell Joyce home run, his fifth of the season, but they weren't able to get anything else across on a meager five hits. D'Andre Toney had two of those hits with a stolen base to boot.

Tri-City at Hudson Valley - Postponed

Augusta over Lexington 9-4
It wasn't a very good night for Lexington. Their six-game win streak came to an end and star pitcher Mike Foltynewicz got chased out of the game early after allowing six runs on seven hits and two walks in 3.1 innings. Gabriel Garcia pitched a couple of good innings but he ultimately gave up three additional runs late in the outing before giving way to Euris Quezada for 2.1 innings of scoreless relief. Lexington played from behind and never really challenged Augusta. Brandon Meredith had three of Lexington's six hits, including a solo home run (his 10th) and stole a bag. Delino DeShields snagged his 72nd base of the season but was also caught stealing.

Lake Elsinore over Lancaster 5-4
This game looked promising for Lancaster as they scored two runs in the top of the first on George Springer (19) and Domingo Santana (17) home runs. But the bullpen in the form of Pat Urckfitz and Carlos Quevedo couldn't make a 4-3 lead hold up. But I'm getting ahead of myself. In his second start since coming off the DL, R.J. Alaniz allowed three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts in 3.2 innings of work. Zach Grimmett had his second perfect outing since moving back to the bullpen. Chris Epps was two-for-four with a double and two RBI; Carlos Perez was two-for-four with a double; and Grant Hogue was one-for-two with two stolen bases before being pulled from the game. Springer also stole a bag.

Corpus Christi over San Antonio 3-2
Matt Heidenreich won his first game for the Hooks with a terrific eight-inning appearance. He had a shutout going into the ninth. After issuing a leadoff double in the ninth, Heidenreich was lifted for Jason Stoffel who had an uncharacteristic rugged outing, allowing the inherited runner to score and adding a run of his own on three hits before ultimately closing the book on his 18th save. Heidenreich ended up allowing one run on only five hits and a walk with seven strikeouts. The Hooks scored in the first on a Drew Locke RBI double and not again until two runs in the eighth on RBI singles from Jose Martinez and Locke. Robbie Grossman was two-for-four with a walk and scored a run in his Hooks debut; Rene Garcia was two-for-three and is now hitting .346 since his promotion; and Ben Orloff was two-for-three and scored a run.

Oklahoma City over Iowa 6-5 in 10 innings
Rudy Owens didn't have quite the debut that Heidenreich had, but with three runs on six hits over five innings, things were still within reach. Mark Hamburger and Mickey Storey provided scoreless relief and the game remained tied at 3-3 until Sergio Perez allowed two of Juan Abreu's runners to score in the tenth and was subsequently rewarded with a win as the Redhawks answered with three in the bottom of the frame on a pinch hit single from Chris Wallace and an error. Brandon Barnes was two-for-five with a double and scored two runs; J.B. Shuck was two-for-four with a walk and scored a run; and Brett Wallace was one-for-three with a solo home run.

Pitcher of the Day: This one is easy. Eight innings of shutout baseball in his team debut gets Matt Heidenreich the honors.

Player of the Day: Jarico Reynoso has had three consecutive two-hit games for the light-hitting DSL Astros and is now leading the team with a robust (for them it's robust) .259 batting average. He is hitting .303 over his last 10 games.