Minor League Recaps

Wednesday's Games

DSL Rays over DSL Astros 8-4
Harold Arauz pitched three very nice innings allowing only one single and no walks with two strikeouts. But the rest of the pitching staff left something to be desired as they allowed eight runs over the final six innings. The Astros runs came via a Mesac Laguna sac fly, a Luis Reynoso RBI single and a Hector Roa 2-run home run.

GCL Cardinals over GCL Astros 5-1 (called after the top of the 7th)
Raul Rivera allowed two runs on four hits and a walk over four innings and was charged with his first loss of the season. Edison Frias gave up another three runs (two earned) in his two innings. Brett Phillips was two-for-three with a triple and promptly scored on a Jio Mier sac fly. Mier played for five innings in his second rehab start and hit a double as well. The fourth and final hit mustered by the Astros belonged to Teoscar Hernandez.

Greeneville over Kingsport 7-4
Frederick Tiburcio allowed three runs on three hits and three walks in his four innings, and Mike Hauschild allowed the final run in his two innings of work. Euris Quezada was the beneficiary of a late scoring run by Greeneville as they put up a 4-spot in the 7th, and was rewarded with the win. Then J.J. Jankowski came in for the 9th to get his second save and to add two additional strikeouts to his already ridiculous total. I think with a 15.5 SO/9 rate, J.J. should be renamed K.K. Angel Ibanez was three-for-five and scored two runs. Ibanez was one of the few Astros to NOT get an RBI as Brian Blasik, Ricky Gingras, D'Andre Toney, Michael Martinez and Terrell Joyce each got one RBI, and Jean Batista got two via a ground rule double. Batista and Toney each stole a bag as well. Appy Astros has an eyewitness report here. He notes that Jean Batista now has a 15 game hitting streak.

Batavia over Tri-City 1-0
This one was a pitcher's duel until the ninth. Vincent Velasquez had a great start as he allowed only two hits and three walks with eight strikeouts. Jamaine Cotton kept the shutout going in his two innings allowing only one hit with two strikeouts. Unfortunately, Blake Ford didn't have a save opportunity this time and gave up Batavia's only run in the ninth. Tri-City did have eight hits (two from Tyler Heineman and two from Preston Tucker) but they were never able to scratch across a run.

Lexington over Asheville 3-2
Luis Cruz had a great start until the seventh inning when he gave up back to back singles and was pulled for Murilo Gouvea who allowed both runners to score, leaving Cruz with a pitching line of two runs on six hits and a walk with eight strikeouts. Despite Gouvea's best efforts to the contrary, Cruz got his eighth win and Dayan Diaz pitched the ninth to earn his 16th save. Asheville gifted two of Lexington's runs to them via a throwing error and a wild pitch, and Justin Gominsky pushed across one run the conventional way, with an RBI double. Matt Duffy was two-for-three with a walk and Brandon Meredith was two-for-four.

Lancaster over Stockton 15-2
David Martinez had another good outing as he allowed only two runs (one earned) on seven hits in six innings. Pat Urckfitz converted a three inning save, his eighth save of the season, as he provided scoreless relief. Stockton wouldn't score beyond the first inning. Lancaster, with a six run first, wouldn't need any additional runs beyond the first but they scored nine more anyway in this laugher. Erik Castro and Carlos Perez had fantastic nights, but there were many good performances:

Erik Castro - 2x4 2B HR 5RBI BB 3R SB
Carlos Perez - 4x6 2B 3RBI 2SO 3R
Alex Todd - 2x6 2B RBI 2SO R
George Springer - 0x2 3BB SO 2R SB CS
Domingo Santana - 2x3 2B RBI 2BB 2R
Drew Muren - 1x5 RBI BB 3SO 3R SB Outfield Assist
Kike Hernandez - 2x5 3RBI SO

Corpus Christi over San Antonio 10-9
Paul Clemens got the win despite allowing six runs on seven hits and two walks while recording ten strikeouts in five innings of work. Four of Clemens runs came off two Missions' home runs. Adalberto Flores and Alex Sogard worked the next three innings as two more runs came across to make the game a little close for comfort. With the Hooks leading 10-8 heading into the ninth, Jason Stoffel suddenly decided to make things way too interesting on his way to his 21st save as he allowed one run to score via the long ball and loaded up the bases with a hit by pitch before inducing the final ground out. New guys Bobby Borchering and Marc Krauss each only got one hit, but the one hit happened to be a three-run home run for each of them. Drew Locke contributed a two-run triple; Jon Singleton was two-for-four and scored twice; and Ben Orloff was two-for-four with a double.

Tacoma over Oklahoma City 7-4
Jake Buchanan, who had been pitching out of the bullpen, got the start and the loss. He allowed five runs on seven hits and four walks while only recording one strikeout. Fernando Abad and Hector Ambriz provided three innings of scoreless relief. Jose Valdez allowed another two runs in his one inning of work. The Redhawks actually led the game briefly but Tacoma just kept playing add-on and they did a better job of it than OKC. Travis Buck was two-for-four with a double; Brad Snyder was three-for-four with two RBI; and Brian Bixler was one-for-four with two RBI.

Player of the Day: I think we can officially declare Erik Castro's slump dead. In his last four games, he is hitting .438 with two doubles, three home runs, eight RBI, two walks and he's scored six runs.

Pitcher of the Day: Vincent Velasquez is showing us why he was such a highly regarding prospect prior to his TJ surgery.