Astros Minor League Recaps

Friday's Games

Peoria Chiefs 4, Quad Cities River Bandits 1 (10)

Despite being K—ed 14 times on Friday night and committing three errors, Quad Cities took this game into extra innings at home and lost it in the 10th frame. Teoscar Hernandez was the only River Bandit with multiple hits, going three for five at the plate with a strike out. Hernandez's BA so far is a team leading .394. Rio Ruiz had a rough go of it Friday at the ballpark, not only committing 2 of the 3 errors for Quad Cities, but also striking out four times in five ABs. Mike Hauschild started on the mound for the River Bandits Friday and allowed just a run on three hits in five innings of work. Hauschild also struck out a pair and walked one. Colton Cain came on for the next three frames and gave up three hits of his own, walked one and K—ed three. John Neely collected his first loss of the season (0-1) after coming on in the ninth inning. Neely allowed 1 earned run in the 10th and then 2 more scored on a Ruiz fielding error. Michael Dimock faced the last batter of the 10th and whiffed him.

Lancaster JetHawks 1, Modesto Nuts 4

The JetHawks win streak was snapped at five games Friday night at John Thurman Field. Luis Cruz started the game with authority for Lancaster, striking out nine Modesto batters over his four and two thirds frames of work., allowing three hits and walking two. Cruz was charged with an earned run after Jonas Dufek, who came on for the last out of the fifth because Cruz had surpassed his pitch count, allowed a hit that scored an inherited runner. Aaron West tallied his first loss (0-1) after allowing three runs on six hits through two and two thirds frames. West also struck out three and walked one. At the plate, the JetHawks bats were set to "silent" as the team collected 4 hits all game and no extra base hits. The lone run for Lancaster came off of a Brandon Meredith bases-loaded sac-fly in the fourth that scored Nolan Fontana.

Corpus Christi Hooks 3, Springfield Cardinals 6
Corpus Christi also had their win streak snapped at five on Friday night. Matthew Heidenreich (1-1) took the loss after pitching the first two innings. Heidenreich allowed four runs on four hits, walked two and struck out one. Ruben Alaniz threw for three frames starting the fifth inning and allowed the other two runs on three hits with a strike out of his own. The Hooks tried to mount a comeback in the fifth inning and stopped one run short of tying it at four all. George Springer was two for four on the night with his fourth double of the season, two RBIs and a walk. Ben Orloff went two for three with a double, run scored and a walk as well. Big Michael Burgess had a tough night at the plate, striking out four times and collecting a walk. The Hooks struck out 12 times in the game.

Memphis Redbirds 10, Oklahoma City RedHawks 6

Friday night saw a disappointing loss for Oklahoma City's home opener. The RedHawks were down seven runs before they scored their first in the fifth inning and by that time it was too much to overcome. Brett Oberholtzer (0-1) took the loss after going the first three frames on the bump and giving up six runs (5 ER) on six hits, walking two and striking out one. Josh Zeid came on to pitch the ninth inning and struck out two in a perfect frame. The bats were hot for Oklahoma City Friday despite the loss. They out hit their opponents 16-15 and had six players with multi-hit games. Nobody swung a mightier stick than Jake Elmore, who went four for five with two doubles and two runs scored. Elmore's BA is now an even .500 on the season. Marc Krauss was another standout, batting two for five with three RBIs and a run scored on a solo homer in the eighth inning.    

Player of the Day: Jake Elmore, hands down. Not only am I giving him the nod but I'm nicknaming him too. I'm dubbing this guy Jake "The Lumberjack" Elmore because, well one, it sounds cool and two, he did things with his lumber on Saturday night that would make a beaver blush.

Pitcher of the Day: Two guys get the nod today. Of course, Luis Cruz is in the mix for his dominating performance on Friday. He basically averaged two Ks per inning of work—that's honor worthy. Josh Zeid also shares the nod for his perfect frame in the face of a 10-6 scoreboard adversity on Friday—that's just manly.