Astros Minor League Recaps

Thursday's Games

New Orleans over Oklahoma City 10-8 in 15 innings
New Orleans was leading 6-1 going in to the bottom of the ninth inning. The RedHawks came back to tie it up with a big five-run frame and they tied it up again in the 13th, but finally fell short in the 15th. Jarred Cosart got roughed up a little bit in this one, allowing five runs (four earned) in the first inning. He settled in quite nicely after that until he faced a bit more traffic in the fifth inning and one of his runs came across under Kyle Hallock's watch. The bullpen in the form of Hallock, Josh Zeid, Wes Musick and Kevin Chapman then shut the door on New Orleans, but Jose Valdez ended up allowing his first runs of the season and Lance Day was charged with the loss two innings later (and almost five hours after things got started). There were only two extra base hits in this one, doubles from Brett Wallace (2x6 BB R) and Trevor Crowe (1x6 BB R SB). As could be expected in a 15-inning affair, everyone got in the hit column, but the most productive players were Jimmy Paredes (3x6 2BB), Andy Simunic (3x7 2RBI) and Jonathan Villar (2x8 3RBI).

Midland over Corpus Christi 6-0
The pitchers weren't exactly helped out by errors as three of the six Midland runs were unearned in Thursday's game. Starter R.J. Alaniz allowed one unearned run in three and two-thirds and was followed by a scoreless frame from Jorge de Leon. Second half starter Matt Heidenreich did not fare as well as he was charged with five runs (three earned) in his two and a third innings. Andrew Robinson inherited a bases juiced situation to get the final two outs, but not before one of the runs scored. But it really didn't matter at that point because the Hooks offense could never really get any traction in the game as they were limited to seven singles and four walks. Carlos Perez (2x4) and Rene Garcia (2x3 BB) had the only multi-hit games. Jonathan Meyer stole a base and committed two errors in a one-for-four outing.

Lake Elsinore over Lancaster 9-8
Lancaster trailed 9-4 going into the ninth inning on the road in Lake Elsinore and came close to tying it up with a four-run outburst, but fell just short. Both halves of the tandem gave up big innings, Aaron West with a four-run fourth and Luis Cruz with a five-run seventh. In between, Jonas Dufek and T.J. Geith put up zeroes.  Tommy Shirley came in with bases loaded in the seventh to get the final out of the inning and stayed in to pitch an uneventful eighth. The 'Hawks got on the board in the second with an impressive solo home run from Telvin Nash, his first of the season, but were unable to get anyone else across until RBI doubles from Nolan Fontana (3x4 BB 2RBI R) and Andrew Aplin in the seventh. Matt Duffy and Preston Tucker (2RBI) started the scoring with two outs in the ninth on RBI singles, but despite a gallant attempt at a comeback, Lancaster came out on the losing side. Tyler Heineman was four-for-four with a double and a run scored in his first game since coming off the DL.

Lansing over Quad Cities 6-2
Jordan Jankowski had his best start of the season thus far, allowing one run on a home run in his five innings. Brian Holmes (2IP 3H 3R BB 2SO HR) and Michael Dimock (1IP 2H 2R BB SO) didn't fare quite as well and a 1-1 tie quickly turned into a 6-1 deficit. The Quad Cities crew scored their first run in the fifth due in large part to three wild pitches from Lansing starter Roberto Osuna (he had a total of four wild pitches, but still struck out eight batters), and then scored one more time in the ninth on a Ryan Dineen single. But the bats were mostly quiet as the Bandits collected only five singles and an Austin Elkins double. There were, however, four stolen bases -- from Elkins, Teoscar Hernandez, Dineen and Jordan Scott. Carlos Correa wore a golden sombrero for the evening.

Player of the Day: Tyler Heineman gets the nod for his excellent return from the DL.

Pitcher of the Day: Jordan Jankowski, come on down! Other than the solo homer, he only allowed five scattered singles, walked zero batters, picked off a runner at first and struck out three.