Astros Minor League Recaps

Saturday’s Games

Lansing Lugnuts 2, Quad Cities River Bandits 3

The River Bandits didn't score a run until the fifth inning at Modern Woodmen Park, but solid pitching kept them in the hunt and they went on to win at home. Lance McCullers started the match and through five, recorded one run (0 ER) on two hits, walked one and struck out five. Daniel Minor (2-0) took the win after entering the game in the sixth. Minor gave up just two hits of his own, striking out six of the ten batters he faced. John Neely earned his third save after coming on in the ninth and giving up a run on three hits. Quad Cities had just three hits all night, but thanks to forcing a few errors and crafty baserunning it was plenty. Austin Elkins didn't even record a hit in the game (0X2 2BB), but after reaching on a fielding error, he advanced to second, stole third and scored for the third and final run of the game off of a RBI groundout by Jesse Wierzbicki (0X3 RBI).

Inland Empire 66ers 10, Lancaster JetHawks 7 (10)

This was a roller-coaster ride of a game Saturday at The Hangar. The JetHawks came out to an early, five-run lead, but by the ninth were tying the game via the long ball to force extra innings. Chris Devenski took the hill to start at home Saturday and through the first four was in excellent form, recording 1-2-3 innings in the second, third and fourth frames. Devenski pitched through the fifth and recorded three runs on two hits, a walk, five Ks and hit a batter on the night. Brady Rodgers came on for the next three and earned his third hold. Despite giving up eight hits, all singles, Rodgers allowed just one run and struck out a pair. Travis Ballew took the hill in the ninth and blew his first save of the season, allowing two runs on two hits while striking out a pair of his own. Jonas Dufek (0-1) took the loss after allowing four more runs on four hits in the tenth inning, he struck out one. Zach Johnson had a productive night swinging the bat. Johnson hit three-for-four with two runs scored, two doubles, two RBIs, a walk and a solo shot in the ninth inning to tie the game and force extra innings. Telvin Nash hit two-for-five and recorded a run scored and RBI on his own solo shot in the tenth. Unfortunately, this was the only offense the JetHawks managed in extras.

Corpus Christi Hooks 11, Frisco RoughRiders 0

Corpus Christi didn't score after the third inning on Saturday, but when you are riding an 11-run lead  after three frames and your pitching tandem records 11 strikeouts through nine shutout innings, it's usually not too hard to hold on to the lead. Bobby Doran (3-0) started on the bump and through his five frames allowed four hits, three walks and struck out four, earning him his third win of the year. Nick Tropeano finished out the game and collected his third tandem-save. Trope' gave up three hits and K-ed seven during his shift. On the offensive side of the plate Kiké Hernandez had a giant game, hitting three-for-five with a three-RBI triple in the first inning. Hernandez also scored two runs. George Springer went two-for-four at the dish with two runs scored and an RBI coming by way of his Texas League-leading, seventh homerun. Here's the rest of the box, just for fun:   

New Orleans Zephyrs 1, Oklahoma City RedHawks 11

OKC put up 11 runs of their own on Saturday and went on to win back-to-back games at home. Jordan Lyles (2-2) took the win after pitching the first five and allowing the opposition's only run on 3 hits. Lyles also walked a pair and struck out twice as many. Wes Musick (H, 3), C.J. Fick and Eric Berger came on, respectively, after Lyles to pitch, all giving up a hit and a walk and all but Berger recording two Ks. Brett Wallace hit just one-for-four Saturday, but his one hit was his second homer of the year, a two-out solo shot in the eighth inning. Marc Krauss hit a homer as well, a two-run shot in the fifth. Krauss finished two-for-four with those two RBIs, two runs scored, a walk and two stolen bases. Jonathan Villar and Andrew Simunic both hit two-for-four with doubles in the game. Villar had two RBIs and Simunic walked once.

Player of the Day: It's a tie between Zach Johnson and Superman, Mark Krauss. These guys accounted for something like 8 runs on Saturday among all the offense and personally I'm a little scared of them. So, if you honestly think one of them did better, you can tell them.

Pitcher of the Day: Trope' takes the cake after what can only be described as "whoopin' up on" Frisco Saturday. Tropeano struck out seven guys in the game and now has 29 Ks on the season. More impressive, he has only issued five walks in the same time and in three starts as the second half of a tandem he has K-ed 17 without issuing a single walk.