Astros Minor League Recaps

Sunday's Games

Oklahoma City over Sacramento 9-3
Brad Peacock pitched the first five, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits and four walks. He struck out five. Kevin Chapman gave up the final run in relief and was sandwiched with scoreless outings from Jason Stoffel and Rhiner Cruz. Fernando Martinez (2x4 BB R) and Jason Jaramillo (1x3 BB R) made the only two extra-base hits count as each contributed a two-RBI double to the effort. Che-Hsuan Lin went two-for-five and scored twice.

Corpus Christi over Midland 5-3
Starter David Martinez allowed two runs on a home run to former Astros farmhand Jake Goebbert in the bottom of the first inning, one of only two hits allowed over five innings on his way to his seventh win of the season. He walked one and struck out six. Josh Fields, in his fifth rehab appearance gave up one hit in yet another scoreless outing. He was followed by three innings from Mike Foltynewicz who allowed one unearned run on three hits and two walks while striking out three. The Hooks scored one in the third and two more in the fourth on an Erik Castro (3x3 BB) two-run home run to take the lead. A sac fly from Rene Garcia (1x4 2B 2RBI) scoring Kiké Hernandez (2x4 2B SB) and an error allowing Ben Orloff (1x3 BB SB) to score gave the Hooks a little breathing room in the seventh. George Springer was hitless in three at-bats, but walked twice and stole three bases. After a rough start to the season, Erik Castro is hitting .354/.415/.583 in May.

Rancho Cucamonga over Lancaster 11-7
This just wasn't a particularly good night for pitchers, except for Jonas Dufek who got the final out in the top of the ninth to stop the bleeding. Brady Rodgers (5IP 4H 3R 1BB 4SO) kept the team in the game, but four runs issued by Chris Devenski (3IP 4H 4R 1BB 4SO) in the top of the sixth and four unearned runs allowed by Travis Ballew (0.2IP 3H 4R/0ER 1BB 1SO) in the top of the ninth turned out to be too much to overcome. Lancaster put one across in the third on a Delino DeShields (2x5 3RBI) RBI single and two more in the fourth on a Telvin Nash 2-run homer to tie the game the first time. Then the 'Hawks put up four in the sixth to re-tie the game, thanks to home runs from Matt Duffy (3x5 2R), Tyler Heineman (2x3 2BB 2R) and Delino DeShields, but a third comeback was not to be. Joe Sclafani was two-for-three and walked twice, and Chris Epps went two-for-three with a walk and a run scored.

Beloit over Quad Cities 3-2
Daniel Minor got the start, going four innings and allowing one run on five hits with two strikeouts. Richard Rodriguez pitched a scoreless fifth before giving way to the second half of the tandem, Lance McCullers. McCullers allowed two runs (one earned) on two hits and three walks while striking out five and was yet again denied his first professional win as they left men on second and third in the bottom of the ninth and fell just short despite scoring once in the inning. Carlos Correa was two-for-four with a walk and an RBI; Jesse Wierzbicki was two-for-five; and Austin Elkins was two-for-two with a double, two walks and a run scored.

Player of the Day: Erik Castro gets the love today for a great three-for-three outing and a two-run dinger in yesterday's game, but he also deserves acknowledgement for the great month he's had thus far. After struggling a bit in April, Castro has hit .354/.415/.538 in May and .368/.429/.553 in his last 10 games.

Pitcher of the Day: David Martinez gets the nod for being the first pitcher in the minor leagues to get to seven wins. In 11 games (six starts), Martinez has a 2.00 ERA and a 1.022 WHIP. He has walked only nine batters in 45 innings while striking out 29.