Astros Minor League Recaps

Saturday’s Games 

Quad Cities River Bandits 0, Clinton LumberKings 1 (7) Game 1

The first game of the doubleheader Saturday for Quad Cities was all pitching and very little offense on both sides. Colton Cain (1-5) started on the hill and gave up the game's only run in the fifth inning, finishing with that run on four hits, two walks and five strikeouts over his four and two thirds innings of work. Richard Rodriguez replaced Cain for the final four outs of the game and retired everyone he faced in order, striking out the last batter. The River Bandits had just four hits in the match and Jordan Scott (2X2) hit two of them, both singles.

Quad Cities River Bandits 6, Clinton LumberKings 5 (7) Game 2

Quad Cities came back from five runs behind to take this win and split the doubleheader. Mike Hauschild (3-0) took the win after pitching the first five innings and allowing five runs (4ER) on seven hits with a strikeout. Outside of the five-run third inning, Hauschild gave up just one hit, recording 1-2-3 frames in the first and fourth. Cameron Lamb followed Hauschild for the final two innings of the game and earned his second save of the year, allowing three hits. The River Bandits had three hits in the second game Saturday and only one of those hits came in the fifth and sixth innings when they were scoring runs. Quad Cities took advantage of seven walks, a pair of wild pitches, two errors and a Carlos Correa stolen base to aid them in their comeback. Miles Hamblin (2X3 3RBI SO) collected two of the game's hits and finished with three RBI. Hamblin scored Teoscar Hernandez (OX3 2R BB SO) in the fifth with a sacrifice fly and then scored Hernandez and Carlos Correa (1X2 R 2B 2BB) in the sixth with an RBI single. 

Inland Empire 66ers 1, Lancaster JetHawks 5

Lancaster allowed just a run and two hits to their opponents at home Saturday as they moved towards their fourth consecutive win in a row. David Rollins got things started from the bump, throwing the first four and allowing one run on two hits . Rollins also walked three and struck out the same. Tyson Perez (2-3), who pitched the sixth through eighth, picked up the win after facing the minimum in his frames and striking out four. Andrew Aplin (1X2 2B RBI 2BB) got the scoring started Saturday with an RBI double in the bottom of the first to score Joe Sclafani (0X3 R 2BB). Aplin also stole his sixth base of the year in the seventh inning. Brandon Meredith (1X3 R 3B SO) hit a huge triple in the fourth inning and two batters later, attempted a steal of home. A catcher's balk was called on the play and Meredith scored Lancaster's second run of the game. Delino DeShields hit the JetHawks last extra-bagger of the game, a double in the seventh and finished one-for-four with a run scored, that double and a walk.

Arkansas Travelers 3, Corpus Christi Hooks 10

The Hooks came out swinging in this game and concluded with a six-run eighth inning to mark their fourth consecutive win as well. Ruben Alaniz (1-5) took the mound first and earned his first win of the season after working the first five innings. Alaniz gave a couple runs on six hits and walked one during his turn. Sergio Escalona pitched the eighth and was the only other Hooks pitcher to allow a run in the game, a homer. Escalona was also the only pitcher for Corpus to record a strikeout (1) and earned his first hold of the season. The first run of the game Saturday came by way of wild pitch scoring Jiovanni Mier (2X4 2R BB) in the bottom of the first. Two more runs would score before the inning ended. The eighth inning saw 11 Corpus Christi batsmen at the plate, four walks, two errors, a wild pitch, a HBP RBI and two, two-RBI singles by Kiké Hernandez (1X4 R 2RBI SO) and George Springer (1X3 2R 2RBI 2BB). Rene Garcia (1X4 R 2B RBI) hit his ninth double of the year in the first inning and recorded 14th RBI when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the eighth. Here's a look at the play-by-play of the eighth inning:

Oklahoma City RedHawks 3, Iowa Cubs 7

The RedHawks struck first in Iowa on Saturday but fell behind after dropping a four-run second inning and they never caught back up. Asher Wojciechowski (1-2) got the start and took the loss after going five and a third on the hill. Wojo recorded five runs (4ER) on seven hits, two walks and five Ks Saturday. Kevin Chapman, who followed Wojo for the next five outs, allowed one more run on two hits (HR), walked two and struck out one. Valdez came on for the final three outs and faced six batters in that time, allowing another run on two hits, walking two and striking out one of his own. Brett Wallace (1X4 R HR 3RBI) got the scoring started in the first inning when he hit a two-run dinger that scored Jake Elmore (1X4 R BB) and then finished the scoring as well in the seventh with an RBI ground out to score Cody Clark (2X4 R SO). Marc Krauss had the only other multi-hit performance for Oklahoma City, going two-for-four with a walk.

Player of the Day: Andrew Aplin takes it today, without question. The guy always plays solid baseball and Saturday was no different. Besides adding to his California League lead in RBIs and stealing a base, Aplin made a catch in the sixth inning that stunned just about everyone that saw it. Jason Schwartz's description of the play can be found here and Jayne has already posted a few tweets from Schwartz and Rodney Linares that were in response to that catch— here and here. So for the second day in a row, it's all about Aplin.

Pitcher of the Day: Ruben Alaniz is taking the honors today to go along with his first win. Six decisions in and he now has a "W" and WTHB honors. Nice game.