Astros Minor League Recaps

Wednesday's Games

Oklahoma City over Tacoma 7-6 n 10 innings
There's nothing quite like going in to the bottom of the ninth inning down 6-0 and scoring six runs with two outs to tie up the game and force extra innings! That's why we love baseball. Anything is possible. Brad Peacock got his first start at OKC, allowing four runs on six hits with five strikeouts. Eric Berger gave up the fifth Tacoma run on a solo homer before giving way to a scoreless inning from C.J. Fick. Jason Stoffel pitched the final two (3H 1R 1SO) and got the "W" in extras after the late comeback kept OKC in the game. And about that comeback. After managing only three walks and three singles in the first eight and two-thirds, the RedHawks got to work. A Marc Krauss (2x3 2BB) single was followed by a Jason Jaramillo RBI double and walks from Andy Simunic (2x4 BB SB) and Che-Hsuan Lin. A Cody Clark single scored Jaramillo and re-loaded the bases so that Jonathan Villar could hit a Grand Slam. All in a day's work. Brandon Laird scored the winning run in the tenth on a throwing error.

Corpus Christi - Off Day

Lake Elsinore over Lancaster 7-2 in 7 innings
The game was tied 1-1 until a big fifth inning chased starter Luis Cruz from the game (4.1IP 4H 5R 3BB 3SO 2HR). Two of Cruz' runs scored under reliever Jonas Dufek's watch and Dufek allowed two more unearned runs of his own before all was said and done. The JetHawks got on the board in the third on an RBI single from Andrew Aplin scoring M.P. Cokinos (2x3 2-2B). The only other run came via a solo home run from Preston Tucker in the bottom of the seventh. It was Tucker's sixth of the season.

Lake Elsinore over Lancaster 4-2 in 7 innings
This is the one that hurt. Losing three in a row from the last place team caused Lancaster to fall out of first place for the first time since April 7th. Starter Tommy Shirley (4.1IP 7H 3R 1BB 3SO) collected his third loss of the season. Travis Ballew was charged with the final Lake Elsinore run in his one and two-thirds innings of work before giving way to a perfect frame from Kenny Long. Lake Elsinore scored a couple early but Lancaster was able to tie it up in the bottom of the fourth on a Preston Tucker (2x3) RBI single scoring Tyler Heineman and a Matt Duffy (1x2 2B) bases-loaded hit by pitch. The JetHawks' bats remained mostly silent the rest of the way, though, as they only mustered a total of five hits and one walk in the game.

Quad Cities over Cedar Rapids 4-2
Brian Holmes got the start for Quad Cities and allowed three hits and three walks while striking out eight in four and two-thirds scoreless innings. Michael Dimock came on with men on the corners to get the final out of the fifth. Jordan Jankowski (2.1IP 2H 1R 3SO 1HR) earned his first win of the season as the second half starter. Mitch Lambson got two quick outs in the eighth and John Neely allowed one unearned run as he converted his sixth save of the season. The River Bandits drew first blood in the first inning as Austin Elkins drove in Brian Blasik (3x4 2B) with an RBI single and were quiet until a solo home run from Teoscar Hernandez in the fifth gave them a 2-0 lead. They played add on with one more in each of the next two innings. Quad Cities has consistently trailed the first place Cedar Rapids team by three games over the last couple of weeks. This win was very welcome as Quad Cities now trails the first place team by only two games.

Player of the Day: A Grand Slam to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth with two outs? Yep, Jonathan Villar, come on down!

Pitcher of the Day: Brian Holmes gets the nod for his four and two-thirds scoreless frames and his eight strikeouts against the first place team. Very impressive.