Astro Minor League Recaps

Thursday's Games

Oklahoma City at Memphis - Postponed

Frisco at Corpus Christi - Postponed

Lancaster over Inland Empire 6-3
Tommy Shirley went seven, allowing only one run on five hits to secure his first win of the season. He was followed by Jonas Dufek (1IP 4H 2R 1SO) and Travis Ballew who pitched a perfect ninth with two strikeouts to earn his 16th save. The JetHawks scored two off the rehabbing Tommy Hanson, one in the first on a M.P. Cokinos single and one in the third as Andrew Aplin doubled in Joe Sclafani who had also doubled in the inning. They added two more in the fourth on a Delino DeShields RBI single, one in the seventh on a Cokinos double and one in the eighth on a Aplin single. Nolan Fontana was one-for-two, walked three times and scored two runs. Aplin stole his 14th base of the season and DeShields stole his 32nd.

Fort Wayne over Quad Cities 8-3
Velasquez got the start and the loss as he gave up five runs (three earned) on five hits while striking out four. He was followed by Gera Sanchez (2IP 2H 1R 2SO) and Jamaine Cotton (1IP 4H 2R 1SO). Carlos Correa drove in two of the three Bandits runs with an RBI single in the first and an RBI double in the eighth. The other run came via a Bobby Borchering home run in the second.

Tri-City over Auburn 9-3
Andrew Thurman pitched his way to his first professional win Thursday night, allowing only one run on a solo homer while striking out six over five innings. He was followed by Michael Feliz (3IP 5H 2R/1ER 3SO) and Andrew Walter (1IP 1H 1SO). The ValleyCats banged out 18 hits and got the scoring started early with a Mike Martinez (2x4) RBI double in the first and added on four more in the second in a frame that featured a Jake Rodriguez (3x4 2-2B R) double and back-to-back triples from Tony Kemp and D'Andre Toney (3x5 3B RBI 3R SB). Thomas Lindauer also doubled in the sixth, driving in a run. Conrad Gregor was two-for-four with an RBI; Ryan Dineen was three-for-five and scored twice; and James Ramsay went two-for-four with an RBI and a run.

Greeneville over Princeton 10-0 in 7 innings (Game 1)
Edison Frias (5IP 2H 1BB 2SO) and Ryan Connelly (2IP 1BB 1SO) combined on a two-hit shutout. Ricky Gingras (2x3 BB HR 4RBI 2R) and Chase McDonald (2x4 2B 3RBI 2R) had particularly good games, driving in seven of Greeneville's 10 runs, but Edwin Gomez and Angel Ibanez had multi-hit games as well, and each hit a double. Birthday boy Marc Wik had an 0-fer, but walked three times and scored once. Brian Holberton walked twice and scored two runs.

Greeneville over Princeton 4-0 in 7 innings (Game 2)
Jordan Mills tossed four perfect innings and struck out five in the process. The bullpen kept the shutout alive with two innings from Krishawn Holley (2H 2BB 1SO) and a perfect frame from Raul Rivera (1SO). Greeneville scored twice in the first on RBI singles from Edwin Gomez and Angel Ibanez, and two more in the fifth on a Brett Phillips single. Phillips also stole a base.

GCL Phillies over GCL Astros 14-2
Austin Nicely did ... nicely, that is, in his professional debut. He allowed one walk over two hitless innings. And Yonathan Mejia did nicely, going two-for-four with two doubles and scoring a run. And Brett Booth did nicely, going two-for-four with a solo home run and two RBI. But the rest of this mess? Not so nice. Not so nice at all. I decided that I don't get paid enough to recap the two two-run home runs, the grand slam and the two wild pitches from the rest of the Astros pitching staff. Or the four errors and two passed balls from the Astros catchers and position players. That's mainly because I don't get paid at all. But that's neither here nor there. As my friend Buca said, when discussing this game, "They had a bad day at the office." If you insist on looking at the train wreck, you can find the full boxscore here.

DSL Astros over DSL Athletics 6-4 (completion of 7/2 suspended game)
Juan Hernandez pitched the first two innings, allowing one run on two hits and three walks, and then giving way to four scoreless innings from Junior Garcia (3IP 1H 2BB 1SO) and Juan Delis (1IP 1H 1SO). Delis got the win, and Victor Mesa got the save despite allowing three runs (two earned) over his three innings. Several Astros had good outings at the plate: Hector Roa (2x5 3B RBI 2R), Randy Cesar (2x4 2B 2RBI R), Brian Pena (2x4) and Dariel Aquino (2x4 RBI R SB). Jarico Reynoso also contributed with a solo home run.

DSL Athletics over DSL Astros 3-1 in 7 innings
Scoreless outings from Elieser Hernandez (2IP 1BB 2SO) and Yonquelys Martinez (1IP 1SO) sandwiched a less effective three innings from Javier Saucedo (3H 3R 1BB 3SO) who was pegged with the loss. The Astros lone run came in the first inning as Arturo Michelina (2x3) doubled in Jean Estrella.

Player of the Day: Ricky Gingras drove in four, including a three-run home run, in his great night at the plate. Honorable mention goes to his Greeneville teammate, Chase McDonald, for his three RBI night.

Pitcher of the Day: Jordan Mills, a 28th round pick, not only pitched four perfect innings on Thursday, he's been busy putting up a very nice start to his professional career. He has a 0.90 ERA and a 0.950 WHIP in his first seven appearances.