Astros Minor League Recaps

Tuesday's Games

Omaha over Oklahoma City 4-3 in 11 innings (Game 1)
This was a continuation of an earlier suspended game so technically Ross Seaton (3H 1R 1BB) is shown as pitching the first two-thirds of an inning, but in actuality, the game started with two outs in the bottom of the first and that is where Asher Wojciechowski came in. In seven and a third innings, Wojo gave up only one run on seven hits, walking two and striking out two. Unfortunately, Josh Zeid was charged with a blown save as he allowed the third run across in the bottom of the ninth to tie it, and Alex Sogard got the loss with a run allowed in the 11th. The RedHawks collected three runs in the fifth on a Jimmy Paredes home run. Brandon Laird was two-for-five with two doubles. As an interesting side note, since this was a continuation of a suspended game, the starters include four players currently in Houston (Brett Wallace, Jonathan Villar, Jake Elmore and Marc Krauss) and one who was traded (Fernando Martinez).

Omaha over Oklahoma City 3-2 in 7 innings (Game 2)
Bobby Doran pitched very well in his spot start in Oklahoma City as he allowed one run on five hits and a walk while striking out two in five and a third innings. Eric Berger pitched a clean inning, handing it off to Rhiner Cruz to get the final two outs. Cruz only managed to retire one batter before giving up two runs and was charged with a blown save and the loss. The RedHawks scored one in the second on a Jose Martinez sac fly and one in the fifth on a Marwin Gonzalez RBI single. Robbie Grossman was two-for-four with a double, and Brandon Laird was two-for-two and scored a run.

San Antonio over Corpus 11-3
The good news is that Carlos Quevedo only allowed two hits and no runs in his inning of work. The bad news is that R.J. Alaniz, T.J. Geith, Sergio Escalona and Pat Urckfitz combined to allow 18 hits and 11 runs (10 earned) in the other eight. Further bad news ... the Hooks were held to four hits. More good news ... they somehow parlayed those four hits into three runs, despite none of them being extra base hits, as they were helped out by two San Antonio errors, a wild pitch and a hit batter.

Lancaster over San Jose 7-4
Six of Luis Cruz' seven innings pitched were terrific. Unfortunately, he allowed four runs on four hits in the second inning of the game. Cruz only allowed six singles in the game and struck out six, but was somewhat hampered by three errors in the field behind him. In all the JetHawks committed four errors in the game. Jonas Dufek pitched one inning and allowed no hits and two walks and came away with the win. Kenny Long, in his return to The Caster, pitched a perfect ninth for the save. The 'Hawks scored two in the first, one in the third on Andrew Aplin's (2x4 BB) second RBI single of the game and one in the sixth on a Chris Epps double. They entered the bottom of the eighth tied at four apiece. In the eighth, Joe Sclafani (2x3 2B 2R) scored from first on a Brandon Meredith (2x3 BB) double, Meredith scored on a Chris Epps (2x4 2B) single, and Epps scored on a Nolan Fontana (2x5 R) double. Delino DeShields was two-for-five with two doubles and scored two runs. [UPDATED TO ADD: The JetHawks are the first Astros MiLB affiliate to get to 60 wins this season. They did not get to 60 wins until August 10th last season in a win that also happened to be over San Jose. They did not get to 60 wins for the entire season from 2009 through 2011.]

Hudson Valley over Tri-City 4-3
Michael Feliz (5IP 5H 2R 2BB 3SO) gave up two runs and took the road loss. He was followed by Andrew Thurman (3H 2R 1BB 6SO) who allowed another pair of runs in his two and a third innings. Patrick Christensen inherited two runners from Thurman and erased them quickly with a double play in the eighth. The ValleyCats didn't get on the scoreboard until Conrad Gregor (2x5) hit an RBI single in the eighth driving in former Vanderbilt teammate Tony Kemp (2x5 2B). They scored two more runs in the ninth on a James Ramsay (2x2) RBI single, but ultimately fell just short. Michael Martinez was one-for-four with a double.

Greeneville over Johnson City 5-4
The Astros made it 11 in a row. Jordan Mills pitched the first five, allowing one run on four hits while striking out five. He was followed by three innings from Austin Chrismon who allowed three runs on only two hits (with one of those hits being a two-run triple). Chrismon walked one and struck out three. Gonzalo Sanudo pitched a perfect ninth with two strikeouts to earn his sixth save. The Greeneville team scored three in the third, one on a Brett Phillips double with two additional runs coming across on an error. A Juan Santana (1x3 BB SB) RBI single in the fourth and an Ariel Ovando RBI double in the fifth accounted for the final two Greeneville runs. Tanner Mathis was two-for-three with a walk.

GCL Blue Jays over GCL Astros 6-1
Agapito Barrios had a solid start (5IP 2H 1R 2BB 4SO), but then the bullpen in the guise of Reymin Guduan, Jorge Perez and Zach Dando combined to allow five runs on six hits over the next three innings. The Astros were held to five hits and didn't get a run across until a ninth inning RBI single from Mesac Laguna (2x4) driving in Jacob Nottingham.

DSL Astros over DSL Mariners 6-2
Rayderson Chevalier (5IP 3H 2R/1ER 2SO HR) allowed two runs in the second and then combined with teammate Joselo Pinales (4IP 2H 4SO) to keep the Mariners off the board the rest of the way. It was Pinales' first professional win. Offensively, the win was a true team effort as all but one of the Astros starters collected a hit and five contributed in the RBI column. Luis Payano (2x4 2B RBI R), Arturo Michelena (2x5 2B RBI R), Randy Cesar (1x5 2B 2RBI), and Brian Pena (2x4 2B BB 2R) had particularly good games. Jean Estrella and Victor Tavarez drove in runs as well. Estrella and Jarico Reynoso each stole a bag.

Player of the Day: When I got home from the Astros game last night, I tuned into the Lancaster game just in time to hear Joe Sclafani single with one out in the bottom of the eighth. Maybe it was just Jason Schwartz' call of the next play as Sclafani motored around from first to score on the next play, a double from Brandon Meredith, but it was an exciting, close play that was pivotal in the game. It gave Lancaster the lead, and ultimately the win, against the Northern Division leading San Jose team. Those are the kind of plays that gave the JetHawks the nickname "Heart Attack Hawks" last season, and the kind of plays that propelled them to the Championship. Joe Sclafani gets today's WTHB nod just for reminding me of how thrilling last season was and for giving me a possible glimpse into how the rest of this season may unfold.

Pitcher of the Day: Jose Pinales not only got his first professional win, the 18-year old also lowered his ERA and WHIP even further to 0.55/0.796.