Astros Minor League Recaps

Thursday's Games

Omaha over Oklahoma City 2-1 in 12 innings
Jake Buchanan (8H 1R 1BB 4SO) allowed a solo home run in the first inning, but went on to put up zeroes in the next six innings. Kevin Chapman (1H 2SO) threw the next two scoreless frames, and Jason Stoffel (2.2IP 1H 1R 5BB 1SO) took it the rest of the way, giving up the winning run in the 12th on a sac fly after walking the bases loaded (one intentional walk). OKC got their only run on a Jimmy Paredes solo shot in the fifth. Robbie Grossman went two-for-four with a walk and a stolen base. Ruben Sosa was also two-for-four. Speaking of Sosa, I did not realize that his inside-the-park home run on Wednesday was the first home run of his professional career. Belated congratulations to him.

Corpus Christi over Midland 5-1
David Martinez is a stud. He pitched a seven-inning complete game his last time on the bump, and promptly followed with a nine-inning complete game on Thursday, the first of his career. He allowed only one run on nine hits and one walk and struck out eight. He threw 109 pitches, 71 for strikes. The Hooks got their first run in the third on a double steal, with Domingo Santana (2x5) stealing second base and Drew Muren (1x3 2B 2BB 2R) stealing home. They put up four more in the sixth as Preston Tucker drove in two with a single, and a Ronald Torreyes sac bunt and Max Stassi sac fly accounted for the other two runs. Zach Johnson was two-for-three with a walk and scored a run. Jio Mier was two-for-three with a double and scored a run.

San Jose over Lancaster 4-3
Aaron West (6IP 6H 3R 1BB 5SO) allowed three runs in the second before settling in. Tyson Perez (3H 1R 4SO) pitched the next three, allowing a solo home run in the ninth. The JetHawks were being no-hit until an Andrew Aplin double with two outs in the seventh put an end to that, and didn't get on the board until the eighth inning when Matt Duffy tripled and was driven in by a Chris Epps double. They added on two more in the ninth on a Nolan Fontana RBI triple and an Andrew Aplin RBI single, but ultimately fell short.

Burlington over Quad Cities 5-2
Mark Appel pitched the first two, allowing one run on one hit and four walks while striking out four. Daniel Minor (2.2IP 5H 2R 2BB 3SO) and Mitch Lambson (3.1IP 2H 2R 1BB 3SO HR) took it the rest of the way. Quad Cities did all of their scoring in the second inning as Brian Blasik doubled in two runs. Carlos Correa went two-for-four with a double and stole a base.

Tri-City over Hudson Valley 1-0
Zach Morton (5IP 1H 1BB 3SO), Albert Minnis (1IP 1H) and Randall Fant (3IP 0H 3SO) combined to hold Hudson Valley to two singles. The 'Cats were held to seven hits, but two of those were for extra bases, a double from Brett Booth and a ninth-inning solo home run from Jon Kemmer. James Ramsay was two-for-four and Tony Kemp stole his 14th stolen base of the season.

Greeneville over Johnson City 3-2
Greeneville made it lucky 13 as they have now won 13 in a row on their way to a first place 23-10 record. Frederick Tiburcio got the start, allowing two runs (one earned) on two hits and five walks with four strikeouts. Raul Rivera threw the next three scoreless innings and earned the win. The Astros got one in the first on a Chase McDonald RBI single, one in the third on a Brett Phillips RBI single, and the go-ahead run in the eighth on a McDonald sac fly. Tanner Mathis was three-for-four, stole a base and scored a run. Tyler White went two-for-four.

GCL Braves over GCL Astros 3-1 (game called early with one out in the bottom of the 8th)
This was a continuation of a suspended game from Wednesday. As I wrote in yesterday's recap, Brian Holmes pitched extremely well in his rehab start, going four innings. Joe Musgrove started in the fifth in the continuation and did great through his first three innings, striking out five and allowing one hit, a double. Unfortunately, the eighth inning didn't go quite as well as he allowed three singles and was hurt by a passed ball. He allowed one run across and two more came across after Kevin Ferguson replaced him in the game. The Astros got nothing going at the plate as they only collected two hits in the game, a single from Jason Martin and a Jose Solano two-out triple. The one run came across on a ground out after the bases were loaded due to a throwing error, hit batter and walk in the first inning on Wednesday. The scheduled second game was called due to rain.

DSL Red Sox over DSL Astros 7-5 in 19 innings
The score was tied 2-2 in the eighth, was re-tied at 5-5 in the 14th and finally ended in the 19th in a crisply played five hour, five minute game. The Astros actually only used four pitchers in this one. Starter Harold Arauz gave up two unearned runs on three hits, striking out six in five innings and was followed by three scoreless frames from Junior Garcia (1H 1BB 2SO) and five scoreless from Angel Heredia (2H 5SO). Yonquelys Martinez pitched the final six innings and allowed five runs (one earned) on four hits and a walk. He struck out four, for a total of 17 from the staff. Randy Cesar tripled and scored in the second inning on an Arturo Michelena sac fly. Another run came across in the eighth inning on a bases-loaded walk by Kristian Trompiz. And they managed to re-tie the game in the 14th on a Jarico Reynoso two-RBI triple and a Luis Payano single driving in Reynoso.

Players of the Day: I'm going to split the honors today. Drew Muren had a good game for Corpus anyway, but stealing home is always a unique accomplishment. And Andrew Aplin allowed everyone in Lancaster to breathe again when he broke up six and two-thirds innings of perfection from opposing pitcher Clayton Blackburn with a well-placed double.

Pitcher of the Day: As I said, David Martinez is a stud. He leads the Texas League in wins (12), ERA (1.98), WHIP (0.985) and now complete games (2).