Astros Minor League Recaps

Wednesday's Games

Oklahoma City over Reno 4-3
Wade LeBlanc had a solid start, going six and a third innings and giving up two runs on four hits and a walk while striking out eight, before giving way to scoreless outings from Jorge de Leon and Alex Sogard. Jason Stoffel allowed the final run across in the ninth and was charged with a blown save, but he also got the win as the RedHawks came back and scored in the bottom of the frame on a Brandon Laird RBI single. The rehabbing Trevor Crowe was three-for-four with an RBI single; Carlos Perez was three-for-three with a sac fly RBI and scored a run. The win was OKC's sixth in a row and took them into a tie for second place in their division.

Corpus Christi over San Antonio 4-3
David Martinez got the start and allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits and two walks with five strikeouts over seven and a third innings to earn his 13th win of the season. Pat Urckfitz took it the rest of the way with scoreless relief and earned the save. The Hooks put up two in the second on RBI singles from Michael Burgess and Kike Hernandez and the final two in the fifth on a two-run home run from Max Stassi (3x4 3B HR 2RBI 2R), his fifth in the last eight games and his 11th in the month of July. Jonathan Meyer was two-for-three and scored a run, and Ronald Torreyes was two-for-five.

Lake Elsinore over Lancaster 15-10
Despite striking out 14 batters, the pitching staff was, to put it mildly, rather ineffective. Aaron West gave up seven runs in only two and a third innings, Michael Dimock (1.2IP) watched two two-run home runs leave the yard, Kenny Long (3IP) added two more to the total and Cameron Lamb (2IP) was responsible for the final two. The 'Hawks drew first blood with a big five-run second inning, with runs scored on a Matt Duffy home run, a Nolan Fontana single (3x4 BB HR 4RBI 2R), an Andrew Aplin bases-loaded hit by pitch and a two-RBI single from M.P. Cokinos. Two more came across in the fourth on RBI singles from Tyler Heineman and Aplin, and the final three in the eighth on a three-run Fontana dinger. Delino DeShields was two-for-five with a double and scored a run. Chris Epps and Joe Sclafani also doubled in the game.

Quad Cities over Peoria 4-3
Mark Appel had a strong start, pitching four and two-thirds and allowing only one run on six hits and no walks. He struck out three. Appel was followed by Gera Sanchez who gave up two runs (one earned) in his outing before giving way to a scoreless appearance from Mitch Lambson. Lambson got the win in relief as Quad Cities came back with three in the ninth for a walk-off win. The first run came across in the seventh as Terrell Joyce scored on a fielding error. With the team down 3-1, Austin Elkins reached in the ninth on a hit by pitch and was driven in with a home run from new teammate Danry Vasquez (3x5). Carlos Correa then doubled and was driven in with a Bobby Borchering (2x5 SB) single.

State College over Tri-City 7-4
Six pitchers combined in this one for Tri-City, presumably just to annoy me as I try to write the recaps. Evan Grills (6H 3R/2ER 2SO) started and went three innings, and was followed by a scoreless inning from Charles Basford. Kevin Comer was charged with the loss as he allowed two unearned runs, Andrew Walter was charged with a blown save, J.D. Osborne gave up two more runs without recording an out, and Richard Rodriguez pitched an uneventful eighth. Jake Rodriguez was one-for-four with three RBI, and Jon Kemmer recorded the only extra base hit, a double.

Greeneville over Burlington 3-1
Great pitching all around as the staff combined to allow only four hits and one walk in this game. Frederick Tiburcio (2H 1BB 2SO) provided five scoreless innings and Krishawn Holley (1H 3SO) followed with two more. Raul Rivera (1H 1R 1SO) gave up the only Burlington run on a solo home run in the eighth and was followed by a perfect ninth from Gonzalo Sanudo who recorded his seventh save. Tyler White was three-for-four with a double. Tanner Mathis, Ariel Ovando and Thomas Lindauer were all credited with RBIs.

GCL Astros over GCL Pirates 18-6 in 5 innings
I did actually look to see if this game was called on some sort of mercy rule after the Astros put up 11 runs in the fifth inning, but nope, it was called for rain. Yonathan Mejia and Jacob Nottingham got things started in the first, driving in the first two runs on a single and a ground out. Two more runs came across in the third as Nottingham and Jose Solano drove in runs on force outs. In the fourth, Jason Martin tripled and then scored on a passed ball and was followed later in the inning by a Luis Reynoso RBI single, and just to shake things up a bit, Nottingham drove in his third run of the game with a sac fly this time. And then came the fifth inning, where a lot of things happened, including Mejia's fourth single and second RBI of the game, Nottingham's fourth and fifth RBI of the game and home runs from Jose Solano (3-run home run), Ydarqui Marte and Yoel Silfa (two-run home run). Luis Ordosgoitti got his first start of the season and allowed only one hit and struck out two in his two innings. Javier Lozano pitched one scoreless inning before giving way to Joe Musgrove who was victimized by two errors and a bit of wildness on his part. In two innings, he gave up six runs (two earned) on four hits and struck out one.

DSL Astros over DSL Rays 8-7
Harold Arauz tossed the first six and allowed only one unearned run on three hits on his way to his second win of the season. Junior Garcia and Victor Mesa gave up six runs between them over the next two and a third innings before Angel Heredia came in to put out the fire with a scoreless outing. The Astros scored one in the second on a Marlon Avea RBI double and two in the eighth on a Hector Roa (2x4 2R) home run and a Luis Payano (2x4 2-2B RBI) sac fly, but it was the big five-run sixth inning that made the difference in this game, featuring a bases-loaded walk by Brauly Mejia, a bases clearing double from Jean Estrella (2x3 2B BB 3RBI 2R) and another RBI double from Avea.

Player of the Day: Welcome to the Astros, Danry Vasquez! Nothing like going three-for-five and tying up the game with a home run in the bottom of the ninth to make a good first impression. Honorable mention goes to Jacob Nottingham for accomplishing the unusual feat of driving in five runs despite recording only one single in the game.

Pitcher of the Day: David Martinez gets the nod for his Lucky 13th win. He has a 2.01 ERA and a 1.000 WHIP, 20 walks to 79 strikeouts and he definitely does not get the attention that he deserves!!!