Astros Minor League Recaps

Tuesday's Games

Oklahoma City over Albuquerque 6-5
Jake Buchanan (5IP 8H 3R 1BB 3SO) got the start and was followed by Jason Stoffel and Pat Urckfitz who combined to allow the next two runs across. Hector Ambriz and Rhiner Cruz each pitched a perfect frame in relief and Cruz was rewarded with the win. The RedHawks drew first blood with a George Springer solo home run in the first (his 17th at Oklahoma City and his 36th overall). Three more runs scored in the fifth on a Trevor Crowe bases-loaded walk and a Jose Martinez (3x5 2B 3RBI R) two-RBI single. Down one run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Martinez doubled in Carlos Perez and was then driven in by a George Springer walk-off single. Che-Hsuan Lin was two-for-three with a triple, walk and a run scored. George Springer is now at 36/39 in his quest for the 40/40 club. The RedHawks magic number to win the division is now at eight with 13 games remaining.

Corpus Christi over Midland 3-2 in 10 innings
Nick Tropeano tossed the first six innings, allowing one run on four hits and three walks while striking out four. Alex Sogard allowed the final Midland run to score in the seventh on a solo home run. Carlos Quevedo (2IP 1H 4SO) and Jonas Dufek (1IP 1H) took it the rest of the way with Dufek earning the win. The Hooks scored one in the third on a Cody Clark sac fly, and one in the seventh on a Drew Muren home run to tie the game. Jonathan Meyer singled in Preston Tucker with one out in the 10th for the walk-off win. Kike Hernandez went three-for-five and Drew Muren was three-for-four with the solo home run and scored twice.

Lake Elsinore over Lancaster 5-4
Vincent Velasquez (3.2IP 7H 5R 3BB 4SO HR) saw his first action in the California League and mostly cruised through the first three innings. In the fourth, he allowed a single and a home run to start the inning; however, he was poised to escape with just the two runs allowed, but he couldn't get that elusive third out. With two on and two out, Velasquez gave up three straight singles, threw a wild pitch and walked a batter before Michael Dimock came in to get the final out of the frame. Dimock and Jordan Jankowski combined to allow only one hit (with five strikeouts) over the last four and a third innings. The 'Hawks scored two in the fourth on a Dan Gulbransen (2x3 BB) home run and their final two runs in the fifth on an Andrew Aplin (2x4 2-2B R) RBI double and a Tyler Heineman RBI single.

Quad Cities over Burlington 9-2
Josh Hader (5H 2R 2BB 2SO) pitched the first five and earned the win. He was followed by three scoreless innings from Jamaine Cotton and one from Patrick Christensen. The Bandits got their first run in the second as Bobby Borchering (3x4 2B HR 2R) doubled, advanced on a ground out and scored on an Austin Elkins (2x2 2B HR BB 3RBI 2R) sac fly. Elkins led off the fifth with a home run and was followed by RBI singles from Tony Kemp (3x5 3B 2RBI 2R) and Carlos Correa (1x4 BB 2RBI) to make the lead 5-2. QC then padded their lead with two in the sixth on back-to-back RBI triples from Tony Kemp and Teoscar Hernandez (3x5 R SB) and two in the seventh on a Borchering home run and an Elkins RBI double.

Tri-City over Vermont 2-1
Andrew Thurman cruised to his fourth win of the season as he allowed only one run on five hits and a walk. He struck out two. Thurman was followed by three scoreless innings from Adrian Houser (2H 3SO) and a perfect frame from Gonzalo Sanudo who earned his second save in his third appearance for Tri-City. Tri-City only got five hits, but made them count. In the second, Conrad Gregor hit a lead-off double, advanced on a ground out and scored on a Ronnie Mitchell (2x3) single. In the third, James Ramsay walked, advanced on a ground out and scored from second on a Mike Martinez single. It wasn't much, but the pitching staff ensured that it would be enough. Tri-City reclaimed first place in the division and are now a half game up on Lowell who lost on Tuesday.

Elizabethton over Greeneville 10-8
Francis Ramirez struggled through three and allowed seven runs on nine hits and two walks and was charged with the loss. Three more scored against Christian Garcia in his three innings of work, two via the long ball. Ryan Connolly stopped the bleeding with two scoreless innings. Greeneville was down 8-0 going into the sixth, but battled back with a six-run frame which featured seven walks, a sac fly, a fielding error, a wild pitch and only one hit, a single. Greeneville scored another pair in the ninth on a two-run Ariel Ovando homer, but ultimately fell short. After all was said and done, Greeneville scored eight runs on only four hits, but drew 11 walks. Edwin Gomez had four walks. Angel Ibanez and Darwin Rivera drew three each. Greeneville is still in first place by a half game, but lost ground against Kingsport who won on Tuesday.

GCL Phillies over GCL Astros 3-2 in 10 innings
Joe Musgrove put up a solid five innings (8H 1R 0BB 6SO), an encouraging sign as he works toward showing his shoulder is healthy. Musgrove was followed by Matt Heidenreich in his latest rehab outing (2IP 0H 1R/0ER 1BB 1SO) and Justin Hess with two perfect innings (3SO). Erick Gonzalez (2H 1R 2SO) allowed the final run across in the 10th and was charged with the loss. The Astros got one in the fourth as Jacob Nottingham tripled and came home on an Alex Gonzalez single and one in the sixth as Nottingham hit a lead-off double and came around to score later in the inning. Nottingham went three-for-four with two doubles and a triple and scored twice. Jason Martin was three-for-five and stole a base.

DSL Astros at DSL Indians postponed due to rain

Players of the Day: I'm splitting the honors again. Jacob Nottingham's two doubles and a triple get him a share of the pie. And Austin Elkins not only had a great game on Tuesday, he also has been having a great August so far, hitting .364/.396/.636 in 13 games.

Pitchers of the Day: The Tri-City gets my love today. Andrew Thurman, Adrian Houser and Gonzalo Sanudo did a terrific job of giving their team the chance to get back into first place.