Astros Minor League Recaps

Thursday's Games

Las Vegas over Oklahoma City 12-3
Asher Wojciechowski took the loss going four and two-thirds and allowing six runs on seven hits and five walks while striking out six. Two of those runs came across under Rhiner Cruz' watch. Eric Berger allowed one run in his two and a third, but Jason Stoffel struggled in the eighth and saw five runners score in the inning. All of the Oklahoma City scoring came in the sixth inning on a three-run Brandon Laird (3x4) home run.

Northwest Arkansas over Corpus Christi 12-5
Nick Tropeano was the next victim, allowing five runs on eight hits and three walks, striking out six, in his five innings. Alex Sogard gave up a pair in his outing and Theron Geith allowed five runs (three earned) in his inning. Only Cameron Lamb and Pat Urckfitz remained unscathed in the run column. Max Stassi (3x4 2B 2RBI) drove in a pair in the first and third. Domingo Santana hit his 20th long ball of the season in the eighth, driving in two. And Matt Duffy hit his first AA dinger, a solo shot in the ninth. Drew Muren was two-for-five; Preston Tucker went two-for-five with a double and two runs scored;

Modesto over Lancaster 6-2
Brady Rodgers got insult added to injury in this one, literally. After giving up two runs with no outs in the first inning, Rodgers was hit by a comebacker on the leg and was removed from the game. Another inherited run scored and he was charged with three runs on three hits, didn't record an out and took the loss. Michael Dimock pitched four innings of relief and allowed one run. Tyson Perez and Jordan Jankowski each threw two and each gave up one run. The 'Hawks scored one in the third on a Carlos Perdomo sac fly and one in the sixth on a Brandon Meredith RBI double. They were held to four hits. Joe Sclafani also had a double.

Quad Cities over Clinton 2-1
Vincent Velasquez (6IP 4H 0R 2BB 7SO) and Zach Morton (2IP 2H 1SO) had a shutout going until Juan Minaya gave up a solo shot in the ninth. Rio Ruiz (2x4 2-2B RBI) doubled in the first Bandits run in the second, and Bobby Borchering (2x4 2B RBI) drove in the other run in the eighth.

Tri-City over Williamsport 10-2
Andrew Thurman (5IP 3H 1R 1BB 6SO HR) got the win and Michael Feliz (4IP 5H 1R 6SO) got the save while Tri-City was busy putting up two five-run innings in the fourth and eighth. The fourth inning featured triples from James Ramsay and Conrad Gregor (2x3 3B BB 2RBI R) and doubles from Jack Mayfield (2x4 2B RBI 2R) and Jake Rodriguez (2x3 2B BB RBI R). Chan Moon (2x4 3B 3RBI R) also tripled and drove in two runs in the eighth. Tyler White was two-for-four with a double and two RBI, and Ronnie Mitchell was two-for-four with an RBI and scored twice.

Greeneville over Bristol 10-8 in 10 innings
Raul Rivera got the win in relief after a rough start from Enderson Franco and an even rougher relief outing from Sebastian Kessay. Ryan Connolly and Gonzalo Sanudo provided scoreless relief. The Astros three-run second featured a two-run double from Wallace Gonzalez and the four-run fifth featured home runs from Tanner Mathis and Ricky Gingras. Edwin Gomez tied things up with an RBI single in the ninth, and a sac bunt and two throwing errors helped the Astros get the go-ahead runs in the 10th. Tanner Mathis, Edwin Gomez and Rinky Gingras all had two hits in the game. Angel Ibanez was four-for-five with a double, RBI and scored twice.

GCL Blue Jays over GCL Astros 13-9
Six pitchers combined in this one and only Kent Emanuel (2IP 3H 2SO) and Jorge Perez (2.2IP 1H 4BB 3SO) allowed no runs. The other four each allowed at least three runs including Matt Heidenreich (1IP 5H 3R 1BB) in his first rehab appearance. The Astros scored four in a third inning that featured doubles from Jason Martin (2x4 2B 3B 3RBI 2R), Jean Batista (2x5 2-2B RBI 2R), and Yonathan Mejia (1x3 2B 2BB RBI). Batista doubled again in the seventh and came around to score on a wild pitch later in the inning. Not to be outdone, Martin tripled in two runs and scored on a ground out. The final run scored in the ninth on a fielding error. Ydarqui Marte went three-for-four with a double, walk and scored twice.

DSL Mariners over DSL Astros 9-2 - called early in the bottom of the seventh
This was the completion of a suspended game which ended up getting called early. Let's just say that none of the four Astros pitchers pitched well in this one and Geronimo Franzua got the loss because it would take more time than it's worth to document the overall badness and I have a flight to catch. There were no extra base hits, but three players had two hits each, Kristian Trompiz, Brian Pena and Jarico Reynoso. A second scheduled game was postponed.

Player of the Day: It might have been in a losing cause, but I've got to send props out to Jason Martin for his double, triple and three RBI. In his last 10 games, he is hitting .317/.391/.439.

Pitcher of the Day: Vincent Velasquez, come on down! After another dominant outing on Thursday, Velasquez is 5-2 with a 1.90 ERA and a 0.903 WHIP in his last 10 appearances. He has walked 13 and struck out 60 during that period.