2014 Grapefruit League Recap, Game 2

Detroit Tigers 5, Houston Astros 1

2014 Grapefruit League record: 1-1

Well, a big inning can turn the tide of a game, whether it's Game 7 of the World Series or.... game 2 of the Grapefruit League. 

W- Drew VerHagen (1-0)

L- Brad Peacock (0-1)

Starting Pitcher: Scott Feldman

Feldman breezed through his first appearance as an Astro, issuing a walk to Miguel Cabrera in the 1st and allowing a single to Austin Jackson in the 2nd. That was all the Tigers got off of him in his 2 innings.

Final line: 2 IP, H, BB

Bullpen

Brad Peacock was the first man out. He got a nice defensive play from Jonathan Meyer at 3rd to retire Nick Castellanos and walked Rajai Davis in a quiet frame. Unfortunately, the wheels fell off for him in the 4th, as he loaded the bases with no outs and allowed the first 5 batters of the inning to reach. Austin Jackson dinked a single to center to open the scoring, and Peacock was knocked out by a 2-run double from Don Kelly.

Jason Stoffel was summoned to stop the bleeding and he was able to retire the side, but 2 of those 3 outs were sac flies.

Collin McHugh came on to throw a scoreless 5th, allowing a single to Steve Lombardozzi, and an E9 on Domingo Santana allowed Miguel Cabrera to reach. McHugh recorded the Astros' first strikeout of the afternoon when he punched out Alex Avila and got two more in the 6th off of Trevor Crowe and Tyler Collins in between 2 singles before leaving the game. He had all the strikeouts for the Astros in this game!

The next man up was Jake Buchanan, who got the final out of the 6th. 

Mike Foltynewicz was the final pitcher of the day for Houston, and while he didn't strike anyone out in his 2 innings, he threw a 1-2-3 7th and forced a double play to end the 8th after allowing a leadoff single.

Offense

Not much to report here, as the Astros were held to 4 hits.

Jonathan Meyer coaxed a walk from Kyle Lobstein in the 3rd. He would be the only baserunner for the Astros until the 5th, when J.D. Martinez drew a walk and George Springer singled off Drew VerHagen.

Again, the Astros emptied the bench in the 5th inning. Correa, Singleton, Stassi, Tucker, and DeShields were subbed in. Tucker made his debut in the field after DH-ing on Friday. In addition, Marwin Gonzalez, Gregorio Petit and Domingo Santana entered the game. 

Carlos Correa led off the 6th with a double when Tigers CF Daniel Fields lost the ball in the sun and it dropped in front of him. Correa never broke stride either. He would score the first run of the game on a Brett Wallace groundout. 

Stassi struck out in the 8th against Ian Krol, his good friend and former teammate in the A's system. 

Fields would have his revenge by robbing Preston Tucker of what would have been an RBI single to end the 8th inning. Santana had walked to lead off the inning and advanced to 3rd on a Wallace single. 

Dustin's Random Observations

Jonathan Villar put a charge into a couple of balls... but alas, they were outs. 

Is Stoffel pronounced with a long o, or a short o, like "Stahffel?" I've always said it with a long o sound, but Robert Ford and Steve Sparks pronounced with a short o.

Steve Sparks quote of the day: "Singleton looks like he's in good shape" 

Singleton, Correa, and Folty ended the 8th with a 3-6-1 double play. 

Robert Ford on Mike Foltynewicz's hometown of Minooka, Illinois: "I bet you there's either a Tastee-Freez or a Dairy Queen there."

Minooka does not have a Tastee-Freez or a Dairy Queen. There are 2 DQs in neighboring towns, though.

Three Stars of the Game

3.

Carlos Correa, SS

1-2, 2B, R

2.

Collin McHugh, RHP

1.2 IP, 3 H, 3 K

1.

Mike Foltynewicz, RHP

2 IP, H

Next Up

The Astros will play in Kissimmee for the first time this spring as they host a split Braves squad. Jarred Cosart will make his spring debut against David Hale at 1:05 Eastern.