Astros Minor League Recaps

Results for Thursday, April 3, 2014

One of my favorite days of the year: Minor League Opening Day.

Oklahoma City 7, Round Rock 6 in 11 innings

W- Josh Zeid (1-0)
L- Cory Burns (0-1)
S- Jason Stoffel (1)

Oklahoma City HRs: Adron Chambers (1, 3-run in 3rd)

Raise your hand if you had Adron Chambers in your "First Astros Minor Leaguer to Hit a Home Run" pool. The 3-run shot put OKC on the board and was part of a 5-run 3rd inning, in response to a 5-run 2nd by the Express. The RedHawks' other 2 runs in the inning came on a Max Stassi groundout and a single from Domingo Santana. Everyone in the lineup had a hit. Chambers, George Springer, and Jonathan Meyer had 2 hits apiece, while Ronald Torreyes went 3-5 with 2 runs scored. Chambers also ended up leaving the game with an injury after he was caught stealing in the 4th.

Adron Chambers leaving the game after getting injured sliding into second base on a stolen base attempt. Hard to tell what it is.
— Alex Freedman (@azfreedman) April 4, 2014

The 5-5 deadlock continued until the 11th inning, when Torreyes hit a 1-out infield single, advanced to 3rd on a pop fly single from Austin Wates, and scored the go-ahead run on a Springer single. The RedHawks added another run on a Stassi single to make it a 7-5 game.

Rudy Owens got the nod for Opening Day, and while he only gave up 3 hits in his 4 innings, one of those was a grand slam. All 5 Round Rock runs off him came in that 5-run 2nd. He walked 2 and struck out 7. Jose Cisnero was the first man out of the OKC pen and struck out the side in order in the 5th inning. Mike Foltynewicz came on for the 6th, and how's this for a debut: his 1st 3 pitches of the season went like this...

First three pitches by Mike Foltynewicz tonight: 101, 100, 101. Yes, it's according to a stadium radar gun, but still. Wow.
— Alex Freedman (@azfreedman) April 4, 2014

Folty wound up throwing 3.1 scoreless, allowing 2 hits, walking 2, and striking out 3. However, he was on the verge of walking off with a loss, as he left with the bases loaded and 1 out in the bottom of the 9th. No matter; Josh Zeid had his back, as he forced extras by striking out Chris Snyder and getting Jared Hoying to fly out. Zeid threw 1.2 scoreless, allowing a hit and fanning 2. The next man out was Darin Downs, who got 1 out in the bottom of the 11th, but also issued a walk and allowed a single in the process. Jason Stoffel was then summoned out of the bullpen, and he was able to close the door with 2 strikeouts, but it wasn't the prettiest save. Stoffel issued 2 walks, one of which resulted in a run being charged to Downs. But, the RedHawks emerged with the win, and that's what ultimately matters. The pitching staff combined to strike out 17 Round Rock batters in game 1.

Jake Buchanan and Paul Clemens will take the hill in game 2 of this 4-game set to open the 2014 season. They will be taking on Nick Tepesch. First pitch will take place at 7:05.

Tulsa 5, Corpus Christi 4 in 11 innings

W- Ken Roberts (1-0)
L- Alex Sogard (0-1)

Corpus Christi HRs: None.

The Hooks walked off with a loss as Travis Ballew went wild.

Leo Heras opened the scoring in the 2nd with an RBI triple that brought Kiké Hernandez home. Preston Tucker and Andrew Aplin both went 2-5 with RBI singles; Tucker's came in the 6th and Aplin's in the 8th. Aplin also swiped 2 bases. Jio Mier hit a sac fly in the 11th to put the Hooks up 4-3, but unfortunately, that lead couldn't hold up.

Brady Rodgers pretty much dueled Eddie Butler, the Rockies' #2 prospect, to a draw. Rodgers delivered 5 solid innings and allowed a run on a solo homer to Tom Murphy, 4 other hits, walked 1, and struck out 3. Colton Cain tagged in and struck out 4 in 3 excellent innings. The only hit and run he surrendered was a solo homer to Dustin Garneau in the 7th.

After Aplin's single in the 8th put Corpus up 3-2, Jorge De Leon was summoned to close the game. Unfortunately, Cristhian Adames had something else in mind: he took De Leon deep to lead off the 9th to tie the game at 3. That would be the only hit and run that De Leon allowed in his 2 innings of work; he also walked 1 and struck out 3. Alex Sogard was next up; he got Adames to ground into a force out for the 1st out, but he also issued a walk and gave up a single; a flub in the field from Delino DeShields on the single put runners on 2nd and 3rd. Travis Ballew was then called upon to get the Hooks out of the inning. He got Murphy to ground out for out #2, but the tying run scored on the play. One batter later, Ballew uncorked the wild one that would condemn the Hooks to an Opening Night loss.

Game 2 of this season-opening 4-game set features the team of David Rollins and Aaron West taking on Dan Winkler, who will go for the Drillers. First pitch is at 7:05.

Lancaster 8, Lake Elsinore 2

W- Kyle Westwood (1-0)
L- Joe Ross (0-1)

Lancaster HRs: None.

The JetHawks came out on top in game 1 as they used a 6-0 run in the 5th (2) and 6th innings (4) to break open a 2-1 game.

And so it begins. Carlos Correa wasted no time in leaving his mark on the Lancaster faithful as he drove in a run in all 4 of his plate appearances. He hit 3 RBI singles in the 1st, 3rd, and 6th innings, and hit a groundout that scored Teoscar Hernandez in the 5th. Hernandez had hit an RBI triple right before he came home.

About that single in the 6th: Two runs scored on the play, and Correa was initally credited with only one RBI. The scorer then amended that to give him a 2-run single, but then reverted back to the original decision.

Tony Kemp was in the leadoff spot and basically did what he does: wage war on opposing pitchers. He went 2-3 with a double, 2 walks, and scored 4 runs. Danry Vasquez also had a multi-hit night, going 2-4. And lastly, Justin Gominsky went 1-4 with an RBI single in the 6th and scored a run. This was his first action since appearing in both games of a doubleheader for Lexington on August 31, 2012.

Vince Velasquez had a fine season debut with 4 innings of 1-run ball. He allowed 2 hits, walked 3, hit a batter, and struck out 7. Mitch Lambson came on for the 5th and worked around a double and a walk to throw a scoreless frame, striking out Padres' 2013 1st-rounder Hunter Renfroe to end the inning. Kyle Westwood finished it off, allowing a run on 4 hits and striking out 1 in 4 innings to get the win.

Lance McCullers and Kyle Smith will face Zach Eflin in the 2nd game of this series. First pitch is at 6:30 Pacific.

Kane County 8, Quad Cities 4

W- Nathan Dorris (1-0)
L- Andrew Thurman (0-1)

Quad Cities HRs: None.

Both teams had 11 hits, but Quad Cities was on the short end of the column that ultimately matters: the one associated with the letter R.

The River Bandits got 1 in the 1st on a Conrad Gregor RBI groundout, and 3 in the 3rd from an RBI double from Chase McDonald and a 2-run triple by Catfish Elkins. Elkins, who finished 2-4, also added a steal (1). Brett Phillips (who also had a steal) and Chan-Jong Moon joined him in the 2-hit club, while James Ramsay was 3-5 with a double and a run scored.

Andrew Thurman didn't have his best stuff, but it's only Day 1. Still a lot of season remaining. He went 4 innings and allowed 6 runs (5 earned) on 7 hits, walked 2, and fanned 3. Zach Morton allowed a hit in a scoreless 5th. Chris Lee was everywhere in his 2 innings; he only allowed a run on a hit, but walked 4 and only struck out 1. Tyler Brunnemann worked the final 2 innings and gave up a run on 2 hits, walked 1, and struck out 3.

Kent Emanuel will make his first start of the year, as he and Jandel Gustave will take on Tyler Skulina in game 2 of this series. First pitch is at 7:00.

Three Stars

3.

Mike Foltynewicz, P, Oklahoma City
3.1 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K

2.

Tony Kemp, 2B, Lancaster
2-3, 2B, 4 R, 2 BB

1.

Carlos Correa, SS, Lancaster
3-4, 4 RBI

Honorable Mentions

There were plenty of solid individual performances to choose from.... but alas, I can only choose 3.

Apologies to: Vince Velasquez, Brady Rodgers, Colton Cain, Adron Chambers, Ronald Torreyes, Andrew Aplin, Catfish Elkins