Saturday, April 12, 2014

Astros Minor League Recaps

Results for Friday, April 11, 2014

The upper-level clubs fell victim to the crooked number, while the A clubs got a dominating performance on the mound and a 16-hit barrage.

New Orleans 8, Oklahoma City 4

W- Greg Nappo (1-0)
L- Mike Foltynewicz (0-1)
S- Chris Hatcher (2)

OKC home runs: Jon Singleton (3, solo in 5th)

OKC took a 3-2 lead thanks to that Singleton homer, but New Orleans countered and went on a 6-1 run in the 6th and the 7th to take the series opener. The RedHawks still lead the war 4-1, though.

Singleton scored 3 of the 4 RedHawks runs; Japhet Amador drove in 3 of those 4 with a 2-run double in the 4th and a groundout in the 7th. Singleton, Domingo Santana and Gregorio Petit all finished with 2 hits.

Rudy Owens gave up 2 in the 3rd, but had a solid outing otherwise. He went 5 innings and allowed 5 hits while fanning 4. Mike Foltynewicz bore the brunt of that 6-1 run, as he allowed all 6 of those runs, 5 of which were earned, and 1 of which was an inherited runner that scored. He only lasted 1.1 innings and allowed 5 hits, walked 1, and struck out 1. Folty also uncorked 2 wild pitches and was called for a balk. Darin Downs went 1.2 innings, and all 5 of his outs were strikeouts. He allowed 2 hits and walked 1. Raúl Valdés allowed a hit and struck out 2 in a scoreless 9th.

Game 2 will feature the team of Jake Buchanan and Paul Clemens as they take on Jared Rogers. First pitch is at 7:05.

Tulsa 10, Corpus Christi 9

W- Nelson Gonzalez (1-0)
L- Tommy Shirley (1-1)
S- Scott Oberg (1)

CC home runs: Kiké Hernandez (1, 2-run in 1st)

The Hooks blasted Jonathan Gray for 6 in the 1st... the Drillers didn't forget that and they ended up finishing the game on a 10-3 run, which included a 6-run inning of their own.

But, the good portion of this recap: The original starting 9 all finished the game with a hit. Kiké Hernandez had 2, and Tyler Heineman was 3-4. Jio Mier came on as a defensive replacement and didn't appear at the plate.

How did they batter Gray? Well, the top third of the order (Delino DeShields, Nolan Fontana, and Andrew Aplin) all singled to load the bases, and Matt Duffy brought them all home with a double. Duffy scored on a Preston Tucker single, and Hernandez capped it off by taking Gray deep for a 2-run shot. All 6 runs came with nobody out. Heineman added a 2-run double in the 3rd to make it an 8-1 game. Fontana hit an RBI groundout in the 6th.

Now, unfortunately, the bad news: The Hooks pitchers got knocked around, with Matt Heidenreich bearing the brunt of the Tulsa attack. He started off by allowing 1 run over 3 innings, and then the wheels fell off. The Drillers got 6 in the 4th off of him and he was charged with all 6 of those runs, 2 of which were inherited. Heidenreich left after 3.1 innings and allowed 6 hits and struck out 2. Andrew Robinson was the first man out and he went 1.2 innings, allowing a run on 2 hits and fanning 2. Tommy Shirley had an inauspicious start to his outing, as he committed an error that allowed the first man he faced to reach, and then he faced a bases-loaded, no out situation. Unlike Thursday, the Hooks couldn't escape, as Dustin Garneau punched a ball through the left side for a 2-run single. Shirley pitched the final 4 innings and allowed 3 runs (all in the 6th, only 1 was earned) on 5 hits, walked 1, and struck out 3.

The rubber game of the series features a Pac-12 matchup on the mound, with Brady Rodgers (Arizona State), being accompanied by Colton Cain, taking on Tyler Anderson (Oregon). First pitch is at 7:10.

Lancaster 5, Lake Elsinore 1

W- Vince Velasquez (2-0)
L- Ruben Mejia (0-1)
S- Kyle Westwood (2)

Lancaster home runs: None

Vince Velasquez was absolutely magnificent in his first 2 appearances; in this game, it was more of the same. He threw 5 shutout innings and allowed a hit and fanned 4. The hit, which was a single to begin the 4th, snapped his streak of 22 straight retired, dating back to Opening Night, when he got Corey Adamson to ground into a double play to end the 4th inning that night. I originally tweeted 21; looks like I needed to stretch that a little further.

Kyle Westwood, who will turn 23 tomorrow, finished it off with 4 innings, allowing a run on 3 hits, walking 1, and striking out 2. While Velasquez has been absolutely dominating out of the gate, Westwood has also posted some fine performances as well. So far, they've been the best pairing in the system, and probably by a pretty good margin, as well.

Tony Kemp led off the game with a walk and would score the first run of the evening on a Teoscar Hernandez triple. This is the 4th game that Hernandez has hit an RBI triple, and he extended his hitting streak to 6 games. He's had 2 hits in 5 of those 6 games, including a current streak of 3 straight. One batter later, he'd score on a Carlos Correa sac fly; the two of them had all the RBIs for Lancaster. Hernandez hit a 2-run triple in the 5th and Correa brought him home again, this time on a single. Rio Ruiz went 2-4, and Justin Gominsky went 3-4 with a run scored.

Game 3 of this 4-game set features the team of Lance McCullers and Kyle Smith on the mound, and they'll face Bryan Rodriguez. First pitch will take place at 6:05 Pacific.

Quad Cities 6, Great Lakes 4

W- Gonzalo Sanudo (2-0)
L- James Campbell (0-1)
S- Andrew Walter (2)

QC home runs: Jack Mayfield (1, solo in 5th)

The River Bandits unleashed a 16-hit assault on the Loons as they took the series opener.

66.7% of the QC lineup had multi-hit games, paced by Jack Mayfield, who went 3-5 with a double, a solo homer, and 2 runs scored. This is Mayfield's 3rd straight multi-hit contest, and he has a hit in all but 1 game this season (6 games played). 66.7% of the QC lineup had 1 RBI, as well. Those came off the bats of Conrad Gregor, Austin Elkins, Jobduan Morales, Mayfield, Brett Phillips, and James Ramsay. Elkins hit 2 doubles and Ramsay had a triple. Chase McDonald, Tanner Mathis, and Chan-Jong Moon all had 1 hit. Moon's hit was a triple in the 6th, and he'd score on Ramsay's triple.

Adrian Houser got the start and went 4 innings, allowing a run on 2 hits, walking 3, and fanning 3. Gonzalo Sanudo got the win as the piggybacker by throwing 3 scoreless. He allowed 2 hits, walked 2 (!!!) and struck out 3. Chris Cotton threw a 1-2-3 8th, striking out 2, but the wheels fell off for him in the 9th as he allowed all 5 Loons he faced to reach and gave up 3 runs in the process. Andrew Walter restored order by stopping the bleeding. He did issue a walk, but none of the 2 runners he inherited from Cotton scored.

In the middle game of this series, Andrew Thurman will look to get himself going after a couple of rough outings to begin the season. He and Chris Lee will face Luis Chirinos at 6:05 Eastern/5:05 Central.

Three Stars: Position Players

So, I got tired of trying to weed out exactly 3 standout performances, so I have split the Three Stars section into one for position players and one for pitchers. It hasn't gotten any easier.

3.



Jon Singleton, 1B, Oklahoma City
2-4, solo HR (3), 3 R



2.




Teoscar Hernandez, CF, Lancaster
2-4, 2 3B, 3 RBI, 2 R



1.




Jack Mayfield, 2B, Quad Cities
3-5, 2B solo HR (1), 2 R


Honorable Mentions: Tyler Heineman, Kiké Hernandez, Japhet Amador, Carlos Correa, Justin Gominsky, the 5 guys in the Quad Cities lineup who all had 2 hits


Three Stars: Pitchers

3.



Gonzalo Sanudo, RHP, Quad Cities
W (2-0), 3 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K




2.



Kyle Westwood, RHP, Lancaster
Save (2), 4 IP, 3 H, ER, BB, 2 K



1.



Vince Velasquez, RHP, Lancaster
W (2-0), 5 IP, H, 4 K


Honorable Mentions: Darin Downs, Andrew Walter

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