Astros Minor League Game Recaps for Monday, May 19th

Results for Monday, May 19, 2014

Hi! Jayne here, subbing for the most excellent Dustin who is taking a well-deserved day off.

New Orleans 6, Oklahoma City 2

W- Alex Sanabia (1-1)
L- Brett Oberholtzer (1-1)
S- Chaz Roe (1)

OKC home runs: None.

The RedHawks dropped their third straight and first in the series.

Starter Brett Oberholtzer struggled in this one, allowing all six of the Zephyr runs (one unearned), four of those via the long ball. Rhiner Cruz (2IP 1H 0BB) and Kevin Chapman (1IP 0H 1BB) stopped the bleeding, but the RedHawks weren't able to break through until the eighth inning in which they took advantage of a Robbie Grossman RBI double and four walks, including a bases loaded walk from Jon Singleton. Oklahoma City was held to six hits and two of those belonged to Grossman.

In the second game of the series, Jake Buchanan (3-3, 3.19) will face off against Brian Flynn (4-2, 3.27), starting at 7:00 CST.

Corpus Christi 7, Midland 0

W- Luis Cruz (4-4)
L- Chris Jensen (2-3)

CC home runs: None

The Hooks got a pitching gem to give them a series split with Midland. 

Starter Luis Cruz pitched a beauty, going six and a third innings and allowing only one single in the third inning and two walks while striking out nine. Jordan Jankowski got the memo ... he allowed only one hit and no walks (striking out three) in the final two and two-thirds to preserve the shutout.

The Hooks got on the board early as Nolan Fontana singled, advanced on a ground out and scored from second on a Matt Duffy single in the first inning. Fontana drove in two himself with an RBI double in the third and was also part of the 4-run fourth inning in which Delino DeShields doubled in two runs and Fontana drove in one with a single. The final run of the fourth (and of the game) came as Delino DeShields scored on a ground out.

DeShields and Fontana were both 3-for-4 with a double each. Fontana drove in three and scored once. DeShields drove in two and scored twice. He also collected his 12th stolen base of the season.

The Hooks will have an off day/travel day on Tuesday as they journey to Little Rock to play three against the Arkansas Travelers. It will be the first meeting of the two teams this season.

Rancho Cucamonga 8, Lancaster 6

W- Gustavo Gomez (1-0)
L- Mitch Lambson (1-1)
S- Blake Smith (4)

Lancaster home runs: None

The JetHawks had to settle for a split in their 4-game commuter with Rancho as a big inning proved to be their undoing.

Zach Morton got a bit of a rude welcome in his California League debut, allowing four runs on eight hits in three and two-thirds innings, but he left the game with a lead. Richard Rodriguez contributed an excellent two and a third innings, allowing only one hit and striking out six. Unfortunately, Mitch Lambson had a rare bad outing and got hit hard in the seventh. He gave up a double, triple and two home runs in the frame and ended up with four earned runs on his permanent record.

The JetHawks scored six runs despite only managing six hits, and only one of those ... a seventh inning RBI double from Roberto Pena ... was for extra bases. The 'Hawks first two runs came in the second off of one hit, thanks to two errors, two stolen bases, two walks and a wild pitch. They scored another three runs in the fourth on three singles with a little help from a pair of walks, a sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch. Rio Ruiz had the only multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 with an RBI, walk and run scored.

The 'Hawks will now head to Bakersfield for three games. Brian Holmes (0-1, 5.40) will take on James Allen (2-3, 6.20). First pitch is at 9:30 CST.

Burlington 5, Quad Cities 4 (12 innings)

W- Grant Gordon (1-1)
L- Chris Cotton (1-3)

QC home runs: None

Quad Cities dropped the first of three with Burlington, but it took them 12 innings to go down.

The Bees struck first, taking advantage of a walk and two errors to score two unearned runs in the top of the second off Quad Cities starter Edison Frias (5IP 6H 3R/1ER). The River Bandits countered in the bottom of the frame with a Jon Kemmer double, Brett Phillips RBI single and James Ramsay RBI double to tie it up. The Bees put up another run in the top of the third and once again the Bandits countered, this time as Conrad Gregor doubled, advanced on a ground out and scored on a passed ball.

And that's where things stood through eight more innings. Burlington broke the 3-3 impasse in the top of the 12th inning with two runners reaching against Chris Cotton and scoring on Andrew Walter's watch as he inherited the two. Quad Cities' half of the inning saw Ronnie Mitchell reach on a fielding error, advance on a Brett Booth pinch hit double and score on a ground out, but Ramsay struck out to end the game and the threat.

Evan Grills following Frias with four scoreless innings and allowed only 2 hits and a walk while striking out two. Chris Cotton pitched two scoreless innings before getting into trouble in the twelfth.

The series will continue with an 11:00 CST day game pitting Adrian Houser (2-1, 3.94) against TBA.

Three Stars

I'm flat out of time, so no pretty pictures like Dustin gives you, but here are the three stars from yesterday's games.

3. Nolan Fontana

2. Jordan Jankowski

1. Luis Cruz