Astros Fall and Winter League Recaps

Results for Thursday, October 30, 2014 (and one from today, too)

Happy Opening Day in Puerto Rico and Australia! The Fall and Winter League Rosters page has now been updated to include Astros players playing in Puerto Rico and Down Under.

ARIZONA FALL LEAGUE

Surprise 5, Salt River 4

W- Aaron Kurcz (1-0)
L- Kaleb Fleck (0-1)
S- Brandon Alger (2)

Salt River HRs by Astros players: None.

The Saguaros surprised the Rafters (OK, I'll stop) with 2 in the top of the 9th to take the lead, and eventually, they got the win. Austin Nola was the only Rafter to get on base against Kurcz and Alger, and that was after Kurcz hit him.

Rio Ruiz went 0-2, but he made his mark on the proceedings with 2 sac flies in the 2nd and the 4th. Andrew Aplin went 0-3 with a walk and a run scored.

Salt River will be the late game again. They'll host Scottsdale; whose mascot is actually the Scorpions. Not the Saguaros, which I erroneously stated yesterday. First pitch is 6:35 Mountain.

AUSTRALIAN BASEBALL LEAGUE

Adelaide 8, Brisbane 3

W- Matthew Williams (1-0)
L- Steven Chambers (0-1)

Adelaide HRs by Astros players: None.

The Bite opened up the 2014 ABL campaign with a nice road win, scoring the game's final 8 runs. Chan-Jong Moon got the start at shortstop and hit 1st, finishing 1-5 with a double and a run scored.

Result for Friday, October 31, 2014

Adelaide 23, Brisbane 3

W- Josh Tols (1-0)
L- Justin Staatz (0-1)

Adelaide HRs by Astros players: None.
Brisbane HRs by Astros players: Connor MacDonald (1, solo in 6th)

Adelaide really took a Bite out of the Bandits (feel free to roll your eyes on that one too) on Halloween as they scored in 7 of their 9 innings, paced by Mitch Dening's 3 homers. Chan-Jong Moon finished 2-5 with a couple of walks and 3 runs scored.

Connor MacDonald provided a bit of a silver lining for Brisbane with a solo homer in the 6th. He came on as a defensive replacement in the top of the inning.

Tomorrow (or tonight, I guess), the Bite and Bandits play game 3 of this season-opening 4-game set at 7:00 Australian Eastern Standard Time. Queensland, which is where Brisbane is located, is on Standard Time year-round; they, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory are the only locations in Australia that do not observe Daylight Saving time.

LIGA VENEZOLANA DE BÉISBOL PROFESIONAL

Caribes 6, Caracas 2

W- Jack Snodgrass (2-0)
L- Albert Suarez (1-1)

Caracas HRs by Astros players: None.

The capital club was held to just 2 hits, and 4 errors wound up dooming them. Danry Vásquez went 0-1 with a couple of walks and scored a run, while Gregorio Petit was 0-2 with a walk.

Caracas will conclude their homestand tonight as Zulia comes to the capital. First pitch is at 7:30 Venezuelan time.

LIGA PARALELA

Caribes 13, Navegantes 4

W- Edwin Villarroel (2-0)
L- Richard Reina (0-2)

The Caribes offense gave Edwin Villarroel a boost as they busted out for 5 in the 5th. Villarroel went 5.2 innings and allowed 2 runs on 8 hits, walked 1, and struck out 4.

Later this morning, Caribes will face Caracas. First pitch is at 11:00 AM Venezuelan time.

LIDOM

Licey 7, Águilas 6

W- Warner Madrigal (1-0)
L- Tony Peña (0-1)

Licey HRs by Astros players: None.
Águilas HRs by Astros players: None.

Licey tied the game with a bases-clearing triple in the 7th and walked off with the win thanks to Elmer Reyes' single in the bottom of the 9th. Sosa entered the game as a pinch-runner in the 7th and remained in the game at LF. He singled with 1 out in the 9th and eventually came around to score the winning run.

For Águilas, Jonathan Villar went 0-4 with 2 strikeouts.

Tonight, Águilas will take on Gigantes in Round 2 of the Cibao derby, while Licey will travel to take on Escogido in the battle of Santo Domingo. Both games will begin at 7:30 Atlantic.

LIGA MEXICANA DEL PACÍFICO

Navojoa 6, Culiacán 1

W- Jose Oyervidez (1-0)
L- Rodrigo Lopez (0-1)

Culiacán was held to just 3 hits. Gonzalo Sañudo worked around a hit to throw a scoreless 7th.

The Tomato Growers will host Hermosillo for the weekend. First pitch is at 7:30 Mountain.

LIGA DE BÉISBOL PROFESIONAL ROBERTO CLEMENTE

Caguas 7, Mayagüez 3

W- Derek Blacksher (1-0)
L- Eliecer Navarro (0-1)

Caguas HRs by Astros players: None.

Caguas scored the game's first 7 runs as they took care of business in the Puerto Rican season opener. Roberto Peña got the start at catcher for Caguas and finished 1-4 with a double.

Both of these teams will play each other again, only this time, the game will be in Caguas. First pitch is at 7:30 Atlantic.