Astros Minor League Recaps

Results for Saturday, August 1, 2015

Mark Appel dazzles in Fresno!

Also going on during this first day of August: Operation Shutdown was in full effect in the Quad Cities.

Fresno 9, Albuquerque 7 in 12 innings

W- Jason Stoffel (5-2)
L- Tim Smalling (0-1); a position player

Fresno home runs: Matt Duffy (14, solo in 12th), Max Stassi (12, walk-off 2-run in 12th)

The Grizzlies squandered a 5-1 lead, which forced them to take it to extra innings. No matter, they finally got the win thanks to a pair of homers in the 12th.

Mark Appel allowed a solo homer to Wilin Rosario in the 3rd, which was the only run he allowed in his 7 fine innings. He allowed 2 other hits and struck out 10. Unfortunately, Rosario played the role of killjoy as he tagged Kevin Chapman for a game-tying grand slam in the 8th inning. Chapman allowed 2 other hits, another run, walked 1, and struck out 1 in the inning. He's a good pitcher. Crap happens. James Hoyt allowed a hit, walked 1, and struck out 3 over 2 scoreless as he has completely dominated after that nightmarish beginning to his season. Jason Stoffel also went 2 innings; he allowed a run on 2 hits and fanned 5.

Fresno got held by a position player for 2 innings. But again, they still won, so all was forgiven. They also had a chance to walk it off in regulation, but they left the bases loaded.

In the 4th, they got a couple of 2-run singles from Nolan Fontana and Max Stassi. Jonathan Villar led off the 7th with a double and scored when Tyler White grounded into a double play.

Andrew Aplin led off the 9th with a walk, and an error following a Villar sac bunt attempt meant that they were both safe. They both advanced on a passed ball, and then L.J. Hoes joined them on the bases as he was given a free pass to 1st base. Tyler White followed by tying the game with a sac fly that advanced everyone. Alex Presley was also allowed to take 1st base, but Fontana and Matt Duffy went down to end the inning.

After the Isotopes took the lead with an RBI double in the top of the 12th, Duffy wasted little time in tying the game once again as he took Tim Smalling deep to begin the bottom of the 12th. Fontana reached on an error and advanced to 2nd on a sac bunt from Tony Kemp. One batter later, Max Stassi ended it,

Duffy (solo homer, 2 BB, 2 R), Villar (2B, R, SB [20]), and Stassi (2-run homer, 4 RBI, R) had 2 hits apiece. Fontana scored 2 runs to go with his 2-run single.

Game 2 of this series will start at 6:05 Pacific. Starters for both sides are TBA.

Midland 9, Corpus Christi 6

W- Omar Duran (2-0)
L- Travis Ballew  (3-5)

CC home runs: None.

The Hooks caught the Hounds in the 7th as they scored 2 to make it a 5-5 game, but Midland ended up having the final say in this one as they finished the game on a 4-1 run.

Jack Mayfield opened up the scoring with a sac fly in the 2nd inning. After Jon Kemmer tripled to lead off the 5th, Mayfield struck again with an RBI single. Chan-Jong Moon later added an RBI single of his own in the inning. Teoscar Hernandez's 2-run single in the 7th tied the game at 5. Unfortunately, Midland responded with 3 in the bottom of the 7th and 1 more in the 8th, and the Hooks' only response was a Colin Moran RBI single in the 9th. Teoscar (SB [23], 2-run single), Moran (RBI, BB), and Mayfield (2 RBI, R) had 2 hits apiece.

In his AA debut, Edison Frias went 4.2 innings and allowed 4 runs (1 inherited runner charged to him) on 8 hits, walked 1, and struck out 6. Chris Cotton was the first man out; he allowed a run on 2 hits (2-run homer; 1 run was charged to Frias), walked 1, and struck out 2 in 1.2 innings. Travis Ballew was roughed up in his 1.2 innings as he allowed 4 runs on 5 hits and walked 1.

Brian Holmes will be on the mound today. He'll take on Parker Frazier at 2:00.

High Desert 7, Lancaster 6

W- Jose Valdespina (1-1)
L- Jordan Mills (1-1, 2-3 season)

Lancaster home runs: Ronnie Mitchell 2 (11; 2-run in 4th, grand slam in 5th)

Unfortunately, the JetHawks couldn't seal the deal and they ended up walking off with a loss.

With his 2 homers, Ronnie Mitchell was the Lancaster offense. He finished 3-4. James Ramsay also finished 3-4; he doubled and stole a base (9). J.D. Davis went 0-2, but he drew 2 walks and scored 2 runs.

Austin Chrismon allowed 4 runs (3 earned) on 9 hits and struck out 6 in 7 innings of work. Andrew Walter was the first man out; he allowed 2 runs (1 inherited runner charged to him) on 3 hits and struck out 2 in 1.1 innings. Jordan Mills got 1 out via strikeout in the 9th, but the Mavericks got the win off of him. He allowed a run on 2 hits and walked 2.

The JetHawks will look to avoid the sweep as Akeem Bostick is on the mound. He'll take on Richelson Peña at 5:05 Pacific.

Quad Cities 5, Wisconsin 0

W- Josh James (4-2)
L- David Carver (1-2)

QC home runs: None.

The Bandits got a fine performance on the mound as Josh James and two relievers combined on a 3-hitter.

James allowed 3 hits, walked 3, and struck out 4 over 5.2 shutout innings. Michael Freeman fanned 4 in 2.1 perfect innings, and Riley Ferrell worked around a walk in the 9th to complete the shutout.

Quad Cities got 2 in the 1st on RBI singles from Ryan Bottger and Jose Fernandez. Fernandez scored in the 3rd on an error following a Bryan Muñiz single. Muñiz, who finished 3-3, hit an RBI single in the 8th and scored the final run of the game on an RBI single from Jason Martin. Fernandez, Martin, Kristian Trompiz, and Nick Tanielu all had 2-hit games.

The Banditos will look for the sweep as Brock Dykxhoorn takes the mound. He'll face David Burkhalter at 5:15.

Mahoning Valley 7, Tri-City 4

W- Shao-Ching Chiang (3-1)
L- Zac Person (1-3)
S- Yoiber Marquina (3)

TC home runs: Hector Roa 2 (2, 8 season; 2-run in 2nd, solo in 4th)

A 5-run 1st proved to be too much for the ValleyCats to overcome.

Hector Roa, in his first game back with Tri-City, whacked 2 homers, giving him 8 on the season. In between his homers, Pat Porter hit an RBI single in the 3rd inning. Alex Melendez went 2-4 with a double at the top of the Tri-City lineup.

Zac Person allowed 5 runs on 5 hits and walked 1 as he only got 2 outs in the 1st. Yeyfry Del Rosario was the first man out; he allowed a run on 2 hits, walked 1, and struck out 1 in 1.1 innings. Kevin McCanna and Ralph Garza Jr. worked 3 innings apiece; McCanna allowed a run on a single, walked 1, and struck out 2, while Garza allowed a hit and fanned 4. Steve Naemark worked around a hit to throw a scoreless 9th, striking out 1.

Chris Murphy will make his New York-Penn League debut as the ValleyCats try to avoid a sweep. He'll face Casey Shane at 5:00 Eastern.

Greeneville 10, Kingsport 6

W- Starlyng Sanchez (1-0, 2-1 season)
L- Harol Gonzalez (1-3)
S- Matt Bower (1)

Greeneville home runs: Osvaldo Duarte (3, solo in 3rd)

The Appy Astros used a 7-run 3rd inning to propel them to a win. It got a bit hairy, but they found 3 more runs in the top of the 9th to pad their lead.

Duarte's homer was the catalyst for that big 3rd inning, and it was only appropriate that his home run led off the inning. Ford Stainback followed with an RBI groundout, and then Connor Goedert, Kyle Tucker, and Kevin Martir hit RBI singles. Myles Straw capped off the scoring in the 3rd with a 2-run single. In a 7-5 game in the 9th, Daz Cameron ripped a 2-run triple and scored on a sac fly from Stainback to rebuild the Greeneville lead.

Daz Cameron and Kyle Tucker were playing their first games in the Appalachian League, and they both finished with 3 hits. Cameron also stole 2 bases, which gives him 14 on the season. Stainback was the only player in the lineup without a hit, but he still drove in 2 runs. Straw went 2-5 with 2 runs scored and had a double to go with his 2-run single.

Daz and Kyle weren't the only players on the Greeneville roster making they Appy League debuts... Moreno Polanco allowed 3 runs on 7 hits, walked 1, and fanned 2 in 4 innings. Starlyng Sanchez allowed 2 runs on 3 hits and struck out 1 in the 5th. Lachlan Madden worked around a walk to throw a scoreless 6th, striking out 1, and Matt Bower brought it home. In his 3 innings, the only complication he encountered was a solo homer hit by Dale Burdick in the 9th. Bower, the southpaw from Wazzu (that's Washington State University), allowed one other hit and struck out 6.

Andrew Thome will be on the mound as the Appy Astros look for a sweep on the road. He'll take on Tom McIlraith at 2:00 Eastern.

GCL Astros

Their game with the Phillies was suspended with 1 out in the 3rd, and they were trailing 5-1. Patrick Sandoval, in his pro debut, allowed 5 runs (4 earned, all in the 1st) on 8 hits and struck out 3 in 2 innings. Ihan Bernal hit a sac fly in the 1st.

DSL Astros Blue 6, DSL Indians 2

W- Felipe Tejada (2-3)
L- Dalbert Siri (2-2)

Blue home runs: Reiny Beltre (5, 2-run in 7th)

Both teams scored a run in the 1st, but the Blue team took control of this one.

Cristopher Luciano opened the scoring with an RBI double in the 1st and added an RBI groundout in the 5th. Orlando Marquez finished 2-3 with an RBI double in the 5th. Reiny Beltre smacked a 2-run homer in the 7th, and Ozziel Sanchez-Galan scored on an error in the 8th.

Jose Ramos allowed a run on a sac fly, walked 1, and struck out 7 in 4 innings. Felipe Tejada tagged in for 4 innings, allowing a run on 4 hits, walking 1, and striking out 4. Josue Uribe worked around a hit to throw a scoreless 9th, striking out 1.

DSL Astros Orange 3, DSL Angels 2

W- Angelo Serrano (1-0)
L- Cesar Melendez (3-2)
S- Luis Vasquez (2)

Orange home runs: None.

The difference in this game was a 2-run 6th for the Orange team. With this win, they got themselves out of the cellar of their division and put the Angels in the basement in the process.

Alejandro Garcia was a home run shy of the cycle. He scored the first run of the game on a Hector Martinez groundout in the 1st. Juan Fuente scored on a wild pitch in the 6th, and Martinez later scored on a sac fly from Jose Hernandez that turned into a double play. Nicolás Miranda finished 2-3.

Gabriel Valdez allowed 3 hits, walked 2, and struck out 2 in 4 innings of work. Angelo Serrano allowed 2 runs on 2 hits, walked 2, and struck out 4 in 4 innings, and Luis Vasquez worked around a hit to close it out, striking out 2.