Astros Minor League Recaps

Results for Wednesday, September 2, 2015 and Thursday, September 3, 2015

Francis Martes returned to form in Corpus.

Fresno

The Grizzlies split the two games they played with Albuquerque, winning 3-0 on Wednesday and dropping a 4-3 game on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Luis Cruz, Travis Ballew, and Jordan Jankowski joined forces on a 5-hit shutout. Cruz allowed 4 hits and struck out 9 over 7 innings. Ballew walked 1 and struck out 1 in the 8th, and Jankowski allowed a hit and fanned 1 in the 9th and got the save.

Nolan Fontana opened the scoring with an RBI double in the 2nd. He later moved to 3rd on a sac bunt and scored on an Alex Presley groundout. Joe Sclafani added an RBI single in the 3rd inning. He, Tyler Heineman (2B, R), and Jon Singleton (2B, R) had 2 hits apiece.

The Grizz also got 2 runs in the 2nd inning on Thursday as Sclafani hit a sac fly to score L.J. Hoes. Later in the frame, Andrew Aplin scored on an error. Heineman hit a homer in the bottom of the 9th to make it a 1-run game, but that was all that Fresno could muster up. Tyler White finished 2-4.

Dan Straily allowed 4 runs on 7 hits, walked 3, and struck out 5 in 5 innings. Juan Minaya was the first man out; he allowed a hit, walked 1, and struck out 2 in 2 scoreless innings. Kevin Chapman struck out 2 in a 1-2-3 8th, and James Hoyt allowed a hit and struck out 2 in a scoreless 9th.

In their final series of the regular season, the Grizzlies will take on Salt Lake. In the first of 4 games, Asher Wojciechowski will face Adam Wilk at 7:05 Pacific.

Corpus Christi

The Hooks took their series against Frisco, winning 5-0 and 3-1.

Francis Martes notched his first AA win with yet another brilliant performance on Wednesday as he joined forces with Aaron West and Tyler Brunnemann to keep the Roughriders off the board. Martes allowed 5 hits, walked 3, and struck out 9 over 6 innings. West was first; he allowed a hit and fanned 4 in 2 innings, and Bruno struck out 1 in a 1-2-3 9th.

All 5 Corpus runs on Wednesday came in the first 3 innings. A.J. Reed kicked it off with an RBI single in the 1st. In the 2nd, Danry Vásquez hit an RBI single and Leo Heras added a sac fly. Jio Mier ripped an RBI double in the 3rd and later scored when Chan-Jong Moon grounded into a force out. Danry finished 4-5 from the top of the order, while Jio and Alfredo Gonzalez had 2 hits apiece.

George Springer served as the DH on Thursday and went 1-2 with a stolen base and a run scored in what may possibly be his final rehab game. (Here's hoping.)

Mr. Reed opened up the scoring again on Thursday; this time he did so with a 2-run double. Jack Mayfield drew a bases-loaded walk in the 8th. Danry finished 2-4 with a double and a run scored.

Edison Frias went 5 innings and allowed a run on 6 hits, walked 3, and struck out 7. Gonzalo Sañudo struck out 5 over 2 perfect frames. Chris Cotton struck out 1 in a 1-2-3 8th, and Jandel Gustave ran into a bit of trouble in the 9th, but he closed it out without incident. He struck out 1.

The Hooks will look to sweep the series as Chris Devenski takes the mound. He'll face Phil Irwin at 7:05.

Lancaster

The JetHawks dropped their final road series of the regular season in Bakersfield. They scored 3 in the 9th on Wednesday to win 5-4, but they lost the rubber game 6-2.

Enrique Chavez has spent the vast majority of his career in the complex leagues, but he fared well in his first start in the California League. He went 5 innings and allowed 2 runs on 4 hits, walked 2, and struck out 3. Christian Powell tagged in for 3 innings and allowed 2 unearned runs on 5 hits, walked 1, and fanned 3. Steve Naemark walked 1 and got the first out of the 9th, and The Closer, Ryan Thompson, got the final 2 outs of the game to seal the win.

D.J. Fisher put Lancaster on the board with an RBI single in the 5th inning. Mott Hyde added an RBI single of his own in the 6th. The JetHawks took the lead in the top of the 9th thanks to an RBI single from Ronnie Mitchell and a 2-run double from Sean McMullen. Hyde and J.D. Davis both finished 2-5, and they both hit a double.

Fisher's 2-run homer in the 1st inning of Thursday's game represented their only runs on the evening. That was his 16th in Lancaster, and he now has 22 home runs on the season. Hyde had another 2-hit night.

Keegan Yuhl went 4 innings and allowed 2 runs on 7 hits (solo homer), walked 1, and struck out 2. Jordan Mills allowed a solo homer to Austin Wilson in the 6th, which was the only run that he allowed in his 2.1 innings. Mills allowed 2 other hits, walked 1, and struck out 1.

The JetHawks will close out the regular season with 4 against High Desert beginning tonight at 6:30 Pacific. Lancaster's starter is TBA. Whoever he is, he'll take on Reed Garrett.

Quad Cities

The Banditos' series with Kane County is currently even at 1. They lost 8-6 on Wednesday after the Cougars scored 4 in the top of the 8th, but rebounded for an 11-5 win on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Jason Martin had 2 hits, and both of them resulted in an RBI. He singled in the 2nd and ripped a double in the 4th inning. Ryan Bottger also had 2 hits; one of them was an RBI single in the 4th. Drew Ferguson finished 3-5 with a double and a run scored. Bryan Muñiz walked twice and hit a sac fly in the 1st. Garrett Stubbs ripped an RBI double in the 8th, and Kristian Trompiz hit a sac fly in the 9th.

Rogelio Armenteros allowed 3 runs on 4 hits, walked 4, and struck out 7 in 5 innings. Lachlan Madden allowed 3 runs (2 inherited runners charged to him) on 3 hits, walked 1, and struck out 2 in 2.1 innings, and Zach Davis allowed 2 runs (1 earned) on 2 hits and walked 2 in 1.2 innings.

Quad Cities returned the favor by scoring 7 in the 5th inning of Thursday's game to blow it wide open. Ramon Laureano opened the scoring with an RBI double in the 1st. Drew Ferguson scored on an error in the 4th, and then Laureano opened the floodgates with an RBI triple in the 5th. He later scored on a bases-loaded walk. Wander Franco added a 2-run single, and then Marlon Avea smacked a 2-run double. Jason Martin finished it off with an RBI single. Jose Fernandez hit an RBI single in the 6th, and Bryan Muñiz hit a solo homer (4, 6 season) to begin the 8th. Everyone in the lineup had a hit on Thursday; the top 4 in the order of Martin, Bobby Boyd, Muñiz, and Laureano had 2 apiece.

Josh James went 6 innings and allowed 2 runs (1 earned) on 8 hits, walked 2, and struck out 5. Jacob Dorris was the first man out and all he did was strike out 3 in 2 perfect frames. Angel Heredia allowed a 3-run homer to Victor Reyes in the 9th inning. That was the only hit he allowed in the inning, and he walked 2.

Brock Dykxhoorn will start the series finale. He'll take on Josh Taylor at 7:00.

Tri-City

The ValleyCats were held in check in a 3-0 loss on Wednesday, but with a 6-1 win in 10 innings on Thursday, they were crowned as champions of the New York-Penn League's Stedler Division.

Bobby Wernes had 2 of their 4 hits on Wednesday.

Harold Arauz went 5 innings and allowed 2 runs on 7 hits while striking out 4. Jose Luis Hernandez allowed a run on 5 hits and struck out 5 in 3 innings.

Chris Murphy was excellent on Thursday as he allowed just 2 hits and fanned 6 over 5 shutout frames. Ryan Deemes went 2.1 innings and had an inherited runner charged to him in the 8th. He allowed 2 hits, walked 2, and struck out 2. Yeyfry Del Rosario struck out 2 over 2.2 innings. The tying run scored in the 8th on a sac fly and was charged to Deemes.

Dex McCall opened the scoring on Thursday with an RBI single in the 6th. The ValleyCats broke a 1-1 tie in emphatic fashion in the first extra frame. After Wernes put them in the lead with an RBI single, McCall provided the insurance with a 3-run homer (4). Kolbey Carpenter followed with a double and scored the final run of the evening on an RBI single from Keach Ballard. McCall finished 3-5, while Wernes and Hector Roa had 2 hits apiece. Johnny Sewald stole his 30th base of the season and scored 2 runs in this game.

Zac Person will start the ValleyCats' final road game of the regular season. He'll take on Luis Cedeño at 7:00 Eastern.

Thursday: Kingsport 2, Greeneville 1

W- Chase Ingram
L- Samil De Los Santos
S- Wilt Haggard

Greeneville home runs: Connor Goedert (1st of playoffs, solo in 4th)

Kingsport leads series 1-0. The Appy Astros will have to win twice in Kingsport.

Connor Goedert's solo homer represented Greeneville''s only run. Osvaldo Duarte was 2-3 with a triple.

Erasmo Pinales allowed a hit, walked 1, and struck out 3 in 3 innings. Hector Perez allowed an unearned run on 2 hits, walked 1, and fanned 2 in 4 innings. Luis Ramirez got 2 outs in the 8th inning via strikeout and allowed a hit and walked 1. Darryl Knight hit the go-ahead solo homer off of Samil De Los Santos with 2 outs in the 9th. De Los Santos allowed 2 other hits, walked 1, and struck out 2 as he got the final out of the 8th and 2 outs in the 9th. Starlyng Sanchez got the final out of the 9th.

In game 2 of this series, Diogenes Almengo will face Nabil Crismatt. First pitch is at 7:00 Eastern.