What the Heck, Bobby?: Astros Minor League Recaps

Results for Thursday, August 18, 2016

Let's play two in Adelanto and the DSL!

Fresno 2, Omaha 1 in 11 innings

W- Jandel Gustave (3-2)
L- Clayton Mortensen (3-5)

Fresno home runs: None.

Colin Moran was the hero on Taco Truck Throwdown 6. It's Fresno's biggest promotion of the year, and they sent the fans home happy.

Danny Worth put the Tacos on the board first with an RBI single in the 1st inning. Omaha tied the game with a run in the 3rd inning, and the game remained in a deadlock until the bottom of the 11th.

Alejandro Garcia led off the inning with a single and advanced to 2nd on a Max Stassi sacrifice bunt. Andrew Aplin was then intentionally walked to keep the double play in play. Nolan Fontana went down on strikes, but Moran came through with the game-winner, a single that brought Garcia home. Garcia finished 3-5 with a stolen base (1, 13 season), and Worth went 2-3 with a double.

César Valdez turned in yet another fine start for the Tacos; he allowed a run on 6 hits and struck out 9 over 7 strong innings. Brendan McCurry was the first man out of the Fresno bullpen, and he wound up throwing a 1-2-3 8th inning. Jordan Jankowski walked 1 and struck out 3 over 2 scoreless, and Jandel Gustave set the Storm Chasers down in order in the 11th inning, striking out 1.

Fresno and Omaha will wrap up their series tonight at 7:05 Pacific. Eury De La Rosa, whose contract was recently purchased from the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League, will make his organizational debut. He'll face Mike Minor.

Corpus Christi 4, Northwest Arkansas 0

W- Cy Sneed (5-5)
L- Eric Skoglund (6-9)

CC home runs: Ramon Laureano (5, 15 season; 2-run in 1st)

The Hooks took the series from the Naturals as Cy Sneed and Kevin Comer joined forces on a shutout. Sneed allowed 4 hits and fanned 5 in 7 innings, and Comer finished it off, allowing 3 hits and striking out 5 in the final two frames.

Ramon Laureano opened the scoring with a 2-run home run in the 1st inning. Mott Hyde added a sac fly in the 5th, and J.D. Davis drove in the final run of the evening with an RBI single in the 8th. Conrad Gregor and Tony Nuñez both went 2-4 from the bottom of the lineup.

Tonight, Corpus is in Little Rock for the second leg of their tour of Arkansas. Trent Thornton will take on Alex Blackford at 7:10.

Game 1: High Desert 12, Lancaster 6

W- Shane McCain (5-3)
L- Akeem Bostick (4-2, 5-3 season)

Lancaster home runs: Drew Ferguson 2 (13; solo in 4th, solo in 5th), Bryan Muñiz (12, solo in 5th)

There was plenty of offense in game 1; unfortunately for the JetHawks, their pitchers could only keep the Mavericks off the scoreboard for one half-inning. They had a 4-3 lead after their half of the 4th, but High Desert finished the game on a 9-2 run.

Drew Ferguson put Lancaster on the board in the 4th inning with his first home run of game 1. Kyle Tucker followed with a single; he advanced to 3rd on a single from Aaron Mizell and eventually scored on an error that allowed Jason Martin to reach. Trent Woodward hit an RBI infield single to bring Mizell home, and Martin scored on a wild pitch. Ferguson and Bryan Muñiz hit back-to-back solo home runs in the 5th inning. Ferguson went 3-3, while Little Tuck went 2-4 in his Lancaster debut.

Akeem Bostick went 3.1 innings and allowed 6 runs (2 inherited runners charged to him) on 5 hits, walked 5, and struck out 4. Ralph Garza Jr. was the first man out of the Lancaster bullpen, and he allowed 6 runs (1 inherited runner charged to him) on 7 hits (solo homer), walked 2, and struck out 1. Alex Winkelman got the final two outs of the 6th, striking out 1.

Did game 2 bring about a more positive result for the JetHawks?

Game 2: Lancaster 10, High Desert 2

W- Jose Luis Hernandez (2-3, 5-5 season)
L- Jeffrey Springs (2-2)

Lancaster home runs: Drew Ferguson (14, solo in 1st), Marc Wik (5, 2-run in 2nd), Christian Correa (2, 3 season; 2-run in 4th)

Jose Luis Hernandez went the distance and Drew Ferguson continued his rampage from game 1 as the JetHawks earned the split in the doubleheader. Hernandez allowed 2 runs; both came on solo homers. He allowed two other hits, walked 3, and struck out 3 over the 7 innings.

Ferguson opened the scoring by launching a solo homer in the 1st inning. Marc Wik got in on the act with a 2-run homer in the 2nd inning, and Christian Correa whacked a 2-run home run of his own in the 4th. Bryan Muñiz hit an RBI single in the 5th, and Ferguson scored on an error later in the inning. In the 6th, Myles Straw hit an RBI single and came around to score on an Osvaldo Duarte triple. Ferguson capped off the night by ripping an RBI double to score Duarte.

Five JetHawks had 2-hit games: Straw (RBI, 2 R), Ferguson (2B, solo HR, 2 RBI, 2 R), Muñiz, Correa (2B, 2-R HR, 2 R), and Wik (2-R HR).

The JetHawks will start a 3-game series in Lake Elsinore tonight at 7:00 Pacific.

Clinton 3, Quad Cities 2

W- Joey Strain (6-2)
L- David Schmidt (3-3, 4-4 season)
S- Matt Walker (10)

QC home runs: Dexture McCall (8. 2-run in 7th)

The Banditos managed to tie the game at 2.... only to see the LumberKings regain the lead with a run in the 8th, and that was the difference as they got swept out of Clinton.

Dex McCall's 2-run home run in the 7th inning put Quad Cities on the board, tied the game at 2, was their only scoring play of the evening, and was one of just two hits that they could muster up in the game. Arturo Michelena, who scored on the homer, singled for the other River Bandit hit.

Framber Valdez went 5 innings and allowed 2 runs (1 earned) on 3 hits, walked 3, and struck out 7. David Schmidt pitched the final 3 innings and allowed the go-ahead run in the 8th on a double. The other hit he allowed was also a double, and he struck out 1.

The Banditos are back home, and tonight, they'll start a 3-game series with Kane County at 7:00. Hector Perez will go up against Jose Almonte.

Tri-City 4, Aberdeen 2

W- Salvador Montaño (1-0, 2-1 season)
L- Zach Muckenhirn (4-2)
S- Tyler Britton (2)

TC home runs: None.

Both teams scored in the 1st and the 5th innings, but Tri-City put up the only crooked number of the game in the 5th and got an insurance run in the 8th.

Rodrigo Ayarza doubled to lead off the bottom of the 1st inning and an error allowed him to advance to 3rd. He scored the ValleyCats' first run of the evening on a wild pitch. Ayarza added an RBI single to his ledger in the 5th, and Alex De Goti later scored on another wild pitch. Ronnie Dawson drove in the final run of the evening with an RBI single in the 8th.

Ayarza (2B, RBI, R), Brauly Mejia, Chuckie Robinson (R), and De Goti (2B, R) all finished with 2 hits in the game.

Kevin Hill, Salvador Montaño, and Tyler Britton all went 3 innings for Tri-City. Hill got the start and allowed a run on 3 hits and struck out 3. Montaño had home stolen on him in the 5th inning; the run was unearned. He also allowed a single, walked 4, and struck out 4. Britton allowed a hit, walked 1, and struck out 5 to get the save.

The ValleyCats will look for the sweep tonight at 7:00 Eastern. Dustin Hunt will take on Lucas Humpal.

Danville 3, Greeneville 2 in 10 innings

W- Drew Harrington (1-0)
L- Devon Carr (1-3)

Greeneville home runs: None.

The Appy Astros have picked a bad time to get in a funk; they're 2-8 in their last 10 contests. They took the lead in the 8th, only to see the Braves tie the game in the bottom of the inning and walk off with the win in the first extra frame.

Frankeny Fernandez put Greeneville on the board with an RBI single in the 5th inning, and Abraham Toro's RBI groundout in the 8th was their other scoring play. Stijn van der Meer scored both Greeneville runs. Fernandez and Carlos Machado both finished 2-3, and Luis Payano also finished with 2 hits.

Forrest Whitley went 3 innings and allowed a run on 2 hits and struck out 3. Colin McKee and Carlos Hiraldo followed with 2 innings out of the bullpen; McKee allowed 2 hits, walked 1, and struck out 1, and Hiraldo walked 2 and struck out 2. Devon Carr went 2.1 innings and allowed the winning run (well, it scored after he left) on 4 hits, walked 1, and struck out 5. Luis Ramirez got an out in the 10th, but he hit Brett Cumberland with the bases loaded to bring in the winning run for Danville.

Jorge Alcala will start game 2 of this series. He'll face Joey Wentz at 7:00 Eastern.

DSL Astros Blue

The Blue team dropped a doubleheader to the Royals; they lost game 1 6-2 and dropped game 2 by a score of 4-2.

Anibal Sierra had a triple and an RBI in game 1. Johsson Arias allowed a run, a hit, walked 1, and struck out 3 in 3 innings.

Angel De Leon smacked a 2-run triple in game 2.

DSL Astros Orange

On the other hand, the Orange team swept the Rays 2, winning game 1 by a score of 9-2 and game 2 2-0.

Hector Martinez doubled and scored 3 runs in game 1, while Yordan Alvarez tripled and scored twice.

Kilvio Peralta and Freylin Garcia combined on a shutout in game 2; Peralta allowed 2 hits, walked 1, and struck out 6, and Garcia allowed 3 hits, walked 1, and struck out 1. Gerry Castillo ripped an RBI double in the 2nd and later scored on a Luis Coronel single. Coronel finished 2-2 on the day.

Thursday's Stars