What the Heck, Bobby?: Astros Minor League Recaps

Results for Sunday, July 9, 2017

Tough day for the Rookie ball clubs against their Mets counterparts.

Fresno is off until Thursday

The 2017 AAA All-Star Game will take place on Wednesday, July 12, at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma, Washington, home of the Tacoma Rainiers. Fresno will be represented by D.J. Fisher and Colin Moran.

The Grizzlies return to action on Thursday; Moran and Fisher don't have to go anywhere (provided that they're still with the Grizzlies) because the Grizzlies will kick off the second half of their season with a 4-game series in Tacoma.

Corpus Christi 6, Arkansas 5

W- Framber Valdez (2-1, 4-4 season)
L- Peter Tago (0-3)

CC home runs: None.

The Hooks went ahead with a couple of runs after stretch time. They also withstood a one-man show from Travs catcher Marcus Littlewood, who homered twice and drove in all 5 of Arkansas' runs.

Cy Sneed went 5 innings and allowed a 3-run homer to Littlewood in the 4th. He also allowed 6 other hits, walked 1, and struck out 4. Framber Valdez pitched the last 4 innings and Littlewood took him deep for a 2-run homer in the 6th. Framber allowed one other hit, walked 2, and struck out 4.

Ramon Laureano doubled to start the bottom of the 1st and opened the scoring by coming home on a Garrett Stubbs double. Laureano doubled again to lead off the 3rd and scored on a J.D. Davis groundout. He then added two RBI singles to his ledger in the 4th and the 6th. Jason Martin scored the tying run on an error that allowed Arturo Michelena to reach in the 7th and Laureano struck once again with an RBI triple that turned out to be the difference.

That's right... Ramon Laureano finished 5-5 on the night; it's his first career 5-hit game, and he also stole a base (18). Laureano is now on a 5-game hitting streak and all of them have been multi-hit outings. It's been a tough year for Ramon, but he's doing what he can to right the ship and he's still out there competing every time his number is called. Jason Martin's two hits were both doubles.

Collin McHugh continues his rehab in the series finale and he'll be opposed by Brett Ash. First pitch is at 7:05.

Buies Creek 4, Down East 1

W- Justin Ferrell (7-3)
L- Johan Juan (0-1)

BC home runs: Jake Rogers (7, 13 season; 3-run in 8th)

Jake Rogers' homer in the 8th proved to be the difference as the Carolina Stros snatched a win in Kinston.

Forrest Whitley went 5 innings in his second Carolina League start and allowed a run on 5 hits while striking out 5. Justin Ferrell pitched the last 4 innings, allowing 3 hits and striking out 3.

Myles Straw walked to begin the game, stole 2nd, then scored the first run of the day on a Ryne Birk double. Yeyson Yrizarri hit an RBI double to tie the game at 1. There was one other scoring play in this game, and it was Rogers' 3-run blast in the top of the 8th to put Buies Creek in front. Birk (2B, RBI, R) and Alex De Goti (2B) both finished with 2 hits on the day. Straw now has 25 stolen bases on the season.

Brett Adcock will start the series finale and he'll face Emerson Martinez at 7:00 Eastern.

Quad Cities 9, Clinton 3

W- Gabriel Valdez (3-0)
L- Lane Ratliff (1-2)
S- Robert Corniel (1, 2 season)

QC home runs: Daz Cameron (9, 2-run in 2nd), Carmen Benedetti (3, solo in 2nd), Troy Sieber (1, solo in 5th)

The Banditos stormed out to an 8-1 lead after the first three innings and ended up cruising to the win.

Gabriel Valdez turned in a nice start, allowing 2 runs (both on solo homers) on 5 hits and striking out 8 in 6 innings. Robert Corniel finished it off by allowing a run on 2 hits, walking 1, and striking out 3 in 3 innings of work.

Daz Cameron singled to lead off the bottom of the 1st and scored the first run of the evening on a Chuckie Robinson triple. Robinson wound up scoring on a single from Wander Franco. Jonathan Arauz singled to start off the 2nd and scored on Daz's 2-run shot. One batter later, Carmen Benedetti sent one out for a solo homer. Quad Cities got 3 more in the 3rd as Marcos Almonte hit an RBI single and Daz added a 2-run single to his ledger. Troy Sieber whacked a solo homer in the 5th for the last River Bandits run.

Everyone in the Quad Cities lineup had a hit; Daz went 3-5 out of the leadoff spot. Robinson (3B, RBI, R), Ronnie Dawson (R), and Almonte (RBI, R) all finished with 2 hits.

Quad Cities and Clinton will conclude their series at 6:35 as Yohan Ramirez takes on Brandon Miller.

Aberdeen 5, Tri-City 4

W- James Teague (1-0)
L- Jesús Balaguer (0-1)

TC home runs: Luis Payano (2, solo in 2nd)

The ValleyCats managed to claw back from an early 4-0 hole... only to see the Ironbirds walk off with a win for the second consecutive game.

Tyler Ivey didn't make it out of the 1st inning. He only got 2 outs and allowed 4 runs on 4 hits, walked 1, and struck out 1. Cristian Javier restored order with 5.2 scoreless innings, allowing 2 hits, walking 2, and striking out 9. Jesús Balaguer had the winning run charged to him on a walk-off squeeze play. He went 2 innings and allowed 2 hits, walked 2, and struck out 3. Diogenes Almengo couldn't extricate Balaguer from the bases-loaded predicament; he got the second out of the 9th, but then Aberdeen ran the squeeze to win the game.

Javier tied a career-high with those 9 strikeouts; he also struck out 9 in 4 innings as a member of the GCL Astros on July 18 of last year.

Luis Payano put Tri-City on the board with a solo shot in the 2nd inning. Mike Papierski doubled to lead off the 4th and scored on an error after Payano flew out. In the 6th, Andy Piñeda legged out a bunt single that scored Payano, and Miguelangel Sierra scored on a wild pitch. Payano, Piñeda, and Abraham Toro all finished with 2 hits on the evening.

Tri-City has Monday off. They'll start a 3-game series with the State College Spikes on Tuesday.

Kingsport 11, Greeneville 2

W- Jose Geraldo (2-1)
L- Bryan Abreu (0-2)

Greeneville home runs: None.

The Appy Astros briefly took the lead with a pair in the top of the 3rd, but it was all Kingsport in this one.

Greeneville's two runs came on RBI singles from Gilberto Celestino and Adrian Tovalin in the 3rd inning. Celestino and Cody Bohanek (2B) both finished 2-5.

Bryan Abreu went 3.1 innings and allowed 5 runs (4 earned, 1 inherited runner charged to him) on 4 hits (3-run homer), walked 4, and struck out 5. Adam Bleday was the first man out of the Greeneville bullpen and allowed 6 runs (5 earned, 1 inherited runner charged to him) on 5 hits, walked 2, and struck out 1. Ian Hardman allowed 2 hits and walked 1 in his 2.2 innings.

Gerardo Bojorquez takes on Carlos Hernandez in the series finale. First pitch is at 6:30 Eastern.

GCL Mets 10, GCL Astros 3

W- Aneury Olivo (1-0)
L- Juan Pablo Lopez (0-2)
S- Jose Moreno (1)

GCL home runs: Jose Benjamin (1, solo in 2nd)

The Mets jumped out to a 7-1 lead after 4 innings. The Palm Beach Stros went 0-17 with runners in scoring position on Sunday.

Jose Benjamin went 2-5 and smacked a homer to start the bottom of the 2nd. Ronny Rafael hit a sac fly in the 6th and César Cortez drew a bases-loaded walk later in the frame. Juan Piñeda went 3-5 with a double.

Juan Pablo Lopez went 3 innings and allowed 7 runs (5 earned) on 10 hits (2-run homer), walked 2, and struck out 3. Devin Raftery, Johsson Arias, and Saul Martinez all followed with 2 innings. Raftery walked 1 and fanned 3. Arias allowed 3 runs (2 earned) on 5 hits and struck out 1, and Martinez struck out 1 in a perfect outing.

Sunday's Stars

All photos are from Jayne unless stated otherwise.