What the Heck, Bobby?: Astros Minor League Recaps

Results for Saturday, July 1, 2017

Fresno 8, Sacramento 1

W- Dean Deetz (1-2, 5-4 season)
L- Tyler Beede (4-6)

Fresno home runs: A.J. Reed (13, solo in 9th)

Make it 9 wins in a row for the Grizzlies as Dean Deetz, Aaron West, and Brendan McCurry joined forces to shut the RiverCats down on the first day of July.

Deetz went 5 innings and allowed Sacramento's only run of the evening, which came on a solo homer hit by Chris Shaw in the 4th. He allowed one other hit, walked 3, and struck out 6. West and McCurry followed with 2 scoreless innings apiece; West allowed 3 hits, while McCurry allowed 2 hits and fanned 3.

Fresno parlayed a base-loaded situation in the 2nd inning into the first two runs of the evening. Colin Moran led off the inning with a single, walked his way to 3rd, and scored when Juan Centeno beat out a double play attempt. A.J. Reed, who walked, ended up scoring on a wild pitch. Reed added an RBI single to his ledger in the 3rd inning. D.J. Fisher hit an RBI single in the 4th and Tony Kemp also ended up scoring on the ensuing error. The Grizz got a pair of RBI singles in the 5th from Centeno and Kemp, and Reed capped off the evening with a homer to start the 9th inning.

Kemp (RBI, R, SB), Moran (2 R), and Reed (solo HR, 2 RBI, 2 R) turned in 2-hit performances for the Fresno offense. Jon Kemmer reached in all 5 of his plate appearances, going 3-3 with a double, a run scored, and walked twice.

David Martinez gets the call in game 3 of this series. First pitch is at 1:05 Pacific.

Northwest Arkansas 6, Corpus Christi 3

W- Foster Griffin (6-1)
L- Alex Winkelman (0-3, 2-3 season)
S- Jake Newberry (12)

CC home runs: None.

The Hooks managed to get to within a run after the 7th inning, but the Naturals scored a pair in the 8th to put this one away and earn the sweep. Corpus went 2-11 with RISP and left 10 men on base.

Jon Singleton put the Hooks on the board with an RBI single in the 6th inning and Tony Nuñez chipped in with a 2-run single in the 7th. J.D. Davis, Jamie Ritchie, and Ramon Laureano all finished with 2 hits on the night.

Alex Winkelman went 3.2 innings and allowed 3 unearned runs on 5 hits, walked 1, and struck out 2. Akeem Bostick tagged in for 3.1 innings, allowing a run on 2 hits, walking 1, and striking out 1. Andrew Thome allowed 2 runs on 4 hits and struck out 1 in the 8th.

The Hooks are hoping that the second leg of their tour of Arkansas ends up a little better than the first leg. Charlie Morton joins Corpus as he continues his rehab, and he'll start the first of a 3-game set in Little Rock at 2:10 against Tyler Herb.

Buies Creek 7, Potomac 1

W- Sebastian Kessay (5-2)
L- Nolan Sanburn (3-2)

BC home runs: Eduardo de Oleo (4, solo in 2nd), Taylor Jones (1, 6 season; solo in 7th)

The Carolina Stros broke a 1-1 tie with two runs in the 6th and busted this game open with four more after the 7th inning stretch.

Hector Perez went 5.2 innings and allowed a run on 8 hits (7 singles and a double), walked 2, and struck out 9. Sebastian Kessay allowed 2 hits, walked 1, and struck out 2 over 2 scoreless, and Sean Stutzman retired the last 4 Nationals hitters of the game, striking out 2.

Eduardo de Oleo opened the scoring by launching a solo homer in the 2nd inning. Anibal Sierra walked to lead off the 6th and ended up scoring the go-ahead run on an error following a Myles Straw sac bunt. Straw, who made it all the way to 3rd, scored on a Yordan Alvarez double.

Taylor Jones kicked off the 7th with his first Carolina League homer. De Oleo and Randy César followed with a single and a walk, respectively. They advanced a base on a wild pitch. Sierra walked to load the bases for Straw, who hit an RBI single. Stephen Wrenn followed with an RBI single and Alvarez added a sac fly to his ledger. Alvarez (2B, 2 RBI) and de Oleo (solo HR, 2 R) both finished with 2 hits on the evening.

Jorge Alcala faces Grant Borne in game 3. First pitch is at 2:00 Eastern.

Quad Cities 5, Burlington 3

W- Abdiel Saldaña (4-1)
L- Andrew Vinson (5-7)

QC home runs: None.

It got a bit hairy in the 9th, but the Banditos secured the win to get even in their series with the Bees.

Abdiel Saldaña's first start of the season went well: he threw 7 innings and allowed a run on 5 hits, walked 1, and struck out 4. Devon Carr allowed a 2-run homer to John Schuneckt in the 9th, which was the only scoring play he allowed in 2 innings. Carr also allowed one other hit and struck out 2.

Quad Cities took the advantage with 3 runs in the 5th. Jonathan Arauz hit a one-out double and scored the first run of the frame on Ronnie Dawson's single. Carmen Benedetti followed with a single and Chuckie Robinson ripped a 2-run double. Robinson was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple to end the inning, but he did the damage. Arauz finished 2-4 and added an RBI single to his ledger in the 6th. An error on the play also allowed Marcos Almonte to score.

Quad Cities and Burlington continue their series at 2:00 as Cionel Perez takes on Jose Suarez.

Staten Island 3, Tri-City 0

W- Alexander Vargas (2-0)
L- Patrick Sandoval (0-1, 0-2 season)
S- Eduardo Rivera (1)

TC home runs: None.

There was only one half-inning in which runs were scored. It belonged to Staten Island.

Patrick Sandoval went 5 innings and allowed 3 runs, all of which came in the 2nd inning, on 6 hits, walked 1, and struck out a career-high 9. Parker Mushinski walked 1 and struck out 3 over 2 scoreless innings, and Hunter Martin struck out 2 in a 1-2-3 9th.

Tri-City was held to just 4 hits; J.J. Matijevic, Jake Adams, and Kristian Trompiz singled, and Abraham Toro had a double.

Game 2 of the series starts at 4:00 Eastern.

Greeneville and Kingsport was suspended

A 0-0 game was suspended due to rain. This game will resume at 4:00 Eastern.

The regularly scheduled game, a 7-inning affair, will start 30 minutes after the completion of the suspended game. Juan Robles will take on Garrison Bryant.

GCL Cardinals 2, GCL Astros 1

W- Winston Nicacio (1-1)
L- Maikel Sepulveda (0-1)
S- C.J. Saylor (1)

GCL home runs: None.

The Palm Beach Stros had more hits, but the Cardinals' two solo homers topped their one run.

Hector Martinez scored the GCLstros' only run of the day on a Jose Benjamin sac fly in the 9th. Carlos Machado finished 2-4 with a double in the 9th and was stranded there to end the game.

Tanner Duncan struck out 4 over 3 perfect innings. The one run that Maikel Sepulveda allowed came on a solo homer from Elehuris Montero in the 4th. Sepulveda went 4 innings and allowed 2 other hits and struck out 5. Juan Corniel struck out 1 and only allowed one hit in his 2 innings, which was a solo homer from Luis Flores in the 8th.

DSL Astros Blue 4, DSL Royals 0

W- Fredis Guerrero (2-0)
L- Wilmer Jimenez (1-2)
S- Nivaldo Rodriguez (1)

Blue home runs: None.

Fredis Guerrero and Nivaldo Rodriguez joined forces on a shutout. Guerrero allowed 2 hits and struck out 4 in 5 innings, and Rodriguez allowed 3 hits, walked 1, and struck out 1.

Angel Tejeda opened the scoring with an RBI single in the 1st inning. The Blue team got 2 in the 5th as Luis Coronel scored on a passed ball and Leonardo Gonzalez followed by scoring on a wild pitch with Nerio Rodriguez at the plate. Samir Caraballo hit a sac fly in the 7th.

DSL Pirates 12, DSL Astros Orange 3

W- Yerry De Los Santos (1-0)
L- Ronny Garcia (0-2)

Orange home runs: None.

The Pirates rattled off 12 unanswered runs after Team Orange scored 3 in the 2nd.

Euclides Chavez scored the first run of the day on an error in the 2nd inning; Jeury Castillo was credited with an RBI on the play. Sean Mendoza and Deury Carrasco followed with sac flies. Chavez went 2-4.

Elian Rodriguez made his pro debut and went 2.2 innings, allowing 2 runs on 2 hits (2-run homer), walking 4, and striking out 3. Crisofer Melendez allowed a hit and walked 1 over 2.1 innings. Ronny Garcia and Fredy Medina struggled and I'll leave it at that.

Saturday's Stars

All photos are from Jayne unless stated otherwise.

Fredis Guerrero, RHP, DSL Astros Blue: W (2-0), 5 IP, 2 H, 4 K
Nivaldo Rodriguez, RHP, DSL Astros Blue: Save (1), 4 IP, 3 H, BB, K