What the Heck, Bobby?: Astros Minor League Recaps

Results for Friday, August 4, 2017

Let's finish up one game and play another in the Gulf Coast League!

Iowa 5, Fresno 4

W- Aaron Brooks (6-9)
L- Mike Hauschild (5-2)
S- Dillon Maples (2)

Fresno home runs: J.D. Davis (5, 26 season; solo in 4th)

The Cubs took control with 4 runs in the 5th, and Fresno had almost no opportunities to tie or take the lead; they only had three baserunners in the last four innings.

Mike Hauschild went 6 innings and allowed 5 runs on 6 hits (solo homer), walked 2, and struck out 6. Jacob Dorris allowed a hit in a scoreless 7th and Brendan McCurry worked around a couple of hits to throw a scoreless 8th.

J.D. Davis, in his last minor league game for the foreseeable future, opened the scoring with an RBI single in the 1st and smacked a solo homer in the 4th inning. Fresno got two in the 5th as Drew Ferguson scored on an error following a Juan Centeno bunt single. Centeno ended up scoring on a Jon Kemmer groundout. Davis (solo HR, 2 RBI) and Tony Kemp (3B) had 2 hits apiece on the evening.

Rogelio Armenteros faces Rob Zastryzny in game 3. First pitch is at 7:08.

Corpus Christi 3, Frisco 2

W- Kevin Hill (1-0, 3-1 season)
L- Shane McCain (2-2)
S- Riley Ferrell (1, 3 season)

CC home runs: None.

Both teams scored in one inning apiece. The Hooks' scored more runs in the inning in which they scored, so they won. Sometimes baseball can be pretty simple to figure out.

All three Corpus runs came in the 7th as they were able to capitalize on a bases-loaded situation. Ryne Birk put the Hooks on the board with an RBI single and Rico Noel put them in front with a 2-run single. Garrett Stubbs finished 2-4 on the night.

Franklin Perez went 5 innings and allowed 2 runs (1 earned) on 7 hits and struck out 3. Kevin Hill threw 2.2 scoreless innings in his Texas League debut, allowing a hit, walking 1, and striking out 1. Riley Ferrell threw 1.1 innings for the save, striking out 3.

Alex Winkleman will take on a rehabbing Tyson Ross tonight. First pitch is at 7:05.

Carolina 9, Buies Creek 6

W- Jordan Yamamoto (5-3)
L- Cionel Perez (2-1, 6-4 season)
S- Nate Griep (21)

BC home runs: Alex De Goti 2 (4, 7 season; 2-run in 2nd, 2-run in 4th)

After both teams emerged tied at 6 following a frantic stretch between the 2nd-4th innings, the Mudcats managed to break the tie with runs in the 6th, 7th, and 9th.

Brett Adcock and Cionel Perez pitched 4 innings apiece. Adcock allowed 6 runs on 5 hits while striking out 5, and Perez allowed 2 runs (1 earned), a solo homer, walked 1, and struck out 4. Sean Stutzman allowed a solo homer and struck out 2 in the 9th.

Buies Creek scored their 3 runs in the 2nd with 2 outs in the inning. Randy César kept the inning going with a double and scored their first run on a Carmen Benedetti double. One batter later, Alex De Goti smacked his first 2-run homer of the game. Jake Rogers hit an RBI single in the 3rd, and De Goti launched his second 2-run homer of the night in the 4th inning. De Goti finished 3-3 to account for half of the Carolina Stros' hits; Benedetti scored on both of De Goti's blasts.

The series now shifts to Carolina for the last two games. Ryan Hartman goes up against Kodi Medeiros at 5:00 Eastern.

Quad Cities 11, Burlington 4

W- Yohan Ramirez (3-4)
L- Luis Madero (0-1)
S- Carlos Sanabria (1)

QC home runs: None.

The Banditos completed the sweep. They absolutely dominated the Bees in 2017, finishing up the season series with a 12-1 record. In this game, they were up 11-0 after the 7th inning.

Gabriel Valdez allowed a hit, walked 1, and struck out 1 in 2 scoreless innings. Yohan Ramirez was the first man out of the Quad Cities bullpen and walked 3 while striking out 4 over 4 scoreless. Carlos Sanabria pitched the last 3 innings and allowed 4 runs on 4 hits, walked 1, and struck out 5.

The Banditos scored their first two runs on sac flies: Troy Sieber opened the scoring with one in the 1st and Ray Henderson hit another in the 2nd inning. They got a pair in the 5th on a Ronnie Dawson RBI double and a Chuckie Robinson RBI single.

Quad Cities turned this one into a laugher with 5 in the 6th inning. Luis Payano and Dawson hit RBI singles, and then a wild pitch allowed Payano to score. Abraham Toro ripped a 2-run double. Chas McCormick capped off the onslaught with a 2-run triple in the 7th.

Dawson (2B, 2 RBI, 3 R, SB), Toro (2B, 2 RBI), Payano (RBI, 2 R), and Josh Rojas (R) all finished with 2 hits on the night.

The River Bandits welcome Beloit to Modern Woodmen park for a 4-game series this weekend. Ronel Blanco will take on Matt Milburn in the opener, which starts at 6:35.

Tri-City 4, Brooklyn 2

W- Ben Smith (4-2)
L- Jose Carlos Medina (1-4)
S- Brandon Bielak (1)

TC home runs: Jake Adams (8, solo in 6th)

The ValleyCats got a strong performance from their bullpen as they took this series from the Cyclones.

Corbin Martin hit his first speed bump of sorts; he went 3 innings and allowed 2 runs on 3 hits (solo homer) and struck out 5. Ben Smith walked 1 and struck out 1 over 2 scoreless, and Brandon Bielak pitched the last 4 innings, allowing 2 hits and fanning 5.

Bryan De La Cruz and Jake Adams scored two runs apiece. De La Cruz scored the first run of the evening on a Colton Shaver groundout in the 1st. Adams doubled to start the 2nd and scored on a single from Andy Piñeda. Adams, who went 2-3, whacked a solo homer in the 6th. De La Cruz finished 3-4 on the night; he doubled with two outs in the 7th and scored the final run of the evening on a Jonathan Arauz single. Arauz went 2-5 in this one.

Tri-City will start a 3-game series with the Aberdeen Ironbirds tonight at 7:00 Eastern.

Danville 6, Greeneville 3

W- Dilmer Mejia (2-3)
L- Gerardo Bojorquez (3-2)

Greeneville home runs: None.

The Appy Astros dropped this series by the same scoreline: 6-3.

Greeneville scored a pair in the 5th on errors; Wilson Amador came home after a blunder following a Gilberto Celestino single and Cody Bohanek scored on an errant pickoff throw. Ruben Castro had an RBI single in the 6th. Celestino went 2-5 with a triple to extend his hitting streak to 7 games; this was his third straight 2-hit game.

Gerardo Bojorquez threw 5 innings and allowed 4 runs on 7 hits, walked 2, and struck out 3. Jheyson Caraballo allowed 2 runs on a homer, 4 other hits, walked 1, and fanned 3 in 3 innings, and Dariel Aquino struck out 1 in a 1-2-3 9th.

Hansel Paulino takes the mound as the Appy Astros look to avoid the sweep. He'll face Jasseel De La Cruz at 6:00 Eastern.

From July 30: GCL Astros 11, GCL Nationals 1

W- Maikel Sepulveda (3-3)
L- Jhonatan German (0-2)

GCL home runs: Orlando Marquez (1, solo in 8th), Juan Piñeda (1, 2 season; solo in 9th), Ronny Rafael (1, 4 season; 2-run in 9th)

This game was suspended due to rain with the Astros up 1-0 heading into the 2nd. After play resumed, it was all GCLstros.

Juan Piñeda scored the first run of the game back on Sunday on a Carlos Machado groundout. Machado scored the first run after the restart on an Angel Tejeda sac fly in the 4th inning. Wander Franco ripped an RBI double in the 7th and scored on a Hector Martinez single. Orlando Marquez smacked a homer to start the 8th. Piñeda launched one to start the 9th, and that's when the floodgates opened. Franco scored on a wild pitch, Machado scored on a balk, and Tejeda scored on another wild pitch. Ronny Rafael capped off the day with a 2-run blast.

J.B. Bukauskas came back on to pitch 3 more innings to complete his pro debut. He went 4 innings and allowed 3 hits, walked 1, and struck out 3. Austin Kerns worked around 3 hits to throw a scoreless 5th, striking out 1. Maikel Sepulveda pitched the last 4 innings and allowed a run on 3 hits and walked 2.

GCL Astros 1, GCL Nationals 0

W- Chad Donato (2-1)
L- Malvin Peña (0-2)
S- Saul Martinez (1)

GCL home runs: None.

The Palm Beach Stros only had 2 hits, but they scored the only run of the regularly scheduled contest.

Chad Donato allowed 7 hits, walked 1, and struck out 5 in 5 innings of work. Saul Martinez completed the shutout by allowing a hit and striking out 2 in the final 2 innings.

Enmanuel Valdez drew a bases-loaded walk to bring in the only run of this game. Carlos Machado and Jonathan Matute both singled.

DSL Astros Blue 5, DSL Royals 2

W- Renny Ugarte (1-0)
L- Braulio Nuñez (0-1)
S- Christopher Javier (2)

Blue home runs: Anthony Rodriguez (2, solo in 8th)

Renny Ugarte allowed 3 hits and struck out 2 over 5 shutout innings. Oscar Severino was the first man out of the Blue team bullpen and allowed 2 runs on 2 hits, walked 2, and struck out 1 in 3 innings. Christopher Javier worked around a couple of walks in the 9th to finish the game.

Kendy Moya scored the first run of the day on a passed ball in the 3rd inning. Anthony Rodriguez added an RBI single later in the inning. In the 6th, Rodriguez scored on a sac fly from Brandon Benavente and Wilyer Abreu scored on another passed ball. Rodriguez, who finished 3-4, capped off the day with a solo homer in the 8th.

DSL Pirates 6, DSL Astros Orange 5

W- Kleiner Machado (2-1)
L- Christian Mejias (1-2)

Orange home runs: None.

Team Orange scored 3 in the 7th to take the lead... and the Pirates responded by scoring 3 in the top of the 8th to re-take the lead.

The Orange team went 8-8 in stolen base attempts in this game, with Fildex Perfecto (6) and Deury Carrasco (19) stealing 2 apiece. Perfecto stole home for the second time this year in the 2nd inning. Jose Carrillo hit into a fielder's choice that scored Marco Van Der Wijst in the 6th inning. Sean Mendoza singled to lead off the 7th, stole 2nd (15), and scored on a Gerry Castillo double. Castillo advanced to 3rd on an errant pickoff throw and scored on Freudis Nova's single. Nova stole 2nd (8) and scored on Carrillo's RBI single. Jose Alvarez (4) and Renaigel Martis (6) also stole a base for Team Orange. Mendoza and Perfecto finished with 2 hits apiece.

Jose Alberto Rivera went 4 innings and allowed an unearned run on 2 hits, walked 1, and struck out 3. Ronny Garcia struck out 1 in a 1-2-3 5th. Christian Mejias was next, and he allowed 5 runs (4 earned) on 4 hits, walked 3, and struck out 2 in 2.2 innings. Cristofer Melendez walked 2 in 1.1 scoreless innings of work.

Friday's Stars

All photos are from Jayne unless stated otherwise.

Chad Donato, RHP, GCL Astros: W (2-1), 5 IP, 7 H, BB, 5 K
Saul Martinez, RHP, GCL Astros: Save (1), 2 IP, H, 2 K

Anthony Rodriguez, IF, DSL Astros Blue: 3-4, 2B, solo HR (2), 2 RBI, 2 R
Renny Ugarte, LHP, DSL Astros Blue: W (1-0), 5 IP, 3 H, 2 K