What the Heck, Bobby?: Astros Minor League Recaps

Results for Sunday, July 22, 2018

Let's play two on Staten Island!

Fresno 10, Albuquerque 4

W- Trent Thornton (7-7)
L- Brett Oberholtzer (4-9)

Fresno home runs: Jack Mayfield (9, solo in 2nd), Tyler White (14, solo in 7th)

The Grizzlies took two of three from the Isotopes after they were foiled in their bid to sweep a series that occurred seven weeks ago.

Trent Thornton allowed a run on a solo homer, four other hits, and struck out ten in five innings. Buddy Boshers was the first man out of the Fresno bullpen for the 6th but he failed to record an out; he allowed three runs (two inherited runners charged to him) on three hits. Ken Giles took ownership of the 6th and allowed a hit while striking out one. Reymin Guduan worked around a couple of hits to throw a scoreless 7th, striking out one. Dean Deetz pitched the final two innings and allowed two hits, walked one, and struck out two.

Jack Mayfield went 3-4 and opened the scoring with a solo homer in the 2nd inning. Garrett Stubbs added another run when Jake Marisnick grounded into a force out in the 3rd and then Fresno opened things up with four in the 4th, as they got RBI singles from Nick Tanielu and Myles Straw with a two-run double from Stubbs sandwiched in between. Tyler White smacked a solo homer in the 7th and finally, D.J. Fisher hit an RBI single in the 8th and White capped off the evening with a run-scoring groundout. Tanielu finished 3-5 and scored twice, while Stubbs finished 2-2.

Fresno has Monday off. They'll begin a series with the Iowa Cubs on Tuesday.

Midland 8, Corpus Christi 4

W- Joel Seddon (5-6)
L- Jorge Alcala (2-3, 3-7 season)
S- Kyle Finnegan (4)

CC home runs: Carmen Benedetti (4, 2-run in 7th)

The Hooks had to settle for the split as the Hounds teed off on Jorge Alcala and Ronel Blanco. Corpus manager Omar Lopez's day ended almost instantaneously as he got run for a dispute over whether Stephen Wrenn beat a double play in the 1st inning.

Akeem Bostick went five innings and allowed an unearned run on two hits, walked one, and struck out six. Alcala came on for the 6th but his time on the mound was short-lived; he got two outs in the inning, one via strikeout, but not before Midland got him for three runs on two hits. Alcala also issued three walks during his stint. Ronel Blanco got the last out of the 6th, but he too would have to bear the brunt of the Hounds' assault as he allowed four runs (three earned) on two hits. Blanco also walked three and struck out two. Erasmo Pinales was the only Corpus pitcher to turn in a scoreless outing; he worked around a couple of walks in the 8th to do so and struck out one.

Josh Rojas scored the first run of the day when he stole home in the 3rd as part of a double steal with Randy César. Carmen Benedetti launched a two-run homer in the 7th to cut the deficit to one run, but the Hooks couldn't get over the hump. Alex De Goti scored when Aníbal Sierra grounded into a force out in the 8th inning. De Goti finished 4-4 with a double and a stolen base (5). Rojas swiped two bases (17, 29 season). César and Benedetti both finished with two hits on the day.

Brandon Bielak will take the mound for the first of a three-game series in San Antonio. He'll take on Jacob Nix at 7:05.

Buies Creek 10, Down East 7

W- Abdiel Saldaña (8-1)
L- Jacob Lemoine (1-4)
S- Colin McKee (4)

BC home runs: Chuckie Robinson 2 (6; grand slam in 3rd, 3-run in 8th)

The Carolina Stros saw a 7-0 lead vanish... and still won.

Chuckie Robinson had a monster afternoon, but I'll get to him in a moment. Those seven runs all came in the 3rd inning.

Jonathan Arauz led things off with a double and he came around to score the first run of the day on a double from Jake Meyers. Meyers advanced to third on a wild pitch and after J.J. Matijevic drew a walk, Osvaldo Duarte brought Meyers in with a base hit. Matijevic scored on Ronnie Dawson's double and Jake Adams got a free pass to first to load the bases for Robinson, who sent everyone home with a grand slam. After the Wood Ducks fought back to tie the game, Robinson whacked a three-run home run in the 8th to put Buies Creek back in front. Robinson and Dawson both went 2-4 on the afternoon.

Patrick Sandoval went five innings and allowed two runs on two hits (solo homer), walked one, and struck out four. Abdiel Saldaña had a bit of a tough day as he allowed five runs on nine hits (three-run homer), walked one, and struck out four in three innings. Colin McKee worked around a hit and a walk to close it out, striking out two.

The Carolina Stros will look for the sweep at noon Eastern.

West Michigan 6, Quad Cities 4

W- Billy Lescher (2-0)
L- Tanner Duncan (2-3)
S- Will Vest (4)

QC home runs: Seth Beer (3, 7 season; solo in 3rd)

The Whitecaps scored in more innings than the Banditos did. Quad Cities failed to score in a bases loaded, no out situation in the bottom of the 1st.

Seth Beer put the Banditos on the board with a homer to start the 3rd inning. David Hensley followed by reaching on an error and eventually scored on a single from Colton Shaver. Alfredo Angarita and Ruben Castro both singled with one out in the 6th and they both ended up scoring; Miguelangel Sierra ripped a double to bring Angarita in and Castro scored on a sac fly from Logan Mattix. Shaver, Castro, and Sierra all finished with two hits on the evening.

Chad Donato allowed four runs on a pair of two-run home runs, two other hits, walked two, and struck out six in four innings. Tanner Duncan did not allow a hit in his 2.2 innings, but he had two runs charged to him after Willy Collado allowed a double. He walked four and struck out four. Collado allowed one other hit and struck out three in 2.1 innings.

Peter Solomon will go up against Wilkel Hernandez in the series finale. First pitch is at 1:15.

Game 1: Tri-City 10, Staten Island 1

W- Carlos Hiraldo (2-0, 3-0 season)
L- Shawn Semple (1-3)

TC home runs: None.

The ValleyCats scored in six of the seven innings as they disposed of the Pizza Rats in the first game of the twinbill: they scored one run in each of the first five frames and then put this game away with a five-run 6th.

Jeremy Peña returned to the lineup after a week off and led off the game with a single. He advanced to third on an Alex McKenna double and scored the first run of game one on an Austin Dennis sac fly that turned into an inning-ending double play. César Salazar ripped an RBI double in the 2nd. Peña singled to lead off the 3rd and scored on a base hit from Dennis. Michael Wielansky hit a sac fly in the 4th and Dennis stole third and scored on the errant throw down in the 5th. Things got a bit out of hand in the 6th.

Wielansky walked to lead things off and advanced to third when Peña hit into a botched force out attempt. McKenna was robbed of extra bases but Wielansky managed to score, so no harm done. Peña advanced to third on a wild pitch and then Enmanuel Valdez and Dennis walked to load the bases. Peña was thrown out at home on... a play, but Alex Holderbach walked to reload the bases for Carlos Machado, who came through with a two-run single. Ramiro Rodriguez walked to load the bases yet again for Salazar, who capped off the onslaught with a two-run single.

Salazar finished 3-4 in game one. Peña and Machado both had two hits and they both scored twice.

Nivaldo Rodriguez allowed a run on four hits and struck out one in four innings. Carlos Hiraldo allowed a hit, walked one, and struck out two over two scoreless, and Riley Cabral worked around a hit to throw a scoreless 7th.

Game two of the doubleheader was suspended in the top of the 2nd inning. The suspended game will be completed on Saturday in Troy, during the next ValleyCats/Yankees encounter.

Tri-City has Monday off. They'll start a three-game series with the Auburn Doubledays on Tuesday.

GCL Nationals 4, GCL Astros 3

W- Fray Perez (1-1)
L- Jose Bravo (0-3)

GCL home runs: None.

The Palm Beach Stros walked off with a loss on Sunday.

Fredy Medina allowed five hits, walked two, and struck out five over five shutout frames. Jose Bravo pitched 3.2 innings and allowed the Nationals' four runs on seven hits and struck out one.

Carlos Diaz went 2-5 and opened the scoring with an RBI bunt single in the 5th. Sean Mendoza drew a bases-loaded walk in the 7th and Freudis Nova hit a sac fly in the 8th. Freudis also finished with two stolen bases (5) on the afternoon.

Sunday's Stars

All photos are from Jayne unless stated otherwise.

Fredy Medina, RHP, GCL Astros: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 5 K