Astros Minor League Recaps

Results for July 29-30, 2018

Sunday: Let's play two in Troy!
Monday: Let's play two in the Dominican Republic!

Sunday games first.

Fresno

Both teams scored in extra innings on Saturday, but in the end, Omaha emerged with a 5-4 victory in 11 innings.

Jamie Ritchie opened the scoring with a pop-up that dropped in for an RBI single in the 2nd inning. Tony Nuñez led off the 3rd with a triple and scored on a sac fly from Jake Marisnick. Ritchie hit a leadoff double in the 5th and Nuñez brought him in with a base hit. Myles Straw led off the 10th in scoring position and scored on a single from D.J. Fisher.

Ritchie went 3-5 on the night and Nuñez finished 2-4. Straw also stole a base, which gives him 19 with Fresno and 54 on the season.

Trent Thornton went seven innings and allowed three runs on six hits (two-run homer), walked one, and struck out seven. Dean Deetz allowed two hits and struck out the side in the 8th. Brendan McCurry got three innings and allowed two unearned runs (leadoff runner scored both times) on two hits and struck out two.

The Grizz earned the split with a 5-3 win on Monday.

Josh James went 6.1 innings and allowed three runs on four hits, walked three, and struck out eight. Buddy Boshers was the first man out of the Fresno bullpen and struck out two over 1.2 perfect innings and Riley Ferrell worked around a couple of hits in the 9th to close it out, striking out one.

Tony Nuñez opened the scoring with a two-run single in the 2nd inning. A.J. Reed ripped an RBI double in the 3rd and scored on a two-run homer from Yordan Alvarez. Taylor Jones and Jamie Ritchie both finished with two hits on the evening.

The Grizzlies have Tuesday off as they'll be traveling to Nashville.

Corpus Christi

After dropping the first two games of their four-game series with Midland, the Hooks battled back to earn the split with a 4-2 win on Sunday.

Hector Perez, in what turned out to be his final appearance as a member of the Houston Astros organization, went five innings and allowed two runs on three hits, walked two, and struck out six. Brett Adcock finished it off by not allowing a hit in the final four innings; he walked four and struck out one.

All four of Corpus Christi's runs on Sunday came in the 6th, right after the Hounds had gotten on the board with a pair in the 5th. Aníbal Sierra ripped a one-out double and then Carmen Benedetti put the Hooks on the board with a two-run homer, his 6th of the season. Stephen Wrenn followed with a double. Randy César went down on strikes for the second out of the inning, but Josh Rojas came through by bringing Wrenn in with a double. Rojas wound up scoring the final run of the night on a wild pitch and an errant throw at third. Benedetti and Wrenn both finished 2-4; Wrenn's two hits were both doubles.

Framber Valdez enjoyed a career night on Monday as the Hooks opened up a series with San Antonio with a 3-0 win.

Framber allowed two hits and struck out a career-high 12 over 7.2 shutout innings. He made way for Justin Ferrell, who wrapped things up by getting the last four outs of the evening; two came via the strikeout.

Rojas opened the scoring with an RBI single in the 1st. César, who advanced to third on the hit, wound up stealing home. César finished 3-4 and capped off the evening with an RBI single in the 8th inning. Abraham Toro went 2-3.

Game two of this series features a couple of Texas arms as Corbin Martin (Cy Ranch/Texas A&M) takes on Chris Paddack (Cedar Park). First pitch is at 7:05.

Buies Creek

The Carolina Stros lost 7-2 in the finale of their three-game series with the Wilmington Blue Rocks.

J.J. Matijevic finished 2-3 and drove in both Buies Creek runs with singles in the 1st and the 3rd. Jake Meyers finished 2-4 with a double and scored on Matijevic's RBI single in the 1st.

Abdiel Saldaña went four innings and allowed four runs (two earned) on four hits, walked two, and struck out three. Carlos Sanabria allowed a hit, walked one, and struck out two in a scoreless 5th inning. Carson LaRue pitched the final three innings and allowed three runs on six hits, walked one, and struck out three.

Buies Creek had Monday off. They'll start a three-game series in Lynchburg at 6:00 Eastern.

Quad Cities

The Banditos knocked off Cedar Rapids 6-0 on Sunday despite issuing ten walks. On the flip side, they held Cedar Rapids to two hits and most importantly, zero runs.

Parker Mushinski and Luis Garcia didn't have their best stuff or their sharpest command, but they both threw four scoreless innings. Mushinski allowed a hit, walked six, and struck out three, while Garcia allowed the other hit, walked four, and struck out one. Tanner Duncan completed the shutout with a 1-2-3 9th, striking out one.

Quad Cities got out to a quick start on Sunday with four runs out of the gate. Marty Costes and Seth Beer led off the game with singles and they both scored on a Colton Shaver... triple. Yes, Colton Shaver with the two-run triple. Shaver trotted home on an Alfredo Angarita double and Ruben Castro brought Angarita in with a single. Angarita tripled to lead off the 6th and Castro brought him in with a sac fly. Shaver hit a leadoff single in the 8th and scored the final run of the day on a single from Miguelangel Sierra. Shaver finished 3-4; Angarita, Castro, and Sierra all had two hits on Sunday.

Unfortunately, the Kernels turned the tables as the series shifted back to the Quad Cities as they pummeled the Banditos 8-0. Quad Cities only had one hit in this game and David Hensley broke up the no-hit bid with a single with two outs in the 9th inning. Chandler Taylor was the only other player in the lineup to reach base; he did so by walking on four pitches in the 5th.

César Rosado got roughed up as he failed to make it out of the 2nd inning. He allowed five runs on five htis (three-run homer), walked four, and struck out one in 1.2 innings. Brendan Feldmann was the first man out of the bullpen; he threw 3.1 innings and allowed three runs on two hits (two-run homer), walked three, and struck out three. Humberto Castellanos allowed four hits, walked one, and struck out five over three scoreless innings, and Willy Collado threw a 1-2-3 9th, getting a groundout and two flyball outs.

Quad Cities and Cedar Rapids will conclude their series at 6:35.

Tri-City

The ValleyCats split a Sunday doubleheader with Staten Island; they lost 2-0 in game one and walked off with a 2-1 victory in eight innings.

Austin Dennis, Luis Encarnación, and Trey Dawson singled in the first game.

Alex House allowed an unearned run on a groundout, a single, and struck out two in two innings. Brett Daniels went four innings and struck out five; the one hit he allowed was a solo homer. Riley Cabral worked around a couple of walks to throw a scoreless 9th, striking out two.

Tri-City won game two via shrimp. That's a walk-off walk.

Michael Wielansky doubled to start the third and scored the first run of game two on a single from Jeremy Peña. Enmanuel Valdez came on for Oscar Campos to begin the 8th. He advanced to third on a bunt single from Peña. Ramiro Rodriguez and Andy Piñeda went down on strikes, but Dennis got a free pass to first to bring up Encarnación, who walked Valdez in to win the game. Peña finished 2-4.

Nivaldo Rodriguez allowed a run on five hits, walked one, and struck out four in 5.2 innings and Tim Hardy struck out three over 2.1 perfect innings.

The ValleyCats broke a 3-3 tie with three runs in the 8th to come away with a 6-4 win in their series opener with Brooklyn on Monday.

Carlos Hiraldo allowed three runs on seven hits, walked one, and struck out six in 4.2 innings. Mark Moclair was the first man out of the Tri-City bullpen and didn't allow a hit in his 2.2 innings, but he had a run that was charged to him after J.P. France allowed a double. Moclair also walked three and struck out five. The double was the only hit that France allowed in 1.2 innings; he also walked one and struck out two.

Both teams scored a run in the 1st; the ValleyCats got theirs on a solo homer from Alex McKenna, his third of the season. Alex Holderbach doubled with one out in the 2nd and scored on Jeremy Peña's base hit. Holderbach led off the 4th with a homer, his second blast of the year.

Andy Piñeda got the 8th-inning rally started with a one-out single. Holderbach reached on a fielder's choice and César Salazar put Tri-City in the lead with a two-run double; an error on the play allowed him to move to third. Peña brought Salazar in with a single. Holderbach, Peña, and Enmanuel Valdez all finished with two hits; Holderbach also scored three times.

The ValleyCats and Cyclones will play again at 11:30 AM Eastern.

DSL Astros

The Academy swept a doubleheader with the Braves on Monday, winning 12-3 and 4-3.

They busted game one open with four runs apiece in the 3rd and the 4th.

In the first game, Enmanuel Morillo and Jose Alvarez both finished 3-3 and scored three runs; Morillo smacked a two-run homer in the 3rd, the first of his pro career. Abraham Castillo went 4-4 with a double and drove in two with a single in the 4th.

Meanwhile in game two, Fabricio Reina and Franny Cobos turned in hitless outings. Reina walked one and struck out four in three innings, while Cobos struck out two over two perfect innings of work.

There, we're all caught up.