What the Heck, Bobby?: Astros Minor League Recaps

Results for Wednesday, July 4, 2018

The Astros' affiliates did battle with the A's affiliates down in the lower levels of the farm on this Fourth of July. How did they fare?

Fresno 5, Las Vegas 0

W- Mike Hauschild (7-6)
L- Drew Gagnon (1-4)

Fresno home runs: Taylor Jones (2, 14 season; 2-run in 8th)

Mike Hauschild was excellent as the Grizzlies kept their opponents off the board for the second straight night.

Hauschild allowed four hits, walked two, and struck out seven over eight shutout frames and Kent Emanuel worked around a walk to complete the shutout, striking out one.

Garrett Stubbs tripled with one out in the 3rd and scored on a Nick Tanielu single. J.D. Davis drove in another run with a base hit in the 5th. Tanielu reached on an error with one out in the 7th and scored on a triple from Myles Straw and Taylor Jones capped off the evening with a two-run homer in the 8th inning. Tucker, Tanielu, and Jon Kemmer all finished with two hits in the contest.

Trent Thornton will take on Kevin McGowan in game two of this series. First pitch is at 7:05 Pacific.

Arkansas 5, Corpus Christi 2

W- Nathan Bannister (5-5)
L- Jorge Alcala (1-4, 2-6 season)
S- Matt Festa (11)

CC home runs: None.

The Hooks scored twice in the 8th to cut the deficit to one run, but the Travs scored twice in the 9th to seal the deal.

Chas McCormick walked to start the 8th and scored Corpus Christi's first run on a Randy César groundout. Stephen Wrenn finished 2-4 and added an RBI single later in the inning.

Jorge Alcala went 4.2 innings and allowed two runs (one inherited runner charged to him) on seven hits, walked three, and struck out four. Kit Scheetz got the last out of the 5th, but before he did so, he allowed a hit and issued a walk. Akeem Bostick threw the last four innings and allowed three runs on four hits (two-run homer), walked two, and struck out four.

Forrest Whitley will try to get himself back on track in game two of this series. He'll face Johendi Jiminian at 7:05.

Buies Creek 4, Myrtle Beach 3

W- Gabriel Valdez (4-3)
L- Casey Bloomquist (2-2)

BC home runs: None.

The Carolina Stros stunned the Pelicans with a run in the 8th and three more in the 9th to walk off with the victory.

Carson LaRue pitched well but was on the verge of having to take the loss. Fortunately, the offense got him out of dodge. LaRue went seven innings and allowed two runs on six hits, walked one, and struck out one. Gabriel Valdez allowed a run on a groundout, walked one, and struck out two in two innings.

Jake Meyers and Corey Julks got on with one-out base hits. Meyers got to third when Abraham Toro flew out and scored on a single from Ronnie Dawson. The real fun started in the 9th, when Buies Creek loaded the bases before they made an out.

Osvaldo Duarte walked and moved to third on a Bryan de la Cruz single. Chuckie Robinson drew a walk to load the bases and Orlando Marquez walked Duarte in. Jonathan Arauz grounded into a force out but the bases remained loaded for Meyers, who tied the game with a sac fly. Julks won it with a base hit. He and Meyers finished with two hits apiece.

Buies Creek and Myrtle Beach continues their series at 6:00 Eastern.

Beloit 6, Quad Cities 5

W- Jared Poché (4-6)
L- Humberto Castellanos (1-1)
S- Jesús Zambrano (3)

QC home runs: Jonathan Lacroix (2, 3-run in 1st)

The Banditos got off to a quick start, but the Snappers hit back for five runs in the 7th to take control.

All four Quad Cities runs in the opening inning came with two outs. Miguelangel Sierra kept the 1st inning alive with a triple and scored the first run of the evening on a single from Colton Shaver. Marty Costes got plunked, and one batter later, Jonathan Lacroix whacked a home run. After the Snappers went off in the top of the 7th, Seth Beer managed to get a run back with an RBI single in the bottom half. Beer went 2-3.

Enoli Paredes allowed a run on two hits, walked one, and struck out five in six innings of work. Humberto Castellanos got knocked around in the 7th... I'll leave it at that. Tanner Duncan allowed a hit, walked one, and struck out one over 2.1 scoreless innings.

This series now shifts to Quad Cities for the final two games. First pitch is at 6:35.

Vermont 6, Tri-City 1

W- Slater Lee (2-1)
L- Luis de Paula (0-3)

TC home runs: Gilberto Celestino (1, solo in 4th)

The Lake Monsters went nuts in the 9th in order to break a 1-1 tie.

Gilberto Celestino smacked a homer to lead off the 4th which accounted for the lone Tri-City run and was also the ValleyCats' only extra-base hit of the game. Celestino also stole a base, his 9th of the year.

J.B. Bukauskas walked one and struck out one over two scoreless innings as he tries to get back to speed. Austin Hansen also threw two scoreless innings; he allowed a hit, walked two, and struck out three. Cody Deason worked around a walk to throw a scoreless 5th. Hansel Paulino threw three innings and the one hit he allowed was a homer that tied the game at 1. Paulino struck out four. Luis de Paula bore the brunt of the Lake Monsters' assault in the 9th and I don't think there's any need for me to elaborate any further.

Game five (well, game two in Tri-City) of this series starts at 7:00 Eastern.

GCL Astros 3, GCL Cardinals 1

W- Layne Henderson (1-0)
L- Perry DellaValle (0-1)
S- Jervic Chavez (1)

GCL home runs: None.

The Palm Beach Stros went 4-19 with runners in scoring position and had 13 hits. They had plenty of traffic but could only manage to push three runs across. However, they also held the Cardinals to one run on the afternoon.

Nerio Rodriguez ripped a double to start the 2nd inning and scored the first run of the day on a single from Andrés Santana. Deury Carrasco also doubled to lead off an inning; he smacked a ground-rule double to start the 3rd and scored on a single from Freudis Nova, who tripled to start the 9th and scored on a base hit from Nerio. Nova, Nerio, and Juan Ramirez had three hits on the afternoon, while Hector Martinez finished 2-5 with a double and a stolen base (2).

Miguel Figueroa and Layne Henderson started it off with three scoreless innings apiece. Figueroa struck out two in a perfect outing while Henderson allowed two hits and struck out four. Christian Mejias allowed a hit and struck out three in two scoreless innings, and the Cardinals spoiled the shutout with a run off a groundout against Jervic Chavez in the 9th. Chavez allowed a single, walked one, and struck out one.

DSL Astros 3, DSL Dodgers Robinson 1

W- Flaer Gonzalez (1-1)
L- Juan Gonzalez (1-2)
S- Valente Bellozo (1)

DSL home runs: None.

A big hit early set the tone for the Dominican Stros.

Junior Marte opened the scoring with a two-run double in the 2nd, although he got thrown out at third to end the inning. Franklin Pinto hit a two-out double in the 3rd and scored on a single from Carlos Hurtado. Marte finished 2-3 on the afternoon.

Fabricio Reina went three innings and allowed an unearned run on two hits, walked four, and struck out two. Flaer Gonzalez tagged in to throw two scoreless, allowing a hit, walking one, and striking out one. Valente Bellozo pitched the final four innings to earn the save, allowing a hit, walking two, and striking out four.

Wednesday's Stars

All photos are from Jayne unless stated otherwise.

Valente Bellozo, RHP, DSL Astros: Save (1), 4 IP, H, 2 BB, 4 K

GCL Astros pitchers - W 3-1 @ GCL Cardinals: 9 IP, 4 H, ER, BB, 10 K
Miguel Figueroa: 3 IP, 2 K; perfect outing
Layne Henderson: 3 IP, 2 H, 4 K
Christian Mejias: 2 IP, H, 3 K
Jervic Chavez: IP, H, ER, BB, K