What the Heck, Bobby?: Astros Minor League Recaps

Results for Sunday, April 7, 2019

The Astros' Cubans and Colin McKee came through in the clutch in Sunday's action.

Round Rock 9, New Orleans 6 in 10 innings

W- Dean Deetz (1-0)
L- Tommy Eveld (0-1)

RR home runs: Jamie Ritchie (1, solo in 2nd), Taylor Jones (1, solo in 8th), Alex De Goti (1, solo in 9th), Yordan Alvarez (4, three-run in 10th)

The Express scored six runs in the last four innings to come out on top in a back-and-forth affair.

Cionel Pérez threw 4.1 innings and allowed four runs (three earned, two inherited runners charged to him) on five hits (solo homer), walked three, and struck out four. Kent Emanuel was the first man out of the Round Rock bullpen and allowed two runs (one earned) of his own on three hits, walked one, and struck out four. Reymin Guduan and Dean Deetz combined to throw three scoreless innings. Guduan allowed a hit, walked one, and struck out the side in the 8th. Deetz got the win with two scoreless, walking one and striking out three in the process. He got Jon Berti to hit into the game-ending double play in the first extra frame.

Jamie Ritchie put the Express on the board by leading off the 3rd inning with a home run. He scored another run on a single from Myles Straw in the 5th. Alex De Goti, who advanced to third following an error after Straw's base hit, scored on a Jack Mayfield sac fly. Straw scored on a single from Mayfield in the 7th; Mayfield ended up getting run down. Taylor Jones smacked a two-out solo homer in the 8th to cut the deficit to one run.

Drew Ferguson drew a walk to lead off the top of the 9th, but Ritchie grounded into a double play to put the Express on the brink. But, De Goti was able to come through when he sent a 1-0 pitch from Tommy Eveld out of the park to tie the game at 6.

Straw started the 10th in scoring position. Mayfield grounded out for the first out. Nick Tanielu worked a walk to bring up Yordan Alvarez, who promptly put Round Rock in the lead by launching his fourth home run in about 20 hours.

Ritchie and De Goti both finished 2-4 from the bottom of the order. Straw went 2-5, scored twice, and stole his second base of the season.

The Express and... Baby Cakes will wrap up their series with an 11:00 AM start as Rogelio Armenteros takes on Alex Meyer.

Corpus Christi 5, San Antonio 4

W- Colin McKee (1-0)
L- Andrés Muñoz (0-1)

CC home runs: Lorenzo Quintana (1, 3-run in 8th)

Thanks to Lorenzo Quintana's bat and a dominant relief outing from Colin McKee, the Hooks, who were doing business as the Raspas for this game, opened up their 2019 campaign with a victory in their first series.

Tyler Ivey shook off a solo homer in the 1st inning to turn in a solid season debut. In four innings, Ivey allowed four other hits, walked three, and struck out five. Kit Scheetz was the first man out of the Corpus bullpen and allowed three runs, all on a pair of homers. Scheetz also allowed a double to Hudson Potts. Colin McKee came on for the final three innings and locked things down by striking out a career-high eight in a perfect outing. Yes, eight of the nine outs McKee recorded came via the strikeout. He finished the game with seven straight strikeouts.

Chas McCormick scored Corpus Christi's first run of the afternoon when he scored on a Josh Rojas groundout in the bottom of the 1st. Chuckie Robinson hit a blooper that fell in for an RBI single in the 4th.

Rojas led off the 8th with a single and Abraham Toro reached on an error to start the rally, which was suddenly in jeopardy after Robinson popped out on the infield fly rule and a Carmen Benedetti strikeout. Lorenzo Quintana fought back at the plate to get a full count, and then on the next pitch, he put the Raspas in the lead with a three-run home run. Quintana finished 2-4 on the day, while Toro scored twice.

Corpus will hit the road this week. They'll start the week with three games in Frisco, where J.B. Bukauskas will make his 2019 debut tonight at 7:05.

Potomac 6, Fayetteville 2

W- Nick Raquet (1-0)
L- Chad Donato (0-1)

Fayetteville home runs: Scott Manea (2, solo in 1st)

Well, the Woodpeckers' first-ever series turned out to be a bit of a bummer as they ended up dropping the final three games after running roughshod on the P-Nats on Opening Night.

Scott Manea finished 2-4 and opened the scoring in the 1st inning with a solo blast, his second home run in as many days. Fayetteville loaded the bases in the 2nd but all they could get out of that situation was one run, which came when Bryan de la Cruz hit into a force out that allowed Jonathan Arauz to score.

Chad Donato would probably like a mulligan on his season debut; he allowed three runs on four hits and failed to get out of the 1st inning. Both of the outs he recorded came via strikeout. César Rosado was the first man out of the Woodpeckers bullpen and allowed two runs, walked five, and struck out one in 2.2 innings. Both of the runs that were charged to him were inherited runners who scored. Carlos Sanabria got the last two outs of the 4th, but not before Rosado's runners scored. In 1.2 innings, Sanabria allowed a run of his own on two hits and struck out two. In his season debut, Enoli Paredes allowed two hits, walked two, and struck out four in three innings of work.

The second leg of the Woodpeckers' season-opening 14-game roadtrip takes them to Frederick, Maryland, where they'll start a three-game set with the Keys at 7:00 Eastern. Peter Solomon will get the start for Fayetteville and he will be opposed by Cody Sedlock.

Burlington 5, Quad Cities 3

W- Ben Morrison (1-0)
L- Brett Conine (0-1)
S- Tyler Smith (1)

QC home runs: Scott Schreiber (1, 2-run in 4th)

The Bees scored four runs in the 5th to take the series and spoiled what had been an excellent outing for Brett Conine.

Scott Schreiber finished 2-4 and opened the scoring by whacking a two-run homer in the 4th inning. Enmanuel Valdez added an RBI single in the 7th.

Conine cruised through his first four innings, but sadly, the wheels fell off for him in the 5th as the Bees stung him for a pair of homers in the inning. The big blow was a three-run home run with two outs. In five innings, Conine allowed three other hits (in addition to the homers), walked one, and struck out nine. Matt Ruppenthal pitched the final three innings and the one run he allowed came on a solo homer from Francisco Del Valle. Ruppenthal allowed two other hits, walked one, and fanned five.

Quad Cities will start a four-game series against Clinton, now affiliated with the Marlins, at 6:30. Luis Garcia will face Manuel Rodríguez.

Sunday's Stars

All photos are from Jayne unless stated otherwise.