What the Heck, Bobby?: Astros Minor League Recaps

Results for Sunday, August 25, 2019

Let's play two in Troy!

Sorry for the lack of content lately, I was under the weather for most of the second half of last week. Football is also starting, but I've never been less excited for a Texans season until now.

New Orleans 2, Round Rock 1

W- Joe Gunkel (7-2)
L- Brendan McCurry (3-4)
S- Brett Graves (5)

RR home runs: Lorenzo Quintana (17, solo in 5th)

The E-Train was derailed in their bid to sweep this series. This game marked the final meeting between Round Rock and the New Orleans franchise, which will relocate to Wichita, Kansas, next year.

Lorenzo Quintana led off the 5th with a homer and that was Round Rock's only scoring play of the day.

New level? No problem. Cristian Javier did what he's done all season as he allowed two hits, walked two, and struck out eight over six shutout innings in his Triple-A debut. Josh James allowed a run on two hits and struck out one in the 7th and Brendan McCurry allowed a run on four hits and fanned three in the final two innings.

The Express will now kick off a crucial four-game series against San Antonio... who happens to be trailing them by one game in the PCL's American Southern division. José Urquidy will start game one and he'll take on Shelby Miller at 7:05.

Tulsa 6, Corpus Christi 2

W- Josiah Gray (3-2)
L- Chad Donato (5-12)

CC home runs: None.

The Drillers got three in the opening inning to send the Hooks to a loss in their final road game of 2019.

Chad Donato and Brett Conine both pitched four innings. They both allowed five hits... but their results differed just a bit. Donato allowed six runs (five earned, one inherited runner charged to him) on five hits (solo homer), walked three, and struck out four. Conine got the last four innings (Donato failed to record an out in the 5th) and technically turned in a scoreless outing but one of the runners that he inherited from Donato scored. Conine also walked one and struck out two.

Bryan de la Cruz drove in both of the Hooks' runs; he hit an RBI single in the 4th and added a sac fly in the 6th. J.J. Matijevic went 3-4 with a double and scored on de la Cruz's base hit; he also stole a couple of bases, giving him seven on the year.

Corpus finishes off 2019 with an eight-game homestand. First up, four with the Arkansas Travelers. Brandon Bailey takes on Justin Dunn at 6:15.

Fayetteville 9, Frederick 7

W- Cionel Pérez (3-1)
L- Reed Hayes (1-3)

Fayetteville home runs: None.

Things escalated late as the Keys scored a touchdown and got the extra point in the 7th. The Woodpeckers would respond with two more field goals in the bottom of the 8th to retake control.

Parker Mushinski turned in a bare minimum quality start (6 IP, 3 ER), allowing four hits and striking out six. One of the runs that got charged to Mushinski was an inherited runner that scored. Humberto Castellanos allowed four runs (one earned) of his own on four hits, walked one, and struck out one after he took ownership of the 7th. Cionel Pérez allowed two hits and struck out one over the final two innings to get the victory.

Fayetteville opened the scoring in the 1st with a couple of RBI singles from Chandler Taylor and David Hensley and they got another run in the 2nd thanks to Jeremy Peña's RBI single. This was the Woodpeckers' last scoring play until they went off in the 8th.

Michael Papierski singled to lead off the 8th and Scott Manea joined him on the bases after getting plunked. Miguelangel Sierra struck out, but Scott Schreiber kicked things off by ripping an RBI double. Peña walked to load the bases for Cal Stevenson, who reached on an error that allowed Manea to score. Ross Adolph got plunked to bring Schreiber in and then Taylor sent everyone home with a double to restore Fayetteville's lead. Hensley finished 3-5 on the night while Taylor and Peña had two hits apiece.

The Woodpeckers will start their final road series of 2019 at 7:00 Eastern as they take on the Carolina Mudcats.

Kane County 8, Quad Cities 2

W- Adrian Del Moral (3-3)
L- Matt Ruppenthal (5-7)

QC home runs: None.

After winning 8-2 on Saturday, the Banditos found themselves on the wrong end of that score on Sunday.

A.J. Lee drove in both Quad Cities runs with a groundout in the 5th and a double in the 7th.

Matt Ruppenthal threw four innings and allowed six runs on four hits (three-run homer), walked three, and struck out six. Joey Gonzalez was the first man out of the Quad Cities bullpen and he allowed a run on two hits, walked one, and struck out two. Jacob Billingsley pitched the final two innings of this game and Kane County got an unearned run off of him thanks to an error in the 9th. Billingsley also hit three batters and struck out three.

R.J. Freure gets the start in game three and he'll face Luis Frias at 6:35.

Game 1: Staten Island 2, Tri-City 0

W- Alfredo Garcia (2-1)
L- Jairo Lopez (3-3)
S- Justin Wilson (2)

TC home runs: None.

The ValleyCats were held off the board in the first game of the twinbill.

Deury Carrasco went 2-2 with a double and Korey Lee's double was Tri-City's only other hit in game one.

Jairo Lopez pitched four innings and allowed a run on three hits, walked four, and struck out eight. Peyton Plumlee was the first man out of the Tri-City bullpen and allowed an RBI double, walked two, and struck out three in two innings. Shea Barry struck out two in a 1-2-3 7th.

Game 2: Tri-City 6, Staten Island 5

W- Michael Horrell (2-0)
L- Derek Craft (1-1)

TC home runs: Nate Perry 2 (11; 3-run in 3rd, solo in 6th)

The ValleyCats earned the split by walking off with the win in game two.

Nate Perry's breakout year continued as he bashed a couple of homers. He opened the scoring with a three-run blast in the 3rd and he launched a solo homer in the 6th. Preston Pavlica led off the bottom of the 7th with a single, advanced to second on a passed ball, and scored the tying run on a single from E.P. Reese. Juan Paulino followed with a single and advanced to second on defensive indifference. Luis Guerrero went down on strikes for the first out and then Perry got a free pass to first to load the bases for Korey Lee, who sent everyone home happy with a walk-off RBI single. Perry went 3-3 in game two, while Reese finished 2-3 with a double.

Christian Mejías allowed two runs, both of which were inherited runners that were charged to him, on two hits, walked three, and struck out eight in four innings of work. Yeremi Ceballos allowed a three-run homer that resulted in Mejías' two runs, two runs (one inherited runner charged to him, one run was charged to him on the homer), walked one, and struck out four in two innings. Michael Horrell allowed a run of his own on two hits and struck out one in the 7th; one of the runs was charged to Ceballos.

Hunter Brown will start game three of this series. First pitch is at 7:00 Eastern.

GCL Mets 8, GCL Astros 2

W- Zachary Hammer (2-1)
L- Francis Martes (0-1)

GCL home runs: None.

The Mets jumped out to a 6-0 lead and won rather handily despite the Palm Beach 'Stros getting ten hits.

Abraham Castillo hit an RBI single in the 5th and an error on the play allowed Rolando Espinosa to score another run. Castillo, Sean Mendoza, and Yorbin Ceuta all finished with two hits on the day.

Francis Martes allowed two runs (one inherited runner charged to him) on two hits, walked two, and struck out five in 1.2 innings. Fredy Medina walked two in 1.1 scoreless innings, although he did allow one of Martes' runners to score. Elián Rodriguez got the 4th but got roughed up, allowing four runs on two hits, walking three, and striking out two. Alex Palmer got the last out of the 4th and he wound up going 3.1 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on two hits and striking out six. Kevin Dickey struck out one in a 1-2-3 8th.

Sunday's Stars

All photos are from Jayne unless stated otherwise.

Alex Palmer, RHP, GCL Astros: 3.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R (1 ER), 6 K