Astros Farm Report: 7-12

Checking in on a former bonus baby, but first things first ...

WISHING A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO

7-12: LHP Tony Sipp (33)
7-14: LHP Salvador Montano (22)
7-15: LHP Carlos Hiraldo (20)
7-15: OF Ramon Laureano (22)
7-16: IF Keach Ballard (24)
7-16: IF Reiny Beltre (20)
7-18: IF/OF Marc Wik (24)

Ramon Laureano - June 2016

Photo by Jayne Hansen

STANDINGS

Since we last checked in on the standings, Fresno has gone 5-2, has surpassed the Reno Aces (Diamondbacks) to take second place in the division and now lags behind the first place Tacoma Rainiers (Mariners) by only two and a half games. There are no wild cards and no first half qualifiers in the Pacific Coast League so they will have to take the division outright from the Rainiers in order to advance to the playoffs.

The Hooks are 4-4 in their last eight and are now three games behind Midland (Oakland) in the second half. However, Midland lags behind Corpus Christi in the overall season standings by 11 games and the Hooks are assured of a playoff berth regardless of what happens in the second half by virtue of winning the first half.

Lancaster is 6-2 since we last looked and has taken sole possession of first place in the second half. There is currently a three-way tie for second place among High Desert (Rangers), Lake Elsinore (Padres) and Rancho Cucamonga (Dodgers) who are only two games in back of Lancaster. This will be a fun second half race to follow!

Quad Cities is 5-3 in their last eight games and is now in a three-way tie for second place in the second half, along with Beloit (A's) and Wisconsin (Brewers). First place Clinton (Mariners) leads the pack by four games.

The ValleyCats have gone 5-2 in their last seven games and are now only two games behind division-leading Connecticut (Tigers) and one game behind the second place Lowell Spinners (Red Sox). They are currently tied for third place in the division with Vermont (A's) and are on a four-game win streak.

Greeneville is 4-4 in their last eight and trail division leaders Johnson City (Cardinals) by three and a half games and second place Bristol by only half a game. That's the good news. The bad news is that the remaining two teams in the division only trail Greeneville by a half game each so it's a very tight race.

The Gulf Coast League Astros have gone .500 in their last six games and trail the front running Nationals and Mets by two and a half games. Only three games separate all five teams in the division.

The DSL Blue team has been treading water, going 4-4 in their last 8 games and are now three and a half games behind the DSL Red Sox 1 team. The DSL Orange Astros has struggled over the last week and are 1-6 in their last seven. They are tied with the Rangers 2 team and trail the Red Sox 2 team by seven and a half games, but only trail the second place Phillies 2 team by one game.

AAA Fresno 2nd 46-42 .523 2.5GB W2

AA Corpus Christi 1st 57-31 .648 0.0GB W1 (Overall)
2nd half: 2nd 10-8 .556 3.0GB W1
(Clinched playoff berth by winning first half)

A+ Lancaster 3rd 46-42 .523 6.5GB W2 (Overall)
2nd half: 1st 12-7 .632 0.0GB W2

A- Quad Cities 6th 41-47 .466 11.5GB W1 (Overall)
2nd half: T2nd 10-9 .526 4.0GB W1

SSA Tri-City T3rd 13-11 .542 2.0GB W4

Rk+ Greeneville 3rd 8-11 .421 3.5GB W2

Rk- GCL 4th 7-9 .438 2.5GB L1

FRk DSL Blue 2nd 23-9 .719 3.5GB L1

FRk DSL Orange T3rd 15-16 .484 7.5GB L1

RANDOM FORMER ASTROS MINOR LEAGUER UPDATE

Ariel Ovando signed with the Astros for 2.6 million in 2010 as an outfielder. He hit .237/.287/.289 for Tri-City in his final season in the Astros organization. In December of 2014, Ovando was claimed in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft by the Cubs and the left-hander was converted to a pitcher. In 15 appearances for the Cubs rookie level Arizona League team, Ovando had a 0.43 and a 0.952 WHIP in 21 innings. Ovando was subsequently claimed from the Cubs by the Angels in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft in December 2015. In his second season as a pitcher, he has not fared quite as well as his first, compiling a 6.43 ERA and a 2.000 WHIP in seven outings (7IP) for the rookie level Orem Owlz. However, that ERA and WHIP are inflated by one particularly rough outing and Ovando has a 1.50 ERA and 1.667 WHIP in the remaining six outings. He will be 23 in September.

Happy Birthday - 9/15

Happy Birthday to ~

RHP Murilo Gouvea (26)
Obtained in a 2009 trade with the White Sox for future considerations, the Brazilian-born Gouvea was a workhorse out of the Lexington bullpen in 2012. In 50 appearances, he was 2-7 with a 3.71 ERA and a 1.171 WHIP. He went on to pitch successfully for Team Brazil in the World Baseball Classic during the 2012/2013 off-season, but ended up on the DL to start 2013 and has now missed two seasons. The last I heard was that he was a member of Team Rehab in Kissimmee.

OF Ariel Ovando (21)
Signed by the Astros out of the Dominican Republic as a NDFA in 2010 (for a ginormous $2.6 million dollar signing bonus), Ovando played his 2014 season on the Tri-City team, hitting .237/.287/.289 in 58 games.

RHP Jason Stoffel (26)
Originally drafted by the Giants in the fourth round in 2009, Stoffel was obtained (along with Henry Sosa) in the Jeff Keppinger trade in July 2011. Stoffel pitched the entire season for Oklahoma City with a 5-4 record, 11 saves, a 3.20 ERA and a 1.485 WHIP in 54 appearances (and led the Astros system in number of appearances). He walked 28 batters (six intentional walks) while striking out 68 in 64.3 innings pitched.

Happy Birthday - 9/15

Happy Birthday to ~

RHP Murilo Gouvea (25)
Obtained in a 2009 trade with the White Sox for future considerations, the Brazilian-born Gouvea was a workhorse out of the Lexington bullpen in 2012. In 50 appearances, he was 2-7 with a 3.71 ERA and a 1.171 WHIP. He went on to pitch successfully for Team Brazil in the World Baseball Classic during the 2012/2013 off-season, but ended up starting and finishing the 2013 season on the DL.

OF Ariel Ovando (20)
Signed by the Astros out of the Dominican Republic as a NDFA in 2010 (for a ginormous $2.6 million dollar signing bonus), Ovando started the 2013 season at Quad Cities (.172/.250/.219 in 49 games) before being sent back to Greeneville for his third season there. In 51 games at Greeneville, he hit .216/.310/.333 with eight doubles, four home runs and 21 RBI.

RHP Jason Stoffel (25)
Originally drafted by the Giants in the fourth round in 2009, Stoffel was obtained (along with Henry Sosa) in the Jeff Keppinger trade in July 2011. Stoffel started the season with Corpus Christi (in seven games, he had a 1.23 ERA and a 1.227 WHIP) before being promoted to Oklahoma City. In 44 appearances with the RedHawks, he was 8-1 with a 3.47 ERA and a 1.267 WHIP.

Foto Friday - Greeneville Astros Edition

I haven't had a chance to finish transcribing my interviews from last weekend in Greeneville yet so let me share a few of my favorite photos from the trip in the interim. More photos from my visit can be found here (but be forewarned that I haven't finished weeding through them yet and I haven't even started labeling them). Photos from previous trips can be found here. And if you're really, really bored, here are a few vacation photos from my trip to Vermont.

Cristian Moronta

Ryan Connolly

Gonzalo Sanudo

Juan Santana and Parker Hipp

Jandel Gustave 

 

Ariel Ovando and Company

Juan Santana

Photos by Jayne Hansen

 All Rights Reserved*

*The players featured in these photos are hereby granted permission to use these photos for personal use. All other uses require permission and acknowledgment.

Eyewitness Report: 8/4/13 G-Stros 17, K-Mets 1

It only counts as one win in the standings but it was a solid statement.  Greeneville stretched its two game lead to three with an all around dominate performance.  Here are the highlights:

The night got off to a good night when Little Appy and I got our Jose Altuve give away t-shirts when we walked in the gate.

On The Mound
When a team scores 17 runs in a game, it can be tempting to overlook the pitching but that would be a mistake.  Jordan Mills started the game for the G-Stros and pitched five solid innings facing just one batter over the minimum. His line read: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K.

Unofficially, I had him at 58 pitches with 43 of them for strikes!  Of the seven strikeouts, five were swinging and two were looking.  The two hits were both doubles.  One was a ball that bounded over third baseman Tyler White down the left field line.  The other was another ball down the left field line.   

Austin Chrismon relieved Mills and pitched the next three innings.  The first pitch he delivered was deposited over the wall for a solo HR.  After that, he settled down allowing just one more hit.  He struck out three and walked one.  He threw several very nice curves on the night.

Tyler Brunnemann finished off the game with a rather eventful ninth.  After striking out the first batter, he walked the next batter on four pitches.  He the gave up a double down the right field line that luckily went under the gate for a ground rule double. Otherwise it is a run scoring triple.  He walked the next batter on a full count pitch to load the bases before getting a visit from the pitching coach.  The very next pitch went for a 4-6-3 double play to wrap up the game.

At The Plate

15 hits. 6 BB. 1 HBP and 1 reached on a drop third strike. That is 23 base runners on the night and 17 scored.   The team was 7-10 with runners in scoring position.  Every Astro who played scored a run.  Even Angle Ibanez who struck out in his only at bat.  He reached when the third strike got by the catcher and he reached first safely.  It was just one of those nights.

Marc Wik went 4 for 5 with three singles and a bases clearing stand up triple to the gap in right center. Wik scored three runs on the night to lead the team. 

Tyler White was 2 for 4 with a two run homer before leaving the game in the seventh.

Chase McDonald went 3 for 4 - all singles - plus a walk.  The one time he got out required a nice play by the shortstop.  McDonald hit the ball toward left field.  The SS dove to his right and threw from his knees to nab McDonald or he perfect night.

Juan Santana only had one hit but it was a big hit.  A three run HR to left field.  He also had a sac fly to plate the final run of the game.

Ariel Ovando went 2 for 4 on the night and led the team with five RBI.  He had three run HR to RF that got out in a hurry.  He latter had a hustle double on a ball hit in shallow center.  He rounded first and realized that both the shortstop and the second baseman had gone out to try to catch the ball and 2nd was unattended.  He cruised in for a stand up double on a ball that was just out of the reach of the second baseman.  He later walked in the game with the bases loaded for his final RBI of the night.

Brian Holberton was 2 for 4 with both of his hits coming in the seven run third inning.  He lead off the inning with a single to left and then added a double down the right field line later in the inning.  He added a walk in the ninth. 

The game was out of hand in the ninth but the K-Mets couldn't get the Astros out so they resorted to bringing in their closer who got a double play ball with the bases loaded to put an end to the massacre.

In The Field

Tyler White made several nice plays at third.  He made a leaping grab of a line drive and a nice play ranging to his left in the third.  He added another good play to his left in the fourth.  He also applied a tag to catch a runner attempting stealing third in the first.   The runner was out by two feet thanks to a great throw by Brian Holberton.

The other play I have circled in my score book as a 3-6-1 double play to end the seventh.  First baseman McDonald fielded the ball moving to his right.  He made the throw to the SS Thomas Lindauer who threw back to pitcher Austin Chrismon covering first.  Just like you work on in in PFPs.

The one error of the night was charged to Lindauer on a ball that was hit up the middle.  He got to the ball in time but couldn't field it cleanly to make the throw.  It would have been a very nice play had he pulled it off. He made a similar play later in the game. 

Roster Moves

Since I've been travelling, it's been a few days since I've checked the transactions. Here's what I found over the last few days:

OKLAHOMA CITY
Rudy Owens placed on the 7-day DL, but effectively he is out for the season after having foot surgery yesterday

CORPUS CHRISTI
Domingo Santana activated from the DL
Austin Wates placed on the 7-day DL

LANCASTER
Tyson Perez activated from the Temporary Inactive list
Aaron West placed on the 7-day DL retroactive to 4/26

QUAD CITIES
*Colton Cain assigned from Extended Spring Training to Quad Cities
*Ariel Ovando assigned from Quad Cities to Extended Spring Training

*Note - There have been several phantom moves at Quad Cities as of late so don't read too much into these assignments back and forth to/from Extended Spring Training. The only real move so far appears to be the move from last week that sent Chase Davidson back to Extended Spring Training and brought Miles Hamblin from Extended to Quad Cities.

Funky Foto Friday

I've been playing over the last few days with a site called BeFunky that lets you apply all kinds of different effects to photos. Here are a few of my favorites. Enjoy!

Roberto Peña

Ariel Ovando

Marc Wik

Jose Altuve

 

Folty and Company

 

Kiké Hernandez

Jon Singleton

Greeneville Astros - August 2012

Over the last couple of weeks, I've attempted to cull through and organize hundreds of photos I took at the various minor league venues during the 2012 season. Here are a few you may enjoy. I have also uploaded photos to Flickr. You can find my Greeneville photos from August 2012 here. Unfortunately, I haven't tagged the photos yet, but hope to do so at some point during the off-season. I promise I will try to upload and post pictures in a more timely manner in the coming season!

Ariel Ovando

Adrian Houser

Marc Wik

Angel Ibanez

Richard Rodriguez

Photos by Jayne Hansen

 All Rights Reserved*

*The players and coaches featured in these photos are hereby granted permission to use these photos for personal uses. All other uses require permission and acknowledgment. 

Happy Birthday - 9/15

RHP Murilo Gouvea (24)
Obtained in a 2009 trade with the White Sox for future considerations, the Brazilian-born Gouvea was a workhorse out of the Lexington bullpen in 2012. In 50 appearances, he was 2-7 with a 3.71 ERA and a 1.171 WHIP.

OF Ariel Ovando (19)
Signed by the Astros out of the Dominican Republic as a NDFA in 2010 (for a ginormous $2.6 million dollar signing bonus), Ovando spent his second season with the Greeneville Astros in the Appy League, repeating the level. Having seen him in August, I can tell you he is still very raw, but his bat certainly started getting hot this year as he compiled a .287/.350/.444 line with 13 doubles, two triples and six home runs in 59 games.

RHP Jason Stoffel (24)
Originally drafted by the Giants in the fourth Round in 2009, Stoffel was obtained (along with Henry Sosa) in the Jeff Keppinger trade in July 2011. Stoffel spent the 2012 season in Corpus Christi. In 58 appearances, he was 2-1 with a 2.33 ERA, a 0.983 WHIP and a league-leading 27 saves. In his last nine appearances during the regular season, he allowed ZERO runs (earned or unearned) with a WHIP of 0.321.

Greeneville Astros Season Recap

Earlier this week, I took a look at the DSL Astros season (not so good) and the GCL Astros season (not so bad). Now let's look at the Greeneville Astros, the first of the three with a win percentage over .500 and a positive run differential. Here's a quick look at how the 2011 and 2012 teams compare.

2011 Win Percentage - .368
2012 Win Percentage - .529

2011 Runs Scored - Runs Allowed = Run Differential - 326 - 419 = (93)
2012 Runs Scored - Runs Allowed = Run Differential - 339 - 297 = 42

2011 Team ERA & WHIP - 5.12 & 1.487
2012 Team ERA & WHIP - 3.80 & 1.301

2011 Team Batting Line - .252/.330/.365
2012 Team Batting Line - .262/.328/.379

The differences are dramatic with an 11-game swing in the win column and a 135 run swing in the run differential. The biggest difference, statistically, is the pitching with this year's team ranking third in the Appy League in ERA (out of 10 teams) and fourth in WHIP while last year's team was ranked ninth out of ten in both of those categories. There is definitely improvement in batting categories as well, though, as the 2012 club's BA/OBP/SLG rank third, fifth and fifth respectively as compared to the eighth, seventh and tenth rankings of last year's club.

As far as individual players go, there are several standouts.

IF Jean Batista did so well at Greeneville, hitting .321/.345/.531, that he merited a mid-August promotion to Tri-City where he is currently hitting .302/.295/.372 over ten games. Batista ranked fourth in BA and second in SLG in the Appy League, and was also second in doubles and tied for tenth in hits despite not finishing the season with Greeneville. The 20-year old switch-hitter has played about half of his games at 1B with the remainder split between 2B and SS.

2B Brian Blasik, team MVP, finished the season with a .318/.346/.424 batting line, fifth in the league in BA and RBI and tied for third in hits. The 22-year old Blasik was signed as a non-drafted free agent this year.

RF Ariel Ovando won't be 19 until September 15th which makes his .287/.350/.444 batting line even more impressive. He was in the top three or four on the team in virtually every offensive category except for stolen bases. Unfortunately, he led the team in strikeouts as well.

CF D'Andre Toney was fifth in the Appy League in runs scored and was tied for sixth in stolen bases, and he led the Greeneville team in those two categories as well as in walks. The 20-year old Toney had a .252/.351/.326 batting line.

SS Carlos Correa only played in 11 games at Greeneville, but the 17-year old did quite nicely as he hit .371/.450/.600 with three doubles, a triple and a home run. His 11 doubles with the GCL tied him for 13th in the Gulf Coast League, despite having not played there since early August. His final combined line was .258/.305/.400 with 14 doubles, two triples, three home runs and six stolen bases.

18-year old 3B Rio Ruiz didn't make the adjustment from the GCL to Greeneville as well as Correa did. He hit .271/.361/.412 in 23 games with the GCL and .220/.291/.380 in 15 games at Greeneville.

RHP Daniel Minor was an absolute standout with Greeneville, leading the league in ERA (2.75) and WHIP (1.034). The 21-year old had a SO/BB ratio of 4.80.

20-year old RHP Francis Ramirez led the team in wins and was tied for third in the league in that category. He was team leader and fifth in the league in strikeouts. His 10.0 SO/9 was good. His 4.9 BB/9 was not.

19-year old RHP Adrian Houser was 12th in the league in ERA (4.19), ninth in the league in WHIP (1.310) and was tied for tenth in the league in strikeouts.

RHP Lance McCullers was under strict pitch/innings limits so we didn't see that much out of the 18-year old top prospect. He made four starts with the GCL (11 total innings) with a 1.64 ERA, 1.091 WHIP and 9.8 SO/9. He also made four starts with Greeneville (15 total innings) with a 4.80 ERA, 1.333 WHIP and 10.2 SO/9.

RHP Jordan Jankowski, at 23-years old, was one of the greybeards on the team, but he dominated. His 14.8 SO/9 easily led the team. He compiled 53 strikeouts in 32.1 innings, only six fewer than the team leader who needed 21 additional innings to get that extra six. Jankowski also led the team in appearances.

22-year olds RHP Mike Hauschild and LHP Scott Zuloaga (prior to his promotion to Tri-City) both had successful seasons in the bullpen at Greeneville as well. Hauschild had a 1.78 ERA, 1.022 WHIP, and 11.6 SO/9 in 19 appearances. Zuloaga had a 2.13 ERA, 1.105 WHIP and 11.4 SO/9 in 10 appearances; he has not allowed a run in seven appearances with Tri-City and has a very modest 0.800 WHIP.

No more season recaps until more seasons are over starting next week. I'm hoping a few of the remaining five teams can keep us waiting a while as they pursue Championships!

Minor League Recaps

Monday's Games

DSL Indians over DSL Astros 15-1
Five Astros pitchers combined in this mess with Rayderson Chevalier getting charged with the loss and Geronimo Franzua being the only Astros pitcher to emerge unscathed. The Astros were held to four hits with Hector Roa getting two of them. Luis Reynoso had the only extra base hit, a double.

GCL Astros over GCL Cardinals 4-3
Kyle Hallock got his third rehab start, stretching it out to two innings this go around and allowing one run on two hits. Raul Rivera gave up another two runs in his four innings of work before the relief crew in the guise of Gera Sanchez and Erick Gonzalez (S, 10) came in to pitch a very effective final three innings. Edwin Gomez was two-for-three with a double and a solo home run. Juan Santana was two-for-five with a double and an RBI. Darwin Rivera also doubled.

Greeneville over Elizabethton 6-5
Starter Frederick Tiburcio allowed four runs on seven hits over four innings and struck out six. He was followed by Christian Garcia who was charged with one run and was awarded the win thanks to solid relief from Mike Hauschild and Jordan Jankowski (S,3). This game was always close as the two teams traded runs, and a wild pitch allowing Ariel Ovando to score what proved to be the wining run turned out to be the difference maker at the end of the night. And it was the Ariel Ovando show as he hit two home runs, walked twice, drove in three and scored three. Terrell Joyce also had a very nice night at the plate, going two-for-four with two doubles.

Staten Island over Tri-City 8-7 in 11 innings
Six pitchers combined for Tri-City in this one. Brady Rodgers got the start, giving up three runs on five hits in five innings. Jamaine Cotton got the first blown save of the night as he allowed three runs in his one inning of work before giving way to Travis Ballew and Scott Zuloaga for scoreless relief. Blake Ford then got the second blown save of the game as he gave up one run in the eighth and John Neely was charged with the loss, allowing one run in two and two-thirds innings. Preston Tucker was the offensive star of this one as he went three-for-five with a double, a home run, three RBI and three runs scored. Dan Gulbransen was three-for-six with two RBI; and Austin "Catfish" Elkins, Joe Sclafani and Ryan Dineen each had two hits.

Greensboro over Lexington 5-1
Starter Chris Devenski gave up two runs on seven hits in five and a third innings which proved to be one run too many as Lexington was held to one hit and one run for the night. Evan Grills added on another three runs before giving way to Gabriel Garcia who allowed no hits and one walk in his relief outing. Brandon Meredith got the only Lexington hit in the second inning, but the Legends wouldn't score until the ninth when they scored one on a double play thanks to a hit batter, walk and fielding error.

Lancaster over Rancho Cucamonga 14-11
The score sounds much closer than the game actually was as Lancaster took a commanding lead early driving three Rancho Cucamonga pitchers out of the game and scoring all 14 runs by the time the fourth inning was over. Tyson Perez got his ninth win, despite allowing five runs on eight hits over seven innings, as he was gifted with 14 runs in support of his start. Then things got a little dicey as Brad Dydalewicz gave up a three-run home run in the eighth, Zach Grimmett loaded up the bases in the ninth and was followed by Jose Trinidad who gave up a three-run double. Kenny Long then followed to get a quick double play to end things. The pitching might have been a bit questionable at times last night but the offense was anything but. Delino DeShields broke the Astros minor league single season stolen base record with two steals in the second inning; Telvin Nash hit his 26th home run; and Jio Mier hit his third home run. Everyone in the line-up got at least one hit but a few were overachievers.

Delino DeShields - 2x4 2B 2RBI BB SO 2R
Jio Mier - 2x4 2B HR 4RBI 2R
Andrew Aplin - 3x4 2B RBI BB 2R
Telvin Nash - 2x5 HR 3RBI 2SO R
Jonathan Meyer - 2x4 BB SO 2R
Grant Hogue - 2x5 3B 3RBI 2SO 2R

Corpus Christi over Springfield 2-1 in 13 innings
There was good pitching from both teams in this one. Asher Wojciechowski allowed one run on five hits over six and two-thirds innings and Kevin Chapman, Jake Buchanan, Erick Abreu (W, 9-4) and Jason Stoffel (S, 24) combined to allow only one additional hit over the next six and two-thirds innings. The Hooks were held to five hits with two of them being a home run from Jonathan Singleton and Jay Fernandez's solo homer in the thirteenth inning.

Round Rock over Oklahoma City 2-1
Brett Oberholtzer allowed two runs on ten hits with seven strikeouts over seven and two-thirds innings and was pegged with the tough luck loss as his team couldn't provide him with run support. Mike Hessman did his part as he went two-for-four with two doubles. Jimmy Paredes was also two-for-four with one double.

Players of the Day: I've got to give this one to Delino DeShields for breaking the stolen base record, but I also have to acknowlege Ariel Ovando's two home run, three RBI night.

Pitchers of the Day: I'm going with the whole Corpus Christi crew for a tightly pitched match.

Minor League Results

Saturday’s Results

DSL Athletics 0 DSL Astros 4

This game was called in the 7^th due to rain but not before Rayderson Chevalier got a chance to go to work on the opponents.  Through 5 innings Chevalier only allowed 2 hits and struck out 8 batters. Chevalier moves to 2-1 on the season with this win.  True to form, the DSL Astros collected just 5 hits Saturday.  The difference Saturday was that the Astros took advantage of a walk and a throwing error in the 1^st inning and used good old-fashioned small ball in the 3^rd inning.

GCL Astros 4 GCL Nationals 3

The GCL Astros took the lead in the 1^st inning and never lost it Saturday.  The bats were hot for the Astros; every starter got a hit except for Juan Santana.  4 guys had multi hit games.   Yonathan Mejia and Brett Phillips both went 3 for 3 with a walk apiece. Wallace Gonzalez got in on the action too. Although he only went 1 for 4, his “1” was a home run in the 4^th inning.  That was Gonzalez’s 1^st career homer.  Reymin Guduan got the win Saturday after coming on in the 5^th for 2 and 2 thirds.  Guduan (1-1) didn’t allow any runs on 4 hits, struck out 3 and walked 2. Erick Gonzalez picked up his 7^th save after coming on allowing a run on 2 hits and issuing 2 walks.

Kingsport Mets 4 Greeneville Astros 13

This game was just a good, old-fashioned trouncing.  Greeneville was up by 10 runs before Kingsport even scored on Saturday. The Astros had 18 hits and 5 of those were homers.  Ariel Ovando tied for the biggest night with the stick, going 3 for 4 with 4 RBIs, a walk and a pair of 2-run homers.  Those were Ovando’s first 2 long balls this season.  With Ovando, was Jean Batista who hit 3 for 5 with a pair of RBIs; all 3 of his hits were doubles.  Adrian Houser (2-2) got the win after 5 and 2 thirds innings of work.  Houser allowed a couple runs on 4 hits, walked 2 and K-ed 7.  Scott Zuloaga took the mound for the final frame and had a strong showing, sending the final 3 batters down in order, striking out 1.

Some of the offensive highlights:

Jean Batista- 3X5 2R 3-2B 2RBI

Brian Blasik- 3X5 RBI

Ernesto Genoves- 3X5 3R HR RBI

Terrell Joyce- 2X5 2R HR RBI SO

Michael Martinez- 3X5 R HR 2RBI

Ariel Ovando- 3X4 4R 2HR 4RBI BB SO

Vermont Lake Monsters 3 Tri-City ValleyCats 7

Tri-City had control of this game almost the entire time.  The ValleyCats fell behind a run in the top of the 1^st but were up by 1 by the inning’s end and never looked back.  Dan Gulbransen had a good night at the dish, clubbing 2 of 4 with a homer and 2 RBI.  The ValleyCats were wearing down the base paths Saturday, with 4 stolen bases in the game.  Brian Holmes (3-1) had a great start and picked up the win Saturday after 7 innings of work.  Holmes gave up a run on 4 hits and struck out 8 batters. 

Lexington Legends 7 Greenville Drive 5
Lexington provided enough runs for Mike Foltynewicz to work comfortably Saturday and improve his record on the season to 11-2. Foltynewicz allowed 4 runs on 6 hits over 6 innings pitched and struck out 5.  By the time Foltynewicz allowed the 4th run, the Legends had 5 runs thanks to a 5 run 2^nd inning.  Delino DeShields went 3 for 5 with a double, a RBI and a run scored.  Brandon Meredith picked up his 9^th HR of the season with a 1-run solo-shot in the 8th.  Murillo Gouvea picked up his 2^nd save after allowing a run and striking 1 batter out.

Lancaster JetHawks 4 Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 2

The JetHawks utilized the long ball to get ahead in the first inning Saturday and it worked.  In the 1^st inning, Erik Castro hit a 2 run knock and Telvin Nash hit a solo shot and that was all the lead the JetHawks needed.  Tyson Perez (7-2) picked up the win after tossing the first 6 innings, allowing 2 runs (1ER) on 4 hits, walking 1 and striking out 2. Carlos Quevedo picked up his second save of the season after coming on in the 8^th and retiring the 6 batters he faced in a row, striking out 1. 

 
Frisco RoughRiders 0 Corpus Christi Hooks 3
Saturday, all in attendance at Whataburger Field witnessed the Jarred Cosart show.  Cosart (5-5) went 7 and 2 thirds scoreless, striking out 4, walking 3 and giving up just 3 hits.  Kevin Chapman preserved the shutout after coming on next and collected his first save.  Chapman didn't allow any hits or walks and retired all 4 batters he saw in order.  The bats weren't particularly hot for Corpus Christi Saturday, but they took advantage of a couple of errors to score their first 2 runs. Jake Goebbert and Rene Garcia both went 2 for 3 at the dish.
 
Oklahoma City RedHawks 2 Memphis Redbirds 6
Oklahoma City pitcher Sergio Perez gave up a run in the 1^st inning and a grand slam in the second inning. The RedHawks never recovered.  Perez picked up the loss moving him to 2-2 on the season after 3 innings of work.  Aneury Rodriguez clocked in for the next 3 frames and kept them scoreless, giving up just 2 hits with a single K.  All was not lost however; Jimmy Paredes finished the game a triple short of hitting for the cycle.  Paredes was 3 for 5 on the day.  Travis Buck batted 3 for 4 with 2 doubles and a RBI.
 
Player of the Day: I’m giving the honor to Ariel Ovando and Jean Batsista of Greeneville.  Ovando clubbed 2 2-run taters and Batista collected 3 doubles.  That’s award worthy any day.

Pitcher of the Day:  Jarred Cosart gets the honor today after shutting out Frisco for almost 8 innings.  Rayderson Chevalier gets a nod for doing the same thing in 5 innings in the DSL and for striking out 8 batters in the process.

   

Minor League Schedule and Recaps

FRIDAY'S GAMES

In the interest of saving time now that there are eight teams to recap, I will start simply posting a link with the day's schedule. There are only so many hours in the day! Click on the link above to see the schedule.
Well, that didn't work. Let's try this.

DSL Cardinals	DSL Astros	9:30 am
GCL Nationals	GCL Astros	11:00 am
Greeneville	Kingsport	6:00 pm	Lee, Christopher (0-0, -.--)
Tri-City	Connecticut	6:05 pm
Lexington	West Virginia	6:05 pm	Ordosgoitti, Luis (1-1, 4.38)	Rowland, Robby (2-1, 3.12)
Corpus Christi	Frisco	7:00 pm	Doran, Bobby (0-0, -.--)	Loux, Barret (11-0, 3.03)
Oklahoma City	Nashville	7:05 pm	Oberholtzer, Brett (0-1, 6.75)	Peralta, Wily (2-8, 5.96)
Lancaster	Lake Elsinore	9:05 pm	De Leon, Jorge (1-5, 7.80)	Smith, Burch (5-4, 3.95)

Match-up to watch - Bobby Doran will make his Corpus debut against the very tough Barrett Loux (11-0) at Frisco.

THURSDAY'S RECAPS

DSL Astros at DSL Cardinals Postponed

GCL Marlins over GCL Astros 4-0
The hard-throwing lefty Reymin Guduan got the start giving up three runs on four hits and three walks and was charged with his first loss. He was followed by none other than Jandel Gustave who won my award for being the wildest pitcher in the Astros organization last season as he had 21 wild pitches and five hit batsmen in only 19.1 innings of work. Imagine my pride as he only had one wild pitch and one hit batter (and only gave up one run) in three innings of work! Andrew Walter gave up one hit in the final two. The offense won't take long. Yonathan Mejia and Javaris Reynolds each got a single. Other than four walks, that's pretty much it.

Tri-City over Vermont 5-3
Brian Holmes got the start followed by Tommy Shirley who got the win. John Neely made things a little interesting as he gave up two runs in the eighth to bring Vermont within two, but Blake Ford kept the door shut in the ninth and was rewarded with his first save. Tri-City got on the board in the second and never gave up the lead. Chase Davidson broke his hitting drought from the prior two games by going three-for-four with a double and an RBI. Jobduan Morales got his first stolen base of the season and Andrew Aplin and Justin Gominsky each had an outfield assist.

West Virginia over Lexington 9-4
Luis Cruz (L, 5-4) got touched for five runs (four earned) in his 5.1 innings of work and Gabriel Garcia allowed four in his inning. Lexington's early lead disappeared never to be seen again. Roberto Pena has slowly and quietly gotten his batting average up to .247, having hit .303 over the last ten (which is very welcome news). Jordan Scott and Matt Duffy each had two hits. Delino DeShields stole his 46th bag of the season (stolen bases for Brandon Meredith and Chan Moon as well). And Meredith hit his second home run of the season.

San Antonio over Corpus Christi 5-3 in 11 innings
Corpus Christi is going to desperately need their All-Star break next week after having participated in four extra inning games in their last five outings. Jose Cisnero allowed three runs on five hits and three walks. Josh Zeid and Alex Sogard kept the game close to give Corpus a chance, but the Hooks couldn't find the extra inning magic this time. Erick Abreu struck out the side in the tenth inning, but the 11th was his undoing as he gave up a walk and a walk off home run. Andy Simunic was three-for-five and Kody Hinze was two-for-four with an RBI.

Nashville over Oklahoma City 2-1
Armando Galaragga only pitched one scoreless inning before giving way to Aneury Rodriguez (L, 2-7) for five innings in which he gave up two runs to get charged with the loss. Chris Hicks pitched two innings and gave up only one hit to keep the Redhawks close, but they couldn't get a run across past the first inning. Fernando Martinez was two-for-two with an RBI in his first rehab outing.

Lake Elsinore over Lancaster 14-1
This one was a heartbreaker, not for Lancaster so much, but for me personally. It is painful for me to see a player struggle. I saw an extremely talented, fearless pitcher with a slider that made hitters look silly back in April in Lexington. He rarely walked anyone and wasn't afraid to pitch to contact. That pitcher, Jason Chowning, lost something on the way to Lancaster. He didn't lose his stuff. He lost his confidence. He tweeted something last night about being afraid of failure. You can't pitch scared, but that's what he's doing. And that is a very sad thing for me to see. Now back to the recap.

Lancaster only managed four hits against Lake Elsinore so even with solid pitching, this would have been a tough game to win, but the pitching was hardly that. Tyson Perez (four runs), Jason Chowning (six runs) and Brad Dydalewicz (four runs) just weren't able to find the key to the Lake Elsinore batters. Brian Streilein pitched a clean final frame but the damage was long done by then. Ben Heath was three-for-three and scored the sole Lancaster run via the long ball, and Rafy Valenzuela was one-for-three with a walk and a stolen base. That was the sum total of the Lancaster offense. This was truly a night to forget.

GAME OF THE DAY

Greeneville over Johnson City 10-3
For the second day in a row, Greeneville made Johnson City look silly. Francis Ramirez pitched a strong five innings in his first start for the win and the bullpen kept things well under control. About that offense. Wow. When Jean Batista's five-for-six outing isn't the best outing of the night, you know something is working well for you. Ariel Ovando and Jimmy Howick both had four hits and three RBIs and Ovando was just a home run shy of the cycle. When all was said and done, Greeneville had 19 hits, but almost better than that was the fact that there were no errors.

What went right: Ten runs, 19 hits and no errors with solid pitching.

What went wrong: Not enough to even mention.

Francis Ramirez - 5IP 3H 2R 1BB 2SO
Zachary Hardoin - 2IP 1H 1R 0BB 2SO 1HR
Christian Garcia - 1IP 3H 0R 0BB 1SO
Michael Dimock - 1IP 0H 0R 1BB 1SO

Jean Batista - 5x6 RBI R
Brian Blasik - 2x6 RBI 2R
Ariel Ovando - 4x5 2-2B 3B 3RBI SO 3R
Jimmy Howick - 4x5 2B 3RBI

Pitcher of the Day: Francis Ramirez wasn't glamorous but he was effective and on a day when many of the Astros pitchers struggled, effective was a very good thing.

Player of the Day: Ariel Ovando was ridiculous (and I mean that in a good way). Look for a first-hand report from Appy Astros who attended the game.

Happy Birthday - 9/15

RHP Murilo Gouvea (23)
Obtained in a 2009 trade with the White Sox for future considerations, the Brazilian-born Gouvea spent the majority of the season at Lexington. His 4.19 ERA and 1.512 WHIP at Lexington showed improvement over his 6.30 ERA and 1.575 WHIP at Tri-City last season.

OF Ariel Ovando (18)
Signed by the Astros out of the Dominican Republic as a NDFA in 2010 (for a ginormous $2.6 million dollar signing bonus), Ovando spent his first season with the Greeneville Astros in the Appy League. As a very raw lefty OF, he has a long way to go, but having just turned 18, there will be plenty of time for him to develop. His .235 BA increased to .280 with runners on and .259 with runners in scoring position.

CF Daniel Adamson (24)
Drafted in the 20th Round in 2010 out of Jacksonville State University in Alabama, Adamson split his time this season between the GCL Astros, Lexington and Lancaster. His success at Lexington (.295 BA & .365 OBP in 53 games) was not duplicated in limited time with Lancaster (.155 BA & .206 OBP in 18 games).

RHP Jason Stoffel (23)
Originally drafted by the Giants in the 4th Round in 2009, Stoffel was obtained (along with Henry Sosa) in the Jeff Keppinger trade in July. In 18 games for the Hooks he was 1-3 with a 5.63 ERA and a 1.688 WHIP. Prior to the trade, he was 1-2 with a 3.98 ERA and a 1.596 WHIP over 32 appearances.