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.

Roster Moves

I missed this Baseball America transaction post from over the weekend. Apparently, Kyle Weiland is NOT a figment of our imagination:

Placed on 7-day DL: RHP Murilo Gouvea, RHP Chia-Jen Lo, RHP Kyle Weiland, LHP Sergio Escalona, LHP Kenny Long, C Max Stassi, 3B Andy Simunic, 3B Brandon Wikoff, OF Grant Hogue, OF Telvin Nash

In addition, RHP Edgar Gonzalez was claimed off waivers by the Blue Jays and 2B/LF Ruben Sosa was assigned to Oklahoma City.

Rumors have been floating about Paul Clemens coming to Houston, but nothing official has been announced by the team.

UPDATES:

• RHP Paul Clemens is indeed headed to Seattle to join the team as RHP Josh Fields goes on the DL with forearm tightness.
• RHP Ross Seaton is being sent to Oklahoma City from Corpus Christi.
• RHP Carlos Quevedo is being sent to Corpus Christi from Lancaster.
• RHP Michael Dimock is headed from Extended Spring Training to Quad Cities.
• According to Daniel Makarewicz (who covers the Quad Cities team), RHP Jordan Jankowski is being sent from Quad Cities back to Extended Spring Training.
• LHP Tommy Shirley activated from the temporary inactive list for Lancaster.

World Baseball Classic Update

Chinese Taipei went to 2-0 in the tournament, prevailing over the Netherlands 8-3 this morning. The Astros Che-Hsuan Lin was 0-for-4 with a strikeout in the game. Chinese Taipei will next play against Korea on Tuesday.

Brazil lost to Cuba 5-2 last night and is now 0-2 in the tournament. The Astros Murilo Gouvea did not pitch in the game. Brazil will face off against China on Tuesday.

World Baseball Classic Update

Astros farmhand Murilo Gouvea pitched three innings for Brazil in today's 5-3 loss to Japan. He allowed one run in his first inning of work on a walk, single and sac fly, but faced the minimum number of batters in his next two innings of work. His final line was 1H 1R/ER 2BB 1SO.

UPDATED TO ADD: I totally forgot about the Astros OF Che-Hsuan Lin participating in the WBC for the Chinese Taipei team. Chinese Taipei prevailed over the Australian team 4-1 last night with Lin going 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored.

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.

Minor League Recaps

Saturday’s Results

DSL Astros 6 DSL Royals 9

The DSL Astros’ winning streak stopped yesterday at 3 games. Edwin Villarroel (2-6) picked up the loss after being charged with 5 runs (1ER) on 4 hits in 1 and 2-thirds innings of work. Villarroel also struck out 2 batters and walked 1.  Cristian Murillo went 2 for 4 at the plate with a walk and a double.  Michael Medina picked up his first DSL triple ever with his only hit in 3 ABs Saturday.  Medina also scored a run and had an RBI.

GCL Nationals 6 GCL Astros 3

The GCL Astros just didn’t get enough base runners home on Saturday.  There were 12 players left on base in the game.  Rio Ruiz (2 for 5) got a couple base runners in Saturday though, with 2 RBIs, a double and a run scored. Agapito Barrios (1-2) picked up the loss.  Barrios allowed 4 runs (3ER) on 6 hits and struck out 1 in 5 innings on the mound.

Greeneville Astros 0 Elizabethton Twins 5

Greeneville was shutout and only managed 4 hits on Saturday.  Not a single Astro even drew a walk in the game.  In other words, it was a rough game.  Jean Batista, who is now batting .328, picked up his 11^th double of the season with his only hit of the game in 4 trips to the plate.  Francis Ramirez (4-2) took the loss after going the first 6 frames, allowing 4 runs (2 ER) on 7 hits, with a walk and 3 Ks.

Tri-City ValleyCats 5 Auburn Doubledays 1

Tri-City didn’t get on the board until the 6^th inning Saturday, but since their pitchers only gave up a run all day they had time to spare.  Austin Elkins had an impressive showing at the dish, batting 3 for 5 with a double and an RBI.  Emilio King had a couple of RBIs, 2 runs scored and a double in his 2 for 4 game at the plate.  King also clubbed a 2-run homer in the 9^th inning to seal the deal.  Andrew Aplin went 2 for 4 with a walk on Saturday and stole 2 bases.  On the mound, Lance Day (2-0) took the “W” after giving up just a run on 6 hits in 6 innings of work and striking out 3. Jamaine Cotton came on for the last frame, gave up a single to the first batter he faced and then struck out the last 3 in a row.

Hagerstown Suns 1 Lexington Legends 8

The first game of the day for Lexington was the completion of the postponed game from Friday.  The game was suspended in the 3^rd due to rain.  The Legends had a very impressive pitching performance by their pitchers, shutting out the opponents until the 9^th inning.  Evan Grills (4-1), who started the resumed game Saturday in the 4^th inning, picked up the win after allowing a single hit, walking 1 and striking out 4 in 4 innings of work.  Zachary Johnson hit 2 homers in the game (although, in reality they were a day apart), had 5 RBIs and ended up 2 for 2 with a walk.  Delino DeShields picked up his 73^rd SB.  

Hagerstown Suns 0 Lexington Legends 2 (7)

In the second game of 2 on Saturday, Lexington’s Luis Ordosgoitti was dominant on the mound.  Ordosgoitti moved to 4-3 with the win after allowing just 2 hits, walking 2 and striking out 7 through the first 6 innings of work. Murilo Gouvea got save number 4 after he came on for the final frame and was perfect, striking out 2.  Offensively, there wasn’t much going in this game, but Matt Duffy and Brandon Meredith both went 2 for 3 with and RBI each.  Nolan Fontana didn’t have any hits, but drew a pair of walks and Delino DeShields stole 2^nd base twice in the game moving his total to 75 SBs on the season.

Inland Empire 66ers 7 Lancaster JetHawks 1

Lancaster couldn’t get the offense started Saturday and defensively had a rough day too, committing 3 errors. Tyson Perez (7-3) took the loss, along with his team, after giving up 5 runs (3ER) on 9 hits, walking 2 and striking out a pair in the first 4 and 2-thirds. Pat Urckfitz, who worked the next 2 and a third, didn’t allow any runs or hits and walked 3.  George Springer scored the lone run in the 4^th inning with a homer.  Springer finished 2 for 4 at the plate. 

Midland RockHounds 8 Corpus Christi Hooks 3

Corpus Christi scored 3 runs, but had 11 hits in the loss at Whataburger Field on Saturday.  Jake Goebbert, Adam Bailey and Drew Locke all went 2 for 4 at the plate.  Locke and Goebbert had an RBI each. Ross Seaton (6-8) picked up the loss after allowing 5 runs on 5 hits (2HR), walking a pair and striking out 5 in 5 innings on the mound. 

Omaha Storm Chasers 2 Oklahoma City RedHawks 6

The RedHawks were in control of the game Saturday the whole time.  Brett Wallace made sure of that with a 3-run shot in the 3^rd inning.  Wallace, who now has 16 HRs, ended up 1 for 2 on the day.  Matt Dominguez was swinging a heavy stick too Saturday, hitting 2 for 4 with a double and a couple RBIs.  Jose Cisnero took his first “W” in his AAA debut out of Corpus Christi.  Cisnero had a strong outing, allowing 1 run on 6 hits, 2 walks and striking out 3 in 7 innings on the bump.

Player of the Day: Two guys are sharing the honor today.  Zachary Johnson gets a half share for his 2 homers in support of Lexington and Brett Wallace takes the other half for knocking the snot out of the ball on Saturday with his 3-run shot.

Pitcher of the Day:  There are two pitchers today too: Luis Ordosgoitti and Murilo Gouvea get the nod for shutting out Hagerstown Saturday. Ordosgoitti made it a 2-hitter with his dominance on the mound and Gouvea sealed it with a final inning of perfection.

     

Minor League Results

Thursday's Result's

DSL Astros 0 DSL Dodgers 1

The low score doesn't necessarily reflect a pitcher's duel.  Juan Hernandez (0-3), the Astros starting pitcher, allowed 7 hits and a walk in the first 5 innings.  A triple followed by a sac' fly sealed the DSL Astros, and Hernandez's, fate in the 2nd inning.  Cristian Murillo was the only Astro to reach base multiple times Thursday, he had a double and a walk.

GCL Cardinals 3 GCL Astros 4

The GCL Astros used 6 pitchers yesterday and the third, Michael Feliz (4 IP), was charged with all three runs.  Alan Abreu, who was the fourth Astro on the bump, picked up the blown save and the win after coming on in the 7th.  Jose Solano and Luis De La Rosa both had a stolen base Thursday and both managed to convert them into trips across the plate.  Darwin Rivera went 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs rasing his average to .383 in 22 games.

Elizabethton Twins 12 Greeneville Astros 1

There's nothing to see here, move along.  All joking aside, it was a rough one at Pioneer Park on Thursday.  The Astros had 2 hits all night and the pitching was on par with that.  The Astros also committed 3 errors. Christopher Lee, who came on to pitch in the 7th, gave up 3 runs (2 ER), walked two, tossed a wild pitch and failed to record any outs.  D'Andre Toney got on a couple times (2B, BB) and scored a run in 4 trips to the plate.    

Tri-City ValleyCats 8 Williamsport Crosscutters 1

The ValleyCats victory on Thursday started on the mound.  Brady Rodgers pitched a scoreless 6 and a 1/3, allowing 7 hits.  Kenny Long finished that inning with perfection and Jamaine Cotton kept it scoreless in his inning of work.  The ValleyCats pitchers didn't issue a walk all day.  On the offensive side, Tri-City was productive as well.  Every ValleyCat batter got at least a hit and 6 had multi-hit performances.  Most impressive was Andrew Aplin who had a double, triple and a walk in 5 plate appearances.  Dan Gulbransen also had an impressive game at the plate Thursday.  Gulbransen hit 2 for 5 with a double and 4 RBIs. 

Kannapolis Intimdators 5 Lexington Legends 6 (15)

This turned into a really exciting game of baseball.  Lexington was down most the entire game by at least a run.  In the bottom of the 9th the Legends rallied to tie the game, scoring 4 runs to make it 5-5. They went on to win after 6 more innings of play. The final 3 pitchers for Lexington threw a hitless 7 innings to keep Lexington in the game.  Gabriel Garcia picked up the win after pitching the final two frames with a walk and a strikeout. Lexington also had 17 hits on Thursday and nearly a 1/3 of them came from Delino DeShields.  DeShields went 5 for 7 at the plate with a double and a run scored.  Jordan Scott also had a very productive night at the plate, hitting 3 of 6 with a walk and the game winning single in the 15th inning.

Lancaster JetHawks Visalia Rawhide

-postponed

Frisco RoughRiders 7 Corpus Christi Hooks 8 (11)

This was another game that got interesting as it went on Thursday.  The Hooks were getting shutout at home until the 9th inning when Jair Fernandez hit an RBI single.  This was followed by Austin Wates tagging a 3-RBI double to tie the game at 4.  Both teams picked up a run in the 10th and after Corpus Christi fell behind by 2 more in the 11th, Austin Wates jacked a 3-run homer to win the game.  Wates ended up 3 for 5 at the plate with 6 RBIs.  Jake Goebbert went 3 for 4 at the dish with a double, a walk and two runs scored on Thursday.  Ross Seaton started the game and got another quality start, pitching 7 and allowing 2 runs, 2 walks and 4 strike outs. Henry Villar (3-2) picked up the win after coming on for the final 2 outs in the 11th.

New Orleans Zephyrs 3 Oklahoma City RedHawks 4

Oklahoma City didn't come alive offensively until the 7th inning, when they scored all 4 RedHawks runs.  Once they did that on Thursday though, they effectively shut the door on New Orleans.  Fernando Martinez went 2 for 4 with a pair of RBI's Thursday.  Angel Sanchez got on 3 times, hitting 2 of 3 and drawing a walk.  Paul Clemens took all the damage early, collecting 3 runs on 4 hits through the first 4 and 2/3.  After that, the RedHawks kept it scoreless and only Hector Ambriz, who picked up the win, allowed a hit.  David Carpenter came on for a perfect final frame of work.   

Player of the Day:  The Zen-Master, Austin Wates collects the honor today.  Wates collected 6 RBIs, tied the game in the 9th to force extra innings and then hit the game winning 3-run long ball in the 11th.  That, my friends, is a meritorious performance.

Pitcher of the Day:  I'm itching to give it to another ValleyCat, but since I've done that a few time in a row now I'll get outside of my comfort zone.  Honestly, three guys deserve it today: Nathan Pettus, Murilo Gouvea and Gabriel Garcia.  All three are pitchers for the Lexington Legends and they combined for the final 7 innings on Thursday.  These 3 guys kept it scoreless, hitless, struck out 4 and allowed just a pair of walks.  They are a very big part of that win and kept the Legends in it through the 15th.  

       

Minor League Schedule and Results

FRIDAY'S GAMES

Hagerstown at Lexington at 6:05 CST
Probable Pitchers: RHP Alex Meyer (2-3, 4.28) and RHP Nick Tropeano (2-2, 1.87)
Available on MiLB.tv

Lake Elsinore at Lancaster at 7:00 CST (Game 1)
Probable Pitchers: RHP Matthew Andriese (2-2, 5.08) and RHP Tyson Perez (1-0, 1.50)

Frisco at Corpus Christi at 7:05 CST
Probable Pitchers: RHP Jacob Brigham (2-1, 3.11) and LHP Brett Oberholtzer (1-2, 6.67)
Available on MiLB.tv

Las Vegas at Oklahoma City at 7:05 CST
Probable Pitchers: LHP Aaron Laffey (1-4, 5.63) and RHP Henry Sosa (2-0, 5.12)
Available on MiLB.tv

Lake Elsinore at Lancaster (Game 2)
Probable Pitchers: LHP Mark Hardy (2-3, 4.37) and TBD

THURSDAY'S RESULTS

Lexington over Hagerstown 6-3
Now who was that who said Zach Johnson was due to break out at the plate again? Oh, that's right ... it was me! Zach had a really nice 2x4 night with a home run and three RBI's. Drew Muren (2B) and John Hinson both went 2x4 as well. Jonas Dufek pitched one out shy of a quality start, but it was Murilo Gouvea who really shone in 2.1 innings of relief with no hits, no walks and five strikeouts. Gouvea picked up the win and Dayan Diaz picked up his fourth save.

Frisco over Corpus Christi 10-2
The bad news is that Corpus was held to five hits (two each from Austin Wates and Jose Martinez). The good news is that they were held to those five hits by pitchers with very good records (Barrett Loux, 7-0, 2.37 ERA and Chad Bell, 0.68 ERA). Lately, the Corpus staff has been unable to manage many hits against pitchers with records ranging from mediocre to downright bad. The worst news, though, is that Jose Cisnero, Arcenio Leon, Alex Sogard and Erick Abreu combined to allow ten runs, 17 hits, five walks and a home run. No pitcher escaped unscathed.

Lake Elsinore over Lancaster 5-1
Lancaster was in striking distance until the ninth when a rare off outing from Kirk Clark and a throwing error by Rene Garcia combined to result in three Lake Elsinore runs scored. Bobby Doran (L, 3-2) and Andrew Robinson both pitched well. Doran has really shown a great deal of improvement this season which is something I was really hoping for from him. Kike Hernandez was 2x4 with an RBI double, George Springer hit his fourth triple of the season and Ben Orloff was 2x3. Three errors in this one (one from Hernandez and two from Garcia) did not help.

GAME OF THE DAY
Oklahoma City over Las Vegas 1-0

What went right: A combined pitching shutout brought a seven game losing streak to an end.

Jordan Lyles, Xavier Cedeno and Jose Valdez combined for the shutout and took Lyles record to 5-0 for the season. The Redhawks only managed four hits but one of them turned out to be a game-winning home run from Brett Wallace.

Jordan Lyles - 6.2IP 8H 0R 1BB 6SO
Xavier Cedeno - 1.2IP 1BB 1SO
Jose Valdez (SV, 6) - 0.2IP 1BB 1SO

Brett Wallace - 1x3 HR RBI SO R
Brian Bixler - 2x4


PITCHER OF THE DAY
I'm going to send a little love to relief pitcher Murilo Gouvea. He was simply dominant in this outing. I heard good things about his "stuff" from one of his fellow relievers when I was in Lexington last month. Gouvea may be one to watch.

PLAYER OF THE DAY
Zach Johnson is my man for getting back in the groove and improving his RBI total to 34. He is again tied for the RBI lead in the South Atlantic League.

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.