Happy Birthday - 10/9

RHP Nathan Pettus (24)
Drafted out of community college in Oklahoma in the 27th round of the 2008 draft, Pettus sat out the bulk of 2010 and 2011 due to injury. In 2012, he pitched in 31 games (63 innings) for Lexington with a 5.86 ERA and a 1.714 WHIP. I'm not sure why, but his friends call him Carl.

Former Astros with birthdays today ~

1B/OF Joe Pepitone (72)
After eight seasons with the Yankees in which Pepitone was a three-time All-Star and a three-time Gold Glove winner, he came to Houston in a December 1969 trade. He only played in 75 games for Houston in 1970 before being picked up by the Cubs. During his time in Houston, he hit .252/.298/.470 with nine doubles, five triples and 14 home runs.

2B/SS Alex Taveras (57)
Originally signed by Houston in 1974 out of the Dominican Republic, Taveras played in only 14 games at the major league level for the Astros in 1977, hitting .217/.250/.217.

LHP Mark McLemore (32)
A fourth round pick by Houston in 2002, McLemore pitched in 29 games in 2007 with a 3-0 record, a 3.86 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP. He last pitched in the Marlins organization in 2011 at the minor league level.

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.  

       

Roster Moves - 4/10

Oklahoma City
RHP Jonathan Aristil was optioned from OKC to CC
SS Jed Lowrie was sent to OKC for a rehab assignment

Corpus Christi
RHP Chris Hicks went on the 7-day DL (per Greg Rajan, he has a sore shoulder)

Lancaster
I either missed this one or it was posted late.
RF Domingo Santana went on the 7-day DL (effective 4/6)

Lexington
RHP Nathan Pettus was assigned to LEX
C Miles Hamblin was assigned to TCV from LEX

Happy Birthday - 10/9

RHP Nathan Pettus (23)
Drafted out of community college in Oklahoma in the 27th round of the 2008 draft, Nathan has had some injury issues and sat out most of 2011.  In 2009, playing between Greeneville and Tri-City, he posted a 2.11 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP over 25 appearances.  He was limited to 7 appearances (between the GCL and Lexington) in 2010 with a 2.79 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP.   This season he pitched in 5 games with the GCL Astros in August as a part of his rehab.

Former Astros with birthdays today:

UT Joe Pepitone (71)
Played in 75 games for Houston in 1970

RHP Brian Powell (died 10/5/09 at age 35)
Pitched in 10 games for the Astros in 2000 and 2001

LHP Mark McLemore (31)
Pitched in 29 games in 2007
Went 3-0 with a 3.86 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP