Happy Birthday - 6/14

RHP R.J. Alaniz (22)
Alaniz orginally signed with the Astros as a non-drafted free agent out of McAllen, Texas in 2009, and is currently in his fourth season with the organization. In 15 games (10 starts) at Corpus Christi thus far this season, he is 2-6 with a 6.22 ERA and a 1.727 WHIP.

RHP Alan Abreu (23)
I knew virtually nothing about Abreu other than he was playing college baseball in Florida as an outfielder when he was signed by the Astros in September 2011 as a NDFA to pitch. I found this terrific article explaining how it all came about. If this works out, it will be an amazing story. In his first season with the 2012 GCL Astros, he was 1-2 with a 2.70 ERA and a 1.600 WHIP in 14 appearances out of the bullpen.

C Brian Pena (19)
A non-drafted free agent from the Dominican Republic, Pena is in his second season with the DSL Astros. After hitting .183/.294/.197 in 28 games in 2012, he is hitting .375/.444/.375 thus far in 4 games in 2013.

Former Astros with birthdays today ~

RHP Pete Munro (38)
A sixth round pick by the Red Sox in 1993, Munro came to Houston as a free agent in November of 2001. He pitched in 80 games (35 starts) from 2002 through 2004 for the Astros with a 12-16 record, a 4.49 ERA and a 1.481 WHIP.

OF John Weekly (died November 24, 1974 at 37)
Drafted in the Rule 5 draft in 1961 from the Giants, Weekly was with the Colt .45s for three seasons from 1962 to 1964, hitting .207/.293/.364 in 53 games.

Astros Minor League Recaps

Saturday’s Games 

Quad Cities River Bandits 0, Clinton LumberKings 1 (7) Game 1

The first game of the doubleheader Saturday for Quad Cities was all pitching and very little offense on both sides. Colton Cain (1-5) started on the hill and gave up the game's only run in the fifth inning, finishing with that run on four hits, two walks and five strikeouts over his four and two thirds innings of work. Richard Rodriguez replaced Cain for the final four outs of the game and retired everyone he faced in order, striking out the last batter. The River Bandits had just four hits in the match and Jordan Scott (2X2) hit two of them, both singles.

Quad Cities River Bandits 6, Clinton LumberKings 5 (7) Game 2

Quad Cities came back from five runs behind to take this win and split the doubleheader. Mike Hauschild (3-0) took the win after pitching the first five innings and allowing five runs (4ER) on seven hits with a strikeout. Outside of the five-run third inning, Hauschild gave up just one hit, recording 1-2-3 frames in the first and fourth. Cameron Lamb followed Hauschild for the final two innings of the game and earned his second save of the year, allowing three hits. The River Bandits had three hits in the second game Saturday and only one of those hits came in the fifth and sixth innings when they were scoring runs. Quad Cities took advantage of seven walks, a pair of wild pitches, two errors and a Carlos Correa stolen base to aid them in their comeback. Miles Hamblin (2X3 3RBI SO) collected two of the game's hits and finished with three RBI. Hamblin scored Teoscar Hernandez (OX3 2R BB SO) in the fifth with a sacrifice fly and then scored Hernandez and Carlos Correa (1X2 R 2B 2BB) in the sixth with an RBI single. 

Inland Empire 66ers 1, Lancaster JetHawks 5

Lancaster allowed just a run and two hits to their opponents at home Saturday as they moved towards their fourth consecutive win in a row. David Rollins got things started from the bump, throwing the first four and allowing one run on two hits . Rollins also walked three and struck out the same. Tyson Perez (2-3), who pitched the sixth through eighth, picked up the win after facing the minimum in his frames and striking out four. Andrew Aplin (1X2 2B RBI 2BB) got the scoring started Saturday with an RBI double in the bottom of the first to score Joe Sclafani (0X3 R 2BB). Aplin also stole his sixth base of the year in the seventh inning. Brandon Meredith (1X3 R 3B SO) hit a huge triple in the fourth inning and two batters later, attempted a steal of home. A catcher's balk was called on the play and Meredith scored Lancaster's second run of the game. Delino DeShields hit the JetHawks last extra-bagger of the game, a double in the seventh and finished one-for-four with a run scored, that double and a walk.

Arkansas Travelers 3, Corpus Christi Hooks 10

The Hooks came out swinging in this game and concluded with a six-run eighth inning to mark their fourth consecutive win as well. Ruben Alaniz (1-5) took the mound first and earned his first win of the season after working the first five innings. Alaniz gave a couple runs on six hits and walked one during his turn. Sergio Escalona pitched the eighth and was the only other Hooks pitcher to allow a run in the game, a homer. Escalona was also the only pitcher for Corpus to record a strikeout (1) and earned his first hold of the season. The first run of the game Saturday came by way of wild pitch scoring Jiovanni Mier (2X4 2R BB) in the bottom of the first. Two more runs would score before the inning ended. The eighth inning saw 11 Corpus Christi batsmen at the plate, four walks, two errors, a wild pitch, a HBP RBI and two, two-RBI singles by Kiké Hernandez (1X4 R 2RBI SO) and George Springer (1X3 2R 2RBI 2BB). Rene Garcia (1X4 R 2B RBI) hit his ninth double of the year in the first inning and recorded 14th RBI when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the eighth. Here's a look at the play-by-play of the eighth inning:

Oklahoma City RedHawks 3, Iowa Cubs 7

The RedHawks struck first in Iowa on Saturday but fell behind after dropping a four-run second inning and they never caught back up. Asher Wojciechowski (1-2) got the start and took the loss after going five and a third on the hill. Wojo recorded five runs (4ER) on seven hits, two walks and five Ks Saturday. Kevin Chapman, who followed Wojo for the next five outs, allowed one more run on two hits (HR), walked two and struck out one. Valdez came on for the final three outs and faced six batters in that time, allowing another run on two hits, walking two and striking out one of his own. Brett Wallace (1X4 R HR 3RBI) got the scoring started in the first inning when he hit a two-run dinger that scored Jake Elmore (1X4 R BB) and then finished the scoring as well in the seventh with an RBI ground out to score Cody Clark (2X4 R SO). Marc Krauss had the only other multi-hit performance for Oklahoma City, going two-for-four with a walk.

Player of the Day: Andrew Aplin takes it today, without question. The guy always plays solid baseball and Saturday was no different. Besides adding to his California League lead in RBIs and stealing a base, Aplin made a catch in the sixth inning that stunned just about everyone that saw it. Jason Schwartz's description of the play can be found here and Jayne has already posted a few tweets from Schwartz and Rodney Linares that were in response to that catch— here and here. So for the second day in a row, it's all about Aplin.

Pitcher of the Day: Ruben Alaniz is taking the honors today to go along with his first win. Six decisions in and he now has a "W" and WTHB honors. Nice game.  

Roster Moves - 6/14

In addition to the announced short season rosters which you can find here, the following moves were also made effective 6/14:

Oklahoma City
2B Jordan Kreke was assigned to Oklahoma City from Corpus Christi.

Corpus Christi
1B Carlos Lee was sent on rehab assignment to Corpus Christi.
3B Andrew Simunic was assigned to Corpus Christi from Oklahoma City.

Lancaster
OF Emilio King was assigned to Tri-City from Lancaster.
RHP Ruben Alaniz was activated from the temporary inactive list.

Greeneville
C Ernesto Genoves was assigned from Lexington to Greeneville.

Also, the following change will be made effective 6/15:

Lexington
OF Jay Austin will be assigned to Lexington.

Happy Birthday - 6/14

RHP Ruben Alaniz (21)
Alaniz orginally signed with the Astros as a non-drafted free agent out of McAllen, Texas in 2009. He is currently in his third season with the organization and has really made a statement in his time at Lancaster this season. In 13 starts, he is 6-2 with a 4.10 ERA, a 1.224 WHIP and 55 strikeouts to 17 walks.

RHP Alan Abreu (22)
I knew virtually nothing about Abreu other than he was playing college baseball in Florida as an outfielder when he was signed by the Astros in September 2011 as a NDFA to pitch. I found this terrific article explaining how it all came about. If this works out, it will be an amazing story.

C Brian Pena (18)
A non-drafted free agent from the Dominican Republic, Pena is in his first season with the DSL Astros. Since the DSL just recently started their season, he doesn't have much of a track record yet, but in three games, he is hitting .250/.400/.250.

Former Astros with birthdays today ~

RHP Pete Munro (37)
A sixth round pick by the Red Sox in 1993, Munro came to Houston as a free agent in November of 2001. He pitched in 80 games (35 starts) from 2002 through 2004 for the Astros with a 12-16 record, a 4.49 ERA and a 1.481 WHIP.

OF John Weekly (died November 24, 1974 at 37)
Drafted in the Rule 5 draft in 1961 from the Giants, Weekly was with the Colt .45s for three seasons from 1962 to 1964, hitting .207/.293/.364 in 53 games.

Roster Moves - 6/10

Oklahoma City
LHP Fernando Abad was sent to OKC for a rehab assignment.

Lancaster
*OF Emilio King was assigned to Lancaster from Extended Spring Training.
OF Grant Hogue was placed on the 7-day DL.
OF Domingo Santana was activated from the DL.
RHP Ruben Alaniz was placed on the temporary inactive list.

*Note: I think that King is most likely temporary at Lancaster as Springer has been day-to-day with a hip flexor injury.

Greeneville
D'Andre Toney was acquired as the PTBNL in the Quintero/Bourgeois trade with Kansas City and assigned to Greeneville.

We should find out much more about where players are being assigned over the next couple of days as Tri-City and GCL players report on Tuesday and Greeneville players report on Wednesday.

Minor League Schedule and Results

Note: I will be on the road the next few days and will be subject to the whims of the Wifi gods when it comes to posting. Results will be later than usual (and probably sketchier as well), but I will do my best to keep you up to date on everything.  Thanks!

SATURDAY'S GAMES

Savannah at Lexington at 6:05 CST
Probable Pitchers: TBD
Available on MiLB.tv

Corpus Christi at Frisco at 7:00 CST
Probable Pitchers: RHP Ross Seaton (0-2, 5.40) and RHP Carlos Pimental (2-0, 0.00)

Round Rock at Oklahoma City at 7:05 CST
Probable Pitchers:  RHP Neil Ramirez (2-1, 2.14) and TBD
Available on MiLB.tv

Stockton at Lancaster at 9:00 CST
Probable Pitchers:  TBD

FRIDAY'S RESULTS

Round Rock over Oklahoma City 8-3
The pitching staff in the guise of Aneury Rodriguez, Mickey Storey and Juan Abreu all went into meltdown mode. Enerio del Rosario was the only member of the pitching staff to emerge unscathed.  And when your highlights at the plate are a 2x4 night by Angel Sanchez and a home run by Carlos Corporan, perhaps the less said the better.

Frisco over Corpus Christi 12-0
Ouch. As Jarred Cosart tweeted last night, he went from missing bats in his earlier outings to missing the glove in this one as he issued six walks. Erick Abreu and Henry Villar didn't fare much better in relief. Adalberto Flores closed it out capably, but all the damage had been done at that point.  Apparently, there is a reason that the opposing pitcher, Frisco's Justin Grimm, is 4-1 with a 1.59 ERA because he dominated the Corpus hitters, holding them to 4 hits.  Jonathan Singleton was the only hitter with some degree of success against him as he went 2x4.  Brandon Barnes contributed a double and T.J. Steele's single was his first hit since April 12th.

Lancaster over Stockton 10-0
Ruben Alaniz is making a statement as he earned his second win of the season at Lancaster.  He currently has a 2.90 ERA and 26SO:7BB.  It's nice to see Andrew Robinson coming around with a good bullpen performance as well.  It was a solid night for the hitters as everyone in the lineup contributed at least one hit except for George Springer who still managed two walks and two runs scored.  Ben Orloff (two doubles), Rafy Valenzuela, Jonathan Meyer and Rene Garcia each contributed two hits. Erik Castro added a three-run home run for good measure.

GAME OF THE DAY
Lexington over Charleston 7-0

What went right:  An outstanding start by Luis Cruz and an outstanding night at the plate for just about everyone. In only his second start this season since coming out of the bullpen, Cruz found the command that eluded him in his first start. His defense was there for him as well, as he induced a lot of flyball/line drive outs in addition to his six strikeouts.  Everyone in the lineup got a hit except for Drew Muren and he still managed a walk and an RBI on a ground out, and Emilio King (who has started off slowly) got a hit and an RBI on a bases loaded walk. Zach Johnson is en fuego as he added three more RBI to his already ridiculous total.

Luis Cruz (W, 1-1) - 7IP 2H 0R 1BB 6SO
Murilo Gouvea - 2IP 1H 4SO

Jordan Scott - 1x3 2BB SO 2R
Zach Johnson - 2x5 2B HR 3RBI 2R
Matt Duffy - 2x4 2B BB SO R
Alex Todd - 1x3 2BB R
Roberto Pena - 1x4 RBI BB SO
James Howick - 2x4 HR RBI SO R

What went wrong: 3x14 with RISP, including three stranded by Delino DeShields Jr.

PITCHERS OF THE DAY
Luis Cruz and Ruben Alaniz share the honors as they had nearly identical pitching lines, giving up only two hits over seven innings.

PLAYER OF THE DAY
Zach Johnson get the nod as he continues to rake.  His three RBI night brings him to 29 RBI's over 21 games and puts him in a tie for first place in the Sally League.