Tweet of the Day

Brady Rodgers ‏@Rodgers20
Man the flight to Houston sure looks tempting to hop on but I got a championship to win in Cali so HTown can wait

Astros Minor League Recaps

Saturday's Games

Pulaski Mariners, Greeneville Astros -Doubleheader 
Steve has a great eyewitness account of these games already up. You can check it out here.

GCL Tigers 3, GCL Astros 0  

The GCL Astros were four-hit, shut out Saturday, marking their fifth consecutive loss (not including the postponed game from the 25th). Yonathan Mejia had half of his team's hits, going two-for-four at the plate and striking out once. Neither Jacob Nottingham (0X2 SO) nor Jose Fernandez (0X2 SO) had a hit in the game, but both drew two walks. Fernandez also had a stolen base in the game. Jose Montero (1-1) started things off on the mound for the GCL Astros and after five innings of work had allowed three runs on four hits (HR), walked five and struck out three—good for the loss. Samil De Los Santos followed Montero for one inning and struck out all three he faced.

DSL Royals 4, DSL Astros 2

The Astros allowed four runs in the sixth inning and that ended up being too big of a crooked number to defeat Saturday. Gerardo Juarez (2-2) started, working the first five and two-thirds. Juarez recorded all four runs, six hits, two walks and five Ks in his outing. Hector Roa had a pair of hits in the game, closing out at two-for-four with a stolen base and run scored too. Roa doubled in the ninth to knock in his team's final run of the game. Luis Payano was the only other player in multiples for the Astros, batting two-for-four also.

Tri-City Valley Cats 0, Vermont Lake Monsters 4
The Valley Cats didn't get a hit until the fourth inning Saturday and it would be one of only five they collected in this shutout. Adrian Houser (0-2) took the loss after pitching the first five innings and allowing a pair of runs on seven hits, walking one and striking out a trio. Tanner Bushue took the mound next and threw through the seventh, tallying another two runs, two hits and walk as he struck out two. Anthony Kemp picked up his 15th stolen base of the year and batted one-for-three with a walk and strikeout. Chan Moon bat one-for-four, hitting a triple in the fifth inning for Tri-City's second hit of the game. The Valley Cats' first hit in the fourth inning was a Ronnie Mitchell (1X4) double.

Quad Cities River Bandits 6, Beloit Snappers 8
The River Bandits struck first yesterday, but a five-run sixth inning toppled their momentum. Chris Devenski was on the mound for the first five innings and in that time saw a pair of runs score, allowed ten hits (HR), walked one and struck out four. Juri Perez (0-2) entered to pitch next and in two outs time Perez faced eight batters, allowing five runs on five hits and a walk. Perez would snag the loss and the blown save, his first. Rio Ruiz brought home three runs Saturday, concluding the game at the plate two-for-four with a two-run homer, stolen base and two strikeouts. Teoscar Hernandez went two-for-five with a pair of runs scored while Carlos Correa hit two-for-four, swatting a double, scoring a run and collecting two RBI.

Lancaster JetHawks 5, Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 7
Only three of the Quakes' seven runs yesterday were earned. The other four runs were scored in conjunction with Lancaster's six errors in the game. Carlos Perdomo committed four errors on Saturday alone. Perdomo (0X3 RBI 2BB) was also one of four JetHawks to steal a base in the game. Delino DeShields (2X5 R 2B RBI SO), Chris Epps (2X4 R BB) and Andrew Aplin (0X4 RBI BB) were the other three to swipe bags. Matt Duffy (1X4 R HR RBI SO) hit a round-tripper in the fourth inning, his only hit of the day. Kyle Hallock (4-3) took the loss after starting and pitching four innings. Hallock conceded four runs (2ER), seven hits (HR), three walks and K-ed three. Michael Dimock took the hill for the next three innings and logged another three runs (1ER), four hits, walked one and struck out two.

Corpus Christi Hooks 12, Midland RockHounds 6 (7)

Max Stassi and Domingo Santana hit back-to-back homers in the first inning pushing the Hooks out to an early lead before falling behind in the bottom of the second. Corpus Christi pitching then buckled down and the offense rallied to pull out the win. Ross Seaton started and was on the mound for just one and two-thirds before exiting the game. In that span Seaton tallied six runs, six hits, walked two and struck out one. After Seaton left the game there were four Hooks pitchers in the game and only Chia-Jen Lo, who picked up the save in the ninth, allowed a hit as he struck out another. Theron Geith followed Seaton and retired all eight batters he faced in order, striking out three. Jonas Dufek (1-0) strode to hill after Geith and produced a carbon copy of his performance—down to the number of strikeouts—and picked up the win. The outing was Dufek's debut in Double-A. Preston Tucker (1X4 2R HR RBI BB SO) hit a solo homer in the seventh that put the Hooks ahead. Max Stassi (2X4 R HR 3RBI), Domingo Santana (2X4 R HR RBI) and Jonathan Meyer (2X4 SO) all had two hits in the game.

    

Iowa Cubs 0, Oklahoma City RedHawks 5
Oklahoma city shut down and shut out the Cubs at home Saturday, allowing just four hits and adding an inside-the-park home run to the score sheet. David Rollins started things off from the hill for the RedHawks, debuting in Triple-A, and went six innings. Rollins (1-0) saw three hits during his shift and not much else, walking one and striking out eight to earn the win. George Springer went two-for-three at the dish with three runs scored, an RBI, stolen base and couple of walks. Springer also legged out the inside-the-park homer when his fifth inning shot to center eluded the center fielder and escaped to the wall. Marwin Gonzalez finished two-for-three, the only other RedHawk in multiples, with a pair of RBI and a walk.

Player of the Day: An inside-the-park knock always deserves the honor. They are rare and take a special set of circumstances, not too mention a fast pair of feet. So George Springer, the crown is yours for the day (Note: While they are rare, Springer's inside-the-park homer was actually OKC's second this week).

Pitcher of the Day: David Rollins, come on down. Rollins made the trip up to three-A yesterday and had an outstanding outing, allowing just three hits, striking out eight and retiring the first nine he faced in order. That's respectable. Nicely done.

Also an honorable mentions go out to Jonas Dufek and T.J. Geith. Dufek, in his own debut, was lights out. Kind of like, errr, exactly like the guy on the mound before him T.J. Geith.

Happy Birthday - 7/28

No future Astros, only former Astros with birthdays today ~

RHP Henry Sosa (28)
Sosa came to Houston from San Francisco as a part of a July 2011 trade for Jeff Keppinger. In 10 starts for Houston in 2011, he was 3-5 with a 5.23 ERA and a 1.444 WHIP. He started the 2012 season playing for the AAA Oklahoma City team before signing with the Kia Tigers in Korea.

OF Dick Simpson (70)
Simpson came to Houston from the Cardinals in June of 1968 and was gone to the Yankees six months later. In between, he played in 59 games for Houston, hitting .186/.282/.299.

RHP Chad Paronto (38)
Originally drafted by Baltimore in the 8th round in 1996, Paronto came to Houston as a free agent in December of 2007. In 12 games for Houston in 2008 and 2009, Paronto was 0-1 with a 7.41 ERA and a 1.706 WHIP.

Tweet of the Day

Blair Walters ‏@bwalters34
No time for sleep.. Gladiator is on. #iwillhavemyvengance

Appy Astros Eyewitness Report - 7/27/13 - Pulaski Pulls Out Two Wins From G-Stros

In what could be a potential play off preview, the Pulaski Mariners pulled out two late comebacks to defeat the Greeneville Astros twice Saturday night.  The first game was the conclusion of Friday's suspended game.  The Mariners scored four runs in the in the seventh to take a 5-4 decision.  Then in the seven inning night cap, they got a two run homer in the sixth to secure a 2-1 win.  Here is a closer look at what I observed last night.

Game 1 - Pulaski 5, Greeneville 4

The game picked up with Greeneville up 2-1 in the bottom of the 2nd.

On the Mound

Christian Garcia threw three very effective innings.  His fast ball sat in the upper 80's but he mixed speeds well and keep batters guessing.  He fanned five in the three innings and retired the first 8 batters he faced.  He had a walk and a hit batter but no base hits.

Sidewinder Ryan Connolly came in next and was effective in the 6th before the wheels came off in the 7th.  He struck out a batter to start the 7th but then a short hop couldn't be handled by Tyler White at third for an E-5.  The next three batters followed with a triple, a single and a triple.  An inning that started as a 4-1 lead ended with a 5-4 deficit.

Tyler Brunnemann finished off the game.  I was pleased to see that some improvement in his mechanics.  When I saw him earlier in the year, he would touch the ground with his glove on his follow through.  Now he tucks the glove to his chest as he follows through.  He is not repeating the tuck perfectly as it was sometimes at his chest and sometimes at his hip but it shows improvement.  He only had one strike out but induced three ground balls and two pop outs to short.  He gave up one hit, a double.

At the Plate

Brett Phillips started the third off with a hard ground ball inside the bag at third for a double.  It is fun to watch him run.  He is fast! He also reached on a walk.

Edwin Gomez reached base three times with a walk and two singles.  However he was .500 in getting out of base running goofs.  In the third, with the bases loaded, Tyler White hit a fly ball to shallow right field.  Phillips was tagging on the play but did not try to advance.  However, Gomez took off from second and was almost to third when the throw reached the catcher.  The catcher threw to second to try to get Gomez coming back to the bag but the ball ended up in center and both Phillips and Gomez scored.

He wasn't as fortunate in the seventh.  He scorched a ball that appeared to be leaving the yard but bounced off the top of the fence.  He was nabbed at second with a great throw from the left fielder.  Some people sitting around me said Gomez had started his home run trot, I don't know if this is accurate because I was trying to follow the trajectory of the ball.  If he was, I am sure the coaching staff will let him hear about it.  If not, it was a great play by the Mariners.

Those three were the only players with hits for the continuation portion of the game.  Ariel Ovando and Darwin Rivera both took walks but no one else reached base.

In The Field

Other than the error by White on a tough play coming in on a short hop, the defense looked pretty good.  Darwin Rivera was at 2nd and looked pretty comfortable there.  More so than he has looked at third. 

Game 2: Pulaski 2 - Greeneville 1:

This game was a seven inning game due to the completion of the suspended game.

On The Mound

Chris Lee was impressive last night.  Lee's fastball was sitting in the 93-95 range (thanks to the scout two rows in front for holding his radar gun in a position so I could peek) and his slider was getting a great many swings and misses.  His delivery was smooth and effortless.  I had him at 78 pitches when he was pulled with one out in the sixth with 53 being for strikes (68%). I also had him with first pitch strikes to 17 of the 24 batters he faced (71%).

He led off the second striking out the Pulaski clean up hitter on three pitches. The final pitch resulted in the Pulaski hitter winding up on the seat of his pants after an unsuccessful attempt to check his swing. He ended up striking out five batters on the night.  All of them swinging.

He was helped by the ground rules in the fourth.  After striking out the first two batters, the next batter reached on a hit to short stop.  Thomas Lindauer made a nice backhanded play on a sharply hit ball but couldn't recover for the throw.  The next batter hit a ball into the right field corner that went under the gate for a ground rule double.  If not for the gate being there, it would have been an RBI triple - Pulaski's third of the evening.

In the sixth, Lee had a different kind of luck. After hitting the first batter, he induced a ground ball to second. Marc Wik had to come in to field the ball and made a swipe at the runner going by before throwing to first.  The umpire ruled Wik didn't tag the runner going to second.  Both Wik and Lindauer were adamant the tag had been made.  From my angle, it appeared the umpire made the safe sign before Wik even attempted the tag. 

Lee had the next batter in a 1-2 count and left a pitch up in the zone that was sent over the left field wall.  After giving up a bunt hit to the next batter, his night was done.  He deserved a better fate than taking the loss.

Gonzalo Sanudo came into finish off game getting five straight outs.  Four of them were air outs and three went to the outfield.

At The Plate

When you get three hits as a team, there is not too much to write about here.

Thomas Lindauer had the big hit of the night, a RBI double to left that scored Wallace Gonzalez from first.  

Marc Wik singled in the first after fouling off five pitches.  He was in an 0-2 whole and ended up seeing a total of eight pitches that at bat before reaching on a bouncer up the middle.  He was robbed of another single by a nice play by the second baseman to lead off the sixth.

Tyler White had a solid single to left to lead off the fourth but was erased on a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

Angel Ibanez hit a ball hard up the middle that the short stop made a nice play on to prevent him from having a hit on the night.

A bit of good news - the Mariners are second in the league in most strike outs by their pitchers.  They came into the games just two K's behind the G-Stros pitchers.  In the 16 innings played in the series so far, G-Stro batters have just five strike outs.  Meanwhile the G-Stro pitchers added 15 to their total. 

In The Field

Lindauer also made the play of the game in the field as well.  He climbed the ladder and nabbed a line drive to end the fifth inning.

Ibanez made a nice play at third in the sixth.  With a runner on third, he fielded a ground ball on a short hop and made a nice throw to catcher Ricky Gingras to get the runner who had been going on contact.

Tyler White made a nice play at first on a hard hit ball in the second inning.  

Overall

After being 10-1 in one run games, they lost two last night.  Just not enough offense to get the job done.  

Astros Minor League Recaps

Friday's Games

Pulaski Mariners, Greeneville Astros - suspended until today due to rain

GCL Tigers 2, GCL Astros 1  

The Astros only allowed three hits in this matchup and still went on to lose despite more than doubling their opponent's hit output (7). Austin Nicely started and through the first three gave up a run on one hit and a walk. Troy Scribner (5-2) followed Nicely, recording a run on two hits over the next five innings, while striking out half a dozen. Scribner took the loss. Luis De La Rosa hit two-for-three in the game and Jose Fernandez went nothing-for-two, but drew two walks.

DSL Royals 5, DSL Astros 1

The DSL Astros shut out the DSL Royals yesterday until the seventh inning, when one run scored for the tie. An inning later in the ninth, Carlos Vazquez (1-1), one of three pitchers in the inning, recorded four runs and picked up the loss. Juan Hernandez threw the first two and two-thirds, keeping them hitless and scoreless, while walking five and striking out two. Victor Mesa came on to pitch in the sixth and allowed the tying run in the seventh on a walk, wild pitch and a single. Mesa left with a blown save, four hits, a run, a walk and two Ks in his outing. Vazquez tallied his four runs through two outs in the ninth and left having allowed a hit and four walks. The DSL Astros had two players with multi-hit games, Hector Roa and Jean Estrella. Roa went two-for-three with a walk and Estrella went two-for-four.

Tri-City Valley Cats 3, Vermont Lake Monsters 5
The Valley Cats fell behind early and never quite recovered in this one. Starter Kevin Comer (2-3) lasted just an out into the third, allowing all five runs on six hits and striking out one for the loss. Evan Grills would pitch the last four innings for Tri-City, giving up only three hits and striking out six—including the first two and last two batters he faced. Conrad Gregor hit three-for-five in the game with a strikeout. Jon Kemmer and Ryan Dineen both batted two-for-four. Kemmer also scored a run, had an RBI and struck out twice.  

Quad Cities River Bandits 1, Burlington Bees 0
The River Bandits only needed one run on Friday as they two-hit, shut out the Bees on the road behind dominant pitching by starter Vincent Velasquez (7-4). Velasquez pitched seven innings, recording just two hits and striking out seven. Jordan Jankowski followed with a perfect inning in the eighth (2 K) and Juan Minaya picked up his fourth save after working the hitless ninth (although he did walk two), striking out three. Teoscar Hernandez went two-for-four at the plate (SO) and scored the winning run in the eighth. After advancing on a wild pitch Hernandez was brought around by Austin Elkins' (1X4, SB) only hit of the day, an RBI single.

Lancaster JetHawks 2, Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 1 (10)
The JetHawks didn't score until the seventh, but were able to ride some very solid pitching into the 10th inning Friday before Chris Epps hit a go-ahead homer that would win the game. Mike Hauschild pitched the first six and a third, allowing a run, five hits and striking out seven before making way for Blair Walters, who would pick up the win. Walters (5-1) worked through the ninth, facing the minimum and striking out four, including the last three he faced, to force extras. Kenny Long picked up save number four after striking out the last batter of the game. Lancaster tied things up in the seventh when Carlos Perdomo (1X4 2B RBI) doubled to score Joe Sclafani (0X4 R). Epps (1X4 R HR RBI 3SO) hit his go-ahead, solo shot with one out in the 10th—his 13th long ball of the year. Delino DeShields was the only Lancaster player with multiple hits in the game, finishing two-for-four with a double and a stolen base.  

Corpus Christi Hooks 12, Midland RockHounds 6 (7)

In the first game of the double header Friday the Hooks jumped out to an early lead and by the fourth inning had scored four runs. Nick Tropeano (5-7) threw all but the last inning, earning the win after allowing five runs on six hits, walking a pair and striking out six. Theron Geith worked one out in the seventh and added another run on three hits. The Hooks had 15 hits in this seven inning game and three were homers (Stassi, Santana, Tucker). Three guys had three hits, two had two hits apiece and Domingo Santana topped them all with three RBI. Here's the box to make sense of it:

Corpus Christi Hooks 2, Midland RockHounds 0 (7)
In the second game of the day, the Hooks shut out the RockHounds to claim the double header with authority. Brady Rodgers was called up from Lancaster for a spot start and pitched five innings in his debut. Rodgers (1-0) allowed five hits and not much else, striking out six to take the win. Pat Urckfitz gave up a hit and struck out two in the seventh, earning him his sixth save of the season. Kiké Hernandez (2X3), Ronald Torreyes (2X4 2SO) and Zach Johnson (2X3) all had two hits in this game. Hernandez also swiped a bag.     

Iowa Cubs 6, Oklahoma City RedHawks 10
The RedHawks had eight on the board before the Cubs were able to answer back Friday. Wade LeBlanc (2-1) pitched the first five and earned the win, allowing three runs on five hits while walking four during his shift. Alex Sogard followed for and inning and two-thirds, allowing three more runs on four hits, striking out one. Oklahoma City had a ton of hits on Friday and Robbie Grossman and Jose Martinez led the charge with three apiece. Grossman stole a base to boot and the second inning, in which the RedHawks scored six runs, saw the opposing manager and hitting coach ejected as OKC hit around the order. Here's the box:

Player of the Day: Chris Epps takes the cake today for his go-ahead homer in the 10th inning yesterday. What better way to support his pitchers for their superb outings than to blast one into the cheap seats and secure the win?

Pitcher of the Day: There were several good pitching performances yesterday, but Vincent Velasquez was a head above everyone. He not only threw a career-high seven innings and was a huge part of that magnificent shut out, but he also retired the first twelve batters he faced in order. Put simply, Velasquez was on fire yesterday.  

Brady Rodgers also earned a shout out for his call-up, spot start in Corpus. He came out and dominated, earning a win as part of another shutout and struck out six. Rodgers threw 88 pitches in his five innings and 65 of them were strikes—impressive.