Astros Minor League Recap: Mythical Lancaster No-Hitter

If you haven't already heard about the mythical Lanaster no-hitter, you need to get your head out of the hole it's burried in...seriously. I joke, but it's a tale that in the most inconceivable hitting environment, anything's possible. With the violent California winds and the balls in the air, Lancaster is no place for a no hitter. But it happened. The tale goes on to say that it was only possible with loads of strikeouts. But, it happened without that. There were only twelve in the whole game and only seven were thrown by the JetHawks.

It's truly an amazing accomplishment that shouldn't go unnoticed. Kyle Hallock in his California League debut tossed five no hit innings and his only blemish was that Delino DeShields picked up an error that allowed for a baserunner to reach which pushed him to facing one over the minimum. It helps that Hallock is pretty good at inducing groundballs as nine of his outs were via the groundball. Luis Cruz followed him with four more obviously no-hit innings. His only blemish was a one out walk in the ninth but induced a groundball from Addison Russell for a game ending double-play.

You can read about the no-hitter at MiLB.com as well as Jason Schwartz's game article. Listening to Jason Schwartz call the final out was very exciting. I'm pretty sure he was jumping up and down. And, speaking of Jason Schwartz, we had him on the inaugural TCB Astros Minor's Podcast (AMP) last night. Unfortunately, the interview was held on Saturday, before the no-hitter. So, go check him out on the podcast, his game story, and follow him on twitter @jasondschwartz.

Jayne at What the Heck, Bobby was actually in attendance for the game and has her story as well which also includes video and post-game interviews with Hallock and Cruz.

Oklahoma City blows lead late for 9-3 Loss

It was another quality start for Jarred Cosart but Rhiner Cruz and Kevin Chapman couldn't keep the lead and combined for eight runs allowed to blow the game out in the final two innings.

• Jarred Cosart-6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO, 12/2 GO/AO, 92/52
• Jason Stoffel-1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO
• Kevin Chapman-2/3 IP, 0 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO
• Rhiner Cruz-1 1/3 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO, 1 HR
• Jonathan Villar SS-0-4, 3 SO
• Jake Elmore 2B-1-4, BB, SB
• Brandon Laird DH-1-3, 2B, BB
• Che-Hsuan Lin CF-1-3, SB

Mier's HR Not Enough For Hooks to Overcome in 5-2 Loss

Jiovanni Mier's had a rough season. He's been good and he's been bad. Overall numbers look awful, but he's been better than you think. His power has been coming out a bit with last night being his fourth home run. His ISO is better than last years. But, he seems to be pressing. His strikeout rate is up and his walk rate is down a bit. The reason I think he's pressing, his LD% is way down. He's just not squaring up on the ball. The ISO shows that when he does, he's hitting it hard though. His peripherals just aren't characteristic of him. He's also unlucky as all get out, he has a .230 BABIP. That is going to come up.

• Ruben Alaniz-5 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO, 2 HR, 7/4 GO/AO, 67/44 P/S
• Matt Heidenreich-2 1/3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 5/1 GO/AO, 30/23 P/S
• Kenny Long-2/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO
• Andrew Robinson-1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO
• Jiovanni Mier SS-2-4, HR, BB, SO

Lancaster did that No-Hit Thing

• Kyle Hallock-5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 9/2 GO/AO
• Luis Cruz-4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 3/1 GO/AO
• Nolan Fontana SS-0-4, 2 SO-WHHHHAAAATTTT
• Andrew Aplin CF-1-4, 2B

River Bandits lose 4-2

• Mike Hauschild-5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 SO, 9/1 GO/AO
• Colton Cain-4 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO, 6/2 GO/AO
• Jesse Wierzbicki 1B-2-4, SO, PO, E
• Terrell Joyce LF-0-2, 2 BB, SO
• Rio Ruiz 3B-1-4, HR, 2 SO