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Houston Astros Minor League Recap: 7/11/13

Frederick Tiburcio dazzles as the Astros farm splits the day, 4-4.

By Anthony Boyer

I've got some cool things in the works, but they're all still a little half-baked, so today's recap is going to be on the short side (well, for me.)

What Happened Was...

Oklahoma City RedHawks (AAA) - Jake Buchanan has been nothing short of magnificent this season, but he's taking a little longer than he'd like to adjust to the Pacific Coast League. He ran into trouble in the fourth inning against the New Orleans Zephyrs (MIA), allowing three runs, but he righted the ship and sailed through to the eighth with a 3-0 deficit. That's when things got out of hand. Buchanan allowed the first two batters of the inning to score, and was pulled in favor of Jose Valdez with no outs and runners on second and third. Valdez wasn't exactly sharp himself in his last outing - surrendering two runs on two hits and two walks on Tuesday and leaving the game without recording an out - and yesterday was no exception. The runners advanced on a sacrifice fly, with one scoring. A double scored another run. A single put runners on the corners. Swinging strikeout, followed by a single, an error, a hit by pitch, and finally another single, with a runner out advancing to third. All told, six runs were plated in the top of the eighth, with another two in the ninth, as Oklahoma City fell, 11-0. The RedHawks offense, still without Jonathan Villar, mustered just three hits.

Oklahoma City: 50-43, 3rd (3.0 GB) - Pacific Coast League American South

  • DH Robbie Grossman - 1/4, K
  • SS Marwin Gonzalez - 1/4, K
  • CF George Springer - 1/3, BB, K, CS
  • 1B Jonathan Singleton - 0/2, 2 BB, K
  • C Cody Clark - 0/1, 2 BB
  • RHP Jake Buchanan - 7.0 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 8 K
  • RHP Jose Valdez - 1.1 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
  • RHP Rhiner Cruz - 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
Corpus Christi Hooks (AA) - The Hooks are winners of six in a row, and yet the San Antonio Missions (SDP) are winners of four in a row themselves, keeping Corpus Christi from gaining much ground on them in the standings. With the Frisco RoughRiders (TEX) in town, things got off to a rough start as Ruben Alaniz allowed a run in the second inning on a pair of wild pitches. The teams each plated another run before the bottom of the sixth inning, when Corpus Christi pulled away on the strength of a Rene Garcia triple and a Michael Burgess double. From there, it was smooth sailing to a 5-2 victory.

Corpus Christi: 11-9, 2nd (2.0 GB) - Texas League South
  • 2B Kike Hernandez - 1/4, HR, R, RBI, K
  • C Rene Garcia - 3/4, 2B, 3B, R, RBI, CS
  • DH Erik Castro - 0/4, 4 K
  • LF Michael Burgess - 2/4, 2B, R, 2 RBI, 2 K
  • 3B Raoul Torrez - 1/3, RBI, BB
  • SS Jiovanni Mier - 1/4, 2 K, SB
  • RHP Ruben Alaniz - 6.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 2 WP, HBP
  • RHP Andrew Robinson - 1.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
  • RHP Jorge De Leon - 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Lancaster Jethawks (A+) - Here's a sentence you never thought you'd read: Telvin Nash hit his first home run in a week and Tyler Heineman was held without one for the first time in three games. Nash's solo shot in the bottom of the second inning put the Jethawks up 1-0 over the Inland Empire 66ers (LAA), but it wouldn't last. Starter Thomas Shirley ran into trouble in the third, allowing two runs, and the 66ers never looked back. Meanwhile, despite 10 hits, the Jethawks couldn't get any more runs across the plate as they lost, 7-1.

Lancaster: 15-7 - 1st, California League South
  • SS Nolan Fontana - 1/4, BB, 2 K
  • 2B Joe Sclafani - 1/3, 2 BB, K, SB
  • 1B MP Cokinos - 0/5
  • DH Telvin Nash - 2/5, HR, R, RBI, 2 K
  • 3B Matt Duffy - 4/4
  • C Tyler Heineman - 2/4
  • LHP Thomas Shirley - 6.0 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
  • RHP Cameron Lamb - 1.1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
  • LHP Theron Geith - 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
Quad Cities River Bandits (A) - With two singles, a walk, and two errors in the bottom of the first inning, Quad Cities looked like they might dominate this game early. Instead, they traded blows with the Bowling Green Hot Rods (TBR), eventually going into extra innings tied at 3. In the top of the 12th inning, Bowling Green scratched across a run - but in the bottom of the frame, Jobduan Morales drew a leadoff walk. He was replaced by pinch runner Terrell Joyce, who advanced to second on a wild pitch. Dan Gulbransen moved him to third on a groundout with two outs left in the inning, but Brian Blasik couldn't deliver, grounding into a fielder's choice before Catfish Elkins struck out to end the game. Quad Cities loses, 4-3. Meanwhile, a multi-hit game for Rio Ruiz gives him a four-game hit streak, going 7-for-16 over that stretch with two doubles and two home runs. Over his last ten games, he's slashing .343/.455/.686

Quad Cities: 12-7, 3rd (1.5 GB) - Midwest League Western
  • 2B Catfish Elkins - 0/4, 2 BB, K
  • CF Jordan Scott - 2/5, R, K
  • SS Carlos Correa - 1/4, R, 2 BB, K, CS
  • LF Jesse Wierzbicki - 2/6, 2B, R, RBI
  • 3B Rio Ruiz - 2/5, 2B, RBI, BB
  • RF Dan Gulbransen - 1/4, 2 BB
  • DH Brian Blasik - 0/6, K
  • RHP Vincent Velasquez - 5.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
  • LHP Mitchell Lambson - 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
  • RHP Juan Minaya - 4.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
Tri-City ValleyCats (A-) - In Game One of yesterday's doubleheader, the ValleyCats offense had a tough time getting going. The regulation seven innings with the Mahoning Valley Scrappers (CLE) ended up tied at one run apiece, but the offense broke out in a three-run eruption in the eighth, highlighted by Tony Kemp, who doubled home two runs, advancing to third on the throw home, and then scored on a wild pitch. ValleyCats win, 3-1, despite just four hits and one walk drawn.
  • 2B Tony Kemp - 1/4, 2B, R, 2 RBI, K
  • 3B Ryan Dineen - 1/2, RBI, HBP
  • RHP Adrian Houser - 5.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
  • RHP Charles Basford - 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
  • RHP Richard Rodriguez - 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
The ValleyCats offense had a hard time getting going, but luckily for them, Tanner Bushue was on, striking out five and allowing no walks and just two hits through six scoreless innings. Sure, Mahoning Valley hasn't been a very good team to this point in the season, but you still have to take advantage, and Tri-City did, walking away with a 1-0 win to sweep the doubleheader.

Tri-City: 16-9, 1st - New York-Penn League Stedler
  • 2B Tony Kemp - 0/3, 2 K
  • CF James Ramsay - 2/3, RBI
  • C Jake Rodriguez - 0/3, 3 K
  • 3B Adam Nelubowich - 0/3, 2 K
  • RHP Tanner Bushue - 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
  • RHP Andrew Walter - 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Greeneville Astros (Rk) - Since the Appy League season began, the Princeton Rays (TBR) have only managed to scrape together 5 wins - and one of them was on Wednesday to the Astros. I don't think there are "must win" games in July, but this would be a tough series for Greeneville to lose. Still, they only managed to get five hits. The good news? Three of them came in the first inning: After a leadoff walk by Tanner Mathis, Brett Phillips singled and was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. Brian Holberton doubled Mathis in and then - get this - Ariel Ovando brought Holberton around. Greeneville would get another hit in the second by Parker Hipp, and then none until the ninth, when they plated two more runs on the strength of a single hit and two errors. The good news? Frederick Tiburcio was almost unhittable on the mound, allowing a single (unearned) run and just two hits through six solid innings. Through his first five starts, Tiburcio has a 1-0 record, a 0.86 ERA, and an identical WHIP, 8 walks, and 24 strikeouts through 21.0 innings. Astros win, 4-1.

Greeneville: 11-10, 3rd (2.5 GB) - Appalachian League West
  • LF Tanner Mathis - 0/3, R, BB
  • CF Brett Phillips - 1/4
  • C Brian Holberton - 1/3, 2B, 2 R, RBI
  • 1B Edwin Gomez - 1/4, R, K
  • RF Ariel Ovando - 1/4, RBI, K
  • 3B Parker Hipp - 1/2, BB
  • RHP Frederick Tiburcio - 6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
  • LHP Jordan Mills - 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
GCL Astros (Rk) - The Astros put across a run in the top of the first inning, but in the bottom of the second, the wheels came off, as the GCL Tigers (DET) put up seven runs off of three different pitchers over a four-inning stretch. Even a four-run sixth by the Astros - with the Astros hitting for the cycle on a Jason Martin single, a Tyler White double, a Jacob Nottingham triple, and a Luis Reynoso home run - couldn't bridge the gap as the Astros fell, 7-5.

GCL Astros - 9-7, 2nd (2.5 GB) - Gulf Coast League Northeast
  • CF Jason Martin - 1/3, BB
  • 3B Alex Gonzalez - 1/4, HR, R, RBI, K
  • 1B Tyler White - 1/3, 2B, R, BB
  • C Jacob Nottingham - 1/4, 3B, R, RBI, 2 K
  • SS Luis Reynoso - 1/4, HR, R, 2 RBI, 2 K
  • RF Luis De La Rosa - 0/4, 3 K
  • RHP Agapito Barrios - 2.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
  • RHP Zachary Dando - 1.2 IP, 0 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 0 K
  • RHP Jorge Perez - 1.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
  • RHP Joe Musgrove - 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
DSL Astros - Postponed - Rain.

DSL Astros: 18-12, 3rd (2.0 GB) - Dominican Summer League Boca Chica Northwest

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