Houston Astros Minor League Recap: 4/22/14

Gimme Some o' That Down-Home Cookin' - Thomas Lindauer started hot in his first two games with his hometown Quad Cities River Bandits - hot enough that MiLB.com's Sam Dykstra decided to write a feature about it. Next on Lindauer's list? Maybe getting some publicity with a picture in a professional uniform. Seriously, though, folks. Lindauer has twelve total bases in two games since coming out of Extended Spring Training. He's slashing .556/.556/1.333... that's a 1.889 OPS. He struggled to the tune of a .073 batting average over 22 games in Tri-City after being drafted last year, finally moving down to Greeneville, where he fared better, but still just managed an OPS of .625. He's already topped his home run total (1) from 2013, too. Things are looking up.

POW, POW, POWer Wheels - No current Houston Astros farmhands took home Player of the Week honors this week, but former Houston Astro J.D. Martinez did get the nod in the International League. Martinez has since been called up and played his first game for Detroit last night. In the California League, Pat Kivlehan took home the honors after having back-to-back two-homer games in Lancaster. You're welcome, Patrick.

What Happened Was...

Oklahoma City RedHawks (AAA) - The RedHawks' pitchers only recorded three strikeouts - all of them by Rhiner Cruz in the ninth inning. Starter David Martinez and tandem starter Bobby Doran combined with Cruz to allow three runs on nine hits and two walks - but luckily, the offense came to play against the Memphis Redbirds (STL). Every starter but one (DH Ryan McCurdy... guys, I'm not kidding; Ryan McCurdy was the Designated Hitter in this game) had at least one hit, and their ten total hits included four of the extra-base variety, including home runs from Jon Singleton and Jonathan Meyer. The eight runs were more than enough to beat the Redbirds, 8-3.

Oklahoma City: 12-8, 1st - Pacific Coast League American Northern

• CF Robbie Grossman - 2/2, 2 R, 3 BB, CS
• SS Ronny Torreyes - 1/4, R, RBI, HBP, E
• 2B Kike Hernandez - 1/5, 2B, R, 2 RBI
• 1B Jon Singleton - 1/4, HR, R, 2 RBI, K
• LF Domingo Santana - 1/5, RBI, 2 K
• 3B Jonathan Meyer - 2/4, HR, R, RBI, 2 E
• RHP David Martinez - 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 10/4 GO/FO
• RHP Bobby Doran - 3.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 4/3 GO/FO
• RHP Rhiner Cruz - 1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 0/0 GO/FO

Corpus Christi Hooks (AA) - Chris Epps has struggled so far in Double-A, but you wouldn't know it from watching him in last night's game against the Midland Rockhounds (OAK). Batting leadoff as the Designated Hitter, Epps (one of my favorite Astros farmhands, by the way) drew three walks in the game, but it was his second-inning grand slam that brought the Hooks back into the game, which they'd quickly fallen behind in, 5-0. Another run in the fourth for the Hooks, and that would be all the scoring until the bottom of the twelfth, when Nolan Fontana poked his fourth single of the night into right field, scoring Jio Mier and winning it, walk-off style, 6-5.

Corpus Christi: 11-7, 2nd - Texas League South (2.0 GB)

• DH Chris Epps - 1/4, HR (GS), 2 R, 4 RBI, 3 BB, 2 K
• 2B Nolan Fontana - 4/7, RBI
• CF Andrew Aplin - 2/4, HBP, RBI, PO
• RF Preston Tucker - 0/4, BB, HBP, K
• 3B/1B Matt Duffy - 2/5, 2B, R, HBP
• SS Jio Mier - 2/6, R, 3 K
• RHP Aaron West - 3.1 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 4/4 GO/FO
• LHP Alex Sogard - 2.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 2/2 GO/FO
• RHP Jordan Jankowski - 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 1/1 GO/FO
• RHP Travis Ballew - 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 4/1 GO/FO
• RHP Andrew Robinson - 2.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 2/1 GO/FO

Lancaster Jethawks (A+) - Hey, you know what? Josh Hader, that's what. Five innings, two hits, one run, one walk, seven strikeouts. And hey, Jamaine Cotton, that's what else. A perfect ninth inning with two strikeouts. In his previous four outings, Cotton had allowed exactly one hit in each of them, and had struck out exactly one hitter in all four combined. Through his first five appearances (one inning each,) he has not allowed a single run. It also bears mentioning that three of the Jethawks' first four hitters had multi-hit games, and the one who didn't - Teoscar Hernandez - made up for it with a two-run home run. Jethawks beat the Inland Empire 66ers (LAA), 5-1.

Lancaster: 13-6, t-1st - California League South

• 2B Tony Kemp - 2/5, R, K, SB
• CF Teoscar Hernandez - 1/5, HR, R, 2 RBI, 3 K
• SS Carlos Correa - 2/4, 2B, K
• 3B Rio Ruiz - 2/4, R
• 1B Brandon Meredith - 1/4, 2B, R, RBI
• LHP Josh Hader - 5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 4/2 GO/FO
• RHP Chris Devenski - 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 6/1 GO/FO
• RHP Jamaine Cotton - 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 0/1 GO/FO

Quad Cities River Bandits (A) - By the time Adrian Houser gave up two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and got pulled for my new hero, Pat Christensen, the River Bandits offense had already built a giant cushion by following up a three-run third with a four-run fourth against the Clinton LumberKings (SEA). It was smooth sailing from there - hours before the Houston Astros defeated the Seattle Mariners, their Single-A affiliates were setting the tone for the day. Four runs in the final two frames gave Quad Cities the 11-2 win.

And perhaps most importantly, the River Bandits are no longer in last place.

Quad Cities: 8-10, 7th - Midwest League Western (4.0 GB)

• LF Tanner Mathis - 2/4, R, BB, SB
• 1B Chase McDonald - 2/5, 2 2B, R, 2 RBI, K
• 3B Alex Gonzalez - 2/5, 2 2B, R, 3 RBI
• RHP Adrian Houser - 4.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, 7/0 GO/FO
• RHP Patrick Christensen - 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 2/1 GO/FO
• RHP Gonzalo Sanudo - 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 3/2 GO/FO
• RHP Andrew Walter - 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 1/1 GO/FO