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Astros MiLB Recap: Games of April 23, 2014

A convincing win, a not-so-convincing loss, a bye, and a walk-off (not the good kind) for the Astros' Minor League affiliates on Wednesday.

By alwaysagoodwin

OKLAHOMA CITY REDHAWKS (AAA):

They had a bye. No Singleton homer, no Stassi homer...but the team's still in 1st by 1.5 games with a 12-8 record.

Folty's on the mound today against Nashville, carrying that 7.20 ERA around. Here's to him settling down and finding the strike zone.

CORPUS CHRISTI HOOKS (AA): Loss, 3-1 to Midland

The Hooks couldn't get a run out of Midland starter Chris Jensen until the 8th inning with a Nolan Fontana double, when they were already down in a 3-0 hole, and it was too little, too late.

Ruben Alaniz didn't seem to have much control and couldn't get the ball on the ground, only one of his outs coming via grounder, coupled with 3 walks and 3 hits leading to 2 runs. Altogether an unimpressive night, with Leo Heras coming as a bit of a bright spot with a couple singles that couldn't produce the semblance of a rally.

Thomas Shirley's going to be pitching. He's been hot to start the season, with 22 Ks and a 1.56 ERA.

  • Nolan Fontana, 2B: 1-3, 2B, RBI, K
  • Andrew Aplin, CF: 0-3, BB
  • Preston Tucker, DH: 0-3, BB
  • Leo Heras, LF: 2-4, CS
  • Chris Epps, RF: 0-3, BB, 2 Ks, SB
  • Jio Mier, SS: 0-2, BB, R
  • Luis Cruz, P: 6.0 IP, 4H, 1R, 1ER, 3 Ks
  • Ruben Alaniz, P: 3.0 IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 3 BBs, 2 Ks

LANCASTER JETHAWKS (A+): Loss, 4-3 to Inland Empire (12 innings)

This one really hurt. I opened up Gameday in the 8th and started following it after Anthony got me to sub for him, but all that seemed to happen were a lot of walks and strikeouts for both teams, until Inland Empire opened off with a double by Chance Ross, then when the bases were fully loaded, singled him in to win on a walk-off. In extras, the Jethawks had multiple opportunities for rallies, getting plenty of men into scoring position, but couldn't put them across.

However, the Jethawks had a very impressive 6th inning which stood out to me. Tony Kemp led off the inning with a walk, stole second, and advanced to third on Teoscar Hernandez's sac fly. Carlos Correa then singled him in. Correa proceeded to steal second and advance to third on a bad throw by the catcher. After Rio Ruiz struck out, Brandon Meredith singled home Correa. This was a great example of making the most of an opportunity, even in the absence of extra-base hits and other fun stuff. Instead of non-agressive baserunning, which could easily have resulted in no runs scored during the inning, Lancaster instead rallied and kept the game alive, even though they came short in extras.

How about Mike Hauschild? 4 innings of one-hit ball, 7 groundouts, and 3 strikeouts. He kept the Jethawks in the game

Vincent Velasquez takes the ball for the rubber game tonight.

  • Anthony Kemp, 2B: 1-3, 2 BBs, SB
  • Teoscar Hernandez, CF: 0-5, BB, 2 Ks
  • Carlos Correa, SS: 1-4, RBI, 2 BBs, 2 Ks, 2 SBs
  • Rio Ruiz, 3B: 2-6, 2B, 3 Ks
  • Danry Vasquez, RF: 1-5, BB, 4 Ks
  • Roberto Pena, C: 3-4, 2B, BB
  • Mark Appel, P: 2.1 IP, 6H, 3R, 3ER, 1 BB, 2 Ks
  • Juan Minaya, P: 1.2 IP, 2 Ks
  • Mike Hauschild: 4.0 IP, 1H, 0R, 1 BB, 3 Ks

QUAD CITIES RIVER BANDITS (A-): Win, 7-1 over Clinton

The pitching in this game was really superb. The first tandem starter, Chris Lee, allowed 5 hits but contained their damage to only one run. Andrew Thurman followed with 4 innings of one-hit ball coupled with 5 Ks and no walks (the River Bandits didn't walk anyone in this game), and Albert Minnis finished off with a perfect ninth.

Kent Emanuel starts today hoping to win the series for the River Bandits.

Meanwhile, the 16 hits came from everywhere, with only Jon Kemmer not getting at least one, and three players tallied at least three hits. Jobduan Morales stood out among them, going 3-3 with 3 doubles and 2 RBIs as well as walking in both his other PAs. The River Bandits never trailed in the game and kept piling on the runs, scoring in all but 3 innings. The stats tell most of the story, and here they are:

  • Tanner Mathis, LF: 1-5, R, 3B, BB
  • Chan Moon, 2B: 4-5, 2 R, 3B, 3 RBI, CS
  • Conrad Gregor, 1B: 3-5, 2B
  • Chase McDonald, DH: 2-4, RBI, BB, K
  • Brett Phillips, CF: 1-3, R, 2 BB, CS
  • Jobduan Morales, C: 3-3, R, 3 2Bs, 2 RBI, 2 BB
  • Thomas Lindauer, SS: 1-5, R, 2B
  • Chris Lee, P: 4.0 IP, 5H, 1R, 1ER, 2 Ks
  • Andrew Thurman, P: 4.0 IP, 1H, 5 K

Anything to add, as always, feel free to leave it in the comments!

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