Astros Minor League Recap- Games of May 31, 2014

AAA: Oklahoma City Redhawks 8, Memphis Redbirds (STL) 6

Just another day at the office for Jon Singleton; he hit his 14th homer of the year to go along with 11 total OKC hits in the win. Jake Buchanan wasn't great, allowing 5 runs in 5 innings, but the offense carried the load and the bullpen took it from there. Domingo Santana capped off a spectacular month at the plate with two hits.

Kike Hernandez: 1-3, 2B, RBI
Adron Chambers: 1-2,  2 BB
Jon Singleton: 2-4, HR (14), BB, K
Domingo Santana: 2-5, 2 K
Max Stassi: 1-5, K
Ronald Torreyes: 3-5

Jake Buchanan: 5 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

AA: Corpus Christi Hooks 11, NW Arkansas Naturals (KC) 2

We'll call this one the Preston Tucker show. All he did was knock his 12th and 13th homers of the season while adding a double, good for 36 RBI. Delino DeShields got in on the action with his fifth homer and 20th and 21st stolen bases. Though the batting average is only sitting at .266 (not terrible), DeShields is well on his way to some very solid stolen base/power totals by the end of the year. And not to be outdone, Nolan Fontana reached base four times and is now hitting .284 with a .427 OBP. Jordan Jankowski pitched a solid game for the Hooks, striking out five against one walk in five innings.

Delino Desheilds: 1-4, HR(5), BB, K, 2 SB (21)
Nolan Fontana: 2-3, 2 BB
Preston Tucker: 4-5, 2 HR (13), 2B
Rene Garcia: 1-5, HR(4)
Andrew Aplin: 1-2

Jordan Jankowski: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K

A+: Rancho Cucamongo Quakes (LAD) 16, Lancaster Jethawks 13

You like offense? Here's some offense. Six homers and 38 hits combined between these two teams. Unfortunately it came at the expense of Mark Appel, who posted a line that he would like to forget very quickly; 1.1 IP, 10 H, 10 ER. That's a rough start and we have to hope that the real Mark Appel will show up at some point. The Lancaster offense came alive late and nearly came back from a 16-2 deficit. Kemp, Correa and Gregor each had two hits, while Ruiz and Vasquez had three apiece. Correa continues to heat up and is hitting .318, Gregor has hit well since moving to Lancaster, and Danry Vasquez is hitting .343 in his last ten games. 

Tony Kemp: 2-5
Ruben Sosa: 2-5, HR
Carlos Correa: 2-6, 2B
Rio Ruiz: 3-5
Conrad Gregor: 2-4

Mark Appel: 1.1 IP, 10 H, 10 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
Brian Holmes: 4.1 IP, 1 ER, 7 K

A: Quad Cities River Bandits 4, Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (MIL) 3

The River Bandits squeaked this one out behind a solid performance from starter Evan Grills, who stuck out seven in six innings. James Ramsay had three hits, raising his average to .259, while Chan Moon and Tanner Mathis contributed the two RBI each that got QC just enough offense to advance. I imagine that there could be a chain reaction in the system that sends Tony Kemp to Corpus and Moon to Lancaster soon.

James Ramsay: 3-4, 2B, BB
Chan Moon: 1-3, 2 BB, K
Tanner Mathis: 2-3, 2 BB

Evan Grills: 6 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 7 K
Frederick Tiburcio: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 K

DSL: Astros Blue 7, Indians 2
Angels 12, Astros Orange 3

The Dominican Summer League started yesterday, and the Astros have two teams. There are a few guys on these teams that have been higher-profile international signings, like Wander Franco, Joan Mauricio and Nestor Tejada, as well as a couple of Australian guys like Connor MacDonald.

Wander Franco: 3-5, HR
Nestor Tejada: 0-4, BB
Joan Mauricio: 2-3, 3B
Connor MacDonald: 0-5