Always try and catch OKC when they are in town, and I completely agree. A lot of fun. Way more Stros fans than usual too...
OKC 5 RR 0 Hmmmm...where to start. Oh yeah. Asher was simply awesome tonight. The Express hitters (Manny Rameriez included) were off balance all night. It seemed to me that he was mostly fastballs in the 89-92 mph range...but baffled them with the off-speed stuff in the low 80's. He was perfect through 5, giving up a single to lead off the 6th to Mike Ott...and promptly k'ing the next batter and inducing a double play to finish the inning. The next base runner for RR was in the 8th off a walk just after ManRam hit one to the warning track (and, for some strange reason, got a standing ovation by the fans above the RR dugout). Asher then got another dp to finish off the 8th. I think the only people left by the bottom of the 9th had Astros gear on as he got through the inning with 2 weak ground outs and a weak pop out to center. ManRam's long out was the only remotely hard hit ball all night. Everything else was a weak ground out or weak pop fly. Funny to me note...Wojciechowski did not fit on the rather large Dell Diamond scoreboard. The only bad part of Asher's evening was that this was probably only the 2nd best pitching performance of the night in the minors. Offensively, there was a lot of luck (3 RR errors) and all of the damage was done over the 3rd and 4th innings. I'd give the offensive star of the night to Marwin Gonzalez. He went 1-5 with 3 rbi, hitting a long double off the centerfield wall that scored 2 in the 4th. Robbie Grossman went 2-4 with the other 2 rbi. Springer went 1-3 with a k, 2 bb, 1 sb and got picked off once at 1st. Singleton went 1-4 in a fairly quiet night for him. Is it just me or is Jose Martinez a smaller version of Altuve? He is freaking miniature. I will say, though, the best part of the night was seeing how happy my son was getting autographs from Singleton, Asher, Cosart, Marwin, and a few others. He was absolutely beaming and said he's ready to finally start playing. I've been to probably close to 100 games in RR. This was my first since the parent club switch...and was probably the most fun I've ever had at a game.
Jose Martinez is listed at 5'11", 175, according to MiLB.com. While we're on the subject of Venezuelan 2B in the Astros system, I noticed that Ronald Torreyes is literally the exact same size as me.
Monday Stories Former Red Raiders do battle in Tulsa. Could the Hooks get the sweep? Asher Wojciechowski dominates the former AAA team. Offensive onslaught in Kissimmee. Oklahoma City 5, Round Rock 0 See post #1704. Corpus Christi 4, Tulsa 2 The Hooks got the sweep thanks to a strong performance on the mound from their former Red Raider, Bobby Doran, as he... well, I wouldn't say outpitched, but he certainly outlasted his college teammate, Chad Bettis. The Hooks also managed to win this one despite striking out 15 times. All 4 Hooks runs came off homers. Max Stassi put the Hooks on the board with a solo homer (5) in the 3rd. Preston Tucker capped off a fine series by sending 2 out. His first was a 2-run shot in the 6th, and he provided the insurance with a solo shot in the top of the 9th. He now has 3 homers as a member of the Corpus Christi Hooks, and that's 18 homers on the year for him. Doran pitched 6 strong innings, and a 2-run homer hit by Kyle Parker in the bottom of the 6th was his only mishap. He allowed 3 other hits, walked 2, and struck out 2. Carlos Quevedo was the first man out of the bullpen in the 7th and despite allowing a double to Dustin Garneau, got 2 outs. Pat Urckfitz stranded Garneau there to end the inning. Urckfitz then threw a 1-2-3 8th. Jorge De Leon struck out 1 in a 1-2-3 9th to close it out, and there you have it... the Hooks completed the sweep. The Hooks will have Tuesday off as they head back home. On Wednesday, they will welcome Frisco to Whataburger Field for 4. High Desert 7, Lancaster 3 Well, the Jethawks briefly held a 2-1 lead, but the Mavericks closed out the game on a 6-1 run. Andrew Aplin went 2-4 with a double to lead off the 4th and was able to take 3rd on an error. He would score on an M.P. Cokinos single. They actually had runners on the corners in the inning. Brandon Meredith hit an RBI single that scored Cokinos, but Matt Duffy was struck down at the plate to end the inning. Aplin hit an RBI single in the 5th. Joe Sclafani joined him in having a 2-hit evening; he was 2-3 with a walk. Tyson Perez threw 6 innings and allowed 6 on on 8 hits (2-run homer), walked 3, and struck out 1. T.J. Geith pitched the final 2 innings and allowed a run on 3 hits and struck out 2. The rubber game of the series features David Rollins going up against TBA at 7:05 Pacific. Bobby Shore started for High Desert 5 days ago. Quad Cities and Kane County was canceled Due to rain. As this game was to be the final regular-season meeting between the two teams, this game will not be made up. The River Bandits will return home and will have Tuesday off. They'll begin a 3-game series against the Bowling Green Hot Rods on Wednesday. Tri-City 2, Aberdeen 1 in 12 innings The ValleyCats drew even in the series as they walked off with the win. Ryan Dineen played hero, as he sent the fans home happy with a solo shot (1). Before that, the only run that TC had scored came in the 4th, when Mike Martinez hit a sac fly that scored Tony Kemp. Kemp finished 4-5, and all but 1 of the ValleyCats' 9 hits were singles. That one... was the winner. Randall Fant threw 5 shutout innings and allowed 4 hits and struck out 2. Zach Morton allowed a run on 3 hits, walked 1, and fanned 5 in 4 innings. Richard Rodriguez was outstanding in his 3 innings, as he allowed a hit and struck out 8 to get the victory. Mark Appel will get the start in the series finale, and he'll be taking on Janser Severino. First pitch is at 11:00 AM Eastern. Greeneville 3, Kingsport 2 The Appy Astros got on the board in the series as they jumped on the K-Mets early, and hung on for the victory. Chase McDonald hit a 2-run homer (2) to put Greeneville on the board first in the 1st. That's his 2nd straight game with a home run. Tanner Mathis was 2-3 with an RBI single in the 3rd. Everyone in the lineup had at least 1 hit except for Darwin Rivera, who reached on an error and scored on McDonald's homer, and Edwin Gomez, who struck out in his only plate appearance. Chris Lee was scheduled to start, but he was pushed back a day, probably because that part of Tennessee has been (h/t Anthony Boyer) pounded by rain for a week now. In his stead, Sebastian Kessay got the start, and he went 2 2/3 innings. The only run and hit he allowed was a solo homer to Victor Cruzado in the 1st. He struck out 3. Christian Garcia threw 2 1/3 scoreless and allowed a hit, walked 1, and fanned 1. Austin Chrismon allowed a run on 3 hits in 2 innings, and J.D. Osborne finished off the game, allowing 2 hits and fanning 5 in 2 innings to get the save, his 5th. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Early crazy sleeper alert: Our 36th-round pick, J.D. Osborne. 6-foot-5 LHP, almost sidearm & up to 95. So far: 10 IP, 8 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 19 K.</p>— Kevin Goldstein (@Kevin_Goldstein) <a href="https://twitter.com/Kevin_Goldstein/statuses/354446548811264000">July 9, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> There's a 40% chance of rain in Kingsport on Tuesday, as they'll play the series finale. Lee will get the start against Robert Whalen. First pitch is at 7:00 Eastern. GCL Astros 13, GCL Braves 1 The Astros just absolutely pulverized the Barves in Kissimmee this afternoon. They already led 6-0, but when the Braves got 1 in the 6th, they just decided to end it with 5 in the bottom of the inning. Jean Carlos Batista was 3-4 with a double, 2 runs scored, and 2 RBI. The first RBI came on a single in the 1st that put the GCLstros on the board first. Tyler White, who finished 2-3 with 2 runs scored, hit an RBI single in the 3rd. Luis De La Rosa then cleared the bases with a double, and he would score on an error after a Yoel Silfa single. In the 6th, they got a sac fly from Yonathan Mejia, 2 RBI doubles from Batista and White, and a 2-run homer from Jake Nottingham, the first homer of his career. And finally in the 7th, Jason Martin hit an RBI fielder's choice, and Jose Solano hit a sac fly. Luis Reynoso went 4-6 with a double and 2 runs scored to up his average to .389. Joe Bircher was stretched out in this rehab start, and he was pretty good. He threw 5 shutout innings, allowed 6 hits, and struck out 4. Javier Lozano allowed an unearned run, walked 1, and struck out 1 in the 6th. Chris Munnelly walked 1 in the 7th, and Kevin Ferguson pitched 2 perfect innings to finish off, striking out 1. The GCLstros are headed to Disney World, where they'll face the Braves there at noon Eastern. DSL Astros 4, DSL Red Sox 3 The Academy staved off a 9th-inning threat from the Red Sox to hang on for the win. Trailing 2-0 after the 1st, they responded with 3 in the 2nd to gain the lead. Jarico Reynoso hit an RBI single, Luis Payano an RBI double, and Arturo Michelena an RBI infield single. They got 1 more in the 6th on a Brian Peña RBI groundout. Juan Hernandez went 1 1/3 and allowed 2 runs on 3 hits, walked 2, and struck out 2. Junior Garcia allowed a hit and fanned 3 over 4 2/3 scoreless. Victor Mesa allowed an unearned run on 2 hits, walked 1, and struck out 1 in the 7th. Cristhopher Santamaria retired all 4 batters he faced, throwing a 1-2-3 8th and getting the first out of the 9th before being lifted for Angel Heredia, after he hit a batter. Heredia then allowed a single, and then threw a wild pitch to put runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. However, he struck out Isaias Lucena and Luis Alejandro Basabe to end the threat, and the game. Regarding Basabe, this is something that everyone needs to be aware of. The following is from Ben Badler's international recap of the Red Sox. He's super duper cereal, too. Well, the Astros will travel to the Red Sox complex for a game at 10:30 AM Atlantic.
Strong! Outside of Wrigley, I've never seen fans "cry yard" faster than they did on that. OOOOOOHHHHHHHH...it's a flyball. Awesome writeup, you should go again manana, wish I could.
They were pretty bad with the misjudging of weak pop outs. I'm going if I can convince my wife it's worth it for a 2nd consecutive night.
On now. Mark allowed a hit in a scoreless 1st, striking out 2. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Mark Appel on the bump again for the 'Cats. Join me for the 11 AM start on <a href="http://t.co/SHJfMZeyx6">http://t.co/SHJfMZeyx6</a> as the #1 overall pick makes his 2nd start</p>— Matt Appel (@mattappel) <a href="https://twitter.com/mattappel/statuses/354610792823390209">July 9, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
BA Midseason Prospects Update: Best, Biggest Leap Forward, and Biggest Disappointment ($$) Spoiler Best: George Springer Biggest Leap Forward: Jake Buchanan Biggest Disappointment: Surprisingly, Jimmy Paredes
Cruised. He's probably done for the morning. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Mark Appel through 2 innings: 27 pitches, one hit, and 4 strikeouts, including three in a row! No score in the bottom of the 2nd</p>— Tri-City ValleyCats (@ValleyCats) <a href="https://twitter.com/ValleyCats/statuses/354621109397766147">July 9, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Or is he? <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Appel has thrown 27 pitches through 2, and has looked dominating. 4 K's, one hit and no runs. Great slider command. No one up in Cats 'pen</p>— Matt Appel (@mattappel) <a href="https://twitter.com/mattappel/statuses/354621715126558720">July 9, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Yeah, I thought his eligibility as a prospect expired in 2011 when he got 168 ABs.
Appel has topped out at 93 on the stadium gun according to the broadcast. People have said the Tri City gun is a little slow though.
Three Stars: July 8 3. Jake Nottingham, C, and Luis Reynoso (no photo), SS, GCL Astros Nottingham: 2-R HR(1) in 6th Reynoso: 4-6, 2B, 2 R Nottingham's barely 18. The book on him is that although he's kind of big for a catcher (then again, Matt Wieters is 6'5", 240 and Mike Zunino is 6'2", 220), his athleticism will give him a chance to stick behind the plate. Oh yeah, he's definitely way way off, but I sure do hope that he has a career along Zunino's and Wieters' lines. Reynoso has come out blazing. Sure, he's fresh off the DSL, where he was pretty much the Academy's only bright spot, and GCL numbers are pretty tough to get excited about, but he's putting himself on the map. 2. Preston Tucker, RF, Corpus Christi 2-4, 2 HR (3, 18 season), 3 RBI In reference to Saturday: <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/PrestonTucker25">@PrestonTucker25</a> I see that you're still celebrating your birthday. Great job tonight!!!</p>— Jayne (@whattheheck57) <a href="https://twitter.com/whattheheck57/statuses/354426865894699009">July 9, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Hoping this outing gets his bat going in AA. I think Tucker could sneak into OKC by season's end if his bat warms. 1. Asher Wojciechowski, P, Oklahoma City W(5-4, 7-5 season), CG, H, BB, 5 K Uh... could this choice have been any easier? How about a September rotation of: Jordan Lyles Brad Peacock Jarred Cosart Asher Wojciechowski Jake Buchanan Eh? Honorable Mentions Chase McDonald, 1B/DH, Greeneville: 2 of his 3 hits have been homers. I don't think this guy will be a TTO type... he might not strike out enough to get tagged with the three true outcomes label. Yeah, that's a positive, people. Bobby Doran, P, Corpus Christi: I'd imagine that Doran takes the Jose Cisnero route next year; aim for a spot on the Astros in spring, start off in OKC, and then break in as a reliever. Tony Kemp, 2B, Tri-City: Pounded out 4 singles. 2 of which were of the infield variety. I LIKE U TOO, TONY KEMP Joe Bircher, P, GCL Astros: Could be ready to go back to the Quad Cities. Goat Yeah, High Desert is a bigger hitter's park than Lancaster, but giving up 6 in 6 innings won't help much, Tyson Perez.
