OKC got thrashed 11-4 by Albuquerque. The only significant events of note on offense was that they got 1 off the rehabbing Jonathan Broxton.... but other than that, yet another whipping... oh, and uh, Brian Bogusevic had a 2-run double in the 9th to go along with his triple. Sergio Perez allowed 6 runs (2 earned) and 10 hits (1 homer) in 5 1/3, getting the loss. He walked 7 and struck out 3. Corpus Christi dropped the 2nd game of their series with San Antonio, losing 10-6. Hooks were up 6-2 after 2, then the Missions scored 8 unanswered to close out the game. J.D. Martinez clubbed a 2-run homer, only his 4th on the season. He also chipped in an RBI single. Jonathan Villar tripled and scored twice. Jimmy Paredes went 2-5 with an RBI. Jose Altuve went 0-4, but also had an RBI. Erick Abreu allowed 7 runs on 10 hits (2 homers) in 5 innings to suffer his first loss of the year. Jake Buchanan was the 3rd pitcher in for the Cali League, after Tyler Skaggs (Visalia, property of Arizona) and Craig Westcott (San Jose, SF). Pitching the 3rd inning, Buchanan retired all 3 Carolina League hitters he faced, and struck out 1. Kody Hinze struck out in his only at-bat. The Cali League topped the Carolina League, 6-1. Legends in the Sally League All-Star game: Chris Wallace doubled. Mike Kvasnicka went 0-2. Jio Mier was the starter as shortstop. Batting 9th, he went 0-3. The South defeated the North 6-3. Tri-City dropped game 2 5-2 to Connecticut. Justin Gominsky went 2-3 with an RBI. Nick Tropeano had an impressive pro debut, allowing only 1 hit in 5 innings. He walked 2 and struck out 3. Unfortunately, the bullpen failed him, as Travis Smink blew the save and got the loss, allowing 2 hits, 3 runs (1 earned) and only got 1 out in the 8th. The Tigers scored all 5 of their runs in the bottom of the 8th. Rough opening night for Greeneville, as they fell behind Bristol 13-1 after the 5th on the way to losing 13-4. The White Sox scored all 13 of their runs in those 5 innings. G-Stros were held to 5 hits tonight. Ariel Ovando, in his long-awaited debut, was the RF and cleanup hitter and went 1-4 with an RBI single. Chase Davidson, batting 5th and playing 1st, had a solo homer and an RBI triple. Darwin Rivera, making his US debut after opening the year with 12 games at the academy, hit 6th and went 0-4 with a strikeout. 2011 draftees in the lineup: Ruben Sosa was the DH and the leadoff batter. He went 1-4, scored a run, and struck out twice. Alex Todd was the shortstop and hit 3rd. He went 1-4, scored a run, and committed 2 of the Astros' 3 errors. Chase Davidson... see above. Jose Perdomo, who got the L, was shelled, allowing 8 hits (2 homers), 7 runs (4 earned), and 1 walk without recording a strikeout in 1 2/3. The Gulf Coasters were at home in Kissimmee to play the Cardinals, and walked off 8-7 winners. They rallied from a 7-3 deficit and scored 1 in the 7th and 3 in the 8th to tie. Jarrod McKinney provided the game-winner, an RBI single scoring Jean Carlos Batista. Batista walked to lead off the inning, stole 2nd, then took 3rd on an error. McKinney did the rest. Justin Shults had an RBI double scoring Batista and McKinney in the 3rd. Chris Epps and Kenny Diaz each drove in a run. Francis Ramirez, who is repeating the Gulf Coast League, got the start, allowing 3 runs (2 earned) on 1 hit (not a homer), walking 2 and striking out 3 in 2 innings. Steve Dennison, son of Texans offensive coordinator Rick Dennison, went 1 inning, allowing a hit and recording a K. Blake Ford won his debut, pitching the 9th. He allowed 2 hits, but escaped the jam. Javaris Reynolds through 2 games: 0-7, 5 K The academy fell 3-1 to the Red Sox. Franny Polanco went 2-4 and drove in the only run. Agapito Barrios took the loss, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits in 3 1/3. He walked 3 and struck out 5.
Catcher Chris Wallace has been moved to Double-A Corpus Christi from Lexington Didn't catcher Ben Heath make the same jump last year?
OKC outlasted Albuquerque 5-4. Jose Valdez nearly blew it by allowing a solo homer in the 7th and a 2-run homer in the 8th which cut the OKC lead to 1. Tommy Manzella had a 2-run homer in the 6th and Koby Clemens had a pinch-hit homer in the 7th. RRS allowed 1 run on 4 hits in 4. He struck out 2. I'm guessing he left due to some sort of injury. Wesley Wright pitched 2 perfect innings of relief to get the win. He recorded 1 strikeout. One disastrous inning spelled doom for Xavier Cedeno and the Hooks. He allowed a grand slam to San Antonio's Jaff Decker in the 3rd. The very next batter, James Darnell, went solo. Those constituted all the runs Cedeno allowed in 5 innings. He allowed 2 other hits, walked 5, and struck out 6. Corpus responded with 3 in the 4th, but obviously, it wasn't enough as they lost 5-3. Jacob Goebbert had an RBI double. Jose Altuve went 2-4 and scored a run. Again, Lancaster and Lexington will return to action tomorrow. ValleyCats' series finale with Connecticut was rained out. They will go back to Troy to host the Lowell Spinners. 19th-round pick Mitchell Lambson, a lefty out of Arizona State, signed last Saturday and will be joining the ValleyCats for their series opener tomorrow. Jonas Dufek will take the hill. Greeneville walked off 4-3 losers in the 12th in Bristol. It's only the 2nd game! Maybe it's the Chase Davidson that the Astros drafted in the 3rd round straight out of high school. If his power is sustained, he would be an absolute steal considering he dropped to the 41st round. The G-Stros trailed 2-1 heading into the 9th. After Davidson grounded out to lead off the 9th, Jose Vargas doubled, then Ruben Sosa came in to pinch run for him. Sosa came home on another double from Ernesto Genoves. Darwin Rivera sacrificed himself to move Genoves to 3rd. Then, Garen Wright singled to give Greeneville the lead. Sadly, the G-Stros allowed the White Sox to tie the game in the bottom of the 9th. Freeport native Matison Smith was the culprit. Smith gave way to UFA Paris Shewey, who, in his debut, got 2 outs in the 12th, but was unable to extend the game to a 13th inning. Making his debut tonight was Chris Lee. He only got 2 batters out, allowing a run, then left the game with the bases loaded and 2 outs. Not to worry, he isn't injured. He was on a strict pitch count tonight. Jamaine Cotton came in and got the final out. He pitched 4 1/3, allowing 2 hits and a walk, while fanning 3. And, Ariel Ovando had the night off. The Gulf Coasters traveled to Port St. Lucie where they were greeted by the Mets. They tied the game at 2 after the top of the 7th, but they allowed 4 runs in the bottom half and 2 more in the 8th after getting 1 back. The Astros got one more in the 9th, but the game was well in hand by then. Chris Epps went 2-4 with an RBI. Jacob Meskin got 2 RBI, 1 on a sac fly, and one in which he reached on an error. Telvin Nash made a rehab appearance today. The first baseman was the cleanup hitter and went 1-2 and scored. Freddy Tiburcio allowed 2 runs on 5 hits in 6 innings, striking out 4. He had to settle for a no-decision as Wilton Infante, who is making the switch from the outfield, allowed walk and a single to the two batters he faced. He was charged with the loss as Zachary Hardoin allowed the inherited runners to score. The Academy lost 6-5 in 12 to the Royals. Tomas de la Cruz went 3-4 with an RBI. Reymin Guduan lasted 3 innings, allowing 5 hits, 4 runs (2 earned), 2 walks, and struck out 4. Andres Feliz got the loss in relief. In 3 innings, he allowed 2 hits and 1 run.
Some @cchooks moves: C Chris Wallace up from Lexington, C Federico Hernandez to Lancaster, RHP Matt Nevarez released, RHP Mike Perconte in. Nevarez was the dude we got for Pudge....oh well.
Yep, Heath played at 3 levels, culminating with a 4-game cameo in Corpus. He's got quite some pop, and probably had the most to gain when Jason Castro went down. He hasn't lit up Lancaster. However, this is his first full professional season. He'll probably stay in Lancaster for the time being, as the only catcher left in Lexington is Roberto Pena, who's hitting .216 right now. I also believe Miles Hamblin may make an appearance for the Legends before the season is over.
Other than his unbelievable 2009, Nevarez never had any semblance of command. We took the risk and it didn't pan out. Yep, oh well...
Still surprising considering he is 24 with amazing stuff, but that BB rate was terrible. He was averaging over a walk an inning.
Altuve to the futures game to represent the Stros. Well deserved and hopefully he gets on the map nationally with a good game. https://twitter.com/alysonfooter/status/83973052924297216
Still quite a few prospects left unsigned... from Astros County. FWIW, Cory Spangenberg, the 10th overall pick, received a $1.86 million bonus with the Padres.
Springer should sign, but I hate waiting. Armstrong's team is still in the CWS. 5-10 of these probably will not sign.
... Im glad the one year we really stink it up beyond our usual ability there is no clear cut #1 pick like Straburg or Zimmerman. I am not sold on Appel or that high school pitcher as the #1 pick next year. Any thoughts?
Still plenty of time to go on a late run and mess up our pick anyway. Also it's really hard to predict next year's draft so early. Plenty of time for a prospect to emerge who is head and shoulders above the rest. Last year, Manny Machado was talked about as a late to supplemental first rounder at this time. Wound up going as the consensus second overall pick and is now one of the top 20 prospects in baseball.
