Down on the Farm 4/18/13

AAA - Oklahoma City 5 Round Rock 3 (Game 1)

Travis Blackley made his first rehab appearance for the Astros retiring the first six hitters he faced before hitting the leadoff man in the third and coming out of the game. Shortstop Jonathan Villar set the tone for the offense as he continued to break out of his season long slump notching almost as many hits in this game (3) as he had in the previous 12 (5). After starting the season 2 for 34, Villar is 6 for his last 12. Che-Hsuan Lin added a pair of rbis and Marc Krauss had a pair of hits and his 14th rbi of the season. Jose Valdez got the final out for his third save of the season

AAA - Round Rock 8 Oklahoma City 4 (Game 2)

Newcome Eric Berger surrendered 4 runs in an inning and a third in his second appearance as part of the Astros organization turning this one into a blowout as the RedHawks (7-7) fell to the Express 8-4. Jake Elmore was 0 for 3 and saw his hitting streak end at 12, but teammate Trevor Crowe hit safely in his 12th straight game. The veteran outfielder is now hitting .327 on the season. Marc Krauss drove in 2 more runs (16) and Jimmy Paredes reached base safely 4 times to lead the offense.

AA - Frisco 4 Corpus Christi 2 (17 innings)

The Hooks (7-6) lost a heartbreaker last night falling in 17 innings to the RoughRiders 4-2. Brett Nicholas led off the 9th with a solo home run off of Hooks closer Jason Stoffel to tie the game at 2 and from there it was a battle of the bullpens. Jorge De Leon led the Hooks pen with 4 scoreless innings of relief, but it wasn't enough as the RoughRiders got to Pat Urckfitz for two runs in the 17th. The Hooks went just 7 for 57 in the game. Rene Garcia was the only Corpus Christi player to get 2 hits and Enrique Hernandez homered for the second time this year.

Advanced A - Bakersfield 4 Lancaster 2

The Blaze scored 4 times in the second inning and the JetHawks (9-5) never recovered. Nolan Fontana, Andrew Aplin, and MP Cokinos all had 2 hits for Lancaster, but it wasn't enough to overcome the early deficit. Brady Rodgers worked 4 scoreless innings of relief while starter Chris Devenski allowed 10 hits and 4 runs in 5 innings of work and took the loss.

Low A - Quad Cities 9 Kane County 8 (11 innings)

Quad Cities (9-3) blew a 5-0 lead, then rallied from an 8-5 deficit to beat the Kane City Cougars 9-8 in 11 innings. Terrell Joyce doubled home Jordan Scott in the top of the 11th, and John Neely slammed the door with a perfect bottom half to earn his second save. Mike Hauschild worked 4 scoreless innings in relief to earn his first win of the season for the River Bandits while Ariel Ovando hit his first home run of the season and drove in three to lead the offense.