Down on the Farm - 6/6/13

AAA - Omaha 2 Oklahoma City 1

Asher Wojciechowski pitched 7 shutout innings, but Jake Elmore's throwing error on a would-be game ending double-play ball in the bottom of the 9th tied the game, and closer Jose Valdez balked in the winning run with 2 outs as the Storm Chasers stole one from the RedHawks 2-1. Robbie Grossman drew a pair of walks and stole a base while scoring Oklahoma City's only run. Jason Stoffel pitched another scoreless inning, but did walk a pair of hitters. Stoffel has given up just 7 hits in 18 2/3 innings in AAA and is holding opposing hitters to an average of .115.

AA - Midland 14 Corpus Christi 4

The RockHounds scored 10 runs in the final 3 innings as they turned a 4-4 nailbiter into a 14-4 blowout. The Hooks (36-23) managed just 5 hits including George Springer's 16th double of the year. Jonathan Singleton went 0 for 3 with an rbi but struck out twice. Andrew Robinson didn't allow a run in 1 1/3 innings of relief.

Advanced A - San Jose 8 Lancaster 3

Chris Epps hit a 2-run homer in the 9th, but it was too little, too late as the Giants buried the JetHawks (35-25) by a score of 8-3. Nolan Fontana tripled and walked in 4 trips and Delino DeShields stole his 15th base, but Tyson Perez (2-4, 7.39) surrendered 7 runs in the first 4 innings and the Hooks never recovered. Jonas Dufek tossed 2 scoreless innings and Travis Ballew struck out 2 in his one shutout inning of work. Ballew now has 39 strikeouts in 22 innings of work this season.

Low A - Quad Cities 9 Cedar Rapids 5

Carlos Correa got the better of Byron Buxton in this one as the River Bandits (33-25) upended the Kernels 9-5. Correa went 3 for 4 with a double, a homer and 5 rbis while Buxton went 0 for 4 with a pair of strikeouts. The River Bandits took advantage of 8 walks and 4 errors to score 9 runs on just 6 hits. Jamaine Cotton earned his first win of the year with 3 1/3 solid innings of work out of the pen in which he allowed just one earned run and fanned three.

DSL - DSL Royals 3 DSL Astros 1

Brauly Mejia hit the Astros (2-3) first home run of the year, but the Royals rallied from an early deficit and defeated them 3-1. Geronimo Franzua pitched 5 solid innings allowing just 2 hits and 2 runs, but walked 5 and was saddled with the loss. The 19 year old lefty did pick 3 runners off first base in the game though. Yonquelys Martinez added 2 2/3 innings of shutout relief. The Astros drew 9 walks, but were again victimized by 4 double plays and couldn't get a big hit when it counted. Luis Payano drew 3 walks and Kristian Trompiz drew 2 in a losing effort.

The Web of Trades

A look at what the trades of the last few seasons have netted us:

Roy Oswalt, Pedro Feliz and Brandon Lyon turned into SS Jonathan Villar, 1B Brett Wallace, RHP Asher Wojciechowski, LHP David Rollins, RHP Joe Musgrove, C Carlos Perez, RHP Kevin Comer and LHP Theron Geith. Ok, so this is a series of trades that put together netted us 8 prospects. First, Roy Oswalt was traded to the Phillies for J.A. Happ, Villar, and outfielder Anthony Gose. The Astros then immediately flipped Gose to the Blue Jays for Wallace. Fast forward to last year and Happ gets packaged with Lyon and Carpenter (acquired for Pedro Feliz in 2010) to Toronto for Wojo, Rollins, Musgrove, Perez, Comer, Ben Francisco and Francisco Cordero. And then Francisco gets sent to Tampa Bay for Geith. So if you're keeping score, Houston got 5 of their current top 20 prospects (Villar-12, Wojo-15, Comer-17, Musgrove-19 and Perez-20), Brett Wallace who's currently hitting .315 for the RedHawks, David Rollins who has a respectable 3.96 ERA and nearly a strikeout per inning for Lancaster, and Geith who's 5-0 with a 2.35 ERA in 17 games for the JetHawks. Not a bad haul.

Lance Berkman and Fernando Rodriguez turned into UT Jimmy Paredes, RHP Kyle Weiland, 1B/OF Chris Carter, RHP Brad Peacock and C Max Stassi. This was another series of trades on top of trades. Berkman was moved to the Yankees for Mark Melancon and Paredes. After a year as the Astros closer, Melancon was traded to the Red Sox for Jed Lowrie and Kyle Weiland. Lowrie was then packaged with Fernando Rodriguez to the A's for Peacock, Carter and Stassi. Paredes and Carter are currently every day players for the Astros, Peacock was in the Opening Day Starting Rotation, Weiland was in the Opening Day Rotation a year ago before getting hurt and Stassi is currently ranked #16 among Astros prospects while hitting .286 with 9 doubles in 19 games for the Hooks.

Hunter Pence turned into 1B Jonathan Singleton, RHP Jarred Cosart, RHP Josh Zeid and RF Domingo Santana.
As Cosart (#4 Prospect) and Singleton (#1 Prospect) get closer to contributing to the Astros this trade looks better and better, but the afterthoughts in this deal have been producing as well. Zeid is 3-0 in 21 games for Oklahoma City, has 27 strikeouts in 22 1/3 innings and is holding opposing hitters to a .189 average. And then Santana, just 20 years old, is an intriguing blend of speed and power who homered 23 times and drove in 97 runs for the JetHawks last year. In 2013 he has 9 homers including a 3-homer game and 6 steals for the Hooks. He's currently ranked 13th among Astros prospects.

Michael Bourn turned into RHP Paul Clemens and LHP Brett Oberholtzer. Juan Abreu and Jordan Schafer didn't pan out, but Paul Clemens has become a mainstay in the Astros pen this year, and Oberholtzer made his Major League debut against the Indians in April.

Chris Johnson turned into 3B Bobby Borchering and 1B/OF Marc Krauss. Borchering hasn't played a game yet in 2013, but Krauss has has posted a .402 on base percentage in his first full year of AAA with 8 homers and 31 runs batted in.

Carlos Lee turned into 3B Matt Dominguez and RHP John Ely. Lee went to the Marlins for Dominguez and lefty pitcher Rob Rasmussen and then Rasmussen was sent to L.A. for Ely. Ely unfortunately went down with an arm injury after just one appearance this year (4 scoreless innings and a save), but Dominguez has solidified himself as one of baseball's best defensive third basemen and he's shown some power to boot.


Jeff Keppinger turned into RHP Henry Sosa and RHP Jason Stoffel. Sosa's still pitching in Korea, but Stoffel has been lights out in 2013 allowing just 7 hits in 16 1/3 innings since his promotion to AAA. His combined ERA between Corpus Christi and Oklahoma City is 1.52.

Wilton Lopez turned into RHP Alex White and RHP Alex Gillingham. Both Alex's are out with injuries as White made the team, but was hurt in the final scrimmage before Opening Day and Gillingham appeared in just 3 games for Lancaster before going down himself.

Wandy Rodriguez turned into CF Robbie Grossman, LHP Rudy Owens and LHP Colton Cain. Grossman got his first AAA action this year, and logged 28 games for the Astros following injuries to Justin Maxwell and J.D. Martinez. He only hit .198 for Houston, but he showed an ability to draw walks (16). The 18th ranked prospect in the Astros organization has been rock solid for the RedHawks hitting .299 with a .432 on base percentage. Owens, like Ely, was the victim to an early season arm injury and logged only 4 appearances for the RedHawks this year in which he posted a 3.71 ERA before getting shut down for the year. Cain has struggled a bit this year going 2-5 with a 5.85 ERA for Quad Cities, but he's 2-2 with a 1.96 ERA in his last 6 appearances.

Jason Bourgeois and Humberto Quintero turned into Kevin Chapman. Chapman posted a 2.64 ERA in 49 appearances for the Hooks in 2012, but he's struggled a bit with his control in 2013 walking 18 hitters in 22 innings. He has a 4.09 ERA, but opposing hitters are batting just .203 against him.

Down on the Farm - 5/30/13

AAA - Oklahoma City 8 Omaha 1

Asher Wojciechowski bounced back from a couple of subpar outings with 6 solid innings as the RedHawks (30-23) cruised to an 8-1 win over the Storm Chasers. Kevin Chapman, Josh Zeid and Rhiner Cruz all tossed scoreless innings in relief of Wojo and Carlos Perez and Che-Hsuan Lin each drove in a pair of runs in the win. Fernando Martinez was 2 for 4 with a double and an rbi, and newly demoted Robbie Grossman went 0 for 3, but walked and scored twice and stole a base.

AA - Corpus Christi 5 Northwest Arkansas 0

Jake Buchanan's ridiculous run through AA continued yesterday as he tossed 5 more shutout innings allowing just 1 hit and fanning 4 in the Hooks (33-20) 5-0 win. In 13 appearances, 9 starts, Buchanan has logged 58 1/3 innings and allowed just 6 runs on 36 hits. He's walked only 4 and has an ERA of 0.77 while holding opposing hitters to a .181 average. Buchanan has now gone 7 straight outings spanning 32 2/3 innings without allowing an earned run. George Springer hit his 16th home run of the season and Erik Castro his 5th which provided more than enough run support. Carlos Quevedo tossed 4 scoreless innings of his own to earn his first save.

Advanced A - Lancaster 15 Visalia 2

All nine JetHawks in the starting lineup drove in at least one run as Lancaster (33-20) blew out Visalia 15-2. Matt Duffy homered and scored 4 times, Chris Epps doubled twice, tripled and drove in 3 runs, while Jean Batista, Delino DeShields Jr, Joe Sclafani, and Andrew Aplin all had multi-hit games to lead the 16-hit attack. DeShields added two stolen bases to give him 12 on the year and Preston Tucker drove in a pair of runs to give him 50 leading all Astros minor leaguers. Kyle Hallock allowed one hit in 5 shutout innings as he improved to 3-0 for Lancaster.

How to Respond to Last Night's Loss

Ok, so obviously I have no say in what happens to the Astros as they move forward from last night's debacle, but here's what I would do:

1) Send Jimmy Paredes back down to AAA where, if we're serious about making him an outfielder, he plays nowhere but the outfield EVERY DAY. Just pencil him in there: Paredes, 9. While the error was inexcusable last night, let's face it, the guy was a second baseman, we turned him into a third baseman, then last year he was a second baseman again, and now he's looking like an outfielder. Yes, playing the outfield is easier than playing the infield, but a guy's still not going to be good at it without playing time. Paredes can hit, but letting him learn the outfield at the Major League Level isn't going to do anything but mess up his confidence.

2) Keep Jake Elmore around. Elmore is versatile, and he can hit, run, doesn't strike out... In three games in which he spelled Jose Altuve, he basically was Jose Altuve hitting safely in every game and batting .364 (4/11). Reminds me of a faster Mark Loretta.

3) Make Brandon Barnes our every day centerfielder, shift Grossman to left and put J.D. Martinez out in right. Barnes is the only outfielder on the roster hitting above .240. And he's hitting .320. He's our best defensive outfielder, he runs well, he has some pop. LET HIM PLAY.

4) Move Hector Ambriz out of the 8th inning slot. Hector gets a bad wrap for what's really only amounted to two blown leads, but I don't see him as an 8th inning guy. I'd like to see him flipped with Paul Clemens or Travis Blackley and take some of those 6th inning responsibilities until he can harness his stuff. The only pitcher in the Astros pen with worse numbers is Edgar Gonzalez, there's no way he should be in there with the game on the line right now.

5) Less over-managing. I appreciate that we're playing the percentages, but I'd like to see our lefties face more than just lefties. Travis Blackley was an effective Major League starter last year, and Wesley Wright sports the lowest ERA in the bullpen. They don't have to come out of the game every time they're due to face a right-handed hitter.

Tigers Showing Us How Far We Still Have to Go

Not much you can say about a 17-2 loss, except that at least we didn't give up 19 runs in a game for the second time this year. The Tigers showed us exactly how far we still have to go yesterday. They hit, they pitch, they make plays, they put balls in play, they execute on the bases... They're a model franchise, especially for a team like Houston considering that a decade ago (2003), Detroit lost 119 games. The Astros also have a special connection with that team in that Carlos Pena played for them. And look at Detroit now. A couple trips to the World Series, a perennial contender... That's what we want to get to. And unfortunately, it's not going to happen over night. Things don't get any easier today either with the Tigers throwing their ace Justin Verlander against Philip Humber, who has lost all six of his starts this season. We've just to keep grinding it out though and keep moving forward. As my college coach, Pete Barry, used to say: Every day, in every way, we get a little better. Some final thoughts on yesterday's blowout:

1) Lucas Harrell is not very good when his sinker isn't working. When he's on, he's a groundball machine (see Yankee Stadium earlier this week). When he's off... every ball gets hit hard.

2) Carlos Corporan was one of the few bright spots offensively picking up two hits and slugging his second home run of the week. The 29 year old Puerto Rican born catcher needs just 2 home runs to tie his career high of 4 set last season.

3) Robbie Grossman reached base 2 more times last night, leading off the game with single, and then later drawing a walk. Grossman's on base percentage is still low at .327, but it's been steadily rising. He's in the midst of a 6-game hitting streak that has seen his average rise from .091 to .205 and he's also drawn 5 walks during that stretch. Unfortunately, his baserunning still leaves a lot to be desired as he's been caught stealing twice in the Tigers series.

4) At some point the schedule has to start getting a little bit easier, right?

5) Brandon Laird was 0 for 2 last night with a pair of strikeouts lowering his average to .226 (7/31) and giving him 12 strikeouts on the year. With Marc Krauss hammering the ball in AAA, it makes me wonder how much longer Laird has in his audition.

6) Hey, at least we didn't get shutout, right?

So Close... Yes So Far...

I'm trying to put a positive spin on last night's game, but it certainly isn't easy. For the second time in as many nights, we let a game slip away against the Tigers. This time, closer Jose Veras surrendered a 9th inning 2-run homer to Alex Avila, who's now hitting an Astro-like .179 on the season, dealing us a 4-3 loss. On top of that Jose Altuve got robbed on a great play by Omar Infante in the 9th and Jason Castro hit a line shot, but right at left fielder Don Kelly to end the game. So, positive spin... right. The only thing I can really think to say is that we're in these games, and we're actually expecting the results to be different. A couple of weeks ago, we expected to lose EVERY game, and by a lot. But now the starting pitching is getting better, and with the exception of Veras, both Hector Ambriz and Travis Blackley were solid out of the pen. Robbie Grossman reached base 3 more times as he continues to work his way out of that 0 for 17 skid in Boston, Jose Altuve had 3 hits, we actually rallied from a 2-0 deficit late in the game to take a 3-2 lead... Good things are happening with this club, they just aren't translating into wins yet. And let's face it, this year isn't about wins, it's about next year, and the year after that. It's about figuring out what we have, and who's worth keeping. Did anyone really think Jose Veras was the long term solution at closer? No, he's there the mentor younger guys in the bullpen. But as guys like Ambriz and Clemens and Blackley and Cisnero start to emerge out of the pen, and Harrell and Norris and Lyles have successes in the rotation, Castro emerges as an every day player, Dominguez plays his Gold Glove defense at third, you're starting to put together a team, which is something we haven't been doing since the early 2000s. Don't get me wrong, I hate losing, and it's frustrating to look at our record and see we're 8-22. But we are making progress, however small, and you've got to buy into what the organization is trying to do otherwise you're in for a long couple of months/years. So hang in there, Astro fans, and stay positive. Take the small victories for what they are and a few years from now, you'll be able to say you were there through the dark years, and always believed. It'll make the end reward that much sweeter.

Humber Falls to 0-6 in Loss

Missed opportunities early and a failed rally late resulted in a 7-4 loss for the Astros last night. The loss dropped righty Philip Humber to 0-6 on the year, although it was a much better result for him than his previous 2 starts. Some more notes on last night's game:

1) Houston had 1st and 3rd with one out in the first, bases loaded with two outs in the second, and first and second with none out in the third, and couldn't push a run across. That's just not a recipe for winning baseball. Eventually Hiroki Kuroda got into a groove, and the Yankees offense pushed some runs across, and before you knew it, the game was over. The Astros did rally scoring twice in the 8th and twice more in the 9th, but it's all about capitalizing on opportunities early (see Game 1 in this series)  and getting teams on the ropes. We did not do that last night.

2) Philip Humber gave up 9 hits in 6 innings, but 8 of them were singles. He did have four wild pitches though, two of which led to runs. I don't know if he was trying to be like his teammate Rick Ankiel, or if Jason Castro was just having an off night, or if Humber's stuff was just moving all over the place (the 9 hits would suggest otherwise), but that's a lot. Overall, Humber didn't pitch terrible, and this was a big improvement over his previous outings, so I think his spot in the rotation continues to be safe for the time being, despite calls from the armchair GMs for his head.

3) Rex Robbie Grossman reached base 3 more times yesterday drawing a pair of walks and then singling in the 9th. Hopefully he's starting to get more comfortable at the plate even though his average (.138) isn't really reflecting that yet. 

4) Trogdor the Bombinator (Chris Carter for those of you who don't regularly follow the blog) blasted a 2-run homer in the 8th inning off of David Roberton to start to bring the Astros back into the game. The homer was Carter's team-best sixth of the year and he remains tied with Jose Altuve for the team lead in rbis with 14. Carter's homer was his only hit of the night, but it was clutch, and he showed that he has big time power to all fields, driving that ball out to right.

5) The Peacock did not fly last night. After a solid start to the evening coming on in relief for Wesley Wright, the wheels came off in this second inning of work. All three hitters he faced in the 8th reached base safely, and all of them came around to score. His ERA on the year is now 9.41, and with the Astros announcing today that they're ready to call up both Jordan Lyles and Dallas Keuchel, you have to think he's on his way to Oklahoma City. I think the kid has a lot of potential, but when things start to go bad for him, they just seem to snowball and he loses all confidence. Hopefully he can get back on track and become the guy we hoped he'd be when we traded for him.

6) I have no idea who the two guys are that are going down for Keuchel and Lyles. I think it's pretty easy to say that Peacock is one, but the second one? Veras is safe. Wright is safe. And I don't know how you could justify sending down Cisnero or Clemens, both who have been very good. Travis Blackley just keeps improving so I think he's in the clear. So all that leaves are Hector Ambriz and Rhiner Cruz. And Ambriz leads the team in holds with 3. So to me that means it's going to be Rhiner. But if that's the case, who gets sent down when Josh Fields finally comes back? Keuchel again? Lyles? Bedard? It'll be interesting see where we go with this.

Carlos Corporan Channels His Inner Mickey Mantle in Astros Rout

Wow, that was fun last night. Isn't winning fun? Amazing how quickly you can forget about the Boston series and that ugly stretch of games. The fact that it was in our first ever AL game in Yankee Stadium wasn't bad either. Some thoughts on last night's big win:

1) Brandon Barnes is doing everything he can to show he deserves more playing time. After last night's 3-hit game, Barnes is now hitting a Ted Williams-esque .405 with a Barry Bonds-esque .488 on base percentage. He's playing good defense, he's stealing bases, he's getting extra base hits... Look, I'm a big fan of Fernando Martinez and Rick Ankiel, but Barnes is outplaying both of those guys right now, and until he cools off, don't you have to play him? We'll see what Bo does tonight with the righty Kuroda on the hill, but I'd start him.

2) Who was that guy disguised as Carlos Corporan last night? Mickey Mantle? Corp was 4 for 5 missing the cycle by just a triple and racked up 4 rbis... It was ridiculous. He did so much baserunning that he cramped up his 4th time around the bases and was thrown out by like 30 feet at third base. I'm not going to lie, I thought he'd pulled a Gabe Kapler and ended his season. The way this season is going, it would not have surprised me in the least that a guy like Corporan would have the game of his life, and then irreparably hurt himself. Just glad he's ok. Now we just have to get him to duplicate that on a semi-regular basis.

3) Every starter on the Astros roster should watch film of Lucas Harrell's start last night. Harrell threw strikes, threw groundball outs, and shut down an admittedly depleted Yankees lineup for 6 1/3 innings giving more rest to what's been a very taxed bullpen. Yeah, he gave up 8 hits, but they were all singles and he induced double play groundballs when he needed to. Harrell now has three wins on the season, matching Bud Norris for the team lead. Houston's 3 other starters have combined for one win between the three of them, and that came from Brad Peacock who's been demoted to the bullpen.

4) Speaking of Peacock being out of the rotation, that means a spot has opened up. With Cisnero throwing Sunday and Blackley pitching in relief yesterday, I have to think Paul Clemens is going to be tabbed as that guy. Other than being susceptible to the longball (5 in 16 2/3 innings), Clemens has been solid posting a WHIP of just 1.02, limiting walks (only 3), and holding opposing hitters to just a .226 average.

5) Chris Carter returned to the lineup after a day off and had 2 hits raising his average back up to .226. He also only struck out one time which is an improvement. Hopefully the day off did him some good, because we could really use that power bat of his in the lineup.

6) Robbie Grossman doesn't seem to be getting a lot of breaks early in his career. I feel like he's hitting balls hard, but either right at people, or dying on the track. He did reach base a couple times yesterday which was nice to see, especially after he endured that 0 for 17 in the Boston series. He's going to need a few more hits to drop in there though if he's going to keep a roster spot once Maxwell returns from the DL.

7) Carlos Pena is back up over .200 after single and tripling in 5 trips yesterday. 2013 hasn't exactly been memorable for the lefty slugger, but his 2-out rbi single in the first did open the scoring and set up Corporan's 2-run double. Without that hit, who knows how the game plays out? He's still only got 2 homers and 7 rbis, but he's now had back-to-back multi-hit games which is a step in the right direction.

8) Word on the street is that Josh Fields is getting closer to making a rehab start. Rhiner Cruz did record a 1-2-3 inning last night, but I still think he's going to draw the short straw unless Peacock or Cisnero implode during the next week.

Astros Drop Third Straight in Fenway

The Peacock did not fly yesterday and Houston dropped a third straight to the Sox at Fenway. A promising start quickly went up in smoke as a 2-0 lead became a 5-2 deficit that the Astros just never recovered from. Some more thoughts on the loss:

1) Brad Peacock once again struggled to hit his spots, watching his pitch count spiral out of control and failing to get through the 4th inning. When the dust cleared, Boston had drawn 5 walks off of Peacock, 4 of them in the second inning, and the kid's ERA had jumped to 8.44. Peacock has made it through 5 innings just once this year, and it's largely due to his inability to put hitters away early in the count. You can't keep running counts full on every hitter and expecting to pitch deep into games. It's starting to raise questions as to whether or not Peacock projects to be a rotation guy, or someone destined to pitch out of the bullpen. I still think it's too early to make that call, but if he goes another 4-5 starts and things don't start to get better, I think you have to consider making a change.

2) Jose Veras was sharp once again extending his scoreless streak to 5 innings following his blown save against the Angels. He's actually lowered his ERA down to a respectable 4.66 and he's taken a leadership role out in the bullpen which is good to see. Now we just have to figure out how to get him some leads to protect.

3) Houston hitters drew 7 walks, but struck out 12 times and were just 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position. That makes them 1 for 24 with runners in scoring position over the past two games. Hard to win a lot of games that way. While it's impressive that we've been scoring runs without the benefit of hits (bases loaded walk, rbi groundout, sac fly), the Astros have to do better with runners in scoring position. But that shouldn't come as a surprise seeing as it's been our achilles heel for a couple years now. Not sure what the answer is other than that someone needs to step up.

4) Chris Carter struck out 4 times yesterday, including once with the tying run on first in the 7th inning. Carter now has 43 strikeouts in 24 games, but this marked the first time that he'd fanned four times in a game this year. In case you're keeping track, Carter is now on pace to strike out 290 times. And yes, that'd be a record. I realize he's tied for the team lead in rbis and he's second on the team with 12 runs scored, but can you really keep hitting him in the 3-4-5-6 spots in the order when he's hitting .216 and striking out in practically 50% of his ABs? Would it be so bad to trot out OBP machine Brandon Barnes, Fernando Martinez and Robbie Grossman as our starting outfield for a while?

5) Wesley Wright was bailed out by a line drive double play, but he now hasn't been scored on in 5 straight outings spanning 6 2/3 innings. His ERA has dropped down to 3.00 and he hasn't allowed a home run in 12 innings this season.

6) Two more hits for Marwin Gonzalez last night (two of our FIVE hits) as our 8 hitter raised his average on the year to .321. Marwin, who continues to play stellar defense, clubbed his fourth double, stole third for the second time in the series, and scored a run, continues to do almost every right (minus that bunt he didn't get down last weekend). Not sure what he has to do to hit somewhere higher in the order, but at least he's hitting.

7) As bad as things seemed at times yesterday, Houston had Chris Carter at the plate with the tying run on first in the 7th, and Rick Ankiel at the plate with the bases loaded representing the tying run again in the 8th. So even though we're losing, we're right in these games, which is all you really want. Baseball's one of those games where you just need to be competitive and eventually the law of averages will even out and we'll start winning some. Hey, it's better than losing every game 10-0.

Bottom of Sox Order Buries Astros

When you think about all the powerful hitters in the Boston lineup, there's some names that don't usually come up: David Ross, Will Middlebrooks and Pedro Ciriaco for example. Last night, Boston's 7, 8 and 9 hitters went 8 for 12 with a triple, three home runs, four runs scored, and 3 runs batted in. By contrast, Houston's 4, 5, and 6 hitters were 1 for 10 with 8 strikeouts. Hard to win when you put up numbers like that. More thoughts on last night's loss:

1) Brandon Laird went 0 for 4 in the cleanup spot striking out in all 4 appearances. He did not look comfortable at the plate at all, and as a result, the Astros missed some opportunities. Houston has yet to really identify a solid option as the cleanup hitter this year. If you're looking for more evidence, look no farther than the fact that Jose Altuve is now tied for the team lead in rbis.

2) It was nice to see the Astros actually bring home some runners with productive outs for a change. Despite going 0 for 12 with runners in scoring position, and not homering, the Astros scored 3 times. This was a result of an rbi ground out from Robbie Grossman (his first Major League rbi) and two sacrifice flies from Jose Altuve. The Astros had just 2 sacrifice flies in their first 22 games. Obviously you want hits, but just getting the runs in was a good first step.

3) Erik Bedard was roughed up last night for 7 extra base hits in just 3+ innings of work in which he threw 91 pitches. This is what the Redsox have been doing for years. They wear pitchers out. Every hitter up and down the lineup seems can work counts. And while Astros pitchers didn't issue any walks last night, they eventually made mistakes (4 homers - albeit all solo shots), 4 doubles and a triple. On the whole, Astro pitchers needed 186 pitches to get through 8 innings. Houston hitters could certainly learn from the Boston hitters' approaches.

4) Paul Clemens was once again sharp in long relief going 3 innings and allowed just a David Ortiz blast while striking out 4. Clemens has pitched REALLY well when the Astros have been trailing, so much so that I think he's earned an opportunity to get some more meaningful innings. I know there's a lot of grumbling about how he should be getting an opportunity to start, but I don't see Bedard or Humber losing their jobs any time soon, mainly because they're both potential trade pieces, and it's in our best interest to let them work out the kinks so we can get more in return for them. As the saying goes, what's the worst that could happen? We gonna fall out of last place? Clemens has a live arm and I think he could help out in the 7th or 8th innings. Heck, he might even be able to close if we move Veras at the deadline. Anyhow, lots of options for him, the big thing right now is that he's performing.

5) Rhiner Cruz's struggles continue. He didn't exactly get lit up last night, but he did give up 4 more hits, and he's not hitting his spots when he pitches. I maintain what I've been saying that he needs to head down to Oklahoma City when Josh Fields gets back to work out some of the finer points of pitching. A gifted reliever with a big arm, he shouldn't be allowing so many baserunners.

6) The Astros banged out 5 doubles last night which was nice to see. Their 14 strikeouts really prevented them from making more of those opportunities though. We touched on it already the importance of productive outs. A weak grounder to the right side will get a runner from 2nd to 3rd, and a fly ball into the outfield can score a runner from third. We need out hitters to do a better job of putting the ball in play. Everybody who's played the game knows you're supposed to shorten up your swing with 2 strikes and put it in play. Hard to force the opposition into making a mistake if you never make them make any plays.

7) As bad as last night seemed to go at times, Houston still had their chances. Jonny Gomes made a diving grab in left to rob Jason Castro of extra bases and save a run in the 5th, and Brandon Laird actually represented the tying run when he came up with two men on against Junichi Tazawa in the 7th. So we're in these games. And whether you want to admit it or not, we are improving. More hitters are squaring up baseballs, we're drawing more walks, and with a little bit better efforts from our starting pitching, we're a decent team. Not a GOOD team, but we're decent.

If Only We Played the Mariners All the Time

Houston routed the Mariners yesterday 10-3 to improve to 4-2 against Seattle on the season. Unfortunately, against everyone else we're just 3-12. But hey, I'll take it. For just the second time this season, the Astros won a series and they did so in convincing fashion smashing three home runs and never trailing in an easy win over their division rivals. Some thoughts on yesterday's game:

1) Lucas Harrell pitched his best game of the year going 7 innings and allowing just 1 run that came across on a double play ball. After going over a week without a starter getting an out in the 6th inning, Harrell came up huge bailing out a worn out bullpen and finally giving them a break. Harrell, who has battled control issues all season allowed just two walks, and needed only 105 pitches to make it through 7, compared to his last outing when he threw 98 and didn't get through 6. Harrell has now won 2 straight starts.

2) Welcome to the show, Robbie Grossman. The hometown hero with a cult following debuted as the Astros leadoff hitter and starting centerfielder and did not disappoint going 2 for 5 and ripping a pair of doubles. I read yesterday that he became the first Astro to hit two doubles since... James Mouton... Yeah... Well, hopefully his career tracks a little bit differently. The 23 year old switch hitter brings a lot to the table, and has a huge opportunity to make a name for himself with Maxwell out for an extended period of time. And if he keeps hitting, we may have found our leadoff hitter. And just think, all we had to do was give up Wandy Rodriguez to get him.

3) Trogdor the Bombinator hit an absolute monster home run off of Joe Saunders to open the scoring in the second inning yesterday. Carter now has 5 homers and 11 rbis, tying Rick Ankiel for the team lead in both categories. 4 of his home runs have come against the Mariners, and he's hitting .423 (11/26) against them. Against everyone else he's just 6 for 51 (.118).

4) Brandon Laird broke out yesterday going 3 for 4 with 2 doubles, a homer and 4 runs batted in. Sucks to be Brett Wallace right now, because if Laird keeps hitting, and Matty D keeps playing gold glove caliber defense, it'll take a Carlos Pena trade to get him back to the show. And don't forget, Jonathan Singleton is almost halfway through his suspension which means his arrival isn't that far away either. Unless Wallace starts absolutely raking in AAA, his window may be closing pretty quick.

5) Ronny Cedeno, not one of the more popular Astros for whatever reason, had his best game in an Astros uniform yesterday going 3 for 4, driving in 3, and missing the cycle by a triple. Cedeno is now hitting .333 on the year and he's in the midst of a 6 game hitting streak. The streak is that much more impressive since Cedeno doesn't play every day, and the streak actually dates back to April 8th.

6) Brandon Barnes got two more hits yesterday to raise his average up to .367. Primarily used against lefties, Barnes' splits are actually pretty solid right now: .375 vs lefties and .357 vs righties. It's actually creating quite a logjam in the outfield because who draws the short straw when J.D. Martinez and Maxwell come back? Don't get me wrong, it's a good problem to have, but I don't envy the man who has to make those decisions.

7) With Josh Fields getting closer to his return from the DL, Rhiner Cruz did little to help his case to not be the guy to get sent down last night. Entering the game with a 10-1 lead, Cruz walked 2 hitters in his inning of work. Yeah, he didn't give up any runs, but you've got to be able to throw strikes if you're going to be a back of the bullpen guy. And there's absolutely no reason to walk guys when you're up by 9. As I said yesterday, Cruz has all the physical gifts in the world, but he's got to do better with them.

Down on the Farm - 4/23/13

AAA - Albuquerque 12 Oklahoma City 2

Starting pitcher Jordan Lyles lasted just one inning surrendering 8 hits and 5 runs as the Isotopes cruised to a 12-2 win over the RedHawks (10-9). When the dust had finally settled, the Isotopes had banged out 21 hits (19 singles!) off of 4 Oklahoma City pitchers. The RedHawks managed 9 hits of their own, but went 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position. Robbie Grossman (2/5), Jake Elmore (3/5) and Jimmy Paredes (2/4 with a homer) led the offense in a losing effort. Grossman was called up to replace the injured Justin Maxwell after the game.

AA - Corpus Christi 7 Midland 6 (10 innings)

Ben Orloff's sacrifice fly drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th, and Pat Urckfitz struck out the side in the bottom half to close out a 7-6 win for the Hooks (10-8). George Springer was poised to be the hero after going 3 for 4 with a pair of homers and 3 runs scored, but closer Jason Stoffel couldn't protect a 2-run lead in the 9th forcing the game into extra innings. Hooks pitchers struck out 17 in 10 innings of work.

Advanced A - Lancaster 5 Lake Elsinore 4

Nolan Fontana had three hits and catcher MP Cokinos drove in two runs as the JetHawks (12-6) hung on for a 5-4 win over the Lake Elsinore Storm. Brady Rodgers started and threw 5 solid innings allowing just two runs to earn his first win of the season, and Kenny Long made his 2013 debut with a perfect 9th to earn the save.

Low A - Wisconsin 9 Quad Cities 1

Wisconsin broke a 1-1 by scoring 5 times in the 6th off of reliever Colton Cain and went on to beat the River Bandits (11-6) by a score of 9-1. The big inning wasted a strong start by Mike Hauschild who allowed just one unearned run in 5 innings of work to lower his ERA on the year to 2.93. Chase Davidson hit his first home run of the season to provide the River Bandits only offense. Carlos Correa went 0 for 4 with a pair of strikeouts lowering his average to .238.

Winning is Way More Fun

VICTORY! The one thing about pulling for a team that isn't very good is that the wins are a lot more fun. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather go back to winning most of the time, but the wins are a little sweeter when they're harder to come by. On a down note, last night's win came at a price as starting centerfielder Justin Maxwell broke his hand when he was hit by a pitch, so he's headed to the DL. Some more thoughts on last night's big win:

1) Bud Norris didn't have his best stuff last night, but pitched out of trouble all game and earned his third win of the season. That means he has 50% of our 6 wins. With lots of speculation that Norris is going to get moved come the trade deadline, it's beneficial to Houston that he continues to perform so if we do end up dealing him, we can justify getting a lot in return. If it comes to that, I'll certainly be sorry to see him go, but if you believe in what the organization is trying to do right now, it makes sense. And if you want proof that we're on the right track, all four of our minor league clubs currently have winning records.

2) The loss of Maxwell is going to hurt, but Houston's got some intriguing options able to take his place. First off, defensive specialist Brandon Barnes who's been solid so far this year off the bench. And then there's newly recalled prospect Robbie Grossman who's been tearing it up in AAA. Grossman is especially enticing because he does something most of the current Astros don’t do: he draws walks!! If he can hit at the big league level, he might even be the leadoff hitter we're looking for which would allow us to drop hit machine Jose Altuve down in the order where he might actually be able to drive in some runs.

3) Aussie Aussie Aussie! Oi Oi Oi! Travis Blackley was solid in relief last night retiring the first six hitters he faced before surrendering a mammoth home run to Kendrys Morales. With three long men now on the roster (Blackley, Clemens, Cisnero), it'll be interesting to see how roles evolve as we go forward. I personally think Clemens has the stuff to be a back of the bullpen type guy, but I don't know that his long term role won't be in the starting rotation. Things are going to get even more muddled up when Josh Fields comes off the DL in a little bit. Don't be surprised if Rhiner Cruz draws the short straw and gets sent down. While he has the physical tools, I think he'd benefit from some more time in the minors to hone in his stuff. Plus, everyone else is starting to pitch better: Ambriz has only allowed 1 run over his last 7 outings, Wesley Wright has been pitching better, Veras has 2 straight saves, and all the long men in the bullpen have been delivering. I think the only other real plausible option if it's not Cruz is for it to be Cisnero, but after his performance against Seattle on Monday, he's kinda earned the right to stick around a bit. We'll see though.

4) Speaking of Veras, the closer finally delivered last night making by far his most dominant appearance of 2013 setting down all three hitters he faced, two by strikeout. That makes 4 straight scoreless outings for Veras after his blown save against the Angels including a pair of saves. As a former collegiate closer, I can speak to how important confidence is when you're that guy and it's looking like Veras is starting to grow into the role. Over the past week, Veras has seen his ERA drop from 9.64 to 5.19. Still not great, but getting better. It should also be noted that both of his converted saves were 1-run games with no margin for error.

5) I thought it was kind of funny that twitter was blowing up last night with people dogging Hector Ambriz before he'd even thrown a pitch. Including last night's 1-2-3 8th, over Hector's last 7 appearances, he's thrown 8 1/3 innings and allowed just one run (solo homer to Mark Reynolds) on 6 hits while walking 1 and fanning 5. He's had 3 holds, more than anyone else on the team, and has held hitters to a .207 average during this stretch.

6) "Defensive Specialist" Marwin Gonzalez set a new career high in home runs last night with his 3rd of the young season (and it's till April!). He's also just 5 RBIs shy of the 12 he had in his rookie season. One of Houston's more consistent hitters this year, Marwin's power surge is a pleasant surprise to say the least and while he probably won't stay on this pace and eclipse 20+ homers, he may end up with 10 or 12 which would be great. I'd really like to see Marwin get a shot at hitting higher up in the order instead of sitting down in the 9 hole, but as long as we win, I suppose I can deal. All three of Marwin's homers have come against Seattle, and all of them from the left side of the plate.

7) Lefty reliever Xavier Cedeno was claimed off waivers by the Washington Nationals after being designated for assignment by Houston. The 26 year old Puerto Rican pitched in parts of 3 seasons with the Astros posting an ERA of 6.00 with 1 save and 6 holds over 52 games. In 44 games in 2012 he had a 3.77 ERA striking out 36 in 31 innings.

Down on the Farm - 4/21/13

AAA - Oklahoma City 10 Albuquerque 7

Brett Wallace kicked off his demotion with a home run and was part of a 15-hit attack as the RedHawks (10-7) outslugged the Isotopes 10-7. Jimmy Paredes added 3 hits and a homer, Marc Karuss slugged his 4th homer of the season, and Robbie Grossman added 3 hits and a pair of rbis to lead the offensive explosion. Newly acquired Eric Berger picked up his first win as a member of the Astros organization, and Josh Zeid, Kevin Chapman and Jose Valdez each tossed scoreless innings to close out the game. Valdez now has 5 saves and has yet to allow a run. Trevor Crowe went 1 for 4 and extended his hitting streak to 15 games.

AA - Frisco 7 Corpus Christi 1

Jonathan Meyer was the only member of the Hooks (9-7) to get more than one hit as the RoughRiders cruised to a 7-1 victory. George Springer was 1 for 3 with a double and a walk, and Austin Wates reached base twice, but Corpus Christi was just 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position. Matthew Heidenreich (1-2) pitched 5 innings and allowed 4 runs on 8 hits to take the loss.

Advanced A - Lancaster 6 Bakersfield 5

Andrew Aplin doubled home Nolan Fontana with one out in the bottom of the 9th to send the JetHawks (11-6) to a walkoff win over the Blaze. Aplin finished 2 for 5 with 3 runs batted in, and Chris Epps slugged a two run homer, his first of the year to lead the offense. Travis Ballew got the win in relief after striking out the side in the top of the 9th. Ballew now has 15 strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings of work and he's struck out the side in each of the last four innings he's pitched.

Low A - Quad Cities 12 Wisconsin 5

Carlos Correa snapped out of his recent slump in a big way with 2 homers, 3 rbis and 4 runs scored as the River Bandits (10-5) defeated the Timber Rattlers 12-5. Correa had seen his average dip down to .205 before tonight's 3 for 4 showing raised it back up to .256. Jesse Wierzbicki added a homer and Rio Ruiz and Jordan Scott both knocked in a pair as part of the 12-run outburst. Michael Dimock earned the win with a scoreless inning of relief while Vincent Velasquez threw 4 shutout innings to earn his second save.

Down on the Farm - 4/14/13

AAA - Memphis 10 Oklahoma City 3

The RedHawks (5-5) took a 3-2 lead into the 7th, and the bullpen fell apart from there as the Redbirds scored 8 times over the final three innings en route to a 10-3 win. Jordan Lyles pitched 5 strong innings allowing just 2 runs on 5 hits, but left without a decision. The offense was paced by 3 hits from Trevor Crowe, 2 hits and 2 walks from Robbie Grossman, and the 2013 debut of Fernando Martinez who went 0 for 3 in his first rehab start, but did drive in a run. Jake Elmore extended his hitting streak to 9 games with a double and Brandon Laird also had a pair of hits in a losing effort.

AA - Tulsa 6 Corpus Christi 3

The Hooks (7-3) managed just 5 hits, 2 of them by catcher Carlos Perez, as they came up short against Drillers, falling 6-3. Nick Tropeano (0-2) started for Corpus and went 5 innings allowing 3 runs on 5 hits while fanning 4. Austin Wates stole his 5th base of the year, but the Hooks were just 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position.

Advanced A - Lancaster 6 Modesto 1

The JetHawks (7-3) scored 5 times in the 8th inning highlighted by a 3-run homer from Matt Duffy, his fourth of the year, and defeated the Nuts 6-1. Backup catcher MP Cokinos added a solo homer, and Preston Tucker, Brandon Meredith and Andrew Aplin all contributed two hits apiece to pace an 11-hit attack. Chris Devenski fanned 7 in 4 scoreless innings of relief work to earn his second win of the year.

Low A - Quad Cities 3 Peoria 2

Rio Ruiz slugged his first home run of the season and Carlos Perdomo was 2 for 3 with a run scored starting in place of Carlos Correa as Quad Cities improved to 7-2 with a 3-2 win over the Chiefs. Vincent Velasquez started and pitched 5 solid innings to improve to 2-0 on the season while John Neely tossed a scoreless 9th to earn his first save.

Week 2 in Review

The Astros went 3-3 on the first six games of their 9 game West Coast road trip, and they certainly played a much more competitive brand of baseball. Here's a rundown on some of the numbers for both the big league club, and the up-and-comers:

Weekly Results

4/8     L Mariners 3-0
4/9     W Mariners 16-9
4/10   W Mariners 8-3
4/12   W Angels 5-0
4/13   L Angels 5-4
4/14   L Angels 4-1

Overall Record: 4-8
Team Batting Average: .254
Runs For: 51
Runs Against: 60
Home Runs: 12
Strikeouts/Walks (Hitting): 121/31
Stolen Bases: 1
Caught Stealing: 2
Team ERA: 4.26
Team WHIP: 1.37
Starters ERA: 3.39
Bullpen ERA: 5.72
Strikeouts/Walks (Pitching): 62/39
Times Shutout: 3
Shutouts: 1

Team Leaders (Hitting):

Average: Jose Altuve .333 (17/51)
Runs: Justin Maxwell/Chris Carter 8
Hits: Jose Altuve 17
Doubles: Carlos Pena 4
Triples: Justin Maxwell 2
Home Runs: Chris Carter 4
Runs Batted In: Rick Ankiel 8
Walks: 5 tied with 4
Stolen Bases: J.D. Martinez 1

Team Leaders (Pitching):

Games: Rhiner Cruz 8
Innings: Philip Humber 18 2/3
Wins: Bud Norris 2
Saves: Erik Bedard 1
Holds: 3 tied with 1
Strikeouts: Bud Norris 14
Quality Starts: Philip Humber 2
ERA:  Bud Norris 1.96
WHIP: Bud Norris 1.09

On the Farm:

Oklahoma City (AAA) - 5-5
Corpus Christi (AA) - 7-3
Lancaster (AdvA) - 7-3
Quad Cities (LoA) - 7-2

Minor League Leaders:

Runs: Drew Muren (AdvA) - 10
Hits: Jake Elmore (AAA) - 19
Walks: Robbie Grossman (AAA) - 11
Home Runs: Matt Duffy (AdvA) - 4
RBIs: Matt Duffy (AdvA) - 14
Stolen Bases: Austin Wates - 5
Wins: 3 tied with 2
Saves: Jason Stoffel (AA) - 3
Strikeouts: Nick Tropeano (AA) / Luis Cruz (AdvA) - 15

Week 1 in Review

Well, we're one week into the season. Here's some stats to note:

Weekly Results

3/31 W Rangers 8-2
4/2   L Rangers 7-0
4/3   L Rangers 4-0
4/5   L A's 8-3
4/6   L A's 6-3
4/7   L A's 8-3

Overall Record: 1-5
Team Batting Average: .199
Runs For: 17
Runs Against: 36
Home Runs: 2
Strikeouts/Walks (Hitting): 74/9
Stolen Bases: 0
Caught Stealing: 0
Team ERA: 5.00
Team WHIP: 1.54
Starters ERA: 4.55
Bullpen ERA: 5.64
Strikeouts/Walks (Pitching): 34/24
Times Shutout: 2

Team Leaders (Hitting):

Average: Justin Maxwell .381 (8/21)
Runs: Justin Maxwell 5
Hits: Jose Altuve/Justin Maxwell 8
Doubles: 5 tied with 1
Triples: Justin Maxwell 2
Home Runs: Rick Ankiel/Jason Castro 1
Runs Batted In: Rick Ankiel/Jason Castro 3
Walks: Jose Altuve/Justin Maxwell 2
Stolen Bases: None

Team Leaders (Pitching):

Games: Wesley Wright 4
Innings: Bud Norris 11 1/3
Wins: Bud Norris 1
Saves: Erik Bedard 1
Holds: None
Strikeouts: Bud Norris 9
Quality Starts: Lucas Harrell 1
ERA:  Bud Norris 3.18
WHIP: Bud Norris 1.32

On the Farm:

Oklahoma City (AAA) - 3-1
Corpus Christi (AA) - 3-1
Lancaster (AdvA) - 3-1
Quad Cities (LoA) - 4-0

Minor League Leaders:

Runs: Robbie Grossman (AAA) / Nolan Fontana (AdvA) - 5
Hits: Jimmy Paredes (AAA) - 8
Walks: Robbie Grossman (AAA) / Nolan Fontana (AdvA) - 5
Home Runs: George Springer (AA) / Preston Tucker (AdvA) - 2
RBIs: Preston Tucker (AdvA) / Carlos Correa (LoA) - 8
Stolen Bases: Delino DeShields (AdvA) - 3
Wins: 13 tied with 1
Saves: Jason Stoffel (AA) - 2
Strikeouts: Asher Wojciechowski (AA) - 7

Down on the Farm - 4/7/13

AAA - Oklahoma City 14 Memphis 10 (11 innings)

In a wild back-and-forth affair, the RedHawks (3-1) overcame an early deficit of 7-2, and a ninth inning deficit of 9-8 to defeat the Redbirds 14-10. Jake Elmore led the offense with 5 hits, Marc Krauss and Trevor Crowe homered, Brandon Laird and Jimmy Paredes each had three hits and Robbie Grossman reached base 5 times (2 hits, 3 walks) as Oklahoma City had 17 hits and drew 11 walks in the game. Jose Valdez was charged with a blown save in the 8th, but ended up throwing 2 2/3 scoreless innings and earned his first win of the season.

AA - Corpus Christi 3 Tulsa 2

Enrique Hernandez doubled home Jonathan Meyer in the bottom of the 8th for the go-ahead run as the Hooks (3-1) erased an early 2-1 deficit and defeated the Drillers 3-2. Hernandez added a game-tying solo homer in the 4th inning and finished 3 for 4 in the game. Meyer had two doubles while Carlos Perez and Austin Wates each also had two hits in the win. Matthew Heidenreich (1-0) tossed 3 innings in relief to earn his first win of the season and Jason Stoffel pitched a perfect 9th to earn his second save.

Advanced A - Lancaster 10 High Desert 4

Preston Tucker homered and drove in 3, and Drew Muren and Rafael Valenzuela each added home runs of their own as Lancaster (3-1) made it 3 out of 4 over the High Desert Mavericks. Andrew Aplin added 3 hits and Nolan Fontana scored 3 runs as the JetHawks broke the game open with a 5-run 8th. Theron Geith earned the win in relief while Luis Cruz tossed 4 scoreless innings with 6 strikeouts to earn his first save.

Low A - Quad Cities 3 Kane County 1 (13 innings)

Teoscar Hernandez tripled with one out in the 13th and scored the go ahead run on a passed ball to give Quad Cities (4-0) their fourth straight win. Brian Holmes started and tossed 5 scoreless innings while John Neely added three scoreless innings in relief. Cameron Lamb (1-0) retired the final four hitters to earn his first win of the season and complete the sweep. Last year's top pick Carlos Correa went 0 for 5, but did score an insurance run in the 13th. He's now hitting .300 (6/20) with 8 runs batted in four games into the season.

Down on the Farm - 4/5/13

AAA: Memphis 9 Oklahoma City 0

Memphis scored 8 times in the bottom of the 5th to send Oklahoma City to a 9-0 loss in the Opening Game of a doubleheader. Jordan Lyles' 2013 struggles continued as he couldn't get through the 5th allowing 4 runs in 4 1/3 innings of work. Brandon Laird paced the offense with two hits in three trips in a losing effort.

AAA: Oklahoma City 8 Memphis 7

The RedHawks (1-1) survived a furious 7th inning rally by the Redbirds and held on for their first win of the season in Game 2 of their season opening doubleheader. Brandon Laird homered and drove in 4 runs, while Robbie Grossman and Trevor Crowe each drove home a pair as the offense erupted following their earlier shutout loss. Paul Clemens started and earned the win, while Jose Valdez got the final out for his first save. Former Astro J.R. Towles had 2 hits and 2 rbis for Memphis

AA: Springfield 2 Corpus Christi 0

The Hooks (1-1) were held to just one hit as the Cardinals evened their two game series at one game apiece. Austin Wates led off the game with an infield single, and that was pretty much it for the offense as they went 0 for 26 with 6 walks the rest of the way. Nick Tropeano was the hard-luck loser allowing just a run on three hits in five innings of work.

Advanced A: High Desert 7 Lancaster 3

Lancaster (1-1) jumped out to an early 3-1 lead, but couldn't hang on and fell to the High Desert Mavericks 7-3. Preston Tucker clubbed a two-run homer, and Brandon Meredith added two hits in a losing effort. Brady Rodgers started the game for JetHawks and got knocked out in the 4th and was saddled with the loss.

Low A: Quad Cities 4 Kane County 1

The River Bandits (2-0) scored three times in the 8th to break a 1-1 tie highlighted by a Rio Ruiz two-run double. Lance McCullers started and threw five scoreless innings, but didn't factor in the decision. Daniel Minor (1-0) earned the win in relief.