Down on the Farm - 6/7/13

AAA - Oklahoma City 5 Omaha 2

Brett Oberholtzer (4-4, 4.92) allowed just one run on three hits and fanned seven in six solid innings as the RedHawks (33-26) defeated the Storm Chasers 5-2. Jonathan Villar had 2 hits, stole 2 bases and drove in 2 runs, and Brandon Laird was 2 for 4 with a double, a walk and an rbi to lead the offense while Rhiner Cruz got the final four outs to earn his first save.

AA - Corpus Christi 5 Midland 0

David Martinez improved to 9-0 as he and Mike Foltynewicz combined on a 2-hit shutout as the Hooks  (37-23) defeated the RockHounds 5-0. The Hooks made the most of their 4 hits going 3 for 7 with runners in scoring position. Jose Martinez went 1 for 4 and drove in two and George Springer, Enrique Hernandez and Jiovanni Mier all had rbis. Folty lowered his AA ERA to 1.08 with 4 scoreless innings and earned his third save. Justin Maxwell went 0 for 3, drew a walk, and fanned 3 times. He's yet to record a hit thus far on his rehab going 0 for 10 in 3 games. Jonathan Meyer went 1 for 2 to extend his hitting streak to 11 games.

Advanced A - San Jose 8 Lancaster 4

Delino DeShields went 3 for 5 with a pair of rbis, while Nolan Fontana and Matt Duffy each had 2 hits of their own, but the JetHawks (35-26) went just 2 for 12 with runners in scoring position in an 8-4 loss to the Giants. Chris Epps scored a pair of runs and hit his 15th double of the season and Luis Cruz tossed 4 scoreless innings while fanning 5 in a losing effort.

Low A - Quad Cities 6 Cedar Rapids 1

Lance McCullers won his third straight decision with 4 no-hit innings lowering his ERA to 1.57 as Quad Cities (34-25) defeated Cedar Rapids 6-1. Carlos Correa outplayed Byron Buxton once again going 2 for 5 with a double, an rbi and a pair of runs while Buxton went 0 for 4. Jordan Scott added a triple and a pair of rbis while Mitchell Lambson and John Neely eached tossed scoreless innings in relief.

DSL - DSL Astros 6 DSL Royals 4

The Astros (3-3) overcame 6 errors and rode a 6-run 4th inning to a 6-4 win over the Royals. Brian Pena and Victor Tavarez each had 2 hits for the Astros and Elieser Hernandez tossed 5 innings without allowing an earned run to improve to 1-0 on the year. Harold Arauz pitched the final inning and a third to earn his 2nd save of the season.

Down on the Farm - 5/27/13

AAA - Oklahoma City 4 Iowa 3

Ross Seaton won his second straight decision and was backed by a solid effort from the bullpen as the RedHawks (28-23) defeated the Cubs 4-3. Alex Sogard pitched 1 2/3 no-hit innings, and Rhiner Cruz and Jose Valdez each followed with a shutout innings of their own as Valdez earned his 10th save of the year. Cody Clark and Andrew Simunic each went 2 for 4 with a run scored to lead the offense while Jake Elmore and Brett Wallace each drove in runs. Fernando Martinez's recent struggles continued as he went 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts and grounded into a double play. He's now hitting .212 on the year for the RedHawks.

AA - Corpus Christi 14 Arkansas 4

George Springer hit a pair of home runs, giving him 15 on the year, and drove in 5 as the Hooks (30-20) overcame an early 4-0 deficit and steamrolled the Travelers 14-4. Michael Burgess added a pair of home runs of his own and Domingo Santana had four hits including a home run missing the cycle by only a triple as the Hooks banged out 16 hits in the rout. Nick Tropeano finally earned his first win of the season with 5 innings of work while Bobby Doran earned his first save with 4 scoreless innings of relief.

Advanced A - Lancaster 6 Rancho Cucamonga 4

Aaron West allowed just 1 hit in 5 shutout innings and Delino DeShields Jr. went 4 for 4 with a walk as the JetHawks (30-20) defeated the Quakes 6-4. Raoul Torrez added 3 hits and Joe Sclafani doubled in a pair of runs to lead the offense. Travis Ballew allowed a solo home run to O'Koyea Dickson in the 9th, but picked up the final 4 outs, 3 by strikeout, to earn his 9th save. Ballew has now fanned 35 hitters in 20 1/3 innings for the JetHawks this season.

Low A - Quad Cities 11 Clinton 4

Carlos Correa singled twice, doubled and drove in 4 runs and Jobduan Morales and Austin Elkins each had 3 hits of their own as the River Bandits (27-23) upended the LumberKings 11-4. Miles Hamblin homered and drove in 2, while Terrell Joyce and Morales each drove in a pair as well. Vincent Velasquez earned the win with 5 innings of work to improve to 4-2 despite an uncharacteristic 0 strikeouts.

Down on the Farm - 5/12/13

AAA - Salt Lake 9 Oklahoma City 3

Jarred Cosart was tremendous once again, but his quality start was wasted by the bullpen as the RedHawks (22-14) relievers surrendered 8 runs over the final 2 innings in a 9-3 loss to the Bees. Cosart allowed just a run on 2 hits in 6 innings of work lowering his AAA ERA to 2.08, but Kevin Chapman and Rhiner Cruz couldn't hold the lead. The RedHawks offense was limited to just 5 hits in the loss, but Marc Krauss did pick up his 27th rbi of the season.

AA - Frisco 5 Corpus Christi 2

Jiovanni Mier hit his 4th home run of the season, but it wasn't enough as the RoughRiders defeated the Hooks (21-15) 5-2. Mier had two of the Hooks' 5 hits as with George Springer on the bench the offense lacked punch striking out 13 times. Ruben Alaniz fell to 0-4 on the season after allowing 4 runs in 5 innings.

Advanced A - Lancaster 2 Stockton 0

Kyle Hallock and Luis Cruz combined on a no-hitter as the JetHawks (22-15) defeated the Ports 2-0. Hallock, making his first appearance for Lancaster after getting sent down from AAA, went 5 innings, and was perfect with the exception of a Delino DeShields error. Cruz followed him up and walked 1 hitter in his 4 innings of work, and fanned 4. A Preston Tucker sacrifice fly and a Delino DeShields squeeze supplied all the offense as the JetHawks managed only 2 hits themselves.

Low A - Peoria 4 Quad Cities 2

Rio Ruiz hit a 2-run homer, but it wasn't enough for the River Bandits (20-15) as they came up short against the Chiefs, 4-2. Colton Cain suffered his 4th loss of the season in relief even though he allowed just 2 hits in 4 innings of work. Mike Hauschild started for the Bandits and turned in a solid effort allowing just 1 earned run in 5 inning of work. Jesse Wierzbicki had 2 of Quad Cities' 5 hits to lead the offense.

Down on the Farm - 5/8/13 and 5/9/13

Wednesday

AAA - Oklahoma City 7 Tacoma 6 (10 innings)

Jonathan Villar's 2-out grand slam capped a 6-run 9th for the RedHawks and sent the game into extra innings where Brandon Laird scored on an error in the 10th to give Oklahoma City (20-12) an improbable 7-6 win. Brad Peacock made his RedHawks debut and made it through 6 innings allowing 4 runs on 6 hits, fanning 5 while not walking a batter. He threw 104 pitches. Marc Krauss reached base 4 times to lead the offense, but Brett Wallace had his hitting streak snapped going 0 for 5 with 3 strikeouts. Jason Stoffel earned the win in relief.

Advanced A - Lake Elsinore 7 Lancaster 4 (Game 1)

MP Cokinos hit a pair of doubles, but didn't get much help as the Storm beat up the JetHawks (18-14) by a score of 7-2. Andrew Aplin and Preston Tucker drove in runs, but Luis Cruz allowed 5 runs in just 4 1/3 innings as the Storm never trailed in winning Game 1 of their doubleheader.

Advanced A - Lake Elsinore 4 Lancaster 2 (Game 2)

The Storm completed their doubleheader sweep of the JetHawks (18-15) with a 4-2 win in the nightcap. The JetHawks overcame an early 2-0 deficit behind rbis from Preston Tucker and Matt Duffy, but Lake Elsinore came right back against Thomas Shirley (0-3). Tucker had 2 of Lancaster's 5 hits to lead the offense and Kenny Long threw another scoreless inning out of the pen.

Low A - Quad Cities 4 Cedar Rapids 2

The River Bandits (19-11) got another stellar pitching performance from Brian Holmes, who fanned 8 in 4 2/3 shutout innings, and rode it to a 4-2 win over the Kernels. Teoscar Hernandez hit his second home run of the season and Brian Blasik had 3 of the Bandits' 5 hits en route to the win. John Neely pitched the 9th for his 6th save of the season. 

Thursday

AAA - Oklahoma City 3 Tacoma 1

Asher Wojciechowski continued his dominant run through the minors in 2013 tossing 6 shutout innings in his second AAA start to lead the RedHawks (21-12) to a 3-1 win over the Rainiers. Rhiner Cruz followed Wojo with 2 scoreless innings of his own as he continues to pitch well since his demotion and Jose Valdez pitched the 9th for his 8th save. Brett Wallace went 2 for 3 with a double and a run batted in to lead the offense and Jonathan Villar added a pair of hits and stole two more bases giving him 12 on the year.

AA - Frisco 6 Corpus Christi 4

Jake Buchanan tossed 5 scoreless innings to lower his ERA on the season to 1.14, but the bullpen couldn't keep the RoughRiders at bay and the Hooks (19-14) fell 6-4. In 9 appearances spanning 39 1/3 innings this year, opposing hitters are batting just .165 against Buchanan and he's only walked two hitters. The Hooks managed just 5 hits in the game including Erik Castro's 2nd home run of the season.

Advanced A - Lancaster 10 Lake Elsinore 4

The JetHawks (19-15) bounced back after getting swept in Wednesday's doubleheader defeating the Storm 10-4. Andrew Aplin had 3 hits, Telvin Nash and Chris Epps both homered, and MP Cokinos added a pair of rbis to lead the offensive barrage. Theron Geith (3-0) earned the win in relief as he lowered his ERA on the year to 1.69.

Down on the Farm - 5/7/13

AAA - Oklahoma City 6 Tacoma 1

Jarred Cosart was absolutely dominant fanning 10 in 5 2/3 innings as the RedHawks (19-12) defeated the Rainiers 6-1. Brett Wallace went 2 for 4 with a homer and 3 rbis to extend his hitting streak to 8 games, and Marc Krauss crushed his team-high 7th home run to lead the offense. Jake Elmore added 3 hits, needing just a home run to hit for the cycle and Che-Hsuan Lin was 2 for 3 with a stolen base. Rhiner Cruz made his second appearance for the RedHawks throwing a perfect 8th inning and striking out one.

AA - San Antonio 10 Corpus Christi 5

Matt Heidenreich couldn't hold a 4-0 lead as he surrendered 6 runs in just 1 1/3 innings and the Hooks (19-13) got beaten up by the Missions 10-5. Enrique Hernandez and Jonathan Meyer each drove in a pair of runs, and George Springer was 1 for 3 with a pair of stolen bases in a losing effort.

Advanced A - Lake Elsinore 8 Lancaster 5

The JetHawks (18-13) came up on the short end of the stick in a back-and-forth affair as they were defeated by the Storm 8-5. Andrew Aplin homered, and Tyler Heineman was 2 for 5 with a double, but it wasn't enough as a pair of Carlos Perdomo errors and a passed ball led to 5 unearned runs. David Rollins started and fanned 6 in 5 innings but didn't factor in the decision.

Farm Report - 5/5/13

AAA - Iowa 5 Oklahoma City 2 (Game 1)

Brian Bogusevic has 2 doubles and Edwin Maysonet was 1 for 2 with a walk... Wait, those guys don't play for us any more... Trevor Crowe had 2 hits, and Carlos Perez hit his first home run as a member of the RedHawks, but OKC (17-11) came up short in Game 1 and had their 7 game winning streak snapped. Brett Oberholtzer started and took the loss for the RedHawks, but Rhiner Cruz threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings in his first appearance since his demotion.

Oklahoma City 4 Iowa 3 (Game 2, 10 innings)

Brett Wallace slugged a pair of home runs, but Che-Husan Lin played the hero when he delivered a 2-out rbi single in the top of the 10th to score the winning run. The RedHawks (17-12) has a chance to win the game in the 9th, but Jose Valdez issued three straight two-out walks, the last of which forced in the tying run before working his way out of the jam. Kyle Hallock tossed 4 solid innings in his first start of the year, and Eric Berger earned his first save of the year by throwing a scoreless 10th.

AA - Corpus Christi 7 San Antonio 3

J.D. Martinez homered and drove in 4 and George Springer hit his 10th home run of the year and stole  two bases as the Hooks (18-12) beat up on the Missions 7-3. Jiovanni Mier also added a home run as starting pitcher Bobby Doran got more than enough support to win his 4th game of the year. Nick Tropeano added 4 solid innings in relief to close the game out and earn his 4th save of the season.

Advanced A - Lancaster 4 High Desert 1

The JetHawks scored 4 times in the 7th inning highlighted by an MP Cokinos 2-run homer as Lancaster (17-12) defeated High Desert 4-1. Nolan Fontana, Telvin Nash, and Tyler Heineman all had multi-hit games, and Blair Walters and Aaron West combined on a 5-hitter. West earned the win, his first of the year, with 4 scoreless innings in relief.

Low A - Quad Cities 5 West Michigan 4

Lance McCullers Jr. was denied his first win of the season despite 5 shutout innings in which he fanned  9 when the bullpen couldn't hold leads of 3-0 and 4-1. The River Bandits (17-11) did rally though giving Michael Dimock his 4th win of the year in relief, defeating the Whitecaps 5-4. Teoscar Hernandez led the offense with 2 hits and a pair of runs while Jesse Wierzbicki added 4 walks. McCullers (0-3) now has a 1.69 ERA over 7 appearances. John Neely got the final out for his 5th save.

Another Series Slips Away - Changes on the Horizon

The Astros overcame an early 4-0 deficit, but fell short in the end, losing to the Yankees 5-4. As the Astros now prepare for Detroit, they'll do it with some new, albeit familiar faces, as Jordan Lyles and Dallas Keuchel are back up, and Brad Peacock and Rhiner Cruz are bound for Oklahoma City (no real surprises there). Some more thoughts on the loss:

1) Jason Castro is really getting things going at the plate. With two more doubles last night, he now has 10, and if you take away that 0/11 in the Rangers series, he's hitting .325 (25/77) on the year. He's really taken to the 3-hole too which is only going to help the guy hitting ahead of him (Jose Altuve). Speaking of Altuve, he's just a machine. The Pocket Jesus is hitting .336 now and has 38 hits to go along with a team high 14 runs batted in.

2) Over his last 4 games, Carlos Pena is 7 for 14 with 3 of his team high 16 walks. Could he be starting to get things going? His average is still a pedestrian .234, but that's a heck of a lot better than the .180 range he was living in last week. I'd still like to see more power from him though. Two homers in 28 games just isn't going to cut it.

3) Brandon Barnes continues to do little things that are going to keep him in the lineup. He beat out a double play ball to drive in a run, got a bunt down, and even started a failed 9th inning rally with a leadoff single off of Mariano Rivera. This kid is making it really hard on Bo Porter which is every manager's dream.

4) Speaking of the failed 9th inning rally, how many games are we going to endure just ZERO luck at all. Barnes gets a big jump, Dominguez hits into a line drive double play. We're going to lose enough games just on talent, we don't need any help from the baseball Gods.

5) Erik Bedard endured another subpar start lasting just 4 innings and allowing 4 runs on 6 hits to go along with 4 walks. He also gave up a home run to Ben Francisco (former Astro) who with the home run is now hitting .133 on the year. It's getting harder to defend the guy, so hopefully he figures it out soon. With 4 long relievers on the Astros roster right now (Keuchel, Clemens, Cisnero, Blackley) and Josh Fields on the mend, Bedard has to be next in line to get sent down or let go. I really want the guy to succeed and he's shown glimpses of what he can do, it's just got to be more consistent and more efficient. That said, time is running out for him to prove himself.

6) Big time pitching from Hector Ambriz last night who pitched his way out of a bases loaded, one out jam in the 8th without allowing a run to keep Houston in the game. That very easily could have turned into a big inning, and it was nice to see one of our relievers pitch their way out of trouble and getting some big strikeouts when they needed to.

7) Wesley Wright has really turned into a nice find. A Rule 5 Draft Pick back in 2008, it was touch and go for a while, but he's followed a solid 2012 and a good start to 2013. After last night's outing, Wright has now put together 7 straight scoreless outings spanning 9 innings.

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.

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.

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.

Week 3 in Review

Rough week for the Astros as three times they saw their starters knocked out in the first inning and they finished the week 1-5, dropping them to 5-13 on the season. On the bright side, they didn't get shutout:

Weekly Results

4/15   L Athletics 11-2
4/16   L Athletics 4-3
4/17   L Athletics 7-5
4/19   W Indians 3-2
4/20   L Indians 19-6
4/21   L Indians 5-4

Overall Record: 5-13
Team Batting Average: .250
Runs For: 74
Runs Against: 108
Home Runs: 20
Strikeouts/Walks (Hitting): 173/47
Stolen Bases: 7
Caught Stealing: 3
Team ERA: 5.40
Team WHIP: 1.58
Starters ERA: 5.73
Bullpen ERA: 5.04
Strikeouts/Walks (Pitching): 100/73
Times Shutout: 3
Shutouts: 1

Team Leaders (Hitting):

Average: Jose Altuve .370 (27/73)
Runs: Carlos Pena 12
Hits: Jose Altuve 27
Doubles: Carlos Pena 5
Triples: Justin Maxwell 2
Home Runs: Chris Carter/Rick Ankiel 4
Runs Batted In: Chris Carter/Rick Ankiel 10
Walks: Carlos Pena 9
Stolen Bases: Justin Maxwell/Jose Altuve 2

Team Leaders (Pitching):

Games: Rhiner Cruz/Wesley Wright/Hector Ambriz 10
Innings: Lucas Harrell 21 2/3
Wins: Bud Norris 2
Saves: Erik Bedard/Jose Veras 1
Holds: Hector Ambriz 2
Strikeouts: Lucas Harrell/Brad Peacock 15
Quality Starts: Philip Humber 2
ERA:  Bud Norris 4.74
WHIP: Bud Norris 1.47

On the Farm:

Oklahoma City (AAA) - 10-7
Corpus Christi (AA) - 9-7
Lancaster (AdvA) - 11-6
Quad Cities (LoA) - 10-5

Minor League Leaders:

Runs: Nolan Fontana (AdvA) - 17
Hits: Jake Elmore (AAA) - 23
Walks: Nolan Fontana (AdvA) - 17
Home Runs: Preston Tucker (AdvA) - 5
RBIs: Marc Krauss (AAA) / Zachary Johnson (AdvA) - 18
Stolen Bases: Austin Wates - 9
Wins: 9 tied with 2
Saves: Jose Valdez (AAA) - 5
Strikeouts: Luis Cruz (AdvA) - 22

Philip Humber Just Can't Catch a Break

Another tough loss, but getting shut down by C.J. Wilson isn't exactly anything to be ashamed of. Nor is losing a series on the road against the Angels. Let's face it, even though they're struggling, they still have arguably three of the best players in the game right now, and they're going to get theirs. And hey, even with the loss, we're looking at a 3-3 week in which we were in every game. Throw out a blown save and we win both series and go 4-2. Anyhow, here's some more thoughts on the loss:

1) Not a lot of offense yesterday, BUT it should be noted that the Astros worked 5 more walks including 2 apiece for Chris Carter and Carlos Pena. I love seeing this from Carter because a little bit of plate discipline is just going to make him that much more dangerous as a hitter.

2) You've gotta feel bad for Philip Humber. The guy has pitched his heart out in 3 straight starts. He's got an ERA of 2.89, and zero wins to show for it thanks in large part to the fact that the Astros have managed to score exactly one run TOTAL in his three starts. That's just not going to get it done.

3) Rhiner Cruz made his team high eighth appearance of the season yesterday afternoon and surrendered a two-run home run to Josh Hamilton. The flame-throwing righty has worked 8 innings out of the pen this year and has a 4.50 ERA while allowing 10 hits, but only fanning two. I'm not sure why Rhiner is getting the lion's share of the late innings right now, other than that he is probably the only guy that really has the stuff to be a dominant late innings pitcher. Figure Bo's going to give him every opportunity to be that guy this year. Kind of the same way we're going to keep sending Brett Wallace out there even though he's struggling. You've got to find out what you've got. Personally I'd like to see Wesley Wright get a longer look as a true setup man, especially given that we have two other lefties in the pen right now. That's just me though.

4) On the injury front, Fernando Martinez started his rehab stint in AAA this weekend and could be back in Houston by midweek. It'll be interesting to see who gets sent down if/when Fernando comes back. My money is on Brett Wallace just because he's in the biggest slump right now, although J.D. Martinez is certainly a possibility as well simply because those two play the same position. In other injury news, Houston lost yet another fringe arm to Tommy John surgery as John Ely, acquired from the Dodgers, just got shut down for the season. Ely had pitched in just one game in AAA this year working 4 scoreless innings and earning a save. What this means moving forward is that another spot on the 40-man roster is opening up. So someone like Brandon Laird, who's hanging out in AAA, may now have a clear path to Houston should a roster spot become available. It alternatively gives Houston a chance to sign a player off of waivers without making a corresponding roster move. Just something to keep an eye on.

5) Houston's starters have a 3.39 ERA through 12 starts this season led by Bud Norris (1.96) and Humber (2.89). Only one starter - Lucas Harrell - has allowed more than 3 earned runs in one of his starts. The bullpen, by contrast, has a 5.72 ERA and has allowed 63 baserunners in 39 1/3 innings. If Houston is ever going to be competitive, those numbers MUST get better.

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

Albert Pujols is a Bad Man

Losses like that one are always hard to swallow. You can't help but look at missed opportunities, and wonder about what might've been. That said, it's one game, and if you're going to get beaten by someone in the bottom of the 9th, it might as well be one of the greatest players to ever play the game. Hats off to Albert, once again he beat us. Some more thoughts on last night's game:

1) I've mentioned before how I'm not sure Jose Veras is the answer at closer. But when you look at our bullpen right now, I don't know who is. Wesley Wright hasn't been as effective in 2013, Rhiner Cruz is still learning the finer points of pitching, Hector Ambriz has allowed more than 2 hits an inning, Xavier Cedeno has control issues, Paul Clemens has pitched in exactly one major league game, and Dallas Keuchel is, at best, a serviceable long reliever. Now last night wasn't exactly an easy save situation, but Veras has yet to put together a 1-2-3 inning and any of his 5 outings now. You can't put that many runners on base and expect to be effective in the late innings. Plus, you can't walk the #9 hitter. Make him put the ball in play! We'll see how Veras bounces back. Hopefully his next opportunity involves a three run lead so he has more of a margin for error and can gain some confidence.

2) I probably should have led with this, but Brett Wallace had 4 at-bats last night and struck out exactly ZERO times! He even battled for a walk which helped facilitate Houston's 2-run 7th. I don't want to say he's on the verge of breaking out of his season long slump, but last night was a good step in the right direction. We'll see if he can build on that moving forward.

3) J.D. Martinez's error proved to be pretty costly. And let's face it, errors in close games usually are. You've got to make that play though if you're a Major League outfielder. Now I realize J.D.'s game is probably better suited for left field, but still... If he's going to be out there, he needs to make those types of plays.

4) Chris Carter is a beast. Trogdor bashed his 4th home run of the season and extended his hitting streak to 6 games. He's still managed to strike out in 11 straight games passing Wallace for the team lead with 18, but so long as he's producing, I can live with the occasional (or more than occasional) strikeout. After starting the season 1 for 19, Carter has raised his average up to .289 during the streak.

5) Lucas Harrell pitched much better this time out. After getting roughed up pretty good by Oakland, he continued the trend of solid starting pitching for the Astros allowing just 1 run in 5 2/3 innings. Houston starters have allowed more than 3 earned runs just once this season and have a 3.49 ERA through 11 starts.

6) Marwin Gonzalez executed a perfect bases loaded squeeze play in the 7th inning to bring home Houston's 4th and final run. It's nice to see us able to bring that runner home from third base this season. Houston stranded just 3 runners last night and was 2 for 5 with runners in scoring position.

Houston sends Philip Humber to the mound today in an effort to win their second straight series. The Astros have not scored a single run in either of Humber's two previous starts this year.

Seattle Plays Sound Fundamental Baseball and Sends Astros to Sixth Straight Loss

Houston wasted a quality start from Philip Humber and arguably the best showing we've had from the bullpen all season as the Astros were shut out for the third time in the past week, dropping their sixth game in a row by a score of 3-0 in Seattle. Some notes from Game 7:

1) This game was a perfect example of how you don't need a lot of hits to get a win. Seattle had just 5 hits in the game, but produced 3 runs thanks to good fundamentals (two successful bunts), good baserunning (a stolen base to set up the game's first run), and timely hitting (2 clutch hits by Kendrys Morales). The Astros, in 7 games, have yet to lay down a successful sacrifice or attempt a stolen base, and the 3 shutout losses speaks to their inability to get timely hits.

2) I'm a real fan of the work Matty Dominguez is doing over at the hot corner. His defense has been absolutely terrific so far this season, and he's generally had solid approaches at the plate striking out just twice in 21 at-bats. With Brett Wallace mired in an abysmal slump, it looks less and less like the possibility of a platoon over there meaning Dominguez is going to get a long look this season.

3) Humber became just the second Astros starter in seven games this season to pitch through the sixth inning. He threw just 86 pitches, 56 of them for strikes and allowed just five hits and a walk. That makes back-to-back solid outings for the righty, but unfortunately the Astros offense has scored a total of ZERO runs in his two starts.

4) I'm baffled somewhat by how a guy like Rhiner Cruz can throw so hard, and have so few strikeouts. Cruz finally logged his first strikeout of the season last night, and he's already thrown 4 1/3 innings on the year. I don't know if he's tipping his pitches, or if his stuff just didn't have any life, but he's not missing nearly as many bats as he should be.

5) Justin Maxwell, one of the Astros lone offensive bright spots singled in the first to extend his hitting streak to 5 games. After hitting just .153 this spring, Maxwell has hit safely in every game this season with the exception of the Darvish game, and leads the team in runs (5), hits (9), walks (2), triples (2) and batting average (.360).

6) I'd like to see Brandon Barnes start getting some more playing time. We all know about his defense, but he also brings an element of speed to the table, and he's been getting on base lately (2 hits and 2 walks in 3 starts). With Ankiel looking like he'd have a hard time hitting a beachball with a tennis racket, J.D. Martinez getting benched for "mental errors", and Chris Carter struggling on both sides of the ball, it would seem like Barnes is due for an opportunity.

7) Seattle's bullpen is filthy. Carter Capps, Charlie Furbush and Tom Wilhelmsen all had plus stuff and effectively sealed any hopes of an Astros comeback last night. By contrast, the Astros pen has an ERA of 5.18 on the year. Although, they did shut down Seattle's offense in the late innings last night, so maybe they'll turn things around. In their last 10 innings, the Houston bullpen has only allowed 2 runs.

Hard to Win if You Can't Score

The bats were lifeless for a second straight game as the Astros fell to the Rangers 4-0. The Astros racked up double digit strike-outs for a third straight game to start the year and wasted another strong pitching performance, this time from newcomer Philip Humber. Some more observations from Game 3:

1) The inability to put balls in play is killing the Astros right now. They have ten times as many strikeouts (43) as walks (4), and hit just .172 in the series while fanning in 46% of their at bats. You can point your finger in any number of directions too as every Astro with the exception of Carlos Corporan struck out at least once in the three game series. Top offenders: Brett Wallace (8), Chris Carter (7), Carlos Pena (6), Justin Maxwell (5), and Rick Ankiel (5). Even pitchers don't strike out at that rate, so you have to figure things will get better and average out, but still...

2) Jason Castro and Chris Carter both went 0 for 11 in the Rangers series. Have faith, both will break out of their mini slumps. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

3) Lance Berkman is not welcome in Houston any more. The Big Puma reached base in 9 of his 13 at bats and drove in 3. His "replacement" Carlos Pena was just 2 for 11 and as previously noted struck out six times. I say the word replacement loosely because Pena didn't really "replace" Berkman, we just opted to sign him instead. Any regrets yet?

Whirling Darvish Dazzles Astros

Not quite the follow-up to the season opener we were all hoping for, but hey, at least we didn't get no hit. Thank you, Marwin Gonzalez. Some observations on the loss:

1) Yu Darvish made our lineup look silly. I made a comment the other day that there are going to be days where this team resembles a minor league ball club at the plate, and this was one of those days. Yu Darvish cruised through the Astros lineup retiring 26 in a row - 14 of them via the strike out - as the Rangers evened the series at one game apiece. In fact, the only Astro not to strike out last night was backup catcher Carlos Corporan. Now it's not like Darvish is a slouch. As we saw last year, he's a legitimate ace. But even as good as he is, you expect to hit more than one ball out of the infield. It's not going to get much easier today when the Astros get Alexi Ogando, but I don't think anyone will miss Darvish.

2) One of the many, many questions surrounding this year's Astros team is their bullpen. And the bullpen looked REALLY shaky last night. Yes, it's a small sample size, but it wasn't pretty. The pen inherited a 1-0 deficit in the 7th inning last night, and between Xavier Cedeno, Rhiner Cruz, Wesley Wright, Josh Fields, and Jose Veras, they surrendered 6 runs turning a close game into a rout. Only Fields managed to get through the game without giving up a run, and he pitched just 1/3 of an inning.