Astros Minor League Recap: April 6th
The minor league opening day is in the books and the season is under way. Let’s see how the teams got their seasons started last night.
AAA: Fresno Grizzlies (0-1) lost 13-6 (BOX SCORE)
Rough start to the season for Fresno. McHugh got the start as he continues to build back arm strength. Unfortunately, it did not go well as he allowed 3 runs in 1 inning. Bryant-Jon Anteola of the Fresno Bee tweeted that McHugh went back out for a second inning, threw a few pitches, called out the trainer, and was then removed from the game. Not a good sign. Fresno rallied in the first putting up a 5 spot thanks to a 3 run HR from Teoscar, RBI single from Moran and a Tucker sacrifice fly. Yuhl came in for relief of McHugh and gave up 5 runs himself. Fresno got one back with a solo HR from Fisher in the 4th but the bullpen continued to give up runs and the lead proved insurmountable for Fresno. Good to see Fisher and get off to a nice start.
- Tony Kemp, 2B: 2-for-5, R
- Derek Fisher, CF: 2-for-4, 2 R, HR, RBI
- Teoscar Hernandez, RF: 1-for-4, R, HR, 3 RBI
- A.J. Reed, 1B: 1-for-4, R
- Tyler White, DH: 2-for-4, R
- Colin Moran, 3B: 1-for-4, RBI
- Reid Brignac, SS: 2-for-4
- Preston Tucker, LF: 0-for-3, RBI
- Collin McHugh, RHP: 1.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
- Keegan Yuhl, RHP: 1.2 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
- Aaron West, RHP: 2.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
- Ashur Tolliver, LHP: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
- Tyson Perez, RHP: 2.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
AA: Corpus Christi Hooks (1-0) won 2-1 (BOX SCORE)
A late rally wins it for Corpus Christi. Thornton got the nod as the opening day starter and pitched well allowing 1 run over 4 innings while striking out 5. The Hooks didn’t record their first hit until Stubbs singled to center without 2 outs in the 6th. Sneed pitched in relief of Thornton and tossed 3 shutout innings to keep the Hooks in it. The Hooks would rally in the 8th. A Muniz single, Laureano single, and Stubbs walk loaded the bases for Ferguson who came through with a clutch 2 run single to give the Hooks the lead. Thompson pitched a scoreless 8th and 9th innings to pick up the save.
- Ramon Laureano, RF: 1-for-4, R
- Garrett Stubbs, C: 1-for-3, BB
- Drew Ferguson, LF: 1-for-3, 2 RBI, BB
- J.D. Davis, 3B: 1-for-4
- Bryan Muniz, DH 1-for-4, R
- Trent Thornton, RHP: 4.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
- Cy Sneed, RHP: 3.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
- Ryan Thompson, RHP: 2.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
A+: Buies Creek Astros (1-0) won 5-3 (BOX SCORE)
Buies Creek played their inaugural game last night and came out on top. Bostick got the start and got his season started well tossing five shutout innings. Straw got the Astros on the board with a sacrifice fly scoring Correa. Hernandez relieved Bostick and gave up a 1 run in the 6th inning to tie the game at 1. The Astros wasted no time getting the lead back as they dropped four in the 7th on an RBI single from Correa, 2 run double from Straw and an RBI single from Tucker. With the score 5-3, Ferrell made his return to the mound after suffering an aneurysm in his shoulder last season and picked up the save striking out the side. Great to see Straw and Tucker get their seasons started with a good opening night.
- Myles Straw, RF: 2-for-3, R, 2 2B, 3 RBI
- Kyle Tucker, CF: 2-for-4, 2B, RBI
- Dexture McCall, 1B: 1-for-4
- Ryne Birk, 2B: 1-for-4, 2B
- Christian Correa, C: 3-for-4, R, 2B, RBI
- Pat Porter, DH: 1-for-3, 2 R, 2B
- Stijn van der Meer, 3B: 0-for-2, R, BB
- Akeem Bostick, RHP: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
- Elieser Hernandez, RHP: 2.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K (WIN)
- Ralph Garza, RHP: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
- Riley Ferrell, RHP: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K (SAVE)
A: Quad Cities River Bandits (1-0) won 3-0 (BOX SCORE)
Quad Cities also got their season started with a win. Perez got the start and was dominant striking out 8 in just 3.1 innings pitched. The River Bandits got all their runs in the 4th inning when they dropped 3 runs thanks to a a solo HR from Jones, RBI single from Sierra, and another run scoring on a wild pitch. The bullpen for Quad Cities was great. Saldana tossed 1.1 scoreless innings. Hartman came on in relief of him and struck out 6 over his 3 shutout innings. Velasquez pitched the 9th inning picking up the save with a scoreless inning.
- Anibal Sierra, SS: 1-for-3, RBI, BB, SB
- Stephen Wrenn, RF: 0-for-2, 2 BB
- Daz Cameron, CF: 1-for-4, 2 SB
- Ronnie Dawson, LF: 1-for-4
- Taylor Jones, 1B: 1-for-4, R, HR, RBI
- Jake Rogers, C: 0-for-3, R, BB
- Alex DeGoti, 2B: 3-for-5, R, 3B, RBI
- Hector Perez, RHP: 3.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 8 K
- Abdiel Saldana, RHP: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K (WIN)
- Ryan Hartman, LHP: 3.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
- Derick Velazquez, RHP: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K (SAVE)
Today’s starters according to MiLB.com:
FRE: Brady Rodgers (-.– ERA)
CC: Kent Emanuel (-.– ERA)
BC: TBD
QC: Carson LaRue (-.– ERA)
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**Photo Credit: Richard Guill**