Welcome back to the PreStros Morning Report. The Constable, after 70-odd hours of non-stop baseball sim gaming, has been sedated and is resting comfortably at home. Sadly, that means that you have me, again. Apologies. Once the Constable wakes, we plan to stage an Intervention, and we hope to get him back to writing soon. Then, avid reader, you will be freed from me.
Summary
* Good Day for Astros Affiliates: 3-1, 72-64.
* OKC cruised to a win over the Redbirds after scoring 7 in the first 4
* Corpus let the side down. Dammit.
* Lancaster won a tight one
* Quad Cities won a tighter one.
Oklahoma City (19-16)
The RedHawks win game 3 of a 4 game series against the 16-18 Memphis Redbirds, by a score of 8-3. The scoring was mostly concertinaed into the first half of the game. Memphis opened with two, OKC replied with 1, 4 and 2 runs in the 1st, 2nd and 4th respectively, then both team scored one from then on in.
Leather: David Martinez started, and threw 5IP, giving up 6H, 3R/ER, and 3BB. He struck out two. Nine base runners in 5 inning was not the best thing for his WHIP, but 2 double-plays ably assisted him in keeping the most important stat, runs, mostly off the board.
But the relief was effective, starting with Rhiner Cruz (2IP, 1H, 1K), Kevin Chapman (1IP, 1H, 1K) and Jason Stoffel (1IP, 1BB) combining to allow 3 base runners, all erased on double-plays. Strong GB:FB ratio for the combined trio - 8:0. Rhiner Cruz's ERA sits at 1.50 - be interesting to see if he gets another look in the Bigs soon.
Wood: Jon Singleton had himself a ballgame. To wit: 3-5, HR, 3RBI, 2R. Also warranting a mention is Enrique Hernandez (1-3, BB, 2R), Domingo Santana (1-2, 2B, 2BB, 2RBI) and Erik Castro (1-4, 2B, RBI, R). Bob Grossman went 0-4, BB, SB, R... Bob Grossman Major League Watch is now off again, and www.isbobgrossmanupyet.edu has been shut down due to lack of funding.
Man of the Match: Jon Singleton. Boom. 2R HR in the 4th puts the RedHawks up for good.
Corpus Christi (17-16)
Watch out Corpus, .500 is just behind you!! They lost the first game of a road series against the Frisco RoughRiders (21-12). The score was 5-3, and the RoughRiders took the lead early with a 4-run 3rd.
Leather: Luis Cruz started (4IP, 7H, 4R/ER, 1BB, 3K, HR), Jordan Jankowski relieved (3IP, 3H, 1R/ER, BB, 3K) and Andrew Robinson finished (1IP, H, BB, K). Cruz took the loss and dropped to 3-3, but his ERA is a sparkly 2.52, with a FIP a fair bit higher. Regression is a cow, man!
Wood: Nolan Fontana and Andrew Aplin did well (2-4, BB), Matt Duffy provided some productive power (1-4, 2B, 2RBI), Preston Tucker had one to forget (0-5) and MP Corkinos was the best (2-3, BB, R, RBI). The Hooks drew 7 walks against 6 K's
Man of the Match: Matt Duffy showed clutch-ness, but the best offensive performer was Micheal Paul Corkinos, who had a strong day. MOTM to MP.
Lancaster (21-14)
Lancaster played the last game of an away four game series with their top-of-the-table compatriots, the Lake Elsinore Storm (now 20-15). This one was tight, with Lancaster scoring the go-ahead run in the top of the 7th to win 3-2.
Leather: Mike Hauschild started, and gave up one run in the 2nd and one in the 5th to finish with the following line: 5IP, 5H, 2R/ER, BB, K. He was relieved by Daniel Minor, who eventually was credited with the win, who went 2IP, 1H, 2BB, 2K. Tyson Perez threw the last two innings to earn the save, but it wasn't that pretty when he wasn't striking people out: 2IP, 2H, BB, 4K. Lancaster pitchers kept the ball on the ground: 12 GO v no FO. Crickey.
Wood: 2013 Draftee Tony Kemp had himself a ballgame. He was, nearly singlehandedly, the difference. 4-4, 2B, RBI, 2R, Sac. Teoscar Hernandez also had a good one: 3-4, 2B, BB, RBI. Some genius batted those to in the first two slots of the order.... followed by Carlos Correa (1-5, RBI, SB). Danry Vasquez and Ruben Sosa both went 1-3, BB, with Vasquez scoring a run.
Man of the Match: Short second-basemen are the new market inefficiency!! Tony Kemp. Yippee! Astros Win!!
Quad Cities (15-18)
Quad Cities continue their crawl back to respectability and .500, with an exciting win over the Beloit Snappers (13-20). This opened a three game set at home. Beloit scored three in the 4th, with QC pulling one back in each of the 5th and 6th. Then it was Beloit's turn to put up consecutive one-run innings in the 7th and 8th, but Quad Cities got a run-for-each-of-the-cities-in-the-Quad-area (4) in the bottom of the eighth. Boom. 6-5 win.
Leather: Looks like a 'pen start to me, for some reason. Michael Feliz went 2IP, 1H, 1BB, 2K. He was relieved by Patrick Christensen (2IP, 3H, 3R/ER, BB, K) and Gonzalo Sanudo (2.2IP, 2H, 1R/ER, 2BB, 2K and yet another scored-upon outing - thanks Batguy for your curse - doomed for an eternity of scored-upon outings). Zac Morton came in and pitched 1.1IP, giving up 3H, 1R/ER, K, and Andrew Walter showed some Closer Mentality in going 1IP, 1K.
Another ridiculous GB:FB ratio - 15:2. Wow.
Wood: First up: Jobduan. Again, no definite curse-related result. 1-4, 2B, R, RBI. Perhaps leaning toward a good, rather than meh performance. But the best perfumers with the wood, curse or not, were Jack Mayfield (2-3, BB, R), Conrad Gregor (1-2, 2BB, 2R) and Tyler White (2-4, R, RBI) - coincidentally, these three batted 3-5 in the batting order, respectively.
But the best of the lot came out of the nine-hole, a-la Jonathan Villar and Mike Zunino last weekend. Brett Phillips went 2-4, 2B, 3B, R, RBI, mashing two of the five XBH of the night.
It appears that the strong 8th inning was merely a hit parade - 5H in the inning.
Man of the Match: Brett Phillips, for his awesome power.
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
