A note on our format for the time being

This is totally going to make me feel like a diva, but it's happened again. We're having a hard time coming up with the motivation to post. It's not the losing (well, it might be the losing), and it's certainly not the comments, or the readership - you all have been great.

Lately, Real Life has crowded in on the freedom to post as much as we would like, and to be honest, it has felt like a weight has been lifted off our collective shoulders. Obviously, this isn't exactly what we were hoping for. We were hoping that the inability to post updates, snide comments, and analysis would really bother us, and drive us to do better. But it's been freeing.

Life is moving at a fairly rapid clip, new opportunities (not with blogging - those opportunities rarely come up) have arisen. This isn't a farewell post - we will continue to be active on Twitter, including the County Clerk's nuggets, Men of the Match from Eddie's Farm, etc. So by all means, follow Astros County on Twitter and get most of the same information. It's just time for a little break.

Tweet you soon.

Tranzactionz

To finish up yesterday's round of tranzactionz, we have the following:

August 12

Dan Adamson and Alex Todd assigned to Lancaster, Adamson from Lexington, Todd from Greeneville.

Jean Carlos Batista assigned to Greenville from the GCL Astros.

Wladimir Sutil (leg) placed on DL for Corpus

Eddie's Farm: August 12

Apologies for the first of these in quite some time. Let's get to it, and pretend it never happened.

Oklahoma City (54-66)

OKC was all over Colorado, at one point scoring seven unanswered runs, for a 9-2 win. Lucas Harrell got the start, and didn't get ejected, or pulled before the 3rd inning, throwing 7IP, 11H/2ER, 5K:0BB (ERA: 2.67). Sam Gervacio and Xavier Cedeno each got three outs, with no hits, and 2Ks.

Brett Wallace continues his mastery of Triple-A with a 3x3, BB, 2RBI game. Jake Goebbert - called up ten days ago - was 2x4 with a double and an RBI. Drew Locke was 1x3 with 3RBI.

Man of the Match: Lucas Harrell

Corpus (42-75)

Game 1: Corpus loses to Arkansas, 4-2. Brett Oberholtzer took his first loss in the organization with 4IP, 2H/2ER, 6K:3BB. Arcenio Leon allowed 2H/2R (1ER), 0K:1BB, and Blake King allowed a walk in 1IP.

Emerson Frostad hit a solo homer, and added a single, to account for two of the Hooks' three runs. Kody Hinze had your other. David Flores provided the other RBI.

Man of the Match: Emerson Frostad.

Game 2: Arkansas got the first five runs, and beat Corpus 6-2. Erick Abreu lasted 1.1IP, allowing 5H/5ER, 0K:3BB. Jonnathan Aristil allowed 3H/1ER, which was given up by Henry Villar, who allowed two hits and two wild pitches.

Adam Bailey was 2x3 with two doubles and an RBI in his Double-A debut; Jon Gaston was 2x2 with a double and a walk.

Man of the Match: Adam Bailey

Lancaster (43-74)

Lancaster got themselves rocked, 8-2 at the hands of San Jose. Jose Cisnero allowed 7H/5ER, 5K:2BB, 3HR in 4IP; Shane Wolf threw 3IP of long relief, giving up 2H/1ER, 4K:0BB, HR; Kyle Greenwalt had two baserunners but no runs, and Pat Urckfitz' tailspin continues with 3H/2ER in 1IP.

Jonathan Singleton (3B) and Jonathan Meyer (2B, RBI) had two hits each; Austin Wates was 1x2 with 2BB. Alex Todd made his High-A debut after 33 games in Greeneville, and went 1x2 with a double after striking out for Jio Mier - who was apparently inexplicably tossed.

Man of the Match: Jonathan Meyer

Lexington (51-66)

Augusta scored the first six runs of the game, and then the last three for a 9-1 win over the Legends. Ruben Alaniz gave up 8H/6ER, 2K:1BB in 2.1IP; Alex Sogard threw the next 4.2IP, allowing 5H/2ER, 5K:2BB; Juan Minaya gave up 3H/1ER, 4K:1BB in 2IP.

Delino DeShields was 2x4 with a double, and Telvin Nash had your only XBH, with a double.

Man of the Match: Telvin Nash, who also had an outfield assist.

Tri-City (24-31)

Game 1: Despite allowing two runs to Hudson Valley in the top of the 1st, Tri-City got five back in the bottom half on their way to a 9-4 win. Adam Champion threw 6IP, 3H/2ER, 5K:2BB, as did Kristian Bueno, but without the strikeouts or walks, in 1IP.

Rafael Valenzuela was 3x4 with two doubles and 3RBI; Miguel Arrendell (BB) and Ryan McCurdy (2B, 3RBI) had two hits each. Chris Epps and Drew Muren were both 0x1, but with 3BB each.

Man of the Match: Rafael Valenzuela

Game 2: And Tri-City completes the sweep with a 2-1 win. Undrafted free agent Andrew Walter allowed an unearned run in 3IP, with 5K:2BB in 3IP, but Travis Blankenship picked up the win with 3IP, 2H/0ER. Ryan Cole got his 8th save of the year.

Neiko Johnson was 2x3 with a double; Rafael Valenzuela got a double as the ValleyCats win despite no extra-base hits, and no RBIs.

Man of the Match: Andrew Walter

Greeneville (21-30)

Greenville scored the first seven runs of the night for an 8-3 win over Bristol. Ricardo Batista allowed 1H/0ER, 7K:2BB in 5IP; Danilo Del Rio got two outs, but gave up 4H/3ER, and Zach Dando threw the final 3.1IP, striking out three, walking one, and giving up no hits.

Jorge Sosa (2B, BB, RBI), Jordan Scott (BB, RBI), Jesse Wierzbicki (2B, HR, 2RBI), and Chan-Jong Moon (2B, 2RBI) all had two hits each. Ernesto Genoves was 1x4 with a walk and an RBI.

Man of the Match: Jesse Wierzbicki

From the Office of the County Clerk - G119: Astros @ Dodgers

This is terrible. Astros lose in extras, 1-0, in 10 innings.

*The last time the Astros played in back-to-back extra-innings games was on June 27-28, 2007 at Milwaukee and at home to Colorado. They split those two games. The last time they lost two consecutive extra-innings games was July 8-9, 2006 - both at home to St. Louis.

*It's the third 1-0 game of the season (1-2), and the 24th time this season the Astros have been held to zero or one run.

*Loss trend update: four in a row, seven of eight, eleven of their last fourteen.

*Bud Norris had a solid, solid game: 7IP, 2H/0ER, 8K:4BB. In three starts against the Dodgers this season, Norris has thrown 20IP, allowing 9H/2ER, 18K:8BB.

*The Astros issued three intentional walks and five unintentional walks to the Dodgers. It's the fifth time the Astros have walked 8+ batters this season and are, predictably, 0-5. When allowing 5+ walks, the Astros are 6-23. How did they win six? It's a miracle.

*The "offense" got three hits and four walks - with no extra-base hits. Your hits came courtesy of Altuve, Bourgeois, and a pinch-hit from Brian Bogusevic. J.B. Shuck and Carlos Lee drew two walks each.

*It's the second time this season the Astros have drawn more walks than hits.

*Jason Bourgeois has four hits in his last eight ABs.

*Since the All-Star Break, Clint Barmes is hitting .259/.308/.424 (.250/.324/.379 before the ASG).

*The final eight batters of this game were retired, with Bogusevic's pinch-hit single in the 8th coming as the final hit. Shuck bunted into a double play to erase him. Prior to that, the Astros struck out in order - all swinging - in the 7th; meaning that eleven of the final twelve batters didn't reach base.

*Man of the Match: Bud Norris

*Goat of the Game: E'rybody.

Tranzactionz

Couple of moves courtesy of Greg Rajan today:

-Adam Bailey and Jose Carlos Thompson have been promoted from Lancaster to Corpus;
-Jose Vallejo up to OKC from Corpus

Astros (presumably) were "feeling sorry for themselves"

Jeff Keppinger talked to Sporting News about the implosion of the Giants and :

"On the teams I was on, you definitely saw a lot of guys feeling sorry for themselves more than on contending teams. This team has got a swagger. They're the defending world champs. Nobody has been panicking at all no matter what's happened in the last two weeks. There's a certainty that they're going to get it done."

It should be said that the Giants are 7-13 since Keppinger came to the Bay Area.

More "Jim Crane will be MLB's plaything"

Jayson Stark's new Rumblings & Grumblings column talks more about how Jim Crane has no leverage if MLB wants to move the Astros to the American League. Bad news alert: It may not happen before Carlos Lee's contract expires.

Well, there's an owners' meeting next week, in which Jim Crane is scheduled to be approved as the next owner of the Astros.

Crane is a pivotal figure in this drama. Pivotal.

That's because the other 29 current owners have the right to veto any move of any kind -- to another league, to another division, to any place they don't feel like moving.

But Crane doesn't have that right, just because he's the new guy. We keep hearing that he's told Selig behind the scenes that he really doesn't want the Astros to leave the NL Central. But face it. He doesn't have much leverage here.

If realignment ever happens, you can bet the Astros will be moving -- somewhere. But where?

You'll have to click the link to find out where...
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We also find that a potential target for the PTBNL to complete the Pence trade, Single-A outfielder Leandro Castro, is hurt. The Astros have "two-and-a-half weeks" to make their selection, and if Castro is still hurt, they may want to expand their list, which may piss off the Phillies.

Phil Garner got himself a job

Phil Garner has been named Special Advisor to the Oakland A's, with a parenthetical "Designated Manager" attached. But don't tell Bob Melvin.

Levine's Notebook is chock-full of goodness

Information-wise, anyway. Among the nuggets:

*Tommy Manzella will always be partial to the Astros.

*Henry Sosa will start Monday night against the Cubs.

*Jordan Schafer will go on a rehab assignment next week.

*Brad Mills is worried about Wilton Lopez:
“We’re in a situation where his velocity is there and arm strength is not an issue and health is not an issue. We’re seeing we’re not quite getting the movement, whether his velocity is so good he’s throwing through the movement or it’s a mechanical thing.”

The one where Andrew Friedman took advantage of a gambling boat full of suckers

No, seriously. Think Jim Crane read this?

Bobby Heck thinks Springer needs to come across

In Brian McTaggart's update on George Springer, Bobby Heck needs to see more movement from Springer's camp:

"There's going to need to be significant movement on their end to do a deal, and we probably see this going down to Monday at some time."

From the Office of the County Clerk - G118: Astros @ Diamondbacks

The Astros gave a gift to the Diamondbacks in the form of a noodle-armed bullpen, and lose 8-5 in 10 innings.

*The Astros had a 5-1 lead going into the bottom of the 8th. They had a 5-3 lead going into the bottom of the 9th. The bottom of the 9th. Again, the bottom of the 9th.

*Amazingly, the Astros have had the lead going into the 9th inning 31 times this season (did I already mention that it's the 118th game of the season?). They're now 27-4.

*They're also now 3-6 in extra innings.

*Brett Myers pitched well in the start, allowing 6H/3ER, 4K:3BB in 7.2IP - throwing 67 of 106 pitches for strikes. It's the lowest number of hits he has allowed since July 15, and the fewest number of hits when throwing 7+ IP since June 29.

*It was Myers' 25th start of the season, and he allowed zero homers (though the bullpen would make up for that). It's just the 6th start this season without a homer.

*So Myers went into the bottom of the 8th with a 5-1 lead, got the first out, walked Willie Bloomquist, allowed a double, got a groundout, and allowed a single to Miguel Montero, bringing the D'amondb'cks to 5-3, with Montero on 1st. Fernando Rodriguez got Chris Young to foul out to end the inning.

*Mark Melancon, also with two outs in the bottom of the 9th, gave up a 450-foot pinch-hit homer to Paul Goldschmidt to tie the game. It was the fourth homer Melancon gave up - three of those have been on the road, and three have been with two outs. It's the first home run he had allowed since June 26, against Evan Longoria - a span of 68 batters.

*So Jeff Fulchino came in for the 10th, allowed two quick hits, needing just five pitches to do so, and Sergio Escalona also needed five pitches to blow the game, getting Montero to fly out before allowing a Chris Young homer to left to put the game away.

*It was the 5th walk-off homer of Chris Young's career, and the 7th homer against the Astros. It was the third time Young had hit a home run in the 10th inning - the first time since June 19, 2007.

*Enough about that, the offense again did its job. Lead-off man Jason Bourgeois came into last night's game 4x35, but was 3x5 with a triple. Jose Altuve was also 3x5, collecting an RBI. Altuve has a six-game hit streak, and has hits in eight of his last nine games.

*J.D. Martinez and Carlos Lee each had 2RBI. How about this: Martinez has hit in the #3-Spot five times so far. In those five games, Martinez is 7x22. Carlos Lee is 4x19.

*Four Astros baserunners (Bourgeois, Paredes, Martinez, and Bogusevic) were thrown out trying to steal a base. Martinez was thrown out trying to steal home in the top of the 5th. That's not entirely accurate. Mills called for a squeeze play, Jimmy Paredes missed the bunt, and Martinez was easily tagged out. And then Paredes struck out swinging. So the Astros had a runner on 3rd with one out, and managed to not do anything about it.

*Clint Barmes was 0x4 with two GIDPs. It's the first time in his career he had 2GIDPs in a game. One of those was in the 8th, when the Astros got two baserunners - and neither made it to 2nd base (Paredes caught stealing, Michaels walked, and Barmes did his thing).

*Man of the Match: Brett Myers

*Goat of the Game: The new Rally-Killer Bs: Bullpen + Barmes.

Euris Quezada popped for drugs

Tri-City pitcher Euris Quezada had the five fingers say "slaaaap" today, and he gets a 25-game suspension for violating Minor League Baseball's Drug Program.

Obviously there are going to be a lot of questions about what it takes to get a 25-game suspension (not the more traditional 50-game suspension). In a couple of instances this season minor leaguers have been given the 25-game suspension. In both instances linked, the players suspended did not test positive, but were discovered to have been in possession of an unauthorized syringe.

ESPN:
While most suspensions for first offenses are for 50 games, MLB can impose lesser discipline if the reason for the penalty was other than a positive test. Under the minor league program, which is stricter than the major league's joint drug agreement with the union, players may only be in possession of syringes if they have team permission.

The 22-year old RHP was 1-3 with a 6.95 ERA/2.05 WHIP (45H/26ER, 24K:24BB in 33.2IP) for Tri-City. Since there are 24 games left in Tri-City's season, Quezada will be done for the year.

FanGraphs, on just how fiercely Wade screwed the pooch with Wandy

Here's a solid breakdown of the complete lapse in judgment Ed Wade and the Astros made in extending Wandy to an asinine contract. Definitely worth your time.

Here's the nugget:
Because there are so few teams that would risk the possibility of having Rodriguez and his salary dumped in their laps, it remains unlikely that any team will claim Rodriguez on waivers. There might be a growing belief that a team will make a claim, but if we examine the whole picture it just doesn’t seem feasible. It also doesn’t seem feasible that the Astros would pull back Rodriguez rather than dump him wholesale on a claiming team. They need to cut payroll, and Rodriguez represents a decent chunk of their 2012 commitments. They might prefer to get something in return, but they’re not in a position to be picky right now.

Jack Armstrong is getting this physical out of the way

Brian McTaggart says that Jack Armstrong is in Houston for a physical. And if he passes that (not necessarily a slam dunk), they'll start exchanging numbers.

It's pretty clear that Jack Armstrong, Sr. is running this show. Bobby Heck:
“Once we have the results back from the physical, which we think will be fine, we’ll start exchanging numbers at that point time, which has been the dad’s desire all along – to start negotiations when Jack’s done playing.”

Heck went and watched Armstrong throw after his latest injury - elbow tenderness - and said, "the arm looked plenty healthy to me."

Yep, Manzella is a Diamondback

Looks like you can add Tommy Manzella to the list of players who have gone from a last-place organization to a first-place one.

Manzella has been claimed off irrevocable waivers by the Diamondbacks.

It would be so cruel, yet so hilarious, if he went 4x5 tonight with three homers against Brett Myers.

Chase Davidson is moving up

Chase Davidson, who was raking at Greeneville, has been swapped out with Tri-City's Kellen Kiilsgaard.

Davidson was hitting .335/.426/.646 for Greeneville, with 11 homers in 161 ABs (also, 13 doubles and two triples).

Kiilsgaard, in 28 games, was hitting .159/.194/.261 for Tri-City as he deals with/recovers from an injury.

Not a whole lot going on with Jack Armstrong

Zach Levine's Notebook has some info about the progression of talks with 3rd Round pick Jack Armstrong.

Bobby Heck:
“We haven’t exchanged a whole lot of information."

Apparently is was pretty much established that the Astros would wait until after the Cape Cod League finished up its season, which happened for Armstrong earlier this week.

Waivers for Wandy?

Danny Knobler wrote last night that the Astros are expected to put Wandy on waivers as early as today or tomorrow.

But with a large crowd of scouts watching Monday night in Arizona, Rodriguez shut out the Diamondbacks on two hits over six innings. It's believed that at least one National League team, and maybe others, were interested enough to risk a claim.

DeShields has some learning to do

Lexington manager Rodney Linares says that Delino DeShields still has some learning to do, but he's getting better:

“He’s still young. He still has a lot to learn. Offensively, he’ll develop. He’s got short swing, great knowledge of the strike zone. He’s struck out a lot but he’s still learning a lot. I love what I’ve seen of Delino and I think he’s going to develop into a very solid major league player.”

MiLB sites don't have silly things like "Plate Appearances," so we're left with ABs to work with. Here's DeShields' K/AB rate in 2011, by month:

April: 26.4%
May: 27.4%
June: 28.6%
July: 20.6%
August: 34.6%

He's in the middle of a ten-game stretch, hitting .150/.277/.150, with six singles in his last 40 ABs. So there you have it.

From the Office of the County Clerk - G117: Astros @ Diamon'ba'ks

Rough debut for Henry Sosa, and the Astros fall 6-3 at Arizona.

*The Astros are one of three teams in the NL East/NL Central to have a losing record against the NL West, at 8-12. Florida is 8-10, and Pittsburgh is 11-14.

*It wasn't so much of a rough debut for Sosa, as it was a rough first inning. Willie Bloomquist hit a lead-off homer - the second such homer of his career - and Sosa went on to issue two walks and two hits before getting out of the inning down 3-0.

*So, just to put it on the record, the Astros have been outscored 81-54 in the first inning this season, for an average of 0.69 1st inning runs, the second highest average of all the innings (they give up an average of 0.72 runs in the 6th inning).

*Anyhow, Sosa threw 6IP, 6H/4ER, 4K:3BB. This means that, in innings 2-6, he allowed 3H/1ER, 4K:1BB.

*In the seventh inning, Wilton Lopez allowed two more hits and an unearned run, and Sergio Escalona and Jeff Fulchino struck out their respective batters faced. Aneury Rodriguez allowed a hit, run, and a walk. That's five straight appearances of allowing at least one baserunner for The Aneurysm (though, to be fair, the previous three outings were six-out appareances).

*The Astros only collected six hits and two walks. J.D. Martinez had one of those walks, and Brian Bogusevic had the other.

*There is an interesting philosophy difference between Jose Altuve (1x4) and Martinez (0x3, BB): In his four plate appearances, Altuve saw nine pitches. Martinez saw 29 pitches in his four plate appearances.

*Martinez, in his first eleven games, has seen 183 pitches, 113 of which have been strikes. That works out to an average of 4.26 pitches per plate appearance. For comparison purposes, Altuve has an average of 3.11 pitches per PA.

*Humberto Quintero was 1x4 with an RBI, and as you may have seen all over the place last night, his 10-game hitting streak is a career high.

*One crucial point in the game was Carlos Lee's ass-crack of an AB in the top of the 8th inning. With the bases loaded, Lee grounded out to the shortstop. It scored Shuck from 3rd, but in nine PAs with the bases loaded in 2011, Lee has one hit (a homer, but whatever).

*Angel Sanchez' SLG is seriously in trouble of breaking below .300. With an 0x1 PH appearance, he's hitting .251/.304/.301. Sanchez hasn't had an extra-base hit since July 6 (a double) at Pittsburgh - a span of 60 PAs (with a .216/.273/.216 line).

*Man of the Match: Gah. Quintero? It's up for grabs

*Goat of the Game: I don't know. Everyone.

BA likes J.D. Martinez

In John Manuel's chat today, he had some nice things to say about J.D. Martinez.

I like Martinez because I think he'll hit and hit for power — 7 of his 11 hits so far are for extra bases. It wouldn't shock me if he wound up approximating Hunter Pence's offensive numbers other than SB, and he plays with similar energy. He doesn't run like Pence though and isn't as well-rounded of a player, but I think he's the best of the young position players the Astros have called up so far.

Tommy Manzella DFA'ed

Well, that pretty much sums it up. The Astros have designated Tommy Manzella for assignment, in order to clear room to put Henry Sosa on the 40-man roster.

In 109 games for OKC, Manzella is hitting .230/.319/.360 overall, and is hitting .188/.278/.275 in 22 games since the Triple-A All-Star Game.

Austin Wates is a swell fella

Check out this tweet from Austin Wates:

Join me in supporting the children of the 22 SEALS killed on Aug 6 in Afgh. I'm in for $10K for them.U can donate at nswfoundation.org

Mike Barnett brings the noise

Zach Levine had a ridiculous Q&A with Mike Barnett, who shared a number of insights about the younger Astros (meaning, everyone except Carlos Lee). Definitely worth a click.

Sosa on his way to Arizona

Henry Sosa - acquired in the Jeff Keppinger trade - will pitch tonight against Arizona, edging out bullpen candidate Aneury Rodriguez.

Since coming over from the Giants' organization, Sosa has thrown a total of 25.2IP, allowing 21H/6ER, 20K:7BB for the Hooks and RedHawks. He's had one start for OKC, throwing seven shutout innings at Las Vegas on August 5, meaning he's on regular rest tonight.

The Anuerysm has pitches better of late, strictly out of the bullpen. In nine appearances in July and August, he has thrown 12.2IP, 8H/3ER, 10K:1BB.

Ryan Rowland-Smith is back

According to a 1am tweet, Ryan Rowland-Smith is back from his finger injury, and with Oklahoma City.

Downs is pissed!

Matt Downs is the latest MLBer to get all riled up at umpire officiating, when he took a called "strike" to push the count to 3-2, instead of a walk that would have loaded the bases:

“It changes the game completely when it goes from 3-1 walk to 3-2 and then I strike out. I get tired of umpires going back to the hotel and thinking they did a good job on the night and I have to go back to the hotel on a failure night after I feel like I walked 3-1 instead of punching out 3-2. Some kind of action has to be taken on just a bonehead call like that. I said I think that ball is in, and he said if I didn’t swing next time, it would be 3-2 strikeout. He told me it was a strike all the way, it was a great pitch. After looking at the film, I realized that it was not."

I was well asleep by the time this happened, so I didn't see it. And since Gameday is being a tarted-up nancyboy, I can't tell. What did you see?

Eddie's Farm: August 9

Oklahoma City (52-66)

OKC and Tucson traded seven-run rallies, but Tucson got the last run in the 6th for an 8-7 win over the RedHawks. Dallas Keuchel's Triple-A education continued with a 2IP, 6H/7ER, 1K:2BB outing, and his Triple-A ERA is sitting at 30.38. Mickey Storey threw 2.2IP, 2H/0ER, 4K:1BB; Doug Arguello took the loss with 2H/1ER, 4K:1BB; Ross Wolf allowed a hit in 0.2IP, and Fernando Abad allowed 2H/0ER, 0K:2BB in the 8th.

Drew Locke was 3x4 with a double, grand slam, and 6RBI on the night. Robinson Cancel was 2x3 with a walk; Chris Johnson was 0x2, but with 2BB; Brett Wallace was 0x3 with a walk.

Man of the Match: Drew Locke.

Corpus (42-72)

Off.

Lancaster (43-72)

Lancaster took the briefest of leads, 1-0, in the top of the 4th. But Visalia got two in the bottom half of the inning, and won 2-1. Jake Buchanan threw 7IP, 4H/2R (1ER), 3K:1BB, 2HBP, and Pat Urckfitz struck out the side.

Austin Wates was 2x4 with the lone RBI and his 20th stolen base of the year; Jose Carlos Thompson was 2x3. Jonathan Singleton was 1x4 with a double, and Jio Mier got a hit and a stolen base.

Man of the Match: Jake Buchanan

Lexington (51-63)

Off.

Tri-City (21-29)

Rained out - doubleheader Wednesday

Greeneville (19-29)

Burlington scored in five straight innings for an 8-5 win over the Gastros. Chris Lee had a rough one, allowing 8H/4ER, 4K:2BB in 3.2IP; Zach Dando allowed 3H/2ER in 1.1IP; Brad Propst allowed 2H/2ER, 3K:2BB in 2IP. Juan Mojica had a clean sheet, and Mark Jones allowed 2H/0ER in 1IP.

Chase Davidson was 2x4 with two doubles and two RBI (seriously, move this guy up...somewhere). Jesse Wierzbicki was also 2x4 with a double and 2RBI.

Man of the Match: Chase Davidson

GCL Astros (15-27)

The GCL Astros won a shortened game, 5-2, against the Marlins. Luis Ordosgoitti threw 2IP in the start, allowing 5H/2R (1ER), 1K:1BB, and Evan Grills cleaned it up with 4IP, 1H/0ER, 2K:1BB for his second win of the year.

Seven different Astros got a hit each, with Wallace Gonzalez, Kyle Redinger, and Kenny Diaz adding a walk.

Man of the Match: Evan Grills.

From the Office of the County Clerk - G116: Astros @ Diamondbacks

How in the hell did they lose that game? By giving up ten of the last 12 runs, I suppose. Astros blow a 7-1 lead, lose 11-9.

*The loss ties a season-high for largest blown lead, at six runs.

*It also drops the Astros to 1-4 against the Diamondbacks. Arizona is one of six teams that the Astros have 0 or 1 win against this season.

*The loss is their fourth in five games, and the eighth in their last eleven.

*The 11ER are the third-highest of the season, and the second-highest allowed to an NL team. The Astros have not won a game this season when allowing 7+ ER.

*Jordan Lyles threw 5IP, allowing 12H/7ER, 2K:0BB. It's the 2nd Disaster Start of his young career, with the 12 hits and 7ER making its mark as career highs.

*Jordan Lyles had a rough outing, but left with a 7-5 lead, with runners on second and third. And Wilton Lopez allowed both of those runners, and two of his own, to score. So the Astros came into the 6th with a 7-5 lead, and left it with a 9-7 deficit.

*That said, Lyles runs his walk-less streak to 20IP, or 84 batters faced.

*Wilton Lopez nutted it up real nice, allowing 2H/2ER, 0K:1BB, and facing six batters. He snapped a three-outing hitless streak.

*Justin Upton was 3x5 with 4RBI for the Dia'ond'ack', including a homer he hit off Lopez. It was the 3rd homer Lopez allowed this season, and two of them have now come off the opposing team's #3 hitter.

*And now for the offense. The nine runs are the 4th-highest total of the season, and when scoring 8+ runs, the Astros are now 7-2.

*Brian Bogusevic was one of a few big stories for the offense, going 3x5 with a double, homer, and 3RBI. That homer is notable, as it's Bogusevic's first career ML homer. Coming into last night's game, Bogusevic was hitting .217/.321/.261, and he left the clubhouse after the game hitting .255/.345/.373.

*J.D. Martinez was 2x4 with a double and a homer - his fourth of the year. Martinez has hit four homers in 24 ABs. Carlos Lee (who went 1x3 with 2BB, 2RBI) has hit four homers in his last 119 ABs. Oh, and Martinez also got himself an outfield assist.

*Jimmy Paredes also hit his first career home run, going 3x5, also with a double.

*Man of the Match: Brian Bogusevic

*Goat of the Game: Jason Bourgeois - 0x5 from the lead-off spot. In the nine games since Bourn has been traded, Bourgeois is 4x39 with one extra-base hit.

A note

So. It's 5:57am, and I - your friendly shift supervisor - am about to run out to a meeting. Everyone else is largely unavailable, as well. So we beg your patience as we likely need to keep a low profile for another day. It's been quite some time since we've gone 36 hours without an Astros-related post, and we don't like it. Hopefully you don't, either.

You will not see Jason Castro next month

Here's an update on Jason Castro's situation: He's been hitting daily, but is still a long way off from coming back, according to Mills:

“The next step somewhere along the line is catching bullpens. He really hasn’t done position-type drills yet — blocking balls, firing to throw to second. Those are things that are all away down the road.”

The Astros were SHOCKED in the lack of interest in Myers

According to Nick Cafardo, the Astros:

1) Would trade Wandy if a team claimed him on waivers, but also feel like they could trade him in the off-season.

2) Were shocked - SHOCKED - in the lack of interest in Brett Myers.

Which would lead one to wonder why that was the case. He's giving up a full 1.2 hits/9 more than 2010, and his homerun rate has doubled. If the Astros were to be shocked at any point in Brett Myers' run with the Astros, it should have been last year.

Astros do a solid

The Astros gave 40th Round pick Buddy Lamothe a wheelchair-accessible van prior to last night's game against the Brewers.

Drayton:
"It's exciting for the Astros to reach out to someone that experienced hardship just a few weeks ago. We had him throw out a first pitch a few weeks ago, and I got to meet him and his mother and his girlfriend and sister. I just saw their courage and I asked his mother what the most difficult part was, and she said mobility.

Solid.

Even More Tranzactionz!

There was a whirlwind of activity following yesterday's Tranzactionz post, so let's break it down as follows:

Promoted

Wesley Wright, Jeff Fulchino: From OKC to Houston
Henry Sosa: From Corpus to OKC

Sent Down

J.A. Happ: From Houston to OKC
Brian Esposito: From OKC to Corpus

DL'ed

Enerio Del Rosario (Houston)
Jimmy Van Ostrand (Corpus)
Jason Chowning (Lexington)

This had to happen. J.A. Happ, I mean. In his last eleven starts, the Astros are 1-10 (not that it really matters), but he has also allowed 78H/50ER, 48K:32BB in 55.2IP. Yes, in eleven starts, he's thrown 55.2IP. He's been quite unlucky over that stretch, suffering from a .391 BABIP, but he's only throwing 59% of his pitches for strikes, as well. He's not fooling anyone, either - only getting 7% swinging strikes, and 28% line drives.

Alright, now, Henry Sosa. He's already made his OKC debut - throwing 7IP, 5H/0ER, 3K:3BB on Friday night. This is something we can justifiably be excited about. Opponents were hitting .222 against him in three Corpus starts, with 17K:4BBin 18.2IP.

Eddie's Farm: August 6

Oklahoma City (50-65)

OKC got a run in the top of the 8th for a 6-5 win over Las Vegas, to get a split. Lucas Harrell needed 97 pitches to get 12 outs, allowing 6H/4R (3ER), 1K:5BB; Mickey Storey allowed 3H/1ER, 2K:2BB in 2.2IP; Doug Arguello got the Brandon Lyon (BS/W) with 1.1IP, 2H/0ER, 1K:0BB, and Juan Abreu earned his first save with the organization.

Anderson Hernandez was 3x4 with two doubles, a walk, and 3RBI; Collin DeLome (RBI), Drew Locke, and Jake Goebbert (2B) had two hits each. Chris Johnson was 1x4 with a double, RBI, 2Ks, and a walk. Brett Wallace was 1x5 with 2K.

Man of the Match: Anderson Hernandez.

Corpus (42-70)

Midland got a run on Brandon Wikoff's error in the 9th for a 4-3 win over Corpus. Erick Abreu threw 7.1IP, 8H/3ER, 5K:0BB; Danny Meszaros allowed the unearned run (and one of Abreu's) to get the loss, and Chris Hicks got the last two outs of the game.

Brandon Barnes was 2x3 with a double, homer, and 2RBI, and Jon Gaston was 2x4 with an RBI. Wikoff was 1x3 with a walk, and Kody Hinze was 0x3 with a walk.

Man of the Match: Erick Abreu

Lancaster (43-69)

Lancaster scored the first seven runs of the game, and then had to hold on for a 7-5 win over Inland Empire. Jose Cisnero allowed 4H/4ER, 4K:6BB, WP, HR in 5.1IP (but still got the win). Shane Wolf walked a batter, and Kyle Greenwalt allowed 2H/1R (0ER), 1K:2BB in 3IP.

Grant Hogue was 2x4 with a double and a triple (RBI), and Federico Hernandez was 2x2 with a walk and an RBI. Jose Carlos Thompson (2RBI) and Jonathan Meyer each hit homers.
Adam Bailey had two outfield assists - both times getting Jon Karchich at second base from right field.

Man of the Match: Grant Hogue

Lexington (51-61)

Despite allowing a run in the bottom of the 9th, Lexington held on for a 3-2 win over Greenville. Ruben Alaniz allowed 3H/1ER, 3K:1BB in 5IP, and Murilo Gouvea struck out 10 of the 14 batters he faced, giving up a hit and an unearned run in 4IP of relief.

Ben Heath (2 2B) and Jhonny Medrano had two hits each, and Emilio King hit a two-run homer.

Man of the Match: Murilo Gouvea

Tri-City (19-28)

Postponed due to rain - doubleheader vs. Vermont today.

Greeneville (18-27)

Princeton scored two runs in the bottom of the 9th on a two-run walk-off homer by Cameron Seitzer for an 8-7 win capping a rally that saw Greeneville squander a 6-0 lead. Ricardo Batista threw 4.2IP without allowing a hit, but he walked seven and hit two batters, for 4R (3ER). Brad Propst allowed two unearned runs; Rodney Quintero allowed 1H/1ER, 2K:1BB in 2IP, and Paris Shewey's outing lasted just the one batter.

Jorge Sosa was 3x5 with a double, and Chan-Jong Moon (3B, 2RBI) had three hits; Jordan Scott (2B, 3B, RBI) and Chase Davidson (2RBI) had two hits each. Ariel Ovando was 1x4 with a double, walk, and RBI.

Man of the Match: Chan-Jong Moon

GCL Astros (14-26)

The GCL Astros beat the GCL Mets, 5-3. Lots of pitchers in this one. 2010 9th Round pick Tommy Shirley threw 2IP, 1H/0ER, 0K:0BB in his first rehab start of the season. Jose Valdez struck out two in his rehab appearance; Frederick Tiburcio allowed 2R (1ER), 3K:3BB in 3.2IP; Krishawn Holley walked one, Richard Rodriguez allowed 2H/1ER, 0K:1BB in his GCL debut, and Blake Ford struck out three of the four batters he faced.

Justin Shults was 1x3 with a double, walk, and 2RBI; Kelvin Vizcaino and Luca Martone each had a walk and a hit.

Man of the Match: Justin Shults