Foltynewicz named Sally League's Most Outstanding Pitcher

The South Atlantic League named Lexington's Mike Foltynewicz 2012's Most Outstanding Pitcher today.

In 26 starts for Lexington, Foltynewicz posted a 2.91 ERA/1.34 WHIP with 121K:59BB and 9HR allowed in 148.2 IP. He threw 6+IP in 18 of his 26 starts, with 15 quality starts, including five starts with 7+IP and 1ER or less. Foltynewicz's K-rate improved significantly from 2011, when he had a disappointing full-season debut (4.97 ERA) aided by a .327 BABIP. Foltynewicz had a 5.91 K/9 rate in 2011, which bounced back to 7.33 K/9 in 2012.

Zach Johnson and Delino DeShields were also named to the SAL Postseason All-Star team.

Keith Bodie named Texas League Manager of the Year

That pretty much covers it. Corpus manager Keith Bodie was just named Texas League Manager of the Year.

In other Corpus honors, Jose Martinez, Jason Stoffel, Austin Wates, and Jon Singleton were named to the Texas League Postseason All-Star Team.

For today, the new color scheme is all pink slips

First Bobby Heck, then Brad Mills. Now Brian McTaggart is reporting that Ricky Bennett and four scouts will not be returning to the Astros.

Luhnow:
“We’re looking top to bottom at the pro scouting department, and we’re going to be restructuring it, and part of the restructuring came with some personnel changes.”

These latest four join for other scouts to not be retained by the Astros for 2013, including the two scouts who signed George Springer and Carlos Correa, the last two 1st Round picks by the Astros.

The four scouts to be let go today are:
Bryan Lambe - hired in October 2011 after serving as a Special Assistant to the GM of the Mets.
Jack Lind
Bob Rossi - hired in 2009.
Scipio Spinks - drafted by the Astros in 1966, was just sent to Sugar Land to watch Clemens pitch

Astros to Orange & Navy?

The Score has a link to a post on Chris Creamer's Sports Logos News saying the Astros will be returning to the Orange & Navy.

As for the new Astros logo, I’ve been told it will be a new design for the team but similar to other recent new MLB team logos in San Diego and Washington, hard to get excited about that aspect of the new look.

Should this be true, we'll be excited, because we won't have to change our own color scheme.

Astros trade Steve Pearce for straight cash homey

The Astros have traded Steve Pearce to the Yankees, in exchange for straight cash homey, and recalled Jimmy Paredes from Oklahoma City.

The Astros had claimed Steve Pearce off waivers from the Orioles on July 28. He is who they thought he was, after all, hitting .254/.347/.349 in 75 PAs for the Astros. Why the hell do the Yankees want Steve Pearce? Joel Sherman has a thought:
Why RH bat like Pearce? Hunch: #Yankees begin 22-g stretch v. AL East loaded with LHs

Jimmy Paredes, meanwhile, was hitting .319/348/.477 (all career highs) for OKC. In 124 games (536 PAs), Paredes had 101 strikeouts, 48 extra-base hits, and 37 stolen bases.

The 40-man roster stands at 38 players, and Francisco Cordero.

From the Office of the County Clerk: G128 - Astros @ Mets

Lucas Harrell (10-9, 4.04) vs Jeremy Hefner (2-5, 5.11)

Two bad pitches. Two big swings. Two runs scored, and that's how the final chapter ends for the Astros in the NL against their 1962 expansion brethren. Ike Davis singlehandedly sank the Astros, spoiling another sterling effort by Lucas Harrell. Davis stroked a pair of solo homers to beat Houston 2-1, dropping them to 40-88 on the season - two games worse than their 2011 pace to this point. 

*At least Lucas Harrell got off the hook for the loss. In spite of holding the Mets to just two hits over seven innings, he still left trailing because one of those hits was Davis' first home run of the day, and the Astros wouldn't get on the board until the 9th. Harrell's line: 7 IP / 2 H / 1 R / 1 ER / 2 BB / 7 K. Wilton Lopez pitched a scoreless 8th, but then served up the walk-off homer to Davis with one out in the 9th.

Observations:

*Houston only managed three hits and a walk in the first eight innings against rookie starter Jeremy Hefner, never getting a runner past 2nd base until the 9th.

*Marwin Gonzalez (2 for 4, K) was the lone Astro to reach scoring position before the 9th, on a double in the 6th, then he doubled again in that 9th to drive in Houston's only run.

*Gonzalez started at 2B in place of Jose Altuve, but Altuve singled as a pinch hitter in the 9th, stole 2nd, then scored on Marwin's second double of the day.

*Brett Wallace (1 for 4, 2 K) had the Astros' only hit before the 6th, a 1st-inning single.

*Fernando Martinez (1 for 3, K) and Ben Francisco (1 for 4) also had singles late in the game.

*Chris Snyder (0 for 2) was back behind the plate for Harrell, and his five-game mini hitting streak was snapped, but he did reach base on a walk in the 5th.

Turning Point:

Obviously Ike Davis delivered the crucial blow in the bottom of the 9th, but the game could still be going had things gone just a little bit differently in the top half of the inning. After Altuve's single and Gonzalez' RBI double, Brett Wallace lined to first for the first out. That brought in Bobby Parnell to face Ben Francisco, who punched a 3-2 pitch into left field for a single, and Gonzalez came around third with the go-ahead run. However, Mets left fielder Lucas Duda threw a strike on the fly to home, and catcher Kelly Shoppach did a perfect job of blocking the plate, tagging Gonzalez out to preserve the 1-1 tie. Marwin was immediately ejected for throwing his batting helmet, but replays showed that the call was correct. Tyler Greene followed an IBB to Scott Moore by grounding out to first, ending the rally.

Man of the Match:

Lucas Harrell. If Roger Clemens returns to the Astros in September, at least he'll be able to commiserate with Lucas about a lack of run support and losing games you should have won. 

Goat of the Game:

Wilton Lopez. He was trusted to keep the Astros in the game, but one mistake was one too many this time around.