See what happens when I free the Constable from the drudgery of the Morning Report?? We get quality, Astros-centric material! So, lets do it again...
TL;DR
(Can someone explain to me what that is??)
* The Astros Affiliates go 2-1 on the day, with Quad Cities having a doubleheader rained off.
* Jon Singleton and Domingo Santana both homered for Oklahoma City in a tight win
* Corpus Christi had a big win, with Preston Tucker and Andrew Aplin homering.
* Lancaster had a big loss, giving up seven runs in the 9th
Affiliate combined record currently stands at 52-45.
Oklahoma City (14-11)
The RedHawks fell behind 1-0 early, but scored the remaining 4 runs to win 4-1 over the partially-evil (and possibly the Astros' 2015 AAA affiliate) Round Rock Express (13-11) .
On the bump: Winning the game was Darin Downs, who pitched 2 innings of 1H, 1K ball. Rudy Owens actually started the game, and pitched 4 innings (71 pitches), working around 6H, 1BB and 3K for 1ER. Stoffel, Chapman and Zied combined for the last three innings of 1H, 1BB, 5K ball.
Solid all-round performances from the bats, with the 3-5 and 9-hole hitters scoring the runs. Robbie Grossman started in CF (2-4, K, RBI) and batted leadoff. Ronald Torreyes followed and also went 2-4. Jon Singleton (1-3, BB) and Domingo Santana (2-4, 2 run HR) both homered. Carlos Perez went 2-4 as well.
Man of the Match: Jon Singleton and Domingo Santana combined to drive in 3 runs via the long ball.
Corpus Christi (14-10)
Corpus layeth-the-smacketh-down on a hapless Frisco squad for a 11-2 win. They knocked out 11 hits, and walked (as a team) 4 times.
On the hill: Luis Cruz started, and went 4IP, giving up 2H whilst striking out 4. He threw 44 pitches. He was relieved by Ruben Alaniz, who pitched 2.2, giving up 2H, 2ER, 4BB and 1K. Michael Dimock got the win, pitching 2.1, with 1 each of the H, BB and K.
Preston Tucker was the standout offensive performer, going 3-4, scoring twice, and hitting a solo HR and a double, whilst driving in 3. Also swinging the lumber well was Andrew Aplin (2-5, 4RBI, 2R HR), Leo Heras (1-3, BB, 3B, RBI)and Jio Mier (2-4, 2R). Rene Garcia also homered (1-4).
Man of the Match: Hmmm. Preston Tucker me thinks, closely followed by Andrew Aplin.
Lancaster (14-11)
If Corpus was administering the smack downs, Lancaster was on the receiving end in an interesting 13-4 loss to High Desert (15-10). High Desert scored 2 in the first, fourth and sixth, and Lancaster scored 2 in the bottom of the 8th to trail 6-2 going into the ninth. Then High Desert scored a meagre seven runs in the top of the ninth, with Lancaster responding with the final two runs of the game.
On the mound: Kyle Westwood pitched 4 inn gins of 5H, 4R/ER, 3BB, 1K ball to raise his ERA to 2.90. Mitchell Lambson pitched 2 innings, and gave up 2 runs on 4H and 4K. Richard Rodriguez pitched 2 innings of 4K ball to keep his ERA at a spotless 0.00 (in the one game that he has pitched). Then, getting ugly was Juan Minaya (7ER in 0.2IP - 4H, 3BB). Daniel Minor gave up a hit, and allowed Minaya's two inherited runners to score, but otherwise got the one remaining out uneventfully.
The JetHawks were powered by Anthony Kemp (2-5, 3B and only XBH) and Brandon Meredith (2-4). Teoscar Hernandez (1-4), Rio Ruiz (1-3), Bobby Borchering (1-3) and Ruben Sosa (1-3) all drew walks.
Man of the Match: Home Plate Ump Nestor Ceja. I have no idea whether he had a good game or not, but no MOTM awards for those who loose by 9.
Quad Cities (10-12)
A Quad Cities double header versus the 9-12 Clinton was postponed by inclement weather.
Interestingly, 3 of the 9 scheduled Midwest League games were completed in the full 9 innings, 1 of the 9 was called after 6 because of rain, and the remaining 5 of the 9 were postponed. Inclement weather indeed.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
