Eddie's Farm: September 3

Round Rock

The Express start their final homestand as an Astros affiliate this weekend against Albuquerque, and they must have been saving up some wins. The Express break their nine-game losing streak with a 3-0 win over the Isotopes. Shane Loux threw a complete game shutout (his first since 2004): 9IP, 5H/0ER, 6K:0BB. Brandon Barnes is having an impressive Triple-A run, going 2x3 with a double to raise his average to .364. Jack Shuck, Oswaldo Navarro, and Edwin Maysonet all provided RBIs.

Man of the Match: Shane Loux

Corpus

Frisco did all their damage in the first inning, beating Corpus 2-1. Dallas Keuchel took a hard-luck loss, allowing 5H/2ER, 5K:2BB in 7.2IP. Evan Englebrook struck out three of the final four Frisco batters. The Hooks only got three hits, but two of them were for extra-bases: David Cook's triple, and Jimmy Van Ostrand's double. J.D. Martinez had the other hit. Koby Clemens is just having a hard time since returning from the DL. He hit .188 in August, and is hitting .132/.233/.237 in his last ten games.

Man of the Match: Dallas Keuchel

Lancaster

This was a tight game, until the 5th inning when Rancho Cucamonga put up a 5-spot. Lancaster falls 8-3. Ross Seaton is all over the place, throwing 5IP, 9H/7ER, 3K:2BB, and Edwin Walker allowed 3H/1ER, 4K:0BB in 4IP. Jose Altuve was 2x5 with his second consecutive game with a homer. Brian Pellegrini hit his 14th homer of the year, and Lee Cruz, David Flores, and Bryce Lane (RBI) had your other hits.

Man of the Match: Jose Altuve

Lancaster

Jeesh. Thanks for spoiling J.R. Towles induction to the Legends Hall of Fame, Rome. Lexington loses 1-0. Juan Minaya threw 8IP, 4H/1ER, 7K:2BB, and Wander Alvino closed out the last three outs. The Legends got five hits - all singles - from Goebbert, Hinze, Pena, Butera, and Kemp.

Man of the Match: Juan Minaya

Tri-City

Tri-City was down 5-0 after four innings, but just fell short in a 5-4 loss to Brooklyn. Connecticut won their game, so Tri-City falls one-half game back. Bobby Doran threw 4.1IP, 7H/5ER, 1K:0BB, HBP. Brandt Walker allowed three hits and a walk in 2.2IP, and Jason Chowning threw a perfect 9th. Ben Orloff was 2x4 with a stolen base and an RBI, Mike Kvasnicka hit a 2-run homer in the 9th, and Telvin Nash got his first hit - a double - for Tri-City. Jacke Healey was 1x3 with an RBI triple. Austin Wates was 0x3 with a walk, but stole two bases.

Man of the Match: Ben Orloff

Eddie's Farm: August 24

Round Rock

Round Rock got all their runs in the bottom of the 9th for a 3-2 win over Oklahoma City. Brian Bogusevic led off the 9th with a single, Chris Shelton walked, Collin DeLome walked, German Duran got HBPed (scoring Bogusevic, 3-1), Edwin Maysonet singled (Kata, running for Duran, scored), and Esposito reached on a throwing error by first baseman Chris Davis, scoring DeLome. Brian Moehler threw 3IP, 1H/0ER, 1K:0BB, but left with a hurt groin, so Shane Loux came in for the next 6IP, allowing 3H/2R (1ER), 2K:1BB and the win. Shuck, Navarro, Locke, Bogusevic, and Maysonet provided all your hits. Interestingly enough, the top four in the lineup had a hit each, while all three RBI were provided by 6-7-8.

Man of the Match: Shane Loux

Corpus

Corpus took a 1-0 lead in the first, and promptly gave three runs back to Midland on their way to a 5-1 loss. Dallas Keuchel threw 6IP, 8H/5R (4ER), 4K:2BB - getting ten groundouts to four flyouts. Matt Nevarez walked three, but emerged from the 7th unscathed, and Evan Englebrook threw a perfect 8th. Freddy Parejo, J.D. Martinez, Jon Gaston, Mike Affronti, and Lou Santangelo got two hits each, but Santangelo had the only extra-base hit, a double. Gaston provided the only RBI.

Man of the Match: Jon Gaston

Lancaster

This wasn't pretty either. Ross Seaton got rocked, and the JetHawks fell 10-4, after an 8-run first by Lake Elsinore. Seaton allowed 6H/7R (1 courtesy of Brian Wabick), 0K:1BB in 0.2IP. Wabick allowed 5H/2ER, 1K:4BB in 3.1IP. Luckily, a bullpen of Wolf, Godfrey, Berner, and the debut of David Carpenter combined for 3H/1ER, 2K:2BB in 4IP. Andy Simunic had your only extra-base hit, and Austin, Altuve, and Jonathan Villar provided the RBI.

Man of the Match: Andy Simunic

Lexington

This time it was Augusta's turn to rally late. Lexington took a 4-0 lead in the first, but Augusta scored four in the 8th and one in the 9th for a 5-4 win over the Legends. Jose Cisnero had a strong outing - 7IP, 1H/0ER, 4K:0BB - completely wasted by Yordany Ramirez (0.1IP, 2H/3ER, 1K:1BB) and Wander Alvino (1IP, 2H/2ER, 0K:1BB). Alvino allowed two runs charged to Yordany, and Colton Pitkin allowed a run charged to Alvino. Jiovanni Mier and Jake Goebbert (RBI) had two hits each, while Kody Hinze hit a three-run homer - his fourth homer since the end of May. Our Boy Aaron Bray - playing LF - was 0x3 with a walk.

Man of the Match: Jose Cisnero

Tri-City

Drama in Connecticut, as a Tiger error leads to the game-winning run in the bottom of the 11th. ValleyCats win 5-4. Bobby Doran allowed 9H/4ER, 4K:0BB in 4.2IP, and the bullpen of Blankenship, Walker, Sogard, and De Leon held the Tigers to 5H/0ER, 10K:0BB in the next 6.1IP. Dan Adamson hit his 9th homer of the season, and Enrique Hernandez and Tyler Burnett provided the other RBI. Hernandez and Orloff - who scored the winning run - were 1x4 with 2BB each. Austin Wates was hit by a Josue Carreno pitch, likely leading to X-Rays.

Man of the Match: Dan Adamson

Greeneville

All the scoring was taken care of by the middle of the 2nd, and despite getting outhit 10-3, Greeneville beat Princeton, 2-1. Vincent Velasquez allowed 3.2IP, 4H/1ER - a solo homer to Cesar Guillen. Travis Smink gave up 4H/0ER, 3K:0BB, and Brian Streilein allowed 2H/0ER, 2K:1BB for his 4th save of the year. Delino DeShields, Ricardo Heredia, and Hector Rodriguez had your hits. Both Greeneville runs were unearned.

Man of the Match: Travis Smink

Eddie's Farm: August 2

Round Rock

Nashville took a 2-0 lead into the 8th, when the Express got one back. The Sounds answered with three in the bottom of the 8th for a 5-1 win. Shane Loux pitched a good game, allowing 9H/2ER, 4K:0BB in 7IP, but the offense couldn't bail him out of dropping to 2-11, with a 6.59 ERA. Jonah Bayliss allowed 3R (2ER) in 1IP. Brian Esposito hit a solo homer for all the scoring, and Jack Shuck, Chris Shelton, Oswaldo Navarro, and Loux added hits. Shuck also had an outfield assist, nailing Luis Cruz at home.

Man of the Match: Shane Loux.

Corpus

Continuing the trend of scoring one run late were the Hooks, who lost to Midland 5-1, despite outhitting the Rockhounds 9-7. Henry Villar got the start, throwing 7IP, 4H/4ER, 1K:3BB. Matt Nevarez came in for an inning, giving up 3H/1ER, 1K:4BB and leaving the bases loaded for Erick Abreu, who shut it down with a perfect 9th. Freddy Parejo was 3x4, while Jon Gaston and Jimmy Van Ostrand (RBI) had two hits each. J.D. Martinez was 0x3, but drawing the lone walk and scoring the lone run. Blum was 0x4 at shortstop.

Man of the Match: Erick Abreu. Bases loaded, no out? No runs.

Lancaster

Off.

Lexington

The Legends never trailed in their 9-4 win over Hagerstown, collecting 15 hits. Jose Cisnero improved to 6-5 with 5IP, 5H/2ER, 4K:3BB. Dan Sarisky allowed 3H/1ER in 2IP, and Wander Alvino allowed 2H/1ER, 3K:1BB. Six Legends had two hits - Hogue (2x4, 2RBI), Paredes (2x5, RBI, SB), Goebbert (2x4, BB), Hinze (2x5, 3R, RBI), Garcia (2x4, 3RBI), and Kemp (2x4, RBI). Our Boy Aaron Bray was 1x3 with an RBI and a walk. Paredes' stolen base was his 38th of the season.

Man of the Match: Rene Garcia

Tri-City

A 7-run third inning led Tri-City to a 10-1 win over Vermont. Jake Buchanan threw 6IP, 2H/0ER, 3K:1BB; Joan Belliard allowed two hits, striking out two, in 2IP. Adam Champion allowed the lone run on two hits and a walk in the 9th. Ben Orlof, Enrique Hernandez, Tyler Burnett, Mike Kvasnicka, Dan Adamson, and Wilton Infante had two hits each. Jacke Healey and Dan Adamson hit homers, and Burnett, Kvasnicka, and Adamson had 2RBI each.

Man of the Match: Jake Buchanan

Greeneville

Complete domination on the part of Johnson City in a 14-2 win over the Gastros. Ricardo Batista allowed 6H/5R (3ER), 2K:4BB in 4.2IP. Paul Gerrish came in for 5H/4ER in 1.1IP. Justin Harper allowed 6H/5R (1ER) in 2.2IP, and Phil Rorabaugh got the final out of the game. Six of those 14 runs were unearned, thanks to errors by Our Boy Bubby Williams (catcher interference), Jonathan Merritt and Pedro Feliz (both fielding). Telvin Nash got an RBI triple, while Merritt, Chris Lovett, Jhonny Medrano, Rafael Valenzuela, and Feliz got the hits.

Man of the Match: Telvin Nash. Slugging .611 over his last ten games.

GCL Astros

The GCL Astros were down 1-0 early, but stormed back for a 5-2 win over the GCL Nationals. Six GCL Astro pitchers combined to allow 3H/2R (0ER), 3K:6BB, with Kristian Bueno getting his 2nd save of the season. Jose Vargas, Jose Fernandez, and Chan-Jong Moon had two hits each.

Man of the Match: Chan-Jong Moon - 2x3, BB, 2RBI.

Let's turn our attention to more optimistic things

Such as Jordan Lyles dominating the Express, despite the Express winning the exhibition 2-0.

His line:
5.2IP, 5H/1ER, 3K - 69 pitches.

Hooks manager Wes Clements:
“So much for his age, but he’s a pitcher and the ball doesn’t know anybody’s age. He was consistently in the zone and his command was very good.”

Lyles:
“It was a pretty good outing, I’d say. My mindset today was just working on my fastball and getting it down in the zone, and I think I did a pretty good job of that. It felt pretty good to come out here and compete with our team for the first time. I didn’t have the pitch count in my mind. I just went out there, attacked hitters and tried to work on things. I felt I did that with attacking the zone.”

Shane Loux was the winning pitcher for the Express, throwing 5IP, 2H/0ER, 4K:0BB.

Jimmy Van Ostrand was 2x3 for Round Rock, while Koby hit a deep fly to the warning track, narrowly missing a homer.

Minor-League assignments

Okay, quick update, and then more later:

Wesley Wright, Shane Loux, and Oswaldo Navarro have been sent to minor-league camp.

Alberto Arias will start the season on the DL, but his shoulder is feeling better.

Bourn will play in a Minor-League game today.

It's not a recap, but some thoughts on ST2

I won't recap yesterday's 17-7 loss to the Tigers, but I do have some things to point out:

-Five of the 14 hits came from Chris Johnson (3x4, 3 doubles) and J.R. Towles (2x2, 1 double)

-Errors by Johnson (fielding) and Shelton (throw) led to three unearned runs.

-Polin Trinidad gets the "Holy Crap" award of the game. Facing six batters, he allowed two hits, four walks, six earned runs, and no outs.

-I do appreciate Brian Bogusevic' nailing of Miguel Cabrera at the plate.

-Shane Loux and Evan Englebrook were the only pitchers who didn't give up a walk.

Still, Brad Mills didn't get all worked up:

“In a lot of terms, I was happier today with a lot of things that happened. The score right now doesn't concern me as much as how we need to go about playing the game. We had some really solid at-bats today – we had solid at-bats yesterday, too – but by that I mean we worked the count better. Defensively, we hit the cutoff man and were able to work on some things.”

McTaggart's Day 8 recap

McTaggart posted his recap of Survivor: Kissimmee, as rain shortened the fourth full-squad workout.

14 pitchers threw, but Mills was impressed with a few of them:
Among the pitchers Mills witnessed throwing, he liked what he saw from Wright, Loux and Byrdak.

And Jason "The Line Drive of Love" Michaels was inducted into the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame on Feb 19. So...congratulations.

Castro, C-Lo invited to Major-League Spring Training

Not much of a shocker here, but Castro and C-Lo have been invited to Big Team Spring Training, along with catchers Brian Esposito, Lou Santangelo, and pitcher Shane Loux.

Wade, on Castro:
"He's going to get every opportunity to make the club,"

On C-Lo:
"We think he's got a legitimate chance to make our club. We're very pleased with what we've seen in a short period of time in our organization."

I feel an affinity for C-Lo, as he was the first signing that Astros County reported, back in November 2008.

Shane Loux, however, is a recent signee, says McTaggart:
Loux spent the 2009 season in the Angels organization and split time between the Majors and Minors. In 18 appearances (six starts) with the Angels, he was 2-3 with a 5.86 ERA. He had a 3.81 ERA in a combined nine games (six starts) between Triple-A Salt Lake City and Class A Rancho Cucamonga.

And if you're keeping score at home, the Astros have hired Dave Borkowski to be the pitching coach at Greeneville, spending his last three seasons in the Astros' organization.