Eddie's Farm: July 16

Round Rock

Okay, so that was a wild one. Round Rock took a 3-0 lead, Albuquerque brought it back to 5-3 at the end of the 2nd. At the end of the fifth, it was 10-6 Albuquerque and Round Rock tied it up in the middle of the 7th. Then Albuquerque got a 5-run 8th inning and Round Rock could only get two back, and lose 16-13. Amazingly, the Express only used three pitchers: Sergio Perez (5IP, 11H/10R - 7ER - 1K:2BB), Yorman Bazardo (2IP, 3H/1ER, 0K:1BB) and Roy Corcoran, who crapped the bed with 1IP, 6H/5ER. Obviously, the big story was the offense. Wladimir Sutil was 3x5 with a homer and 3RBI. Edwin Maysonet was 3x5 with a double, homer, and 3RBI. Collin DeLome was 2x5 with 2HR/3RBI, and Drew Locke (2x4, 2BB, 3R), Ramon Vazquez (2x4, RBI), Brian Esposito (2x5, 2B, RBI), and German Duran (2x3) rounded out your multi-hit games.

Man of the Match: Collin DeLome

Corpus

Corpus got rocked at Frisco with a 7-0 loss. Jordan Lyles threw 7IP, 8H/4R (1ER), 3K:2BB for the loss, and Erik Stiller had a rough go of it, allowing 4H/3ER in 1IP. J.D. Martinez, making his Double-A debut, was 2x3. Shuck, Florentino, Parejo, and Santangelo added the other hits. Koby Clemens was 0x3 with 3K:1BB.

Man of the Match: J.D. Martinez

Lancaster

The JetHawks put up a 5-spot on Modesto in the 6th on their way to a 10-6 win. Leandro Cespedes threw 4.2IP, 6H/3ER, 4K:3BB; Mike Modica got the win, throwing 1.1IP, 2H/0ER. Brian Wabick allowed a run in 1IP, and David Duncan allowed a two-run homer in 0.1IP. David Berner closed it out with five perfect outs for his 10th save. Andy Simunic was 4x5 with a triple and a homer; Brian Pellegrini was 3x5 with 4RBI, and Albert Cartwright, Lee Cruz (3RBI), Mark Ori, and Brandon Wikoff had multi-hit games. Brandon Barnes hit a two-run homer to go with a walk.

Man of the Match: Andy Simunic

Lexington

Brutal! The Legends struck out nine times in a 3-1 loss to Hickory. Luis Cruz allowed 11H/3ER, 2K:1BB in 6.2IP, and Wander Alvino threw 2.1IP, 3H/0ER. Our Boy Aaron Bray was 2x4, and Rene Garcia was 2x4 with a double and an RBI. Renzo Tello - hitting .316 since coming up from Tri-City - was 1x4 with a double. Jiovanni Mier was 0x4 with 3Ks.

Man of the Match Rene Garcia

Tri-City

Brutal night for the pitching staff as Auburn got out to a 10-0 lead before the ValleyCats got two back in the 9th. ValleyCats drop 10-2. Jake Bucnahan threw 2IP, 6H/7R (6ER), 1K:2BB, and Joan Belliard allowed 3H/2ER in 2IP. Brandt Walker allowed a run in 1.2IP. Adam Champion and Chris Blazek combined for 2.1IP, 3H/0ER. Wilton Infante was 2x4, and Ben Orloff, Enrique Hernandez, Dan Adamson, and Buck Afenir also got a hit. Ryan McCurdy and Hernandez provided the RBIs.

Man of the Match: Wilton Infante.

Greeneville

Burlington jumped on Greeneville for a 5-0 lead by the middle of the 6th, and rode it out for a 6-2 win. Angel Gonzalez threw 5.2IP, 7H/5R (4ER), 5K:2BB. Jamaine Cotton allowed 2H/1ER, 2K:2BB in 2.1IP, and John Frawley threw a perfect 9th. Pedro Feliz was 1x4 with a double and a walk, while Marcus Nidiffer and Ryan Humphrey got a hit and drew a walk each. Chris Wallace was 0x2, but drew two walks. Jhonny Medrano and Ricardo Heredia provided the RBIs.

Man of the Match: Jhonny Medrano

GCL Astros

Off.

Eddie's Farm: July 11

Round Rock

This is getting brutal. The Express lose 15-2 after Oklahoma City puts up a 7-spot in the first. Shane Loux allowed 7H/7R (5ER), 1K:1BB in 0.2IP. T. J. Burton threw 1.1 scorless innings, and then Polin Trinidad allowed 5H/3ER in 4IP, Brad Thompson allowed 4H/4ER in 2IP, and Roy Corcoran allowed a solo homer. Wladimir Sutil was 3x5, and Brian Bogusevic was 2x5 with a double and an RBI. Drew Locke added the other RBI after a double and a walk. Collin DeLome hit a triple, and committed an error - as did Sutil and Bogusevic.

Man of the Match: Wladimir Sutil.

Corpus

And that'll do it! Hooks overcome a 5-2 deficit to snap the 16-game losing streak with a 6-5 win. Henry Villar, who is apparently now a starter, allowed 9H/5ER, 1K:0BB in 3.2IP, and Fernando Abad came in with 4.2IP of relief, allowing 3H/0ER, 6K:0BB. Danny Meszaros struck out one of the final two batters of the game. Jonathan Fixler was a double short of a cycle, with a 3x4 game. Jon Gaston and David Cook added two hits each. Clemens, Florentino, Cook, Van Ostrand, and Cabral had the five other RBI.

Man of the Match: Jonathan Fixler

Lancaster

And Lancaster blanks Inland Empire with a 4-0 win. Manny Ramirez was held to 0x3 with 2Ks. Ross Seaton threw 7.1IP, 5H/0ER, 3K:2BB, and Edwin Walker allowed two walks in the final 1.2IP. Albert Cartwright (triple, RBI) and Jay Austin (RBI, SB) were each 2x4, while Brian Pellegrini was 1x3 with a walk. David Flores hit a solo homer.

Man of the Match: Ross Seaton

Lexington

West Virginia committed five errors, but Lexington had to score in the 7th and 8th for the 3-2 win. Robby Donovan threw 5.1IP, 5H/2ER, 5K:1BB, but it was Zach Grimmett (2.2IP, 0H/0ER, 1K:2BB, 2HBP) who got the win. Kirk Clark recorded his 19th save with 1K:1BB in the 9th. Jose Altuve was 2x5 with an RBI, Miguel Arrendell had an RBI triple, and J.D. Martinez hit his 14th HR - the game winner - of the season. Martinez, Hinze, and Goebbert drew walks.

Man of the Match: J.D. Martinez

Tri-City

Tri-City showed some fight, battling back from 3-0 and 6-2 deficits, but Jamestown scored the final three runs for a 9-6 win. David Martinez threw 3.1IP, 5H/5R (3ER), 2K:0BB. Adam Champion allowed 1H/1R (0ER) in 0.2IP, while Mike Ness threw the next 3IP, allowing just a walk. Jason Chowning (1ER) and Travis Blankenship (1H, 1BB) threw the 8th, and Andrew Robinson allowed 4H/2ER in the 9th. Wilton Infante was 4x5 with a three-run homer, and Enrique Hernandez, Mike Kvasnicka, and Adam Bailey had two hits each. Dan Adamson drew two walks on the night.

Man of the Match: Wilton Infante.

Greeneville

The Gastros rebounded from that 15-5 loss on Saturday with a 6-5 win over Bluefield. Ricardo Batista threw 3.1IP, 5H/3ER, 2K:3BB, while Jeiler Castillo allowed 2H/1ER and struck out five in 4.2IP. Travis Smink recorded his 5th save of the season, despite allowing 3H/1ER. Marcus Nidiffer was 3x4 with a two-run homer, Hector Rodriguez was 2x4 with 3RBI, and Ryan Humphrey, Chris Wallace, and Bubby Williams had two hits each.

Man of the Match: Hector Rodriguez

GCL Astros

Off.

Greeneville Astros: Wilton Infante

Wilton Infante
How did he get here?: Signed contract prior to 2006 season
Stats: 6'1", 175 lbs, Bats: Right Throws: Right
Age as of April 1, 2010: 22

Season line: 42 games, 150 PAs. 24x143 - .168/.207/.308 - 11XBH-10RBI. 38K:6BB

Note: Infante played for a week, 7 games worth, in the GCL. We're not taking those into account in the splits, but they have been included in the Season Line.

Splits:
vs. LHP (24ABs): .125/.192/.125, 5K:2BB, 0XBH-0RBI
vs. RHP (94ABs): .138/.173/.319, 27K:3BB, 9XBH-7RBI

Home (71ABs): .169/.203/.338, 21K:3BB, 6XBH-5RBI
Away (47ABs): .085/.140/.191, 11K:2BB, 3XBH-2RBI

Bases Empty (51ABs): .196/.255/.431, 13K:4BB, 6XBH-2RBI
Runners on (67ABs): .090/.116/.164, 19K:1BB, 3XBH-5RBI
w/RISP (43ABs): .070/.070/.116, 11K:0BB, 2XBH-3RBI

July (22ABs): .045/.045/.045, 8K:0BB, 0XBH-0RBI
August (96ABs): .156/.206/.333, 24K:5BB, 9XBH-7RBI

K/PA rate: 25.8%
XBH/H rate: 56.3%
K:BB ratio: 6.33

Infante spend 35 of his 36 games in the field in the outfield: 24 in RF, 6 in LF, and 5 in RF. He made four errors in 64 chances for a .938 Fld%.

He didn't hit the ball often, but when he did, he hit it hard. It's quite amazing. After working this up for all of the GCL Astros and half of the Greeneville Astros, I haven't seen anyone with as high a XBH/H rate as Infante.

Citizen Steve, what say you on Wilton Infante?
Last chance. Look for him to be released before or during Spring Training.

That's not exactly encouraging, but this is his second go-around in the App League, and last year he hit .185/.265/.196. So his OPS improved from .460 to .514. But...his highest OPS in his four-year career in the Astros organization was in 2007, when it was .768 in his second tour of the Dominican Summer League.

Minor League Transactions

July 10
-OF Eli Iorg assigned to Tri-City from Round Rock (and that's one heck of a jump down...)
-P Ashton Mowdy called up to Lancaster from Lexington
-P Jeff Icenogle released by Lancaster

Icenogle was 0-4 with a 6.79 ERA and 1.87 WHIP in 19 games (8 starts) for Lancater this season.

July 11
-IF Matt Kata optioned to Round Rock from Houston, clearing room for Chris Coste

July 12
-First promotion of the 2009 draft class! J.D. Martinez called up to Tri-City from Greeneville
-Tri-City released DH Danny Meier
-Wilton Infante promoted to Greeneville from the GCL Astros

Martinez had gone 31x77 (.403/.446/.740) in 19 games for the Gastros this season.

July 13
-Felipe Paulino optioned to Round Rock