From the Office of the County Clerk - G83: Astros v. Red Sox

Hey! In case you thought that win against the Rangers was the start of something new and exciting - it was! New And Exciting Ways To Lose Games! Red Sox put up six in the 7th and win 7-5.

*The six runs allowed in an inning tie a season-high.

*The Astros are now 4-5 when scoring exactly five runs, and 18-10 when scoring 5+ runs.

*Some L trends for you: that's six losses in seven games, nine losses in eleven games, twenty losses in 26 games!

*Bud Norris had a strong start, allowing 4H/4ER, 10K:4BB, and a leadoff homer to Marco Scutaro, and Sergio Escalona and Wilton Lopez being responsible for two of Norris' ER.

*The 10Ks mark the first double-digit K game since Norris struck out 11 Brewers on May 1, and the fourth of his career.

*In 12 starts dating back to the May 1 Brewers game, Norris has thrown 77IP, 59H/29ER, 78K:33BB, with opponents posting a .636 OPS (and a .278 BABIP).

*Sergio Escalona took his first loss, and threw the third 0IP outing of the season. He allowed an earned run for the second time since May 27 (17 appearances).

*Wilton Lopez allowed an earned run for the second time in three games, and the third time in five games.

*Enerio Del Rosario walked four batters in 1.1IP, giving the Astros nine walks on the night. Of course the nine walks are a season high and the most since August 24, 2010 (actually, in the span of six days, the Astros walked nine Mets and ten Phillies in August 2010).

*Michael Bourn was 2x5 with his 35th stolen base - five better than MLB's 2nd place Jose Reyes, and ten better than the AL leader, Jacoby Ellsbury.

*Angel Sanchez, Hunter Pence, Carlos Lee, Chris Johnson, and Clint Barmes had two hits each.

*Brett Wallace was 0x3, and Mills pinch-hit Michaels in his spot in the 7th. Since June 16, Wallace is hitting .125/.255/.150 with a .179 BABIP, and his OPS is .783 - the lowest its been since April 21.

*Man of the Match: Going with Hunter Pence here

*Goat of the Game: The bullpen. Winnable game, turned into a Loss.

Astros acquire pitcher Mickey Storey

With a captip to Farmstros, it looks as though the Astros have acquired Oakland minor-leaguer Mickey Storey.

Storey is a 6'2", 185lb RHP, drafted by the A's in the 31st Round of the 2008 draft (a year after being drafted in the 22nd Round by the Twins).

In four seasons - all as a reliever (except for one start in 2010) - he has posted a 3.04 ERA/1.08 WHIP, with 7.3 H/9, 2.5 BB/9, and 9.3 BB9, with a 3.74 K:BB ratio.

In 27 games for Double-A Midland, Storey posted a 4.03 ERA/1.42 WHIP with career worsts in all of the preceding statistics: 38IP, 41H/17ER, 31K:13BB.

Hope you like those pinstripes

Via Richard Justice, there aren't any plans to change the logo, color scheme, etc. once Crane takes over.

This officially qualifies as the worst news of the day.

Gammons: Other GMs not happy Texas got to play Houston

According to Peter Gammons:

I talked to some general managers that were frustrated the Rangers got the Houston Astros [in Interleague play], while one team is getting the Giants and another is getting a really good team. But that's because they're in Texas, and they're really good.

We're presuming that "they" in the last bit does not refer to the Astros.

Pence doesn't want to be traded

Richard Justice talked to Hunter Pence and found that Pence doesn't (audibly) want to be traded:

Pence:
"This is where I want to be. This is where I want to win. That would be a lot more satisfying - to turn it around for the guys who believed in me. That's my vision."

Terry Francona loves him some Brad Mills

Nice article in the Boston Globe about the ongoing relationship between Brad Mills and Terry Francona.

Francona:
“The thing I think that gets lost a little bit in the translation is that I’ve probably learned more from Millsie than he’s ever learned from me. I’ve always looked up to him. We can go back all the way to [the University of Arizona] when I was a freshman and he was a junior. He was always a bit of a big-brother type to me. Things work out funny sometimes, and he was a coach, but the bench coach, the way we do things, listens to an earful from me probably more often than they want to. Because of our relationship, he probably warranted it more than he should have, but I always looked up to him."

Eddie's Farm: June 30

Oklahoma City (34-47)

Memphis took a 2-0 lead in the 2nd, and while the RedHawks cut it to 2-1 in the 7th, Memphis went on to win 3-1. Nelson Figueroa lasted 1.2IP, 3H/2ER, 1K:2BB and got ejected (along with manager Tony DeFrancesco in the 2nd), where the bullpen took over. A bullpen of Danny Meszaros (3.1IP), Casey Fien (1IP), Ross Wolf (1IP), and Fernando Rodriguez (1IP) combined to allowed 5H/1ER, 5K:3BB in the final 6.1IP.

OKC was held to four hits, and came courtesy of Drew Locke, Oswaldo Navarro (BB), Brandon Barnes, and Koby Clemens - who hit his 9th homer of the season.

Man of the Match: The bullpen.

Corpus (28-49)

Tulsa enjoyed a three-run 6th to go on for a 4-3 win over Corpus. Jonnathan Aristil had a Mr. Hyde game, allowing just 2H/1R (0ER), 4K:0BB in 5IP while Pat Urckfitz allowed 1H/3ER, 0K:3BB, getting the BS/L in 0.2IP. Kyle Greenwalt got the final out of the 6th. Arcenio Leon and Blake King had scoreless innings.

Johnathan Villar and J.D. Martinez (2B, BB, RBI) had two hits each, and Chris Wallace and Jake Goebbert added a hit, walk, and RBI each.

Man of the Match: J.D. Martinez

Lancaster (30-47)

High Desert jumped out to an 8-0 lead by the middle of the 4th, and though the JetHawks scored in five different innings, they lost 10-6. Errors marred starter Zach Grimmett's performance, allowing 8H/8R (2ER), 5K:1BB, 2HR in 3.2IP. Wander Alvino walked three batters in 0.2IP; Shane Wolf allowed 5H/2ER, 4K:0BB in 4.1IP and Kirk Clark got the final out of the game.

Austin Wates was 4x5 with two doubles and an RBI, and Jay Austin (BB, 2RBI), Jose Carlos Thompson, Rene Garcia (2B, HR, BB, 2RBI, E), and Andy Simunic (3B, BB) had two hits each.

Man of the Match: Austin Wates

Lexington (37-41)

West Virginia scored the tying run in the bottom of the 9th, and got the walk-off in the bottom of the 14th for a 5-4 win over Lexington. Carlos Quevedo threw 7IP, 9H/3ER, 2K:0BB; Jason Chowning allowed 2H/1ER - the ER coming on a game-tying homer with two outs in the bottom of the 9th - 3K:0BB; Gabe Garcia allowed 3H in 4.1IP and was charged with the loss when Murilo Gouvea intentionally walked a batter, and gave up the walk-off single.

Delino DeShields (SB), Enrique Hernandez (two doubles, RBI), Telvin Nash (SB, RBI), Jhonny Medrano (BB) and Ben Orloff (SB, BB) had two hits each.

Man of the Match: Gabe Garcia

Tri-City (6-7)

A six-run 3rd put the game further out of reach for an 8-0 Lowell win over Tri-City. Euris Quezada lasted 2IP, allowing 4H/5ER, 2WP; Mitchell Lambson allowed 2H/2ER (and three runs charged to Quezada), 0K:1BB, WP; Adam Champion threw 3IP, 4H/0ER, 3K:0BB, and Ebert Rosario allowed 2H/1ER, 2K:1BB in 2IP.

Miles Hamblin and Zach Johnson had two hits each, while Justin Gominsky, John Hinson, and Ryan McCurdy added your other three hits.

Man of the Match: Adam Champion

Greeneville (2-8)

Crazy one in Danville, as the Gastros had a 6-4 lead going into the bottom of the 8th, where Danville put up seven runs. Greeneville got four back in the top of the 9th but ultimately fell short in an 11-10 loss. Tyson Perez allowed 4H/1ER, 2K:1BB in the start; Mark Jones allowed 4H/3R (2ER) in 0.1IP; Jeremiah Meiners got two nice outs; Brad Propst took the loss with 3H/3ER, 3K:0BB in 2.1IP; Scott Zuloaga took the loss, walking both batters he faced and Paris Shewey allowed three inherited runners to score, as well as two of his own, with 3H/2ER, 1K:0BB in 0.2IP.

Jordan Scott (2B, 2BB, RBI), Chase Davidson (2B, BB, 3RBI), Darwin Rivera (2B, RBI), and Jose Monzon (2RBI) had two hits each. Jorge Sosa (2B, BB) and Ernesto Genoves (BB) added RBIs.

Man of the Match: Jordan Scott

GCL Astros (3-6)

The GCL Marlins put up a four-spot in the 6th and beat the GCL Astros 4-1. Enderson Franco allowed 2H/2ER, 3K:2BB in 5IP while Zach Hardoin allowed the runs charged to Franco, and Justin Gill gave up the two runs charged to Hardoin in 1.2IP and Blake Ford struck out two of the three batters he faced.

The Astros got four hits on the night: courtesy of Justin Shults (BB), Chris Epps (SB, outfield assist), Kevin Gonzalez, and Luca Martone (2B). Kyle Redinger was 0x1, but drew two walks, and Javaris Reynolds had a walk and an RBI.

Man of the Match: Chris Epps

From the Office of the County Clerk - G82: Astros v. Rangers

Wandy deals, and shuts down the Rangers for a 7-0 win, losing the Silver Boot by a game.

*It's the 4th shutout for the Astros this season, and the first since all the way back on June 18, when the Astros beat the Dodgers, also by a 7-0 score.

*The Astros are 12-3 when scoring 7+ runs.

*Wandy killed it, allowing 4H/0ER, 4K:3BB in 7IP, and lowering his ERA to 2.97. In his last four starts, he's thrown 25IP, 19H/5ER (all in one start against the Rays), 20K:10BB.

*His 7IP are the most since May 17, when he threw 8IP.

*Wandy only threw first-pitch strikes to eight of 25 batters. When doing so, the Rangers were 1x8, K, with 2 GIDPs.

*Let's give it up for David Carpenter: made his MLB debut striking out Craig Gentry and getting pinch-hitter Endy Chavez and Ian Kinsler to fly out to right. Good work by Mills to get his debut in Houston, and by facing the Rangers' 8-9-1.

*Deputy Street did the leg work and found that Carpenter threw nothing but fastballs (16): sitting 92-96, and hitting 94mph in six pitches.

*And for whatever reason, the Astros used two pitchers in the top of the 9th with a 7-0 lead. Fernando Abad got two outs on ten pitches (Andrus' flied out to left, Hamilton grounded out to 2nd). Then, Mark Melancon came in for two pitches, and got Adrian Beltre to ground out. It was Abad's first appearance since June 25 and Melancon's first appearance since June 26.

*The Astros' offense went off for some extra-base hits! They got two homers in a game for the first time since May 30, and had four doubles for the 12th time in 2011.

*Carlos Lee hit a homer in back-to-back games for the first time since September 17/18, 2010. AND he drew two walks! That's three straight games with a walk, and in the last week, he's hitting .294/.350/.706, with a .299/.375/.474 line in June - all monthly highs for the season.

*Clint Barmes was 3x4, and is 8x18 with four doubles in the last week - raising his average from .226 to .237.

*Jason Michaels swung a big bat, going 2x4 with a double, homer, and 3RBI. The last time that Michaels had a homer and a double in the same game was June 26, 2010 - against Texas.

*J.R. Towles. Holy crap, man. After an April where he went 12x33 with a 1.068 OPS, he is 11x85 since May 1, with an OPS in May and June of .367 and .479, respectively.

*Man of the Match: Wandy Rodriguez

*Goat of the Game: J.R. Towles.

From the Office of the County Clerk - G81: Astros v. Rangers

This is officially getting old. Astros lose 3-2.

*It's the fifth straight year the Rangers have taken the Silver Boot, if that sort of thing means something to you.

*For the 9th game this season, an opponent hit a homer to lead-off the game (Ian Kinsler). I'm not necessarily interested in seeing how this stacks up against the rest of the League. Not now, anyway.

*The Rangers have hit 11 homers off the Astros this season, with a game to play tomorrow, tying the Braves for the team with the most homers off Astros pitching.

*Brett Myers allowed both Rangers homers for his 21st and 22nd allowed - vaulting him back above Bronson Arroyo for the most allowed in the Majors. Rangers starter Colby Lewis allowed his 20th homer to Carlos Lee for 3rd-most in MLB.

*The 3-2 loss drops the Astros to 10-14 in one-run games, and also marks their 8th straight loss at home

I find this conversation improbable

Evan Grant talked to C.J. Wilson about his triple in last night's debacle. Apparently this happened:

"As soon as I hit it, I see it rocketing up there, I'm like, 'Dude, Bourn is nowhere near that. I'm digging.' " Wilson told the Ben and Skin show on KESN-FM on Wednesday. "So, I'm running and I look up and the ball is still flying ... Right off the gate I was like, 'Oh, this is a triple.' With my sore foot, starting to act up by about the sixth or seventh step I hit first base and then Carlos Lee looks at me and he's like, "Holy crap, Dude, you crushed that ball.' and I was like, 'Yeah, man, I'm a deer. Check this out.' And we said that to each other and if you look at the video you can see him running next to me for like three steps as I motor on to second base. And I was kind of laughing the whole time."

I'm calling bullcrap.

Tranzactionz! Durango claimed, Carpenter called up

A host of tranzactionz for your reading pleasure, courtesy of Alyson Footer (and here):

*The Astros claimed outfielder Luis Durango off waivers from the Padres, and sent him to Oklahoma City.

*They then transferred Alberto Arias to the 60-Day DL.

*They then optioned Brian Esposito back to Oklahoma City...

*...And called up David Carpenter from OKC to Houston.

*And according to Farmstros, Chia-Jen Lo has been put back on the DL, after two injury-free outings.

Durango is a 25-year old switch-hitting outfielder who has been in the Padres' system since 2003. He did spend some time with the Padres, hitting .305/.369/.305 in the admittedly small-sample 37 games (67 PAs).

In seven minor-league seasons, Durango has hit .315/.406/.366, with 73 career extra-base hits (46 2Bs, 24 3Bs, 3 HRs) in 2410 plate appearances. Encouragingly, however, he's managed to strike out just 283 times (11.7% of PAs) and draw 296 walks. Still, there's not much pop in his bat. He was hitting .243/.328/.294 in 61 games for Triple-A Tucson before getting placed on waivers.

So the question for Durango is, should we read anything into this? Bogusevic is up, leaving Shuck, DeLome, Barnes, and Locke as your OKC OFs. Is Durango better than what the Astros have at OKC now? Does it indicate that there's an expendable outfielder or two at OKC, or that J.D. Martinez won't be coming to OKC in the near future? Who knows what lurks in the mind of the Apparatus?!

Also, good for David Carpenter. Even if it's just a cup of coffee, we're happy for him, after the position change, and all. And we're happy for the Astros, who got a potentially viable bullpen piece out of the Cardinals in the Pedro Feliz trade.

Allowing 4+ runs

Early this morning, the County Clerk did some checking and found that when allowing 4+ runs the Astros are 5-46. This seems awfully low. So let's look and see just how bad it is across the NL.

Team	Overall Rec.	Allowing 4+ R
COL	39-40	18-28
ARI	44-37	17-33
NYM	40-39	14-33
PHI	50-30	13-21
CIN	41-40	13-30
SFG	46-34	12-22
WSH	40-40	12-27
MIL	44-36	12-28
FLA	34-45	12-32
STL	42-38	11-33
CHC	32-48	11-42
PIT	40-38	10-30
SDP	36-45	9-28
ATL	46-35	8-28
LAD	36-45	8-35
HOU	28-52	5-46

A few things to note about this.

1) Of course this means that the Astros' offense struggles to score 4+ runs. In their 80 games, the Astros have scored 4+ runs in just 43 of them - and are 21-22 when they actually do.

2) Only the Cubs have played more games where they have allowed 4+ runs, with 53 to the Astros' 51. But they've at least won 11 of those games.

3) As a whole, the National League is 185-496 when allowing their opponents to score 4+ runs for a .272 Win%. Taking the Astros out of the equation, that bumps up the NL Win% to .286, because the Astros bring that down with their .098 Win%.

Astros sale "2-3 weeks" away

KPRC Sports Director Randy McIlvoy tweeted out:

Reported last night. In intw, Drayton told me, w/Dodgers Bankruptcy, astros sale now 2-3 weeks away.

If the latter time frame is true, this puts the sale of the Astros to within a week of the trade deadline. Of course, Crane can likely approve decisions, and I doubt McLane would stand in the way of any agreement on a trade between Wade and Crane. But still, Frank McCourt is screwing things up (not that this is a news flash).

Baseball America is actively engaging in height and location discrimination

With a captip to Appy Astros for the link, Baseball America posted their mid-point leaders for the minors, and Jose Altuve (AVG) and Kody Hinze (HR) are on the list.

What do they say about Altuve?
Jose Altuve hit .301 at two Class A stops last season (561 plate appearances), on the heels of a cumulative .306 showing in two years in the Rookie-level Appalachian League (360 PA), so he has a clear track record of hitting for average. His crazy .395 average this year has been propped up by an otherworldly showing at home in the high Class A California League prior to his bump to Double-A. Altuve hit .464 (52-for-112) in 28 home games for Lancaster, collecting a hit slightly more than half the time he put the ball in play (50.5 percent). At his current pace, Altuve would collect 225 hits over the course of a 140-game minor league season. In case you're wondering, the highest hit total from 2005-10 belongs to the Mariners' Kyle Seager, who collected 192 last year.

We have come to Altuve's aid from BA's vicious attacks questioning his abilities to hit outside of Lancaster before, and it's worth noting that - through 26 games at Corpus - he's still hitting the ball often and hard. In 18 home games at Corpus, he has a .389/.400/.556 line, compared to .364/.400/.667 in eight road games.

So yes, Altuve was Video Game Good at Lancaster, and while hit OPS is almost 70 points lower at Double-A, it's still a Stupid Good .990. So Baseball America can kindly eat one.

Tranzactionz!

Some tranzactionz for you on Eddie's Farm:

June 28: Lancaster placed Erik Castro on the 7-Day DL, Corpus sends Shane Wolf to Lancaster

June 26: OKC sends Pat Urckfitz to Corpus, brings up Brad Hennessey

Jason Bourgeois back to the DL

Jason Bourgeois is our very own Mr. Glass, going back on the DL with a strained right quad, and bringing up Brian Bogusevic to take his roster spot.

We also find from Campbell's article that J.A. Happ is not hurt, even if his numbers are:
“I feel fine. I feel good. There’s no excuse, and I can’t say things are going perfectly. I’ve just got to keep at it and try to be consistent.”

Eddie's Farm: June 28

Oklahoma City (34-46)

Round Rock got out to a 6-0 lead by the end of the 2nd, but the Express and RedHawks traded four-run innings and OKC lost 12-9. Gustavo Chacin lasted 3IP, allowing 12H/8ER, 2K:0BB, and 4HR. Danny Meszaros gave up a hit and two walks (3Ks) in 2IP; Sam Gervacio allowed 3H/4ER, 1K:2BB, HR in 1.2IP; Jose Valdez walked one and struck out one; and Emerson Frostad became the second OKC catcher to make an appearance on the mound, and got two outs without incident.

Collin DeLome was 3x5 with three doubles and 2RBI, while Drew Locke hit his 5th homer, drew a walk, and got two other hits for a 3x5 night, and Oswaldo Navarro also had three hits. J.B. Shuck and Brian Bogusevic were 1x4 with a walk, and OKC as an offense was 4x18 w/RISP, leaving 15 men on base.

Man of the Match: Collin DeLome

Corpus (28-48)

Off

Lancaster (30-45)

Lancaster never trailed, taking an 8-0 lead before High Desert got on the board, JetHawks win, 12-7. Our Boy Andrew Robinson threw 7IP, 8H/3ER, 2K:1BB for the win; Yordany Ramirez allowed 2H/3ER, 2K:1BB in 0.2IP, Mike Ness gave up a solo homer (accounting for two of Ramirez' runs), and Kirk Clark threw a perfect 9th inning.

Kody Hinze was 3x5 with a three-run homer and 6RBI on the night. Grant Hogue (2B, RBI), Jiovanni Mier (BB, RBI), Jonathan Meyer (RBI), Rene Garcia (SB) and Andy Simunic (BB) had two hits each.

Man of the Match: Kody Hinze

Lexington (36-40)

West Virginia broke a 3-3 tie in the bottom of the 8th, going on to beat Lexington 4-3. Ruben Alaniz allowed 5H/3ER, 7K:2BB in 5IP, and David Martinez got the final nine outs, allowing 1H/1ER, 2K:1BB in 3IP and taking the hard-luck loss.

The Legends only got four hits - a homer from Tyler Burnett, a double from Ben Heath, and hits from Emilio King and Ben Orloff. Telvin Nash made his return to the Legends' lineup, and went 0x4.

Man of the Match: David Martinez

Tri-City (6-5)

Tri-City held off a late Connecticut rally, where the Tigers scored the final three runs, but still lost to the ValleyCats 6-5. Juri Perez threw 5IP, 6H/2ER, 7K:1BB; Travis Smink allowed 4H/1ER, 1K:0BB in 2IP; Garrett Bullock allowed 1H/0ER, 1K:1BB in 1IP, and Ryan Cole got the save despite a 3H/2R (1ER) IP.

Justin Gominsky, John Hinson (SB), and Brandon Meredith (2 2Bs, SB, RBI) had two hits each, while Drew Muren, Zach Johnson (BB), and Miles Hamblin (2B) added RBIs.

Man of the Match: Brandon Meredith

Greeneville (1-7)

Brutal start to the season for the Gastros. They had a 5-1 lead going into the 8th, allowed five runs in the top of the inning, got it back in the bottom half, and allowed two runs in the top of the 10th for an 8-6 loss to Kingsport. Luis Ordosgoitti allowed 3H/1ER, 3K:1BB in 6IP, getting 11 grounders to three flyball outs; Zach Dando allowed 3H/4R (3ER), 1K:2BB. Jeremiah Meiners got the blown save, allowing an unearned run and a walk, with no hits, yet costing Dando two earned runs. Paris Shewey took the loss with 3H/2ER, 2K:0BB in the 10th.

Leadoff hitter Garen Wright was 3x5 with his first homer of the season; Ernesto Genoves was 2x4 with a double and an RBI. Chase Davidson and Luis Alvarez were each 1x4 with a walk and an RBI, with Davidson hitting his 4th homer of the season.

Man of the Match: Garen Wright

GCL Astros (3-4)

Off.

From the Office of the County Clerk - G80: Astros v. Rangers

A couple of big-ish innings doomed the Astros, mainly because if you can get up by four against Houston, that pretty much takes care of it. Rangers win, 7-3.

*The loss is the 18th in the month of June - a monthly high for 2011, and the most losses in a month since May 2010, when the Astros went 9-20.

*So, from April-June, the Astros have lost 17, 17, and 18 games respectively. This is the first time the Astros have lost 17+ games in three straights months since July-September 1966.

*Jordan Lyles drops to 0-3 after throwing 6IP, 10H/5ER, 2K:2BB, and giving up a homer to Josh Hamilton. Even though the 2Ks are a season low, Lyles still has 28K:8BB.

*Lyles threw a first-pitch strike to 22 of 29 batters. When throwing the first-pitch ball, opponents were 3x7, with 2Ks.

*Things got away from Lyles with one out in the 6th, when Mitch Moreland singled, Yorbit Torrealba doubled, and Kinsler tripled, turning a 3-1 Rangers lead into a 5-1 Rangers lead. That's important, because...

*...If the Astros allow 4+ runs, their record is 5-46.

*Enerio Del Rosario threw a perfect outing for the first time since June 1 (seven appearances), and Aneury Rodriguez allowed two homers for the 3rd time this season, and the second time since rejoining the bullpen.

*So that gives Astros pitchers 97 HR allowed on the season - 5 HR more than 29th place Baltimore, 8 HR more than 15th in the NL (Cincinnati), and 54 HR more than NL-leading San Francisco.

*For the offense, Carlos Corporan led the way with a career-high three hits, and Michael Bourn and Clint Barmes had two hits each. That's four two-hit games for Barmes in his last ten games.

*Hunter Pence had a hit and a walk for the second time in three games, but he's 3x15 (3K:2BB) since returning after a week off for the sprained elbow.

*Chris Johnson got a hit, giving him a six-game hit streak. Johnson's OPS in April: .531; May: .715; June: .815.

*Man of the Match: Jeez, I don't know. How about Corporan?

*Goat of the Game: Jeff Keppinger. Went 0x4 and ended three innings, one with a GIDP.

On the rest of the 2011 season, and Brett Wallace

Brett Wallace is not in tonight's lineup against the Rangers. Why? Presumably because lefty C.J. Wilson is starting for Texas and, well, Brett Wallace doesn't start against lefties.

This is completely ridiculous. If Wallace is the long-term answer at 1B, then he needs to be starting every single game, and Mills needs to quit screwing around and putting Lee at 1B every time a lefty is on the mound. Why? Because this season has officially ceased to matter, at least as far as 2011 is concerned.

The Astros, as a team, are hitting .264/.319/.371 against lefties. This includes Wallace's .208/.296/.250 line. This, obviously, is atrocious. But he's going to have to learn to hit lefties at some point in his career if he's the Reincarnation of Jeff Bagwell. And what better place to start than with a 28-51 record?

Chip Bailey had a post today wondering if the Astros "patented second-half run" could be far away.

Sure, it's a notable tradition, but there's no point. Let's look at the standings:

Milwaukee: 44-35
St. Louis: 41-38
Cincinnati: 41-39
Pittsburgh: 39-38
Chicago: 32-46
Houston: 28-51

This leaves the Astros 16 games back of the Brewers for first place, with the largest gap between two teams in all of baseball, including the Marlins who have not won since April 10*.

Even if the Astros went 62-21 from here on out, here's what the records of the five other teams would need to be in order to finish one game ahead of the Bizarro Astros:

Milwaukee: 47-36
St. Louis: 50-33
Cincinnati: 50-32
Pittsburgh: 52-32
Chicago: 59-25

Of course, you can count the Cubs out here, and probably the Pirates. Cincinnati and St. Louis would have a tall order. But Milwaukee, who is winning games at a .557 clip would simply need to go win at exactly the same pace they have been winning games to this point in order to finish above the Astros on the last day of the season.

Oh yeah, and if at any point you're questioning the logic of whether the Brewers can keep up this pace, remember the preceding paragraph is formulated on the theory that the Astros - who have been winning at a .354 clip would suddenly win the remaining 83 games at a .747 pace.

So Mills: stop sacrificing the development of your First Baseman of the Future based on the supposition that the second half run starts any day now.

(* - Approximately)

Here's a review of Clear Channel Stadium

Stadium Journey recently posted a review of Clear Channel Stadium, aka Where the Lancaster JetHawks play on their site late last week.

Your money quote:
The JetHawks are certainly keeping pace with the great minor league experience in the California League. While they may not experience the draw of the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, they definitely provide a better experience than the nearby High Desert Mavericks.

While I initially thought I would not be traveling to the Lancaster/Palmdale region, I found a lot of great attractions and a great ballpark experience that will certainly have me returning again and again.

Quintero update

There have been some updates regarding the return of Humberto Quintero, via Twitter:

From Alyson Footer (and here):
Spotted: Quintero practicing jumping up out of crouch to field dribblers in front of plate. Throwing to first, second and third. No timetable for Q's return but this is an encouraging sight.

And from Steve Campbell (and here):
Quintero said he will begin a medical rehab assignment with Okla City on Friday, joining team in Memphis. Plan is for Quintero to build up endurance so he's ready to play regularly after All-Star break.

Round Rock finds fans are actually engaged when team does well

The Austin American-Statesman spent what seems to have been a decent amount of time examining the issues and evidence (using all steps of the scientific method) and came to the stunning conclusion that fans like it when their team wins, as they apparently do in Round Rock.

What has changed since the Astros and Rangers switched Triple-A teams? Let's find out from Express GM George King:
"For one thing, there's not the mass exodus after the seventh or eighth inning. Our fans are looking at the standings more than they have in the last few years. Fans are embracing this team. It's fun to be at the park."

Traitorous Astros fan:
"I'm a 'Stros fan, but it's hard to work up any enthusiasm for them because they've been bad for a bunch of years. I just want to see some good baseball for a reasonable price. I have no problem pulling for the Express."

Other now-Express fan:
"I'd rather follow these guys on their way up to the Rangers than what we had. Besides, everybody loves a winner, right?"

Carpenter could find his way to Houston soon

But apparently he's not ready yet, according to Fred Nelson:

He has work to do to get himself ready to go to the big leagues. He’s not there yet. Sometime shortly if there’s a need at the big league level, he could certainly be a candidate who could go to the big leagues. He’s still working on location and command and his secondary stuff and how to pitch to experienced hitters.”

That makes total sense considering that, in 19IP, he's allowed 15H/0ER, 21K:6BB, and opponents are hitting .221 against him.

Or if you take into account his last ten games (five at home, five on the road), where he has allowed 6H/0ER, 13K:4BB in 11IP, with a .162 BAA.

Eddie's Farm: June 27

Oklahoma City (34-45)

OKC never trailed God's Gift to the Minor Leagues (Round Rock), defeating them with a 4-1 win at Round Rock. Wesley Wright threw 4IP, allowing 2H/1ER, 2K:4BB, getting lifted after throwing 59 pitches. Ross Wolf came in for the win, allowing 1H/0ER, 2K:0BB in 3IP; Fernando Rodriguez struck out the side and David Carpenter extended his ER-less streak to 19IP with a 2H/0ER, 1K:0BB inning.

Drew Locke was 2x3 with two doubles, a walk, and an RBI, while J.B. Shuck provided a 2x5 game. Robinson Cancel hit his 3rd homer of the year and added another RBI, and Anderson Hernandez was 0x2, but drew two walks and scored twice.

The RedHawks won despite going 0x10 w/RISP.

Man of the Match: Ross Wolf

Corpus (28-48)

Corpus had a 2-0 lead going into the 8th inning, but Frisco came up with six runs for a 6-3 win over the Hooks. Xavier Cedeno threw out of his mind: 6.2IP, 1H/0ER, 14K:0BB, but got the no decision when Mike Perconte allowed 2H/2ER, 2K:1BB in 0.2IP and Henry Villar gave up 6H/4ER, 1K:1BB in 1.2IP.

Jose Altuve was 3x4 with an RBI and a stolen base and Brandon Wikoff was 3x5. Jimmy Van Ostrand was 2x4 and J.D. Martinez had your only extra-base hit, getting a double. Chris Wallace was 1x4 with 2Ks and is now hitting .278/.350/.278 in five games.

Man of the Match: Xavier Cedeno - bring him up to OKC.

Lancaster (29-45)

Lancaster got all the runs they needed by the end of the 2nd, and held on for a 4-3 win over High Desert. Jake Buchanan threw 6IP, 8H/3R (1ER), 3K:0BB; Chris Hicks gave up 2H/0ER, 3K:1BB in 2IP and Kirk Clark got his 14th save with a perfect inning. After a brutal May (11IP, 20H/17ER, 8K:5BB), Clark has rebounded in June with 11.1IP, 7H/2ER, 8K:1BB.

Rene Garcia was 2x3 with a double; Jonathan Meyer hit a two-run homer, his 7th, and drew a walk; and Austin Wates, and Kody Hinze added your other hits.

Man of the Match: Jake Buchanan

Lexington (36-39)

In a game that featured five ejections and a walk-off, West Virginia beat Lexington 2-1 on the Power's 10th inning homer. Mike Foltynewicz allowed 2H/1ER, 8K:3BB in 6IP; Jason Chowning allowed 1H/0ER, 3K:0BB in 3IP, and Jorge De Leon gave up the lead-off game-winning walkoff.

Emilio King was 3x4 with a double, and Delino DeShields and Mike Kvasnicka had two hits each. Ben Heath had your lone RBI of the night, while Adam Bailey and Brian Streilein got ejected for Lexington.

Man of the Match: Mike Foltynewicz

Tri-City (5-5)

Connecticut was in charge the whole time, taking the game from Tri-City, 6-0. Nick Tropeano allowed 6H/4R (3ER), 0K:1BB in 3IP; Adam Champion allowed 2H/0ER, 0K:1BB in 2IP; Joan Belliard pitched to three batters, hitting one and walking two; Kristian Bueno threw 2IP of scoreless relief, while Brad James got 2K:1BB in 1IP, and Travis Blankenship finished it off with 2H/1ER, 1K:0BB in 1IP.

John Hinson, Justin Gominsky, Zach Johnson (2B), Miles Hamblin, and Neiko Johnson (2 errors) accounted for your hits.

Man of the Match: Jeez. Zach Johnson?

Greeneville (1-6)

The Gastros got their first win of the season with an emphatic 15-6 win over Kingsport. Chris Lee allowed 5H/4ER, 2K:3BB in 3IP; Jamaine Cotton gave up 7H/2ER, 5K:0BB - earning his first professional win - and Brad Propst threw 2IP, giving up 1H/0ER, 3K:0BB.

Lots of hits, as you can imagine, with Darwin Rivera (coming up from the DSL a week ago) leading the way with a 4x5, 2RBI day. Chase Davidson (2B, HR, BB, 3RBI), Alex Todd (2 doubles, 2RBI), and Jorge Sosa (2B) had three hits each. Jordan Scott was 2x3 with 3RBI, Luis Alvarez was 2x5 with his first homer, and Jose Monzon was 2x5.

Man of the Match: How about Chase Davidson?

GCL Astros (3-4)

Our first GCL report of the year sees a 9-3 loss to the GCL Mets. Eight pitchers were used, and we're not going into all of them. Notably, Francis Ramirez got the start, allowing 4H/3R (2ER), 3K:5BB. Casey Fien threw a rehab inning, Brad Dydalewicz pitched to four batters - giving up a hit and three walks.

Telvin Nash was 2x4 with a double, Jean Carlos Batista was 1x4.

Man of the Match: Telvin Nash

Rosenthal thinks the Astros should trade Pence to Atlanta

Smilin Ken Rosenthal wonders, while admitting the chances of this are slim:

The Astros need to rebuild around pitching. They’ve got right-handers Bud Norris and Jordan Lyles in place. What if they could move Pence to the Braves for a package built around one or more of Atlanta’s many appealing young arms?

They would save money. They would increase their inventory of young talent. They would kick-start a rebuilding process that is long overdue.

Jake Buchanan added a cutter

Nice article on Lancaster's Jake Buchanan from his hometown paper on what he's been doing, besides trying to maintain his sanity from pitching in Lancaster:

I’ve been using a cutter more than before. It’s really helped me. The more success I’ve had with it, the more I’ve used it.

Hey, so what's next?
“I’m not too sure of their plans. If they’re going to make any moves, I’m told it’s usually after the All-Star break. I’m just going to work as hard as I can to my best while I’m here and if they want to move me up, that’s great too.”

Austin Chronicle: Kind of a jerk

The Austin Chronicle has a new post up in advance of the OKC v. Round Rock series, where they do a Tale of the Tape between the two teams, and are quite proud of the Rangers' farm system:

The intro, then you click the link:
As that's the case, let's take a look at a few positions on both teams so we can highlight just how much better it is to watch the new and improved Express compared to "last year's team," the RedHawks.

Astros ratings down 34%

David Barron's Media Notebook tells us a little more about how many people aren't watching the Astros on TV:

Through Tuesday, Astros games on Fox Sports Houston are averaging a 1.7 Nielsen rating, down 34 percent through 63 from a year ago, when their final season average was 2.4.

And if people tell you that the Astros won't move to the AL West because of the potential tanking of ratings, you can slap them in the mouth:

The Rangers averaged a 3.9 rating for 12 left coast games in 2010, a half-point above their season average, and the Astros averaged 2.6 for five late games in 2010, two-tenths above their season average. This year, the Rangers have averaged 2.6 for three late games while the Astros averaged 1.8 for four.

Eddie's Farm: June 23

Oklahoma City (32-43)

Crazy one in Albuquerque as the Isotopes took a 2-0 lead, then OKC tied it up, then Albuquerque had a 3-2 lead going into the top of the 8th, where OKC busted out for five runs in the top of the 8th and added one more in the top of the 9th for an 8-3 lead. Albuquerque scored three in the bottom of the 9th, but couldn't get enough, and OKC wins 8-6. Gustavo Chacin allowed 8H/3ER, 4K:2BB in 6IP; Ross Wolf struck out two of the three batters he faced; Jose Valdez allowed 3H/3ER, 4K:0BB in 1.1IP, and David Carpenter struck out one and walked one to close it out.

Brian Bogusevic (BB, 2RBI, SB) and Anderson Hernandez (2RBI) had three hits each; Robinson Cancel was 2x4 with a double and an RBI. Even Chacin got in on it, going 2x2 with a run scored.

Man of the Match: Bogusevic!

Corpus (25-47)

This was never very close as San Antonio dominated Corpus 7-2. Jonnathan Aristil got the Ugly, allowing 7H/7ER, 4K:3BB in 2.1IP; Shane Wolf allowed 3H/0ER, 3K:2BB in 3.2IP; Brad Hennessey, Blake King, and Arcenio Leon combined for 3IP, 1H/0ER, 2K:0BB.

Jose Altuve had your only multi-hit game of the night, going 2x3 with a walk, and now hitting .381. Jimmy Paredes hit his 5th homer of the year - a pinch-hit 2-run shot - and Emerson Frostad, playing 1B, was 1x4 with a triple. Chris Wallace got his first start at Double-A, going 0x3 with a walk, RBI, and a strikeout.

Man of the Match: Jose Altuve

Lancaster (28-42)

The JetHawks had a 3-0 lead going into the bottom of the 1st, but Rancho Cucamonga scored the next six runs, winning 7-5. Our Boy Andrew Robinson went 2.2IP, 6H/5R (4ER), 0K:2BB, WP; Mike Ness gave up 5H/2ER, 5K:0BB in 4.1IP, and David Berner struck out two of the three batters he faced.

Jiovanni Mier, in his Lancaster debut, went 2x4 with an RBI; Kody Hinze was 0x2, but drew 2BB. Jose Carlos Thompson had your only extra-base hit, a double, and Austin Wates (2RBI), Thompson, and Jonathan Meyer had your other RBI.

Man of the Match: Jiovanni Mier

Lexington (35-36)

Ben Orloff's throwing error led to four unearned runs, and Greenville beat Lexington 8-2. Ruben Alaniz allowed 5H/5R (1ER), 6K:2BB in 5IP; Chia-Jen Lo made his season debut, allowing 1H/1ER, 2K:1BB in 1IP, and Juan Minaya allowed 4H/2ER, 3K:1BB in 3IP of relief.

The Legends only got four hits - one of those was Adam Bailey's 14th homer of the year, with Enrique Hernandez, Jhonny Medrano, and Tyler Burnett getting the other hits. Delino DeShields was 0x4 with 2K, and is hitting .194.

Man of the Match: Adam Bailey

Tri-City (3-3)

Lowell got two runs in the top of the 8th to tie the game 2-2, but Tri-City responded with one in the bottom half for a 3-2 win. Juri Perez allowed 2H/0ER, 9K:1BB in 5IP; Travis Blankenship got 2K:1BB in 1.2IP; Brad James allowed 3H/2ER, 3K:1BB in 1.1IP - but got his first win since 2009; Ryan Cole got his first save, striking out two in a perfect IP.

Justin Gominsky was 2x4, Zach Johnson had a double, and Brandon Meredith was 1x2 with a walk and two stolen bases.

Man of the Match: Juri Perez

Greeneville (0-3)

Bristol extended Greeneville's winless streak with a 5-0 win over the Gastros. Luis Ordosgoitti allowed 5H/5R (1ER), 7K:1BB, WP, HBP in 5.2IP while Brad Propst gave up 4H/0ER, 2K:0BB in 2.1IP.

The Gastros only got two hits - Jose Vargas, and a double by Ronald Sanchez. Jorge Sosa and Alex Todd also drew walks.

Man of the Match: Luis Ordosgoitti.

Battle Royal! Clemens vs. Gaston vs. Hinze!

Deputy Street did such an amazing amount of work that it would be ridiculous not to post this. Many of you have sent emails or messages via Twitter asking why in the hell Kody Hinze wasn't promoted to Corpus with Chris Wallace. I have no idea, but let's get an idea about what Hinze is doing so far in Lancaster this season, compared to two of the finest seasons Lancaster has seen: 2009 Koby Clemens and 2009 Jon Gaston. Both players saw their Prospect stock rise dramatically after breaking out in a ballpark with the relative gravity of the Moon, let's compare, shall we?

At Home, Pre-All Star Break:

Name (Year)	ABs	Avg/OBP/SLG	K:BB	XBH-RBI
Clemens (09)	216	.352/.438/.653	48:31	35-72
Gaston (09)	260	.308/.404/.692	78:38	52-56
Hinze (11)	120	.325/.464/.608	32:31	16-26

On the Road, Pre-ASB

Name (Year)	ABs	Avg/OBP/SLG	K:BB	XBH-RBI
Clemens (09)	224	.330/.409/.589	63:23	38-51
Gaston (09)	258	.248/.342/.504	86:33	29-44
Hinze (11)	114	.368/.503/.719	28:30	20-33

Alright, before we get much further, let's take a look at a few things:

1) Prior to 2009, where Clemens posted an OPS of 1.036, his career high in OPS had been .859, and that was in 42 games at Greeneville/Tri-City. In 2008, his OPS was .792 (.268/.369/.423). So to have a 210 point bump in OPS is what you might call a "fluke." And sure enough, in Corpus, his average was down 100 points, and his OPS was .825. So far he's hitting .231/.332/.396.

2) Same thing with Gaston. His OPS in 62 games at Tri-City in 2008 was .577. He had two homers and one triple in 236 plate appearances. So when he goes off for 35 homers and 15 triples in 2009 with a .966 OPS, it makes no sense, other than it's a product of the environment - and that holds up with his road splits.

3) Kody Hinze, however, is a little bit of a different animal. He struggled in 2009, only playing in 59 games and posting a .722 OPS. This is coming off a 2008 where he had an .831 OPS in 55 games at Greeneville. So aside from an injury-plagued 2009, his SLG hasn't been below .457, and his OBP has been above .370. In other words, he has a track record of high OBP/SLG. Now, is a line of .346/.483/.662 ridiculous? Of course - it's video game ridiculous, but Hinze also has 60K:61BB so he's otherwise getting on base.

4) While there's plenty of time for his to regress back to just "stupid good," it's important to note that Hinze's OPS is 151 points higher on the road than it is at home, while Clemens' Road OPS dropped by 92 points, and Gaston's dropped by 250 points. This sort of removes the doubt about the Lancaster Effect.

5) So why didn't Hinze get moved up? After all, he will be 24 and, wouldn't you know it - the average age of Hooks batters is 23.9 years old. A couple of reasons, maybe: (a) Jimmy Van Ostrand is having a decent year at 1B for Corpus, hitting .288/.360/.454 where as a team the Hooks are hitting .261/.321/.373. His .814 OPS is 4th on the team. And if you want to advance JVO as a 1B to OKC to clear the path for Hinze at Corpus, then you'll need to do something with Koby Clemens, currently "holding down" 1B at OKC. (b) The Astros don't have a clue what they're doing, with no rhyme or reason to who advances through the system.

Seaton looking for consistency

Stephen Goff interviewed Ross Seaton, and found that he was looking for more consistency:

"What I want to do is start getting results. I'm showing positive glimpses by having good games, and then I'll have a few bad ones. It's time to get more consistent, instead of stringing two or three good starts together, and then having a bad one. Becoming more consistent is my big goal."

Good interview, worth your time.

Astros Blog Survey

The Constable is working on a post for the Chronicle on Astros blogs, bloggers, and their readers. So if you don't mind...

Baseball Analytics on Myers

Baseball Analytics took a good look at Brett Myers (note: prior to last night's start).

Spoiler Alert: Location, Location, Location

Crashburn Alley, on J.A. Happ

After J.A. Happ's latest Disaster, I got to wondering whether or not Phillies fans are surprised by the meltdown that is J.A. Happ's 2011. So I asked our resident go-to Phillies blogger, Crashburn Alley what he thought about Happ. His response, in its entirety:

As a Phillies fan who liked Happ, I'm saddened by his struggles since joining the Astros. Still, though, I am not in the slightest surprised. I had taken considerable heat from the traditionalists in the Phillies community for being so pessimistic towards the lefty. In this article, which I wrote two weeks prior to the Happ deal last year, I said, "Happ pitches like a 4.50 ERA pitcher and that is what should be expected. His 2009 was a complete and utter fluke."

Not much has changed for Happ in 2011 compared to last year. His K/9 is similar (7.5 to 7.2), his BB/9 is similar (4.4 to 4.8), and his xFIP is similar (4.45 to 4.63). Unlike last year, however, Happ isn't benefiting from an unsustainably-low BABIP. If you're not familiar with DIPS theory (defense-independent pitching statistics), studies have conclusively shown pitchers to have little control on what happens to batted balls outside of them being on the ground or in the air. Pitchers tend to hover around .300; in this more pitcher-friendly era that seems to be blossoming, .295 is more accurate. This year, Happ's BABIP is .298, which is quite normal. However, his BABIP in 2008, '09, and '10 was .266, .266, and .262, respectively.

The low BABIP marks helped Happ keep a lot of runners from touching home plate, but it just wasn't representative the results we should have expected from a pitcher with his peripherals.

Happ's ERA is currently at 5.33, but even an eternal pessimist such as myself cannot see Happ continuing to flounder this badly. His strand rate is 63 percent, 10 percent lower than the league average. Strand rate is tied to good old-fashioned luck, the quality of defense behind him, and park factors. The Astros are near the bottom in nearly every respected defensive metric (including UZR and defensive efficiency), so his defense is to blame for some of his struggles. Additionally, Happ has been even more air-prone than normal, allowing four percent more line drives and four percent more fly balls compared to last year. More balls in the air means more home runs. Combined with the extra base runners allowed on account of the shoddy defense, Happ should be expected to give up slightly more runs than the DIPS metrics indicate.

I would expect Happ to finish the season with an ERA in the 4.50-4.75 range. That's not great by any means, but it would be right in line with the production of other pitchers with similar skill sets. Happ will disappoint, but only because the expectations of him were unrealistic to begin with. He is a perfectly capable #5 starter.

Big thanks to Crashburn Alley for the jolt of reality.

Corpus' corresponding moves annoucned

So last night, after Chris Wallace got brought up to Corpus from Lexington, there were your requisite corresponding moves:

Brought Up

Chris Wallace, from Lexington to Corpus

Sent Down

Federico Hernandez, from Corpus to Lancaster

Released

Matt Nevarez

Signed

Pitcher Mike Perconte

Perconte is a 25-year old RHP who has spent three full seasons in the minors - from 2008-2010 with the Cubs, and 2011 with Double-A Frisco in the Rangers system. He has a career 4.18 ERA/1.37 WHIP, with 229H/110ER, 235K:94BB in 236.2IP.

For Frisco, he allowed 27H/17ER, 28K:15BB in 28.1IP.

Nevarez' releasing is unsurprising given that, in Corpus in 2010-11, he has 64K:71BB, and had walked 23 batters in 21IP in 2011. Nevarez did come to Houston from Texas as part of the Pudge trade in August 2009.

Greg Rajan said it best about Hernandez:
Not shocking that Federico Hernandez was demoted, just that it took this long took many around the team by surprise. After all, how many MLB teams keep a .140 hitter as their No. 1 Double-A catcher for an entire half? Not sure what #Astros were thinking.

Eddie's Farm: June 22

Oklahoma City (31-43)

OKC held off a late Albuquerque rally for a 5-4 win. Ryan Rowland-Smith threw 4IP, 4H/1ER, 2K:0BB, departing after 61 pitches; Wesley Wright got the win with 2IP, 0H/0ER, 1K:0BB. Jose Valdez allowed 3H/3ER, 2K:0BB, 2HR and David Carpenter extended that scoreless streak to 17.1IP with 1.1IP, 1H/0ER, 2K:0BB.

Tommy Manzella was 2x3 with a two-run homer and a walk, while Koby Clemens hit a pinch-hit homer in the 7th. Robinson Cancel got a walk and an RBI, while Collin DeLome and Brian Bogusevic both had triples.

Man of the Match: Tommy Manzella

Corpus (25-46)

There was only scoring in two half-innings, but San Antonio got more in theirs, winning 5-3 over Corpus. Xavier Cedeno had a rare rough start, allowing 4H/5ER, 6K:2BB in 5IP. The bullpen of Kyle Greenwalt (2IP), Brad Hennessey (1IP), and Henry Villar (1IP) combined for 4IP, 3H/0ER, 4K:0BB.

Jose Altuve was 2x4, and Jonathan Villar, J.D. Martinez, Jake Goebbert (2B, RBI), T.J. Steele, and Cedeno had hits.

Man of the Match: Jose Altuve

Lancaster (28-41)

Off - final day of All-Star Break, play resumes Thursday against Rancho Cucamonga.

Lexington (35-35)

Off - final day of All-Star Break, play resumes Thursday against Greenville.

Tri-City (2-3)

Game postponed due to inclement weather

Greeneville (0-2)

The Gastros took a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the 9th, but Bristol tied it up, and then got the walk-off in the 12th for a 4-3 win over Greeneville.

Chris Lee threw 0.2IP in his debut, allowing 2H/1ER, 0K:3BB, 2WP; Jamaine Cotton threw 4.1IP effective IP, allowing 2H/0ER, 3K:1BB; Jeremiah Meiners gave up 3H/1ER, 2K:0BB in 2.2IP. Matison Smith threw the symmetry - 3.1IP, 3H/1ER, 3K:1BB; and Paris Shewey took the loss, allowing 1H/1ER, 0K:2BB.

Catcher Ernesto Genoves was 3x5 with a double, RBI; Jose Vargas (2B), Garen Wright (RBI), and Jose Monzon had two hits each. Chase Davidson hit his 2nd homer of the season.

Man of the Match: Ernesto Genoves

From the Office of the County Clerk - G76: Astros @ Rangers

Well, I'll be... The Astros score five runs in the final two innings - four in the 9th - for a 5-3 win over Texas.

*This was just the fourth time this season the Astros have scored four runs in an inning, and the first time the Astros scored that many in the 9th. It's also the 9th time this season that the Astros scored 2+ runs in the 9th inning, in 68 9th innings.

*Last night was the second win the Astros have enjoyed over the Rangers since the beginning of 2010.

*With the completion of the game, the Astros have played 76 game: 38 at home / 38 on the road. They're better on the road (15-23) than they are at home (13-25).

*The win also gives the Astros a 3-3 split on this 6-game road trip, marking back-to-back road trips where the Astros earned at least a split for the third time since the beginning of 2009.

*Brett Myers threw well enough to where he should have gotten the win, throwing a symmetrical 6IP, 6H/2ER, 6K:2BB and yes, allowing a homer to Nelson Cruz in the 5th. That makes 20 homers allowed for Myers in 102.2IP, matching his 2010 total, when he allowed 20HR in 223.2IP.

*Myers also threw two wild pitches, where he had two on the season coming into the game. In each of the previous three seasons, Myers has had two or fewer wild pitches...for the entire year.

*On the road this season, Myers has thrown 59IP, allowing 57H/26ER, 35K:18BB for a 1.27 WHIP. At home, that's 43.2IP, 47H/27ER, 40K:14BB and a 1.40 WHIP.

*Wilton Lopez got a scoreless 7th, and Mark Melancon came in for six outs - something he had not done this season. It was certainly interesting, with Melancon walking three batters. He had walked three batters - total - since May 1 (22 appearances).

*Melancon's 5th win brings him back into a tie with Wandy Rodriguez for the team-high.

*The 9th inning was a wild one - with Neftali Feliz throwing for the second straight day, and after throwing 35 pitches in 2IP against the Astros in G75. Carlos Lee led off with a double, Wallace popped out, Michaels reached on an infield single, and Johnson got an RBI double then scored on Yorvit Torrealba's passed ball. Matt Downs then hit a 400' homer to left, scoring Michaels and giving the Astros the 5-3 lead.

*It's Downs' 5th homer of the season. As a pinch-hitter, he's hitting .389/.560/.833, going 7x18 with four extra-base hits (2HR), 2K:5BB. Pretty impressive considering NL pinch-hitters as a group are hitting .211/.289/.302 with 31HR total.

*Brett Wallace was 0x3 with a walk - and has no hits in his last 24 plate appearances (4BB). On this six-game road trip, Wallace was 1x21.

*Jason Michaels was 2x4 for the only multi-hit game the Astros enjoyed. As a starter, he's 13x54, and as a pinch-hitter, he's 2x17.

*Jeff Keppinger was 1x4, and has a 10-game hitting streak (hits in 14 straight starts).

*Brett Wallace and Carlos Lee were a combined 0x4 w/RISP.

*Man of the Match: Matt Downs

*Goat of the Game: Let's go with the catchers - Corporan and Towles - who, if you add their OPS', have a combined OPS of .901

And Mier moves up

Zach Levine says that Jiovanni Mier has been brought up from Lexington to Lancaster.

Chris Wallace gets rewarded for winning SAL Home Run Derby

Lexington catcher Chris Wallace ain't messin' with no Lancaster, getting called up to Double-A Corpus Christi.

Wallace was hitting .285/.356/.550 despite hitting .194/.225/.500 over his last ten games, and .238/.306/.540 in June. This is actually better than his May, where he hit .219/.294/.344.

It makes perfect sense for Wallace to not play in Lancaster, but it negatively impacts one of three catchers: Federico Hernandez, Brian Esposito, or Emerson Frostad. Frostad had played in 12 games, Esposito in 14, and Hernandez got the majority of the starts, with 48. Except Hernandez is hitting .142/.202/.226, Esposito is hitting .150/.164/.167, and Frostad actually has an OPS above .SUCK with a .292/.327/.375 line.

Lyon out for the year

So it's going around The Twinker:

Brandon Lyon will have his shoulder surgery next Thurs with Dr. James Andrews. He said he won't pitch again this year.

It sucks for Lyon, but he'll still get his money, and he may be ready for the beginning of 2012 - the final year of his contract. That said, he probably should have had surgery, or been examined by Andrews weeks ago. Lyon was never going to be Mariano Rivera, but he's not as bad as he's been in 2011. For instance (career listed first, 2011 in parentheses like these):

K/9: 5.8 (4.1)
HR/9: 0.9 (2.7)
Hits/9: 9.6 (18.2)
WHIP: 1.38 (2.40)

Minor League Trends!

Let's play Minor League Trends - June 22 version!

Oklahoma City

*In June, the RedHawks are 7-14.
*Brandon Barnes is hitting .111/.200/.185 in his last ten games, and is hitting .191/.304/.419 against righties in Oklahoma City.
*Koby Clemens' has ten extra-base hits since April.
*J.B. Shuck is hitting .262/.350/.291 on the road.

*Ryan Rowland-Smith has allowed 74H/43ER, with 10 homers, in his last ten games (54.2IP). Righties are hitting .338 against him.
*Andy Van Hekken's last two starts: 14IP, 9H/1ER, 13K:3BB.
*David Carpenter, this season, has allowed 26H/7ER, 34K:8BB across Corpus and OKC. With OKC, he has thrown 16IP, 12H/0ER, 17K:5BB.

Corpus

*Corpus is 6-13 in June.
*At Corpus, Jose Altuve has struke out six times in 82ABs. At Whataburger Field, Altuve's OPS is .985. On the road it's 1.067.
*Lefty Jake Goebbert's OPS vs. LHP: .644; against RHP: .913.
*T.J. Steele is hitting righties to the tune of .172/.189/.267, with 55K:3BB.

*Three of the four homers Xavier Cedeno has allowed have been solo shots.
*Despite a 2.43 ERA/1.13 WHIP in his last ten games, Dallas Keuchel is 4-5, throwing7+ IP in five of his last six starts.
*Matt Nevarez has walked 18 batters in his last 12IP, and eight batters in his last 4.2IP.
*Ross Seaton has allowed six homers in his last 20IP, and is 0-3 with two NDs since May 22.

Lancaster

*In the ten games leading up to the All-Star Break, Kody Hinze is hitting .368/.510/.816, with 11K:1BB. In June, Hinze hit .444/.583/.852 (1.435 OPS)
*On the road, Austin Wates has a .792 OPS, compared to .699 at home.
*In May, Jose Carlos Thompson's OPS was .875. In June? .675.
*At home, Ben Heath hits .333/.396/.529. On the road, he hits .155/.242/.310.

*Jake Buchanan's ERA at Lancaster is 8.89 (27.1IP, 44H/27ER). On the road, that's 2.16 (58.1IP, 41H/14ER).
*Bobby Doran has the opposite problem. At home, his ERA is 7.34 and opponents are hitting .333. On the road, it's a 15.53 ERA and a .429 BAA.
*Yordany Ramirez' last ten games: 11.2IP, 19H/16ER, 7K:13BB.

Lexington

*After hitting .400/.438/.533 in May, Emilio King is hitting .276/.338/.414 in June. With runners on (59 ABs), King has a .948 OPS.
*In his last 40ABs, Delino DeShields has three hits, with 11K:9BB for a .075/.245/.175 line. DeShields is hitting righties to the tune of .168/.262/.286 in 185 ABs.
*Mike Kvasnicka is going through his worst month, OPS-wise, with a .640 OPS, after two months of .800+.

*Going back to the beginning of 2010, starter Carlos Quevedo has walked 12 batters in 159.1IP.
*Since apparently being moved to the bullpen as of June 4, Juan Minaya has posted the following in four appearances: 7IP, 6H/7ER, 1K:6BB.
*After starting his professional career 0-9, Mike Foltynewicz hasn't lost since May 11, allowing <2 ER in six of his last seven starts.

Tranzactionz!

Here are a couple of Tranzactionz for you!

June 21: Casey Fien activated from DL by OKC
June 20: Shane Wolf activated from DL by Corpus

After 75 games...

It's a nice round number. 75 games. 46.3% of the season. The Astros are 27-48.

Year	Record	GB	End Rec	End GB
2011	27-48	14GB	?-?	?
2010	29-46	13GB	76-86	15
2009	36-39	4.5GB	74-88	17
2008	34-41	13GB	86-75	11
2007	32-43	11GB	73-89	12
2006	37-38	6GB	82-80	1.5
2005	34-41	14GB	89-73	11
2004	39-36	14GB	92-70	13
2003	41-34	+0.5	87-75	1
2002	33-42	8GB	84-78	13
2001	40-35	5GB	93-69	0
2000	26-49	14G8	72-90	23

Giants sign Max Ramirez

Just a quick note that the Giants signed former OKC catcher (for however briefly) Max Ramirez to a minor-league deal.

Will the Astros be talking to Andrew Friedman?

It sure seems so, according to Richard Justice, and it could happen this week:

Coincidentally, one of baseball’s five best general managers will be in town this week. Tampa Bay’s Andrew Friedman also happens to be a Houston native, and about the surest bet in the universe is that Crane and Postolos will approach him about running the Astros.

Eddie's Farm: June 21

Oklahoma City (30-43)

Brutal game for OKC as Albuquerque had a 10-run lead at one point before the RedHawks "rallied" in the 9th. Isotopes win 11-4. Sergio Perez allowed 10H/6R (2ER), 3K:7BB in 5IP. Patrick Urckfitz continues to struggle at AAA, allowing 5H/4ER, 0K:2BB in 1.2IP, and Danny Meszaros allowed 2H/1ER, 1K:0BB in 1.1IP.

Brian Bogusevic was 2x4 with a walk, double, triple, SB, and 2RBI; Brian Esposito was 2x4 with a walk.

Man of the Match: Brian Bogusevic

Corpus (25-45)

Corpus led 6-2 after two innings, but San Antonio rallied for a 10-6 win, anyway. Erick Abreu got his first loss of the season - well-earned - with 10H/7ER, 5K:3BB, 2HR in 5IP. Shane Wolf allowed 3H/2ER in 2.1IP, and Sam Gervacio allowed 1H/1ER, 2K:1BB in 1.2IP.

J.D. Martinez was 3x4 with a walk, 2-run homer, and 3RBI total; Emerson Frostad was 3x4, and Jimmy Paredes was 2x5 with an RBI and his 23rd stolen base.

Man of the Match: J.D. Martinez

Lancaster

Off, but the California League defeated the Carolina League 6-1 in the All-Star Game. Jake Buchanan got the win, with a perfect 3rd inning, striking out one. Kody Hinze was 0x1 in a punch-hitting role, but won the Home Run Derby with 10 homers over Ian Gac.

Lexington

Off, but the SAL South defeated the SAL North 6-3 in the All-Star Game. Chris Wallace was 1x2, and Mike Kvasnicka was 0x2 with a strikeout. Chris Wallace won the SAL League Home Run Derby, with 20 homers.

Tri-City (2-3

Connecticut got all their runs in the bottom of the 8th for a 5-2 win over Tri-City. Nick Tropeano made his debut, allowing just 1H/0ER, 3K:2BB in 5IP of work. Dayan Diaz allowed 1H/2R (1ER), 2K:1BB in 2IP; Travis Smink got the BS/L with 2H/3R (1ER) in 0.1IP (allowing both the runners Diaz left to score), and Ryan Cole struck out one in 0.2IP.

Justin Gominsky was 2x3 with 2BB, SB, and an RBI; John Hinson was 1x3 with 2BB, and Drew Muren was 0x2 with 3BB. Matt Duffy and Brandon Meredith (BB) got the other hits.

Man of the Match: Nick Tropeano

Greeneville (0-1)

Rough opener for the Greeneville Astros, as Bristol was up 13-1 by the end of the 5th on their way to a 13-4 win over Greeneville. Jose Perdomo got the Ugly, allowing 8H/7R (4ER), 0K:1BB, 2HR. Danilo Del Rio allowed 5H/6R (4ER), 1K:1BB, 3HBP in 3.1IP. Mark Jones allowed 2H/0ER, 2K:2BB and Rodney Quintero allowed 1H/0ER, 1K:1BB.

Chase Davidson was 2x3 with a triple, homer, and 2RBI, while Ariel Ovando was 1x4 with an RBI. Jorge Sosa and Alex Todd (2 errors) added a hit each.

Man of the Match: Chase Davidson

Rumble! Grumble!

Jayson Stark's new Rumblings and Grumblings column has some info pertaining to the Astros:

A source familiar with baseball's schedule-making says that if realignment happens, it's "unlikely" to happen by next year.

Stark goes on to talk about how realignment won't make sense unless the playoffs are expanded.

Even the Rangers are tired of beating the Astros

The Star-Telegram's Jennifer Floyd Engel talks about realignment and the Astros, and how much of a drag both of those things are:

Of course, the Rangers want to play Houston more. It fills up The Ballpark and leads to a lot of Ws. And I like the idea of putting the Astros and Rangers in the same league, love the idea of the Rangers playing in a jerry-rigged AL West with them and love, love the idea of not having to stay up until midnight to watch division baseball in September when every game matters...Either bring Houston to the AL, or do not. Just do not bring them back to Arlington and call this fun. What we do not need is to see more Astros baseball.

Or any more interleague play.

Re-aligment, in some form, "will happen"

Yahoo's Jeff Passan just tweeted:

Source: MLB reticent to push for unalignment because it's such a drastic change. NL team moving to AL to even leagues at 15 "will happen."

"Unalignment," we're assuming, is the process of getting rid of the divisions. But somebody is moving to the American League, and it's basically between the Astros and the Diamondbacks.

Eddie's Farm: June 20

Oklahoma City (30-42)

The RedHawks were able to salvage the last game of a four-game set with a 2-1 win against New Orleans. Andy Van Hekken was lights out with 7IP, 6H/1ER, 6K:2BB; Jeff Fulchino threw another scoreless inning, and David Carpenter kept that scoreless streak rolling at 16IP with 2Ks in the 9th inning.

OKC only managed three hits (with five walks), Koby Clemens - batting 8th - was 1x2 with a double, walk, and RBI. Brian Bogusevic also got the H/BB, and Collin DeLome provided a sac fly for the other RBI.

Man of the Match: Andy Van Hekken

Corpus (25-44)

Corpus got four in the 4th, and that was enough for a 4-1 win over San Antonio. Dallas Keuchel did what Dallas Keuchel does, throwing 7IP, 5H/1ER, 5K:3BB, with the lone run coming off a solo homer. Arcenio Leon picked up his first save, striking out four of the seven batters he faced in 2IP.

Jimmy Paredes, Jake Goebbert (2B), and Jimmy Van Ostrand (2B, RBI) had two hits each. Jose Altuve was 1x4, J.D. Martinez was 1x2 with a walk, and Johnathan Villar was 1x3 with a walk. Federico Hernandez drew two walks, and got an RBI.

Man of the Match: Dallas Keuchel

Lancaster (28-41)

Off.

Lexington (38-32)

Off.

Tri-City (2-2)

Tri-City went off, scoring the final nine runs of the game for an 11-2 win over the Oneonta Connecticut Tigers. Kyle Hallock went 5IP, allowing 5H/2ER, 3K:0BB. Garrett Bullock threw 2IP, 1H/0ER, 1K:0BB, and shortstop-turned-pitcher Ebert Rosario struck out four in 2IP, allowing 2H/0ER.

Matt Duffy continued a hot start to his professional career, going 3x4 with a walk and 3RBI (in four games he's hitting .529 with a .706 SLG). Justin Gominsky was 1x4 with 2BB and 3RBI. John Hinston, Drew Muren (BB, RBI), and Zach Johnson (2B, RBI) had two hits each. Brandon Meredith, Kellen Kiilsgaard had a hit and a walk, and Neiko Johnson was 1x3 with 2BB in his season debut.

Man of the Match: Matt Duffy

From the Office of the County Clerk - G74: Astros @ Rangers

These are getting less and less fun to do. Astros lose at Arlington, 8-3.

*This loss drops the Astros to 2-11 against the Rangers since the beginning of 2009.

*The Astros have played 36 games on the road, and 38 games at home. They're 13-25 at home, and 14-22 on the road.

*Since May 30, they're 6-5 on the road, and 2-8 at home.

*J.A. Happ only lasted 2.2IP, allowing 8H/7R (5ER), 3K:1BB, and only threw a first-pitch strike to six of eighteen batters. His nine losses are the most in the NL.

*It was his shortest outing since his season finale on October 2, 2010, when he allowed 8H/8R (7ER), 3K:5BB in 3IP against the Cubs; and it was the first time he didn't get out of the 3rd since his season finale on October 4, 2009 (2IP, 4H/2ER), 1K:1BB).

*The Astros are 3-12 when Happ starts, and haven't won one of his starts since May 14 (0-7).

*Four times the Astros starters have posted games scores of 20 or less: Nelson Figueroa (April 6), Wandy Rodriguez (April 2), and J.A. Happ (April 5 and last night).

*Aneury Rodriguez dominated in relief, allowing just 2H/0ER, 2K:0BB in 4.1IP. In 5.2IP (yeah, two games) since rejoining the bullpen, Aneury has allowed 2H/0ER, 4K:1BB.

*Mark Melancon allowed a 9th inning homer to Mitch Moreland, giving up 2H/1ER in 1IP. It's the first earned run he has allowed since May 30, and he has given up four hits in his last 2IP. It's also the 2nd homer he's allowed, with the other one coming on May 17 at Atlanta.

*Jeff Keppinger was 2x4 with a double - the only extra-base hit of the game. The Astros have five extra-base hits (all doubles) in their last three games, and have not hit a home run since June 10 - a span of 90 innings and 385 plate appearances.

*Jason Michaels also was 2x4, and got 2RBI out of the day. Your top five in the lineup went a combined 6x18, 0K:1BB. Your bottom four in the lineup went a combined 1x14, 5K:2BB.

*Congratulations to Michael Bourn, who stole his 30th base for the 4th straight season, getting that 30th SB in the 74th game, the fastest in his career. In 2010 he reached it in his 93rd game; 2009 - 86th; 2008 - 75th (also against Texas).

*Man of the Match: Jason Michaels, I guess.

*Goat of the Game: J.A. Happ

Towles vs. Corporan

The Constable has some astute, and not-so-astute, observations on the catching prowess of J.R. Towles, over at the Chronicle.

Heyman on possible trade candidates

Jon Heyman ran down a list of early trade market candidates (position players only), and there are a few Astros on there:

At #4, Michael Bourn:
A tremendous defensive centerfielder with as much speed as anyone in the game (he leads the NL with 29 stolen bases), it's something of a surprise the Astros are listening at all. But word is, they are. Their one concern, apparently, is trouble with lefthanded pitching (his OPS vs. lefties is only .544 this year compared to .737 overall). The Braves could use speed in the outfield, though Jordan Schafer has looked a bit better in recent weeks.

At #9, Hunter Pence:
The sense is Houston wants to hold onto him even if it isn't thrilled Pence beat them in arbitration for $6.9 million this winter. Pence is not only having a big year (.321, 51 RBIs) but is seen as someone who provides a great example of how to play the game for a team in transition.

At #10, Jeff Keppinger:
The versatile player has hovered around .300 (he's at .302 now) and could be a useful man for a contender.

I understand why the Astros are listening on Michael Bourn - because Bourn switched his representation to Scott Boras. Or because Jason Bourgeois is only a year older, and is kind of the same player. With perhaps a better bat. I understand holding on to Pence for Heyman's expressed reasons, but for the life of me can't figure out why they're shopping Keppinger. He's the only 2B that can hit, unless clearing out Keppinger creates room for Jose Altuve in 2012.

Greeneville preview

The Astros' Appalachian League affiliate in Greeneville kicks off their season tomorrow. We thought about doing a preview. But figured - correctly - that Appy Astros would do a better job. Check it out.

Logan Morrison got a little snippy

The Marlins, who are embroiled in a 10-game losing streak, and have lost 18 of their last 20, and whose manager just resigned, and who just re-hired their old (literally and chronologicall) octogenarian manger, are having a rough time.

Compulsive tweeter Logan Morrison fielded a question from someone who doesn't seem like a Marlins fan:

Mets25Reyes7:
@LoMoMarlins ur on the worst team in baseball any comments?

Morrison:
Comments...sure. I play for the Marlins not the Astros.

It's time for "Let's Take Issue With Gil LeBreton!"

I generally like the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Gil LeBreton. But not so much today. Now, what we won't do is to FJM it (because it seems cheap, and I simply cannot do it justice), but there are a couple of things that should be pointed out about LeBreton's column on realignment and Jim Crane.

I love interleague play. I was at the ballpark that night in June 1997, when the Giants and Rangers played history's first interleague game, and the appeal of matching the two leagues hasn't wavered.

As anyone with the DirecTV MLB Extra Innings package could see last weekend, interleague play adds an extra layer of drama to an otherwise routine day on the baseball schedule.

So LeBreton likes baseball, but finds it boring. So when the A's and Giants play, it's an extra chance to get jacked up. I do not understand this.

On realignment, which he is very much in favor of:
Except... proposed new Astros owner Jim Crane has been quoted as saying he has no interest in moving the team to the American League. Crane grew up in St. Louis and reportedly considers himself a traditionalist.

But since when did Crane, a previous three-time loser at trying to buy into the MLB fraternity, earn the right to dictate anything to the other 29 owners?

Think Crane will get Ray Davis' and Bob Simpson's vote, after the way he helped to jack up the price of the Rangers last summer?

I'm sure owners are petty and vindictive (just like writers and bloggers and other humans), and I'm sure that some owners aren't terribly fond of Mr. Crane, but it's my understanding that Crane's (and his group's, and Bank of America's, and...) $680 million earned the right to veto 29 owners forcing his team into another league.

Also, did Jim Crane help drive up the price of the Rangers? Yes. But that's because he was trying to buy them. It's not like the sale of the Rangers was some wacky episode of Full House where Uncle Jesse was trying to screw Danny Tanner out of a car, or a leather jacket, or a Beach Boys LP. Crane was trying to buy the damn franchise, not screw over Nolan Ryan (allegedly). And so if the Rangers take it out on Crane and the Astros because they're pissed that Crane tried to buy a team, then part of me hopes that the Astros do get moved to the AL West, and routinely beat the piss - in a jackass sort of way, a stealing-bases-with-a-40-run-lead kind of way - out of the Rangers.

The Rangers and Astros should be more than novelty opponents.

Neighbors shouldn't be strangers.

How would he feel if the Astros weren't 875 games under .500 this season? Anyone who is against radical realignment, says LeBreton, is a traditionalist. And traditionalists are nonsensical. Like that column.

Eddie's Farm: June 19

Oklahoma City (29-42)

The RedHawks are a Monday loss away from a home sweep at the hands of the Zephyrs after a 7-0 beatdown on Sunday. Nelson Figueroa allowed 7H/3ER, 4K:1BB in 7IP; Jeff Fulchino struck out two batters in 1IP, and Jose Valdez allowed 3H/4R (1ER), 1K:1BB, committing his own error, and giving up a homer in a 4-run 9th.

OKC got four hits - from Shuck, DeLome, Manzella, and Navarro, but no extra-base hits. Anderson Hernandez drew three walks.

Man of the Match: Anderson Hernandez.

Corpus (24-44)

The Hooks had a 4-0 lead after the first, but gave four runs right back in the top of the 2nd, and the game was tied 7-7 after three innings. But then Frisco got two in the top of the 12th, and Corpus could only get one back for a 9-8 loss. Ross Seaton threw 3IP, allowing 7H/7ER, 2K:1BB, 2HR. Blake King threw 3IP of 0H/0ER, 3K:1BB relief, and Brad Hennessey struck out one in 2IP. Henry Villar allowed 2H/0ER, 3K:0BB in 2IP, and Matt Nevarez gave up 2IH/2ER, 2K:2BB in 2IP, taking the loss. Nevarez has allowed 14ER in his last 12IP, with 11K:18BB.

Johnathan Villar was 4x6 with an RBI, J.D. Martinez and Jake Goebbert were 3x6, and Jimmy Paredes and Emerson Frostad were each 2x6 with an RBI. Jon Gaston was 1x4 with 2RBI, and Brandon Wikoff was 1x4 with two walks.

Man of the Match: Johnathan Villar

Lancaster (28-41)

Lancaster scored five runs in the bottom of the 7th, but it just wasn't enough - losing 8-7 to Inland Empire. Robby Donovan allowed 6H/4ER, 1K:1BB in 1.2IP; Wander Alvino (3IP) and Colton Pitkin (1.1IP) gave up two runs each, while Yordany Ramirez (2IP) and Kirk Clark (1IP) threw scoreless outings.

Ben Heath was 2x4 with two doubles, a walk, and an RBI. Miguel Arrendell was 1x4 with a triple and 3RBI. David Flores was 1x2 with three walks, and Kody Hinze was 1x3 with two walks. The JetHawks were 2x15 w/RISP, leaving 11 men on base.

Man of the Match: David Flores

Lexington (35-35)

The Legends finished up the first half at .500 with a 4-2 win at Rome. Mike Foltynewicz allowed 7H/2ER, 3K:1BB in 5IP to improve to 4-6, while Brian Streilein and Jorge De Leon (10th save) combined for 4IP, 3H/0ER, 1K:0BB.

Jiovanni Mier (2B, BB), Adam Bailey (RBI, BB), Chris Wallace (BB, 3-run HR), Enrique Hernandez (2BB), and Bryce Lane (SB) had two hits each. Tyler Burnett drew two walks and stole two bases on the day.

Man of the Match: Chris Wallace

Tri-City (1-2)

Tri-City went from being up 2-0, to being down 6-2, and an 8th inning rally fell short in a 6-5 loss to Vermont. Euris Quezada allowed 6H/3ER, 4K:1BB in 4IP, while Adam Champion allowed 5H/3ER, 3K:0BB in 1.2IP. Brad James threw another scoreless outing, while Travis Blankenship and Ryan Cole threw scoreless innings.

Matt Duffy was 3x5 with a double, John Hinson was 2x4 with a walk and a double, and Drew Muren was 0x2, but with an RBI, three walks, and an outfield assist. Kellen Kiilsgaard, Miles Hamblin, and Ryan McCurdy also added RBI singles.

Man of the Match: Drew Muren

From the Office of the County Clerk - G73: Astros @ Dodgers

It's important to remember that the Astros had already won this road series with the Dodgers before Sunday's game. That doesn't make it any less frustrating. Astros lose 1-0.

*The Astros are now 1-2 in 1-0 games, having lost by that score twice now in the past five days.

*They have scored 0 or 1 run in 12 games this season (1-11), and <2 runs in 22 games (3-19).

*Astros pitching has allowed three or fewer hits in four games this season, but that's the first time they've lost when doing so. In fact, it's the first loss while giving up three hits since August 27, 2010 (more recent than I guess I expected), when Nelson Figueroa and Mark Melancon combined for a three-hitter against the Mets, and lost 2-1.

*Bud Norris allowed 1H/0ER, 5K:1BB in 6IP, throwing nine first-pitch strikes to 20 batters faced. Since taking the loss at St. Louis on May 18, Norris has thrown 39IP, allowing 27H/10ER, 31K:15BB for a 2.31 ERA/1.08 WHIP.

*Norris' 1H allowed set a career low.

*Three Dodgers saw a 3-0 count, but only Matt Kemp was able to get that fourth ball and get on base. The other two grounded out.

*Sergio Escalona made things interesting, walking Andre Ethier and allowing a single to James Loney (with a Matt Kemp flyout in between). But Wilton Lopez got Casey Blake to GIDP to end the inning. That was Escalona's first walk since June 5 (15 batters faced), and the first time he had allowed multiple baserunners since May 30.

*Lopez gave up the game-winning homer to Dioner Navarro, marking the first homer Lopez has allowed this season. He last allowed a homer on September 26, 2010 against the Cubs - a span of 153 batters.

*The Astros set a season-low with three hits, something they had already done three times by this point in 2010. Interestingly enough, the Astros set a 2010 season-low with two hits, against the Rangers, on June 19, 2010.

*Chris Johnson got two of the Astros' three hits, with Keppinger getting the other one, plus a walk. Barmes also got a walk. Johnson has an eight-game hitting streak, with two hits in each of his last three games (six hits - four doubles), is hitting .435 in the last week, and .317 in June.

*The Astros were 0x5 w/RISP, with Carlos Corporan going 0x2. Corporan, though, has caught 63IP, allowing 49H/17ER, with 59K:13BB, and a .622 OPS - coming into yesterday's game. Opponents OPS with Towles behind the plate is .762, and it's .795 with Quintero catching.

*Man of the Match: Bud Norris

*Goat of the Game: Hard to find a goat when nobody hits. So how about everybody?

Wesley Wright no longer throwing side-arm

Good article in The Oklahoman today on Wesley Wright's sidearm experiment which, like so many of my own personal experiments, was abandoned.

“I was just trying to see if it would benefit my career and see if it would help me get back to the big leagues...It just wasn't me. I didn't feel comfortable and I was out there thinking too much. Now I'm able to go out there and focus on what I've been doing my whole life and that's just letting my natural athletic ability take over.”

Wright says the experiment taught him the unteachable lesson of keeping the ball down, though. /blinks.

Eddie's Farm: June 18

Oklahoma City (29-41)

OKC got the final three runs of the game - and had the bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the 9th, but Drew Locke flied out. Chris Sampson notches the win for New Orleans in a 4-3 win. Gustavo Chacin threw 6IP, 7H/2ER, 3K:2BB; Ross Wolf allowed 3H/2ER, 1K:2BB; Wesley Wright walked one in 0.2IP, and David Carpenter extended his ER-less streak to 15IP.

The RedHawks only got five hits - two from Brian Bogusevic (2B, BB), two from Brian Esposito, and one from Anderson Hernandez. 5-8 in the lineup went for a combined 0x13.

Man of the Match: Chacin

Corpus (24-43)

Kyle Greenwalt gave up a three-run homer in the top of the 13th as Frisco beat the Hooks, 9-6. Jonnathan Aristil allowed 9H/4ER, 2K:2BB in 5.1IP; Matt Nevarez allowed 1H/0ER, 0K:2BB in 1.2IP (throwing 10 of 24 pitches for strikes). Arcenio Leon allowed 3H/2R (1ER) in 1IP; Sam Gervacio allowed 1H/0ER, 1K:1BB in 2IP, and Greenwalt gave up 4H/3ER, 1K:2BB in 3IP of relief.

Jon Gaston was 3x6 with an RBI, and Emerson Frostad hit his 1st homer as a Hook, going 2x4 with a walk. Jose Altuve and J.D. Martinez were each 1x6.

Man of the Match: Jon Gaston

Lancaster (28-40)

Despite being down 4-0 to Inland Empire at the middle of the 1st, the JetHawks got seven runs in the bottom of the 2nd, and worked it for a 14-8 win. Jake Buchanan allowed 8H/7R (6ER), 1K:1BB in 3.2IP while Mike Ness got the win with a shutdown 3.2IP, 2H/0ER, striking out eight of the 13 batters he faced. David Berner allowed 2H/1ER in 1.2IP.

Okay. Jay Austin (2B, 3RBI) and Jose Carlos Thompson (2B) had three hits each. Austin Wates (HR, 4RBI), Kody Hinze, Ben Heath (HR, 2RBI), Jonathan Meyer (BB, RBI) and David Flores (2B, grand slam, 4RBI) had two hits each.

Man of the Match: Going with Mike Ness here.

Lexington (34-35)

Dramatic! Lexington scores four in the top of the 10th for a 14-10 win over Rome for the Legends' 5th straight win. Alex Sogard gave up 7H/7R (4ER), 0K:1BB in 1.1IP. Murillo Gouvea allowed 4H/1R (0ER) in 3.2IP; Juan Minaya allowed 3H/2ER in 3IP, and David Martinez got the win with 1H/0ER, 3K:1BB in 2IP.

Jhonny Medrano (RBI), Tyler Burnett (two doubles, BB, 2RBI), Ben Orloff (2RBI), Roberto Pena (2B, 2RBI), and Emilio King (2B, RBI) had two hits each. Delino DeShields was 0x4 with two walks, and is now hitting .202.

Man of the Match: Tyler Burnett

Tri-City (1-1)

And...that's total domination as the ValleyCats bounce back for a 10-0 win against Vermont, scoring ten runs on nine hits. Jonas Dufek allowed 2H/0ER, 2K:2BB in 3IP, while Dayan Diaz gave up a hit and three walks in 3IP; Travis Smink allowed 2H/0ER in 3IP to close it out.

Drew Muren was 2x3 with 2BB, Zach Johnson was 2x4 with an RBI, and Kellen Kiilsgaard was 2x3 with a double, homer, two walks, and 2RBI. Matt Duffy was 1x3 with 3RBI, and John Hinson drew two walks. Justin Gominsky, John Hinson, and Drew Muren also stole bases.

Man of the Match: Gotta go with Kiilsgaard.

From the Office of the County Clerk - G72: Astros @ Dodgers

I bet Dodgers fans are pissed! The Astros score five runs in an inning - again - and go on to win 7-2, even without Hunter Pence.

*The Astros had five runs in an inning for the second straight game. They hadn't scored five runs in consecutive games - total - since May 30-31.

*The shutout is the first for the Astros since May 1, when the Astros beat the Brewers 5-0. It's the first road shutout since September 29, 2010 (Cincinnati), and the first shutout at Dodger Stadium since July 16, 2009.

*Wandy threw 6IP, 7H/0ER, 6K:1BB and moved to 5-3. The win makes him the team leader, separating from Bud Norris and Mark Melancon. It also gives Wandy a career 67-67 record, with a 4.09 ERA.

*It's Wandy's 2nd consecutive scoreless outing since returning from the DL, where he has allowed 9H/0ER, 11K:5BB in 12IP. He last threw back-to-back scoreless starts on July 25/31, 2010.

*A bullpen of Abad/Lopez/Rodriguez allowed a combined 3H/0ER in 3IP, throwing 23 of 30 pitches for strikes, and first-pitch strikes to 10 of 11 batters. In June, Wilton Lopez has made seven appearances (6IP), and allowed 6H/0ER, 8K:1BB.

*The 5th inning was a wild one for the offense. Brett Wallace started with a walk, Chris Johnson singles, and Clint Barmes reached on a bunt single. Then Carlos Corporan and Wandy both struck out, and it looked like the same old Astros. Then Bourn drew a walk, scoring Wallace, Bourgeois reached on an infield single, scoring Johnson, and Keppinger singled to right, scoring Barmes and Bourn. Carlos Lee walked to load the bases - again - and Jason Bourgeois scored on a wild pitch. In his second PA of the inning, Wallace struck out to end it.

*But still, the Astros had only enjoyed 63 PAs with the bases loaded all season, They had four, just in the 5th inning.

*Michael Bourn was 2x4 with a walk and an RBI. In his last ten games, he's 13x38 with 5K:4BB, 4SB.

*Clint Barmes got his second straight 2-hit game, raising his batting average to .226, with an OPS of .657.

*Chris Johnson also had two hits, giving him a seven-game hit streak, and raising his line to .242/.279/.398. His .677 OPS is the highest it has been since G3, and he's hitting .319/.361/.492 since May 30.

*Carlos Lee also drew a walk and got a hit, and he's hitting .344/.440/.484 in June. The .924 OPS would be the highest OPS he has had in a month since August 2008, when he had a ridiculous .500/.605/.967 line in nine games before breaking his finger.

*Man of the Match: Wandy Rodriguez

*Goat of the Game: No Goat!