Spring Training 2011
Our family recently returned from Kissimmee, Florida where we watched the Houston Astros. We saw the Astros play the Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, Washington Nationals and the St. Louis Cardinals. First up was the Atlanta Braves. We saw this game at Champion Stadium which is located within the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Disney.
When you see a game at Champion Stadium you see what Osceola County Stadium lacks. Fans are allowed a much earlier access to the ballpark and the game day staff definitely keeps the fans engaged. In the first pic is former Corpus Christi Hooks catcher, Brian Esposito. Brian definitely had his hands full with former Hooks pitcher, Arcenio Leon on the mound. At the plate is Atlanta Braves catcher, Brian McCann who would hit a home-run off of Leon. McCann had been struggling at the plate after he hit Luis Salazar, a minor league coach within the Braves system with a line drive foul just below his left eye. Salazar would end up losing his eye. The final score of the game wasn’t pretty as the Astros lost 7-1. Koby Clemens and Jon Gaston would be late game replacements.
The following day the Astros hosted the Philadelphia Phillies at Osceola County Stadium. The Astros would end up losing the game 7-6 even though they hit three home runs. The wife would spend a majority of the game down in Autograph Alley and ended up filling the Spring Training cap she bought with autographs.
The next game would be against the Washington Nationals and until the bottom of the 9th the Houston Astros were losing 7-3. Three former Hooks would deliver timely hits off of Nationals pitcher, Tyler Clippard. Drew Locke and Brandon Barnes doubled while Brian Bogusevic would triple. That triple tied the game and a single by the following batter, Anderson Hernandez would bring Bogusevic home as the Astros won 8-7.
Hooks Heading to Spring Training
Anyone heading to Spring Training this year in Kissimmee, Florida to see the Houston Astros will notice quite a few Corpus Christi Hooks on the Houston Astros roster. The roster will contain a sizable chunk of players from the 2009 and 2010 squads.
From the 2009 squad are Drew Locke, Douglas Arguello, Wilton Lopez and Brian Esposito. Players from the 2010 squad are Fernando Abad, Henry Villar, Jordan Lyles, Patrick Urckfitz, Koby Clemens, Jon Gaston, J. D. Martinez, J.B. Shuck and T. J. Steele.
Drew Locke had a great year in 2009 as he battled Midland Rockhound Chris Carter for the Triple Crown. He would get injured the last week of the season when he was hit by a pitch. He would get some time with the Astros Spring Training squad in 2010.
Douglas Arguello was a starting pitcher during the 2009 and 2010 seasons. During these two seasons he would throw three complete games…two of these games were in 2010. Wilton Lopez was a success story as he started out the 2009 season as a pitcher looking for a team. The Astros picked Lopez up and sent him to Corpus Christi where he started as a relief pitcher. He was moved to a starting role mid-season and by the time August came around Lopez would be called up to the Astros.
Brian Esposito was a Houston Astros non-roster invitee for 2010 Spring Training. He would spend time in Corpus Christi during 2009 and 2010. Esposito would be called up to Houston in September 2010 when the Astros expanded their roster. Esposito would finally get an at bat during this call up thereby losing the ‘Moonlight Graham’ label. Esposito only other call-up occurred in 2007 against the Houston Astros when he with the St. Louis Cardinals system. Esposito would be in the on-deck circle, but didn’t get an at bat and would be sent back down.
Fernando Abad and Henry Villar started the 2010 season out with Abad being a starter and Villar being a reliever. Abad and Villar would switch these roles mid-season as Abad recovered from an injury. One of Abad’s best performance on the mound occurred on July 11 against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals when he came on in relief of Villar in the 4th inning. During his 4.2 innings of relief he allowed only three hits while retiring six. This performance by Abad provided the spark the Hooks needed as they ended their 16-game losing streak. Abad and Villar would both get the nod as the Astros called them up.
Jordan Lyles performed well at Double-A and was promoted to Triple-A Round Rock Express in early August where he struggled. Lyles shows promise with pitch selection and command. If he was worked on his control issues he should make it onto the Houston Astros roster this season.
Corpus Christi Hooks fans only got one chance to see Patrick Urckfitz during 2010, when he moved up to Double-A from the Lancaster Jethawks when Henry Villar was called up. We would pitch in a game on September 2nd against the Frisco RoughRiders and was winning the game when he was pulled. He would watch his relief pitchers lose the game.
Koby Clemens had a great year at Corpus Christi as he hit 26 home runs. Clemens was playing spoiler for Clint Robinson of the Northwest Arkansas Naturals who would eventually get the Triple Crown. Robinson ended his season with 29 round trippers.
Jon Gaston had a decent year with Corpus Christi. He did cut down on his amount of strikeouts he had at High-A, when he struck out in 31% of his at-bats. He showed better plate discipline as his struck out percentage dropped to 22% of his at-bats. He didn’t put up the amount of home runs which he did at Lancaster when he was tied for the lead in home runs in the Minors at 35.
J. D. Martinez had an exceptional year as he started the season at Single-A and joined the Hooks roster in July bypassing Lancaster. His OBP at both levels was .407. He shared honors with Jordan Lyles being the top Minor League players in the Astros system. He provided a replacement for J.B. Shuck who was called up to Round Rock.
J. B. Shuck was the Hooks lead-off hitter until his promotion to Round Rock at the end of July. Shuck had an OBP of .372. He was an extremely patient hitter as he only struck out in 14% of his at-bats.
T. J. Steele was the surprise as he has yet to finish a full season in the last two seasons. He played 50 games in 2009 at Lancaster before an injury sidelined him the rest of the season. Steele would move up to Corpus Christi in 2010 and play in 67 games before going on IR for the rest of the season with another injury. He was slated for the Arizona Fall League but was scratched when he didn’t recover from his injury in time.
Any serious baseball fans visiting Florida for Spring Training need to make a side trip to Tampa/St. Petersburg. Go to Al Lang Stadium which is located in St. Petersburg and follow the bronze home plate markers which run down Baseball Blvd towards Tropicana Field. These markers describe the history of baseball in Tampa Bay. Give yourself at least an hour if you want to take this trip.
It’s A Wrap
The Corpus Christi Hooks ended the 2010 season with an overall record of 63-77 and a second half record of 27-43. There were two factors which killed the Hooks chance at a post-season berth in the 2nd half. Their 15 game losing streak and their performance against their North Division rivals. In the 24 games which the Hooks played against the North Division their record was 6-18. The Hooks would win two of the eight games series which they played. To their credit the Hooks weren’t eliminated from the post-season till the last week of the season along with the San Antonio Missions who had an identical record that the Hooks had against the North.
In the last six weeks of the season the Hooks played some great games along with ones which we would rather forget. The game on July 31st against the Midland RockHounds was one of the bonus baseball games which the fans who stayed for the whole game were given a treat as the Hooks would enter in the bottom of the 11th down by a run. The Hooks would win the game by a score of 3-2, on a single by Freddie Parejo that plated the tying and go-ahead run.
Of the starting pitchers which the Corpus Christi Hooks started the season with looked nothing like what was at the end of the season. Jordan Lyles and Sergio Perez would get the call up to Triple-A (Round Rock Express), Douglas Arguello and Jeremy Johnson would end the season on the Disabled List and Tyler Lumsden would be traded to the San Diego Padres organization. Lumsden would be placed in the San Diego Padres Double-A affiliate, the San Antonio Missions. The fans would get a look at some of the other pitching prospects within the Houston Astros organization such as Dallas Keuchel, Shane Wolf and Patrick Urckfitz. Of the pitchers that were sent up to the Hooks the one I questioned daily was Arcenio Leon. In the 18 games which he pitched as a relief, he had a record of 0-2 and no saves. His ERA was 7.83. In his 23 innings of work he gave up 29 hits, 20 runs all of them earned, three home runs, walked 22 and struck out 23. The last home run which he gave up came on September 4th in a game against the San Antonio Missions infielder, Matt Clark. With that home run Clark became the first player in the history of Whataburger Field to hit for the cycle. Leon appeared to be out of his league at the Double-A level.
This year our family did get the chance to see one game at Nelson Wolff Stadium which the Hooks lost 3-2. All of the runs that the San Antonio Missions would score in this game came courtesy of solo home runs. Wolff Stadium is the oldest stadium in the Texas League (Built in 1994) and it shows its age. Going to a game there makes you appreciate what you have at Whataburger Field as the ball park is more fan friendly.
In the last home stand of the season the Hooks would win the first two games and would go on to lose the last five. The only wins came against the Frisco RoughRiders as they split the four game series and the Hooks would be swept by the San Antonio Missions in the final three games of the season. Two of these five games should have been wins but relief pitching on Sep. 2nd and 4th essentially threw the games away.
David Cook, Jon Gaston and Koby Clemens stayed hot in the final five weeks of the season as these three combined hit 14 HR’s. Cook would lead the pack with six while Gaston and Clemens would have four a piece. Cook would go back to back on August 22nd which I was able to snag both.
I also managed to get Clemens 25th and 26th home runs. Sandwiched in between the home runs of Clemens was a solo shot by Corpus Christi Hook infielder, Michael Affronti. This home run would be Affronti’s first one of the season at Whataburger Field. Clemens and Gaston would hit the final home runs of the 2010 season. Clemens would go deep in the bottom of the 2nd and Gaston in the bottom of the 9th as he belted his 13th home run of the year.
The Houston Astros call-up when they expanded their rosters on Sept. 1st wasn’t an extensive one. Five players would get the nod: Corpus Christi Hooks pitcher, Henry Villar, Round Rock Express outfielder, Brian Bogusevic, catcher, Brian Esposito, infielder, Matt Downs and pitcher, Wesley Wright.
The following Corpus Christi Hooks were slated for the 2010 Arizona Fall League: Koby Clemens, Matt Nevarez, T. J. Steele and Patrick Urckfitz.
Midland Takes Three and a Trip to Minute Maid Park
The Corpus
Christi Hooks played a four game series on the road against the Frisco
RoughRiders from July . The Hooks would
take the series 3-1. The Hooks only loss
in the series came against RoughRiders starter, Ryan Tatusko, who has held the Hooks without scoring a run
against him in 31 innings.
The Corpus Christi Hooks returned home for
a four game home stand against the Midland RockHounds from July 19th
- 22nd. Unfortunately for the
Hooks the RockHounds would take the series 3-1.
July 19th had Tyler Lumsden take to the mound and suffer the
loss 5-2. Koby Clemens would provide the
only two runs as he hit two home runs to the left field berm. This would be the last game for Lumsden as a
Corpus Christi Hook as he was traded to the San Diego Padres the following day
and is currently a starting pitcher for the San Antonio Missions. July 20th saw Fernando Abad who
came on in relief and got the win as the Hooks won 9-5. J. D. Martinez who had been called up from
the Lexington Legends hit his first home run at the Double-A level in the
bottom of the 7th. The Hooks six
run 7th inning provided the margin of victory. July 21st saw Jordan Lyles get saddled with the loss as
the Hooks lost 5-3 even through he struck out 11. Lyles big blemish was the Grand Slam he gave
up to former Hooks outfielder, Val Majewski.
This home run would be all the offense that the RockHounds needed. July 22nd saw Hooks closer, Evan
Englebrook get saddled with the loss in extra innings. He gave up a pair of home runs in the 11th
that plated three. Koby Clemens would
tie the score in the 3rd inning when he clobbered his Texas League
leading 22nd home run to the berm in left. Arguello was the starting pitcher but for the
second time at home he had control issues as he walked four batters and in his
5 innings of work threw 106 pitches.
Our family decided to attend a Houston
Astros game and saw the Astros take on the Cincinnati Reds on July 24th. For me this would be the first regular season
game I have attended in close to 35 years.
The last regular season game I had attended was when the Minnesota Twins
played in the Metropolitan Stadium. For
the rest of the family this would be their first regular season game that they
have attended. The last time we had seen
many of the Astros players was during Spring Training in Kissimmee, Florida
this year.
Before the game we decided to do an early
bird tour of Minute
Maid Park. This tour allowed us to get into the ball
park an hour before the gates opened and got a tour of the facility.
Batting practice for us was uneventful
from the right field bleachers as a handful of balls made it into our area by
the Astros bull pen. The Crawford Boxes
in left field was a different story as balls were launched into that area on a
regular basis.
Astros starting pitcher, Roy Oswalt went 5
innings and gave up 7 hits, two of them being home runs. The first in the top of the 1st ,
and the other in the top of the 3rd.
Our seats where located to the left of the
Astros bull pen and put us directly behind former Corpus Christi Hooks
outfielder Hunter Pence. The wife called
this the best view in the house.
Three of the four hits recorded by the
Astros came from former Corpus Christi Hooks.
Chris Johnson had two hits and Hunter Pence had the other.
There was some movement within the Hooks
organization. Pitcher Edwin Walker was
re-assigned from the Lancaster Jethawks.
Fernando Abad was recalled to the Houston Astros. Abad becomes the third player in Hooks
history to bypass Triple-A and join the Astros.
Infielder Kody Kirkland was picked up via free agency. Jhon Florentino was reassigned to the
Lancaster Jethawks. Pitcher Dallas
Keuchel was called up from the Lancaster Jethawks. Pitcher Arcenio Leon joined the roster from the
Lexington Legends. Pitcher Erik Stiller
was released. Hooks pitcher, Danny
Meszaros was sent up to the Round Rock Express.
The Naturals Get Burned
From July
11-13, the Corpus Christi Hooks hosted the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, the
team with the best record in the Texas League.
In the nine prior games that these two teams have played the Naturals
hold a 7-2 advantage.
The game on July 11th would be
all about the tale of effective relief pitching. Unfortunately for the Naturals this would be
a battle they would lose. Henry Villar
took to the mound for the Hooks and in his 3 2/3 innings of work he got roughed
up with 9 hits and five runs. Villar’s
counterpart for the Naturals, Mario Santiago exited after 4 1/3 innings. He allowed 7 hits and two earned runs. Hooks pitcher, Fernando Abad turned in a
stellar performance on the mound as he pitched 4 2/3 innings of 3 hit scoreless
relief. Abad struck out six. Abad’s performance on the mound provided the
spark which the Hooks needed offensively as they clobbered Santiago’s relief, Patrick Keating. Keating was able to get the Naturals out of
the 5th inning with the Naturals holding a one run advantage. Keating’s luck ran out in the 6th
as the Hooks hit back to back home runs.
Marcos Cabral hit the first one just inside the left field foul pole
which was followed by Jonathan Fixler’s shot to the back side of the left field
berm. Both of these home runs I was able
to snag, Cabral’s was done on the bounce.
Fixler had a superb night at the plate as he finished a double shy of
the cycle. The 5,230 fans saw the Hooks
snap their 16 game losing streak.
Jared Wells toed the rubber for the
Hooks on July 12th. He
pitched well with the exception of the three solo shot home runs he surrendered
were just enough offense for the Naturals as they won 3-2. Clint Robinson knocked one off of the right
field foul pole, and Jamie Romak hit two onto the left field berm. This was the first time that Hooks fans got
to see Natural Mike Moustakas who leads the Texas League in home runs and
RBI’s. In his five appearances at the
plate he got one hit.
On July 13th, Houston Astros
pitcher, Felipe Paulino, took to the mound for the Hooks on a rehab start. Paulino was a member of the 2007 Hooks
squad. The Hooks built up a 4-0 lead
with Paulino on the mound but were unable to hold it as the Naturals chipped
away at the lead after Paulino left. Tyler Lumsden came on in relief of Paulino and
from the outset he had control issues.
The Naturals were able to get three runs across in the 6th
and tied the game in the 7th.
The game would go into extra innings with the Hooks winning the game 5-4
in the 10th on a two out single by Koby Clemens which scored J. B.
Shuck from 2nd. Moustakas was
held hitless in this game but he was struck by a pitch. This was the only series the Hooks
took against the Naturals and the first series win in nearly a month. The last series the Hooks won was the
June 17-20 home stand against the Frisco
RoughRiders. What was nice to see during
this series was how aggressive the Hooks were attacking the bases.
The Hooks Get Drilled
The Corpus
Christi Hooks returned to Whataburger Field for a 7 game home stand against the
Tulsa Drillers and the Northwest Arkansas Naturals from July 8-13th. The Hooks returned from their road trip
against these same two teams where they extended their franchise record losing
streak to 12 games.
The Hooks record against the Driller in
the first half was 5-1 in favor of the Hooks.
What the fans were treated to was a series sweep by the Drillers as the
losing streak went to 16 games. To put the
losing streak in perspective each half is made up of 70 games and the Hooks
have lost the first 15 in the 2nd half and it accounts for 21% of
the games which they will play. The
season series went to the Drillers 7-5.
The Hooks took the first five while the Drillers took the next
seven.
Up until the game on July 10th,
Hooks pitching had surrendered a home run in eight straight games. The score of the four games played against
the Drillers was July 8th 2-1, July 9th (1st
game) 2-1, July 9th (2nd game) 7-2 and July 10th
12-6. The first game on July 9th
was probably the closest the Hooks came to a win but the two-run home run hit
by Wilin Rosario in the top of the 5th inning off to the left field
berm which I caught on the bounce against Hooks pitcher, Jeremy Johnson
couldn’t be erased. A seven inning game
doesn’t leave much room for error. The
game on July 8th could have gone the other way but the Hooks
offensively at the plate struck out 16 times.
Christian Friedrich collected 12 of these strikeouts on his
birthday.
In this series against the Drillers the
Hook pitchers got roughed up as they allowed 37 hits, 8 walks and 24 runs while
striking out 29. Of the 24 runs which
were scored, 11 were unearned. I’m
starting to wonder in the Stripes Laredo Taco is a curse many of the games
which we have got a free taco coupon have been losses.
As a team the Tulsa
Drillers played effectively. Their
pitchers gave up 23 hits, 12 walks, while striking out 28. In this series the Hooks only managed to get
10 runners across home plate, six of those came in the last game.
A Dismal Start to the 2nd Half
The Hooks
returned to Whataburger Field for a quick four game home stand against the
Frisco RoughRiders from June 25-28 before the Texas League All-Star Game. The Hooks returned from a four game road trip
against the San Antonio Missions. This
was a road trip the Hooks wish they could forget as the Missions took three of
four including two shutouts.
The Hooks would start the home stand tied
for last place with the Midland RockHounds.
By the end of the home stand the Hooks would have sole possession of
last place as the RoughRiders swept the series.
The Hooks have lost their last seven games, six of them in the 2nd
half.
The Hooks were shutout on June 25th
by a score of 0-4. Jordan Lyles gave up
ten hits, one of them which was a home run by James Tomlin in the top of the 4th
which I caught on the bounce on the left field berm. The Hooks would lose the following day by a
score of 2-3. The one positive to take
away from that game was the Hooks finally ended a 27 inning scoring
drought.
The next day, June 27th, Erick
Abreu took to the mound in a spot start in place of Jared Wells. Abreu recently was assigned to the Hooks
roster from the Round Rock Express along with pitcher, Evan Englebrook. Also joining the Hooks roster was Michael
Affronti who was acquired through Free Agency.
Affronti’s name should ring a familiar tone as he was part of the 2009
Midland RockHounds roster. When he was
pulled in the 6th, he had allowed one hit on 55 pitches and the
Hooks held a 2-0 lead. Fernando Abad who
recently came off of the DL relieved Abreu and the RoughRiders were able to
bring a run across in the 7th inning. The real damage occurred in the 8th
as Hooks reliever, Henry Villar gave up four hits, five runs and on bases on
balls as the RoughRiders pulled ahead 6-2.
The Hooks would lose the game 6-3.
Over these three games Hooks pitching recorded over 30 strikeouts but
really got no help offensively as the Hooks bats were pretty much
silenced.
The final game of the home stand on June
28th saw Douglas Arguello take to the mound for the Hooks. Arguello would go seven innings, striking out
four but also walking four. Two of these
walks would prove costly as the RoughRiders were able to tie the game. The game would go 11 innings as the
RoughRider prevailed 3-2 as they scored a run off of Hooks closer, Danny
Meszaros. Since coming off of the DL,
Meszaros speed hasn’t changed but it does appear he’s having control issues.
As fans we don’t
expect our team to win every game which would be nice but we do expect a lot
better product then what we are seeing.
The team as a whole looks out of sync as one day its pitching followed
the next day by batting. If this trend
continues the Hooks very well could take themselves out of the 2nd half. If the RoughRiders pull away in the 2nd
half, the second seed would fall to the team with the 2nd best
record overall in the South Division.
The Hooks really have no room for error as the difference between the 2nd
and last place team was one game.
A Winning Half
The Corpus
Christi Hooks returned to Whataburger Field for an eight game home stand
against the San Antonio Missions and the Frisco RoughRiders. The Hooks return after playing the Midland
RockHounds in a four game series in which the RockHounds took three including a
blowout by the RockHounds of 16-0 on June 12th .
The Hooks played the Missions from June
13-16 and this series would be about the pitching or the lack of effective
relief pitching. In all four games the
Hooks would score first but would be unable to hold the lead.
June 13th had Douglas Arguello
on the mound and through the Missions half of the 5th held a 2-0
lead. These two runs were from a Koby
Clemens home run in the bottom of the 1st onto the left field berm which I caught
on the bounce. Arguello would be ejected
in the bottom of the Hooks 5th when he argued with the home plate
umpire about the strike zone. This was
not a wise call by Arguello as Hooks relief pitching would have to provide four
innings of scoreless relief which they were unable to provide. The Hooks had built a 4-1 lead as the
Missions came to bat in the 8th but a misplay by center fielder, T.
J. Steele and bad pitching allowed the Missions to take a 5-4 lead. This would be how the game ended as the Hooks
were unable to get anything across the plate.
June 14th saw the Hooks like
the night before take a 2-0 lead but San
Antonio would answer by scoring the next eight runs in
the game. Four of these runs would come
off of two Hooks relief pitchers in the 9th inning. Nelson Payano and T. J. Burton were tagged
with two runs each. San Antonio Mission
pitcher, Jeremy Hefner threw a complete game
June 15th saw Chris Sampson on
a rehab assignment from the Houston Astros take to the mound for the 1st
inning. He would strike out three
Missions and Jordan Lyles would take over for Sampson and had another stellar
night on the mound as he struck out 11.
Lyles had plenty of offensive support as the Hooks scored the first five
runs. Four of them off the bat of Jhon
Florentino who hit his first pro-ball grand slam against Missions pitcher Simon
Castro in the bottom of the 1st which I snagged when it landed past
the Hooks bullpen. Hooks reliever Danny
Meszaros who had just came off of the Disabled List took over for Lyles in the
9th and failed to retire the six batters he faced. The Missions would tie the fame before the
bleeding stopped. The Hooks would win
the game in their half of the 9th when a Koby Clemens single plated
J. B. Shuck from 2nd.
June 16th was a pitchers duel
as both starting pitchers Jeremy Johnson for the Hooks and Wynn Pelzer for the
Missions battled it out. Johnson ran
into problems in the 1st as the Missions loaded the bases but Mitch
Canham who was at third was thrown out at home by left fielder J. B.
Shuck. The Hooks would score their only
run in the bottom of the 1st and that would be how the game ended as
relief pitching by Erik Stiller and Danny Meszaros who threw two innings of
scoreless relief. During this game Corpus
Christi Hooks infielder, Wladimir Sutil stole his 50th base since
donning a Hooks uniform. The Hooks split
the series against the Missions 2-2. This series should have been won by the
Hooks.
On June 17th, the Hooks started
a four game series against the Frisco RoughRiders. This would be a series that the Hooks needed
to sweep to stay in contention for the 1st half title. Unfortunately for the Hooks they fell short
of that goal by one game. Prior to the
game the Hooks roster saw some movement.
Wladimir Sutil and pitcher, T. J. Burton were called up to the Round
Rock Express. Coming down from the Round
Rock Express were Marcos Cabral and Erick Abreu.
Jared Wells took to the mound for the
Hooks on the 17th and the game was essentially a replay of the night
before as the Hooks scored their only runs in the bottom of the 1st
and 5th. The only RoughRiders
threat Guilder Rodriguez was thrown out at home in the top of the 5th
by right fielder, Jon Gaston. The Hooks
won the game 2-0.
On June 18th Douglas Arguello
took to the mound for the Hooks.
Arguello got plenty of offensive support as the Hooks roughed up
RoughRiders starting pitcher, Martin Perez who failed to make it out of the 2nd
inning. The Hooks jumped on Perez for two
runs in the 1st on three hits and a walk. Perez ran into serious control issues in the
2nd. In his 1 1/3 inninings
of work he threw 55 pitches, 28 of them were in the 2nd. The first three batters Perez faced in the 2nd,
Marcos Cabral, Jhon Florentino and Jonathan Fixler reached base safely. Fixler reach on an error by Perez. He walked the next three batters he faced, J.
B. Shuck, German Duran and Koby Clemens.
Clemens came close to hitting his second grand slam of the season when
he hit a ball which was just foul onto the left field berm which I caught on
the bounce.
Perez was relieved by Brandon Garr with
the bases still loaded and Jimmy Van Ostrand ripped shot into deep left field
that plated three. During this inning
the Hooks sent 10 batters to the plate, 7 of them which scored. The Hooks added one run in the third and
three more in the 4th as Jonathan Fixler and German Duran hit their
first round trippers at home. The Hooks
added their final tally in the 5th.
The lone RoughRiders run came across in the 9th as the Hooks
demolished the RoughRiders 14-1.
June 19th had Tyler Lumsden on
the mound for the Hooks and unfortunately he never made it out of the 3rd
inning as all seven runs which the RoughRiders scored came off of him. With this loss the Hooks chance of winning
the first half title faded into the sunset.
The bright spot in this came was the
relief pitching of Erik Stiller and Jailen Peguero who threw 6 2/3 innings of
scoreless relief. The Hooks scored two runs
in the first and their final tally was a Marcos Cabral home run in the bottom
of the 6th. The Hooks lost
7-3.
The Hooks wrapped up their series against
the RoughRiders on the 20th as Jordan Lyles took to the mound. The RoughRider managed four hits and one run
off of Lyles as he struck out eight in his 7 innings of work. The Hooks scored one run in the 1st,
three more in the 2nd, two in the 3rd as Jonathan Fixler
hit a home run onto the left field berm.
Jimmy Van Ostrand would add the final Hooks tally when he hit his second
home run of the year onto the left field berm.
Henry Villar and Matt Nevarez each pitched an inning of scoreless
relief.
During this home stand I managed to get 12
balls. Seven of them came from batting
practice including a 2010 commemorative ball from Target Field. 2 toss ups (one from Hooks pitcher, Jared
Wells and the other from Hooks pitching coach, Travis Driskill). 2 HR balls and one foul ball.
The Hooks ended their first half of the season with a 36-34 record in second place 2 1/2 games behind the Frisco RoughRiders on June 22. This was the Hooks first winning half since the 2nd half of the 2007 season.
A Long Ball Home Stand and One Wild Game
The Corpus
Christi Hooks returned to Whataburger Field for a six game home stand against
two of the North Division rivals, the Springfield Cardinals and the Arkansas
Travelers. While on their six game road
trip against the same two teams, the Hooks took the series against the
Springfield Cardinals 2-1 and lost the series to the Arkansas Travelers
1-2. The first game which the Travelers
won spoiled a complete game gem by Jeremy Johnson. He gave up three hits, unfortunately for him
two of them were solo shot home runs with the latter one being the margin of
victory.
June 2nd saw Douglas Arguello
take to the mound for the Hooks while Nick Additon did so for the
Cardinals. The pitching by both of the
starting pitchers was less than impressive and the relief pitchers for the most
part were even worse with the exception of Hooks pitcher, Brian Wabrick and Cardinals
pitcher, Jason Buursma. Between the two
teams they would use 11 pitchers.
The Cardinals would strike first but that
wouldn’t last long as the first two Hooks hit singles followed by a walk which
loaded the bases for Koby Clemens who drilled a pitch into the Hooks bullpen as
he recorded the first grand slam for the Hooks this year. T. J. Steele would hit his first round
tripper of the year in the bottom of the 3rd onto the left field
berm. The Hooks would hold a 5-1 lead
going into the 4th. The Hooks
would get the first two outs and than watch the Cardinals scratch six runs
across home plate as they took the lead 7-5.
Three would come courtesy of a Matt Carpenter HR off of Douglas
Arguello. This was the first HR that
Arguello has given up since August 13, 2009.
The Hooks would close to within a run in their half of the 4th
off of a David Cook home run to left field.
The Cardinals would add in the top of the 5th. The Hooks would come up to bat in their half
of the 5th and the Cardinals bullpen imploded as they issued six
walks as the Hooks would end up scoring six runs as the Hooks left the 5th
leading 12-8. The Cardinals would
collect two round trippers off of Hooks relievers as the game ended 12-11. Between the two teams there was 28 hits, 23
runs scored and 17 walks not an impressive night for either team’s pitching
staff.
The 4,631 fans who attended the game on June
3rd were in for a treat as Hooks pitcher, Tyler Lumsden went the
distance. His first complete game in pro
ball. Gary Daley the Springfield
Cardinals starting pitcher went 7 innings.
Which was a marked improvement from the prior nights game. In Lumsden 9 innings of work he threw 103
pitches, 66 of them for strikes, he gave up six hits, one strikeout and a
walk. The only inning he gave up
multi-hits was the 9th.
The Hooks got on the board first in the 2nd
when they punched two runs across with two outs. The Hooks added another in the 3rd
on an error by Cardinals shortstop Pete Kozma with the bases loaded. The Hooks added 3 more in the 7th
on courtesy of a wild pitch. The
Cardinals got their only run across in the 8th and the Hooks
answered right back. Cardinals reliever
Thomas Eager walked three and sent one home on a wild pitch.
On June 4th, Jordan Lyles took
to the mound for the Hooks while Brian Broderick did so for the Cardinals. The fans in attendance watch Broderick go the
distance and nearly hold the Hooks hitless.
Only two Hooks managed to get hits against Broderick. German Duran hit a single in the 7th. Up until that point Broderick had retired
the first 19 batters. Jimmy Van Ostrand
would get the other Hooks hit in the 9th. Lyles fought control issues throughout his
outing and his pitch placement was off which the Cardinals took advantage of. The Hooks took the first half series against
the Cardinals 4-2.
June 5th saw Jeremy Johnson
take to the mound for the Hooks wile, Ryan Braiser did so for the Arkansas
Travelers. This would be a game with the
Travelers won 7-3. The Travelers brought
four runs across in their ½ of the 1st which proved to be more than
enough, three of these would be courtesy of a round tripper hit by Roberto
Lopez. This would be Lopez’s second hit
in Double- A and his second against Johnson.
Prior to this at bat he was 0-12.
His lone hit was also against Johnson and it also happened to be a home
run. That home run would be the deciding
factor in the game which was played on the road as the Hooks lost 2-1.
The Hooks managed to cut the lead by one
when David Cooks hit a solo shot to left field in the bottom of the 4th
but the Travelers answered right back in their half of the 5th. The Hooks would add two more runs in the 6th
when Jon Gaston hit his first home run at Whataburger Field as the Hooks cut
the Travelers led 3-5. The Travelers
pulled away in the 7th when Jeremy Moore hit a two run shot into the
Hooks bullpen off of Hooks reliever Erik Stiller.
June 6th saw Jared Wells take
to the mound for the Hooks. Jared would
get the win. The Travelers did score
first in the top of the 1st which the Hooks countered in the bottom
of the first when Koby Clemens hit a home run to the left field berm which I
snagged on the bounce. T. J. Steele
would score an inning later on a German Duran single. The Hooks added two more in the bottom of the
3rd when Jon Gaston and Jhon Florentino hit back to back home
runs. Florentino’s was his first this
year. The Travelers punched two across
in the 4th as Wells ran into control issues. The Hooks added their finally tally in the 7th
when Jon Gaston scored from 2nd.
The Travelers had tried to pick him off at 2nd but Ismael Carmona
bobbled the throw which was lost by Jeremy Moore in center field. Nelson Payano and Henry Villar threw four
innings of scoreless relief for the Hooks.
Today’s game also featured the San Diego Chicken.
The Hooks wrapped up their final game
against the Arkansas Travelers on June 7th. Douglas Arguello was on the mound for the
Hooks and his performance on the mound was much better. He struck out 8, gave up seven hits, one
earned run and one walk. The Hooks
scored first but some Hooks misfortunes allowed the Travelers to put two across
in the top of the 6th. A
wild throw by Arguello moved a runner into scoring position and Lou Santangelo
dropped a called third strike and the subsequent throwing error to 1st
allowed the Travelers to pull ahead 2-1.
The misfortunes which hit the Hooks in the sixth rubbed off on the
Travelers as the Hooks plate two and took the lead back 3-2.
Jailen Peguero a recent addition to the
Hooks bullpen took over for Arguello and pitched the 8th
inning. Closer T. J. Burton came on in
the 9th and was unable to hold the Hooks lead as the Travelers tied
the game. T. J. Steele the first batter
for the Hooks 9th hit a walk-off home run to the left field berm as
the Hooks took the series 2-1.
During this home stand the Hooks found the
long ball again as they blasted eight of them.
This was a vast improvement compared to their last home stand when the
hit only one against the Midland RockHounds.
During this home stand I snagged eight
balls altogether. Six of them were BP
balls, one foul ball hit by David Cook and the HR ball hit by Koby
Clemens.
A Split Series and Another Arguello Gem
The Corpus
Christi Hooks returned from a eight game road trip where they took on two of
their south division rivals. The Hooks
took three of four games against the Frisco RoughRiders but only managed one
win against their I-37 rivals, the San Antonio Missions. The win they did manage against the Missions
came courtesy of Hooks pitcher, Jordan Lyles first complete game victory. Prior to the Hooks returning home there was
significant roster changes. Catcher J.
R. Towles was placed on the disabled list.
Marcos Cabral, Sergio Perez and Erik Abreu were called up to the Round
Rock Express. Joining the Hooks from the
Lancaster Jethawks was infielder Barry Butera and pitcher Brian Wabrick. Joining the Hooks from the Lexington Legends
was catcher, Jonathan Fixler.
May 21st – 24th saw
the Corpus Christi Hooks take on the Midland RockHounds. May 21st saw Douglas Arguello take
to the mound for the Hooks while Travis Banwart did so for the RockHounds. Arguello would again go the distance as the
Hooks beat the RockHounds 4-1. Arguello
took a shut-out into the 8th innings as the RockHounds were able to
get a run across home plate on an error by 2nd baseman German Duran
which knotted the score at one. Up until the RockHounds scored, the lone
Hooks run came in the bottom of the 2nd inning when Jimmy Van
Ostrand crushed a shot deep to left field, his first round tripper of the
year. The Hooks would get three runs
across in their half of the 8th.
Arguello threw 106 pitches in his outing; he struck out five and walked
two.
May 22nd saw Tyler Lumsden take
to the mound for the Hooks while Ryan Edell did so for the RockHounds. During warm-ups I noticed that T. J. Steele
was in the bull pen which I thought was odd.
It was an omen of things to come as Lumsden fought control issues
throughout his 4 1/3 innings of work. He
walked three and struck-out two. He gave
up five hits four of them which scored.
The Hooks would score three runs in the bottom of the 8th
inning. The Hooks would get the tying
run on 1st in the bottom of the 9th, but it nullified
when Barry Butera grounded into a double play as the RockHounds won 5-3.
May 23rd saw Jordan Lyles take
to the mound for the Hooks while Pedro Figueroa did so for the RockHounds. The game saw the top pitching prospects for
each parent organization battle each other and both of them looked anything but
sharp. The Hooks jumped on Figueroa
quickly as they scored four runs in the 1st. Lyles breezed through the first three
innings. He would retire the first
batter he faced in the fourth, he gave up two singles and a throwing error by
Wladimir Sutil changed the tide in favor of the RockHounds as they ended up
scoring five runs. One of them being a
three run shot to the left field berm by RockHounds catcher, Gabriel Ortiz
which I caught on the bounce. After six
innings the RockHounds led 6-5. The
RockHounds put the game away in the 9th when 3rd baseman
Jeff Baisley hit a two run shot into the Hooks bullpen. Baisley had a stellar day as he went 4 for
5. Prior to the game, fans were given a team photo that you could get autographed by the team.
(Colby talking
with Corpus Christi Hooks Manager Wes Clements)
May 24th saw Jeremy Johnson
(0-3) take to the mound for the Hooks while Carlos Hernandez (3-0) did so for
the RockHounds. Johnson last five
innings his longest outing at home so far this year. In his five innings of work he threw 95
pitches, walked four and recorded no strikeouts. The only two runs which the RockHounds scored
came off of Johnson in the fourth inning.
The two to four spot in the RockHound line-up (Horton, Valdez and Baisley) went 7 for 11 and
accounted for 7 of the 10 hits which the RockHounds had. The one to four spots in the Hooks line-up
(Steele, Shuck and Cook) went 7 for 12 and accounted for 7 of the 12 hits which
the Hooks had. At the end of 5 innings
the Hooks had a 5-2 lead. The Hooks
would add three more runs in the bottom of the 6th and the RockHounds
would add one in the top of the 8th.
Johnson got his first win of the season as the Hooks won 8-3 and split
the series with Midland.
During this four game home stand I was
able to snag five balls. May 22nd
I snagged a foul ball that was hit by Corpus Christi Hooks infielder,
Wladimir Sutil. May 23rd
would be a much better day as I snagged four.
Two of them came courtesy of batting practice. The other two would be game balls. One of them was a foul ball that was hit by
Corpus Christi Hooks outfielder, David Cook which I gave to a father and son who were out on the left field
berm. The second ball was a home run hit
by Midland RockHounds catcher, Gabriel Ortiz which I caught on the bounce.
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