The G-Stros couldn't complete the sweep last night. Here are my observations from the game.
On The Mound:
Lance McCullers made his third start of the season for Greeneville. He got off to a great start striking out the first three batters. The defense was not as crisp behind him and it resulted in extra pitches in innings and that along with his lack of control caused him to just make it through three innings. I heard a report that McCuller's fast ball was hitting 96 during the game.
Brad Propst pitched a solid inning in relief.
Kevin Comer came in and pitched three innings for his G-Stro debut. He got out of a first and second with no on out in the fifth. He also pitched out of a bases loaded one out situation in the sixth. He had a clean seventh. He surrendered one home run to lead off the sixth.
Richard Rodriguez was okay in the eight but was hit hard in the ninth inning. Michael Dimock came in to stop the bleeding to get the last out.
In The Field:
I was surprised to see Marc Wik at second tonight. He was charged with an error in the second that lead to two unearned runs scoring.
Ariel Ovando caught my eye again in a negative way. McCullers attempted to pick off a runner and Michael Martinez was charged with the error on a missed catch. The ball went up the first base line towards the bullpen area. Ovando in right field was very late in coming over to back up the play. The runner advanced from first to third on the error. In the debate of lack of effort or lack of focus; I am starting to lean towards lack of focus.
Rio Ruiz continues to impress at third. He made one very nice stop on a ball to his right.
D'Andre Toney has played a solid center all season and covers a great deal of ground in the outfield. On back to back nights, he has chased balls to the wall that he couldn't quite catch. The balls have bounced off the wall and he has had to go back and chase them down. Last night, the result was a triple. I am not sure if this is a case where he should read wall balls better or if it is a case where the corner outfielders are getting over to back up but it wasn't pretty.
At The Plate:
Greeneville was no hit until the fifth when Terrell Joyce smacked a HR to lead off the fifth. Joyce had his third straight two hit night.
Ernesto Genoves hit a home run and Jose Fernandez had two hits.
Ovando hit a double down the right field line. I was excited that Mike Newman from fangraphs was at the park and was able to get video of Ovando. The fans here accuse Ovando of not hustling down the line. I have had that feeling some but I also feel that Ovando's large frame takes a while to get going. I hope Mike is able to pull a home to first time off the video and will share that will us.
The Astros were not fond of the home play umps strike zone. Both Ruiz and Ovando gave dirty looks after called third strikes. Five of the 10 strike outs were looking.
Other Observations:
It was reported to me that Brian Blasik took some infield today and is close to being ready to play again. His defense plus his bat have been missed.
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