Wednesday's BIG Rundown

One day later than I wanted to get this up, but I hope to get a couple pitching profiles done this afternoon and rush those straight to your eager internet browsers. Here's the news and notes from the past five days in the minors:

• As I mentioned on Monday, Albert Cartwright broke his hand when he was hit by a pitch on Sunday. He'll miss four to six weeks and was replaced on the Lexington roster by 2008 17th-round draft pick Andrew Simunic, a second baseman out of the University of Tennessee. Anyone want to guess who the last middle infielder Houston drafted from Tennessee? Simunic made his debut on Tuesday, going 0 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
• Outfielder Yordanny Ramirez is just on fire right now. He's 6 for 22 in May with two home runs, two doubles and only one strikeout. He's also driven in six runs and scored four, bringing his season totals to 13 RBIs and 10 runs. He started on Tuesday in center field, as Brian Bogusevic was bumped over to left field for the second time this week.
• One Round Rock player who's scuffling since the calendar flipped is John Gall. The 32-year old slugger has played first and left field for the Express, but is just 1 for 10 this month, dropping his average down to .276. His last two appearances have been as a pinch hitter.
• Lexington's Ebert Rosario is enjoying his May so far, by going 7 for 17 with three home runs and a double. He also had two home runs and five RBIs in one game last weekend. Rosario is hitting .384/.408/.644 this season.
• Corpus Christi outfielder Collin DeLome clubbed his Texas League-leading eighth home run of the season on Tuesday and the Hooks gave starter Casey Hudspeth (2-2) enough run support to pick up his second victory. The 24-year old right-hander pitched 7 innings, giving up seven hits and two earned runs while striking out four and walking two.
• Fellow Hooks' starter Sergio Perez (3-1) also had a nice start to May, pitching six shutout innings in a win over the weekend. Perez gave up eight hits and struck out six while walking one. The outing nearly doubled his season strikeout total and he now has 13 strikeouts and nine walks in 2009.
• 2004 eighth-round draft pick Evan Englebrook was activated to the Round Rock roster on Monday and pitched two innings in his 2009 debut. The 27-year old gave up two hits and a run in two inning and was credited with a blown save.
• The lone good start in the past five days for Lancaster was lost in extra innings. Jeff Icenogle (0-2) pitched 8 2/3 scoreless innings before giving way to the bullpen. The 25-year old left-hander gave up four hits while striking out two and walking one. His game score of 77 is one of the highest in the Astros farm system this season.
• Lexington's Henry Villar started his second game on Monday as Brad Dydalewicz missed his second straight start with a strained oblique. Villar struck out six in 3 2/3 innings, raising his strikeout total this season to 32. He's giving up a fair number of hits and walks, with a WHIP of 1.47 but his FIP is at 1.62 largely due to all the strikeouts. He's one of the Lexington pitchers that shouldn't have a problem transitioning to the ballpark in Lancaster.