Tuesday Brieflys

I was getting ready to lead off with a comment about the Astros minors going for a clean sweep on Monday, but Round Rock had to go and mess everything up by losing to former Astros affiliate New Orleans. Oh well, can't win them all, I guess. As the Astros farm system has a combined winning percentage of .433, a clean sweep was asking a lot. Only Lexington has a winning record currently at 26-24 and based on Run Differential, Lexington is the only one who should have a winning record. Round Rock, in fact, should have less wins than it does now. Still, as we've seen in these notes columns over the past two months, there is talent in the system. Just not enough of it to win as a team. Onto all the news and notes from Monday:

I'm introducing a new feature to these recaps in The Gold Star Performance of the Day. It's a long, unwieldy name right now, but I assume we can just call it the Gold Star and you'll know what I'm talking about. I'm going to give it to one player each recap who stood out above the rest and deserves to be mentioned right away, instead of by level, as I do now. Our first Gold Star winner is Lexington's Ross Seaton. The 19-year old threw a three-hit shutout, striking out six and walking none to get his fifth victory this season. Seaton had a game score of 87, which was only beaten by May POM Yorman Bazardo's three-hitter over the weekend. The strikeout total was also Seaton's highest since his third start of the season and was the second straight outing where he didn't walk a batter. It also helped the Houston native that the Legends scored more than four runs for the third time this season to get him the victory. Seaton also righted a three-game losing streak and didn't allow a run for the third time this season. That deserves a Gold Star.

Round Rock's Jose Capellan turned in a great appearance out of the bullpen on Monday, striking out five batters in two innings of work. The 28-year old gave up two hits but only needed 33 pitches to get through his time on the mound. Capellan's ERA has ballooned with each ineffective start and maybe a move to the bullpen will bring him around to the form that saw him go 4-2 with a 4.40 ERA in 71 innings with Milwaukee in 2006.

The hitting was a mixed bag, as Tommy Manzella extended his hitting streak to nine games and Mark Saccomanno, Chris Johnson and Yordany Ramirez each had doubles. Still, the Express managed just seven hits in the game and scored one run off former Marlins starter Ricky Nolasco. Ramirez in particular seems to have put a horrible May behind him by going 2 for 4 in the leadoff spot.

The day he was named Pitcher of the Month by this blog, Douglas Arguello picked up his second victory of the season. However, it wasn't one of his better starts, as the lefty was picked up by his team scoring nine runs for him. Arguello lasted five innings, giving up four hits, two earned runs, striking out five and walking four. The 24-year old also gave up a home run and hit a batter. After giving up one home run in his first seven starts, Arguello has given up long balls in each of his last two appearances, though his line drive percentage was back under 20% in both starts and for the season (17.5%).

Four different Hooks had multiple hits, led by Mark Ori's 3 for 5 day. Jonathan Fixler, Collin DeLome and Felix Molina each had two hits and three RBIs while Fixler and Drew Locke each scored two runs. DeLome had his first multi-hit game in seven outings and his second in 13 games. The 22-year old hit .232/.281/.427 in May but did add three home runs, two triples and three doubles. His 28 strikeouts led the team and coupled with his three walks, were a big reason why he went 1 for 16 in his last five games in May.

I haven't written much about Ori this season, largely because he's a first baseman without much power. That kind of player doesn't usually make it to the big leagues, as there are enough guys who can hit the ball a mile but don't have a position that teams can shoehorn in at first. Ori does have a knack for getting hits but not walks, as he had just 5 walks in May and 12 for the season. The 25-year old is hitting .320/.372/.394 this season.

Jack Tilghman had a game score of 59 in his second start for Lancaster. The 22-year old threw five innings, allowing three hits and two earned runs and striking out six. It was his first start this season where he went at least five innings and only the second start of his professional career.

Shortstop Gabriel Suarez was the only Lancaster hitter with a multi-hit game on Monday, as the 24-year old went 2 for 4. Suarez is hitting .400 since signing with the JetHawks last week. Centerfielder T.J. Steele went 1 for 3 in the game, getting his first hit in 13 at-bats since coming off the disabled list.

None of the Lexington hitters stood out on Monday, except Brian Pelligrini, who hit his fourth home run since being demoted. Pelligrini has been great for the Lexington offense, but considering how badly he failed in his first stint in High-A ball, he may not have much of a future with the organization.

Two other roster notes: Ryan McKeller has been demoted to Corpus Christi to make room for Mark McLemore to come off the DL for Round Rock.... With T.J. Steele coming off the DL for Lancaster, outfielder Eric Suttle was demoted to Lexington. Suttle was 12 for 32 with two doubles, four runs scored, seven RBIs and five walks in 12 games with the JetHawks.