Game Notes, May 5 vs. San Antonio

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San Antonio (9-19) @ Corpus Christi (12-16)

The Hooks return home to host the San Antonio Missions in a four-game series.  Tonight's game is the first of 28 between these two clubs this season.  Both clubs are limping into the series.  The Hooks won only once on the just-concluded eight-game road trip and have lost a season-high six in a row.  The Missions just dropped three of four at home to Frisco and have lost 10 of their last 13 games.

On the bright side, the Hooks come back to Whataburger Field, where they are 9-5 this season.  And they take on a San Antonio club that is just 4-10 on the road.

History, however, is not on Corpus Christi's side.  The Hooks are 77-119 lifetime against the Missions and have never won a season series against San Antonio.  Last year was the club's worst effort against the Missions - a record of 5-23, which included an 0-14 mark at Wolff Municipal Stadium. 

Tonight's Matchup:
RHP Hayden Beard (0-3, 10.98) vs. LHP Brett Oberholtzer (1-1, 6.86)
Beard, acquired by the Padres in the AA phase of the 2009 Rule 5 draft from the Mets, makes his sixth start this season.  Monday at Midland, Beard failed to make it out of the first inning, charged with nine earned runs on six hits and three walks in just one-third of an inning.  He threw 39 pitches in what was, by far, his worst outing of the year.  Midland scored 11 runs in that frame on the way to an easy 12-2 result.  A native of Australia, Beard spent most of last season with Lake Elsinore in the California League, where in 41 relief appearances he was 4-3 with a 6.17 ERA, with 61 strikeouts in 58.1 innings.      

• Has a 2.20 GO/AO ratio, but TL hitters are batting .318 against him
• Has as many hit batters (5) as walks
• Underwent elbow surgery on his right arm in 2007; missed all of the '07, '08 and '09 seasons

Oberholtzer, acquired by the Astros last July in the Michael Bourn deal with Atlanta, returns to the Hooks for his fifth start in the Texas League and his sixth start overall this year.  Monday, Oberholtzer made his AAA debut with Oklahoma City in a start at Albuquerque.  He allowed four earned runs on seven hits and walk over 5.1 innings while striking out three.  Oberholtzer suffered the loss in a 5-0 decision.  His most recent effort for the Hooks came April 25 here at Whataburger Field against Midland (5.1-11-7-7-0-5, L).  In six starts with the Hooks last season after the trade, Oberholtzer went 2-3 with a 5.27 ERA.  A Southern League All-Star with Mississippi last year, Oberholtzer is listed as the No. 7 prospect in the Astros system according to Baseball America.                         

• Similar to Beard, has a 2.20 GO/AO ratio, and TL hitters are batting .337 against him
• In 3 home starts is 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA
• Has allowed 22 HRs over 421.1 innings in four pro seasons (1 HR for every 19.2 innings)

Cosart up, Musick added to CC roster
The Astros have officially moved top pitching prospect Jarred Cosart to AAA Oklahoma City, as of today.  Cosart, who has made four starts for the Hooks with a record of 1-2 and a 2.84 ERA, is expected to start for the RedHawks on Monday in their series finale at Omaha.

Replacing Cosart on the Hooks roster is LHP Wes Musick, coming up from Lancaster in the California League.  In five starts this season for the JetHawks, Musick is 3-1 with a 2.51 ERA, with 7 walks and 26 strikeouts in 32.1 innings.  A product of the University of Houston, Musick is slated to make his AA debut with the Hooks Monday night. 

Astros name Hooks April players
Late Thursday afternoon the Astros announced their players of the month for their four full-season affiliated clubs.  In Corpus Christi, the honors went to Brandon Barnes, Kevin Chapman and Jose Martinez.

Barnes was tabbed as the team's offensive player of the month in April.  In 22 games, Barnes hit .353 (30x85) with 14 doubles, 4 HRs, 19 runs and 21 RBIs.  He finished the month as the league leader in average, doubles, extra-base hits and RBIs.  Barnes was also named the Texas League's Player of the Week for the first two weeks of the season.

Chapman pulled down pitcher of the month honors.  In nine relief outings, the former Royals farmhand went 1-1 with a 1.38 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 13.0 innings.

Martinez was chosen as the club's defensive player of the month.  Corpus Christi's primary second baseman handled 103 chances in April without making an error (47 put-outs, 56 assists).  The former Cardinal farmhand led all TL second baseman in the month with his 1.000 fielding percentage. 

Errors
Last night, the Hooks played an error-free game and, in fact, played three games on the road trip without a mistake in the field.  But on the whole, the club has not played well defensively.  Thursday night's four errors represented a season high and contributed to six unearned runs for Midland. 

For the year, the Hooks have a .967 fielding percentage, having committed 34 errors in 1,041 total chances.  That slots Corpus Christi seventh defensively in the eight-team league.  The only team playing worse defense?  The San Antonio Missions, who enter this series with a .966 fielding percentage and a league-high 35 errors.      

Back-to-back, Jack(s)!
Outfielders Austin Wates and Jacob Goebbert clubbed back-to-back solo home runs in the top of the eighth last night, pulling the Hooks into a 5-5 tie at Midland.  The back-to-back jacks is a first this season for the Hooks, who have had just five multi-homer games this year.  The last time the Hooks hit more than one home run in a game prior to yesterday was April 25, when Chris Wallace and Kody Hinze each went deep in a 9-3 loss to Midland.

Bodie milestone watch
Manager Keith Bodie remains 2 wins away from milestone win number 1,000 in his pro career.  In this his 16th season as a manager in the minor leagues, Bodie enters play tonight with a career regular-season record of 998-941 (.515 winning percentage).  Adding this season to his four years at the helm with Wichita, Bodie's managerial record in the Texas League stands at 318-263. 

Pitching Rotation vs. San Antonio
Sunday:  LHP Robbie Erlin (0-1, 2.66) vs. RHP Jake Buchanan (1-1, 4.20)
Monday:  LHP Juan Oramas (1-4, 8.46) vs. LHP Wes Musick (3-1, 2.51 w/ Lancaster)
Tuesday:  RHP Keyvius Sampson (2-1, 3.94) vs. RHP Ross Seaton (1-3, 5.25)

HOOKS PLAYER NOTES

Brandon Barnes

• Went 7-30 on the road trip with 1 double, 3 runs and 3 RBIs
• Has just 1 extra-base hit in his last 10 games (double)
• Leads TL in doubles (14) and is second in average (.330)
• Corpus Christi's offensive player of the month in April (.353-4-21, 22 games) 
• Named Texas League Co-Player of the Week (April 5-15), hit .432
• Names Texas League Player of the Week (April 16-22), hit .391
• Batting .319(23-72) vs. RHP; .357(10-28) vs. LHP; .357(10-28) w/RISP

Jay Fernandez

• Is 2-15 in his last 5 games with 1 run
• Has a career caught-stealing percentage of 40.0 (165 of 412)
• In 8 seasons in the Mariners and Twins systems hit .244-16-162 in 439 games
• Signed by the Astros as a free agent in January, 2012

Jacob Goebbert

• His walk-off, 3-run HR April 9 the first walk-off HR in his 4-year pro career
• Is 3-8 in the last 2 games with 1 triple, 1 HR, 3 runs and 2 RBIs
• Was 0-15 in the previous 4 games
• Named Texas League Co-Player of the Week (April 5-15), hit .429
• Batting .203(14-69) vs. RHP; .409(9-22) vs. LHP; .421(8-19) w/RISP   

Kody Hinze

• Is 1-13 in the last 4 games with 2 walks, 1 RBI and 7 Ks
• Batting .318(14-44) at home; .171(7-41) on the road
• Batting .217(13-60) vs. RHP; .320(8-25) vs. LHP; .160(4-25) w/RISP
• Ranked 4th last year in the minors in walks (94) and 15th in OPS (.961) 

Jordan Kreke

• Went 2-8 on road trip with 2 runs and 2 SBs
• Played 1B Tuesday night for the first time in his career (replaced Singleton)
• Has 132 career games at 3B, 126 at 2B and 49 at SS
• Signed by the Astros as a free agent in January, 2012...originally a 13th-round pick of the Braves in 2009

Jose Martinez

• Was 5-14 in Midland series with 1 double, 1 triple, 1 HR, 1 run and 3 RBIs
• Hits in 5 of his last 9 gms, 9-28 w/7 walks, 1 dbl, 1 triple, 1 HR, 4 runs and 4 RBIs
• Batting .258(17-66) vs. RHP; .333(7-21) vs. LHP; .462(12-26) w/RISP
• Played just 6 games in the three-year period 2009-11

Ryan McCurdy

• Joined club Thursday, went 1-4 in his AA debut
• Had played just 2 games w/ Lancaster this season, was 2-3 with 1 HBP
• Played 53 games in 2 seasons (2010-11), hitting .285-0-18 in 130 at-bats
• Signed by Houston as a non-drafted free agent in June of 2010...played college ball at Duke

Andy Simunic

• Went 4-21 on road trip with 3 walks, 1 double, 1 run and 2 RBIs
• 4-RBI night April 21 his first since July 29 last season
• Batting .320(16-50) vs. RHP; .286(2-7) vs. LHP; .278(5-18) w/RISP
• Played every position in the field last year except catcher and 1B
• In five pro seasons has bounced into just 10 DPs in 1,302 plate appearances

Jon Singleton

• Went 5-23 on road trip with 1 HBP, 2 walks, 1 double, 1 run and 1 RBI
• Ranked third in the league in average (.330)
• Last year hit .298-13-63 in 128 games with Clearwater and Lancaster
• Batting .393(24-61) vs. RHP; .200(6-30) vs. LHP; .368(7-19) w/RISP
• Has started 17 games at 1B; 7 games in LF
• Ranked by Baseball America as the top prospect in the Astros system

T.J. Steele

• Clubbed CC's first pinch-hit HR of the season Sunday in the 8th
• Went 3-11 on road trip with 1 HR, 2 runs and 1 RBI
• Batting .182(6-33) vs. RHP; .118(2-17) vs. LHP; .250(4-16) w/RISP
• Ranks fourth on the Hooks all-time stolen base chart with 30

J.C. Thompson

• Is 1-18 in his last 7 games
• Hit .273-10-46 in 87 games last year with Lancaster and CC
• Batted .440-10-62 in 59 games with Western Oklahoma State College in 2009  

Jonathan Villar

• Hits in 5 of his last 6 games, 6-20 with 1 double, 1 triple, 3 runs and 2 RBIs
• Tied for the league lead with 12 stolen bases
• Batting .224(15-67) vs. RHP; .212(7-33) vs. LHP; .231(6-26) w/RISP
• Ranked by Baseball America as the No. 4 prospect in the Astros system

Austin Wates

• Hits in 5 of the last 7 games, 8-27 with 1 double, 2 HRs, 4 runs and 8 RBIs
• Has reached base safely in 24 of 27 games
• Batting .329(26-79) vs. RHP; .300(9-30) vs. LHP; .423(11-26) w/RISP
• Hit .300-6-75 with 26 stolen bases in 132 games last year with Lancaster
• Named Lancaster's MVP, led the JetHawks in 8 statistical categories