Climbing Tal's Hill
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Houston Astros Farm Report: Domingo Santana Breaks Record

By Aric Cisneros

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The Fresno Grizzlies went into the All-Star break sitting comfortably in first place, winning eight of 12 in July. During the break, Tyson Perez represented the Fresno Grizzlies in the Triple-A All-Star Game, throwing a scoreless fifth inning and striking out two.

The Grizzlies returned to action on Thursday and split a four-game set with the El Paso Chihuahuas. The Grizzlies won the first two games of the series while scoring a combined 18 runs, but dropped the last two while only managing one run in each game.

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Dan Straily, one of the guys potentially in the mix for the Houston Astros down the stretch, impressed on Friday night as he struck out nine over seven innings while allowing only two earned runs in an 8-2 win for Fresno.

Domingo Santana sets on-base record

Getting on base in a game is tough. Getting on base in 43 consecutive games is incredible. When Domingo Santana lined a single in the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader, though, he did just that. His 43 game on-base streak set a Fresno Grizzlies franchise record.

The 22-year-old outfielder’s streak was halted in June when he spent a couple of weeks with the Houston Astros before he returned to the Grizzlies lineup and gave the team a much-needed offensive boost. Santana recorded five hits, including two home runs in games 41 and 42 of the streak.

Santana’s record and the sweet faux back uniforms the team wore were the bright spots on an otherwise dismal Sunday as the Grizzlies dropped both games of the doubleheader to El Paso, each by a score of 7-1. Domingo Santana’s streak also promptly ended at 43 as he went 0-for-3 with a strikeout in the second game. Funny how that works.

Appel struggles in home debut

Mark Appel‘s much-anticipated home debut for Fresno was rained out on Saturday and pushed back to the first game of the Sunday doubleheader.

Appel took a loss in his outing, lasting only four innings and giving up five runs – four earned – on two home runs and five hits. The right-hander didn’t have a great command of the strike zone either as he walked three and only threw 49 of his 86 pitches for strikes.

This is the kind of inconsistency that Appel has shown at each level of the Houston Astros’ minor-league system. In his 17 starts between Corpus Christi and Fresno this year, Appel has given up two earned runs or fewer nine times but has given up at least five earned runs in four of his outings.

Coming up

The team is on the road until August, beginning with a four-game set in Las Vegas. Brett Oberholtzer will get the start on Monday night as he looks to find his way back into the Astros’ rotation.

Next: Astros and Rangers: Benches Clear in Near Brawl

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