The upper levels went 2-0 while the lower levels went 0-3 with a doubleheader sweep of the Legends Friday night.
HR Roll Call Cheslor Cuthbert (3), Ryan O’Hearn (5), Ben Johnson (1), Marten Gasparini (1)
BP KC Hitter of the Day – Logan Moon 2-4 2b, 2R, RBI
BP KC Pitcher of the Day – Miguel Almonte 5 IP 2 H 0 R 2 BB 5 K 5-3 GO/FO
Omaha Storm Chasers 3 Round Rock Express 2
Back from the bigs and back to throwing darts was Miguel Almonte in his first start after arriving with the Chasers. The righthander went five strong scoreless innings while striking out five hitters, allowing just two hits and two walks. The win escaped Almonte after Clayton Mortensen allowed two runs in the sixth inning to tie the game. The Chasers wouldn’t let that hiccup stop them from salvaging the victory and the winning roadtrip after Whit Merrifield scored on a wildpitch in the 8th inning to take the lead.
Peter Moylan 1 IP 1 H 0 R Sv (3)
Jorge Bonifacio 1-4 R, 2b
Cheslor Cuthber 1-3 HR (3), RBI
NW Arkansas Naturals 10 Tulsa Drillers 5
The Naturals offense kicked into gear Friday with ten runs on eleven hits and a pair of walks in giving starter Jake Junis his first win of the year. Pretty much every hitter on Vance Wilson’s squad got involved considering eight of the nine hitters got a hit on the night and the hitless Mauricio Ramos knocked in a pair of runs to contribute. Third baseman Hunter Dozier continued his power purge at AA with another double in his two official at bats while also drawing a pair of walks to push that total to nine in 13 games.
Raul Mondesi 2-5 2 R, SB (8), RBI
Cam Gallagher 1-4 R .419 OBP in 8 games
Jake Junis 6 IP 6 H 3 ER 3 BB 5 K 2 HR
Potomac Nationals 5 Wilmington Blue Rocks 2
At some point you have to wonder how much Frawley field gets into the heads of Wilmington hitters after the home Rocks dropped another Friday. While the park is in the Rocks heads it most certainly isn’t into the Nationals as they knocked out 10 more hits and five runs in winning their sixth game in a row on the home team’s turf. Starter Colin Rodgers took the loss while allowing four runs in six and one-third innings, earning just one strikeout on the evening. First baseman Ryan O’Hearn’s strikeouts are starting to buildup again after a three strikeout night that gave him nine in his last five games but he did hit his fifth home run on the season as well.
Brandon Downes 1-4 2b (5)
Ryan O’Hearn 1-4 HR (5) 2 RBI
Derek Gordon 2.2 IP 2 H 1 ER 0 BB 1 K ERA 3.38
Game 1
West Virginia 5 Lexington Legends 1
Pirates prospect Mitch Keller dominated the Legends for the second time in a week. This time the righty did it with 10 strikeouts in five innings while allowing just a pair of hits and running his scoreless streak to 15 innings in three starts. On the other side Legends starter Julio Pinto continued to miss out of the strikezone with three walks giving while being unable to earn a strikeout in his 3 inning four run allowed start. The only run that the Legends earned on the night was a home run from Ben Johnson, his first at Low-A.
Cody Jones 2-2 hitting .311
Emilio Ogando 4 IP 1 H 1 ER 3 BB 1 K
Ben Johnson 1-3 HR hitting .244
Game 2
West Virginia Power 3 Lexington Legends 1
Much the same for the Legends in game two with Jon Brubaker limiting them to just a Marten Gasparini home run in the doubleheader sweep. The starting pitcher for Lexington, Scott Blewett struggled to find the zone, walking five in four and one-third innings while also giving up three runs. The former 2nd round pick has struggled since last July putting up a 7.01 ERA since July 8th at the Low-A level. No word on whether his velocity is still at the low 90’s, high 80’s range that I saw him at late last in July last year.
Marten Gasparini 1-3 HR (1) hitting .140
Kyle Kubat 2.2 IP 0 H 0 R 2 K
Chase Vallot 0-3 3 K, doubleheader 0-6 6 K