A 2-2 day with comeback wins at both Triple-A and Low-A
HR Roll Call Marten Gasparini (2), Cody Jones (1)
BP KC Hitter of the Day – Marten Gasparini 2-5 HR, 2b, 3 RBI
BP KC Pitcher of the Day – Pedro Fernandez 7 IP 4 H 0 R 2 BB 7 K 8-1 GO-FO
Omaha Storm Chasers 6 Colorado Springs Sky Sox 5 F/10
The Chasers bullpen gave five innings out of shutout relief to stabilize things after starter Luke Farrell struggled early to help Omaha to a comeback win. The long ball did Farrell in, giving up a three run home run to Eric Young in the 2nd inning and a two run shot by Keon Broxton in the 4th to account for all five runs off Farrell in his five innings. With the bullpen holding things down, the Chasers dug into a 5-2 deficit with RBI doubles from Clint Barmes in the 4th and Whit Merrifield two innings later. The Chasers tied things with a sac fly in the 8th prior to walking the game off on a Reymond Fuentes single that scored Dusty Coleman.
Whit Merrifield 3-5 2-2b, R, RBI, 2 SB (15) in just 18 games
Reymond Fuentes 2-3 2 R, RBI, 3 BB
Malcom Culver 2 IP 1 H 0 R 3 K
Tulsa Drillers 8 NW Arkansas Naturals 6
A five-run 9th inning did in the Naturals Sunday versus Tulsa. The Drillers avoided a four-game sweep by NW Arkansas when they pieced together three singles, a pair of walks and a double to put up a five spot on the relief combo of Eric Stout and Benino Pruneda to build and 8-4 lead into the bottom of the 9th. In that 9th, the home squad would score a pair on a Mauricio Ramos while placing the tying runs at 2nd and 3rd but Frank Schwindel would strikeout to end the game. Former 1st round pick Bubba Starling had a 3 hit day to improve his average to .250 on the season with a respectable .371 on base percentage. Starting pitcher Alec Mills was respectable with 6 innings and just 3 runs allowed but only mustered 2 strikeouts in the process.
Bubba Starling 3-4 2-2b, BB, 2 R, RBI hitting .250/.371/.519
Hunter Dozier 1-5 2b (6), 2 RBI
Alec Mills 6 IP 7 H 3 R 2 ER 0 BB 2 K 9 GO 4 FO
Potomac Nationals 3 Wilmington Blue Rocks 1 F/12
It took twelve innings Sunday but the result was same as the Nationals improved to 8-0 at Frawley field while finishing off the five-game sweep of the hometown Rocks. Wilmington starter Pedro Fernandez did all he could to give the Rocks a shot at getting off the schneid, giving his club a career high seven innings of shutout baseball with just four hits and a pair of walks allowed. The performance, which also featured seven strikeouts, lowered Pedro’s ERA to 1.21 through four starts. Both teams were scoreless until the 8th inning when they exchanged a pair of runs, the Rocks run coming courtesy of a Corey Toups RBI single. The game would stay knotted at one until the Nationals Andrew Stevenson doubled in one and later scored on a Jose Marmolejos single. The Rocks would go down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 12th to drop to 6-12 on the season.
Ryan O’Hearn 1-4 BB
Corey Toups 2-5 RBI
Evan Beal 3 IP 2 H 0 R 0 BB 5 K 0.90 ERA
Lexington Legends 11 West Virginia Power 10
An epic comeback in Lexington during the final game of the Legends home series with the Power. Trailing 10-1 after 5 innings the Legends finally awoke their bats in a six-run sixth the narrow the gap to 10-7. Amazingly only two players had hits in the inning, Amalani Fukofuka’s leadoff single started the inning and later he capped the scoring on his two run double. Besides that Cody Jones would add an RBI single and Lexington would draw six walks in the frame. With a little bit of momentum Lexington would close the deal by tying it up in the 8th with a Jones solo home run and Marten Gasparini two run double, his second extra base hit of the day. An inning later in the 9th the Legends would move Ben Johnson to 3rd after a leadoff double, the perfect spot for him to score the “run”off win when Eric Karch would uncork a wildpitch to give the home fans something to cheer about.
Amalani Fukofuka 3-4 2b, R, 2 RBI, SB (5)
Cody Jones 2-4 2R, HR, 2 RBI
Jacob Bodner 1.1 IP 0 R 1 BB