It was an 0-3 day for the affiliates, with an Omaha rainout.
HR Roll Call: Travis Maezes (5)
BP KC Hitter of the Day – Mike Hill 4-4, R, 2b, RBI
BP KC Pitcher of the Day – Jacob Bodner 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
A number of moves in the Royals system on Thursday following the Mike Moustakas injury news:
— Royals signed minor league free agent Steve Tolleson, formerly of the O’s system.
— Brett Eibner was called up the major leagues.
— Orlando Calixte and Ramon Torres moved from Double-A to Triple-A Omaha.
— Corey Toups advanced to Double-A NW Arkansas from Wilmington. Catcher Allen de San Miguel was activated for NW Arkansas from Burlington.
— Reliever Mark McCoy moved to Low-A Lexington, while the Royals moved reliever Gabe Cramer from the Legends to the Idaho Falls roster.
San Antonio Mission 3 NW Arkansas Naturals 1
The offensive struggles for the Naturals continued in dropping the series finale at San Antonio on Thursday with the team scoring just one run. It is the eighth game in their last ten that the offense has scored two runs or less, with a pair of four run games being their high water mark in that span. A once deep lineup that featured Hunter Dozier, Raul Mondesi and Bubba Starling has lost some punch and couldn’t perform with runners in scoring position on this night, going 0 for 7. Speedster Terrance Gore was nailed trying to score from home on a shallow pop-out to left-center in the third inning to end one rally. First baseman Frank Schwindel misplayed a ball in the sixth that helped the Mission take the lead before they tacked on a run in the 8th.
Eric Skoglund 5.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 5 K, 3-5 GO-FO, 94p/61k
Frank Schwindel 2-3, 2b, RBI
Ryan O’Hearn 1-4, R
Lynchburg Hillcats 8 Wilmington Blue Rocks 0
The Rocks didn’t put up much of a fight in the rubber match of their first series with Lynchburg on Thursday. Going 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position sealed Wilmington’s fate, while starter Matt Tenuta took the loss. BP’s 5th ranked Indians prospect, Bobby Bradley, hit a two-run home run off lefty Colin Rodgers and the rest of the Hillcats drew five walks and knocked out eight more hits off Wilmington pitching on their way to eight runs. Wilmington drops to 14-31 overall and an abysmal 7-22 in division games.
Wander Franco 2-4, 2-2b
Elier Hernandez 2-4, 2-2b
Matt Tenuta 4.1 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
Hagerstown Suns 9 Lexington Legends 8
It took a couple innings too long for the Legends offense to get going in game one of their series with Hagerstown, leading to a close defeat. Starter Emilio Ogando struggled to stop the bleeding in the third and seventh innings, causing the lefty to give up seven runs (2 ER) in his six and two-third innings. The seventh inning featured five Hagerstown runs after the Legends had tied the game in the top half of the inning. The Legends pulled back within a pair with a three run eighth that featured an RBI double from Samir Duenez along with a two run home run from Travis Maezes. A Suns insurance run in the bottom half of the inning would be enough to hold off the Legends after they got to within a run in the top half of the ninth, but ran out of chances with the tying run on base.
Samir Duenez 2-5, R, 2-2b, 3 RBI
Travis Maezes 2-4, HR, 2 RBI
Chase Vallot 1-5, RBI