Monday wasn’t a good day in the minors as Royals affiliates went 0-3.
HR Roll Call: Humberto Arteaga (1)
BP KC Hitter of the Day – Humberto Arteaga 2-4, HR, 2 RBI
BP KC Pitcher of the Day – Nolan Watson 5 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, HBP, 6-4 GO-FO, 75p/51k
El Paso Chihuahuas 12 Omaha Storm Chasers 0
Omaha starter Mike Minor, making his third rehab start for the Omaha Storm Chasers and fifth overall, had a rough time getting through the talented portion of the El Paso lineup. The left-hander was sharp with his control, working 83 pitches with 56 strikes but the home run, two doubles and a triple that the top five guys in that Chihuahua lineup provided dented the lefty for four runs and six of the seven hits allowed. Working mostly in the 88-90 mph range, Minor walked just one hitter while striking out four. While Minor was struggling to get through the top of the El Paso order, 2015 PCL pitcher of the year Carlos Pimentel was cruising through the entire Storm Chasers lineup allowing four hits, only one of which reached the outfield, in his six innings of shutout work. El Paso’s relievers would follow with three quality innings of relief while Omaha reliever Andrew Edwards had his worst outing of the year as part of a eight-run Chihuahua explosion. San Diego’s #1 prospect Manuel Margot had a big day at the plate, reaching four times with three hits and three runs scored while teammate Ryan Schimpf homered twice. The first of Schimpf’s two home runs went 447 feet and was recorded at over 107 mph off the bat. Right-hander Miguel Almonte will throw a bullpen while on the road in Colorado Springs to see if his shoulder is feeling back to normal.
Travis Snider 2-4 – opt out date June 1st, no decision yet
Mike Minor 6 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 7-2 GO-FO, 83p/56k
Reymond Fuentes 1-3, BB
Myrtle Beach Pelicans 4 Wilmington Blue Rocks 2
The Rocks were searching for the first sweep of a season series this year, but fell short on the road in Myrtle Beach. Things were looking good early after Humberto Arteaga’s first home run of the season scored he and Cody Jones to give the Rocks a 2-0 lead. The Pelicans big name prospect Gleyber Torres would quickly cut that lead in half with a home run of his own in the bottom of 1st inning off starter Corey Ray. The former A&M starter was looking to build on his winning first start from his debut with the Rocks, but it was not to be when he gave up single runs in the 4th and 5th to fall behind. Wilmington would get plenty of chances, collecting nine hits and a walk on the afternoon but a 0 for 7 performance with runners in scoring position prevented them from denting that scoreboard after the 1st inning.
Humberto Arteaga 2-4, HR, 2 RBI
Cody Jones 2-5, R
Luis Rico 0.2 IP, 1 K
Greensboro Grasshoppers 3 Lexington Legends 2 F/10
The Royals are starting to see some positive starts from last year’s 1st round pick Nolan Watson as he exhibited in his latest start. Working over five innings, Watson ran into trouble in the just the 3rd inning while giving up just two hits and a walk and controlling the zone over 75 pitches. In that 3rd frame, a Watson leadoff walk followed by singles and a walk loaded the bases and scored a run when the righty induced a ground out. It appeared as if Watson would wiggle out of the jam when the Grasshoppers ran into an out at home on a double steal, but one hitter later DJ Burt missed a pickoff throw from Watson at second and the speedy Anfernee Seymour raced home from second. The Legends used a pair of walks and two run single from Samir Duenez to tie the game in the 5th. In the 9th Greensboro broke the tie only to have Torey Deshazier rescue Lexington from a bases loaded one out jam to keep the deficit at just one run. A Marten Gasparini home run in ninth quickly tied things up and sent the game to extra innings. In the 10th, it appeared Torey had quickly put down the Grasshoppers but a strike three third out eluded the catcher and put a hitter on first with two down. A walk pushed that runner into scoring position where a single from Israel Soto cashed in the run and gave Greensboro the lead and the win after the Legends couldn’t mount a threat in the bottom of the 10th.
Chase Vallot 1-5, 3K
Amalani Fukofuka 0-5, 4K
Samir Duenez 2-4, RBI