A 2-3 day for the Kansas City Royals minor league affiliates.
HR Roll Call Chad Johnson (1), Mike Hill (3)
BP KC Hitter of the Day – Alfredo Escalera 2-5 2b, R, 2 RBI
BP KC Pitcher of the Day – Jake Junis 6 IP 3 H 1 ER 1 BB 4 K 7-5 GO-FO 94p/58k
New Orleans Zephyrs 5 Omaha Storm Chasers 1
Marlins Triple-A pitcher Chris Reed shutdown the Chasers over seven innings Thursday night to hand them another defeat. The righthander used just 76 pitches over that time as an impatient Chasers crew battered six balls into the ground, K’d four times while not walking once while he was on the hill. Chasers starter Christian Binford kept pace for five innings before running into trouble in the 6th inning, giving up five runs with a hit by pitch and four hits allowed. The Chasers offense was on mute much of the night until rehabbing outfielder Brett Eibner connected on and RBI double in the 9th to finally dent the scoreboard for Omaha. Royals prospect Miguel Almonte made his first pitching appearances since May 19th, working the final two innings scoreless.
Ramon Torres 1-4 R
Brett Eibner 1-4 2b, RBI
Miguel Almonte 2 IP 1 H 0 R 0 BB 2 K 1-1 GO-FO 28p/20k
NW Arkansas Naturals 3 Tulsa Drillers 1
The story of the season since May 1st for the Naturals has been Jake Junis and his ascension to staff ace. The right-handed starter had dominated over his last sevens starts allowing just four earned runs in 44 innings while striking out 45 in that time. Not quite as dominant this time out Junis continued to baffle hitters by limiting the Drillers to just three hits in six innings while allowing just one walk and one run to cross on the night, earning his sixth win in the progress. The offense backed Junis up with single runs in the 1st, 3rd and 8th innings with third baseman Mauricio Ramos driving in two of those three with a pair of hits. Closer Kevin McCarthy worked the final two innings to perfection to earn his 11th save of the season.
Corey Toups 1-4 2R, BB
Ryan O’Hearn 2-3 2b, R
Mauricio Ramos 2-4 2b, 2 RBI
Salem Red Sox 10 Wilmington Blue Rocks 6
On the night of the MLB Draft when 1st round picks are being celebrated for their possible future greatness a Royals former 1st round pick was getting knocked around by the Red Sox High-A affiliate. 2014 1st round pick Foster Griffin gave up five runs on three walks and ten hits in just 3.2 innings before handing things over to another lefty who didn’t fair much better. All told the Red Sox knocked out 21 hits on the night while scoring five more runs off reliever Brennan Henry before being held scoreless over the last four by Jake Newberry and Jacob Bodner. The Rocks offense tried to make a comeback, scoring four in the 4th and a single tally in both the 5th and 6th but were shutout the final three inning to fall in defeat. The poor showing by Griffin balooned his ERA to 7.59 on the night.
Alfredo Escalera 2-5 R, 2b, 2RBI
Chad Johnson 1-4 2R, HR
Austin Bailey 3-4 R
Hagerstown Nationals 2 Lexington Legends 1
The two Legends pitchers struggled mightily with the strikezone, walking eight Thursday but navigating around it to give up just two run on the evening. It was not good enough however as the struggles for the offense continued. Lexington went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position, wasting a 1 out double in the 1st, a two on nobody out rally in the 4th and a one out double in the 6th in the process as their offensive futility continued. A Mike Hill fifth inning home run represented the only run for Lexington which has scored just one run over their last 23 innings of play.
Anderson Miller 2-3 2b, BB
Mike Hill 2-4 HR
Yunior Marte 4.1 IP 3 H 1 ER 5 BB 4 K 4-3 GO-FO 90p/48k
DSL Royals 2 DSL Phillies
The DSL Royals stayed perfect by scoring two runs in the bottom of the eighth with the aid of a walk, a double by Cristian Perez and a fielders choice.
Seuly Matias 0-1
Sebastian Rivera 1-3
Cristian Perez 1-3 R, 2b, RBI