4-3 day for the affiliates on Saturday.
HR Roll Call: Anderson Miller (2), Meibrys Viloria (2), Logan Nottebrok (1), Esteury Ruiz (3)
BP KC Hitter of the Day – Samir Duenez 3-4, 3b, 2 RBI
BP KC Pitcher of the Day – Travis Eckert 4 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K, 5-0 GO-FO
Royals Transactions
Andy Ferguson moved to AZL Royals for rehab assignment.
OF Jose Sanchez sent to Burlington Royals from Idaho Falls.
P Matt Ditman transferred to Idaho Falls from Lexington.
P A.J. Puckett moved from AZL Royals to Lexington Legends.
OF Bubba Starling sent to Omaha Storm Chasers from NW Arkansas Naturals.
Midland RockHounds 7 NW Arkansas Naturals 0
A’s prospect Matt Chapman continued his assault on NW Arkansas pitching while the Naturals couldn’t mount much offense of their own Saturday. The third baseman hit his 20th home run of the season – his fifth off the Naturals – as part of a seven run outing for the RockHounds to secure a three game sweep. NW Arkansas was unable to connect on an extra base hit among their eight hits during the game. Lefty Eric Skoglund couldn’t back up his best start of the year, struggling with the zone with five walks allowed and giving up that home run to Chapman as well as another for the loss.
Ryan O’Hearn 0-3, BB
Zane Evans 2-3, BB
Terrance Gore 2-3, BB, CS (3)
Wilmington Blue Rocks 6 Winston-Salem Dash 3
A seventh inning rally earned the Rocks a win after a solid start from Foster Griffin. The lefthander gave the Rocks a quality start by attacking the zone (69% strike rate) and earning plenty of worm burners among his outs. He would leave trailing after giving up a solo home run in the sixth but his offense would come up big in the seventh to get him off the hook and earn the team win. In that seventh, a pair of doubles by Austin Bailey and Robert Pehl quickly knotted up the game at three, before a bunt single by Cody Jones pushed the lead runner to third where he came home on Raul Mondesi’s RBI groundout. Up by a run, the Rocks tacked on with a Samir Duenez triple that plated two and pushed the advantage to 6-3. Reliever Derek Gordon would finish off the final innings to earn the win and secure a chance for Wilmington to take the four game series with a victory tomorrow.
Samir Duenez 3-4, 3b, 2 RBI
Foster Griffin 6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, BB, 6 K, 7-4 GO-FO, 101p/70k
Raul Mondesi 2-4, R, 3b, RBI
Lexington Legends 2 Rome Braves 1
The two teams exchanged a similar storyline to Friday’s game, with the Legends coming out on top this time. The Braves starter Patrick Weigel went seven innings with 11 strikeouts and just a run allowed to keep the Lexington offense on ice much of the night. It was Anderson Miller’s opposite field home run providing that run off Weigel in the first just like the prior night’s game. Lexington pitching would match Weigel with 2016 draftpick A.J. Puckett tossing four scoreless innings before leaving due to a restricted pitch count. Following a Braves run in the sixth to tie the game, the Legends would score the eventual winning run courtesy of a Rome throwing error on a Xavier Fernandez infield single.
A.J. Puckett 4 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 4-3 GO-FO, 68p/45k
Anderson Miller 1-3, HR, BB
Mark McCoy 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 1-1 GO-FO, 33p/22k
Grand Junction Rockies 14 Idaho Falls Chukars 13
An ugly game for the Chukars defense and pitching staff cost them this game. Six Idaho Falls errors lead to six unearned runs while the staff couldn’t calm Grand Junction down, allowing 16 hits and 14 runs with three different multiple-run innings. Those errors and runs squandered a good offensive performance by the Chukars, putting up 13 runs on 17 hits themselves including a seven-run seventh inning that tied a game they had trailed 13-6. A pair of singles sandwiched around a sac bunt gave Grand Junction the lead in the ninth, and they made that stand up when Ricky Aracena hit into a double play to end the game.
Manny Olloque 3-5, 2R, RBI
Meibrys Viloria 2-4, HR, 3RBI, HBP
Nick Heath 2-5, 2R, 2b
Burlington Royals 2 Danville Braves 0
The Royals extended their win streak to six games by getting just enough offense and a solid combined pitching effort. Pitchers Geoffrey Bramblett, Travis Eckert and Michael Silva worked around nine hits with the aid the seven strikeouts and runners caught stealing by catcher Nathan Esposito. A sac fly in the second provided the Royals their first run, and a Logan Nottebrok home run in the ninth gave them a little cushion for the win.
Logan Nottebrok 2-3, HR, BB
Vance Vizcaino 2-4, R, 2SB (4)
Travis Eckert 4 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K, 5-0 GO-FO
AZL Royals 2 AZL Padres 0
Just three hits allowed with nine strikeouts in the Arizona Royals win. Rehabbing starter Andy Ferguson put away four via strikeout in his two innings of perfect pitching. First baseman Robby Rinn knocked in the Royals first run in the first inning with a single and catcher Sebastian Rivera plated the other in the second.
Andy Ferguson 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 0-1 GO-FO
Khalil Lee 1-3
Dalton Griffin 2-3, R, SB
DSL Dodgers 6 DSL Royals 3 F/10
A tenth inning outburst for the Dodgers was enough to knockdown the Royals in the DSL Saturday. Shortstop Esteury Ruiz knocked out his third home run of the season in the eighth inning in the loss.
Boxscore Link
Esteury Ruiz 2-4, HR, 2b
Darwin Feliz 5 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, 3-1 GO-FO
Dennicher Carrasco 3-4, BB