HR Roll Call Chad Johnson (3), Roman Collins (3), Ricky Aracena (1), Boo Vazquez (1), Khalil Lee (2)
BP KC Hitter of the Day - Roman Collins 3-4 3R, 3b, HR, 3 RBI, BB
BP KC Pitcher of the Day – Zach Lovvorn 6 IP 3 H 0 R 0 ER 2 BB 6 K 4-4 GO-FO 100p/63k
NW Arkansas Naturals 5 Midland RockHounds 3
Jake Junis gave the Naturals seven innings of solid work on Friday to earn his eighth win of the season. Earning seven strikeouts and allowing just one unearned run the righty piled up the groundouts (9) while keeping a RockHounds team that has dominated the Naturals this season in check during the entire outing. Jake’s battery mate Cam Gallagher provided the offense two runs with a double in the fourth inning after his passed ball in the previous inning had helped Midland took a 1-0 lead. Big boppers Frank Schwindel then teamed up in the seventh with back to back knocks to drive in run. First on a Schwindel single to score Terrance Gore and quickly followed by O’Hearn’s double to right-center to score Schwindel and Corey Toups. The bullpen had a hiccup when Aroni Nina gave up a pair of runs in the 8th inning but Mark Peterson finished off the 9th with a perfect 1-2-3.
Ryan O’Hearn 1-3 2b, 2 RBI, BB
Frank Schwindel 3-5 2R, 2b RBI, SB
Jake Junis 7 IP 5 H 1 R 0 ER 1 BB 7 K 9-1 GO-FO 92p/56k
Wilmington Blue Rocks 1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans 0
It happened. The Rocks Zach Lovvorn finally earned a win. Getting his usual one run of support the right-handed starting pitcher worked six scoreless innings while allowing just three hits and two walks to push his record to 1-10 despite a 3.27 ERA. Lovvorn worked around a leadoff double to start the game, a runner in scoring position with one out in the 3rd inning and first and third jam with two outs in his sixth and final inning. A Chad Johnson solo home run in the third inning provided the games only run while closer Derek Gordon worked the final inning by avoiding trouble after allowing the first two hitters to reach base in the ninth.
Wander Franco 1-3 2b
Chad Johnson 1-3 HR
Austin Bailey 1-3
Lexington Legends 7 Greenville Drive 4
Royals 2nd round pick A.J. Puckett was solid if unspectacular in his second start at Low-A Lexington, working five innings while allowing one run on a pair of hits and a two walks while striking out three. The righty left with the lead after earning a eight groundouts but failed to earn the win after reliever Franco Terrera allowed three runs in the eighth inning. The win may have escaped Puckett but it didn’t escape the Legends after Roman Collins tripled to drive in a pair in the eighth inning and came home himself on a Marten Gasparini double. Collins finished just a double shy of the cycle, collecting a single in the 1st, a walk in the 2nd and a home run in the 7th in addition the 8th inning triple. The Legends are bunched in with five other teams in their division that trail first place Augusta by 2.5 games or less in the Second Half.
Marten Gasparini 2-4 2b, 2 RBI
Mike Hill 3-4 R, 2b
A.J. Puckett 5 IP 2 H 1 R 1 ER 2 BB 3 K 8-3 GO-FO 77p/48k
Orem Owlz 16 Idaho Falls Chukars 5
The Chukars pitching staff was knocked around by the Owlz in dropping their third game in a row. Lefty Matt Portland was the first to be knocked around, giving up eleven hits and nine runs over four innings before fellow lefties Sam Selman and Reinaldo Cepin gave up multiple runs each. All told the Owlz punched out 19 hits and 16 runs in cruising to the win while the Chukars couldn’t keep pace with their seven hits and five runs.
Ricky Aracena 2-4 2R, 2b, HR
Meibrys Viloria 1-3 2R, RBI
David Edwards 2-4 3b, RBI
Burlington Royals 8 Greeneville, Astros 4
A seven run third inning built a big lead for Burlington that they would hang onto for the win. Four hits, three walks and a pair of Astros errors helped the Royals with the seven runs with Boo Vazquez’s three run home run playing a big part in the inning. Travis Eckert earned the win by working five innings with just one run allowed to improve to 2-0 on the year. The win pushed the Royals into first place by a half of a game over the Bluefield Blue Jays and Pulaski Yankees.
Travis Eckert 5 IP 4 H 1 ER 0 BB 3 K 9-0 GO-FO
Nicky Lopez 2-5 2R, RBI, 2SB (12)
Emmanuel Rivera 1-4 R, 2b, RBI, BB
AZL Royals 13 AZL Mariners 1
A pair of runs in the second inning on a RBI single by Oliver Nunez and a productive groundout by Chase Livingston got things started for the Royals before Khalil Lee pushed the game out of reach. Before Lee did that however Glenn Sparkman tossed his best rehab start yet, tossing three innings of scoreless ball while striking out four and only allowing an infield single. Up 3-0 already Lee hit a grand slam in the fourth inning to push the M’s into a huge hole to dig out from. The Royals pushed that lead to 12 with a three run seventh and three more in the eighth after the Mariners scored their only run.
Khalil Lee 2-4 2R, HR, 4 RBI, BB
Chase Vallot 0-2 BB, 2K
Glenn Sparkman 3 IP 1 H 0 R 0BB 4 K 3-1 GO-FO
DSL Rays 3 DSL Royals 2
A pair of runs in the last two innings blew an opportunity at a Royals win. The DSL squad had taken the lead on a Dennicher Carrasco sacrifice fly in the sixth inning but that lead would be given up two innings later with a Rays sac fly. In the ninth a hit by pitch pushed a runner into scoring position where he would score from two hitters later on a two out single.
Raymond Lopez 2-4 R, CS (3)
Ismaldo Rodriguez 1-3 R, BB, SB (4)
Jeicol Escotto 3 IP 0 H 0 R 0 BB 3 K 4-1 GO-FO