A 5-2 day with three wins in extra innings on Tuesday.
HR Roll Call Dennicher Carrasco (5)
BP KC Hitter of the Day – Corey Toups 3-6 2R, 2b, 3 RBI
BP KC Pitcher of the Day – Mike Minor 3.1 IP 2 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 5 K 4-0 GO-FO 63p/45k
Omaha Storm Chasers 1 Iowa Cubs 0
A couple of rehabbing major league pitchers put the two offenses on ice Tuesday afternoon in Omaha. Cubs Trevor Cahill and Royals Mike Minor both worked into the fourth inning during their rehab appearance, dominating the two clubs while on the hill. It was Minor’s second rehab outing since coming back from shoulder discomfort, the lefty put away five hitters via strikeout while working around a pair of Omaha errors and an infield single in his three and one-third scoreless innings. Tossing his fastball in the 90-94 mph range Minor exhibited better control and command of his three pitch mix. The two teams bullpens kept the clubs silent despite plenty of base runners until a seventh inning bases loaded two out hit by pitch of Tony Cruz forced home a Omaha run. In that inning Omaha received a leadoff double by Orlando Calixte, an infield single by Whit Merrifield and an intentional walk of Reymond Fuentes to load the bases only to watch Hunter Dozier foul out and Jorge Bonifacio strikeout to put the rally in danger prior to the hit by pitch from Cubs reliever Felix Pena. That run ended up being the difference maker as three Chasers relievers finished off the final five and two-third innings scoreless to split the series for Omaha.
Mike Minor 3.1 IP 2 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 5 K 4-0 GO-FO 63p/45k
Whit Merrifield 3-4 2b
Orlando Calixte 1-4 R, 2b, BB
NW Arkansas Naturals 8 Arkansas Travelers 7 F/13
The Naturals walked it off on Tuesday after giving up an early lead. The Naturals used a six run third inning to build an early lead, using four singles and a Frank Schwindel double to apply the damage. Starter Eric Skoglund and reliever Tim Hill were unable to hold that lead after Skoglund gave up three runs in the fourth, two coming via Eric Aguilera’s two run home run. After Hill yielded a pair of runs in the seventh the Naturals Corey Toups doubled and scored to regain the lead, Toups had driven in two runs in the third inning rally and was putting his signature on the game. The lead was safe until the ninth inning when the Angels latest addition from the Red Sox, Sean Coyle, when deep for the second time in the game to knot things up and send the game to extra innings. It took until the thirteenth inning until the Naturals could grab hold of the game on Toups walkoff single to score Humberto Arteaga who had walked to leadoff the inning. The win gave the Naturals a one game lead in the division.
Corey Toups 3-6 2R, 2b, 3 RBI
Frank Schwindel 2-6 R, 2b, RBI
Carlos Garcia 2-4 R
Salem Red Sox 6 Wilmington Blue Rocks 1
The Rocks faced one of the better pitching prospects in their second game of the series with Salem and things didn’t work out too well. The fireballing Texan, Michael Kopech, blew the the Rocks away with his 99 mph fastball for 10 strikeouts in six shutout inning with just an Austin Bailey fifth inning single and a walk allowed to earn the win. Wilmington stayed in the game for a while as rehabbing Triple-A starter Andy Ferguson allowed just a run scoring single in his six innings of work. That wouldn’t last however as relievers Derek Gordon and Jake Newberry gave up five runs in the seventh inning while walking four and giving up four hits, all credited to Gordon. The 6-0 Salem lead was more than enough to earn the victory with Wilmington pushing just one late inning run across in the loss.
Andy Ferguson 6 IP 4 H 1 R 1 ER 0 BB 6 K 3-5 GO-FO 90p/58k
Brandon Downes 1-4
Mike Hill 1-4
Lexington Legends 5 Rome Braves F/14
The Legends won in 14 innings after the two teams exchanged early leads. Starter A.J. Puckett gave up a pair of runs (1 ER) in his five innings as he was less the sharp, walking a pair early and earning just one strikeout while on the hill. Trailing 2-1 Lexington grabbed the lead back on Travis Maezes two run double, his fourteenth double of the year. Reliever Matt Ditman would blow the lead in the ninth after giving up a leadoff home run. The two teams would exchange zeroes until the fourteenth frame when Colton Frabasilio would plate two Legends runs with a two out triple. Lefty Mark McCoy finished off the win with a perfect bottom half of the inning to guarantee the series win and go for the sweep on Wednesday.
Xavier Fernandez 3-5 R
Colton Frabasilio 2-6 3b, 2 RBI
AJ Puckett 5 IP 3 H 2 R 1 ER 2 BB 1 K 68p/43k
Bluefield Blue Jays 5 Burlington Royals 0
The Royals dropped a second game in a row to Bluefield despite 17 strikeouts from their pitching staff. Starter Andre Davis walked two and gave up two singles in the first inning that allowed the Blue Jays to score a pair of runs despite three strikeouts in the frame. The lefty would also K the side in the second inning prior to giving way to David McKay who promptly hit a batter and gave up a run on a double prior to striking out two. The Jays would tack on a home run in the sixth and the eighty all while the Royals offense was unable to get much of anything going on their end, collecting just two hits in the shutout loss.
Andre Davis 2 IP 2 H 2R 2 ER 2 Bb 6 K
David McKay 4 IP 2 H 2 R 2 ER 1 BB 7 K 4-1 GO-FO
Justin Camp 1 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 2 K 0-1 GO-FO
AZL Royals 3 AZL White Sox 2 F/10
The Royals gave up a lead in the ninth only to win it in the tenth. In the tenth inning Robby Rinn doubled in John Brontsema who had singled and stolen second with two out in the inning. The White Sox would get the tying run to second with no out, but Taylor Kaczmarek was able to close things out for the win.
Robby Rinn 1-5 R, 2b, 2 RBI
John Brontsema 3-5 R
Dillon Drabble 5 IP 2 H 1 ER 1 BB 4 K 5-2 GO-FO
DSL Royals 8 DSL Astros Blue 5
The Royals got back to their winning ways Tuesday after the bullpen settled things down for their starter. Starter Darwin Feliz, who was nearly perfect in his last outing, struggled in this one with four runs allowed and unable to continue after the first inning. The Royals would put two on the board themselves in the first and the teams would exchange runs in the second before the Royals bullpen settled things down with seven consecutive scoreless innings. Trailing 5-3, Dennicher Carrasco launched his fifth home run of the season to tie the game up. From there the score remain tied until eighth when four singles lead to three Royals runs, including Jose Torres’ single that plated two runs in the frame. The win helped push the Royals within a half of a game of the Astros and one game behind the first place Red Sox1.
Raymond Lopez 1-3 R, BB
Dennicher Carrasco 2-5 2R, HR, 2 RBI
Andres Martin 3-5 R, 2 RBI, SB (8)