A 4-3 night for the affiliates on Friday.
HR Roll Call Orlando Calixte (10), Zane Evans (5), Nicky Lopez (5), Seuly Matias (8), Khalil Lee (6)
BP KC Hitter of the Day – Orlando Calixte 3-4 3R, HR, 2 RBI
BP KC Pitcher of the Day – Derek Gordon 4 IP 2 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 5 K 5-1 GO-FO 64p/44k
Omaha Storm Chasers 11 Fresno Grizzlies 7
The Chasers bid the west coast adieu for the 2016 season with a big offensive night in Fresno. The two teams combined for 13 runs through the first four innings with Omaha’s six run third inning pacing them with a 7-6 lead. That one run of separation would last until sixth when Jorge Bonifacio would connect on a bases clearing double to push the lead to 10-6. It was one of two doubles on the night for Bonifacio with he and Orlando Calixte driving in seven of the teams 11 runs. All nine hitters in the lineup had at least one hit with the team punching out 15 total. The bullpen would pickup struggling Mike Minor Benino Pruneda leading the way with six K’s over three innings to earn the win.
Benino Pruneda 3 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 2 BB 6 K
Hunter Dozier 1-2 3R, RBI, 2 BB
Jorge Bonifacio 3-5 R, 2-2b, 4 RBI
San Antonio Missions 5 NW Arkansas Naturals 4
After losing over a year to Tommy John surgery Royals prospect Glenn Sparkman was back at Double-A on Friday. The right-handed starting pitcher worked four scoreless innings, but ran into trouble in between. The third inning featured back to back home runs off Sparkman that accounted for four runs in the inning and put he and his team behind. The Naturals would trail the entire evening, twice getting within a run before dropping the game 5-4. A pair of walks would push the tying run into scoring position, but after an Alfredo Escalera groundout to bring the game within a run a Corey Toups strikeout would end the affair.
Glenn Sparkman 5 IP 6 H 4 R 4 ER 2 BB 5 K 3-5 GO-FO 82p/57k
Alfredo Escalera 2-5 2b, RBI
Zane Evans 2-4 HR
Wilmington Blue Rocks 2 Carolina Mudcats 1
The Rocks did the most with little to push their winning streak to five games. With the game tied at 0-0 into the seventh inning shortstop Carlos Diaz connected on a two run double to give Wilmington a lead. Four pitchers combined to earn the win as the Rocks turned to a bullpen staff victory with Sam Lewis earning his first High-A win despite giving up Wilmington’s only run on the evening.
Derek Gordon 4 Ip 2 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 5 K
Carlos Diaz 2-3 2b, 2 RBI, CS (5)
Samir Duenez 1-4 2b
Hagerstown Suns 4 Lexington Legends 1
The Legends score a run in the first before the bats went silent the rest of the night. Just two singles from the second through ninth innings for Lexington as the Suns pitching staff made quick work of Legends hitters. The game was in Lexington’s favor until the fifth when a walk by Julio Pinto, a wild pitch and a throwing error by Chase Vallot evened things up for Hagerstown. That scored stayed static until the eighth when Yunior Marte plunked a couple of hitters and allowed three singles that scored three runs for the bad guys. Those runs were plenty to win the game with Lexington’s hitters unable to get much done on their end.
Julio Pinto 5 Ip 4 H 1 R 1 ER 1 BB 5 K 4-5 GO-FO 75p/50k
Yunior Marte 4 IP 5 H 3 R 2 ER 0 BB 8 K 3-0 GO-FO 78p/51k
Roman Collins 1-3 R, BB, CS (5)
Elizabethton Twins 5 Burlington Royals 4
The Royals gave up a run late to drop their fourth game in a row. After Garrett Davila gave up a pair of runs in the first two innings on his way to three runs in a shortened four innings the Royals rebounded with a three run third to take a lead. In that third a Nicky Lopez solo home run and a two run double by Chris DeVito gave Burlington a 4-2 lead. The Twins would score a run in the fourth off a leadoff triple and a single before hitting a solo home run in the fifth to tie the game. The game would stay tied until the ninth when the Twins manufactured a run with a pair of singles and a sac bunt. The Royals would get the tying run to third base with one out in the ninth, but were unable to push him across in the loss.
Nicky Lopez 3-4 2R, 3b, HR, RBI
Jose Sanchez 3-5 R, 2b, 3b
Chris DeVito 1-4 2b, 3 RBI
AZL Royals 8 AZL Brewers 5
A pair of youngsters powered the Royals to a win over the Brewers. Things got going early when 17 year old Seuly Matias hit his league leading eighth home run to put the Royals up 3-0. The Brewers would rally against starter Anthony Bender for four runs over the next three innings as the righty had difficulty despite eight strikeouts on the night. Now trailing 4-3 the Royals 18 year old Khalil Lee would start off the sixth with a triple and come around on a single by Oliver Nunez. Also in that inning Matias and Nunez would score on Dalton Griffin’s double to give the Royals the lead back at 6-4. That score would stand until the ninth when Lee would connect on a two run home run, his sixth of the year to give the Royals plenty of insurance to secure the win.
Khalil Lee 2-4 3R, 3b, HR, 2 RBI
Seuly Matias 2-3 2R, HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB
Anthony Bender 4 IP 6 H 4 R 3 ER 1 BB 8 K 4-1 GO-FO
DSL Royals 8 DSL A’s 1
The Royals used five A’s errors to help them towards eight runs and a convincing win Friday. A fielding error in the first inning helped open the door to a four run inning and a throwing error recreated the four run pattern in the seventh. That was plenty for a pitching staff that leads the league in team ERA at just 2.03. Three pitchers combined to give up just one unearned run while earning nine groundouts and six strikeouts in the win.
Janser Lara 3 IP 2 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 3 K
Jose Tapia 3 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 1 K
Esteury Ruiz 1-3 2R, 2b, RBI