A 2-2 day for the Royals minor league squads with wins at Low-A and Double-A.
HR Roll Call: Jorge Soler (3), Garin Cecchini (1), Samir Duenez (4), Meibrys Viloria (1)
BPKC Hitter of the Day: Meibrys Viloria 2-3, HR, 2 RBI, BB
BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Jace Vines 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 10-2 GO-FO, 94p/56k
Memphis Redbirds 6, Omaha Storm Chasers 4 F/10
The largest Werner Park crowd of the season witnessed the second game of series between Memphis and Omaha on Wednesday afternoon. They were treated to bonus baseball for the fifth time already in just their 25th game played.
The Chasers picked up quality starting pitching again in this one, with Luke Farrell allowing just one run in his five innings of work. The lone run off Farrell came in the fifth via a sacrifice fly after maneuvering around baserunners in three of his first four innings. It was his ability to earn a K on this day that helped him navigate around four walks and four hits as Farrell put away a season high nine in this one.
Following Farrell in the sixth, reliever Eric Stout’s pitching didn’t match his surname, as he allowed three runs in just two-thirds of an inning to put behind Omaha 4-1. The Chasers would come back immediately in their half of the inning with three runs of their own, the last two of which scored on a Garin Cecchini two-run home run that the lefty hitter banged off the third base foul pole, slightly more than 310 feet away.
The game remained tied until the tenth when the Redbirds would untie it off reliever Bobby Parnell with a pair of doubles sandwiched around a walk that plated two runs. The walk was a common theme for Omaha pitching as four separate pitchers teamed to walk 10 Memphis hitters during the game that the Chasers let slip through their grasp.
Jorge Soler 2-5, HR
Luke Farrell 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 9 K, 1-3 GO-FO, 98p/57k
Bubba Starling 1-3, RBI, HBP
NW Arkansas Naturals 4, Springfield Cardinals 1
A rain delay couldn’t deter the Naturals from building on their first place lead during against the second place Cardinals Wednesday afternoon.
The Cardinals jumped on starter Corey Ray for a run in the first with three consecutive singles before he could right the ship in the inning and the rest of his start. From there he worked four consecutive scoreless innings. In three of those innings, Springfield put a runner into scoring position including two innings with leadoff doubles, but Ray wiggled around those threats.
The pitcher was rewarded with his third win of the season after the Naturals ran off four consecutive single-run innings from the fourth through the seventh. Four separate Naturals hitters scored, including Samir Duenez who blasted his fourth home run of the season to finish off the scoring before Jake Newberry closed things out for his fourth save.
Corey Ray 5 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 4-4 GO-FO, 76p/47k
Donald Dewees 2-5, R, 2-2b
Samir Duenez 1-4, HR
Salem Red Sox 4, Wilmington Blue Rocks 3
The Blue Rocks rallied multiple times on Wednesday evening before dropping the rubber game of their series with Salem.
Things got off to a less than ideal start for Foster Griffin in the first inning, when the lefty would allow a three-run home run Josh Ockimey. Despite that blow, Griffin rallied himself to set a new personal best with nine strikeouts, giving up just four hits total to finish off his fourth quality start in five tries this season.
The Blue Rock offense, with aid from the Red Sox defense, would get Griffin off the hook for the loss with unearned runs in the sixth and seventh inning, tying the game. That wouldn’t last though, as the Rocks manager Jamie Quirk would choose to let Yunior Marte pitch versus Michael Chavis in the eighth. That proved to be a poor strategy, with the former first rounder lacing a double to push the Red Sox back ahead 4-3.
The home squad would threaten in the eighth and ninth innings, putting the tying run into scoring position in both but failing to push the run home. The ninth inning rally was particularly troubling when Elier Hernandez advanced to third base with just one out on Anderson Miller’s third hit of the game, only to watch Chase Vallot and Wander Franco strikeout to end the game.
Anderson Miller 3-5, R, 2SB (8), extended on-base streak to 18 games
Roman Collins 3-3, RBI, BB
Foster Griffin 6 IP, 4 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, 3-4 GO-FO, 92p/58k
Lexington Legends 5, Greensboro Grasshoppers 2
The Legends used quality pitching and some early runs to secure a series win in Greensboro on Wednesday morning.
The Royals 2016 4th round pick Jace Vines matched his career high with six innings of work, shutting out the Grasshoppers during that time thanks to 10 groundouts. The Marlins affiliate was able to get just two singles off Vines as he worked around three walks. Piggybacker Garrett Davila allowed the only runs in the game on a two-run home run in the eighth inning, his fourth allowed this year.
Those runs weren’t enough after Lexington had dented the scoreboard four times in the first two innings. In the first, Gabe Cancel hit his team leading 11th double of the season to drive in Angelo Castellano who had reached on a walk. The big inning came in the second frame with a two-run home run by Meibrys Viloria, his first, and a RBI single off the bat of Ricky Aracena to drive in Amalani Fukofuka.
The lead was extended to 5-0 in the fourth when Fukofuka scored on Marten Gasparini’s single, securing the team’s second winning road series in a row.
Khalil Lee 2-4, 2b, R
Amalani Fukofuka 2-3, 2R, 2SB (2), BB
Garrett Davila 3 IP, 4 H, 2R, 2ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 2-3 GO-FO, 43p/27k