The Royals affiliates went 3-0 with a win in the Dominican Summer League by the rookie squad.
HR Roll Call: Jorge Soler (5), Bubba Starling (3), Brandon Downes (4), Ismaldo Rodriguez (2)
BPKC Hitter of the Day: Bubba Starling 2-3, HR, 2b
BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Miguel Almonte 5 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, 2-2 GO-FO, 75p/49k
Omaha Storm Chasers 4, Nashville Sounds 2
The Chasers scored a couple late runs to win the first game of their home series with Nashville.
Starter Miguel Almonte missed out on the win despite leaving with a 2-0 lead. The Royals righty worked five innings with eight strikeouts on just 75 pitches, navigating around five hits and a pair of walks. He did this with the strikeouts, but also got some help from his backstop Brayan Pena after he threw out a pair of would-be base stealers.
The lead was given to Almonte on home runs by Bubba Starling and Jorge Soler in the second inning. After reliever Brian Flynn gave up the lead on a two-run home run in the sixth, Omaha struck back with a run in their half of the inning. Prospect Hunter Dozier drove in that run with a single. In the seventh, Starling’s double pushed Terrance Gore to third where he would score on the next groundout from Dean Anna.
Reliever Malcom Culver worked a scoreless ninth to earn his fourth save of the year.
Hunter Dozier 2-4, RBI
Ramon Torres 2-4, R, SB
Jorge Soler 1-4, HR
Wilmington Blue Rocks 5, Down East Wood Ducks 4
The Rocks secured a series win in Kinston, North Carolina with a second win over the Rangers affiliate.
Wilmington built a 4-0 lead with a two-run single by catcher Nate Esposito in the second inning and solo runs in the third and fourth innings. In the third, Brandon Downes hit a 422 foot home run to left center, his third since coming off the disabled list on May 31st. An error pushed the advantage to four in the fourth before starter Andres Machado ran into some trouble in his half of the inning.
Starting just his second game of the year, Machado worked six innings, giving up three runs in the fourth on a pair of singles sandwiched around a triple and a hit batter. He got out of the inning with a double play to keep the lead.
In the seventh, Esposito came through with a one out RBI ground out to push the Wilmington lead back to two, giving reliever Franco Terrero just enough wiggle room to earn the save after giving up a solo home run in the ninth.
Brandon Downes 2-4, HR, BB
Nathan Esposito 3-4, 3 RBI
Anderson Miller 2-4, 2-2b, BB, OF Assist
DSL Royals 2, DSL Red Sox 0
The Royals improved to 2-0 with a two run shoutout. First baseman Ismaldo Rodriguez hit his second home run in as many games while Delvin Capellan worked five scoreless innings for the win.
Delvin Capellan 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K, 5-3 GO-FO
Felix Familia 1-3, R, BB
Ismaldo Rodrigues 2-4, HR