It was a solid day for the Royals affiliates on Wednesday, going 5-2. Triple-A All-Star Raul Mondesi didn’t participate in the All-Star game likely due to the injury sustained in his last regular season game.
HR Roll Call: Samir Duenez (12), Emmanuel Rivera (9), Vance Vizcaino (2), Jose Caraballo (2)
BPKC Hitter of the Day: MJ Melendez 3-3, 3 RBI, BB
BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Jace Vines 8 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, HBP, WP, 98p/69k, 13-4 GO-FO
NW Arkansas Naturals 7, Tulsa Drillers 4
Back from the Futures Game, Foster Griffin gave up a pair of home runs in the second inning, but settled the ship from there, earning his seventh Double-A win. The offense scored two runs in three different innings after Tulsa had taken that second inning lead, with Samir Duenez driving in four while hitting his twelfth home run of the year.
Reliever Richard Lovelady has now gone 18 appearances without allowing an earned run. That’s a scoreless streak of 31.2 innings between High-A and Double-A for the lefty.
Samir Duenez 2-5, 2R, HR, 4 RBI
Nicky Lopez 2-5, R
Anderson Miller 1-4, RBI
Foster Griffin 5 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 2 HR, 5-2 GO-FO, 84p/63k
Richard Lovelady 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 K, 1 BB, 1 K, 1-1 GO-FO, 28p/17k
Wilmington Blue Rocks 5, Lynchburg Hillcats 4 F/13
The Rocks won in the thirteenth inning when Wander Franco scored on a wild pitch.
Chase Vallot 1-5, 2b, BB, 3 K
Chris DeVito 1-6, RBI, 2 K
Brandon Downes 0-6, 3 K
Lexington Legends 9, Delmarva Shorebirds 2
The Legends jumped out with six runs in the first three innings which carried plenty of weight for starter Jace Vines, who tossed a career-high eight innings. Second baseman Gabe Cancel has been carrying a big stick as of late, hitting .452/.478/.810 over his last 10 games.
Khalil Lee 1-4, R, 3b, 2 RBI, BB
Emmanuel Rivera 2-4, 2R, HR, 3 RBI, BB
Gabe Cancel 3-5
Jace Vines 8 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 13-4 GO-FO, 98p/69k
Helena Brewers 7, Idaho Falls Chukars 4
The league’s worst pitching staff continued their struggles, allowing six earned runs (7 runs total) to keep their team ERA above 7.00. Outfielder Vance Vizcaino extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a home run. During the streak, Vizcaino is hitting .396/.423/.688 with eight extra base hits.
Vance Vizcaino 2-4, HR, 2 RBI
Amalani Fukofuka 2-5, R, CS (1)
Elizabethton Twins 9, Burlington Royals 3
A rough return to the Appy League for lefty Joey Markus, taking the loss and giving up six runs in three innings in Burlington’s defeat.
Michael Gigliotti 2-5
Jeison Guzman 0-5, hitting just .154 to start his year
Seuly Matias 0-5, K, E (4)
Cal Jones 3-4, R
AZL Royals 8, AZL Cubs 0
The Royals got a combined shutout from three different pitchers while the bats pounded out 10 hits and eight runs. The Royals second round pick, MJ Melendez continued his impressive play going 3 for 3 with 3 RBI at the plate, while also throwing out one attempted base stealer.
Boxscore Link
Esteury Ruiz 2-5, 2R, RBI, 2 SB (7)
Nick Pratto 1-4, 2R, 2b, RBI, BB
MJ Melendez 3-3, 3 RBI, BB, 1-2 CS/Att
DSL Royals 4, DSL Rays1 2
They only picked up three hits, but the Royals crossed the plate three times in the first inning. That was enough behind a good pitching effort.
Rovaldis Cabrera 4 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 5-1 GO-FO
Warling Vicente 2-3, 2R, BB
Reynin Reynoso 1-3, R, 2b, 2 RBI, BB