HR Roll Call: Frank Schwindel (24), Donnie Dewees (8), MJ Melendez 2 (18,19), Brewer Hicklen (16), Chase Vallot (13)
BPKC Hitter of the Day: MJ Melendez 2-4 2 HR, 2 RBI
BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Stephen Greenlees 3.2 IP 2 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 6 K 0-4 GO-FO 50p/34k
Augusta GreenJackets 5 Lexington Legends 4
Lexington starter Jackson Kowar wasn’t quite as sharp as he had been in his previous two starts as the right-hander gave up a run in his two and one-third innings of work. The righty, after working a perfect first inning, gave up a hit and a walk in the second before getting out of the jam. In his final inning of work, Kowar struckout the first hitter allowed a single and walked a hitter before being lifted for Garrett Davila who allowed one of the runners around to score. After a couple of scoreless innings, Davila ran into trouble in the sixth inning with a single and a walk sandwiched around a couple of outs. Manager Scott Thorman elected to go to the bullpen with Robert Garcia but the power lefty struggled with his control, walking a pair of batters and uncorking a wild pitch and a wild throw that allowed two runs to come in to tie the game. After a third walk, another wild pitch gave Augusta the lead. Outfielder Brewer Hicklen connected on a solo home run the very next inning to tie the game. It was Lexington’s third home run of the night having already received the 18th and 19th home runs of the season from MJ Melendez earlier in the game. Tied 4-4, the Legends ran into some misfortune as a Nick Pratto throw to second in an attempt to double off a runner would bounce off the back of Heliot Ramos, allowing him to get to third base. One hitter later a sacrifice fly would give Augusta the lead. That lead held up until the ninth where Kyle Isbel would make a play for the fourth home run of the game for Lexington but his fly and the Legends comeback bid would die at the wall to end the game.
Brewer Hicklen: 3-4 HR, 2b, 2 RBI
Nick Pratto: 1-3 R, BB, 2K, SB (21)
Jackson Kowar: 2.1 IP 2 H 1 R 1 ER 2 BB 3 K 3-1 GO-FO 51p/30k
Lynchburg Hillcats 10 Wilmington Blue Rocks 7
The Wilmington bullpen couldn’t hold a two-run lead and may have put the team’s season on the brink with their loss on Tuesday. After starter Andres Sotillet’s struggles continued with five runs allowed in the first two innings the Rocks offense countered with seven runs of their own including a pair of two-run home runs by Emmanuel Rivera and D.J. Burt. Despite that 7-5 lead reliever Corey Ray and Anthony Bender struggled in the seventh innings, giving up a solo home run, two walks, and three consecutive singles during the four run inning. That lead would be enough with Wilmington’s offense getting stymied over the last four innings in the loss. The loss put Wilmington five games back with just seven games to play.
Emmanuel Rivera: 3-5 HR, 2 RBI, CS
D.J. Burt: 1-4 HR, 2 RBI, BB, SB (31)
Meibrys Viloria: 1-4 2R, BB
Tulsa Drillers 6 NW Arkansas Naturals 5
The Naturals Scott Blewett struggled early with three runs allowed in the first inning before settling in for an eight-inning start. The big righty would give up two more runs in that time but each time the offense would have the answer, scoring single runs in the first three innings and a pair in the seventh to tie things back up. Tied 5-5 in the ninth, reliever Franco Terrero failed to get an out, giving up a pair of singles before committing a throwing error on a safety squeeze which allowed Tulsa to walk the game off for the win. The loss pushed the Naturals season one step closer to ending, now 4.5 games back of the Drillers for first place with seven games to play.
Erick Mejia: 1-4 2R, 2b, BB, SB (34)
Samir Duenez: 1-3 RBI, BB
Jecksson Flores: 1-2 R, RBI, BB, SB (26)
Colorado Springs Sky Sox 4 Omaha Storm Chasers 3
Reliever Richard Lovelady blew his third save of the season after allowing two runs in the seventh inning in the first game of the series with Colorado Springs. The two runs put Omaha down 4-3 after Frank Schwindel and Donnie Dewees had hit a pair of home runs to give the Chasers the lead. Down 4-3 in the ninth Omaha would move the tying run 90 feet away but Jorge Soler struckout to end the game and eliminate the Chasers from the playoff race.
Nicky Lopez: 0-3 BB
Frank Schwindel: 2-4 HR
Donnie Dewees: 2-4 HR, 2 RBI
Bluefield Blue Jays 5 Burlington Royals 4
The Royals starter Malcolm Van Buren’s struggles continued on Tuesday night. After working three shutout innings that featured six strikeouts, his control wavered in the fourth. A pair of walks sandwiched around a double and a single ended his day with one out in the inning and eventually four runs to his line. Those runs and another in the sixth inning off reliever Jose DeLeon put Burlington behind 5-0. A three-run rally in the sixth inning that featured RBI hits by Eric Cole and Brhet Bewley and another run in the seventh got the Royals within a run but they were unable to get the last run in the loss.
Eric Cole: 1-4 R, RBI
Brhet Bewley: 2-3 RBI, SB (7)
Isaiah Henry: 1-4 R 3K
Grand Junction Rockies 5 Idaho Falls Chukars 3
Playing for a chance to take the wildcard lead in Pioneer League playoffs, the Chukars didn’t get a good start from Kris Bubic. The Stanford lefty worked just three innings, walking five hitters and hitting another in that time while also giving up three hits to allow four runs in that time. Those runs countered Chase Vallot’s two-run home run in the second inning. The Chukars scored in the fourth frame to pull within a run but could get no closer in the loss.
Chase Vallot: 1-3 2R, HR, 2 RBI
Jose Caraballo: 1-3 BB
Kris Bubic: 3 IP 3 H 4 R 4 ER 5 BB 3 K 2-3 GO-FO 72p/41k
| Wednesday Probables | W | L | ERA | WHIP | |
| Omaha | Ian Kennedy | ||||
| NW Arkansas Gm 1 | Foster Griffin | 10 | 12 | 5.05 | 1.53 |
| NW Arkansas Gm 2 | Luis Lugo | 1 | 1 | 4.91 | 1.58 |
| Wilmington | Ofreidy Gomez | 5 | 10 | 3.61 | 1.46 |
| Lexington | Daniel Lynch | 5 | 0 | 1.46 | 1.06 |
| Burlington | Marlin Willis | 3 | 4 | 7.57 | 2.10 |
| Idaho Falls | C.J. Eldred | 5 | 2 | 5.93 | 1.35 |