Two wins and two losses with a Lexington split of a doubleheader and a Wilmington rainout.
HR Roll Call: Amalani Fukofuka (3)
BP KC Hitter of the Day – Samir Duenez 2 games, 4-7, 3R, 2-2b, RBI
BP KC Pitcher of the Day – Scott Blewett 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 11-3 GO-FO, 82p/53k
— Kansas City sent down Brian Flynn with Chris Young coming off the 15 day DL.
— Third baseman Brian Bien, 2015 31st rd pick, was assigned to Wilmington from Arizona.
El Paso Chihuahuas 7 Omaha Storm Chasers 2
A game got away from starter Christian Binford and the Omaha Storm Chasers Saturday night in their second consecutive loss to El Paso. The Omaha starter was looking to give his team a sixth consecutive quality start and a seventh start of two or less runs. Things were looking good as he started the eighth at two runs allowed on a pair of solo home runs. Things got away quickly with a pair of walks allowed and a triple that plated those two. A fifth run came across against Binford when reliever Clayton Mortensen gave up a double to Alex Dickerson. Soon after Hunter Renfroe plated the Chihuahaus another run in the inning on a mammoth home run to left-center. The Chasers wouldn’t threaten rest of the way, going down in quick fashion to drop to 0-2 in the series and lose their third consecutive game.
Christian Binford 7 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 3-9 GO-FO, 101p/63k
Jorge Bonifacio 0-4, 4k
Balbino Fuenmayor 1-3, 2b, RBI, BB
NW Arkansas Naturals 6 Corpus Christi 5 F/12
Starter Matt Strahm handled the Corpus Christi offense for all but one inning in his six innings of work in game two of their series Saturday. The lefty tossed 100 pitches, 65 for strikes, giving up a run in only the third inning. It was that third inning that may have cost the lefty the win as he gave up four hits, three for extra bases, including a two run home run from J.D. Davis. Overall, the lefty gave up seven hits with one walk while striking out six hitters. The Naturals used three singles and a Hooks error to score three in the fourth before adding single runs in the sixth and seventh to briefly take the lead. The game went to extras after Yender Caramo gave up a run in the bottom half of the seventh and stayed that way until the 12th inning when a Frank Swindle seeing-eye single up the middle narrowly evaded the diving Alex Bregman to give NW Arkansas a 6-5 lead. Lefty reliever Eric Stout would close things out in the 12th to finish off an impressive run, that along with Kevin McCarthy, saw the two combine for four innings of scoreless relief.
Matt Strahm 6 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 3-4 GO-FO, 100p/65k
Kevin McCarthy 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 2-2 GO-FO, 32p/24k
Carlos Garcia 2-5, 2 R, 2b, BB
Game 1
Lexington Legends 8 Hagerstown Suns 1
Starter Scott Blewett had struggled with his control for most of the season heading into his start in game one of the doubleheader. That would not be the case in this one, as the big 6’6 righty pitched as efficient game as he ever has in his pro career. Tossing just 82 pitches over seven inning, Blewett bombed the zone with 53 strikes, earning 11 groundouts in the process while also striking out five hitters. Entering the game Blewett had walked 25 hitters in just 43.2 innings with no fewer than two in any game until today, when he avoided a single free baserunner. The offense rewarded Blewett’s one run shortened complete game with eight runs of their own as the 3-4-5 hitters combined for six hits and six rbi that included a three run home run by Amalani Fukofuka, his fourth of the season.
Chase Vallot 2-3, R, 2b, RBI, BB
Roman Collins 1-4, 2b, R, RBI
Samir Duenez 3-4, 3R, 2-2b, RBI
Game 2
Hagerstown Suns 5 Lexington Legends 0
Righty Gerson Garabito’s start in the second game wasn’t quite as effective as Blewett’s, with the young 20 year old unable to get through four innings. The Suns connected for three doubles and a home run in that time to plate four runs over 3.1 innings off Gerson. The loss would be his to claim as the Legends couldn’t get their offense rolling, collecting just five hits in the seven inning shortened game. Reliever Nik Stephenson had one of his better outings of the season in replacement of the starter with 2.2 innings of one hit ball.
Chase Vallot 1-3
Gerson Garabito 3.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 2-3 GO-FO, 71p/36k
Nik Stephenson 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K