Not that there was much drama to be had anyway. All three: Cheslor Cuthbert, Brian Flynn and Jesse Hahn were projected to make between $1 million and $1.7 million. Once the club decided to tender contracts, the differences at the open of negotiations were always going to be easy to overcome. 

As written in this space last week, the pitchers were obvious candidates for a contract, Cuthbert less so. By keeping the price below a million, the Royals leverage their meagre offseason war chest, so why not keep him around for another go? We already know what he brings to third base, but competition is healthy. At least that’s what I’m telling myself at this point of the winter.

By avoiding arbitration with their three remaining candidates, the Royals now have nine players under contract for the upcoming season at a total commitment of $72 million.

This is relevant because the Royals stated desire is for their Opening Day payroll to land somewhere in the $90 million neighborhood. That means they have around $18 million left in the kitty to divide among 16 players left to fill out the roster. Per the current CBA, we do know the major league minimum salary will be $555,000. 

Let’s just cut the crap and state the obvious: There are going to be a lot of minimum wage earners on next year’s team. 

Of course, that’s by design. It’s been written before and bears repeating that it just doesn’t make sense to throw good money at a bad baseball team. Yes, last year’s Royals team was all about bad baseball, never mind how you felt in September. There’s a decent chance they will improve, but really, it’s difficult to not have that good old dead cat bounce following a 104 loss season. 

Whit Merrifield played for $24,500 over the league minimum last year and bumping his WARP from 2.5 in his sophomore season to 4.3 last year, should get some sort of reward. But let’s not get carried away. It would be decent of the Royals to reward their best player, but there are plenty of internal pressures from within MLB to keep the gift-giving to a minimum in the short term. The system is the system is the system. Maybe he earns around $600,000 next season. 

So those free agent lists that go over 100 deep? If you’re aiming to guess as to who the Royals would bring in to fill out their roster, start in triple-digits and work your way down.

Meanwhile, the Royals chose not to tender four players prior to Friday’s deadline, making all four free agents. All four were expected to sign minor league deals and remain with the team.

The only surprising thing about Bubba Starling these days is when you remember he’s still playing baseball. The Royals added him to the 40-man roster in November of 2015 to keep him protected from that year’s Rule 5 draft. Since then, he’s amassed 800 plate appearances due to injury. It’s just not going to happen for the guy. Keep him around as an organizational guy at this point.

Jason Adam saw a handful of innings in Kansas City last summer and was a nice story as the local kid who makes good. Except he was underwhelming out of the bullpen. In 32 innings, he surrendered 30 hits, nine of which left the yard. His chase rate was average and he was able to miss bats on occasion. It’s just when contact was made, it was generally hard. On a team looking for bullpen help, it’s a bit of a surprise to me they would remove him from the roster, but it makes sense if they’re going to bring him back. Maybe he’s an adjustment or two away from being a cromulent bullpen piece. 

He got a cup of coffee in 2017, but Andres Machado boarded the struggle bus at the opening of last season. After getting raked at Triple-A (9.72 ERA and 16 walks in 25 innings), he was demoted to Double-A. He found his footing there, but was still allowing far too many baserunners. He’s currently getting lit up in the Venezuela Winter League (5.27 ERA and 1.902 WHIP in 13.2 innings).

Perhaps the biggest surprise was the non-tender of Samir Duenez. The Venezuelan repeated Double-A last summer and improved offensively, hitting .282/.357/.463 in 80 games. He’s been in the organization since 2013 and has been on the 40-man since 2016. Just 22 years old last year, he could conceivably attract interest to another team on a minor league deal. But sometimes, you stick with the one who brought you to the dance. Besides, it’s not like he’s ready for the majors and the Royals are doing him wrong. They’re simply removing him from the 40-man where he’s occupying space that could be put to better use.

The moves leave the Royals with 36 on the 40-man, which gives them the flexibility to add a player or two via free agency (yeah, right) or, more likely, through this month’s Rule 5 draft. When you’re struggling to keep your team above the 100 loss level, it’s all a numbers game anyway.

BPKC Hitter of the Day Frank Schwindel 3-4 R, 2b, 2 RBI, BB

BPKC Pitcher of the Day Glenn Sparkman 7 IP 4 H 1 R 0 ER 1 BB 2 K 11-4 GO-FO 105p/74k

Transactions LHP Dan Tillo promoted to Wilmington, LHP Cristian Castillo put on DL.

Salem Red Sox 6 Wilmington Blue Rocks 5

Starter Gerson Garabito’s control issues have been a problem this season with the right-hander regularly giving free baserunners and some hard contact as he struggles with his command in the zone. It was more of the same in this one for the Rocks with the right-hander walking five hitters on the day and allowing plenty of hard contact. The Wilmington offense staked Garabito to a 2-0 lead in the first inning before Garabito allowed a run on a triple and a sacrifice fly. It appeared like Garabito got an inning-ending double play ball but Gabe Cancel dropped the flip from the shortstop leaving both runners safe. With a reprieve in the inning Salem prospect, C. J. Chatham unloaded on a pitch deep over the leftfield wall to give Salem a 4-2 lead. A walk allowed by Garabito in the fifth led to another run before his day ended after six innings. Slumping first baseman Chris DeVito had a big day at the plate for the Rocks with a rbi double in the seventh as part of a three double two run inning and hit a solo home run in the ninth but an insurance home run off Carter Hope had given Salem the insurance they needed an inning prior.

Chris DeVito 2-4 2R, HR, 2b, 2 RBI
Khalil Lee 1-4 RBI
Emmanuel Rivera 1-4 RBI

Springfield Cardinals 1 NW Arkansas Naturals 0

The Naturals ran into a rehabbing buzzsaw as the Cardinals stud pitching prospect Alex Reyes dominated them for seven and two-thirds innings. The Baseball Prospectus #8 overall prospect struckout thirteen Naturals hitters while allowing just a single by Luis Villegas and three walks. The Naturals starter Andres Machado gave up the games only run on a solo home run in the second before finishing five and two-thirds ball with four strikeouts. NW Arkansas was unable to get anything going when Reyes left in the eighth as the Springfield pen finished off the shutout.

Nicky Lopez 0-3 BB, K
Anderson Miller 0-2 BB, SB
Andres Machado 5.2 IP 4 H 1 R 1 ER 3 BB 4 K 7-5 GO-FO 98p/64k

Omaha Storm Chasers 4 Iowa Cubs 2

The Chasers received another solid start from newcomer Glenn Sparkman in the third game of their four-game series with Iowa. The right-hander changed speeds from 90-94 mph with his fastball, controlling it and commanding it as usual while mixing in his low 80s change and curveball to keep hitters off balance. That control and command yielded just two three ball counts against him, walking one hitter on the night while allowing just four hits and one run. The lone run was via a double in the sixth inning followed two-base error after Billy Burns dropped a ball as he tried to avoid colliding with second baseman Jack Lopez. Despite the error, Burns contributed plenty, scoring a pair of runs with a leadoff double in the third inning and another leadoff hit in the fifth. That fifth inning featured a two run double by Frank Schwindel who later scored in the inning as part of a four-hit night. Reliever Josh Staumont struggled in the ninth to finish the game off and was relieved by Brandon Maurer, earning his second save in the process.

Billy Burns 2-4 2R, 2b
Cam Gallagher 2-4 RBI
Josh Staumont 1 IP 3 H 1 R 1 ER 1 BB 1 K 1-0 GO-FO 30p/20k

Saturday Boxscores

Sunday Probables
Omaha – Trevor Oaks 2-3 3.15 ERA 1.35 WHIP
NW Arkansas – Foster Griffin (lhp) 2-4 3.98 ERA 1.44 WHIP
Wilmington Gm1 – Arnaldo Hernandez 4-1 2.97 ERA 1.40 WHIP
Game 2 – Dan Tillo (lhp) 1-1 4.35 ERA 1.23 WHIP
Lexington Suspended Game
Game 2 TBD

BPKC Hitter of the Day: Frank Schwindel 3-7, 2-2b, 3 RBI

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Heath Fillmyer 5.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 5-3 GO-FO, 91p/55k

NW Arkansas Naturals 3, San Antonio Missions 2

The Naturals pieced together enough offense to defeat the Padres Double-A club again on Sunday. Rehabbing catcher Salvador Perez homered in his second at-bat, giving the Naturals a 2-0 lead. Starter Glenn Sparkman worked five innings, allowing base runners in just the third. That was when the Missions pieced together three soft singles around an error by Jecksson Flores to score their only run against him. The bullpen would allow one run over the final four innings, but a Flores RBI groundout in the seventh inning gave them the needed insurance to secure the win.

Glenn Sparkman: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 7-1 GO-FO, 79p/56k
Salvador Perez: 1-3, HR
Nicky Lopez: 1-5, R

Nashville Sounds 14, Omaha Storm Chasers 7 – Suspended Game
Nashville Sounds 1, Omaha Storm Chasers 0 – F/7

The suspended game the Chasers played between Saturday and Sunday didn’t go well for the pitching staff. A few of the pitchers struggled with their control and the one who didn’t gave up too many hits, starter Andres Machado, walked three and gave up a pair of hits while allowing four runs (2 ER) in just three innings. Reliever Kevin Lenik surrendered a pair of walks and hits each while allowing two runs in just two-thirds of an inning. Seth Maness followed, giving up six hits and four runs (1 ER). Then came  Brandon Maurer and Wily Peralta who both gave up two runs as the game got well away from the offense that scored seven runs of their own in the loss.

Game two was a different story. Starter Heath Fillmyer pitched quite well, going into the sixth inning and allowing just two hits. Unfortunately, the offense missed out on a few opportunities to score with a zero for seven effort with runners in scoring position. Reliever Richard Lovelady who had finished off the sixth inning, walked the leadoff hitter in the seventh before Slade Heathcott squeezed a double down the third base line. With two in scoring position and no outs, manager Brian Poldberg chose to walk the bases loaded in an attempt to create a force out, but Dustin Garneau quickly lined a single into left to walk the game off for the Sounds.

Hunter Dozier: 3-7, R, RBI, BB
Frank Schwindel: 3-7, 2-2b, 3 RBI
Ryan O’Hearn: 0-4, 3K

Both Lexington and Wilmington were postponed.

Boxscores from Sunday

Monday Probables
Omaha – Trevor Oaks 0-2, 5.23 ERA, 1.45 WHIP
NW Arkansas – Foster Griffin 1-0, 1.00 ERA, 1.22 WHIP
Wilmington – Cristian Castillo 0-1, 4.35 ERA, 1.35 WHIP
Lexington – Andres Sotillet 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1.38 WHIP

Paulo Orlando
Terrance Gore
Raul Mondesi
Cam Gallagher
Andres Machado

The first four on this list should come as no surprise, but one name that was included and another that wasn’t may surprise some fans.

First, the one name that many of you may not have heard of is right-handed pitcher Andres Machado. A 24-year-old from Venezuela, Machado had Tommy John surgery in 2015 and has been rebuilding his way back since, pitching at Idaho Falls last season before starting this year in Wilmington. The total numbers don’t jump off the page in 2017 for Machado as the righty has a 4.54 ERA in 111 innings between Wilmington, NW Arkansas and Omaha. What those numbers may not tell you is what Machado has pitched like as of late as the righty has started to become more aggressive within the zone, striking out 65 in his last 62.2 innings while putting up a 3.45 ERA over twelve appearances. In that run, he’s struck out more than one per inning in seven of the eleven starts.

He does this with a fastball that can get as high as 98 mph and can sit in the 95-96 range while pairing that with a solid slider and a changeup that features some diving action. The control with Machado is better than average, but from what I’ve seen in my limited video looks, he is a pitcher who still needs to refine his command. That said, this is likely the most exciting young pitcher the Royals could call up at this time.

The noticeable omission of Jorge Soler from this list is pretty surprising to me as the Royals continue to struggle with the offense the fact that they don’t think Soler can help fix that may say quite a bit about what the organization views him as. After all, the Royals are coming off a 10-18 month in which their DH Brandon Moss put up a .173 batting average and their starting corner outfielders of Jorge Bonifacio (.638 OPS) and Alex Gordon (.418 OPS) didn’t perform up to snuff either. The outfielder was put on the inactive list yesterday so maybe that will answer the question, but until we know more, it will remain something to ponder that a player that continues to mash was given so few opportunities in Kansas City while others continue to struggle.

HR Roll Call: Ryan O’Hearn (20), Chris DeVito (20), Brandon Downes (13), John Brontsema (5), Jake Wakamatsu (3), Cal Jones (4), Oliver Nunez (2), Isaiah Smith (2)

BPKC Hitters of the Day:
Oliver Nunez 4-6 2R, HR, 2b, 3b, 3 RBI
Chris DeVito 4-4 2R, HR, 2-2b, 5 RBI, BB

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Andres Machado 6.2 IP 2 H 2 R 2 ER 1 BB 10 K 5-1 GO-FO 97p/65k

Burlington Royals 13 Bluefield Blue Jays 3

It was quite the night offensively for the Royals with no one having a bigger night than infielder Oliver Nunez. The 22-year old with strong on base skills led off the first inning with a ground out, but that didn’t stop Burlington from busting out with a four run inning. In that frame Cal Jones got the party started with a solo home run before Sebastian Rivera doubled in a pair and Benji Cash brought home the fellow catcher with a single all before Nunez grounded out for the second time in the same inning.

After Cal Jones manufactured a run with a single, a stolen base and scoring on a sac fly in the second inning, Nunez got things going for him in the third. The infielder doubled in Jose Sanchez as part of a three run inning, singled in the fifth and tripled in a run in the seventh. With the game well in hand at 12-3 in the ninth only one hit was left for Nunez but it seemed unlikely for a hitter with just three career home runs that he would get what he needed. Despite that fact, Nunez jumped on a 1-1 pitch from right-handed reliever Jonathan Cheshire, knocking it over the right field fence to complete the cycle.

Boxscore Link

Oliver Nunez 4-6 2R, HR, 2b, 3b, 3 RBI
Jeison Guzman 1-4 R, BB
Cal Jones 2-6 R, HR, SB (8)
Dan Tillo 5 IP 7 H 3 R 3 ER 1 BB 3 K 9-0 GO-FO 76p/52k

Wilmington Blue Rocks 8 Frederick Keys 3

After a huge first half in Lexington Chris DeVito has slowed down some with the bat since arriving in Wilmington, but the Girth Quake and his teammates had it going on this night.

Things were rolling from the first inning on for DeVito, connecting on an 0-1 pitch and driving it out the opposite way to give the Rocks a 3-0 lead. Solo home runs by John Brontsema in the second and Brandon Downes in the third pushed the lead to 5-0 for Wilmington before DeVito singled and scored in front of a Wander Franco double that pushed the lead to 6-0.

With the lead at 6-1 in the fifth, DeVito capped Wilmington’s run scoring with a two run double to push the lead out to 8-1. While the Rocks were done scoring DeVito wasn’t done getting on base, walking in the seventh and doubling in the ninth as part of the 8-3 win.

Boxscore Link

Chris DeVito 4-4 2R, HR, 2-2b, 5 RBI, BB
John Brontsema 3-5 HR
Brandon Downes 3-4 3R, HR, BB
Scott Blewett 8 IP 5 H 3 R 3 ER 0 BB 3 K HR 107p/75k 15-3 GO-FO

Round Rock Express 2 Omaha Storm Chasers 1

The Chasers received an excellent pitching performance but the offense couldn’t match the effort, losing in a one run game. Starter Andres Machado struck out double digit hitters for the second time this year while giving up just two hits on the night. Unfortunately, both hits resulted in runs after the Venezuelan pitcher gave up a solo home run to slugger Willie Calhoun in the first inning and a run scoring single in the third frame. From that spot, though Machado found a groove, retiring the final 12 hitters he faced while striking out 10 on the night.

The Chasers scored on a wild pitch in the sixth inning but failed to take advantage of runners in the eighth or ninth, hitting into double plays in both frames to drop the game.

Boxscore Link

Ramon Torres 1-4
Paulo Orlando 2-4
Frank Schwindel 1-4
Hunter Dozier 0-3
Eric Stout 1.1 IP 0 H 0 R 0 BB 1 K 15p/10k
Andres Machado 6.2 IP 2 H 2 R 2 ER 1 BB 10 K 5-1 GO-FO 97p/65k

Springfield Cardinals 7 NW Arkansas Naturals 3

The Naturals fell behind 5-0 after just two innings and couldn’t dig out of the hole, falling to the Cardinals Double-A squad for the sixth straight time and twelfth time in the last thirteen games played between the two teams.

Despite the loss, Ryan O’Hearn connected on his 20th home run of the season, giving the slugger three straight 20 home run season. Also of note, Yunior Marte pushed his scoreless streak to 11 innings and six straight appearances while striking out four in two and two-third innings.

Boxscore Link

Samir Duenez 1-4
Ryan O’Hearn 1-4 HR
Donnie Dewees 1-3 RBI, BB
Yunior Marte 2.2 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 4 K 3-2 GO-FO 41p/26k

Rome Braves 5 Lexington Legends 1

Good pitching often beats good hitting, and that is what happened again on Tuesday night as the league’s best pitching squad limited the league’s second best offense. Three Rome pitchers combined to limit Lexington to just five hits while striking out ten hitters.

Lexington’s starter Nolan Watson couldn’t match that effort, giving up 10 hits in just six innings of work while allowing four runs in that time to fall to 1-12 this season.

Boxscore Link

Khalil Lee 2-4 CS (18)
Vance Vizcaino 1-3
Emmanuel Rivera 1-4 R
Michael Gigliotti 0-4 2K

Grand Junction Rockies 8 Idaho Falls Chukars 7

The Chukars built a 7-4 lead after their half of the sixth inning only to watch it slip away late.

The Rockies scored a pair in the sixth off reliever Christopher Marte before getting a run in the eighth to tie it up off him. The Chukars went down in order in their half of the ninth before Casey Golden homered in the ninth off Marte to walk it off.

Boxscore Link

Brewer Hicklen 1-5 R, 2K
Amalani Fukofuka 0-4 RBI

AZL Padres2 19 AZL Royals 6

After starter Andy Ferguson left with an injury, five Royals pitchers gave up 20 hits, walked 10 batters and allowed 19 Padres2 runs in a rout. On the flip side, the Royals hitters connected on just six hits in the lopsided loss.

Boxscore Link

MJ Melendez 0-3 R, 2 BB
Nick Pratto 0-3 R, 2 BB

DSL Astros Blue 8 DSL Royals 3

The Royals squad outhit the Astros Blue seven hits to six, but the pitching staff gave 12 free passes, leading to the five run defeat.

Boxscore Link

Braulio Nunez 0.1 IP 0 H 3 R 3 ER 5 BB
Kember Nacero 2-4 2K

Wednesday Probables
NW Arkansas Josh Staumont 4-11 6.37 ERA
Wilmington Jace Vines 12-6 3.30 ERA
Lexington Ofreidy Gomez 6-11 5.44 ERA
Idaho Falls Dillon Drabble 1-2 3.44 ERA
Burlington TBD
Arizona Evan Steele 0-1 0.00 ERA

HR Roll Call: Nick Dini (4), Chris DeVito (17), Nick Heath (1), Angelo Castellano (4), Luis Villegas (2), Oliver Nunez (1), Esteury Ruiz (3), MJ Melendez (2)

BPKC Hitter of the Day: Nick Dini 2-5, 4R, HR

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Andres Machado 7.1 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 7-7 GO-FO, 90p/59k

New Orleans Baby Cakes 7, Omaha Storm Chasers 0

Omaha starter Luke Farrell was roughed up in his return to Triple-A. The Baby Cakes tagged Farrell for five runs on seven hits, three of which went for extra bases including a home run from Moises Sierra. The Chasers, who have been lacking on pitching with the constant back and forth of many on their staff, got just 61 pitches and three innings from the starter.

The offense didn’t threaten much, getting just six hits from three different players while going 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position.

Reliever Sam Selman gave up an unearned run but did strike out three hitters in his return to the Chasers.

Boxscore Link

Sam Selman 1.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 42p/24k, 2-1 GO-FO, WP
Raul Mondesi 0-3
Cam Gallagher 2-4, E (4)

NW Arkansas Naturals 9, Corpus Christi Hooks 4

The Royals Futures Game representative, Foster Griffin, had his most challenging Double-A start to date, lasting just into the fifth inning Thursday night. Touched up for a pair of home runs and six other hits, Griffin gave up three runs before leaving in the fifth with a pair of runners on.

Luckily for Griffin, he turned things over to Richard Lovelady, the Royals hottest relief prospect. All Lovelady did when he entered was strike out the first two hitters he faced and earn a flyout to get the Naturals out of the jam. The Corpus defense lent them a hand in the next inning, making a pair of errors to help NW Arkansas to two runs to take the lead. After Lovelady spun two more perfect innings, the Naturals would take a commanding lead in the eighth, scoring four runs on four singles and another Hooks error.

Boxscore Link

Richard Lovelady 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 2-1 GO-FO, 35p/23k
Anderson Miller 2-4, R, 2 RBI
Cody Jones 1-3, R, 3 RBI

Wilmington Blue Rocks 6, Lynchburg Hillcats 2

Right-hander Andres Machado couldn’t match the 14 Ks he earned last time out, but instead pitched a season-high 7.1 innings to put his squad in position for a win.

The Rocks offense positioned Machado in a great spot in the first inning with home runs by Nick Heath, his first of the year, and Chris DeVito to put Wilmington up 3-0. The Wilmington starter gave up a solo home run of his own in the first before running off nothing but zeros for the rest of the game.

The Rocks two speedsters in Heath and D.J. Burt would provide two of their final three runs with Heath driving in one on a sac fly and Burt walking, stealing second and advancing to third on an errant throw before scoring on a wild pitch.

Boxscore Link

D.J. Burt 1-4, R, RBI, BB, SB (25)
Chris DeVito 1-4, HR, 2 RBI
Franco Terrero 1.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, HR, 24p/15k

Lexington Legends 8, West Virginia Power 5 F/Susp.

The Legends finished off the suspended game that they led 5-2 on Wednesday. Each team scored three more runs in finishing the nine-inning game as Lexington kept the Pirates Low-A team at bay.

Pitcher Jace Vines took over the game, finishing the final six innings with three unearned runs allowed while striking out seven hitters against no walks. Offensively, it was a team effort, with seven Lexington hitters driving in a run and the nine hitters that took at-bats reaching base at least once. Second baseman Gabe Cancel pushed his hitting streak to six games, in that time he’s 13 for 26 with a .962 slugging average in that time.

Boxscore Link

Gabe Cancel 2-4, 2b, 2 RBI
Yeison Melo 1-3, 2b, RBI, BB
Marten Gasparini 2-4, R, RBI, CS (9)

Ogden Raptors 18, Idaho Falls Chukars 1

The Chukars starting pitcher Jeremy Gwinn gave up three home runs as part of his 11 runs allowed in four innings to put his team down big. The Chukars offense scored their run in the fifth inning in this lopsided affair.

Boxscore Link

Offerman Collado 2-3, RBI
Amalani Fukofuka 1-2, BB
Cristhian Vasquez 1-4, R, 2b

Bluefield Blue Jays 11, Burlington Royals 1

The Royals trailed just 2-1 into the sixth in the final game of their series with the Blue Jays rookie squad when things got away from them. A pair of errors to start the inning opened the door to a huge frame for the Jays as they battered reliever Collin Snyder for six hits following the errors, including three doubles that led to seven runs.

Those runs were plenty to defeat the Royals whose only run came on an Oliver Nunez solo home run.

Boxscore Link

Carlos Hernandez 4.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 3-3 GO-FO, 76p/56k
Oliver Nunez 2-3, HR
Cal Jones 1-4, 2K

AZL Rangers 5, AZL Royals 4

The Royals jumped on the Rangers for three runs in the first and then tried to make that stand up the rest of the way. Catcher MJ Melendez hit his second home run as a pro and Esteury Ruiz blasted his third of the young season to give the Royals that 3-0 lead. The offense would go on ice after a second-inning single by Angel Medina, going hitless until the ninth.

The three runs held up through eight innings, with Joey Markus going four while allowing two runs on three hits and three walks thanks to five strikeouts. Newly signed Mitchell Schulewitz worked two scoreless innings and it appeared the Royals were going to make the three runs stand up until reliever Stephen Greenlees struggled in the ninth, giving up three runs to give the Rangers a 5-3 lead.

The Royals would get one back in the ninth on a fielding error on a ball off the bat of Esteury Ruiz and a passed ball that brought him in, but could get no closer in the loss.

Boxscore Link

MJ Melendez 1-3, HR, 2 RBI, BB
Esteury Ruiz 1-4, 2R, HR
Nick Pratto 0-4, 2K

DSL Red Sox 4, DSL Royals 2

The Royals couldn’t get much accomplished against the Red Sox starter early and the offense that did come late wasn’t enough as the bullpen gave up a couple runs.

Boxscore Link

Warling Vicente 2-4, R, 2b, SB (7), CS (4)
Angel Zerpa 3 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 6-1 GO-FO
Ismaldo Rodriguez 2-4

Omaha Storm Chasers 9 Colorado Springs Sky Sox 6 Boxscore HR Ryan O’Hearn 2 (13)
Colorado Springs Sky Sox 11 Omaha Storm Chasers 0 Boxscore HR None

The Chasers split their weekend games with Colorado Springs, getting a walk-off home run from Ryan O’Hearn on Saturday night. The win for Omaha snapped a six-game losing streak to Colorado Springs. The Sunday game was a lopsided shutout as Christian Binford was forced to go six innings despite allowing five home runs with a depleted bullpen.

NW Arkansas Naturals 6 Corpus Christi Hooks 3 Boxscore HR None
San Antonio Mission 1 NW Arkansas Naturals 0 Boxscore HR None

The Naturals received good starting pitching in both Saturday and Sunday’s games, beating the Hooks and losing a close one to San Antonio on Sunday. The Naturals Foster Griffin set a career high with 10 strikeouts over six innings while giving up just five hits and two runs. The offense connected on 11 hits in the game versus the Astros farm club, scoring six runs in the process. Lefty Jake Kalish took a hard luck loss on Sunday despite giving up just one run in six innings. The Naturals were held at bay with 11 strikeouts in this one, keeping zeros on the board despite seven hits.

Wilmington Blue Rocks 8 Salem Red Sox 3 Boxscore HR Chris DeVito (16)
Wilmington Blue Rocks 2 Salem Red Sox 0 Boxscore HR Brandon Downes 2 (8)

The Rocks won their two games this weekend with possibly the two best pitching performances they have seen in the last 15 seasons. In Saturday’s game, Andres Machado put down 14 Salem hitters with strikeouts, getting 20 swings and misses in seven innings to set a Wilmington Blue Rocks record for strikeouts by a starter pitcher. It was a well balanced offensive effort, too, with the team connecting on 12 hits, walking seven times and scoring eight runs with Chris DeVito driving in four runs. The Sunday game featured more spectacular pitching with Scott Blewett pitching the Rocks first complete game shutout in nearly 15 years, outdueling a Salem starter who gave up just two Brandon Downes solo home runs during the game. For Downes, it was his seventh and eighth home runs of the year in just 19 games played.

Greenville Drive 5 Lexington Legends 2 Boxscore HR Joe Dudek (3)
Lexington Legends 8 Greenville Drive 4 Boxscore HR Gabe Cancel (8)

The Legends banged out 14 hits and eight runs with a pair of walks on Sunday to secure at least a split series in Greenville. Seven different hitters reached base two times or more with Gabe Cancel scoring three times, hitting his eighth home run of the year in the process. Starter Jace Vines lost his second straight decision, walking four while earning just one strikeout in his Saturday start. The Legends offense had plenty of baserunners with nine hits but went just 2 for 10 with runners in scoring position in the loss.

Princeton Rays 5 Burlington Royals 4 Boxscore HR Dennicher Carrasco (3), Seuly Matias (1)
Burlington Royals 11 Princeton Rays 7 Boxscore HR Sebastian Rivero (1)

The Royals split a pair of games with the Rays rookie squad. In Saturday’s game, Seuly Matias homered and the club took a lead in the 10th inning only to have their bullpen give up a pair of runs to drop the game. There was no blown save in the Sunday game when the offense blew open a 7-7 game with four runs in the ninth with five singles and an error by the Princeton defense. Catcher Sebastian Rivero hit his first professional home run in the win for the Royals.

Idaho Falls Chukars 7 Ogden Raptors 0 Boxscore HR Chris Hudgins (1)
Ogden Raptors 6 Idaho Falls Chukars 5 Boxscore HR None

A mix of pitching over the weekend for the Chukars led to their 1-1 record. In Saturday’s starter, Janser Lara was spectacular in his first start of the season, striking out eight hitters while working around four singles and a pair of walks in his six innings. The Dominican righty who can reach 99 mph hit the zone with 61 of 95 pitches while eliciting four groundouts, earning the win with 12 hits and seven runs by the offense including a home run in Chris Hudgins second game as a member of the organization. The Sunday game wasn’t quite as good with starter Andres Sotillet getting knocked around for 11 hits and six runs in just two and two-third innings. The Chukars got a pair of doubles in a three-run ninth to pull within a run but the tying run was left stranded at second in the loss.

AZL Royals 3 AZL D-Back 2 Boxscore HR Esteury Ruiz (2)
AZL Royals 12 AZL Mariners 9 Boxscore HR None 

The Royals got good pitching on Saturday with four different pitchers tossing scoreless innings and a ninth inning run. The Royals run came without a hit, getting a walk from Brady Cox, pushing him to third with a sacrifice bunt and a rbi groundout by Cristian Perez. In Sunday’s game, starter Josh Mitchell was knocked around in his two innings for nine runs (8 ER) on 10 hits in just two innings, putting the Royals into a 9-3 hole. The bullpen put the M’s on ice for the last seven innings and the lineup mounted a huge comeback. The first two draft picks in the class, MJ Melendez and Nick Pratto each had multi-hit games while Esteury Ruiz continued with his hot bat with a pair of hits and a couple RBI in the win.

HR Roll Call Jorge Bonifacio (18), Chase Vallot (14), Yeison Melo (5), Wander Franco (6), Joel Arias (1)

BP KC Hitter of the Day – Joel Arias 3-4, HR, 2b, 2 RBI

BP KC Pitcher of the Day – Andres Machado 6 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 9 K 3-2 GO-FO 79p/57k

Omaha Storm Chasers 7 Iowa Cubs 2

Royals prospect Alec Mills showed that he maybe fully recovered from his neck problem, tossing six shutout innings in the Sunday win for the Chasers. Along with Mills a couple of other Royals prospects had big days with Jorge Bonifacio blasting a first inning grand slam to put Omaha up 4-0 after just one inning. The home run for Bonifacio was his 18th of the season, a new career high. In addition to Bonifacio the Royals top prospect Hunter Dozier went 3 for 4 with a pair of doubles while scoring tow runs and driving in a pair of runs in the fourth inning to put Omaha up 7-0. The two doubles gives Dozier 43 on the season, the most in the Royals organization since Eric Hosmer hit 43 in 2010. The Chasers return home Monday for their season ending nine game homestand.

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Ramon Torres 2-3 2R, 2BB
Jorge Bonifacio 1-4 HR, 4 RBI
Malcom Culver 1 IP 0 H 0 R 0 BB 1 K

NW Arkansas Naturals 2 Arkansas Travelers 1

The Naturals came up clutch on Sunday to regain the division lead over Arkansas. The game started slow for the Naturals who gave up a run in the first inning by Eric Skoglund on a pair of singles and a sac fly before finding a groove. That groove paired with the Naturals offense struggling to get much going, getting shutout for seven innings while Skoglund put away 15 consecutive Travelers hitters. Both squads missed out on opportunities to score in the sixth inning after one out doubles. The score stayed 1-0 into the eighth when Logan Moon tripled on a flyball to center and came home on a one out sacrifice fly by Alfredo Escalera. After the Naturals threatened to score in the ninth it was Moon once again igniting the offense in the tenth. This time Moon doubled to lead off the inning, moved to second on a Corey Toups sac bunt before coming home on a Mauricio Ramos single. Fireballing Aroni Nina would close things out in the ninth to push the Naturals a half of a game ahead of Arkansas in the standings with the two teams facing off Monday in the series finale.

Boxscore Link

Mauricio Ramos 3-5 2b, RBI
Eric Skoglund 7 IP 5 H 1 R 1 ER 1 BB 8 K 4-5 GO-FO 92p/62k
Alfredo Escalera 1-3 2b, RBI, BB

Myrtle Beach Pelicans 8 Wilmington Blue Rocks 7

The Rocks starter Foster Griffin gave up seven runs in four innings to dig a hole that his offense came up one run shy of climbing out of. Trailing 8-2 Wilmington put a four run sixth with a run of six hits in seven at-bats, Luis Villegas plated a pair with a single in the frame. The Rocks plated a run in the eighth to pull within a run, but left the tying run on in the inning and missed out on a chance to score again in the ninth when the they failed to convert a two on no out inning.

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Anderson Miller 1-3 RBI, 2 BB
Luis Villegas 3-5 3R, 2 RBI
Robert Pehl 2-4 2R, 2b

Delmarva Shorebirds 7 Lexington Legends 5

The Shorebirds finished off the three game sweep Sunday despite a comeback effort by the Legends. The Royals former 1st round pick Nolan Watson gave up three runs in three innings including his 18th home run allowed in 23 starts this season. In place of Watson reliever Brian Bayliss toss a bit of gasoline on the fire, allowing four runs  (3 ER) in his three and two-third innings to help put Lexington behind 7-1 after six innings. After a run in the seventh catcher Chase Vallot hit a home run in the ninth to pull Lexington within a pair of runs at 7-5. That would be as close as they would get unfortunately to drop their third game in a row.

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D.J. Burt 4-5 R, 2b
Chase Vallot 1-5 HR, 3 RBI
Roman Collins 2-4 2R, BB

Idaho Falls Chukars 2 Ogden Raptors 1

The Chukars received possibly the start of the year by Andres Machado on Sunday before getting a run late for a win. The 23 year old Machado put away nine hitters for a season high while spinning six innings of one hit ball. The only single allowed by Machado on the day was a two out hit by Mitchell Hansen in the fourth. In that same fourth inning Idaho Falls took a 1-0 lead on a home run by Yeison Melo, a lead that stood up until an eighth inning solo home run by Ogden. While the homer ruined Machado’s chances at a win it didn’t dampen the teams chances after a Melo single in the bottom half gave Idaho Falls the lead back. Closer Richard Lovelady closed out the ninth for the win.

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Meibrys Viloria 1-3 R, BB
Luke Willis 1-3
Richard Lovelady 1 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 0 K

Burlington Royals 2 Pulaski Yankees 1 F/11

The Royals plated a run in extras to secure a series win over Pulaski while moving one step closer to a division crown. The Royals Travis Eckert was spectacular in his five innings of work, tossing five shutout innings with seven strikeouts against just three singles allowed. The offense put him position to win with a sixth inning run on a Jose Sanchez two out single to bring in Logan Gray. That lead stood up until the eighth inning when the Yankees converted a Royals throwing error into a run with a two out single off Jesse Camp. The score would stay static at 1-1 until the eleventh inning with the Royals jumping out in front 2-1 on a wild pitch that score Cristhian Vasquez after he had lead off the inning with a double. The Royals lead in the division stands at 3 games with five to play.

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Travis Eckert 5 IP 3 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 7 K 3-3 GO-FO
Nicky Lopez 2-5
Cristhian Vasquez 1-2 R, 2b

AZL Royals 5 AZL D-Backs 4

The Royals piled up five runs in the second and third inning on the way to clinching the 2nd half division title. Outfielder Joel Arias kickstarted the offense with a solo home run in the second inning to tie the game up at 1-1. A double by Jesus Atencio pushed the lead to 2-1 before rehabbing Wander Franco hit a two run home run in the third inning pushed the score to 4-1 before Arias capped things with a run scoring double. From there the offense would go silent, but the bullpen did just enough to limit the D-Backs to four total runs to secure the win.

Boxscore Link

Seuly Matias 2-4 R, 2-2b
Wander Franco 2-4 HR, 2 RBI
Dillon Drabble 6 IP 4 H 1 R 0 ER 0 BB 3 K

HR Roll Call: Travis Maezes (10), Seuly Matias (4)

BP KC Hitter of the Day – Boo Vazquez 2-4, 2R, 2-3b, RBI

BP KC Pitcher of the Day – Andres Machado 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 8-2 GO-FO, 52p/37k

Omaha Storm Chasers 2 Las Vegas 51s 1

Christian Binford broke out of a pitching slump on Monday, giving the Chasers his first quality since May 22nd. His six innings of one-run ball wasn’t rewarded with a winning decision but the Chasers did earn a win. Trailing 1-0 in the fourth inning Raul Mondesi connected on a leadoff triple to put the home squad in position to tie the game. Two hitters later Hunter Dozier grounded into a 4-6-3 double play that did just that. After the two teams exchanged zeroes for a couple of innings, Jorge Bonifacio’s 16th double of the season placed him in scoring position where he would come around following a Bubba Starling single and a Tony Cruz groundout. That 2-1 lead was enough as Omaha’s bullpen finished things off two innings later with Andrew Edwards earning his third Triple-A save of the season.

Boxscore Link

Raul Mondesi 1-3, R, 3b
Jorge Bonifacio 1-3, R, 2b
Christian Binford 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 4-4 GO-FO, 97p/66k

Tulsa Drillers 7 NW Arkansas Naturals 2

Lefty Eric Skoglund couldn’t back up his excellent start last time with a good one on Monday, tossing five innings of four-run ball to drop his seventh decision of the season. Eight hits including three for extra bases lead to those four runs to shorten Skoglund’s outing, while the lack of offense on the Naturals part played into the loss. The only runs the Naturals scored on the evening came via a Alfredo Escalera bases-loaded single in the first and a run scoring single in the eighth. The loss trimmed their lead to just a 1/2 a game over Tulsa in the division.

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Alfredo Escalera 1-3, 2 RBI, BB
Ryan O’Hearn 2-3, R, BB
Corey Toups 1-5, R, SB (18)

Lynchburg Hillcats 11 Wilmington Blue Rocks 0

A rough one for the Rocks in the third game of four with Lynchburg. The Hillcats who had hit six home runs total in the previous two games connected on three more Tuesday to run away from Wilmington 11-0. Starter Foster Griffin dropped his tenth decision (3-10) of the season in giving up five runs in 4.1 innings. The offense collected just four hits while striking out 11 times against no walks in the shutout loss.

Boxscore Link

Elier Heranandez 2-3
Anderson Miller 0-4, 3 K, hitting .074 in six High-A games
Foster Griffin 4.1 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 2-4 GO-FO, 93p/56k

Asheville Tourists 4 Lexington Legends 2

Legends starter Scott Blewett tossed a bunch of zeroes around the fourth inning but couldn’t avoid the damage given up in that frame to earn a win. Coming off a 10 strikeout start last time out, the big righty put away seven in this one in his six innings. All four runs and five of the six hits allowed came off Blewett in that fourth inning when three infield hits vexed him. The offense missed out on multiple opportunities to put runs on the board, scoring just two while going 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position. The loss put Lexington in a four-way tie for 3rd place, 3.5 games back of the division leader.

Boxscore Link

Scott Blewett 6 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 8-1 GO-FO, 88p/58k
Travis Maezes 1-3, HR, BB
Roman Collins 2-5, 2b

Idaho Falls Chukars 7 Missoula Osprey 0

The Pioneer League is a difficult league to pitch in with the elevation leading to high run totals. That wouldn’t be the case on Tuesday night for the Chukars pitching staff as their three pitchers spun shutout baseball while allowing just four hits. Starter Andres Machado gave his squad a fourth start in a row surrendering two runs or fewer, allowing just one hit over his five innings. He would earn the decision thanks to seven runs from his offense after they piled up six runs in the first three innings. Stud catching prospect Meibrys Viloria connected on his 14th double of the season while collecting his league-leading 29th run batted in after a first inning single.

Boxscore Link

Meibrys Viloria 2-3, 2R, 2b, RBI
Nick Heath 2-2, 2R, RBI, 2BB, 2SB (12)
Cole Way 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 1-3 GO-FO, 22p/14k

Burlington Royals 8 Kingsport Mets 2

The Royals broke open a 1-1 game with a seven run eighth to salvage the third and final game of their series with the Mets. The Royals piled up seven consecutive hits in that inning with Nicky Lopez starting it off with a single and then ending the scoring with a triple. Lefty Garrett Davila missed out on the win with the late scoring but tossed another solid start with 51. innings with just a second inning two-out run-scoring single allowed.

Boxscore Link

Garrett Davila 5.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 4-3 GO-FO
Nicky Lopez 3-5, R 2b, 3b, RBI
Boo Vazquez 2-4, 2R, 2-3b, RBI

AZL Dodgers 7 AZL Royals 1

The Royals dropped their fourth game in a row after three unearned runs crossed on stater Andy Ferguson. Dominican signee Seuly Matias knocked his fourth home run of the season in the ninth to account for the only Royals run.

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Seuly Matias 2-4, HR
Khalil Lee 1-2, 2b, BB
Jeison Guzman 2-4

DSL Royals 17 DSL A’s 2

The Royals erupted for 17 runs on 17 hits with five A’s erorrs tossed in to win a laugher in the Dominican. Only one starter didn’t have a hit in the game as the good guys knocked out 15 singles in their barrage.

Boxscore Link

Andres Sotillet 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, 9-0 GO-FO
Esteury Ruiz 2-5, 2R, RBI, BB
Raymond Lopez 4-6, R, 2 RBI

BP KC Hitter of the Day – Meibrys Viloria 2-3 2R, 2b, 3b, 3 RBI, 2 BB

BP KC Pitcher of the Day – Andres Machado 5 IP 4 H 1 Er 1 BB 6 K 6-2 GO-FO 61p/42k

Vance Wilson Mgr

Frisco RoughRiders 15 NW Arkansas Naturals 9 

The Naturals were out slugged in the rubber game of their series with Frisco Monday. The two sides combined to bash six home runs and score a combined 24 runs in the slugfest. Starter Ashton Goudeau took the worst of it, giving up four hits, two walks and eight runs in just one-third of an inning as Frisco disposed of the righty with the help of a Alberto Triunfel first inning grand slam. The Naturals crawled back into the game with the help of a Corey Toups three run home run getting within 10-7 after the top of the sixth inning. The would get no closer though once reliever Matt Alvarez struggled in his inning, walking three while giving up three hits and four runs as he struggled with just 11 of his 29 pitches hitting the zone. The win for Frisco secured their first series win since early June while pushing the Naturals a half of a game behind Tulsa into second place.

Boxscore Link

Frank Schwindel 1-5 HR, 2 RBI
Mauricio Ramos 2-3 R, 2b, BB
Corey Toups 1-5 2R, HR, 3 RBI

Jamie Quirk left

Myrtle Beach Pelicans 5 Wilmington Blue Rocks 1

The Rocks starting pitcher struggled mightily with the zone while the offense struggled to get things going. A solo home run from Samir Duenez got the Rocks on the board in the first inning but that lead was short lived as their bats would fall silent the rest of the night. Pitcher Josh Staumont as most know struggles to control the strikezone but he took that to new heights on Monday. The righty threw just 39 strikes among the 93 pitches that he tossed in his 3.2 innings, walking nine in the process and falling to 2-10 with the four runs he would allow. Three of those runs came via a Rashad Crawford home run in the fourth inning and proved to be the difference maker as Wilmington could collect just four meaningless singles following Samir’s first inning solo home run.

Boxscore Link

Samir Duenez 1-3 HR, BB
Austin Bailey 1-3
Brennan Henry 3.1 IP 2 H 1 R 0 ER 0 BB 3 K 4-2 GO-FO 49p/32k

Idaho Falls Chukars 10 Orem Owlz 4

The Chukars received solid starting pitching on Monday in the finale versus Orem before a run explosion in the ninth played the difference between the two clubs. Starter Andre Machado continued his run a solid starts, expanding to three in a row in which he gave his club two earned runs or less. The 23 year old righthander worked five innings of one run ball while spreading out four hits and striking out six before leaving with the lead. That lead was given up by Nicholas Andros via a three run seventh that featured a two run home run to deep deep left. That deficit wouldn’t last long for the Chukars as their uber talented catcher, Meibrys Viloria tripled in a run in the top of the eighth and scored on a sac fly to tie the game at four. Tied into the ninth Idaho Falls would erupt for six runs featuring a Luke Willis one out home run, a two run double by Viloria and a steal of home from Angelo Castellano. The win split the four game series for Idaho Falls who will return home for a seven game home stand.

Boxscore Link

Ricky Aracena 3-5 R, 2b, RBI
Tanner Stanley 3-5 R, 2-2b
Yeison Melo 3-5 2R, RBI

Scott Thorman

Burlington Royals 8 Pulaski Yankees 5

The Royals pounded their way to a win and a sweep of the Yankees. The Royals collected six walks, 11 hits and the opponent committed three errors enroute to scoring eight runs and building a late lead that they would hang onto. A single by Yordany Salva in the fourth gave the Royals a 4-3 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish the rest of the game. Starter Garrett Davila had his shortest outing yet, lasting just four innings while walking three hitters in the first and allowing three runs on four hits with a run in the first and two more in the third. A two run home run from Chris Devito in the seventh and a two run double by Boo Vazquez in the eighth expanded the Royals lead to 8-3. The Yankees would hit a two run home run to trim the lead to three in the bottom of the ninth and then load the bases versus Jesse Camp when he was inserted to save things but the former Auburn reliever closed it out by striking out the side.

Boxscore Link

Boo Vazquez 2-4 2b, 2 RBI
Yordany Salva 2-2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB
Garrett Davila 4 IP 4 H 3 ER 3 BB 5 K 5-2 GO-FO

Darryl Kennedy

AZL Brewers 6 AZL Royals 5

The Arizona Royals starter Jorge Rodriguez couldn’t continue his run of dominant starts, walking a pair and giving up three hits and three runs in just two innings. The Royals would comeback from behind and tie the game in the seventh but that wouldn’t last long as reliever Rex Hill would give up a pair of runs in the eighth to give the Brewers the lead right back. The Royals would get a run in the ninth and get an opportunity to tie it by putting a runner in scoring position with one down but a pair of strikeouts would end the rally.

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Jeison Guzman 1-5 2b, RBI
Khalil Lee 1-4
Chase Vallot 1-3 2b

DSL Royals 10 DSL Marlins 0

The DSL Royals were effective with runners in scoring position with the bat while extremely stingy while in the field. A 5 for 10 day with the bats with runners in scoring position including a two double and three rbi afternoon from Esteury Ruiz paced the offense. All while Andres Sotillet and two other pitchers helped hold the Marlins hitless in nine opportunities with runners in scoring position with Sotillet earning nine groundouts for his second win.

Boxscore Link

Esteury Ruiz 3-5 R, 2-2b, 3 RBI
Raymond Lopez 2-4 R, BB
Andres Stoillet 6 IP 6 H 0 R 0 BB 4 K 9-3 GO-FO