BPKC Hitter of the Day Chris Hudgins 3-4 3R, 2b, 2-HR, 4 RBI

BPKC Pitcher of the Day Jackson Kowar 4 IP 3 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 5 K 5-0 GO-FO 58p/38k

Lexington Legends 15 Hagerstown Suns 3

The Legends bats erupted in a blowout win over Hagerstown on Friday night. All nine starters had at least one hit with all but Ricky Aracena connecting on two hits as the squad put together 18 hits. Outfielder Brewer Hicklen connected on a two-run home run in the first before Kyle Isbel’s seventh home run in the third made it 3-0. The score was 6-0 after five when the Legends really blew it open in the sixth inning with an eight-run frame that featured a Marten Gasparini three-run blast. That lead was plenty for Lexington with starter Jackson Kowar on the mound and Garrett Davila backing him up. The 1st round pick from Florida had his best outing yet, striking out five hitters in four innings while allowing just three hits against no walks. It wasn’t Davila’s best outing, allowing three runs with six hits and a pair of walks allowed in three innings before Garrett Suchey toss the final two innings to secure the win.

Nick Pratto 2-4 2R, 3b, 3 RBI, BB, SB
Kyle Isbel 2-5 2R, HR
MJ Melendez 2-6 R, 2-2b

Winston-Salem Dash 4 Wilmington Blue Rocks 3

It couldn’t have been a worse time for Wilmington to hit a losing streak but that’s the case as the Rocks dropped their fourth game in a row on Friday. The offense jumped out of the gate against struggling Alec Hansen for two runs in the first inning with a rbi single by Gabriel Cancel and a rbi triple by Emmanuel Rivera. That lead wouldn’t last long though with starter Andres Sotillet giving up a run in the first and a two-run bomb as part of a three-run second inning to fall behind 4-2. From the two pitching staff’s stood firm until the ninth when Wilmington put the first two runners on with a walk and a single that moved Vance Vizcaino to third. Catcher Meibrys Viloria would score Vizcaino with a sacrifice fly but Jackson Lueck would hit into a double play to end the threat and the game.

Blake Perkins 2-4 R, 2b
Gabriel Cancel 2-4 R, RBI
Emmanuel Rivera 1-4 3b, RBI, 2K

NW Arkansas Naturals 8 Frisco RoughRiders 2 

Starter Scott Blewett backed up a complete game outing last time out with seven innings of quality pitcher. The right-hander allowed just four hits and a pair of walks while giving up just two runs with five strikeouts. After four shutout innings, the offense came alive in the fifth inning with an Alfredo Escalera two-run home run. That offense kickstarted the offense, getting a run in the sixth inning prior to five runs over the final two innings to blow the game open as two relievers tossed the final two innings scoreless.

Samir Duenez 2-5 2R, 2b
Kelvin Gutierrez 2-5 R
Scott Blewett 7 IP 4 H 2 R 2 ER 2 BB 5 K 6-6 GO-FO 89p/56k

Colorado Springs Sky Sox 8 Omaha Storm Chasers 5

The Chasers received a quality start from Trevor Oaks as the right-hander tossed two-run ball over six innings but the bullpen struggled in a loss. His replacement, Josh Staumont, struggled mightily while on the hill giving up a single, a pair of walks and a double. A pair of wild pitches and a throwing error would score three of those runners before Staumont’s replacement, Eric Stout would give up a two-run home run to put the Chasers down 7-2. Omaha would attempt a rally in the ninth, scoring three runs with four walks and a Frank Schwindel single but the seventh inning damage had put them too far down to complete the comeback.

Frank Schwindel 1-4 2 RBI, BB
Trevor Oaks 6 IP 7 H 2 R 1 ER 0 BB 2 K HR 8-8 GO-FO 99p/63k
Nicky Lopez 1-4 RBI, BB

Bristol Pirates 14 Burlington Royals 9

The Burlington pitching staff couldn’t hold off the Pirates for the second straight night as their rookie squad piled up 14 runs on 13 hits and 14 free passes handed out by Royals pitching. All four Burlington pitchers walked at least two with lefty Marlin Willis getting touched up for the most damage, allowing six runs on five hits and five walks. The Royals did plenty of damage on their own with nine runs on 10 hits including three home runs. First baseman Chris Hudgins did much of the heavy lifting on that side with a pair of home runs and a double but it wasn’t enough in the loss.

Austin Cox 2 IP 1 H 2R 1 ER 3 BB 4 K 1-1 46p/25k
Jose Marquez 1-4 HR, BB
Juan Carlos Negret 0-5 5K

Great Falls Voyagers 3 Idaho Falls Chukars 2 F/10

The Chukars lost a pitching duel Friday night when their defense let them down in extra innings. Three Idaho Falls pitchers combined to allow just one earned run in the ten inning affair with starter Connor Mayes giving up a second-inning solo home run that tied the game after a Jose Caraballo triple gave Idaho Falls the lead in the first. The game was tied until the tenth when the Chukars defense committed back to back one out throwing errors, the second by pitcher Jordan Floyd which allowed two Great Falls runs to score. The Chukars answered by scoring their free runner in the tenth and placing the tying run at second but back to back strikeouts of Nathan Eaton and Reed Rohlman ended it.

Connor Mayes 5 IP 5 H 1 R 1 ER 1 BB 6 K 6-2 GO-FO 89p/56k
Nathan Eaton 1-5 R, 2b, 3 K
Jose Caraballo 1-4 3b, RBI

Friday Boxscores

BPKC Hitter of the Day: Blake Perkins 2-3 2R, HR, BB, SB

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Jose DeLeon 6.1 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 6 K 9-2 GO-FO 80p/49k

Hagerstown Suns 2 Lexington Legends 0
Lexington 1st Place Tie

The Legends offense was missing on Thursday night as the club connected on just five hits while going 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position in Hagerstown. The Nationals pitchers held the Legends batters at bay with 11 strikeouts. The lack of offense made a loser of J.C. Cloney for the first time this season (10-1) despite the lefty dancing around nine hits and a walk to limit Hagerstown to two runs.

Nick Pratto: 0-4 2K
Brewer Hicklen: 2-4 2b
MJ Melendez: 0-3 BB

Lynchburg Hillcats 6 Wilmington Blue Rocks 4
Wilmington 2nd Place 2.5 GB

After dropping into second place following two defeats against Lynchburg, the Rocks were attempting to salvage the final game of the series and put an end to their three-game losing streak. Starter Nolan Watson was surviving through four innings despite runners on in the first three innings. In the fifth, the survival would end as the Indians farm club jumped all over him with five hits, four of which that went extra bases with three doubles and a home run leading to a five-run frame that put Wilmington behind 5-0. The Rocks offense attempted to answer with a solo home run by Blake Perkins and a pair of RBI singles as they brought up the tying run to the plate multiple times in the final three innings. Each time the Rocks would threaten the Hillcats pitchers would have the answer and Wilmington would fall in the series sweep while falling 2.5 games behind in the division.

Emmanuel Rivera: 1-3 R, BB
Meibrys Viloria: 2-4 R, 2b, RBI
Travis Jones: 1-3 RBI

Midland RockHounds 5 NW Arkansas Naturals 2
NW Arkansas 3rd Place 4 GB

Two pitchers the Royals acquired this year in trades this year struggled with the strike zone a tad for the Naturals. Newly acquired starter Jon Perrin gave up just one run in four innings despite three walks and four hits allowed. His replacement, Gabe Speier, also struggled as the defense failed behind him and he walked a pair with three hits during a four-run appearance that spanned over an inning-plus of work. Trailing 5-0 into the ninth the Naturals loaded the bases and plated a pair on a throwing error by the Midland first baseman. That brought up hot-hitting Kelvin Gutierrez as the tying run with two on but it would not be on this night as he was frozen on a fastball for strike three to end the game.

Kelvin Gutierrez: 1-4 BB, SB
Erick Mejia: 2-5
Xavier Fernandez: 3-3 R, BB

Omaha Storm Chasers 4 Oklahoma City Dodgers 3
Omaha 3rd Place 6 GB

Starter Jake Kalish gave the Chasers another quality start as the lefty was in command during his seven innings on Thursday night. The lefty using his typical upper 80s fastball and quality curveball/changeup repertoire moved the ball around the zone to keep the Dodgers bats guessing. The Chasers offense got after Oklahoma starter Logan Bawcom for three runs in the third inning thanks to some poor defense behind him. Four singles and a pair of walks forced him out of the game after just two and two-thirds innings with those three runs against. A Paulo Orlando double provided an insurance run in the sixth inning that came in handy after Oklahoma City drew the game to 4-3 after a pair of runs off Kalish in the seventh. Relievers Sam Selman and Pedro Fernandez handed the ball to Eric Stout with the lead and two outs in the ninth and the lefty got the job done to secure the win. The Chasers now trailer first place Oklahoma City by six games with nine of their next twelve against the two teams ahead of them in the division.

Jake Kalish: 7 IP 5 H 3 R 3 ER 1 BB 6 K 7-8 GO-FO 95p/65k 2 HBP
Brian Goodwin: 0-3 R, 2BB
Frank Schwindel: 1-2 RBI, 2BB

Burlington Royals 10 Bristol Pirates 9 F/10 – Suspended Game July 20
Bristol Pirates 8 Burlington Royals 5
Burlingon Last Place 18.5 GB

Burlington completed a suspended game from July 20th, getting the win as Austin Lambright allowed just one run to score in the tenth inning after Burlington started with a 10-8 advantage. In the nightcap, starting pitcher Malcolm Van Buren wasn’t finding the zone (six walks) or fooling any Pirates hitters as he was tattooed for four home runs in just two and two-thirds innings to allow eight runs while on the hill. Reliever Jose De Leon was quite good in place of Van Buren, working six and one-third no-hit innings with six strikeouts and just a walk allowed. The Royals managed just an unearned run off the Bristol starter and then connected on a pair of home runs in the ninth to cut the deficit to three before falling in defeat.

Juan Carlos Negret: 1-4 2R, HR
Jose Marquez: 1-4
Chris Hudgins: 2-4 2b, HR

Thursday Boxscores

BPKC Hitter of the Day: Seuly Matias 2-3 HR, K

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Jon Heasley 5 IP 3 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 3K 7-4 GO-FO 52p/38k

Future’s Game – In a highly offensive game that featured eight home runs between the two teams, the minor league home run leader, Seuly Matias connected on the first one of the day. The Royals uber-prospect lined a 94 mph fastball from Yankees prospect Justus Sheffield 360 feet over the right-field fence to tie the game up 1-1. That was the first home run in a highly offensive game that Team USA won 10-6 with Torii Hunter’s squad piling on four runs between the seventh and eighth innings to separate after the World team tied things up 6-6. In addition to the home run, Matias struck out versus Hunter Greene on a fastball better than 100 mph and singled on a groundball up the middle versus Detroit prospect Matt Manning.

Greenville Drive 3 Lexington Legends 1

The Legends offense struggled for the second night in a row while one of their hot pitchers didn’t have his best stuff on Sunday. Starter Carlos Hernandez entered the game with a 21 inning streak without allowing an earned run but struggled to avoid hits on this day, giving up nine hits in five and one-third innings including six doubles in that time. The right-hander gave up a run in the second on back to back doubles down the leftfield line to end his streak at 22 innings and was forced to navigate plenty of runners during the start. He also gave up a run in the fifth inning and left with two runners for Andrew Beckwith to clean up in the sixth. Infielder Ricky Aracena drove in the Legends only run in the eighth with a sac fly as Lexington pieced just four hits together during the game.

Carlos Hernandez: 5.1 IP 9 H 2 R 2 ER 2 BB 4 K 4-6 GO-FO 95p/63k
MJ Melendez: 0-3 BB
Nick Pratto: 0-4 K

Salem Red Sox 7 Wilmington Blue Rocks 4

Infielder Gabe Cancel’s hot bat kept going on Sunday as the Rocks got a good start form Gerson Garabito but the bullpen struggled in a loss against Salem. Since June 1, Cancel has hit .315/.363/.469 thanks in part to a 3 for 5 day on Sunday that featured two doubles and a home run while playing part in three of the Rocks four runs. Starter Gerson Garabito worked seven innings giving up single runs in the fifth and seventh innings while allowing three hits and three  walks against five strikeouts. Reliever Julio Pinto struggled mightily in relief, giving up five runs in the eighth inning to take a 2-2 game and put it firmly in the grasp of the Red Sox farm club.

Gabe Cancel: 3-5 R, 2-2b, HR, 3 RBI
Blake Perkins: 2-4 2R, BB
Gerson Garabito: 7 IP 3 H 2R 2 ER 3 BB 5 K 3-7 GO-FO 86p/54k

Springfield Cardinals 7 NW Arkansas Naturals 1

Starter Dallas Beeler was knocked around again, giving up five runs on five hits in just 2/3 of an inning on Sunday. While he was getting tattooed, the Cardinals starter shut out the Naturals offense for seven innings, limiting the Naturals to just three hits versus five strikeouts and a pair of walks. The NW Arkansas bullpens continued their struggles with Andres Machado and Pedro Fernandez each giving up a run in the loss.

Khalil Lee: 0-4 2K
Kelvin Gutierrez: 1-3 R, 2b
Jecksson Flores: 2-4 2b, RBI

Memphis Redbirds 8 Omaha Storm Chasers 0

A day after Chasers pitchers shut out Memphis, the offense returned the favor, getting shutout by Daniel Poncedeleon. The 26-year-old righthander allowed just a second-inning double by Ramon Torres while tossing a nine-inning complete game on 110 pitches, 77  of which were strikes while striking out five. Lefty Jon Dziedzic gave up a pair of home runs in his six and one-third innings, allowing four runs in the loss.

Nicky Lopez: 0-3 BB, K
Ramon Torres: 1-3 2b
Jon Dziedzic: 6.1 IP 5 H 4 R 3 ER 2 BB 2 K 2 HR 7-5 GO-FO 106p/62k

Johnson City Cardinals 7 Burlington Royals 6

Starter Elvis Luciano tossed three scoreless innings before giving up a pair of home runs and five total runs in the next inning and two-thirds. The big blow came via a three-run shot by Benito Santiago, the son of the former Royals catcher. Trailing 5-2 the Royals countered with three runs over the fifth and sixth innings getting a pair of rbi hits by Colby Schultz and Montae Bradshaw in the sixth to tie the game. Unfortunately, the Cardinals countered with a two-run double in the eighth to take a lead that the Royals couldn’t comeback against, falling a run short in the loss.

Chris Hudgins 2-5 2R, HR, 2b, 2 RBI
Jackson Lueck 2-4 R
Elvis Luciano 4.2 IP 5 H 5 R 5 ER 2 BB 6 K 2 HR 4-4 GO-FO 82p/53k

Missoula Osprey 3 Idaho Falls Chukars 1

The Chukars offense was shut down by the Missoula pitching staff for the second game in a row as the D-Backs squad limited the top hitting team in the league to just one run. Idaho Falls went just 2 for 10 with runners in scoring position while starter Jon Heasley tossed five shutout innings himself just 52 pitches. A 1-0 lead was overcome by a run in the seventh off Domingo Pena and two more in the ninth when he surrendered an RBI double and a sac fly. The offense couldn’t counter in the loss despite loading the bases.

Tyler James: 1-3 R, BB, SB (21)
Kyle Isbel: 0-4 2K
Reed Rohlman: 2-4 RBI, 2K

Featured Photo via @Royals Twitter

Sunday Boxscores

Monday Probables
Omaha – TBD
NW Arkansas – Jace Vines 2-8 5.04 ERA 1.58 WHIP
Wilmington – Nolan Watson 6-7 5.62 ERA 1.80 WHIP
Lexington – Charlie Neuweiler 0-1 3.81 ERA 1.31 WHIP
Burlington – Randy Acevedo 0-2 6.95 ERA 1.82 WHIP
Idaho Falls – JC Cloney 5-0 2.35 ERA 1.01 WHIP