HR Roll Call: Ryan O’Hearn (22), Jack Lopez (5), MJ Melendez (4)

BPKC Hitter of the Day: Brewer Hicklen 3-4 2R, 2b, RBI, SB

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Colin Rodgers 6 IP 5 H 0 R 0 ER 2 BB 5 K 8-4 GO-FO 83p/50k 

NW Arkansas Naturals 6 Tulsa Drillers 2

The Naturals Foster Griffin settled down after giving up back to back home runs in the second inning and kept his club in the game before being rewarded later. The lefty was highly efficient after the two home runs, working eight innings on just 90 pitches while retiring 13 of the final 14 hitters he would face before being lifted for Richard Lovelady.

Trailing 2-1 into the eighth inning, the Naturals rewarded their starters quality work by getting a pair of RBI singles by Jack Lopez and Samir Duenez to take the lead. After Griffin made that lead stand up in his half of the eighth, the Naturals gave the bullpen some cushion when Lopez and Ryan O’Hearn hit back to back home runs in the ninth to put the game out of reach.

The win for Griffin was his 15th of the season. That equals Jake Odorizzi’s 2012 and Rowdy Hardy’s 2007 season for the most by a minor league pitcher during the Dayton Moore era.

Boxscore Link

Ryan O’Hearn 1-4 HR, BB
Donnie Dewees 2-3 2R, RBI, BB, SB (20)
Samir Duenez 1-5 RBI
Foster Griffin 8 IP 5 H 2 R 2 ER 0 BB 7 K 2 HR 9-5 GO-FO 90p/60k
Richard Lovelady 1 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 1 K 2-0 GO-FO 10p/7k

Down East Wood Ducks 1 Wilmington Blue Rocks 0 F/12

The Blue Rocks received 10 innings of shutout pitching but couldn’t do anything with it before falling in the twelfth on Thursday night. Starting pitcher Colin Rodgers gave Wilmington six shutout innings to start this one, working around five hits and a pair of walks before leaving. His bullpen mate Franco Terrero kept the zeroes going, allowing just three hits in his three innings.

While those two were working shutout baseball, the Rangers affiliate had a starter blank Wilmington for eight and one-third innings as Steven Bruce struck out seven and didn’t walk one while working around six Blue Rocks singles.

Tied after eleven innings, lefty reliever Justin Camp gave up a two out RBI single to give the Wood Ducks the lead before the Rocks went down 1-2-3 to take the loss.

Boxscore Link

Brandon Downes 0-5
Chris DeVito 0-5

Idaho Falls Chukars 11 Grand Junction Rockies 4

The Chukars offense turned a 3-0 deficit into a 7-3 lead with a pair of multi-run innings to take control of the game versus the Rockies rookie league team. A five run third inning did the majority of the damage as Idaho Falls piled up four hits to go with a walk and a Rockies error. The big hits in the inning were a pair of doubles by Amalani Fukofuka and Freddy Fermin that scored three of the five Chukar runs.

Starter Julio Pinto gave the team six innings of four run ball while Idaho Falls continued to pile on, scoring four more runs including a three run sixth inning that featured a Fukofuka rbi triple to put the game well in hand.

Boxscore Link

Matt Morales 2-3 3R, 2b, RBI, 2 BB
Brewer Hicklen 3-4 2R, 2b, RBI, SB
Amalani Fukofuka 2-3 R, 2b, 3b, 2 RBI

Bristol Pirates 8 Burlington Royals 3 

Starter Andres Sotillet’s struggles continued as the 20-year-old Venezuelan right-handed starter gave up six hits, one walk, and six runs in just one and one-third innings to take his second loss decision for Burlington.

That hole was just too large for the offense to overcome and the Pirates tacked on a couple insurance runs to put the game further out of reach while the Royals fell 10 games below .500.

Boxscore Link

Seuly Matias 2-5 R, 2b
Oliver Nunez 2-5 R, 2-2b

AZL Dodgers 6 AZL Royals 1

The Royals 2017 2nd round pick Evan Steele made his fifth start since joining the organization, working another two innings. The lefty gave up one hit in the first inning before allowing three runs when he gave up a home run, a single and a triple after plunking a hitter. On the bright side, Steele did strikeout three hitters to give him 16 K’s in just eight innings of work.

Lefty Marlin Willis followed with three innings of his own, allowing a run on four hits while helping create six groundouts. Coming into this start Willis had a 60 percent groundball rate and he did nothing to change that in this one with eight of the 10 balls contacted off him ending up in groundballs.

While the two lefties gave up four combined runs the Dodgers pitching limited the Royals to just five hits with the only run coming via MJ Melendez’s fourth home run of the year.

Boxscore Link

MJ Melendez 1-4 HR
Nick Pratto 0-4
Evan Steele 2 IP 4 H 3 R 3 ER 0 BB 3 K HBP 2-1 GO-FO
Marling Willis 3 IP 4 H 1 R 1 ER 0 BB 2 K HBP 6-0 GO-FO

HR Roll Call: Garin Cecchini (3), Donnie Dewees (5)

BPKC Hitter of the Day: Donnie Dewees 2-4, 2R, 2b, HR, 2 RBI, SB (8)

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Corey Ray 9 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 13-6 GO-FO, 88p/60k

Omaha Storm Chasers 4, Nashville Sounds 2

Starter Luke Farrell tied a career high in strikeouts while the Chasers scored some late runs to take home a win over the Sounds.

After watching the Sounds knock six home runs off Omaha starters the last two nights, Farrell kept the ball in the park, allowing two runs on seven hits in his 6.2 innings. Those seven hits were limited to just two runs thanks to 10 strikeouts by the starter as he pounded the zone with 77 strikes on a career-high 116 pitches before leaving with his team trailing.

The Chasers would quickly get their starter off the hook, getting a two-out ground rule double from Raul Mondesi that was quickly cashed in on an error on a ball off the bat of Jorge Soler. Back to back singles by Ryan O’Hearn and Bubba Starling would score Soler to give Omaha 3-2 lead after seven innings.

The Chasers would tack on an insurance run in the eighth on a Garin Cecchini solo home run before reliever Malcom Culver closed things out in the ninth.

Boxscore Link

Luke Farrell 6.2 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 10 K, 3-4 GO-FO, 116p/77k
Raul Mondesi 2-5, R, 2b
Bubba Starling 1-4, RBI

NW Arkansas Naturals 5, Springfield Cardinals 0

The Naturals jumped on Springfield early and received a terrific effort on the mound to pull within one game of the first-place Cardinals.

The Naturals first two hitters in the lineup, Jack Lopez and Humberto Arteaga, both singled to start the game. After Lopez advanced to third on Arteaga’s single he was brought home via the groundout from Corey Toups to give NW Arkansas the 1-0 lead. A Mauricio Ramos single pushed Arteaga 90 feet away, from where he would score on a wild pitch. With the Cardinals starter wavering, Donnie Dewees would double up the score with his fifth home run of the year.

Those runs would be all that righty Corey Ray would need. Working his first complete game of his career, Ray kept the ball on the ground and navigated around just four hits. The Cardinals had just five at-bats with a runner in scoring position, going hitless while the former Aggie didn’t walk a hitter for the first time this season.

The Naturals tacked on a run in the eighth while their starter used just 88 pitches to complete the game and put his squad in position to even the standings tomorrow night.

Boxscore Link

Jack Lopez 2-3, R
Corey Toups 1-4, R, RBI
Mauricio Ramos 1-4, R

Wilmington Blue Rocks 4, Buies Creek Astros 3 F/15

The Blue Rocks needed extra innings to take game one with the High-A farm club of the Astros Thursday night.

Shortstop Nicky Lopez helped Wilmington to a 2-0 advantage early. The rising prospect walked, stole second, and advanced to third on a throwing error before scoring on a wild pitch in the first. One inning later, it was a Lopez triple that pushed the advantage to two runs.

Starter Colin Rodgers worked five scoreless, allowing just a pair of a singles and two walks. The lefty put away four Astros with strikeouts and six with groundouts in the process, placing himself in a position to earn the win. That wouldn’t happen unfortunately, as lefty reliever Jacob Bodner struggled in his two innings, giving up three runs on five hits to put the Rocks behind 3-2.

That score would remain until the bottom of the ninth when an error and a pair of back to back singles helped the Rocks tie the game.

The two offenses would be put on ice for the next five innings until the bottom of the 15th. Still tied at three, the Rocks would get a one out single by Jecksson Flores to kickstart their inning. The infielder was pushed into scoring position on a walk of Chase Vallot. From there, Flores would come racing home on a Roman Collins double to walk things off for Wilmington.

Boxscore Link

Richard Lovelady 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 2-0 GO-FO, 47p/33k
Nicky Lopez 2-6, R, 3b, BB, RBI, 2SB(13)
Colin Rodgers 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 6-4 GO-FO, 86p/47k

Columbia Fireflies 8, Lexington Legends 0

The Legends didn’t have much going well in Columbia Thursday night in getting swept.

The offense put together just four singles while getting shut out, and the pitching staff was knocked around for 12 hits. Starter Travis Eckert took the loss, allowing four runs in four innings including a home run by Dash Willingham. The bullpen didn’t fare much better with Arnaldo Hernandez giving up a second home run to Willingham, and Geoffrey Bramblett allowing three runs to finish off the game.

Boxscore Link

Vance Tatum 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 14p/9k
Angelo Castellano 2-4
Rudy Martin 1-3

DSL Royals 3, DSL Rays1 2 f/10

The DSL Royals won a game in extra innings over the Rays squad to improve to 4-1.

The Royals took a 1-0 lead in the seventh inning after a Brayant Aponte double that scored Edickson Soto. The Rays quickly answered in the eighth, scoring a run on a Royals throwing error.

The game went to extras where the new rule of starting a runner on second base was employed. The Royals, in their half on defense, quickly cut down the runner from second on a fielder’s choice when the catcher, Felix Familia, tossed out a runner at third. Back to back errors followed though, and the Rays took a lead on a single.

Trailing by one, the Royals started their inning with a sac bunt that was good enough to allow the runner to reach first. A hit by pitch and a sac fly error allowed the Royals to even the score and load the bases once again. After a pop out, catcher Felix Familia walked things off for the Royals with another sacrifice fly.

Boxscore Link

Brayant Aponte 2-3, 2b, BB, RBI
Wilmer Jimenez 3.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 1-2 GO-FO
Kelvin Gonzalez 3 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 4-0 GO-FO

HR Roll Call: None 

BPKC Hitter of the Day: Travis Maezes 2 gms 2-6, R, 3 RBI, 2 BB

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Colin Rodgers 4 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 4-0 GO-FO, 78p/47k

Game 2
Wilmington Blue Rocks 4, Potomac Nationals 3 F/11

The Rocks salvaged the second game of the doubleheader with a second walk-off win in as many days.

The Wilmington offense and defense wasted a brilliant spot start by lefty Colin Rodgers, as the former 3rd round pick flummoxed the Nationals hitters for four innings. A two-out double in the fourth inning was allowed to score off Rodgers when shortstop Jecksson Flores threw wide which allowed Bryan Mejia to race home to tie the game up.

The Nationals took the lead in the eighth only to see Wilmington push the tying run across in their half of the inning with a sacrifice fly. The game would remain tied until the eleventh when another two-out double came back to haunt Wilmington, this time scoring on a Potomac single to regain the lead.

With one quick out in the eleventh, it looked like the Rocks night would end, but Anderson Miller – hitless to that point – would single to extend his on-base and hit streaks. The slugger would move to second when Colton Frabasilio was hit by a pitch. Those two would move into scoring position after Roman Collins earned a walk, to bring up Travis Maezes with the bases loaded. Responsible for part of both runs up to that point the former Michigan infielder made sure he had the biggest hand in the game, connecting on a single to right to score both Miller and Frabasilio to walk things off for the Rocks.

Boxscore Link

Anderson Miller 1-5, R, 25 game on-base streak longest since ’11 for a Wilmington player
Richard Lovelady 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 3-0 GO-FO, 21p/15k
Gabe Cramer 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 55p/34k

Game 1
Potomac Nationals 6, Wilmington Blue Rocks 1 

The Blue Rocks Scott Blewett had eluded being touched despite his troubles versus lefties so far this season, but on Wednesday evening the Nationals affiliate made sure that Blewett was tagged in the Rocks loss.

Coming into the game Blewett, without a plus changeup that he can lean on, had given up a .333/.405/.540 line versus lefties. That didn’t let up with left-handed hitters tagging Blewett for seven of his eight hits allowed on this night, including a pair of home runs off the bat of Taylor Gushue. One right-handed hitter did get to Blewett for a double but once again Scott showed his ability to handle same-siders as he has this year.

The Rocks managed just one run on the offensive side as the Nationals starter danced around baserunners in the first few innings of the game.

Boxscore Link

Anderson Miller 1-2, RBI, BB extends hit streak to 10 games, on-base to 24 games
Roman Collins 2-3, 2b
Scott Blewett 5.2 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 8-4 GO-FO, 75p/53k

Greenville Grasshoppers 12, Lexington Legends 1

Young teams put together uninspiring performances from time to time. This has certainly been the case for the Lexington Legends on occasion this season, and was the case on Wednesday afternoon their loss. The Legends employed an impatient approach, swinging early and often at balls that were hard to do significant damage to, resulting in quick outs and a lack of offense. In addition, the defense was making multiple errors, allowing their opponent to pick up some unearned runs.

The Greenville starter, Michael King, who the Legends had scored five runs on in just five innings in their previous meeting, worked a breezy seven scoreless innings on just 84 pitches, while giving up just a pair of singles and two walks and earning 14 worm burners.

On Lexington’s side, Gerson Garabito was solid as always, allowing just four hits and a pair of unearned runs via errors by Gabriel Cancel and Emmanuel Rivera while striking out six in five innings. The righty has lowered his ERA to 2.20 to go along with his sub 1 WHIP. The bullpen couldn’t match Garabito’s strong performance, with three different pitchers allowing a combined 10 runs after Garabito’s exit.

The Legends loaded the bases in the eighth but pushed just one across in the loss.

Boxscore Link

Khalil Lee 1-3, BB
Meibrys Viloria 0-3, R, BB
Gerson Garabito 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 7-3 GO-FO, 89p/59k