HR Roll Call: Hunter Dozier (23), Whit Merrifield (10), Roman Collins (9), David Edwards 2 (8), Jonathan McCray (7), Cal Jones (4), Jose Marquez (1)

BP KC Hitter of the Day – Whit Merrifield 3-3, 3R, HR, 2 RBI, BB 

BP KC Pitcher of the Day – A.J. Puckett 5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 9-2 GO-FO, 56p/37k 

Nashville Sounds 13 Omaha Storm Chasers 7 

An ugly game was played in Omaha Sunday afternoon, as the teams took 3:26 to complete a nine inning game. The Chasers pitching combined with atrocious home plate umpiring to walk eight hitters and give up 13 runs on 18 hits. Starter Jake Junis was rough in his four innings, using 96 pitches while walking five and surrendering four runs. It seemed that Junis and catcher Tony Cruz were regularly crossed up as the righthander threw three wild pitches and had several other balls that were dropped or mishandled by Cruz. Things didn’t improve for John Lannan with the veteran lefty being forced to lay on the sword with 10 hits and nine runs allowed in just 3.2 innings of work that also featured three more walks with two balls leaving the yard. The Chasers offense kept pace for awhile, leading through six, until a pair of four-run innings off Lannan gave Nashville all the separation they needed. On the plus side of things, Hunter Dozier connected on a double and a home run while Whit Merrifield reached a personal goal that he set prior to the season by connecting on this 10th home run between Triple-A and Kansas City.

Boxscore Link

Jake Junis 4 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 5 BB, 6 K, 2-4 GO-FO, 96p/53k
Whit Merrifield 3-3, 3R, HR, 2 RBI, BB
Hunter Dozier 2-3, 2b, HR, 4 RBI

NW Arkansas Naturals 2 San Antonio Missions 0

A low-scoring affair broke out at Arvest park with the Naturals coming out ahead late. Wild man Josh Staumont controlled the zone better than he had of late, hitting the strikezone with 49 of his 84 pitches in five scoreless innings. Putting away four hitters via strikeout, Staumont pitched around three hits and walks before turning things to Evan Beal tied at 0-0. The South Carolina alum, Beal worked through his two innings perfectly with four strikeouts and also keeping the game knotted. After a perfect Tim Hill inning, the Naturals broke the tie in the eighth. A Corey Toups single started things off, which quickly got going after the pitcher committed an error to allow Alfredo Escalera to reach on a bunt. With two on and no out Ryan O’Hearn broke the tie with a single to bring around Toups and push Escalera to third base where he would score two hitters later on a sac fly. Reliever Mark Peterson would finish off the ninth inning for the win that would keep their lead in the division at 1.5 games.

Boxscore Link

Corey Toups 2-4, R
Alfredo Escalera 1-3, R
Evan Beal 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 1-1 GO-AO, 28p/20k

Game 1
Lexington Legends 1 Hagerstown Suns 0

In what has been a rough season for Nolan Watson there a slimmer of hope Sunday as the the former first round pick pitched a solid start versus Hagertown. In the seven inning shortened game, due to the doubleheader, Watson spun five innings of shutout ball while working around three singles and a pair of walks. The righty avoided the home run ball for just the ninth time in 22 starts this season while not allowing an extra base hit for just the third time this season. The Legends offense scored the only run of the game in the first inning on a two-out run-scoring single by Brandon Dulin to drive in Roman Collins for the win.

Boxscore Link

Roman Collins 1-3, R, SB (9)
Nolan Watson 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K, 5-1 GO-FO, 73p/48k
Gabe Cramer 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

Game 2
Lexington Legends 8 Hagerstown Suns 2

The second game featured a little bit of offense combined with an outstanding start. After winning the first game by scoring the only run, Roman Collins opened the second with a leadoff home run to put Lexington ahead. The Legends plated another in the first and added one in the second before breaking things open with a four-run fourth inning. That was more than enough offense for A.J. Puckett who had his most impressive start of the season. The 2016 second round pick worked five hitless innings on 56 pitches, getting nine groundball outs and four strikeouts while walking just one hitter before turning thing to the pen in the sixth inning. Reliever Daniel Concepcion couldn’t complete the no-hitter, allowing a hit to first hitter he would face before allowing two runs in his two innings to complete the win.

Boxscore Link

Roman Collins 1-4, HR
Ben Johnson 2-2, 2R, 3b, RBI, BB
Jecksson Flores 1-2, R, 2 RBI

Grand Junction Rockies 10 Idaho Falls Chukars 6

The Chukars pitchers were knocked around Sunday night during a loss in Grand Junction. Starter Igol Feliz gave up more home runs than strikeouts he earned while surrendering seven runs in just four frames before turning things to a bullpen that allowed three more runs. The lineup put up six runs with two David Edwards home runs, but came up short due in part to eight strikeouts.

Boxscore Link

Meibrys Viloria 2-5, R, 2b
David Edwards 2-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI
Manny Olloque 1-3, 2 RBI, BB

Burlington Royals 10 Greeneville Astros 1 

The Royals Geoffrey Bramblett was outstanding and the offense exploded in the fourth inning to make a laugher of the Sunday game with Greeneville. The Royals entered the fourth inning with a 2-0 lead built on Jonathan McCray’s seventh home run of the year. In the fourth, Boo Vazquez and McCray sandwiched triples around a Gabriel Cancel single to plate two runs prior to Chase Livingston bringing McCray home with a single. After a strike out of Nicky Lopez, the rookie club mirrored the big league club by keeping the line moving with three hits and a hit by pitch combined with a sacrifice fly to plate four more runs and take a commanding 9-0 lead. All those runs didn’t deter Bramblett from tossing solid baseball over five innings with just one hit and one walk giving up while striking out seven Astros hitters to improve his record to 5-1 on the season.

Boxscore Link

Jonathan McCray 2-4, 2R, 3b, HR, 3 RBI
Chase Livingston 2-4, 2R, RBI
Geoffrey Bramblett 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 4-3 GO-FO

AZL Royals 11 AZL Rangers 2

The Royals 27th round pick Rex Hill set a career high with eight strikeouts in the first start of his career. Lasting just four innings, the lefty gave up just one hit while walking three in shutout fashion just missing a win by one inning. A fellow 2016 draftee, Cal Jones, blasted a two-run home run in the first inning, his fourth in nine games for the speedy outfielder. A two run single by Khalil Lee plated Jeison Guzman and Jones in the third inning to push the lead to 4-0. After the Rangers scored a run in the sixth inning, the Royals broke the game open with an RBI single by Sebastian Rivero and a grand slam by Jose Marquez to take a 9-1 lead on the way to a comfortable win.

Boxscore Link

Sebastian Rivero 3-5, R, 2b, 2 RBI
Jose Marquez 2-4, HR, 4 RBI, BB
Cal Jones 2-5, 2b, HR, 2 RBI

HR Roll Call Frank Schwindel (16), Samir Duenez (11), Elier Hernandez (2), Ben Johnson (4), David Edwards (3), Luke Willis (3), Yeison Melo (1)

BP KC Hitter of the Day – Ben Johnson 3-4 HR, 2b, 2 RBI

BP KC Pitcher of the Day – Matt Portland 5 IP 3 H 2 ER 3 BB 7 K 6-2 GO-FO 91p/58k

Omaha Storm Chasers 6 Salt Lake Bees 5

A late comeback woke up the Chasers offense for a walkoff win Friday night. Scoreless in the first 17 innings of this series Omaha got the monkey off their back in the 8th but trailed 5-1 still. A pitching change by the Bees to Javy Guerra got the Omaha offense ignited in the ninth when the reliever walked Jorge Bonifacio and Hunter Dozier to start the inning. Tony Cruz drove in those two following a Bubba Starling single that loaded the bases. Irving Falu’s record breaking single scored Starling while a sac bunt by Parker Morin pushed the tying run to 3rd and the Falu to 2nd. Omaha’s hottest bat ,Orlando Calixte, quickly stepped up and singled to center to drive in both base runners and walk it off for Omaha. That hit by Irving Falu earlier in the ninth gave Irving the hits record for a player in Omaha, counting both the Royals and Storm Chaser franchises.

Boxscore Link

Orlando Calixte 2-5 2b, 2 RBI
Jon Dziedzic 6 IP 3 H 4 ER 2 BB 4 K 5-6 94/58
Irving Falu 2-4 R, RBI

NW Arkansas Naturals 10 Springfield Cardinals 4

Lefty Matt Strahm struggled in his three innings but the Naturals offense propped him up to avoid a loss and earn a win. The Naturals offense exploded in the third through seventh innings, scoring nine runs. Infielder Corey Toups extended his hitting streak with a two hit day while scoring two runs and driving in another while three other hitters had multi-hit games. Newcomer Alfredo Escalera had a three hit day with a two run double and Frank Schwindel hit his 16th home run of the season as part of the win. The win gave NW Arkansas a one game lead in the division over Tulsa.

Boxscore Link

Matt Strahm 3 IP 7 H 4 R 3 ER 0 BB 3 K 4-3 73/46
Frank Schwindel 2-4 HR, BB
Alfredo Escalera 3-4 2b, 2 RBI

Salem Red Sox 10 Wilmington Blue Rocks 5

The Rocks pitchers couldn’t slow down the Salem bats Friday, allowing 10 runs on 15 hits in another loss. Starter Corey Rays struggled in his two innings of work, giving up four runs on three hits and three walks before leaving. Relivers Jacob Bodner and Jake Newberry didn’t fair well either, each allowing two earned runs while Newberry gave up two additional unearned runs. The Rocks scored five runs on 11 hits themselves including Samir Dunez’s 11th home run of the season, his fifth since joining Wilmington.

Boxscore Link

Samir Duenez 1-3 HR, BB
Wander Franco 3-4 R, 2b
Elier Hernandez 2-4 2b, HR, 2 RBI

Lexington Legends 8 Asheville Tourists 5

A good day with runners in scoring position while the Legends piled up the hits on their way to another win. Lexington scored at least run in six of their eight innings with the five through eight hitters doing much of the damage with 10 of the teams 14 hits. Outfielder Ben Johnson drove in two runs for the fourth consecutive game while hitting his fourth home run of the season. The win pushed the Legends to with a game and a half of first place.

Boxscore Link

Amalani Fukofuka 2-4 2R, RBI, SB (16)
Travis Maezes 3-4 2R, 2-2b, RBI, BB
Marten Gasparini 2-3 2-3 2 RBI, E (37)

Idaho Falls Chukars 9 Helena Brewers 2

The Chukars continued to dominate at home in finishing off the Helena Brewers for a three game sweep Friday. Matt Portland struck out seven hitters in five innings while scattering three hits in his five innings to earn his second win thanks to a big offensive effort. The offense piled up nine runs on 12 hits including three home runs. The first two home runs were solo efforts by Luke Willis and David Edwards but the third homer was a big three run job by Yeison Melo in the fifth that helped put the game out of reach.

Boxscore Link

Meibrys Viloris 1-3 3b, RBI, BB
Nick Heath 2-4 2R, 2b, SB (10)
Luke Willis 2-5 2 R, HR

AZL Cubs 5 AZL Royals 4

The Royals comeback effort in the final two innings came up short in a second consecutive loss to the Cubs on Friday. Starter Julio Pinto struggled with his control in his two shutout innings, walking three while not allowing a hit in that time. Reliever Ismael Maldonado gave up five runs in 3.2 innings, taking the loss to drop to 0-2 on the season.

Boxscore Link

Khalil Lee 2-4 R, 2b
Seuly Matias 1-4 RBI, CS (2)
Grant Gavin 3.1 IP 1 H 0 R 0 BB 2 K 6-1 Go-FO

DSL Royals 4 DSL Astros Blue 3 F/13

The Royals walked off in extra innings with Andres Martin single in the 13th inning after falling behind earlier in the inning.

Boxscore Link

Jose Caraballo 2-4 R, 2-2b, BB
Christian Perez 3-5 2b, 3 RBI
Enderson Rodriguez 5 IP 5 H

HR Roll Call: Chase Vallot (10), Logan Nottebrok (2)

BP KC Hitter of the Day – David Edwards 3-4, 2R,  3-2b, 3 RBI

BP KC Pitcher of the Day – A.J. Puckett 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 6-2 GO-FO, 73/44

Salt Lake Bees 2 Omaha Storm Chasers 0

The Chasers ran into a buzzsaw in their first game back from the All Star break. Angels left-hander Tyler Skaggs mowed them down over seven innings, striking out 14 hitters while allowing just a Reymond Fuentes first inning single. Royals pitcher Alec Mills kept pace for a bit, tossing five scoreless innings, but couldn’t get through the sixth without damage. It was a pair of solo home runs that ended his night with two runs allowed in his 5.2 innings. That would be the only scoring done on the night with Omaha dropping the first game back and Hunter Dozier’s hitting streak snapped at nine games.

Boxscore Link

Raul Mondesi 0-4, 3 K
Reymond Fuentes 1-4
Alec Mills 5.2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 6 K, 4-3 GO-FO, 105/65

NW Arkansas Naturals 3 Springfield Cardinals 0

The Cardinals were able to collect hits off Jake Junis on Thursday, but the Texas League All Star was able to maneuver around threats to toss plenty of zeroes on the board. Seven hits and a walk were thwarted by Junis over his six innings with seven ground outs and four strikeouts as he navigated around base runners in all six innings. The offense rewarded Junis’ high-wire act with a win, thanks to single tallies in the fourth thru sixth innings. His batterymate Cam Gallagher drove in Ryan O’Hearn twice with hits in the fourth and sixth. Relievers Aroni Nina and Mark Peterson finished off the final three innings with the pair striking out four and not allowing a hit.

Boxscore Link

Corey Toups 1-3, RBI – hits in 17 of his last 18 games
Cam Gallagher 2-2, 2b, 2 RBI, BB
Aroni Nina 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 2-1 GO-FO, 25/16

Salem Red Sox 5 Wilmington Blue Rocks 3

Wilmington could mount offense in just one inning while falling short in Salem in game two of their series with the Red Sox. A three-run sixth inning pushed Wilmington within a run after starter Zach Lovvorn allowed four runs in his five innings, but the offense couldn’t get anything going in the final three innings. Over those final innings the Rocks placed just one hitter on the bases to mount little in terms of resistance.

Boxscore Link

Samir Duenez 1-4, R, 2b, 2 RBI
Wander Franco 2-3, R, 2b
Brandon Downes 3-4, R, 2-2b

Kannapolis Intimidators 4 Lexington Legends 2

The Legends received solid starting pitching from A.J. Puckett but couldn’t get the same effort from a reliever in dropping the finale and missing out on a chance to sweep Kannapolis. Puckett worked five scoreless, striking out five while navigating around four hits and two walks before leaving with a lead on a limited pitch count. Reliever Daniel Concepcion pitched a perfect sixth before running into trouble in the seventh, allowing four runs to come across as the first five hitters reached. Ben Johnson doubled in a run in the eighth, but they could get no closer the rest of the way to drop the finale of the series. The RBI for Johnson was his second of the game and his sixth in the series, driving in two in each game.

Boxscore Link

Ben Johnson 2-3, 2b, 2 RBI
Amalani Fukofuka 1-3, R, 2b
A.J. Puckett 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 6-2 GO-AO, 73/44

Idaho Falls Chukars 9 Helena Brewers 3

The league’s second leading offense pounded out 11 hits to score nine and earn a 2016 draftee his first pro win. The first six hitters in the lineup pressured the Brewers pitchers, scoring all the runs while reaching base 12 times, with David Edwards doing the most work. The Idaho Falls first baseman scored two runs and drove in three more to pace the offense. Starter Jace Vines earned his first professional win, tossing five innings while allowing three runs on eight hits and a walk in that time. Three pitchers teamed to finish off the final four innings scoreless to earn the win in the series for Idaho Falls who will seek a sweep of the series tomorrow.

Boxscore Link

Yeison Melo 2-3, R, 2 RBI
Rudy Martin 1-4, 2R, BB, 2SB (4)
Jace Vines 5 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 8-1 GO-AO, 72/43

Burlington Royals 5 Johnson City Cardinals 4

An error in the seventh led to a three-run inning for the Cardinals, costing the Royals starter a win, but the team rebounded to earn a tie in the series. A Logan Nottebrok home run in the bottom half of the inning broke the tie to give the Royals the lead back. Two run innings in the fourth and fifth gave Burlington a lead with Nottebrok scoring in that fifth after reaching on an error. Starter Geoffrey Bramblett pitched well, but missed out on a win, having finished his work at five innings and a run allowed.

Boxscore Link

Geoffrey Bramblett 5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 5-3 GO-AO
Nicky Lopez 1-3, R, BB
Nathan Esposito 2-3, 2b, 2 RBI

AZL Cubs 8 AZL Royals 2

The Royals had trouble making contact in this one, striking out 15 times in the loss. Glenn Sparkman gave up four runs in four innings on six hits while new Royal Anthony Bender struggled in his first Arizona appearance, allowing four runs in 1.2 innings. Catcher Chase Vallot homered in his second straight game.

Boxscore Link

Chase Vallot 1-4, HR, 3K
Glenn Sparkman 4 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 7-2 GO-AO
Jeison Guzman 1-4, R, 3b

DSL Royals 7 DSL Astros 2

The Royals were helped along by the Astros and their 10 walks allowed to continue their winning ways. They plated seven runs despite a 2 for 16 effort with runners in scoring position with shortstop Christan Perez driving in four runs. Perez drove in a run in the second inning on a groundout, two more in the sixth with a bases loaded double and then a fourth in the seventh inning with a bases loaded walk.

Boxscore Link

Christian Perez 2-3, 2b, 4 RBI, 2 BB
Raymond Lopez 1-3, R, 2 BB
Darwin Feliz 4 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 3-2 GO-AO