BPKC Hitter of the Day: Jose Marquez 3-4 4R, HR, 4 RBI, BB

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Emilio Ogando 7 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 2 BB 5 K 9-1 GO-FO 92p/56k 

Lexington Legends 2 Lakewood BlueClaws 1

Starter J.C. Cloney bounced back from his first loss of the season to position the Legends for a win Tuesday night. The lefty tossed seven scoreless innings, working around a leadoff double in the sixth, a one-out double in the fourth and a two-out triple in the fifth to keep the Phillies Low-A club off the board. A Brewer Hicklen double drove in Nick Pratto in the first inning to give Lexington a 1-0 lead. An insurance run was provided in the seventh inning by Ricky Aracena with a one-out single that scored Cristian Perez after he started the inning with a leadoff single. Reliever Janser Lara gave up a run in the eighth but closer Tad Ratliff shut the door in the ninth to secure the series sweep for the Legends.

Brewer Hicklen: 1-3 2b, RBI
Nick Pratto: 2-3 R, BB, SB, CS
J.C. Cloney: 7 IP 5 H 0 R 0 ER 2 BB 4 K 7-4 GO-FO 79p/46k

NW Arkansas Naturals 4 Springfield Cardinals 1 

The Naturals Emilio Ogando continued his incredibly odd season by improving his scoreless streak to 31 innings with seven shutout innings in this one. Working seven innings, Ogando gave up just a leadoff single in the seventh with a pair of walks over his seven shutout innings. He was backed by a two run home run by Samir Duenez and a pair of RBI singles by Kort Peterson and Erick Mejia to take a 4-0 lead. Reliever Gabe Speier worked the final two innings, allowing a run in the ninth before securing the win.

Samir Duenez: 1-4 HR, 2 RBI
Kelvin Gutierrez: 1-3 2b
Erick Mejia: 2-4 RBI

Omaha Storm Chasers 13 Oklahoma City Dodgers 2

Another good start for Arnaldo Hernandez as he makes a late push to win Royals minor league pitcher of the year. The right-hander backed up his complete game with a quality start in this one, tossing six innings of one-run ball by retiring 18 of the last 19 hitters he faced with just a walk allowed in that time. The two teams exchanged one-run first innings before Paulo Orlando connected on a solo home run in the third to take a 2-1 lead. With Hernandez tossing up zeroes, the Chasers exploded for eight runs in the fifth inning, getting a grand slam off the bat of Frank Schwindel and a pair of doubles by Ramon Torres and Donnie Dewees that drove in three more. The Chasers tacked on three runs in the ninth inning for the final margin of victory.

Frank Schwindel: 3-5 HR, 5 RBI
Arnaldo Hernandez: 6 IP 3 H 1 R 1 ER 1 BB 4 K 5-6 GO-FO 90p/57k
Donnie Dewees: 2-5 2R, 2b, 3 RBI

Burlington Royals 13 Johnson City Cardinals 5

A big offensive night by the Royals as they clubbed 17 hits and walked seven times in a blowout win. Four different Royals hitters had at least three hits with Jose Marquez scoring four times and while driving in four runs with his three-hit including his seventh home run. Starter Yerelmy Garcia earned the win despite four runs allowed in five and one-third innings.

Eric Cole: 4-6 2R, 2b, RBI, SB (6)
Brhet Bewley: 3-6 2R, 2-2b
Chris Hudgins: 3-5 2b, 3 RBI, BB

Billings Mustangs 5 Idaho Falls Chukars 4

Idaho Falls Kris Bubic didn’t have his best start, giving up seven hits and a walk in his five innings. A pair of bunt hits in the third inning loaded the bases against him in the third inning before a single to left scored a pair. Two innings later, a two-out single scored a run after a passed ball. Infielder Nathan Eaton drove in a run in the third inning with a sacrifice fly before Chase Vallot homered in the fourth to tie the game back up. Seventh-round pick Tyler Gray gave up two runs in the eighth to put Idaho Falls behind 5-2. In the eighth inning first baseman Nick Hutchins drove in two with a one-out double to pull the Chukars within a run at 5-4. The Chukars would threaten in the ninth by walking the bases loaded but Jose Caraballo would ground out to end the threat and the game.

Kris Bubic: 5 IP 7 H 3 R 2 ER 1 BB 6 K 4-4 GO-FO 65p/46k
Nick Hutchins: 2-4 2b, 2 RBI
Chase Vallot: 1-3 HR, BB

Tuesday Boxscores

BPKC Hitter of the Day: Kort Peterson 3-3 HR, 2b, RBI, BB

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: J.C. Cloney 6.2 IP 4 H 1 R 1 ER 3 BB 8 K 5-3 GO-FO 99p/60k

Transaction – Ryan O’Hearn called up from the Omaha Storm Chasers

Hagerstown Suns 6 Lexington Legends 5

It’s been small improvements in each start for the 1st round pick Jackson Kowar as the right-hander has tossed an additional inning each of his last two times outs. The right-hander gave up a solo home run in the second inning after retiring the first five hitters he faced and then allowed three hits and a run in the fourth frame. The most surprising thing so far has been the right-hander’s lack of strikeouts with just one in this outing and just four in nine and one-third innings since joining the team. The Legends tied the game up in the sixth with an RBI groundout from Cristian Perez and an pRBI double by Nick Pratto. That tie didn’t last when Garrett Davila gave up a two-run home run in the bottom half of the inning to put the Legends back behind. A couple more runs of insurance in the eighth dug a deeper hole for Lexington that they nearly dug out of with a three-run ninth that featured a Cal Jones two-run home run but they fell short with Kyle Isbel’s strikeout with the tying run left on second.

Seuly Matias: 1-4 R
MJ Melendez: 2-4 R
Kyle Isbel: 2-5 R, K, SB

NW Arkansas Naturals 3 Arkansas Travelers 2

Starter Foster Griffin gave the Naturals another solid start while the offense gave the lefty his third consecutive winning decision. Spreading out seven hits and a pair of walks in five and two-thirds innings with three strikeouts and seven groundouts. A Kort Peterson solo home run and an RBI groundout by Samir Duenez gave NW Arkansas a 2-0 lead. After Arkansas scored in the third an error by their defense in the fifth allowed NW Arkansas to regain their two run advantage. An inning later Griffin ran into trouble, giving up a pair of two out hits to cut into the lead but reliever Pedro Fernandez got them out of the inning with the lead intact. From there Fernandez would toss two more scoreless innings before handing off to Andres Machado who tossed a scoreless ninth for the save.

Foster Griffin: 5.2 IP 7 H 2 R 2 ER 2 BB 3 K 7-5 GO-FO 93p/62k
Erick Mejia: 2-3 R, BB, SB
Pedro Fernandez: 2.1 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 3 K 1-1 GO-FO 30p/23k

Fresno Grizzlies 5 Omaha Storm Chasers 3

Starter Trevor Oaks ran into a bit of early trouble before finding his groove. The PCL’s ERA leader gave up single tallies in the first two innings before a three-run third tagged him for five runs to start the game. The Chasers had a three-run third inning themselves with a two-run Frank Schwindel double providing the runs for the visitors. Those would be the final runs for the Chasers though as the Astros Triple-A squad shut them down the rest of the way to secure the series split.

Nicky Lopez: 0-3 R, BB
Frank Schwindel: 2-4 R, 2b, 2 RBI, 2K
Trevor Oaks: 5 IP 8 H 5 R 5 ER 1 BB 5 K 4-2 GO-FO 94/57k

Idaho Falls Chukars 7 Orem Owlz 1

After the Chukars gave up 46 runs this weekend, they turned to their ace in lefty J.C. Cloney. The former Arizona Wildcat starter was up to the task for Idaho Falls, working six and two-thirds innings while allowing just a run on four hits while striking out eight to lead the club to a much needed win. The offense capably backed him up with a pair of multi-run innings, scoring three in the fourth and four more in the ninth with Reed Rohlman leading the charge with a pair of doubles and three runs driven in.  Those runs would be plenty after a pair of relievers tossed the final innings scoreless to secure the win.

Reed Rohlmann: 2-5 R, 2-2b, 3 RBI
Hunter Strong: 2-3 R, 2 RBI, BB
Jared Hellinger: 1.1 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 3 K 19p/15k

Monday Boxscores

BPKC Hitter of the Day: Kyle Isbel 4-5 3R, 2b, 2 HR, 4 RBI

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Holden Capps 3 IP 2 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 6 K 3-0 GO-FO 43p/32k

Lexington Legends 7 Greenville Drive 5

Starter Charlie Neuweiler had a rough second inning due to some rough defense behind him but settled himself down and gave his squad time to make a comeback. After Ricky Aracena singled in a run in the second inning, Greenville scored five runs (2 ER) in the home half, getting four hits and a pair of errors from the Lexington defense to put the five runs on the board. The fourth inning saw Marten Gasparini get his big offensive night jump started with an RBI single. After the second, Neuweiler found a groove, working around a leadoff error in the third inning to retire the final nine hitters he would face. In the sixth, the offense would bail him out of the loss with a rbi triple by Manny Olloque to cut the lead to two before Gasparini went deep to tie things up at 5-5. Lefty reliever Holden Capps tossed three consecutive shutout innings to keep the game tied and Gasparini would be back at it, doubling to lead off the ninth to help set up a two-run inning that would complete the comeback and ultimately give the Legends the win.

Marten Gasparini: 3-3 2R, 2b, HR, 3 RBI, BB
Cristian Perez: 2-5 RBI
MJ Melendez: 0-4 BB

Wilmington Blue Rocks 5 Salem Red Sox 2

Starting pitcher Nolan Watson had one of his best outings of the season in leading the way for a Wilmington win Monday night. The former 1st round pick worked seven innings for the second consecutive start, working efficiently with 59 strikes on 89 pitches with his High-A high seven strikeouts. The Red Sox used sacrifice flies in both the second and third innings to plate runs versus Watson but could do more against him or the bullpen. The Rocks trailed 2-1 through five but took the lead back with a pair of runs in the sixth, scoring on a wild pitch and a single by Nick Heath. An eighth inning RBI single by D.J. Burt and a run-scoring double by Gabe Cancel added a pair of insurance runs which were more than enough with reliever Tyler Zuber tossing a scoreless ninth frame.

Gabe Cancel: 1-4 2b, RBI
Nick Heath: 1-4 R, 2 RBI, SB (29)
D.J. Burt: 2-4 R, RBI, SB (23)

Springfield Cardinals 10 NW Arkansas Naturals 6 F/10

The two teams exchanged five runs in the first six innings to push the game into extra innings after a pair of scoreless innings by Walker Sheller. The Naturals took the lead in the tenth with a two-out single by Nick Dini to score their free baserunner but that lead wouldn’t last long. Struggling reliever Bryan Brickhouse got two outs in the tenth but tossed a pair of wild pitches that allowed the Cardinals free baserunner to score before Victor Roache connected on his second home run of the game to walk things off, giving Brickhouse his fourth loss in just eight Double-A appearances.

Jecksson Flores: 3-5 2b, 2 RBI, SB (14)
Nick Dini: 2-4 R, RBI
Jace Vines: 4.2 IP 6 H 4 R 4 ER 5 BB 3 K 2 HR HBP 5-2 GO-FO 104p/53k

Nashville Sounds 5 Omaha Storm Chasers 4 F/11

The Sounds overcame the Storm Chasers scoring their free baserunner in both the tenth and eleventh innings before walking the game off in the eleventh. In a spot start, Arnaldo Hernandez struggled with his control, walking five against five strikeouts. The right-hander worked five innings, giving up a pair of runs with three hits allowed leaving the game with runners on that scored to tie it up with Richard Lovelady on the mound. The game stayed knotted at 2-2 until the tenth when Nicky Lopez walked with the bases loaded to give Omaha the lead. The Sounds tied it up in the bottom half with no outs and then connected with a pair of singles in the eleventh to tie the game up and take the win home against reliever Kevin Lenik.

Nicky Lopez: 1-3 BB, CS
Ryan O’Hearn: 1-5 R, 2b
Arnaldo Hernandez: 5 IP 3 H 2 R 2 ER 5 BB 5 K 4-4 GO-FO 99p/56k

Burlington Royals 6 Johnson City Cardinals 5

A four-run ninth led to a walk-off win for Burlington over the Cardinals rookie squad. The Johnson City lineup plated a pair of runs on four hits against rehabbing right-hander Janser Lara despite four strikeouts from him in his two innings of work. Catcher Freddy Fermin homered to cut the lead in half in the second but after the two teams exchanged runs in the next two innings the Cards tacked on a pair in the seventh. With things looking gloom for the home team the Royals got off to a quick start with a leadoff walk to Fermin and a double by Brhet Bewley to put a pair of runners in scoring position. A pair of groundouts would put the game on the edge but a Jeison Guzman two-run single kept things alive while putting the tying run on base. That tying run would come on home when second baseman Jose Marquez blasted a 1-0 pitch out to right for a walk-off home run to win things for the Royals.

Jose Marquez: 2-5 HR 2 RBI
Freddy Fermin: 1-3 2R, HR, 2 RBI, BB
Juan Carlos Negret: 1-3 R, BB

Idaho Falls Chukars 9 Missoula Osprey 0

After Missoula shut down the Chukars offense for two games in a row, the Idaho Falls pitching staff returned the favor on Monday night. Starter J.C. Cloney spun six innings of shutout ball with just four hits allowed before turning things to the pen which kept the shutout going until the end. While the pitching staff kept things quiet, the offense did the opposite, connecting on 18 hits with a pair of hitters collecting four apiece. 2018 draftee Kyle Isbel led the way driving four runs in with a double and two home runs as the offense scored nine runs in the convincing win.

Reed Rohlman: 4-5 R
Tyler James: 1-3 R, 2b
Angel Medina: 3-4 R, CS

Monday Boxscores

Tuesday Probables
Omaha – Zach Lovvorn 5-5 5.10 ERA 1.46 WHIP
NW Arkansas – Emilio Ogando 5-6 7.15 ERA 2.22 WHIP
Lexington – Jackson Kowar

BPKC Hitter of the Day – Jose Caraballo 2-4 R, 2-2b, RBI

BPKC Pitcher of the Day – J.C. Cloney 7 IP 4 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 5 K 9-3 GO-FO 79p/54k

Transactions – Khalil Lee promoted to NW Arkansas
Jason Adam promoted to Kansas City, Justin Grimm put on the DL
Michael Emodi and Hunter Strong placed on Burlington roster, Isaiah Henry transferred to Surprise roster.
Emmanuel Rivera transferred to Arizona on a rehab assignment.

Kannapolis Intimidators 4 Lexington Legends 1

The Legends difficult start the second half continued in Kannapolis after a bus ride that normally takes under seven hours arrived some 11 hours later. Perhaps it was the lack of sleep or White Sox pitcher Parker Rigler just spinning a good outing, but whichever it is, the Legends struggled to a 1 for 9 effort with runners in scoring position. The Legends scored their only run in in the fifth inning after Cristian Perez singled, stole second and scored on a Marten Gasparini single. Starter Andres Sotillet after working five scoreless innings struggled in the sixth, giving up a leadoff single before hitting a pair of batters to load the bases. One hitter later Sotillet would give up a double to score two runs before giving up another two-run single to push Lexington down 4-1. The Legends would get a runner in scoring position in three of the final four innings but failing to push anyone home.

Seuly Matias: 1-3 HBP
Nick Pratto: 1-3 BB
Cristian Perez: 1-4 R, SB (5)

Lynchburg Hillcats 5 Wilmington Blue Rocks 1

The Rocks were limited to just four hits on Wednesday, scoring a run in the first before being blanked over the final eight innings. Starter Ofreidy Gomez matched that effort for five innings giving up a solo home run in that time in a 1-1 game. The right-hander couldn’t get through the sixth without any damage, allowing four runs when Lynchburg connected on three extra bases hits with a run-scoring triple, a double and a two-run home run to take a 5-1 lead that would be more than enough to finish off Wilmington.

Blake Perkins: 1-4 R
Rudy Martin: 1-3 2b, K
Anthony Bender: 1 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 0 K 2-1 GO-FO 11p/6k

Round Rock Express 6 Omaha Storm Chasers 4

The Chasers lost to Round Rock for a third consecutive game, this time with a late two run home run off the bullpen. Starter Glenn Sparkman worked six innings with six strikeouts, allowing six hits and three runs (2 ER) with three hits in the third to plate two runs and a passed ball leading to an unearned run in the fifth. The offense got Sparkman off the hook with a pair of seventh inning home runs from Donnie Dewees and Ryan O’Hearn, the latter a two-run home run that scored Jorge Bonifacio. That even score wouldn’t last long as Sam Selman would give up a single and a walk before Coach Poldberg would turn to Jake Newberry. That move would fail for Poldberg when Newberry gave up a three-run home run to Tommy Joseph to give Round Rock a 6-3 lead. The Chasers scored and put the tying runs in scoring position in the ninth on a rbi double by Paulo Orlando but Ramon Torres would strikeout and pinch hitter Frank Schwindel flew out to end the threat.

Jorge Bonifacio: 1-4 R
Donnie Dewees: 1-4 HR
Ryan O’Hearn: 1-4 HR, 2 RBI

Idaho Falls Chukars 5 Grand Junction Rockies 1

Lefty J.C. Cloney won his third consecutive decision to start his season with another impressive start. Working seven innings for the second time in three tries Cloney tossed shutout baseball while creating nine groundouts along next to five strikeouts. The Chukars offense backed him up quite nicely, scoring five runs in the first five innings with four different hitters driving in runs including a two-run double by Jesus Atencio in the fourth inning. The win pushed Idaho Falls back to three games above .500 early in their season.

Andres Martin: 2-3 R, RBI, BB, SB (3)
Nathan Eaton: 1-4 RBI
Kyle Isbel: 1-4 RBI

Wednesday Boxscores

Thursday Probables
Omaha – Jon Dziedzic 3-6 3.97 ERA 1.31 WHIP
NW Arkansas – Foster Griffin 3-8 6.19 ERA 1.64 WHIP
Wilmington – Gerson Garabito 2-6 4.32 ERA 1.51 WHIP
Lexington – Yefri Del Rosario 0-3 10.45 ERA 2.42 WHIP
Idaho Falls – TBD
Burlington – Randy Acevedo 0-0 5.40 ERA 2.00 WHIP

BPKC Hitter of the Day: Nicky Lopez 5-6 4R, 2b, 3b, HR, 2 RBI – hit for 2nd NWA cycle ever

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: J.C. Cloney 6 IP 6 H 1 R 1 ER 0 BB 5 K 6-2 GO-FO 83p/57k 

Charleston River Dogs 9 Lexington Legends 8

The Legends had a comeback bid washed out by the rain on Thursday night in a loss to the Yankees Low-A squad. Starter Andres Sotilet, fresh off a good first half, was knocked around, giving up 11 hits and nine runs (8ER) in just four and two-thirds innings. That effort left Lexington trailing 9-3 after five innings, but in the sixth, the bats muscled up with an RBI single by Cristian Perez that came in front of home run number 23 by Seuly Matias, a three-run shot that pushed the score to 9-7. One hitter later it was Dennicher Carrasco taking a ball just to the left of center to make it 9-8. Unfortunately for Lexington the rains came just an inning later washing out their comeback bid and giving them a loss to start their second half.

Seuly Matias: 1-2 HR, 2 RBI, BB, HBP
Brewer Hicklen: 2-4 2R, HR, 3 RBI, SB (10)
Cristian Perez: 1-4 2R, RBI

Wilmington Blue Rocks 2 Potomac Nationals 1

The Rocks got a good pitching effort from right-hander Anthony Bender to squeak out a victory to start their second half. Despite just two strikeouts, Bender was able to maneuver around six hits and a pair of walks, allowing just one run while on the hill. Wilmington took advantage of that pitching effort manufacturing a run in the first with a Khalil Lee RBI single of Blake Perkins who had led the game off with a single. The only run came off Bender in the second inning for Potomac when they got a walk, a wild pitch, and a groundout to maneuver a runner to third prior to a sac fly by Aldrem Corredor. The game stood at 1-1 into the seventh when Perkins manufactured his own offense, singling with one out, stealing second, advancing to third on a throwing error and ultimately coming home on a wild pitch to give Wilmington a 2-1 lead. Following Bender’s six innings his piggyback partner Ofreidy Gomez tossed three scoreless frames to secure the win and his first save.

Anthony Bender: 6 IP 6 H 1 R 1 ER 2 BB 2 K 10-3 GO-FO 82p/53k
Khalil Lee: 2-4 RBI, SB (13), CS (2)
Blake Perkins: 2-3 2 BB, SB (13)

NW Arkansas Naturals 17 Tulsa Drillers 3

The Naturals bats exploded against the Tulsa Drillers on Thursday night on the way to an easy win. It was a full team effort as only two players in the starting lineup didn’t get a hit on the night, punching out 16 hits as a team including five home runs. No Naturals hitter had a bigger night the All-Star middle infielder Nicky Lopez who hit for the cycle during a 5 for 6 night. The cycle for Lopez went in perfect order starting with a leadoff single in the first, a double in the third inning before tripling in the fourth and finishing it off with a sixth-inning home run. His teammates would help get Lopez up to the plate two more times as the Naturals crossed the plate 17 times in the blowout win. Lefty Jake Kalish was the beneficiary of the offensive output with the lefty working seven innings of three-run ball.

Jake Kalish: 7 IP 6 H 3 R 3 ER 0 BB 7 K 8-3 GO-FO 83p/56k
Kort Peterson: 2-4 2R, HR, 2 RBI, BB, SB
Erick Mejia: 3-5 2R, 2b, 2 RBI

Oklahoma City Dodgers 7 Omaha Storm Chasers 1

The Chasers bats were held at bay by a former top prospect while one of their pitching prospects couldn’t finish off hitters during a lopsided loss. In his second consecutive difficult start, Josh Staumont wavered in and out of the zone, walking four hitters while hitting the zone with 52 of 86 pitches. Normally the walks come absent of hits for Staumont but in this one, the Dodgers hitters were connecting with six hits including a solo home run off him. Just like his last start in Reno, Staumont had a 40 pitch inning, tossing 40 pitches during his four-run second inning before his night ended after a two-run third frame. While the Chasers pitcher was struggling Oklahoma City’s Manny Banuelos, a former Top 50 prospect, was getting the big pitches whenever he needed, striking out nine hitters during his six shutout innings. The lone Omaha run came in the ninth courtesy of a Ramon Torres double that scored Donnie Dewees from first after he reached via an infield single during his 3-5 introduction to Triple-A.

Donnie Dewees: 3-5 R
Frank Schwindel: 2-4
Jorge Bonifacio: 0-4 BB, 4 K

Elizabethton Twins 9 Burlington Royals 5

Burlington lost their third game in a row to start the season despite Juan Carlos Negret slugging his first home run with the Royals organization. Starter Randy Acevedo, who the Royals are high on, gave up eight hits, two walks and four runs (3 ER) while striking out three over five innings in the loss.

Juan Carlos Negret: 1-2 2R, HR, BB, SB, OF Assist
Randy Acevedo: 5 IP 8 H 4 R 3 ER 2 BB 3 K 6-1 GO-FO 88p/55k
Angel Medina 0-4 2K, E

Idaho Falls Chukars 6 Grand Junction Rockies 1

The Chukars received another good start from lefty J.C. Cloney as the former Arizona Wildcat worked six innings, allowing just one run on six hits while striking out five before turning it over the bullpen. While the lefty was working smoothly his offense was powering up, getting a pair of two-run home runs by Jesus Atencio and Kyle Isbel on their way to five runs in the first three innings to secure a lead that would be more than enough for Cloney and the bullpen.

Kyle Isbel: 1-4 HR, 2 RBI, BB
Marcelo Martinez: 2 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 3 K 2-0 GO-FO 20p/16k
Tyler James: 1-4 R, 3b, BB

Thursday Boxscores

Friday Probables
Omaha – Glenn Sparkman 7-2 3.39 ERA 1.23 WHIP
NW Arkansas – Foster Griffin 3-7 5.71 ERA 1.59 WHIP
Wilmington – Gerson Garabito 2-5 4.30 ERA 1.51 WHIP
Lexington – Yefri Del Rosario 0-2 5.63 ERA 1.75 WHIP
Burlington – Daniel Lynch 1st Rd
Idaho Falls – TBD
Florida Gators – Brady Singer