BPKC Hitter of the Day – Chris DeVito 4-4 R, 2-2b, RBI

BPKC Pitcher of the Day – Cristian Castillo 4 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 2 K 7-2 GO-FO 50p/36k

Lexington Legends 7 Rome Braves 4

The Legends big prospects led the way to another win over Rome on Saturday. The Braves jumped out to a 3-1 lead after three innings, hitting a solo home run off Carlos Hernandez in the second to tie the game before scoring a pair on a couple of singles in the third inning. In the fifth, the Legends countered with a run scoring infield single by Ricky Aracena prior to Cal Jones driving him in with a double. Now tied 3-3 Lexington would take the lead in that inning on a groundout by Cristian Perez. While Hernandez was settling down, getting through six innings with those three runs allowed his battery mate MJ Melendez was taking over the game. After scoring a run in the second after a single Melendez hit a bomb of a home run to center in the sixth to expand on the lead. While doing that offense Melendez was controlling the running game as well, tossing out two potential base stealers and also picking a runner off first base. The Legends final run was tacked on by outfielder Seuly Matias connecting on his 22nd home run of the season, a shot that got over the left-center fence.

Seuly Matias 1-4 HR,2 K
MJ Melendez 2-4 2R, HR, 2-2 CS/att, PO
Carlos Hernandez 6 IP 8 H 3 R 3 ER 1 BB 5 K 4-3 GO-FO 72p/51k

Wilmington Blue Rocks 2 Winston-Salem Dash 1

The Blue Rocks pitching staff and first baseman Chris DeVito helped carry Wilmington to a win over the White Sox farm club. The first baseman who has struggled most of the first half went 4 for 4 with a pair of doubles in carrying the offense. Scoreless into the seventh inning DeVito doubled with two outs in front of a Vance Vizcaino single to score the game’s first run. In the ninth DeVito was the one with a two out hit, driving in Gabe Cancel following his double earlier in the inning to push the lead to 2-0. In the ninth, closer Bryan Brickhouse gave up a couple of singles, just the fifth and sixth hit he’s allowed during the season, which scored a run after an error by Vizcaino before securing the final out and his twelfth save of the year.

Bryan Brickhouse 2 IP 2 H 1 R 1 ER 0 BB 3 K 1-2 GO-FO 24p/16k
Gabriel Cancel 1-4 R, 2b
Carter Hope 3 IP 3 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 3 K 3-3 GO-FO 35p/25k

Tulsa Drillers 4 NW Arkansas Naturals 3

A pair of home runs did in Foster Griffin and the Naturals on Saturday. After the Naturals manufactured a pair of runs in the first and fifth innings to take a 2-0 lead Griffin served it up on the sixth. After an infield single and a walk, the lefty left a changeup over the plate and Jacob Scavuzzo hammered deep to left to put Tulsa up 3-2. The very next pitch ended up over the fence as well after DJ Peters connected on a solo home run to push the lead to 4-2. The Naturals brought the tying run to the plate in each of the next three innings but just a Jecksson Flores solo home run could be produced as they dropped another vital game in the first half race. The loss put the Naturals behind first place Arkansas by two games as they head into their four-game set with the Travelers starting on Sunday.

Foster Griffin 5.1 IP 7 H 4 R 4 ER 2 BB 5 K 4-2 GO-FO 82p/53k
Nicky Lopez 1-3 RBI
Jecksson Flores 1-3 HR, BB

Omaha Storm Chasers 9 Reno Aces 5

The Chasers starting pitcher Glenn Sparkman navigated the highly offensive ballpark pretty well Saturday night while the Chasers offense knocked around Reno pitching. Despite ten hits given up in five innings, Sparkman got through five innings with just three runs allowed. On their end, the Omaha offense connected on 19 hits, including five extra-base hits to score nine runs. Infielders Jack Lopez and Corey Toups each connected on opposite field home runs while all nine hitters in the lineup had at least one hit on the night. The Chasers bullpen gave up three more hits and a pair of runs via Reno’s third home run of the night but it wasn’t enough as Omaha took the win.

Jorge Bonifacio 3-5 R, 2b, RBI
Corey Toups 2-4 HR, BB
Glenn Sparkman 5 IP 10 H 3 R 3 ER 2 BB 2 K 7-2 GO-FO 107p/72k

Idaho Falls Chukars 12 Ogden Raptors 4

The Chukars hitters waited the Raptors pitchers out in this one, walking nine times on 190 pitches during the game while also connecting on twelve hits n the game. Of those twelve hits, six went for doubles which led to twelve runs on the board and a comfortable win. Starting pitcher C.J. Eldred made his first start since season ending Tommy John surgery during his final season at the University of Iowa, going six innings while allowing three runs on eight hits while striking out three to earn his first win with the organization.

C.J. Eldred 6 IP 8 H 3 R 3 ER 0 BB 3 K 7-4 GO-FO 84p/54k
Rudy Martin 1-2 2R, 2b, 2 RBI, 2 BB
Manny Olloque 2-4 R, 2-2b, RBI, BB

Saturday Boxscores

Sunday Probables
Omaha – Jon Dziedzic 3-5 3.03 ERA 1.16 WHIP
NW Arkansas – Zach Lovvorn 4-4 5.77 ERA 1.53 WHIP
Wilmington – Dan Tillo 2-2 4.16 ERA 1.25 WHIP
Lexington – TBD
Idaho Falls – Ismael Maldonado

BPKC Hitter of the Day: Anderson Miller 2-5 2HR, 4 RBI 

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Anthony Bender 7 IP 4 H 1 R 1 ER 0 BB 2 K 7-4 GO-FO 90p/55k

More Draft Info on Ted Cillis Rd 33 Pick

According to Coach Russo, left-hander Ted Cillis still has some upside left in his profile despite being a graduating senior. The reason for that is that he will finally have the ability to concentrate on just pitching after playing in the field for Hofstra for four years. Due to this, Cillis didn’t get to do the common side work most pitchers get to work on which limited the amount of time he could work on his craft. The left-hander works from a 3/4 arm slot with his fastball with good movement that he can bore in on hitters in the 91-93 mph range, touching 95. Next to the fastball, Cillis fires a plus hard slider according to Russo with a change that has good movement as well. The left-hander had some poor luck last season, going 0-10 while striking out nearly 12 per nine innings but despite that, he was still named on the All-Conference team. The Hofstra program and a left-hander drafted by the Dodgers in the 3rd round this year but Russo compared Cillis quite favorably to him and is quite excited to see what he can do with the Royals once he gets to watch Cillis just focus on pitching.

Columbia Fireflies 4 Lexington Legends 0

The Legends offense couldn’t bust through during their afternoon loss. The club struck out twelve times including three by slugger Seuly Matias as they went 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position. Starter Andres Sotillet was cruising until the sixth inning when he couldn’t record the final out of the inning, giving up three runs on three hits and a walk to fall behind in the outing. Those runs were more than enough before they tacked on another in the ninth during the shutout win.

Brewer Hicklen: 2-4
Cristian Perez: 1-4
Nick Pratto: 1-4 3K

Wilmington Blue Rocks 2 Down East Wood Ducks 1

The Rocks got a pair of early run-scoring hits and then received quality pitching to hang on for the win. Second baseman Gabriel Cancel drove in a run in the first inning with an RBI double to give Wilmington the early 1-0 lead. Two innings later Cancel singled in Nick Heath with two outs to push that advantage to 2-0. That was all the offense that starter Anthony Bender and the Rocks bullpen would need with Bender tossing seven innings with just a run allowed. After Cristian Castillo worked a scoreless eighth hard throwing Bryan Brickhouse finished off the ninth with a perfect inning to earn his eleventh save.

Bryan Brickhouse: 1 IP 0 H 0 R 0 BB 1 K 14p/9k
Khalil Lee: 0-4 2K
Gabe Cancel: 2-4 2b, 2 RBI

NW Arkansas Naturals 8 Tulsa Drillers 6

The Naturals built a big lead on the way to grabbing hold of first place on Wednesday night. The Naturals bats powered up early and often in the first three innings with three home runs as Anderson Miller unloaded on a three-run shot in the first inning before he and Dewees hit a couple more in the second and third innings. The club scored eight runs in four innings to build an 8-0 lead. Starter Scott Blewett took advantage with four scoreless innings to start the game before a run in the fifth broke that up. After a scoreless sixth Blewett couldn’t record an out in the seventh, allowing three hits sandwiched around a walk that all came in to dent his line. Closer Jake Newberry gave up a run in the ninth but secured the win that put the Naturals in first place with five games to play.

Scott Blewett 6 IP 6 H 5 R 5 ER 1 BB 5 K 7-5 GO-FO 84p/52k
Nicky Lopez 4-4 2R, RBI, BB
Jecksson Flores 3-4

Tacoma Rainiers 5 Omaha Storm Chasers 3

The Chasers tied the game late with an eighth-inning home run Jack Lopez only to make a mistake in the field and give the game away. Outfielder Jorge Bonifacio started his stint back after his steroid suspension, singling and scoring in the fourth inning but he ran past a groundball in the eighth which allowed a run to score to give the lead away. A double to the next hitter off Wily Peralta allowed another run to score to put the game away once Omaha went down in order in the ninth.

Jorge Bonifacio: 1-4 R, 2K
Trevor Oaks: 5 IP 5 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 3 K 6-3 GO-FO 66p/44k
Adalberto Mondesi: 0-3R, BB

Wednesday Boxscores

Thursday Probables
Omaha – Heath Fillmyer 3-5 5.87 ERA 1.66 WHIP
NW Arkansas – Emilio Ogando 4-3 5.84 ERA 2.11 WHIP
Wilmington – Ofreidy Gomez 2-4 3.88 ERA 1.71 WHIP
Lexington – Yefri Del Rosario 0-1 3.60 ERA 1.20 WHIP

HR Roll Call Frank Schwindel (7), Chris DeVito (14), Brandon Downes (2)

BPKC Hitter of the Day Chris DeVito 4-6 2R, 2b, 3b, HR, RBI 

BPKC Pitcher of the Day Emilio Ogando 6 IP 5 H 2 R 2 ER 1 BB 5 K 7-4 GO-FO 91p/58k

Memphis Redbirds 12 Omaha Storm Chasers 2

The Chasers received another quality start but a bullpen blowup gave them a loss in Memphis.

Omaha’s starter Luke Farrell worked around four walks and four hits to leave with a 2-1 lead after his first baseman, Frank Schwindel, had given him the lead with a fifth inning home run.

Rehabbing Brian Flynn struggled in the seventh when he entered, getting touched up for six hits and five runs as he was able to get just one out in the inning. Things didn’t get better for Omaha in the eighth when Onelki Garcia was worked over for an additional six runs on four hits.

That deficit was too large to overcome and Omaha shortstop Raul Mondesi had his hitting streak snapped at a career high 18 games with an 0 for 4 night at the plate.

Boxscore Link

Ramon Torres 1-4 R, 2b
Frank Schwindel 1-3 HR
Hunter Dozier 1-3 RBI, BB

Midland RockHounds 10 NW Arkansas Naturals 9

The Naturals normally reliable bullpen let them down in their game at Midland on Friday night.

The offense lead by the top two hitters in the order, Jack Lopez and Elier Hernandez helped the Naturals to a pair of big innings in the fifth and sixth to take a 9-2 lead.

Starter Emilio Ogando after giving up a pair or runs in the first inning settled in and tossed another quality start with two run ball over six frames. The lefty since arriving at Double-A now has given the Naturals four quality starts in five tries.

That 9-2 lead was shrunk to just two after lefty Luis Rico was touched up for five runs in the seventh with just one hitter retired in the frame. Reliever Jake Newberry got them out of the seventh and through the eighth but he struggled in the ninth after getting the first two outs in the inning. A single and a double sliced the lead in half before another double tied it up. Now tied the A’s Double-A franchise walked things off with a single by Brett Vertigan.

Boxscore Link

Elier Hernandez 3-6 2R, RBI, CS (3)
Jack Lopez 4-6 2R, RBI
Samir Duenez 1-4 R, 2b, 2 RBI, BB

Wilmington Blue Rocks 12 Winston-Salem Dash 6

The Blue Rocks have enjoyed their series in Winston-Salem the last two nights, scoring 21 runs in a pair of wins.

The Rocks went wild in the first inning of this one with nine consecutive hitters reaching base after a leadoff out. The nine hitters helped Wilmington plate seven runs with Brandon Downes plating a pair and Chris DeVito connecting on a single in the inning.

For the big first baseman that single was part of a big night at the plate. In the second he would lumber around for a triple after hitting a ground ball into the right field corner. Two innings later that same corner would be used for a double and just two inning later Downes and DeVito would hit back to back home runs with DeVito completing the cycle. It was just the second cycle in franchise history for Wilmington with the last one coming in 1999 by former Royal Dee Brown.

Those two home runs pushed the lead to 9-3 and three more in the ninth gave Wilmington enough insurance to wind things down 12-6 after the two teams combined for 31 hits.

Boxscore Link

Yunior Marte 2.1 2 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 4 K ERA now 1.42
Nicky Lopez 3-5 2b, 3 RBI, BB   .405 OBP
Brandon Downes 2-5 2R, HR, 4 RBI, BB

Lexington Legends 2 Augusta GreenJackets 1

Giants lefty Domenic Mazza pitch a second complete game against Lexington this season.

After tossing a perfect game in April against the Legends, he beat them in the middle of May with a one run start and was tossing zeroes against them with a 1-0 lead through seven.

In the eighth things started to change when Rudy Martin got a big two-out hit to score John Brontsema to tie the game up at 1-1. After a scoreless ninth for Augusta the Lexington shortstop, Angelo Castellano tripled to lead off the bottom half of the inning. The lefty, Mazza intentionally walked a pair of hitters to try to wiggle out of the threat but Emmanuel Rivera lined a single to right to walk things off for the Legends.

Boxscore Link

Emmanuel Rivera 2-4 RBI
Angelo Castellano 1-4 R, 3b
Travis Eckert 6 IP 5 H 1 R 1 ER 3 BB 5 K 6-2 GO-FO 89p/56k

HR Roll Call: Elier Hernandez (5), Rudy Martin (1)

BPKC Hitter of the Day: Rudy Martin 3-4, HR, SB

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Ofreidy Gomez 7 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 8-4 GO-FO, 88p/64k

Round Rock Express 2, Omaha Storm Chasers 0

Round Rock limited the hot Omaha bats to just four hits splitting the final game of the two team’s series.

Having scored 43 runs in their previous five games, Omaha was held scoreless by three Round Rock pitchers while limiting the Chasers to hits by just two players in their lineup. Second baseman Dean Anna and catcher Parker Morin accounted for the four hits, all singles, while the Chasers went 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position.

Starter Christian Binford was victim to the lack of the offense, taking the loss despite giving up just two runs in 7.2 innings of work. It was a nice bounce-back start for Binford after getting roughed up in his last start.

Boxscore Link

Christian Binford 7.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 7-4 GO-FO, 103p/68k
Hunter Dozier 0-2, BB
Eric Stout 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K,  0-1 GO-FO, 22p/14k

NW Arkansas Naturals 5, Frisco RoughRiders 1

The first Double-A start for Foster Griffin was solid as the former first-round pick earned his first win at the level.

The lefty worked six innings while navigating five hits and a walk, despite just three strikeouts and three groundouts. It appeared as if Griffin had given up a game tying two-run home run in the fourth to Peter O’Brien but after the slugger had rounded the bases manager Vance Wilson requested a conference with the umpires and got the call overturned. The lefty took advantage, allowing just a run in the fifth over his final two innings.

The Naturals scored a pair in the second inning on a Luis Villegas single. A solo home run by Elier Hernandez provided a run in the fifth and Jack Lopez’s double plated two more in the ninth to give NW Arkansas all the offense they would need.

Boxscore Link

Elier Herandez 1-5, HR
Foster Griffin 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 3-8 GO-FO, 86p/55k
Alfredo Escalera 3-4, R

Lexington Legends 5, Asheville Tourists 2

The Legends had a well balanced effort in Asheville for a second night in a row to pull their record to .500 on the year.

Starter pitcher Ofreidy Gomez went seven innings to match his career high, allowing just one run in that time. The Dominican born pitcher pounded the zone with 64 strikes among his 88 pitches while not walking a hitter on the night, earning eight groundouts and striking out six hitters.

The bottom third of the order drove in four of the Legends five runs, with new addition Rudy Martin hitting his first home run of the year. Reliever Anthony Bender worked around a pair of baserunners to close out his third save of the season.

Boxscore Link

Anthony Bender 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 K, 1-0 GO-FO, 23p/13k
Khalil Lee 3-4, 2b, RBI, CS (7)
Manny Olloque 1-2, R, 2b, 2 RBI, 2 BB

HR Roll Call Zane Evans (4), Jack Lopez 2 (2), Chris DeVito (13), Khalil Lee (6), Emmanuel Rivera (4)

BPKC Hitter of the Day Jack Lopez 3-4 2HR, 3R, 4 RBI

BPKC Pitcher of the Day Jake Junis 7 IP 2 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 12 K 2-3 GO-FO 100p/70k

Omaha Storm Chasers 8 Nashville Sounds 3 F/11

The Chasers bullpen blew a stellar Jake Junis start prior to the offense blowing open an extra inning game.

It was as dominant of an outing as the Chasers have seen in quite a while with the righty working over the Nashville offense for seven scoreless innings. In that time Junis allowed just two singles and a walk, striking out a career-high tying 12 hitters in that time.

The Omaha starter would leave with a 3-0 lead that was quickly sliced to 3-1 after rehabbing Scott Alexander would give up a run on a pair of hits. Lefty Eric Stout would give up a pair of runs in the ninth to send the game to extras after loading the bases and nearly earning the double play ball to end things.

In extras, Omaha would threaten in the tenth before finishing things off in the eleventh. A Cam Gallagher rbi single to drive in pinch runner Billy Burns would put Omaha up 4-3 before a hit by pitch and an error would load things up for Raul Mondesi. The shortstop in the midst of a 15 game hitting streak would quickly unload the bases with a triple to put Omaha out in front 7-3. A wild pitch would bring Mondesi home to push the final margin of victory to five.

Boxscore Link

Raul Mondesi 3-6 2R, 3b, 3 RBI, SB (11), CS (2)
Ramon Torres 2-4 R, 2b, RBI, BB
Cam Gallagher 2-4 2R, BB

NW Arkansas Naturals 11 Midland RockHounds 10

The Naturals bullpen put them in a difficult position in game one of their series with Midlands.

Heading into the fifth inning starter Zach Lovvorn was given a 4-0 lead by the NW Arkansas offense thanks in part to Jack Lopez and his solo home run and then scoring off an Elier Hernandez double. With that lead, Lovvorn would give up a pair of runs on a solo home run and a pair of extra base hits.

From there the teams would exchange runs with the Naturals taking a 6-3 lead into the seventh frame. That’s when things got away from the NW Arkansas bullpen. After Jared Ruxer walked a pair of hitters lefty reliever Tim Hill entered and was unable to calm things down, walking another and giving up three consecutive singles following an error on a double player throw. With bases loaded and three runs already in to tie the inning manager, Vance Wilson would turn to reliever Jake Newberry to try to slow things down. That didn’t work as Newberry would give up a grand slam to Viosergy Rosa to put the Naturals behind 10-6.

The Naturals wouldn’t go away without a fight, getting two runs in the eighth on Lopez’s second home run of the game to pull within 10-8. In the ninth the Naturals wouldn’t get a hitter retired in the inning, getting a rbi single by Alfredo Escalera prior to a walk-off two-run scoring double by Donnie Dewees to win it the home squad.

Boxscore Link

Zach Lovvorn 5 IP 3 H 2 R 2 ER 0 BB 5 K 5-3 GO-FO 70p/47k
Donnie Dewees 3-4 2R, 2 RBI, BB
Zane Evans 2-4 HR, 3 RBI

Wilmington Blue Rocks 4 Potomac Nationals 2

The Rocks got solid starting pitching and some late runs for a comeback win in game two.

Over six innings Scott Blewett gave up just three singles and three walks in his six innings. Both runs came in the third inning after a strikeout that reached base following a Chase Vallot throwing error. A one out single following a sac bunt before a wild pitch brought home the other run to put Wilmington down 2-1.

The Rocks evened things up in the fifth after D.J. Burt singled, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error before coming home on Hunter Dozier’s rbi single. Tied 2-2 the Rocks would come through for a pair of runs in the sixth by connecting on four singles with Jecksson Flores and Burt driving in the runs.

Reliever Jacob Bodner would earn the final three outs for the save.

Boxscore Link

Scott Blewett 6 IP 3 H 2 R 0 ER 3 BB 5 K 7-3 GO-FO 96p/56k
D.J. Burt 3-3 R, RBI, Sb (14)
Hunter Dozier 1-3 RBI

Potomac Nationals 3 Wilmington Blue Rocks 2 

The Rocks lost the continuation of their suspended game versus Potomac on Friday night despite leading 1-0 prior to the suspension.

The bullpen combo of Andres Machado and Richard Lovelady gave up the lead. It was Machado who was given credit for all three runs allowed, giving up single runs in the fourth and fifth before allowing a double in the seventh that came around when Lovelady gave up a single.

The Blue Rocks would get a run in the ninth on Chris DeVito’s thirteenth home run of the season.

Boxscore Link

Nicky Lopez 0-3 BB extends on-base streak to 25 games by reach base in both games
Chris DeVito 1-4 HR
Cody Jones 1-3 3b, RBI

Lexington Legends 5 Columbia Fireflies 2

The Legends hit a pair of two-run home runs while on their way to a series tying win over the Mets Low-A squad.

The first home run came in the first inning via third baseman Emmanuel Rivera with two outs in the inning to give Lexington a 2-0 lead. That lead would be held up until the fourth frame by starter Garrett Davila. A one-out walk prior to a double allowed the Fireflies to cut the lead in half.

With the game at 2-1 into the fifth Khalil Lee would break out of a month long slump with his sixth home run of the year, a bomb to right-center that would score Marten Gasparini to make the score 4-1. That lead would hold firm until the Legends tacked on in the seventh with a rbi double from Kort Peterson that would score Lee after his single earlier in the inning.

Reliever Anthony Bender would run into trouble in the eighth after a defensive error by second baseman John Brontsema, loading the bases with no outs. The righty was able to work his way through it though, allowing just one run and going on to finish out the game.

Boxscore Link

Garret Davila 5 IP 3 H 1 R 1 ER 3 BB 2K 6-5 GO-FO 82p/49k
Emmanuel Rivera 1-4 HR, 2 RBI
Khalil Lee 3-4 3R, HR, 2 RBI, SB (13)

HR Roll Call: Whit Merrifield (5), Frank Schwindel (7), Jack Lopez 2 (3), Ben Johnson (3) 

BP KC Hitter of the Day – Jack Lopez 2-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI

BP KC Pitcher of the Day – Christian Binford 6 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 5-6 GO-FO, 93p/57k

The Royals promoted RHP Christian Binford to Triple-A Omaha with the departures of Brian Duensing and David Huff. Binford made six starts for Omaha last season going 1-4 with a 5.86 ERA. In addition Jacob Bodner earned a promotion from Single-A Lexington to High-A Wilmington.

Tacoma Rainiers 7 Omaha Storm Chasers 5

Starter Binford got off to a decent start in his second go at Triple-A, giving the Chasers a quality start in six innings of work. The offense handed him an early lead with a five run second inning off Tacoma’s James Paxton that included three doubles and a home run by Whit Merrifield. Prior to the season Merrifield disclosed that one of his goals for the season was to put up double digit home runs for the first time in his career; with five home runs in 35 games Merrifield is halfway there. Those five runs stood up until the 9th inning when a Merrifield error opened a big inning for Tacoma. With two on and no one out, Whit misplayed a force attempt, leaving two on and no out with the score at 5-4. Manager Brian Poldberg turned to reliever Malcom Culver who nearly got out of the jam, getting to within a strike of ending the game, but Mike Baxter changed that with his second home run of the game to walk it off for a Rainiers win.

Boxscore Link

Whit Merrifield 2-5, HR, 2 RBI
Hunter Dozier 3-4, 2b, RBI
Jose Martinez 2-4, 2b, R – 10 hits in last six games played

NW Arkansas Naturals 6 Arkansas Travelers 5

The Naturals flashed the depth of their lineup versus Arkansas with three home runs from the bottom third of the lineup in their come from behind win. The Travelers put up five runs over the second and third innings before starter Eric Skoglund could get his feet under him. The lefty was able to work 6.2 innings with the final 3.2 scoreless with six strikeouts and a pair of walks before turning things over to the pen who wrapped it up with a scoreless final 2.1 innings. The main beneficiary to Raul Mondesi’s suspension is shortstop Jack Lopez and on this night he brought the big stick, connecting on a pair of home runs. His second tied the game in the seventh inning. With the game tied at 5 the Naturals offense loaded the bases in the 8th and earned their first lead and the eventual win with a bases loaded walk to Logan Moon.

Boxscore Link

Frank Schwindel 2-3, HR, BB, 2 RBI
Mauricio Ramos 1-3, R, hitting .323
Eric Skoglund 6.2 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 4-5 GO-FO, 100p/68k

Salem Red Sox 4 Wilmington Blue Rocks 0

Having scored 28 runs in their three previous games, Wilmington found their old offense prior to leaving Salem. Unfortunately the offense they found was the scoreless one that lead to their fifth shutout of the season. Red Sox lefty Trey Ball did much of the job in limiting the Rocks offense working seven innings with just five hits and a pair of walks allowed while striking out six in that time. With Wilmington unable to get anything done on offense, righty Ashton Goudeau would take the loss and drop to 2-4 on the season when he gave up four runs over five and one-third innings. Shortstop Humberto Arteaga kept up his hot hitting with a two-hit day that included a double. Over the four game series Arteaga had nine hits.

Boxscore Link

Humberto Arteaga 2-4, 2b
Brandon Downes 1-4
Jacob Bodner 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K

Hickory Crawdads 8 Lexington Legends 2

Hickory got plenty of baserunners against Scott Blewett on Monday, as Crawdad hitters collected eight hits in six innings with a pair of walks. Four of the hits went for extra bases, with two leaving the yard as part of the four runs Hickory scored off Blewett. While Lexington collected eight hits and three walks on offense, they had limited opportunities to score going 0 for 3 with runners in scoring position while being held to just two runs scored. With five stolen bases allowed, catcher Chase Vallot has already allowed 45 thefts in 60 tries this season.

Boxscore Link

Amalani Fukofuka 1-4, eight game hitting streak
Ben Johnson 1-4, HR
Scott Blewett 6 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 3-5 GO-FO, 96p/61k