HR Roll Call Joe Dudek (3), Gabriel Cancel (5), Kort Peterson (4)

BP KC Hitter of the Day – Frank Schwindel 2-4 3R, 2-2b, BB

BP KC Pitcher of the Day – Matt Portland 6 IP 4 H 2 R 1 ER 2 BB 5 K 6-5 GO-FO 89p/53k

NW Arkansas Naturals 10 Springfield Cardinals 4 

The Naturals punched out 15 hits with 10 runs to stay in first place by 1.5 games with 12 games to play. A five run fifth inning that featured a Ryan O’Hearn rbi double and a double from Zane Evans that drove two pushed the Naturals ahead 6-2. Newcomer Samir Duenez hit his third double in two games to drive in another prior to scoring in the ninth to push the final tally to 10-4. The Naturals starter was Glenn Sparkman in his second start back after Tommy John surgery last year, going 3.2 innings with two runs allowed (1 ER) and six strikeouts.

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Samir Duenez 2-4 2R, 2b, 3 RBI, BB
Corey Toups 2-5 R, 2b
Glenn Sparkman 3.2 IP 4 H 2 R 1 ER 2 BB 6 K 2-2 GO-FO 75p/46k

Lynchburg Hillcats 8 Wilmington Blue Rocks 3

Wilmington’s Zach Lovvorn gave up five runs in just three and two-third innings to drop his fifteenth decision of the year. Both teams punched out 10 hits, but the Hillcats did more with their offense with a pair of home runs included.

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Anderson Miller 2-5 RBI
Brandon Downes 2-4 R, 2b
Zach Lovvorn 3.2 IP 5 H 5 R 5 ER 4 BB 1 K 2 HR

West Virginia Power 6 Lexington Legends 4

The Legends dropped Wednesday’s game when the bullpen gave up a pair of runs in the eighth. Starter Scott Blewett put away 10 hitters via strikeout in his six innings, but also gave up three runs in the second and another in the third inning as part of the seven hits the righty allowed. The Legends trailing 4-0 put up a four run sixth inning, getting a pair of two run singles from Amalani Fukofuka and D.J. Burt to tie the game. The score remained 4-4 until the eighth when Brian Bayliss gave up a two runs to drop the game.

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D.J. Burt 2-5 2 RBI
Brandon Dulin 3-5 R, 2-2b
Scott Blewett 6 IP 7 H 4 R, 3 ER 0 BB 10 K 4-0 GO-FO 81p/55k

Idaho Falls Chukars 3 Orem Owlz 2

Lefty Matt Portland tossed up a quality start while Meibrys Viloria and Joe Dudek packed enough punch for the win. Six innings of work highlighted Portland’s four hit and two walk performance in which he earned five strikeouts while earning his fourth win of the year. The Chukars middle of the order catcher Viloria doubled in a run in the first and then scored on Dudek’s home run in the sixth inning. Reliever Jason Freeman tossed the final three innings scoreless to earn the save for the Chukars.

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Meibrys Viloria 3-4 R, 2b, RBI
Joe Dudek 1-3 HR, 2 RBI
Matt Portland 6 IP 4 H 2 R 1 ER 2 BB 5 K 6-5 GO-FO 89p/53k

Burlington Royals 8 Elizabethton Twins 3

The Royals blasted a pair of home runs while the Appy league pitcher of the year earned his fifth win of the season. All Star Kort Peterson hit his fourth home run of the season while also driving in another run in the game. A four run sixth inning padded a one run lead on the way to a win.

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Gabriel Cancel 1-5 HR
Kort Peterson 1-3 HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB
Cristian Castillo 5 IP 6 H 3 R 3 ER 2 BB 8 K 1-5 GO-FO

AZL Indians 4 AZL Royals 2

The Royals lost dropped another one on Wednesday, but luckily didn’t lose a game in the standings. Reliever Wade Davis tossed one scoreless inning with a strikeout and one hit allowed. The Royals have a 2.5 game lead in the division with four games to play in the second half.

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Khalil Lee 1-4 RBI, CS (4)
Seuly Matias 2-4 R
Anthony Bender 2 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 1 K

DSL Royals 4 DSL Red Sox1 1

The Royals came up with a must have game over the Red Sox1 to lower their deficit in the division to 2.5 games with three to play. A pair of Freddy Fermin hits in the second and the fourth innings gave the Royals 2-0 lead prior to a sac fly that score Esteury Ruiz in the sixth pushed them up 3-0. The two teams face off again on Thursday with the Royals trying to cut the lead to 1.5 with two to play.

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Esteury Ruiz 2-4 2R
Freddy Fermin 3-3 2b, 2 RBI
Andres Sotillet 5 IP 2 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 2 K

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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