HR Roll Call: Jorge Soler (5), Bubba Starling (3), Brandon Downes (4), Ismaldo Rodriguez (2)

BPKC Hitter of the Day: Bubba Starling 2-3, HR, 2b

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Miguel Almonte 5 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, 2-2 GO-FO, 75p/49k

Omaha Storm Chasers 4, Nashville Sounds 2

The Chasers scored a couple late runs to win the first game of their home series with Nashville.

Starter Miguel Almonte missed out on the win despite leaving with a 2-0 lead. The Royals righty worked five innings with eight strikeouts on just 75 pitches, navigating around five hits and a pair of walks. He did this with the strikeouts, but also got some help from his backstop Brayan Pena after he threw out a pair of would-be base stealers.

The lead was given to Almonte on home runs by Bubba Starling and Jorge Soler in the second inning. After reliever Brian Flynn gave up the lead on a two-run home run in the sixth, Omaha struck back with a run in their half of the inning. Prospect Hunter Dozier drove in that run with a single. In the seventh, Starling’s double pushed Terrance Gore to third where he would score on the next groundout from Dean Anna.

Reliever Malcom Culver worked a scoreless ninth to earn his fourth save of the year.

Boxscore Link

Hunter Dozier 2-4, RBI
Ramon Torres 2-4, R, SB
Jorge Soler 1-4, HR

Wilmington Blue Rocks 5, Down East Wood Ducks 4

The Rocks secured a series win in Kinston, North Carolina with a second win over the Rangers affiliate.

Wilmington built a 4-0 lead with a two-run single by catcher Nate Esposito in the second inning and solo runs in the third and fourth innings. In the third, Brandon Downes hit a 422 foot home run to left center, his third since coming off the disabled list on May 31st. An error pushed the advantage to four in the fourth before starter Andres Machado ran into some trouble in his half of the inning.

Starting just his second game of the year, Machado worked six innings, giving up three runs in the fourth on a pair of singles sandwiched around a triple and a hit batter. He got out of the inning with a double play to keep the lead.

In the seventh, Esposito came through with a one out RBI ground out to push the Wilmington lead back to two, giving reliever Franco Terrero just enough wiggle room to earn the save after giving up a solo home run in the ninth.

Boxscore Link

Brandon Downes 2-4, HR, BB
Nathan Esposito 3-4, 3 RBI
Anderson Miller 2-4, 2-2b, BB, OF Assist

DSL Royals 2, DSL Red Sox 0

The Royals improved to 2-0 with a two run shoutout. First baseman Ismaldo Rodriguez hit his second home run in as many games while Delvin Capellan worked five scoreless innings for the win.

Boxscore Link

Delvin Capellan 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K, 5-3 GO-FO
Felix Familia 1-3, R, BB
Ismaldo Rodrigues 2-4, HR

HR Roll Call Mike Hill (10), Chase Vallot (15), Emmanuel Rivera (3), Nathan Esposito (3)

BP KC Hitter of the Day – Nathan Esposito 3-5 3R, HR, 7 RBI

BP KC Pitcher of the Day – A.J. Puckett 5 IP 2 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 4 K 6-3 GO-FO 56p/40k

Playoffs

Series 1-0 Burlington
Burlington Royals 20 Princeton Rays 5

An absolute demolition of the Rays by the Royals offense on Saturday in the first game of their playoff series. A 5-3 game got ugly in the sixth inning as Burlington exploded for 15 runs over the final four innings to turn the game into a laugher. All nine of the starters recorded hits while Emmanuel Rivera and Nathan Esposito combined to drive in 12 of the 20 runs as both players hit home runs. Starter Geoffrey Bramblett was the beneficiary of the scoring explosion, earning the win despite three runs allowed in five innings.

Boxscore Link

Emmanuel Rivera 4-6 3R, HR, 5 RBI
Nicky Lopez 3-4 3R, 2 RBI, BB
Kort Peterson 2-4 2R, 2b, 2 RBI

Oklahoma City Dodgers 3 Omaha Storm Chasers 0

The Chasers offense was held silent for in their latest loss to Oklahoma City. Six singles and a Brandon Downes double lead to limited opportunities for the Chasers, going just 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position during the shutout. Starter Christian Binford gave up back to back home runs to start the game before settling in and limiting the Dodgers to just two more hits and a pair of walks. Reliever Nick Tepesch gave up a run in the ninth for the final 3-0 margin.

Boxscore Link

Christian Binford 6 IP 4 H 2 R 2 ER 2 BB 7 K 2-7 GO-FO 103p/66k
Orlando Calixte 2-4
Brandon Downes 1-2 2b, BB

Arkansas Travelers 3 NW Arkansas Naturals 1

A week after scoring just five games in a three game series with the Travelers the Naturals offensive woes continued in a game one loss of their playoff deciding series. With Glenn Sparkman on the mound Arkansas scored three runs with a pair of singles sandwiched around two doubles to take a 3-0 lead. Those runs would be plenty as NW Arkansas would struggle to do anything with runners in scoring position, missing opportunities in the fifth with two on and no out and able to push just one across after a one out double and a pair of singles in the seventh. The lone run on the night for the Naturals was courtesy of an RBI single by Alfredo Escalera in that seventh inning. NW Arkansas must win the final two games of the series to win the division and head to the Texas League playoffs.

Boxscore Link

Glenn Sparkman 5 IP 6 H 3 R 3 ER 0 BB 8 K 3-3 GO-FO 83p/61k
Alfredo Escalera 1-4 RBI
Corey Toups 1-4 R, 2b

Wilmington Blue Rocks 4 Frederick Keys 3

The Rocks bottom of the order combined with the bullpen for a win over Frederick on Saturday. The 6-8 hitters in the order scored all four Rocks runs while combining for seven hits, including a pair from John Brontsema who was playing his first game with Wilmington after finishing the season with the Arizona Royals. Five pitchers limited the Keys to three runs with Todd Eaton and Luis Rico finishing off the final two and two-third innings for a win and a save.

Boxscore Link

Luis Rico 1 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 2 K
John Brontsema 2-4 R
Austin Bailey 3-4 R

Lexington Legends 3 Hickory Crawdads 1

The Legends A.J. Puckett was outstanding in his five innings, limiting Hickory to just two hits on 56 pitches in Lexington’s win in game two of the season series finale. The Legends plated a run in the third inning before Chase Vallot drove his 15th home run of the year out in the sixth to push the lead to 3-0. Three relievers would finish off the final four innings with just a run allowed, including Brian Bayliss with four K’s and a just one hit allowed in his two innings.

Boxscore Link

D.J. Burt 1-4 R, RBI
Ben Johnson 1-3 R, 2b, BB
Brian Bayliss 2 IP 1 H 0 R 0 BB 4 K

Game 1
Idaho Falls Chukars 3 Ogden Raptors 0

The Chukars received a second quality start in a row to earn a win over Ogden in game one of their doubleheader. This time it was Igol Feliz working around five hits in six innings while tossing a walkless game and striking out four Raptors to push his record to 3-3 in the seven innings shortened game. A double by Joe Dudek scored Yeison Melo to give Idaho Falls a 1-0 lead before run scoring singles from Nick Dini and Meibrys Viloria provided insurance runs in the seventh for the win.

Boxscore Link

Meibrys Viloria 1-4 RBI
Joe Dudek 2-3 2b, RBI
Igol Feliz 6 IP 5 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 4 K 5-7 GO-FO 77p/49k

Game 2
Ogden Raptors 7 Idaho Falls Chukars 1

The second game didn’t go quite as well as a pair of errors by Manny Olloque and a rough outing by Andres Machado lead to convincing loss. The Raptors plated seven runs from the 2nd through the 4th innings while picking up seven hits off Machado. The only Chukars run and opportunity to score came in the seventh inning during the 7-1 loss.

Boxscore Link

Meibrys Viloria 2-3 R, 2b
Nick Heath 1-1 RBI
Rudy Martin 2-2

HR Roll Call – Chris DeVito (8), Gabriel Cancel (4)
BP Kansas City Hitter of the Day – Chris DeVito: 2-3, HR, BB, 3 R, 2 RBI
BP Kansas City Pitcher of the Day – Randy Acevedo: 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K

Nashville Sounds 12 Omaha Storm Chasers 3

Jason Vargas moved up to Triple-A to continue his rehab assignment, and the Sounds welcomed him to the park by racking up five hits and three runs off of him in three innings of work. Andrew Edwards entered the game after Vargas, but didn’t fare any better, giving up five runs in less than one inning. Dillon Overton stymied Chasers’ bats for six innings, and Whit Merrifield was the only man to get an extra-base hit all night. Merrifield also was caught stealing for just the second time this season. The loss eliminated the Storm Chasers from postseason contention.

Boxscore Link

Orlando Calixte: 3-5, RBI
Dusty Coleman: 2-3, BB, R
Andrew Edwards: 0.2 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 0 K

   Hagerstown Suns 3 Lexington Legends 1

Gerson Garabito matched Suns starter Taylor Guilbeau in allowing just one run over six innings, but unlike the Suns, the Legends bullpen could not keep the opponent off the board. Mark McCoy allowed eight baserunners in his 2.2 innings, with two of them scoring. The Legends offense simply could not muster anything after their one-run first inning, collecting just four hits while striking out 15 times. Chase Vallot did hit his 17th double, and a pair of walks bumped his on-base percentage up to .351 on the year.

Boxscore Link

Gerson Garabito: 6 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
Roman Collins: 1-4, R
Chase Vallot: 1-2, 2B, 2 BB

Idaho Falls Chukars 4 Grand Junction Rockies 5

A four-run seventh inning made it appear the Chukars would be able to pull out a victory, but a two-run home run in the eighth from Hunter Melton gave the Rockies the lead for good. Meibrys Viloria picked up his 22nd double of the year, driving in two. Unfortunately, he couldn’t get quite enough help from the rest of the lineup, as they went 2-10 with men in scoring position. Andres Machado delivered five innings, allowing three runs (one earned), and Alex Luna struck out three in two innings of work.

Boxscore Link

Nick Dini: 2-4, R
Meibrys Viloria: 1-2, 2B, BB, 2RBI
Andres Machado: 5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K

Greeneville Astros 3 Burlington Royals 7

Three Royals pitchers combined to strike out 16 Astros on the night, and a big night from 2016 draftee Chris DeVito was enough to power the offense to another victory. DeVito hit a two-run dinger, his eighth of the summer, while also scoring three runs. Nathan Esposito chipped in a pair of singles and two RBIs, while Nicky Lopez stole his 23rd base of the year as well. That’s 23 stolen bases in 53 games for the Creighton product. Alex Close picked up six strikeouts in 2.1 innings en route to picking up the win.

Boxscore Link

Gabriel Cancel: 1-4, HR, R, RBI
Alex Close: 2.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
Nathan Esposito: 2-4, R, 2 RBI (batting .344)

AZL Brewers 11 AZL Royals 10

The Royals were running wild on Brewers pitchers, swiping eight bags in this crazy affair. Most of the Royals runs were produced by the 9-1-2 portion of the batting order, with Jose Marquez, Jeison Guzman, and Cal Jones combining to go 10-15 with seven runs and sixRBIs. And they needed every bit of that offense, because Grant Gavin only went three innings, giving up seven hits and digging his team into a five-run hole. The Royals broke through in the middle innings to move ahead but, it wasn’t enough. Staked to a three-run eighth inning lead, Nathan Webb and Gustavo Tejada couldn’t hold the Brewers as they coughed up five runs in the frame.

Boxscore Link

Cal Jones: 4-4, 3 runs, 1 RBI, 3 SB
Jose Marquez: 4-5, 3 runs, 2 RBI, 2B, 3B, 2 SB
Jeison Guzman: 2-6, 1 run, 3 RBI

DSL Dodgers 3 DSL Royals 2 (11)

A strong performance from Randy Acevedo was not enough to extend the Royals win streak to six games, and a strange play allowed the Dodgers to take the game in the eleventh. It’s not often you see a strikeout, a wild pitch, and an errant throw by the first baseman, all on the same play, but that’s what it took to put the Dodgers in front. Four Royals had two hits on the day, however a 1-11 line with runners in scoring position kept them from doing more damage.

Boxscore Link

Juan Peguero: 2-3, 2B, RBI
Randy Acevedo: 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K (1.15 ERA this season)
Ismaldo Rodriguez: 2-3