Saturday BPKC Hitter of the Day: Nathan Eaton 4-5 R, 2b, 3b
Sunday BPKC Hitter of the Day Rudy Martin 3-5 2R, 2b, HR, 3 RBI

Saturday BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Josh Dye 5 IP 4 H 1 R 0 ER 1 BB 6 K 5-3 GO-OF 71p/51k
Sunday BPKC Pitcher of the Day Josh Staumont 2.2 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 5 K 1-1 GO-FO 35p/27k

Saturday Lexington Legends 2 Hagerstown Suns 1
Sunday Hagerstown Suns 10 Lexington Legends 5

Despite a split over the weekend, the Legends find themselves three games up in the loss column with eight to play to win the second half division title. Saturday’s game featured a pair of good starting outputs as Yefri Del Rosario kept his run of good starts (1.98 ERA last 9 starts) with six innings of one-run pitching. For six innings Del Rosario was outdone though as Hagerstown starter Andrew Lee no-hit the Legends until the seventh. In that seventh inning, a leadoff walk by MJ Melendez started the inning before Nick Pratto’s blast to the left of centerfield gave Lexington a 2-1 lead with their first hit of the game. The bullpen shut things down and Lexington earned the win despite just three hits in the game. Sunday’s affair didn’t feature as much pitching with Lexington starter Charlie Neuweiler giving up seven runs in just three and one-third innings including a pair of home runs. The Legend scored five runs off the Sun’s starter in just three-plus innings but it wasn’t enough as the bullpen kept them off the board the rest of the way.

Nick Pratto: 2-6 HR, 3b, BB, 3K
MJ Melendez: 2-7 2R, HR, 2b, 2BB, 2 RBI
Janser Lara: 2 Ip 0 H 0 R 1 BB 2 K 3-0 25p/16k

Saturday Wilmington Blue Rocks 8 Salem Red Sox 2
Sunday Wilmington Blue Rocks 8 Salem Red Sox 3

A sweep of Salem over the weekend ended Wilmington’s abysmal 12 game losing streak that likely cost them a shot at the division title. The offense scored eight runs in all three games with an 11 hit output on Saturday making a winner of Gerson Garabito despite five innings in which he walked three and struckout just one. The righty did limit the damage to just one run while Gabe Cancel and Travis Jones paced the offense with two hits and two runs scored each. Sunday’s game saw Dan Tillo get his first victory since June 17th as the lefty worked into the seventh inning with five strikeouts while navigating seven hits with two runs allowed. Outfielder Rudy Martin did much of the offensive damage, finishing a triple short of the cycle while accounting for four of the Wilmington’s eight runs. Leadoff man Blake Perkins pitched in a four-hit effort as well. The Rocks trail Lynchburg by five games with nine left to play although their next four comes against the first place squad.

Rudy Martin: 5-10 3R, 2b, 3b, HR, 5 RBI, 3K
Emmanuel Rivera: 4-9 R, 2-2b, SB
Dan Tillo: 6.2 IP 7 H 2 R 2 ER 0 BB 5 K 9-2 GO-FO 89p/59k

Saturday NW Arkansas Naturals 3 Arkansas Travelers 1
Sunday NW Arkansas Naturals 4 Arkansas Travelers 3 F/10

A weekend sweep kept the Naturals season alive for now. Both games featured quality starting pitching as Jace Vines gave the Naturals five innings with just a run allowed on Saturday before Emilio Ogando toss his fifth consecutive quality start on Sunday. A throwing error in the third inning on Saturday put a pair of runners in scoring position and first baseman Samir Duenez made the Arkansas pay with a two-run single. A wild pitch gave them insurance in the sixth and the bullpen did some lifting with four scoreless innings. Sunday’s game saw Ogando’s streak of 31 innings scoreless pitching end in the first inning when a passed ball allowed an unearned run. Two innings later the lefty gave up an earned run as he completed six innings of two-run ball with just three hits allowed. Trailing 2-0 into the seventh the Naturals got a run with an Anderson Miller rbi double before scoring two more in the eighth on Jecksson Flores RBI single and Samir Duenez’s sacrifice fly. The Travelers answered that with a run in the ninth off Franco Terrero to send the game into extra innings. In extras, Erick Mejia doubled in the free runner for the Naturals and Grant Gavin secured the win with a pair of strikeouts sandwiched around a groundout. The win pulled the Naturals even with Arkansas for second place with an opportunity to overtake them on Monday before a five-game series with first place Tulsa.

Samir Duenez: 2-7 R, 3 RBI, BB
Jecksson Flores: 3-9 R, 2b, RBI
Emilio Ogando: 6 IP 3 H 1 R 1 ER 1 BB 5 K 4-4 GO-FO 74p/45k

Saturday Omaha Storm Chasers 3 Iowa Cubs 2
Sunday Omaha Storm Chasers 7 Iowa Cubs 2

The Chasers used home runs to take the weekend games over Iowa. Shortstop Nicky Lopez hit his third home run in six games as part of a three-run sixth inning. That made a winner out of Jon Dziedzic as the lefty didn’t give up a hit until one out in the sixth inning. Reliever Richard Lovelady finished things up with two and one-third innings with just one hit allowed to secure the save. With Glenn Sparkman back from Kansas City on Sunday, the Chasers bats showed they could hit like major leaguers as Paulo Orlando connected on a three-run home run to go with Frank Schwindel’s 23rd home run of the season. Six of the seven runs came late which made a winner out of Josh Staumont who tossed two and two-thirds innings of perfect ball with five strikeouts.

Richard Lovelady: 2.1 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 2 K
Frank Schwindel: 2-7 HR, 2b, 2 RBI
Glenn Sparkman: 5.1 IP 3 H 2 R 2 ER 1 BB 5 K 9-1 GO-FO 78p/57k

Saturday Burlington Royals 11 Kingsport Mets 2
Sunday Burlington Royals 9 Kingsport Mets 5

A very offensive weekend for the Royals as they piled up 20 runs on 26 hits against the Mets rookie squad. Starter Josh Dye earned the win for his one run (0 ER) five-inning effort that featured five strikeouts while lefty Marcelo Martinez earned Sunday’s win with a quality start over six frames. Saturday’s game featured a seven run sixth frame that included a Michael Emodi three-run home run to blow things open. Looking for the weekend sweep the top five hitters in the lineup each had multi-hit games on Sunday to pace the way for a win.

Jose Marquez: 3-9 3R, 3b, 3 RBI
Eric Cole: 4-10 R, 3 RBI
Isaiah Henry: 3-4 2R, 2 RBI

Saturday Grand Junction Rockies 9 Idaho Falls Chukars 5
Sunday Idaho Falls Chukars 3 Grand Junction Rockies 1

The Chukars defense let down start Jon Heasley Saturday as four defensive miscues led to five unearned runs in just four and two-thirds innings despite just four hits allowed. The offense missed plenty of opportunities, going just 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position in the loss. Sunday’s starter Rito Lugo gave the Chukars his third consecutive outstanding start with six innings with just a run allowed while striking out eight. The lefty has now put away 24 hitters via strikeout in his 18 innings of work in the Pioneer League. The Chukars scored a pair in the fifth on a balk and a Julio Gonzalez double before adding an insurance run in the eighth via a groundout by Kyle Kasser that scored Jesus Atencio after his leadoff double.

Nathan Eaton: 6-9 R, 2-2b, 3b, K
Rito Lugo: 6 IP 6 H 1 R 1 ER 0 BB 8 K HR 4-3 GO-FO 86p/60k
Jon Heasley: 4.2 IP 4 H 7 R 2 ER 2 BB 4 K 8-5 GO-FO 84p/55k

Friday Boxscores
Saturday Boxscores

Saturday BPKC Hitter of the Day: MJ Melendez 4-5 HR, 3b, 2 RBI, SB
Sunday BPKC Hitter of the Day: Michael Emodi 3-5 2R, 2b, HR, 3 RBI

Saturday BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Daniel Lynch 5 IP 3 H 1 R 0 ER 1 BB 8 K 5-3 GO-FO 81p/54k
Sunday BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Rito Lugo 6 IP 5 H 1 R 1 ER 0 BB 11 K 4-3 GO-FO 89p/59k

Saturday Lexington Legends 4 Lakewood BlueClaws 1
Sunday Lexington Legends 3 Lakewood BlueClaws 2

The battery of Daniel Lynch and MJ Melendez led the way to a victory on Saturday night. The catcher connected on his 16th home run of the season as part of his four-hit game. That two-run blast in the third inning by Melendez staked Lynch to a lead after an unearned run scored the inning prior. That would be the only run allowed on this night for the Legends as Lynch gave another good performance with eight strikeouts over five innings before turning it over to Janser Lara and Tad Ratliff to finish the job with three more strikeouts over the final three scoreless innings. The Sunday game was a low scoring affair with Lexington getting a pair of runs in the first on a Manny Olloque single. A Nick Pratto single in the fifth that scored Kyle Isbel pushed the game to 3-0. Starter Yefri Del Rosario struggled with misty air to keep the ball in the strike zone, walking five but he was able to keep Lakewood off the scoreboard for five innings as he limited them to just two hits. With Del Rosario limited to five innings, the bullpen was required to do more work but they were up to the task with Collin Snider allowing a run in two innings, before Danny Hrbek gave up a run in the eighth. Closer Tad Ratliff gave up a leadoff double in the ninth but Cristian Perez cut that runner down two hitters later after a sac bunt with a throw to the plate to preserve the lead and later the win.

MJ Melendez: 5-8 2R, HR, 3b, 2BB, 2SB
Kyle Isbel: 3-10 2R
Yefri Del Rosario: 5 IP 2 H 0 R 0 ER 5 BB 3 K 4-6 GO-FO 88p/47k

Saturday Winston-Salem Dash 12 Wilmington Blue Rocks 11 F/11 Suspended Game
Sunday Gm 1 Winston-Salem Dash 5 Wilmington Blue Rocks 3
Sunday Gm 1 Winston-Salem Dash 4 Wilmington Blue Rocks 3

The Rocks resumed a suspended game from July on Saturday but couldn’t stop their current losing streak, dropping the game in extra innings. Twice the Rocks used three-run innings to even the game up getting a game-tying double by Emmanuel Rivera in the seventh to tie things up and a two-run Vance Vizcaino single as part of the three-run tenth. It wouldn’t be enough though as the team went scoreless in the eleventh inning after the Dash brought their free runner around to finish off the loss that put them three and a half games back of first place in the standings. The Blue Rocks couldn’t stop the losing streak in the doubleheader as the bullpen gave up runs late in both losses. Game one featured saw Yermin Mercedes drive in all five runs for Winston-Salem, connecting on a pair of home runs including the deciding three-run blast in the eighth to walk it off on reliever Julio Pinto. Starter Gerson Garabito was lifted after four innings in the second game with the score tied 2-2. Reliever Justin Camp couldn’t keep the dash off the board yielding a run in the sixth to tie things up before putting a pair on in the seventh that eventually yielded the winning run when Mercedes walked it off with a single off Bryan Brickhouse.

Gerson Garabito: 4 IP 4 H 2 R 1 ER 1 BB 6 K 4-1 GO-FO 68p/48k
Gabriel Cancel: 2-6
Meibrys Viloria: 0-1 R, BB

Sunday Gm 1 NW Arkansas Naturals 6 Frisco RoughRiders 3
Sunday Gm 2 Frisco RoughRiders 6 NW Arkansas Naturals 5 F/7

The Naturals Foster Griffin continued his winning ways on Sunday despite giving up a pair of home runs in the first game. The lefty gave up those two home runs in the fourth inning just after the Naturals had hit their two home runs earlier in the inning to keep things tied 3-3. NW Arkansas quickly countered with an RBI single by Alfredo Escalera to take the lead back and Griffin combined with Andres Machado to hold Frisco scoreless the final three innings while tacking on a pair of insurance runs. The nightcap saw Jace Vines give up five runs in just an inning and one-third, turning a 3-1 lead turn into a 6-5 deficit and eventual loss. Starter Scott Barlow started his assignment back with the Naturals after his injury, tossing four innings with three hits allowed with one run while striking out four hitters.

Foster Griffin: 5 IP 7 H 3 R 3 ER 0 BB 1 K 3-8 GO-FO 89p/61k
Scott Barlow: 4 IP 3 H 1 R 1 ER 0 BB 4 K 6-1 GO-FO 50p/37k
Kelvin Gutierrez: 2-8 3b

Saturday Colorado Springs Sky Sox 3 Omaha Storm Chasers 2
Sunday Colorado Springs Sky Sox 17 Omaha Storm Chasers 5

The Chasers went into Colorado Springs with a very small opportunity to get into the playoff chase with nine of their next twelve games versus the top two teams in the division. That opportunity seems to have slipped past them now with their second loss in a row against the Brewers farm club. Quality pitching was the order of the day once again in the usually high scoring run environment as Zach Lovvorn matched two Sky Sox pitchers with seven innings of two-run pitching. Omaha’s Jack Lopez had given the team a 2-0 lead after his single in the seventh inning but Lovvorn gave up a pair of two-out hits in the bottom half of the inning including a two-run blast by Richie Shaefer to even the game. An inning later Lopez’s throwing error during Tyler Saladino’s triple allowed him to score the lead and eventual winning run that put Omaha six games behind the Sky Sox for second place. The Sunday game got out of hand as Colorado Springs connected on 17 hits including four home runs to put 17 runs on the board in a blowout. The Chasers hit three home runs themselves with two coming from Brian Goodwin but they could score just five runs with a 2 for 8 effort with runners in scoring position.

Zach Lovvorn: 7 IP 4 H 2 R 2 ER 1 HR 0 BB 3 K 100p/60k
Nick Lopez: 3-9 HR 2 RBI
Brian Goodwin: 2-3 2 HR, 3 RBI, BB

Saturday Burlington Royals 5 Bristol Pirates 1
Sunday Danville Braves 12 Burlington Royals 7

Burlington’s Elvis Luciano gave them a second solid start in a row with his six innings of shutout ball on Saturday night. The hard-throwing former Diamondbacks farmhand worked around four free passes with six strikeouts. It was a dominating night for Luciano as he picked up 19 swinging strikes among his 54 strikes in 90 pitches. The offense gave him his second win with a pair of RBI singles by Rafael Romero and Matt Morales alongside some poor Pirates defense yielding a couple other runs. Pitchers Josh Dye and Bryar Johnson got knocked around for 11 runs between the two of them during Sunday’s game one of the series with the Braves. Those runs were too much to overcome despite the offense’s 11 hits and seven runs that included Michael Emodi’s big night at the dish that included three hits and three runs driven in.

Jose Marquez: 3-9 3R, 2b, HR, 3 RBI
Juan Carlos Negret: 2-9 R, 2b, BB, K
Elvis Luciano: 6 IP 3 H 0 R 0 ER 4 BB 6 K 19 swinging strikes 5-4 GO-FO 90p/54k

Saturday Idaho Falls Chukars 6 Great Falls Voyagers 5
Sunday Great Falls Voyagers 8 Idaho Falls Chukars 5

Each team scored in just two innings on Saturday but it was the Chukars six runs between the sixth and seventh innings that earned them the win. Starter Jon Heasley allowed four runs between the second and third innings as extra base hits in each inning helped lead to two runs. The starter did earn three strikeouts and eight groundouts in an efficient five innings that he completed on 74 pitches. The offense got him off the hook for the loss with the four-run seventh frame that included a two-run single by Jose Caraballo, an RBI double by Chase Vallot and a sacrifice fly. Reliever Domingo Pena tossed the final four innings with just a run allowed in the ninth before stranding the tying run in scoring position to secure the win. Lefty Rito Lugo was the story during Sunday’s game as the lefty put together a second consecutive outstanding start for Idaho Falls. After giving up a solo home run in the first inning Lugo found his groove, striking out 11 hitters in six innings while working around four other hits to hold the Voyagers to just that one run. The Chukars had a 4-1 lead after three innings that held up at 4-3 into the ninth when Jose Ramirez blew his first save of the year. During that inning, an error started the action as Great Falls put five runs on the board with the final blow coming with a three-run home run to build a lead for the win.

Nathan Eaton: 4-8 2R, 2b, 2 BB, RBI
Jose Caraballo: 3-10 3R, 2b, 3 RBI
Chase Vallot: 2-6 R, 2b, RBI, 3BB, 4K

Saturday Boxscores
Sunday Boxscores

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

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Yefri Del Rosario 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 5-7 GO-FO, 85p/56k

Lexington Legends 3, Kannapolis Intimidators 1

Since the start of July, Yefri Del Rosario has found his legs at the Low-A level with improved pitching. In his latest start, Del Rosario may have been at his best yet, limiting Kannapolis to just two singles and a walk in six innings. He was very efficient, tossing 56 strikes on 85 pitches while striking out five to keep the opposition bats off the board. On the Legends side, Kyle Isbel started the game with a solo home run before driving in another in the second with a single as part of a two-run inning. Those two hits were part of a three-hit night for Isbel that also included a walk to keep his impressive draft year going. Reliever Tad Ratliff struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth to earn his fifth save of the season.

Tad Ratliff: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 13p/9k
Sebastian Rivero: 1-4, R, 2b
Janser Lara: 2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 2-1 GO-FO, 30p/20k

Oklahoma City Dodgers 10, Omaha Storm Chasers 5

Omaha fell behind a few different times as the Dodgers built leads of 4-0, 5-4 and 6-5 on Monday. The Chasers answered with four consecutive doubles in the fourth inning to tie the game before using another double by Frank Schwindel to even the score back up at 5-5 in the seventh. Unfortunately, reliever Josh Staumont was very wild on this night, uncorking four wild pitches including one that allowed a run to break the tie in the eighth inning. The Dodgers put the game away in the ninth by piling on four runs off newly promoted reliever Pedro Fernandez with three hits, including a bases-clearing triple after the Chasers chose to load the bases in an effort to induce a double play.

Frank Schwindel: 3-5, 2R, 2-2b – 20 game hitting streak
Nicky Lopez: 1-4, BB
Josh Staumont: 2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 2-1 GO-FO, 41p/23k 4 WP

Princeton Rays 6, Burlington Royals 4

The Appy League’s top team took care of one of the league’s best pitchers as the Rays used a four-run second inning to take the lead before tacking on runs later to defeat Marcelo Martinez and the Royals. The lefty who had given up just one hit in his last two starts gave up four in a row to start that second inning, including a home run off the bat of Grant Witherspoon which capped the four-run frame. A pair of two-out hits in the sixth added another run off Martinez and put Burlington behind 5-3, which would prove to be enough to hang onto the win.

Colby Schultz: 3-3
Brhet Bewley: 1-2, 2R, HR, 3 RBI, BB
Marcelo Martinez: 6 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, HR, 7-4 GO-FO

Idaho Falls Chukars 3, Billings Mustangs 0

Newly promoted 22-year-old Rito Lugo made his first start for the Chukars and was up to the task early as the lefty started well. He didn’t allow a hit until the fifth inning, with his only blemish coming via a second-inning hit by pitch. In the fifth, Lugo ran into some trouble allowing three consecutive one-out singles, but he managed to induce a double play to get out of trouble and maintain a 2-0 lead. That 2-0 lead was provided by a pair of wild pitches in the fourth inning that allowed a run to score before a second moved a runner to third base where he would score from with a sac fly. The Chukars would tack on a run later while Jose Ramirez would follow Lugo’s six scoreless with three of his own to earn the save and close out the win for the Chukars.

Rito Lugo: 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 5-5 GO-FO, 74p/54k
Jose Caraballo: 2-4, R, RBI
Jose Ramirez: 3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 6-0 GO-FO, 42p/31k

Monday Boxscores