BPKC Hitter of the Day: Cal Jones 2-4 2R, HR, 2 RBI

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Yefri Del Rosario 7 IP 4 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 9 K 4-6 GO-FO 86p/65k

Lexington Legends 7 August GreenJackets 0

The Legends, on the cusp of their first playoff appearance since 2006, used a full team effort got them one step closer on Thursday night. Starter Yefri Del Rosario continued his run of excellent pitching putting together perhaps his best start yet. Twirling seven scoreless innings, Del Rosario set a new career high with nine strikeouts while pounding the zone with 65 strikes on just 86 pitches while working around four hits and a walk. After a pair of scoreless innings, the Lexington offense broke the tie with a Cal Jones home run in the third inning before breaking it open with a six-run fourth frame. Outfielder Kyle Isbel’s two-run double in that fourth inning capped the scoring in the inning and the game. The win combined with a Greenville loss lowered the Legends magic number to just one game.

MJ Melendez: 1-3 R, BB
Nick Pratto: 1-4 R
Kyle Isbel: 1-4 2b, 2 RBI

Wilmington Blue Rocks 5 Lynchburg Hillcats 0

Wilmington’s best starting pitcher, Gerson Garabito, was just that in a must have spot for his club in the finale versus Lynchburg. Going six and one-third innings, the righty worked around four hits and a walk while striking out seven, lowering his ERA to 3.16 while adding on to his career high in innings (142.1). The offense got a pair of runs in the second inning with last night’s hero Vance Vizcaino driving in Emmanuel Rivera and Meibrys Viloria with a single. That score held up until the eighth inning when Rudy Martin plated three with a double to centerfield.

Gerson Garabito: 6.1 IP 4 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 7 K 5-4 GO-FO 91p/60k
Meibrys Viloria: 2-3 2R, BB
Rudy Martin: 1-5 2b, 3 RBI

NW Arkansas Naturals 8 Tulsa Drillers 4

The Naturals offense employed a patient approach to keep their season alive against first-place Tulsa, walking seven times as part of their good night on offense. After giving up three runs in the first three innings, starter Jace Vines settled in to give his club a quality start by working into the seventh inning. Three different Naturals walked twice in the game while they broke open the 3-3 game by scoring five runs between the fourth and fifth innings. Back to back singles by Alex Liddi and Anderson Miller plated three in the fourth before a Mejia groundout and a Duenez single in the fifth pushed the advantage to 8-3. Those eight runs were plenty as the Naturals bullpen of Gabe Speier and Walker Sheller tossed the final two and two-thirds with just a run allowed to secure the win.

Samir Duenez: 2-4 R, RBI, BB
Kelvin Gutierrez: 1-3 R, RBI, 2BB
Jecksson Flores: 0-2 2R, 2BB, SB

Omaha Storm Chasers 11 Colorado Sky Sox 5

After starting pitcher Aaron Brooks got the call to the big league’s prior to the game for Milwaukee, the Sky Sox turned to struggling reliever Tim Dillard to make the spot start. The Chasers took advantage, tagging the sidearm reliever for a run in the first inning and nine more in the second inning to blow open the game 10-0. Chasers starter Jon Dziedzic took advantage tossing four no-hit innings before surrendering his first hit and runs in the fifth. The game was pretty meaningless to the Sky Sox who lead the division going into the night and will decide their season’s fate with a five games series against Tulsa starting tomorrow night.

Jon Dziedzic: 5 IP 2 H 3 R 3 ER 4 BB 3 K 3-8 94p/53k
Frank Schwindel: 1-3 R, 2b, 2 RBI, BB
Nicky Lopez: 3-5 2R

Idaho Falls Chukars 8 Ogden Raptors 6

The Royals 6th round draft selection Zach Haake made his Idaho Falls debut on Thursday, tossing two and two-thirds innings with a hit, a walk and a run allowed while on the hill. Idaho Falls had already given their pitching staff a lead with three runs in the first inning as Nathan Eaton hit his second home run in as many days to plate two runs before a Jose Caraballo double scored Bubba Starling to make it 3-0. The Chukars tacked on single runs in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings after Ogden had pulled with a run to take a 6-3 lead. Reliever Jose Rodriguez struggled in the eighth inning though, giving up two hits, three walks, and two runs before Andrew Edwards, back on a rehab stint, tossed a wild pitch to even the game. The Chukars despite giving up the lead had the answer the very next inning as a pair of doubles from Nathan Eaton and Brady Cox broke the tie before Hunter Strong’s single tacked on an insurance run. Edwards would close out the game with a perfect ninth to keep the Chukars playoff hopes alive.

Zach Haake: 2.2 IP 1 H 1 R 1 ER 1 BB 1 K 3-1 GO-FO 46p/27k
Nathan Eaton: 2-5 2R, HR, 2b, 2 RBI
Hunter Strong: 2-4 2R, BB, RBI

Thursday Boxscores

BPKC Hitter of the Day: Brewer Hicklen 3-5 R, 2b, 3 RBI, 3 SB

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Marcelo Martinez 6 IP 3 H 0 R 0 ER 3 BB 6 K 8-1 GO-FO 95p/67k

Lexington Legends 6 Lakewood BlueClaws 5 F/10

Starter Charlie Neuweiler gave up four runs in just four and one-third innings as he lost a 3-0 lead that the offense had given him. It was a bunt that scored Brewer Hicklen that gave Lexington a 1-0 lead before his double down the line in the third pushed the advantage to 3-0. After a two-run blast off Neuweiler gave up the lead Lexington put up a pair on a Cristian Perez single and a throwing error that scored Cal Jones after his steal. The game went to extras after the Phillies farm club scored in the eighth but Hicklen drove in the free runner in the tenth with a single prior to Garrett Suchey working a scoreless tenth for the win.

Nick Pratto: 1-5 2R, 2K, SB (19)
Ricky Aracena: 2-2 R
Charlie Neuweiler: 4.1 IP 5 H 4 R 4 ER 2 BB 2 K HR 5-4 Go-FO 81p/53k

Down East Wood Ducks 5 Wilmington Blue Rocks 1

It’s nine in a row in the loss column for Wilmington after Monday’s loss. The Rocks offense let the team down on this night, going 0-8 with runners in scoring position to limit them to just a single run. The Rangers High-A club had plenty of baserunners with eight hits off Dan Tillo along with a pair of walks, scoring two runs in the second and another pair in the fifth to tag him with the loss.

Dan Tillo: 6 IP 8 H 4 R 4 ER 2 BB 2 K 8-2 GO-FO 94p/52k
Rudy Martin: 1-3 BB, K, 3 SB
Emmanuel Rivera: 1-2 2BB

Burlington Royals 2 Danville Braves 0

Marcelo Martinez had his stuff working on this night to give the Royals a quality start. The lefty worked six shutout innings with three singles and three walks allowed, only allowing a runner to get to second base with two outs in the sixth inning before retiring the Braves. That work was enough to earn the win after Michael Emodi drove in a run in the second and Freddy Fermin singled in another in the third to build the lead before the rain came and wiped out the final innings.

Michael Emodi: 1-3 2b, RBI
Montae Bradshaw: 1-2 2b
Freddy Fermin: 1-2 R, RBI, BB, CS

Monday Boxscores

In fact, if you take look at the Royals from 1969 to now their franchise is the only one in the league walking below an 8% rate, ranking last in that category. At one point there was some value to being a heavy contact-oriented club; after all the AstroTurf field allowed for hard-hit groundballs to get through more often and balls would bounce their way deeper in the outfield off the ground, allowing for speedsters to take extra bases with more frequency.

Those days have long past though with the change to a beautifully maintained grass field at Kauffman Stadium in 1995. Despite the changes to the game, no Royals front office has been able to change the philosophy, never ranking in the top half of the league in walk percentage through the Baird or Moore regimes. This year’s current squad ranks in a tie for last and things on the surface don’t appear to be changing in the minor league ranks as a whole if you look at this chart.

There is, however, some bright side if one looks closely at the Royals chart they can see a small anomaly in that A+ number. Currently, the Wilmington Blue Rocks have drawn the fifth-most walks as a team of any minor league team. Behind those numbers are some real prospects with a patient approach.

Blake Perkins 19.4% Walk Rate
Khalil Lee 15.9% *Now in NW Arkansas
Rudy Martin 14.7%
Nick Heath 14.9%
D.J. Burt 12.6%
Travis Jones 12.3%
Meibrys Viloria 10.8%

In addition to those players, a couple of others are showing good walk rates at other levels.
Nicky Lopez 10.6%
Ryan O’Hearn 11.1%

Even an increased walk rate for Nick Pratto appears to be in the works as the Royals 2017 1st round pick has seen his walk rate climb to 11% in the second half of the season after posting a first-half rate of just 6.5%.

Besides these numbers, we have seen a quote from the Royals asking a player to adjust his game to look to be more patient at the plate.

Juan Carlos Negret – “As important, he also drew a walk for the fifth time in six games after Royals coaches specifically addressed his lack of walks with him.” Via Baseball America

As a whole, the organization still isn’t walking at a great rate in the minor leagues as the graph above shows and there are still some well-known prospects that could see a tick up (Seuly Matias 6.9%) but there appears to be some progress being made as well as a change in the what the team is looking for in position players in the draft.
2016
Khalil Lee 13.3%
Nicky Lopez 10.1%
Cal Jones 6.2%
2017
Nick Pratto 8.7%
MJ Melendez 9.9%
Michael Gigliotti 14.6%
Brewer Hicklen 7.9%
2018
Kyle Isbel 11.5%
Eric Cole 12.5%

Most of the hitters listed above are top of the order type table setters or bottom of the order types with the athleticism to play good defense up the middle. This is slightly different from what the Royals saw up the middle during their winning season in’13 and two World Series teams.
2013-2015
Lorenzo Cain 6.4% – Minor League Walk Rate 8.6%
Jarrod Dyson 7.6% – Minors 8.6%
Salvador Perez 3.3% – Minors 5.1%
Omar Infante 3% – Minors 3.5%
Alcides Escobar 3.5% – Minors 5%

That group did two things extremely well, play defense at the best rate in the league while making contact at an extreme rate. The second came with a lack of walks and fewer times on base as a whole which likely sacrificed their run production despite frenzied hitting at times. The jury is still out whether this new group of players will become major league players, how well they play defense but one thing is for sure already, they take a different plate approach that is both more conducive to getting on base as individuals and scoring runs for the team.

Reason for the Change

The Royals organization and all teams have more data available to players than ever before with scouting reports of pitchers, player hot zones, video, and Trackman data available to all the players. In particular, J.J. Picollo states that the type of player they have selected in the draft has played a part in the increase. “I don’t think we’re consciously trying to walk but we’re trying to be better with our pitch selection. The result of better pitch selection and better patience at the plate is going to lead to more walks.” “It’s still not where we want to be but it has seen improvement and that Wilmington club has led the way.” “I think what you see with that team is it tends to become a team’s identity and rolls over to each player on the team.” It has worked for Wilmington thus far as they currently stand in first place while leading the league in walks.

The tools are there for the players to review. The hitting coaches and organization encourage it and review it with them; when I asked two of the more patient hitters in the organization, Khalil Lee and Nicky Lopez, about their current approach they both said it was just something they have always done. Lopez said he will review the data but tends to look at the video if he is struggling rather than examine it day-to-day. He knows that analytics is a big factor in today’s game but without digging into it he thinks his game is something already that will fit well with a major league club.

Overall there needs to be an improvement with the Royals ranking very low as an organization but one can see that the steps to make that change have already been put in place to make those changes in the organization.

Featured Photo Credit: © Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

Follow me on Twitter @ClintScoles

BPKC Hitter of the Day: Blake Perkins 4-7 2R, HR, 3 RBI, SB 

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Charlie Neuweiler 6 IP 4 H 1 R 1 ER 2 BB 5 K 7-3 GO-FO 85p/54k

PCL All Star Game – Frank Schwindel 2-5 2R, 2b also won the Situational Hitting Challenge 
Trevor Oaks 1 IP 1 H 0 R 1 BB 0 K

Augusta GreenJackets 3 Lexington Legends 2

The Legends bats struggled on this night, collecting just five hits and going 2 for 7 with runners in scoring position to take a loss in Augusta. The lack of offense ruined a quality start for Neuweiler who worked six innings while spreading out four singles and a pair of walks to limit the GreenJackets to just one run. Reliever Andrew Beckwith gave up runs in the seventh and eighth to take the loss.

Seuly Matias: 0-3 BB
Brewer Hicklen: 0-3 R, BB
Nick Pratto: 1-4 SB

Wilmington Blue Rocks 12 Frederick Keys 11 F/12

It’s rare that two offenses go wild in the Carolina League but that’s what happened on Wednesday night as Frederick and Wilmington combined for 34 hits and 23 runs in a 12 inning affair. Newcomer Blake Perkins led the way early for the Rocks, collecting four hits including his first home run with the team while scoring two runs and driving in three. Starter Dan Tillo tossed five scoreless innings before running into trouble in the sixth, allowing four runs with a pair of walks, a leadoff single and a double before Carter Hope came in to replace him, giving up another double which pushed the fourth run across. The Rocks lost an 8-6 lead in the ninth and then exchanged five runs over the next two innings with Frederick before finally getting an RBI single by Gabe Cancel to score the lead run in the twelfth prior to Justin Camp working a scoreless final half inning to earn the win.

Gabe Cancel: 3-6 R, 2 RBI, BB, SB
Emmanuel Rivera: 3-7 R, RBI
Dan Tillo: 5.2 IP 7 H 4 R 4 ER 3 BB 2 K 8-2 GO-FO 99p/54k

NW Arkansas Naturals 9 Tulsa Drillers 4

A seven-run fourth inning by the Naturals overcame a four-run first by Tulsa and earned Arnaldo Hernandez his first Double-A win. The right-hander gave up four hits including a pair of doubles around a walk in the first inning, quickly falling behind 4-0. From there he settled to toss four scoreless innings with six strikeouts to give his offense a chance. That work was rewarded with the club coming through with a huge inning in the fourth, batting around with seven hits including a leadoff home run by Alex Liddi prior to RBI doubles from Jecksson Flores and Elier Hernandez. Three innings later Hernandez doubled again prior to Kelvin Gutierrez’s first double with the club as the Naturals tacked on another couple of runs to take home the win.

Elier Hernandez: 4-4 R, 2-2b, 2 RBI
Khalil Lee: 1-3 R, RBI, 2 BB
Arnaldo Hernandez: 5 IP 7 H 4 R 4 ER 1 BB 9 K 4-3 GO-FO 85p/55k

Danville Braves 6 Burlington Royals 2

Royals pitching struggled with Bryar Johnson giving up four runs in just three and one-third innings prior to Kelvin Gonzalez allowing two runs in two and one-third frames. The offense didn’t fare much better, going 2 for 10 with runners in scoring position while the middle of the order hitters struggled to go 0-11. Newcomer Eric Cole went 2-4 with a double in his first game with the organization.

Eric Cole: 2-4 2b
Juan Carlos Negret: 0-4 2K
Michael Emodi: 2-3 2R, 2b, BB

Helena Brewers 12 Idaho Falls Chukars 2

The Chukars got blasted thanks to five defensive errors and 10 hits by Helena. Starter C.J. Eldred took his first loss with a pair of home runs allowed during a nine run (6 ER) six inning start. The Idaho Falls usual high octane offense couldn’t keep up as they struggled with opportunities with runners in scoring position.

Kyle Isbel: 2-3 BB, CS (3)
Reed Rohlman: 1-3 2R, 2b
Stephen Greenlees: 2 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 0 Bb 5 K 1-0 GO-FO 30p/16k

Wednesday Boxscores

Thursday Probables
Omaha – TBD
NW Arkansas – Emilio Ogando 5-5 6.23 ERA 2.14 WHIP
Wilmington – Jace Vines 2-8 5.11 ERA 1.60 WHIP
Lexington – TBD
Burlington – Marcelo Martinez 0-2 1.59 ERA 0.76 WHIP
Idaho Falls – TBD

The Dominican Royals have a player off to an outstanding start to his career in Venezuelan born 17-year-old Diego Maican. The 6’3 180 lbs right-handed hitter has a hit in all 10 games this season for the Royals1 squad with 17 hits in 33 at-bats. A Royals official told me that the reason Maican was signed was due to the scout’s belief in his bat with a simple compact swing with gap power. Currently at DH due to a leg problem, Maican will be a corner outfielder in the future and could be one I watch for during fall instructs when he turns 18 in October.

Friday Charleston River Dogs 10 Lexington Legends 4 – HR MJ Melendez (11)
Saturday Charleston River Dogs 8 Lexington Legends 5 – HR Dennicher Carrasco (9), Brewer Hicklen (8)
Sunday Columbia Fireflies 5 Lexington Legends 3 – HR Seuly Matias (24)

The theme for all three Legends games was the same this weekend with their starting pitcher struggling to prevent hits, runs and keeping balls in the field of play while the Legends hit plenty of home runs of their own but not doing enough around it. The worst of the bunch was Friday’s starter Yefri Del Rosario who the Yankees farm club roughed up for eight hits, eight runs (7 ER) and three walks in just two and one-third innings. The right-hander has struggled to a 10.45 ERA in three starts while allowing five home runs in just 10.1 innings. Starter Carlos Hernandez continued his recent struggles after a good start to his season, allowing nine hits and five runs in just four innings while Garrett Davila gave up three solo home runs in just four innings on Sunday. The Lexington bats hit grand slams on Friday and Saturday while Seuly Matias connected on his 24th home run on versus the Mets Low-A team on Sunday but it wasn’t enough in any of the games.

Seuly Matias: 1-8 HR, 4K didn’t play on Saturday
MJ Melendez: 3-11 HR, 5 RBI, 2 K, CS
Nick Pratto: 3-12 R, 2b, 3K

Friday Potomac Nationals 10 Wilmington Blue Rocks 0 
Saturday PPD
Sunday Wilmington Blue Rocks 11 Potomac Nationals 5 – HR Gabe Cancel (4), Meibrys Viloria (3)

Friday’s game got away from Wilmington in the eighth inning when reliever Josh Mitchell failed to get an out, allowing seven runs in the process to turn a 3-0 deficit into double digits. The offense didn’t threaten much, getting just four hits during the game and going 0-5 with runners in scoring position. The Sunday game was a seven-inning affair as the first game of what was supposed to be a doubleheader that didn’t happen with rain postponing the second game. Starter Nolan Watson gave up four runs in the first and five in total in just four innings but the Wilmington offense did plenty to make up for it, scoring 11 runs on 11 hits and four walks. All the runs came off major league pitcher Jeremy Hellickson including a pair of home runs via Gabe Cancel and Meibrys Viloria. It was Viloria’s grand slam that gave Wilmington the lead they wouldn’t relinquish the rest of the way while Cancel paced the rest of the offense with three hits and three runs driven in while Cristian Castillo worked the final three innings scoreless to earn the win.

Khalil Lee: 3-7 2R, 2b, 3 RBI, SB
Gabe Cancel: 4-7 2R, HR, 3 RBI, BB, SB
D.J. Burt: 2-7 R, 2b, RBI, BB

Friday Tulsa Drillers 9 NW Arkansas Naturals 3 – HR Kelvin Gutierrez (6)
Saturday Tulsa Drillers 4 NW Arkansas Naturals 3
Sunday PPD

Starter Foster Griffin’s difficult season continued on Friday when the lefty gave up 10 hits and seven runs including three home runs. Newcomer Kelvin Gutierrez hit his first home run with the organization in the lopsided loss. The Naturals led Saturday’s game from the third inning until newly promoted reliever Bryan Brickhouse was rudely introduced to Double-A when Will Smith connected on a three-run home run to give Tulsa the lead in the eighth and eventually the win after a scoreless ninth.

Kelvin Gutierrez: 1-7 HR, BB, SB

Nicky Lopez: 2-7 R, BB
Anderson Miller: 2-6 R, RBI, 2 BB

Friday Omaha Storm Chasers 6 Oklahoma City Dodgers 3 – HR Lucas Duda (2)
Saturday Oklahoma City Dodgers 7 Omaha Storm Chasers 5 – HR Frank Schwindel (13), Billy Burns (2)
Sunday Omaha Storm Chasers 8 Oklahoma City Dodgers 0 - HR Ryan O’Hearn (8), Donnie Dewees (3) Humberto Arteaga (3)

The Chasers offense led the way for two weekend wins with six home runs over the three-game set including a big Sunday afternoon. In all the club knocked out 30 hits over the three games with newcomer Donnie Dewees finishing a double short of the cycle on Sunday. Starter Glenn Sparkman gave the Chasers a quality start on Friday and Richard Lovelady’s two scoreless innings allowed the offense’s four runs seventh take home the win thanks in part to Jorge Bonifacio two-run double. Three different hitters went deep on Sunday with Arteaga clearing the bases with a grand slam that put the game well out of reach with Trevor Oaks spinning the fourth scoreless start of his young Omaha career. The right-hander worked six scoreless innings with just four hits and a walk allowed while striking out seven, the highest mark since joining the organization.

Donnie Dewees: 4-12 4R, 2b, 3b, HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB
Jorge Bonifacio: 4-8 2R, 2-2b, 3 RBI, BB didn’t play Sunday
Trevor Oaks: 6 IP 4 H 0 R 0 ER 1 Bb 7 K 2-4 GO-FO 85p/62k

Friday Idaho Falls Chukars 9 Grand Junction Rockies 8 
Saturday Orem Owlz 10 Idaho Falls Chukars 6 – HR Rudy Martin (2, 3), Jose Carabello (1)
Sunday Idaho Falls Chukars 11 Orem Owlz 8 - HR Nick Hutchins (2)

The Chukars built big early leads on Friday and Sunday to win two of three games over the weekend. Sunday’s game saw Idaho Falls build a nine run leads in the third and again in the fourth inning only to need reliever Jackson Klein strikeout the potential lead run at the plate with the bases loaded.

Rudy Martin: 4-14 3R, 2b, 2-HR, 3 RBI, 4 K
Kyle Isbel: 2-7 3R, 3 BB, CS
Tyler James: 5-14 3R, RBI, BB, 4 SB, CS

Friday Bluefield Blue Jays 9 Burlington Royals 6
Saturday Bluefield Blue Jays 7 Burlington Royals 5
Sunday Bluefield Blue Jays 5 Burlington Royals 1 – HR Jose Marquez (1)

The Royals haven’t pitched or played defense well in dropping their first six games of the season. On Friday, 1st round pick Daniel Lynch tossed a couple zeroes up before the defense made a couple of errors to help put three runs  (2 ER) on his line in his abbreviated (2.2 IP) start. Three more unearned runs came across with three home runs coming off Bryar Johnson while the Royals had just one extra-base hit in the first game. During the second game of the series starter, Malcolm Van Buren could get just two hitters out while allowing four runs on five hits and a walk in the 1st inning. Relievers Austin Lambright and Yerelmy Garcia k’d 13 hitters in seven and one-third innings following Van Buren but the Jays early lead and three additional runs were enough to overcome the Royals 3 for 15 effort with runners in scoring position. Fifth-round pick Austin Cox pitched well in his three innings on Sunday with just an unearned run against two hits and five strikeouts prior to left-hander Marlin Willis yielding three runs in his first inning of relief before getting through four innings with four allowed. The Royals were no-hit until the last out in the ninth when Jose Marquez connected on a home run.

Juan Carlos Negret: 2-8 3R, 3b, RBI, K, BB
Austin Cox: 3 IP 2 H 1 R 0 ER 1 BB 5 K 3-1 GO-FO 41p/30k
Daniel Lynch: 2.2 IP 4 H 3 R 2 ER 1 BB 3 K 5-1 GO-FO 31p/26k

Friday Boxscores
Saturday Boxscores
Sunday Boxscores

BPKC Hitter of the Day: Anderson Miller 1-3, 3b, RBI

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Zach Lovvorn 5.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 7-4 GO-FO, 76p/44k

Transactions: Walker Sheller promoted to NW Arkansas, Vance Tatum promoted to Wilmington and Josh Mitchell activated from the DL for Lexington.

Potomac Nationals 5, Wilmington Blue Rocks 1

The Rocks offense couldn’t muster much, getting a leadoff triple by Rudy Martin that resulted in their only run on the night. The Nationals quickly countered with a run in the second frame before adding a second run in the seventh to take the lead. A 1 for 8 effort with runners in scoring position kept Wilmington off the board after the first inning, and three runs off Bryan Brickhouse in the ninth when he struggled to hit the zone, gave Potomac their margin of defeat.

Khalil Lee: 0-3, BB, K, PO
Rudy Martin: 1-3, R, 3b, Sac
Meibrys Viloria: 2-4, 0-1 CS-Att

Springfield Cardinal 3, NW Arkansas Naturals 1

It wasn’t a great welcome home campaign for Zach Lovvorn who took a tough luck loss on Tuesday. A defensive error by Samir Duenez allowed the Cardinals to get a runner to third with no outs in the fourth inning, resulting in a run on a sacrifice. Two innings later, a hit by pitch came in on a single allowed by Lovvorn which got him lifted with two outs. Reliever Yunior Marte allowed that runner to come around when he gave up a triple to Victor Roache, pushing the Naturals into a 3-1 deficit. The score would remain right there with NW Arkansas dropping their thirteenth consecutive game at Hammons Field.

Samir Duenez: 1-4, 2K
Anderson Miller: 1-3, 3b, RBI
Nicky Lopez: 0-4

Boxscores from Tuesday

Omaha – TBD
NW Arkansas – Scott Blewett 0-2 6.92 ERA 2.00 WHIP
Wilmington – Gerson Garabito 1-1 2.12 ERA 1.00 WHIP
Lexington Gm1 – Garrett Davila 0-1 3.55 ERA 1.82 WHIP
Lexington Gm2 – Collin Snider 1-1 4.91 ERA 1.70 WHIP

BPKC Hitter of the Day: Rudy Martin 3-5, 3R, 2b, 3b, BB, 5 RBI, 2SB (13)

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Vance Tatum 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 0-1 GO-FO, 34p/19k

Lexington Legends 10, Hagerstown Suns 7

Lexington came home and got the bats rolling to take game one of their four-game series with the Nationals Low-A squad. The Suns jumped on the board early with four runs in the first frame after starter Collin Snider struggled and the defense didn’t value sure outs. An error by first baseman Nick Pratto, and later a fielder’s choice in which he probably should’ve taken the sure out, led the inning last a tad longer than it should have. Lexington answered with four runs of their own in the first as the team exchanged runs for the first three innings before a rbi groundout by Jeison Guzman gave the Legends their first lead. Once ahead they wouldn’t relinquish with Nick Pratto blasting a two-run home run the next inning and an error in the seventh inning leading to Travis Jones scoring another run. The Legends bullpen shut the door with Vance Tatum, Carter Hope and Tyler Zuber, combining to toss the final six innings with just one run allowed against 10 strikeouts.

Nick Pratto: 2-4, 2R, HR, 2 RBI
MJ Melendez: 1-3, HR, BB
Travis Jones: 1-2, 2R, RBI, BB, SB (4)

Wilmington Blue Rocks 15, Frederick Keys 4

The Rocks offense, which had struggled mightily to push runs across with men in scoring position, broke through in a big way on Thursday night. Eight of the nine hitters reached base, with the team adding to their league-high walk total by taking nine free passes while connecting on 14 hits to push across 15 runs. Chase Vallot got the offense kick-started with a grand slam in the first as part of a five-run inning. The runs kept coming with three more runs spread out over the second and third inning’s before a seven-run fourth put the game well out of reach. In addition to Vallot’s blast, he drove in a fifth run with a bases-loaded walk in that fourth before Rudy Martin doubled in three to cap his five RBI night. Starter Gerson Garabito was the recipient of the big offensive game, earning the win despite allowing five walks which equals his career high.

Khalil Lee: 1-2, 2R, 3BB, HBP, SB (4)
Meibrys Viloria: 3-6, 2R, 2-2b, RBI
Gerson Garabito: 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 1 K, 4-3 GO-FO

Tulsa Drillers 11 NW, Arkansas Naturals 0

Five singles and a walk versus seventeen hits and six walks is all you have to say about this one. Starter Scott Blewett got knocked around for eight hits, four walks, and six runs in just 2.2 innings in the loss.

Samir Duenez: 1-4
Scott Blewett: 3.2 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, 80p/48k
Nicky Lopez: 0-4

Doubleheader
Memphis Redbirds 6, Omaha Storm Chasers 2
Memphis Redbirds 2, Omaha Storm Chasers 1

Called up from Double-A, Zach Lovvorn got tagged for eight hits and six runs in his first Triple-A start, while the Chasers offense was put on ice over seven innings by Jack Flaherty in the first game of the doubleheader. The Cardinals pitching prospect gave up just two hits while tossing 95 pitches, striking out six. In game two, Salvador Perez made his first rehab appearance for the Chasers, collecting one hit, while again Omaha’s offense struggled with just an Humberto Arteaga safety squeeze bunt providing the only run. Starter Andres Machado took the loss when he allowed a two-run home run in the fourth and Omaha failed to score again.

Ryan O’Hearn: 1-2, 2b, BB, 2 RBI
Hunter Dozier: 0-5, R, BB, 3K
Salvador Perez: 1-4, 2 CS on defense

Thursday Boxscores

Friday Probables
Omaha – Heath Fillmyer 0-1, 9.00 ERA 1.71 WHIP
NW Arkansas – Emilio Ogando (lhp) 1-1, 7.00 ERA 1.89 WHIP
Wilmington – Arnaldo Hernandez 0-0, 3.00 ERA 1.89 WHIP
Lexington – Dan Tillo (lhp) 0-0, 1.5 ERA 1.15 WHIP

BPKC Hitter of the Day: Sebastian Rivero 2-3, 2 RBI

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Jared Ruxer 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 0-1 GO-FO, 30p/20k

Hickory Crawdads 4, Lexington Legends 2

The Legends were swept for the first time this season, dropping the third game in Hickory on Wednesday morning. The Lexington lineup struggled to make contact against the three Rangers Low-A pitchers, striking out a combined 14 times including eight via starter Tyler Phillips. The right-handed pitcher allowed just four hits while shutting the team out over six innings. Home runs accounted for three of the Crawdads four runs with Garrett Davila giving up a solo job in the third inning and reliever Hunter Capps allowing a two-run number two innings later. The Legends runs came in the seventh via a two-run single by Sebastian Rivero, but couldn’t push anything else across after.

Nick Pratto: 0-4, 2K
Cal Jones: 1-3, BB
Jeison Guzman: 1-3, SB

Carolina Mudcats 9, Wilmington Blue Rocks 7

For the second consecutive game, Wilmington put on a late ninth inning comeback only to leave the tying runners on base in a loss. The Brewers got after starter Ofreidy Gomez and his piggyback partner Anthony Bender in their six combined innings, tagging the pair for 10 hits and six walks that pushed nine runs across. Wilmington, as they have during the early start to the season, (leads the CL in walks) continued their patient approach at the plate to slowly get back in the game by earning seven walks. Trailing 9-3 into the ninth inning, the Rocks pushed four runs across with a bases-loaded walk to Rudy Martin and a pair of RBI hits by Angelo Castellano and Emmanuel Rivera before Xavier Fernandez popped out to end the rally.

Khalil Lee: 0-5, 3K
Emmanuel Rivera: 2-5, 3 RBI
Rudy Martin: 1-3, R, RBI, 2 BB

Wednesday Boxscores

Thursday Probables
Omaha Doubleheader – Andres Machado 0-1, 6.00 ERA 2.00 WHIP
NW Arkansas – Scott Blewett 0-1, 3.86 ERA 1.50 WHIP
Wilmington – Gerson Garabito 0-1, 1.50 ERA 0.67 WHIP
Lexington – Colin Snider 1-1, 2.31 ERA 1.37 WHIP

BPKC Hitter of the Day: Gabe Cancel 2-4, R, 2b, 2 RBI

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Trevor Oaks 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 12-4 GO-FO, 85p/53k

Hickory Crawdads 2, Lexington Legends 1

The Legends bats were kept quiet by Hickory pitching in a loss to the Rangers Low-A affiliate. Starter Reid Anderson pitched perfect ball for the first five innings before Oliver Nunez broke it up with a single through the left side. Another single by Sebastian Rivera put the Legends in a possible position to score, but Anderson settled and stamped out the threat by inducing a fly out, and an infield groundball that allowed Hickory to toss Nunez out at the plate before getting the final out in the inning. Prospect Seuly Matias would get one of his two hits with a double to start the seventh, allowing him to come home later on an MJ Melendez sacrifice fly. Matias would get within 90 feet in the ninth following a single and a pair of errant throws, but the Legends would strike out four times around him to take the defeat. The loss was saddled on Andres Sotillet despite just two runs allowed in five innings against six strikeouts for the right-hander.

Nick Pratto: 0-4, K
Seuly Matias: 2-4, R, 2b,
Janser Lara: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 2 HBP, 1-4 GO-FO, 35p/24k

Wilmington Blue Rocks 5, Carolina Mudcats 1

The Rocks offense put on plenty of early pressure while getting a well-pitched game from three different pitchers in a win over the Brewers High-A squad. Wilmington scored two runs in the first on bases-loaded walks to Chris DeVito and Chase Vallot after loading the bases with a pair of singles by Rudy Martin and Gabe Cancel to start the inning. Cancel provided the big blow in the second, doubling in Kort Peterson and Martin after the pair had walked, putting Wilmington up 4-1 in the process. Starter Cristian Castillo gave up a run in the first frame but navigated around baserunners in the next four innings to earn his first win of the season. The Rocks added another run on a Chase Vallot sac fly in the fifth inning and the Mudcats threatened by loading the bases in the eighth, but Walker Sheller navigated that jam before striking out the side in the ninth to secure the win.

Khalil Lee: 1-3, R, BB
Walker Sheller: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 0-1 GO-FO, 35p/22k
Rudy Martin: 1-2, 2R, 2BB, CS (2)

San Antonio Missions 9, NW Arkansas Naturals 1

Starter Foster Griffin couldn’t match his last start versus San Antonio as the Padres Double-A squad and one of their top prospects, Cal Quantrill bested him. Trouble came in the third for Griffin when his own throwing error followed with three consecutive singles to push the lefty out of the game after just 2.2 innings. It was Griffin’s shortest outing since his third start of last season for Wilmington. Those four runs would be plenty for the Missions as the Naturals could muster just one unearned run against Quantrill and crew. San Antonio tacked on five additional runs against the Naturals bullpen with four coming off struggling Corey Ray.

Foster Griffin: 2.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 4-1 GO-FO, 61p/37k
Salvador Perez: 1-2, RBI
Nicky Lopez: 1-2, BB

Nashville Sounds 5, Omaha Storm Chasers 4

The Chasers bullpen blew a four run advantage to drop the finale in Nashville on Monday afternoon. Starter Trevor Oaks made sure four runs by the Omaha lineup stood up, as the righty created 12 groundball outs in six innings, allowing no runs on just three hits. The most reliable reliever in the ’17 pen, Eric Stout, struggled again. He allowed four runs on a pair of walks and three hits, the final one being a bases-loaded double by B.J. Boyd that plated all three runners to knot the game up. Omaha got a runner in scoring position in each of the final three innings, but failed in each to push them forward, leaving Kevin Lenik’s wild pitch in the ninth that allowed Boyd to race home as the deciding run in the game.

Jack Lopez: 3-5, R, 3b, RBI
Ryan O’Hearn :1-4, 2b
Josh Staumont: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 1-0 GO-FO, 28p/15k

Boxscores from Monday

Tuesday Probables
Omaha – Jonathan Dziedzic (lhp) 0-1, 1.64 ERA, 1.18 WHIP
NW Arkansas – Scott Blewett 0-1, 3.86 ERA, 1.50 WHIP
Wilmington – Jace Vines 0-2, 12.91 ERA, 2.48 WHIP
Lexington – Nolan Watson 0-0, 2.61 ERA, 1.16 WHIP

BPKC Hitter of the Day: Rudy Martin 1-1 2R, HR, SB (9), PO (1), 3BB

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Yunior Marte 2.1 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 5 K 0-1 GO-FO 33p/22k

Transactions – Cal Jones (6th Rd 2016) and Janser Lara were promoted to Lexington from extended spring training while Dillon Drabble was moved to the Burlington Royals roster.

Lexington Legends 6 Augusta Green Jackets 5

The Legends continued their winning ways with a win in the opening of Augusta’s new SRP Park. The early season recipe has been to fall behind and then come back with a big inning to take back the lead and the eventual win. That’s the recipe and with a pair of mistakes that led to a three-run frame and a 5-1 deficit after five innings. Lexington scored in the sixth on a Seuly Matias RBI single to pull within three runs. One frame later came the big inning with an error helping to load the bags with no outs for the Legends. At that point, Nick Pratto singled in a pair, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch that also scored Marten Gasparini to tie the game. A walk of MJ Melendez and an error on a pickoff throw allowed Pratto to score, giving Lexington the lead in the sixth. The pen shut things down over the final four frames with Andrew Beckwith finishing the final one and one-third scoreless to secure his first save of the season.

Nick Pratto: 1-4 R, SB, 2 RBI, BB
Jeison Guzman: 2-4 R, RBI, SB
Seuly Matias: 1-4 RBI, BB, SB

Wilmington Blue Rocks 4 Lynchburg Hillcats 2

The Rocks home opener turned into the Rudy Martin show on Thursday evening for Wilmington. The speedster was on base all night long, took attention each time and showed off a little power. After leading off the game with a walk, Martin was picked off on the second pickoff attempt by starter Zach Plesac, the first time he’s been picked off this season. Starter Anthony Bender would work around baserunners most of the night, allowing five hits and a pair of walks in his four innings but yielding just an unearned run in that time. Plesac would no-hit the Rocks for five innings, yielding four walks, including a pair to Rudy Martin who stole his ninth base in the third inning but was left stranded. Trailing 1-0 into the sixth and still without a hit, Martin would jump on a 0-1 pitch, taking it out to right-center for his first home run of the season to knot up the game 1-1. The Rocks took a brief 2-1 lead but Ofreidy Gomez’s control got lost, and it was quickly tied at 2-2. With the game tied into the bottom of the eighth, Martin walked for the third time in the game, continuously drew throw after throw to first before advancing first to third on a single by Emmanuel Rivera that drew a throw, allowing Rivera to advance to second. With a pair of runners in scoring position, Chris DeVito would connect on a line drive to right to drive them both in, giving Wilmington a lead that Walker Sheller would secure in the ninth for the win.

Rudy Martin: 1-1 2R, HR, 3 BB, SB (9), PO (1)
Khalil Lee: 0-3 BB, OF Assist
Emmanuel Rivera: 1-4 R

Corpus Christi Hooks 5 NW Arkansas Naturals 2

The Naturals pitching wavered and the bats couldn’t push runners around the bases despite 11 hits on the night. Starter Zach Lovvorn could muster just three and two-thirds innings as he nibbled around the zone, walked four, gave up three hits and a pair of runs. That second run had tied the game up after Alfredo Escalera had given the Naturals a 2-1 lead with his two-run double in the top of the fourth inning. Tied at 2-2 NW Arkansas squandered runners on second with no outs in both the fifth and sixth innings before going silent for the rest of the game. Reliever Yunior Marte kept things silent for the next two innings, but Corey Ray couldn’t match that effort, quickly giving up a run after facing just three hitters before giving up another run and taking the eventual loss.

Donnie Dewees: 3-4 R
Samir Duenez: 1-4 2b
Nicky Lopez: 2-4

Memphis Redbirds 5 Omaha Storm Chasers 4

Jonathan Dziedzic’s defense didn’t do him any favors in another loss on Thursday for the Chasers. Errors in both the first and third innings led to runs, with a Tyler Collins error on what should’ve been the second out without any baserunners opening things up for a three-run inning. The Chasers offense ,which hadn’t scored more than two runs in any game coming in, woke up slightly with a pair of solo home runs by Frank Schwindel and Nick Dini in addition to a pair of RBI by Hunter Dozier. That wouldn’t be enough after Wily Peralta gave up a run in his inning of work and the Chasers stranded Jack Lopez at second in the ninth after a one-out double.

Ryan O’Hearn: 1-4
Frank Schwindel: 2-4 HR
Hunter Dozier: 1-3 2 RBI