LHP J.C. Cloney went five strong innings, allowing only two hits while walking one and striking out two. Marcelo Martinez and Janser Lara kept Lexington in the fight, combining for three innings of one-run ball, and closer Tad Ratliff worked out of a late-game rally as Lakewood loaded the bases and threatened to force a fifth game.

Lakewood righty Spencer Howard also went five innings, allowing a single run on three hits, walking none and striking out six. Reliever James McArthur stifled Lexington’s offense over three shutout innings, giving up only one hit, walking one and striking out two. Connor Brogdon took the loss in his inning of relief (1 R, 1 H, 2 BB, 1 K).

The Legends went down in order in the first, with Kyle Isbel flying out to LF Matt Vierling on a 2-1 pitch middle-in, MJ Melendez working the count before a swinging strike three right around his knees put him away, and Nick Pratto lifting a pitch right down the heart of the plate to RF Jhailyn Ortiz to end the inning. Cloney got Vierling to whiff on a 1-2 pitch on the outer third of the plate, but CF Simon Muzziotti stayed inside a pitch on the black and sent a base hit to short. Muzziotti stole second, but 1B Jake Scheiner flew out to LF Brewer Hicklen and C Rodolfo Duran‘s grounder to SS Cristian Perez went for the third out when Perez tossed to 3B Manny Olloque, who tagged Muzziotti to end the inning.

Hicklen got the top of the second underway when he flew out to Muzziotti on a 1-1 change-up that split the plate, Olloque took a 98-MPH heater to left that Vierling had to chase to the warning track, and Perez grounded to 2B Dalton Guthrie on the first pitch he saw for the third out. In the home half, Ortiz popped up to Perez (also on the first pitch), who had to chase it into the middle of the diamond. SS Nick Maton smacked a liner just to the right side of second, but 2B Ricky Aracena made a great diving grab to put him away. DH Colby Fitch reached on an miscue by Aracena, then swiped second when Aracena dropped the throw from Sebastian Rivero. Cloney walked Guthrie, but 3B Jose Antequera left them stranded when he lined out to Aracena.

In the top of the third, Howard struck out RF Cal Jones on a 3-2 pitch up and in, then Rivero struck out looking. Aracena flew out to Vierling to end the top half. Vierling led off the bottom of the inning with a 1-3 ground-out. Muzziotti sent an 82-MPH slider into center for a base knock, but was nabbed at second by about five feet on Rivero’s throw to Aracena. Scheiner popped up to Pratto on a 3-0 outside pitch to end the inning.

Isbel grounded into a 4-3 putout on a 93-MPH middle-low fastball to start the top of the fourth. Melendez ripped a 92-MPH inside fastball deep to right, but foul. Howard countered with an 81-MPH change-up that Melendez swung over, but an 0-2 curve got way out of control and Melendez took first on a HBP. He then took second when Howard’s first pitch to Pratto nearly took out his right ankle. At this point, Howard’s velocity was consistently 3-4 MPH lower than his first-inning fastballs. Pratto struck out looking on a 1-2 inside 81-MPH change-up. Duran struck out looking to begin the bottom of the inning, while Ortiz grounded out, Olloque-to-Pratto, and Maton flew out to Jones in right.

The Legends got a little offense going in the top of the fifth, as Olloque led off with a base hit to left. Perez cracked what would turn out to be a key hit in this pitchers’ duel, driving a double into left to score Olloque, moving to third when Jones sent a slow bouncer to second. Maton ranged past the second-base bag to field it, but had no play. Rivero went down on strikes, and Aracena popped out to Duran on a bunt attempt. Jones was able to swipe second, but Isbel struck out after working a full count. In Lakewood’s half, Fitch, Guthrie, and Antequera went down in order.

McArthur took over on the hill to start the sixth, retiring Melendez, who struck out looking, and Pratto, who lined out to Viering. After walking Hicklen, Olloque sent the first pitch he saw into center. With runners at first and second, Perez ended the inning when he popped up to Antequera. Marcelo Martinez took over in the bottom half, retiring Vierling on a fly-ball to Isbel. Muzziotti caught everyone off-guard when he dropped a push-bunt past Martinez and beat it out to first. Scheiner walked next, and Legends pitching coach Mitch Stetter made a visit to the mound (along with the Lexington infield, en masse), a meeting that home plate umpire Justin Whiddon tried in vain to bring to a conclusion. Martinez induced a pop-out from Duran, put away by Aracena (infield fly rule in effect). That would bring an end to Martinez’s night, with Janser Lara taking over. A wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position. Ortiz shot a 2-2 99-MPH (!) pitch off the low-outside corner into right to score Muzziotti and tie the game. Scheiner was sent right behind him, but Jones gunned him down at home.

McArthur got Jones to fly out to center on a 71-MPH curve on the outside corner to start the seventh. Rivero also flew out to center on a 92-MPH fastball that caught an awful lot of the plate. Muzziotti had to sprint back and to his right to get to it. Aracena turned on and grounded a 1-0 fastball to Scheiner to end the top half. Lara’s velocity varied widely (along with his location) as he faced Maton to lead off the bottom half of the inning. The Lakewood shortstop fought an eight-pitch battle before popping up to Rivero for the first out. Fitch worked one of the best at-bats seen all night, coaxing the walk out of Lara after working his way through ten pitches. Guthrie flew out to left and Antequera grounded into a 5-4 force-out to end the inning.

To begin the eighth, Isbel lined out to Scheiner on a bunt attempt, the ball (somehow) jumping off his bat on a low trajectory all the way to first base and just inside foul territory. Had one not seen the drag-bunt attempt, one would have thought it was a swinging out. Melendez took a short hack at a high 76-MPH curve but struck out on the pitch. Pratto took a hard cut at a 1-1 pitch that came right down the middle at 87, but grounded out to first for the third out. Lara came back to the mound for the bottom of the inning, inducing a 4-3 ground-out from Vierling on a low-and-away 94-MPH fastball. Muzziotti grounded out to Perez, and the Lexington shortstop had to rush to make the out at first. Scheiner flew out to Isbel to end the inning.

Connor Brogdon took over for McArthur in the top of the ninth. Right out of the gate, he had some trouble with locating and Hicklen drew the walk. Working the count to 1-1 in between three attempts to pick off Hicklen, Olloque drove a 1-1 slider into center when it caught a bit too much of the plate. Now with runners at the corners, manager Marty Malloy and the Lakewood infield rallied to Brogdon. Perez drove an 0-2 97-MPH fastball into right for the first out, but it would score Hicklen and the Legends would take a 2-1 lead. Brogdon intentionally walked Jones, then struck out Rivero. Aracena followed by grounding out to Scheiner.

As closer Tad Ratliff took over in the Lakewood half of the ninth, Carlos Diaz took over at third. Duran worked a seven-pitch at-bat into a lead-off single. Matt Kroon entered to pinch-run for the Lakewood catcher. Ortiz followed with a grounder to Diaz to force Kroon at second. After Maton went down on swinging strikes, Fitch sent a slider into left for a base hit. Another slider, this one to Guthrie, was bounced back to Ratliff, who lunged to stop the come-backer but deflected it away from a charging Perez, and Guthrie reached to load the bases. Stetter and the infield paid a visit to Ratliff to break up the action and perhaps give Ratliff a chance to take a deep breath. On the first pitch he saw, Antequera grounds to Diaz, who took the force at third for the final out of the game, the series, and the season.

Lara earned the win (though he also picked up a blown save; baseball is a weird game), his first of the series, while Ratliff earned his third save. The Lexington closer finished all four games of the series (5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K).

Lexington was most recently in the championship in 2001, their first year of existence, and were up 2-0 in the series vs. Asheville when the terrorist attacks on 9/11 occurred. The remainder of the series was canceled, and the two teams were named co-champions. Cloney’s five shutout innings came in his first appearance since September 1^st. The two teams combined to leave 15 runners stranded.

Kyle Isbel, Nick Pratto, Cristian Perez, and Jeison Guzman had a pair of hits each, and Daniel Lynch gave the pitching staff four solid innings on which to build, as Lexington took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series.

Lynch came loaded for bear, as he hit 95 on his second pitch of the game, and 97 (and inside) on Jake Scheiner, who still ended up reaching on an slow-rolling infield single that Perez fielded and threw to second in an unsuccessful attempt to nab Matt Vierling, who reached on Pratto’s error. In the bottom of the inning, Rodolfo Duran popped up to Manny Olloque at third, then Jhailyn Ortiz grounded into a force-out as Perez nabbed Scheiner on a 6-4 putout to Ricky Aracena at second.

In the top of the second, Perez picked up a base knock, then advanced to second, on an infield single off of an incredibly low-and-outside pitch that SS Nick Maton had to bare-hand, his throw getting well past Scheiner at first. RHP Andrew Brown then balked Perez to third. With Cal Jones popping up to Scheiner, Guzman sent a 93-MPH outside fastball to the left field wall, scoring Perez. After Aracena drew the walk, Isbel singled to center after Brown threw him back-to-back change-ups, driving in Guzman. Vierling cut into shallow center for the play and dropped the ball, allowing Aracena to score just ahead of the throw home. Isbel then had to slide back into first after Duran threw to second to head off Isbel. However, Scheiner wasn’t covering first and Isbel made it back easily. Duran got another shot at gunning down Isbel, this time springing out of the crouch and blocking a 1-0 curve that bounced about a foot in front of the plate.

Maton reached on an error by Aracena to start the bottom of the second, and after Madison Stokes went down on strikes, he made it to third on a Dalton Guthrie double to right. Jose Antequera got Maton home on a sac fly to Isbel in center, but Guthrie was left stranded after Vierling flew to Brewer Hicklen in left.

In the top of the third, Brown had trouble locating and walked Melendez. This was followed by a single from Pratto off a 2-0 inside fastball grounded to right that turned into runners on second and third after the ball got past Ortiz. Hicklen sacrificed to center and Melendez came home. After a strikeout for Olloque, Perez lined a single into left off a 2-1 fastball and Pratto scored. Vierling threw home in a failed attempt to get the runner, but Duran cut down Perez at second when he tried to advance on the throw.

Lynch got Muzziotti to start the bottom of the third on a 1-0 fastball that he tried to pull, only to ground out to Pratto. Scheiner was able to send a 94-MPH heater to center for a base hit, and Duran reached when Olloque couldn’t stop his grounder. Scheiner and Duran advanced into scoring position when Lynch was called for a balk. Ortiz worked the count full after Lynch worked back from a 3-0 count, and Scheiner scored when Ortiz put the next pitch in the air to Cal Jones in shallow-right-center, whose throw to third kept Duran at second. Maton struck out to end the threat.

After Jones worked the count full but struck out to start the top of the fourth, Guzman sent a base hit into right. Aracena followed that with a single of his own, Guzman advancing to third. Brown was able to induce the double-play grounder from Isbel on a high-and-inside pitch to end the inning.

Stokes grounded to Perez for the first out of the bottom of the inning, but Guthrie sent a 1-2 pitch into right field that Lynch left high in the zone. Jose Antequera sent his own base hit into left on another high pitch, but Vierling grounded into a 5-4 force-out, once again on a high pitch in virtually the same spot. Muzziotti struck out swinging on a low-and-away pitch, stranding two.

The top of the fifth began with Melendez grounding out to Scheiner at first. Back-to-back singles by Pratto and Hicklen put runners on first and second, though this was followed by back-to-back fly-outs to center by Olloque and Perez and it all went for naught. Scheiner started the Lakewood half with a “single” to Perez after an eight-pitch battle with Legends reliever Garrett Suchey (it hit the heel of his glove, but he had to range back into shallow-left-center to get it). Duran walked on five pitches, then Ortiz struck out on three pitches, foul-tipping a 79-MPH curve into Melendez’s glove, while trying to hit the ball to Pennsylvania. Maton singled on a 1-0 change-up that sat high in the zone, but Jones’ throw home kept the bases loaded. Stokes drove in Scheiner on a base hit to center, and that would be it for Suchey.

With RHP Collin Snider taking over, an 0-1 95-MPH fastball ended in a 5-4-3 double play, and with it the best chance Lakewood had to even the score.

A 1-2-3 top of the sixth took the BlueClaws only six pitches to get through, as RHP Luis Carrasco‘s easy heat (96-97) dominated Lexington’s batters. Third baseman Antequera made a very good throw to retire Aracena for the third out, coming in and just over the foul line on the weak grounder, then throwing across his body to Scheiner to get the runner. Snider began the bottom of the inning with a 95-MPH inside on the Lakewood third baseman. He sent the next pitch, another fastball up and in, to his counterpart at third, but Olloque’s bad throw was more than Pratto could handle, and thus allowed Antequera to reach. Vierling grounded into what might have been a 6-4-3, but Perez had to get a handle on the ball when it hopped inches from his feet, and Vierling beat out the turn from Aracena. Muzziotti lined 96-MPH heat on a hard liner to Olloque, who gloved it for the second out. Scheiner singled to center and Vierling moved up a base, but Duran flew out to Hicklen to end the inning.

Isbel lost an eight-pitch at-bat with Carrasco to start the top of the seventh. Melendez sent a liner into center that Muzziotti booted, then advanced to second when the Lakewood center fielder semi-casually threw the ball back to the infield. After Pratto walked, Hicklen struck out and Melendez was caught while trying to swipe third, the final out of the inning. In the bottom half, RHP Daniel Duarte took over from Snider, with Ortiz striking out swinging, Maton striking out looking, and Stokes grounding out to Duarte.

It was a quiet top of the eighth, with Olloque, Perez, and Jones out in order. In the bottom half, Olloque was lifted for Carlos Diaz. Duarte added another pair of strikeouts in Guthrie and Antequera to start the bottom half, but Vierling would send an 87-MPH slider to left for a two-out double. Muzziotti, however, was first-pitch-swinging and flew out to Isbel.

Lefty Keylan Killgore came out to pitch the top of the ninth, retiring Guzman on a fly-out to left and Aracena on swinging strikes. Isbel singled to center when Killgore located back-to-back pitches in the same middle-high part of the zone. Duran lost hold of a middle-in pitch from Killgore and Isbel took off for second, then advanced to third on a wide-ranging throw to second. A wild pitch later, Isbel scored to make it 6-3, Lexington. After Melendez walked, another wild pitch to Pratto allowed him to move to second. Killgore got Pratto on a swinging strike three after ten pitches, but Duran still had to throw him out at first when the pitch skipped off his glove and rolled a couple of feet away. Lakewood’s final three outs were not nearly as eventful, as closer Tad Ratliff sat down Scheiner and Duran on strikes, with Ortiz popping up to Melendez in foul territory to end the game.

Snider picked up the win, with Duarte earning the hold and Ratliff getting his second save of the series. Lakewood’s Brown took the loss.

Lynch threw 57 of his 79 pitches for strikes over four innings of work, allowing two runs on five hits, walking none and striking out four. Suchey was 14-24 for strikes, giving up one run on three hits in a third of an inning before giving way to Snider, who was 12-18 for strikes in 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. Duarte’s four strikeouts in his two shutout innings of relief were another highlight for the Legends. He spotted fifteen of nineteen pitches for strikes. Ratliff followed suit, with 11 of 15 in the zone.

Tonight, Lakewood’s Spencer Howard (9-8, 3.78 ERA) will get the start. Lexington will counter with JC Cloney (3-1, 2.73 ERA with Lexington; 12-1, 2.21 ERA overall). First pitch time is 7:05 PM, EST.

We saw another dominant performance by a Legends starter, this time RHP Jackson Kowar (5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K), who followed up his Sept 5^th win vs. the visiting Rome Braves in the first round of the playoffs (5 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 5 K) with another excellent showing. Kowar landed 67% of his pitches for strikes (69 pitches, 46 strikes), sat 94-95 mph with his fastball and touched 96 several times throughout the night. He made it look effortless.

Following Kowar, LHP Marcelo Martinez put the hammer down with a fastball that seemed anything but. Sitting at 87-89 mph and pairing it with a breaking ball at 75-77, he seemed to mystify Lakewood batters over two scoreless innings (1 H, 0 BB, 4 K). After giving up a lead-off single to Simon Muzziotti, Jake Scheiner struck out swinging on a pitch near the heart of the plate, Rodolfo Duran popped out to Nick Pratto, And Jhailyn Ortiz flew out to CF Kyle Isbel. All three batters made outs on pitches that cut well into the outer third of the strike zone and just about belt-level.

Martinez continued to live on the outer third of the plate in the seventh, breezing through Madison Stokes, Dalton Guthrie, and Jose Antequera, and all in or very close to the same part of the strike zone in which he set up residence in the sixth.

Janser Lara hit a speed bump in the eighth, giving up a lead-off single to Matt Vierling on an 0-2 pitch that caught an awful lot of the plate. Muzziotti grounded out to Cristian Perez on a waist-high pitch but moved Vierling up to second. After Scheiner flew out to center on a pitch right down Broadway, Duran turned hard on a middle-in pitch and dropped it over the left-field wall and cut Lexington’s lead to three.

Visions of Monday night danced in our heads.

The Legends’ batters went down in order in the bottom of the eighth. The top of the ninth brought Tad Ratliff (whom I am tempted to nickname “Bulldog”) to the bump. Ratliff came right at lead-off batter Maton, who swung at a (seemingly) fat pitch, but only managed to ground out to Aracena. Stokes was next, and he went down easily on three swinging strikes (all outer-third). Guthrie started his own brief two-out rally, singling past Perez, but Antequera lost a six-pitch battle to the Lexington closer to close out the victory for the Legends.

On the offensive side, Lexington started off with MJ Melendez‘s first-pitch homer to opposite field off of Lakewood lefty Kyle Young. Pratto walked and swiped second after several pick-off attempts, then Brewer Hicklen walked behind him. Third baseman Manny Olloque grounded into a 6-4-3 double play, ending the threat.

Beyond a hard-hit single by C Sebastian Rivero in the bottom of the second, the Legends had nothing going in the inning. However, the third had Isbel singling to center and moving to third on a Pratto double to right, an inside pitch that wasn’t inside quite enough. When Hicklen grounded to Maton at short, he reached first when Maton went for the easy out at third. Pratto was erased, but Isbel scored on the play, making it 2-0, Lexington.

The fourth inning was a quiet one, and other than an Aracena base knock to left, there was no action of which to speak. Isbel grounded out to move Aracena into scoring position, but Melendez struck out on a 1-2 pitch that just nicked the low-outside corner, and Pratto flew out to center on a 2-2 outside pitch.

It was all outs for the Legends in the sixth, with Hicklen, Olloque, and Perez going down in order. The (lucky) seventh was another story.

Cal Jones led it off with an 0-2 worm-burner right through the middle of the infield, and after Rivero and Aracena both flew out, Isbel continued what became a two-out rally when he sent a base hit on the same path through the infield and into center, moving Jones to second. Melendez followed suit with his own single, this on a two-strike count, and Jones scored. When Muzziotti tried for Jones at home and Duran couldn’t corral the throw, both runners moved into scoring position. Lakewood reliever Julian Garcia let one fly and Duran couldn’t get to it, allowing Isbel to score. Pratto tacked on a run when he scored Melendez on a right-field single, and that would be it for Garcia. RHP James McArthur (1 1/3 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K) took over and put out the fire when he struck out Hicklen looking.

By now, it was 5-2, Lexington, and the last home game of the season at Whitaker Bank Ball Park would end that way.

With the series tied at one, the Legends hit the road for Lakewood, NJ, to play Game Three of the Championship tomorrow at 7 PM in the BlueClaw’s First Energy Stadium. LHP Daniel Lynch faces RHP Andrew Brown (6-3, 2.10 ERA, 14 appearances, 68 2/3 IP, 49 H, 2 HRA, 16 BB, 58 K).

Making their second appearance in the South Atlantic League Championship, as they were declared co-champions while holding a 2-0 lead in their inaugural season with the Asheville Tourists when the September 11^th attacks occurred, the Lexington Legends got off to a very good start Monday. They had dominant pitching, inning after inning. Their defense was firing on all cylinders. Everything was going smoothly.

And then, it wasn’t. The Legends went down to defeat against the Lakewood BlueClaws in eleven innings, 6-5.

Starting righty Yefri Del Rosario did his level best over six innings, striking out seven and walking two while giving up a single hit in the process. Lakewood had to wait until the fifth inning for that one-base knock from SS Nick Maton, which ultimately went for naught. After walking lead-off batter Matt Vierling, he got Simon Muzziotti on a high, bounding one-hopper to 1B Nick Pratto, then set down Jake Scheiner and Rodolpho Duran on swinging strikes.

Lexington got on the board first when Pratto walked and Brewer Hicklen crushed a 2-2 pitch over the right-field wall. Del Rosario gave up a walk to Madison Stokes, but induced a couple of fly-outs to left and a pop-up to Ricky Aracena to strand the Lakewood runner.

Cal Jones singled on a fastball on the outer third of the plate, a hard liner to left off of Lakewood starter Damon Jones. Sebastian Rivero went down on strikes and Aracena popped up to his counterpart at second, Dalton Guthrie, but Kyle Isbel reached on a bad throw by Maton and Jones advanced to third. The threat was ended when C MJ Melendez flew out on a 2-0 pitch to Muzziotti in center.

It was two more strikeouts for Del Rosario in the top of the third, when 3B Jose Antequera went down looking, Vierling flew out to Jones, and Muzziotti whiffed on a fastball right down the heart of the plate.

Pratto started the bottom of the third with a shot over the right-field deck that he hit off of an inside fastball, down 0-2 in the count, giving the Legends a 3-0 lead. Hicklen and 3B Manny Olloque grounded out to Antequera, SS Cristian Perez drew the walk but was stranded when Jones swung on a third strike in the dirt and was tossed out at first by Duran.

The top of the 4^th was uneventful, as Scheiner grounded out to Perez, while Duran and Jhailyn Ortiz added to Del Rosario’s “K” collection. The bottom of the fourth saw Lexington tack on another run when Isbel doubled on a 1-2 inside pitch and Melendez brought him home on a short drive to center, extending Lexington’s lead to 4-0.

After Maton finally gave Lakewood their first base hit of the night in the top of the fifth, Stokes was called out on strikes after an eight-pitch battle and Guthrie grounded into a 6-4-3 double play. Lexington faced off against righty reliever Gustavo Armas and got nothing out of him beyond a seven-pitch Hicklen walk. Hicklen was cut down at second on a steal attempt with Jones batting after Olloque popped up and Perez did the same to Scheiner.

Lakewood had nothing going in the top of the sixth, but Jones led off the bottom of the inning a hard-hit single, deep to left, that was cut off quickly by Vierling. Rivero dropped a nice sac bunt to move Jones to second, but only after Armas tried twice in vain to pick him off. Aracena struck out swinging, but Isbel once again came through, driving in Jones to make it 5-0, Lexington. Isbel would be nailed at second on a steal attempt.

As RHP Janser Lara entered the game in the seventh, he got Scheiner on a ground-out to Aracena, walked Duran on four somewhat controversial pitches (at least two could have been strikes), Ortiz struck out swinging. Lara walked Maton, but Stokes struck out on a 2-2 pitch and stranded two runners in the process.

The bottom of the seventh saw walks to Melendez and Hicklen, but little else, as Pratto and Olloque struck out swinging and Perez lined out to Scheiner on what sounded like a much harder-hit ball than it actually was.

The eighth inning was a routine one for both sides. The ninth, however, was not.

With RHP Daniel Duarte on the mound for his second inning of work, Josh Stephen singled on a 3-2 pitch that caught the heart of the plate. Scheiner was first-pitch swinging, swatting a hard-hit grounder to right. Duran followed this with the first of three straight homers for Lakewood. Ortiz hit a solo shot to right, and that would be it for Duarte as he gave way to RHP Tad Ratliff with Lakewood down by one.

Maton chased Ortiz’s homer with his own solo shot to right, and the BlueClaws had tied the game. This all happened before Lexington could get a single out.

Isbel, Melendez, and Pratto went down in order, and it was extra-inning time.

Ratliff retired Vierling, Stephen, and Scheiner in order to start the tenth inning. After Hicklen struck out looking, Olloque shot a laser beam to the center-field wall for a one-out double. SS Jeison Guzman entered to pinch-run for him, and new pitcher Connor Brogdon entered the game for Lakewood. He began by putting Perez on intentionally, but Jones and Rivero couldn’t get the winning run home.

With Garrett Suchey entering the game in the eleventh inning, Duran singled and move to second on Ortiz’s sacrifice bunt. After Maton grounded out to Perez, Duran moved to third. Stokes drove in what would be the winning run on a single to center after Such threw three straight pitches in the same zone and Stokes caught onto it.

Lakewood’s Zach Warren closed it out in the bottom of the inning, striking out Aracena, getting Isbel on a fly-out to right, and walking but stranding Melendez after Pratto ended the game striking out on a pitch in the dirt.

A tough loss for the home team, to be sure, but Game Two will see Jackson Kowar on the hill for the Legends facing LHP Kyle Young. The 6’10” Young has compiled a 13-5 record over four minor-league seasons, with a 2.74 ERA and 26 walks against 141 strikeouts in 151 1/3 innings. He recorded a .230 BAA in 59 1/3 innings this season across three leagues, with the vast majority of his innings at Lakewood. He gave up 9 walks in that span. He has never faced Lexington in his career.

Game Two of the South Atlantic League Championship is Tuesday at Whitaker Bank Ball Park at 6:05 PM.

They face off against the Rome Braves (71-62 overall, 40-29 in the first half), the first-half champion of the Southern Division in the South Atlantic League. The Legends (76-60 overall, 39-29 in the second half) finished the year as the Southern Division second-half champs, clinching in the first game of a four-game series at Greenville to end the regular season.

Both the Legends and the Braves are young teams, with the average age of each team’s batters under 21 years old. The Legends finished first in the league in runs scored (682; 4.98 R/G), fourth in hits (1151), second in homers (137), first in steals (164), third in team average (.258), and second in OPS (.733). Rome finished seventh in runs scored (578), third in hits (1176), sixth in homers (89), eleventh in steals (78), third in team average (.258; tied with Lexington), and fifth in OPS (.699).

Lexington’s pitchers finished seventh in team ERA (3.62), sixth in hits allowed (1119), second in most HR allowed (129), eleventh in fewest BB allowed (349), and sixth in strikeouts (1147). Overall, Rome finished in ninth in team ERA (3.74), seventh in hits allowed (1085), eighth in HR allowed (86), first in fewest walks allowed (422), and seventh in strikeouts (1143).

By now, the overall talent level on this Lexington roster is no secret, and they took on even more prospects in the last couple of months of the season. Their pitching staff received a significant boost. The loss of RHP Carlos Hernandez (6-5, 3.29 ERA in 79 1/3 IP, 82 K, 3.57 K/BB ratio) might have been felt more acutely had the Legends not added pitchers like LHP Daniel Lynch (5-1, 1.58 ERA in 40 IP, 47 K, 6 BB), RHP Jackson Kowar (3.42 ERA in 26 1/3 IP, 12 BB, 22 K), and LHP JC Cloney (2.73 ERA in 29 2/3 IP, 9 BB, 18 K) was like adding nitrous to an engine that was slowly, but consistently, revving faster as the season came to a close.

Starting Game One will be RHP and 2018 1st-round pick Jackson Kowar, who has made nine short appearances for the Legends this year. Over 26 1/3 innings, Kowar racked up 22 strikeouts against 12 walks. His 19 hits allowed, even over this short sample size, is evidence of his ability to command a plus fastball in the low-to-mid 90s along with a plus change-up in the low-80s that shows good tail and sink, and is delivered with precisely the same arm speed, slot, and release as his fastball when it’s at its best. He mixes in a slurvy breaking ball that is solid enough for a third pitch, but his command with it is still somewhat inconsistent. The Royals have kept his time on the mound short as a precautionary measure against overwork, so a four-inning start is a definite possibility.

He will face off against RHP Alan Rangel (4.09 ERA, 125 1/3 IP, 31 BB, 105 K), who posted a sterling 2.12 ERA in six starts over the month of August, but got knocked around in away games (3.14 ERA at home, 5.05 ERA on the road), and gave up six runs (five earned) and two homers over five innings in his only appearance at Whitaker Bank Ballpark. Perhaps also of note, he allowed a .810 OPS vs. RHH, while lefties had a tougher time (.668 over 57 PA).

RHP Tad Ratliff (1.68 ERA, 48 1/3 IP, 53 K, 10 BB, 10 SV) has been outstanding out of the pen, this year, and is the de facto closer. RHP Janser Lara (3.41 ERA, 23 appearances, 8 starts, 66 IP, 28 BB, 75 K) has steadily improved over the last few months, and can give the Legends a long stint in relief or start the game, though he has been outstanding as a reliever (1.98 ERA in 36 1/3 relief innings; 5.91 ERA in 35 innings as a starter). He brings a fastball that sits 94-95 and a tight slider around 83-84 with good tilt. Lara struck out 25 batters in 18 relief innings in August, so he ended on a high note. 2017’s 26th-round selection RHP Garrett Suchey (1.36 ERA in 21 appearances, 33 IP, 4 BB, 30 K) was a lock-down arm in his professional debut season. A 15th-round pick last year, LHP Robert Garcia (13 appearances, 24 IP, 31 K, 11 BB) and RHP Daniel Duarte (6 appearances, 11 2/3 IP, 11 K, 5 BB) show early signs of promise.

This is a quick look at some of the key batters heading into the first round of the SAL Playoffs.

1B Nick Pratto (.280 BA, .786 OPS 33 2B, 14 HR, 62 RBI, 22 SB in 127 games) is still a month away from his 20^th birthday. That alone says a lot about Pratto’s talent. While he hit the wall in June (.225 BA, .589 OPS in 25 games), he slowly picked up steam in July (.258, .717 OPS in 25 games) and caught fire in August (.358, 1.005 OPS, 20 RBI in 28 games). The steals were a little surprise, but he runs well enough, especially for his position.

C MJ Melendez made a lot of noise this year, becoming the single-season leader in home runs for teen-aged Class-A catchers. Sounds like a lot to say, but 19-year-old catchers don’t typically push 20 homers in their full-season debut. Melendez finished with 26 doubles, nine triples, and 19 homers, driving in 73 runs (.251 BA, .814 OPS in 111 games). In 73 games behind the dish, he threw out 42 percent of base thieves, a dramatic increase from 2017’s 26 percent, though last year he made only thirty appearances at catcher. While he did commit 13 errors (w/ 8 passed balls), there’s no reason for concern there; Melendez’s calling card is his agility, arm strength and glove work, and his defense will improve over time. He’s highly athletic, moves very well (not only for his position), and is an above-average base-runner. By all appearances, Melendez is a safe bet to make it to Kauffman, perhaps by 2021.

OF Brewer Hicklen (.307, 18 doubles, 17 HR, 65 RBI, 29 SB in 82 games at Lexington) returned to the Legends after a 22-game stint in High-A Wilmington that didn’t pan out for him (.211, .573 OPS in 22 games), and the timing could not have been better. With RF Seuly Matias going to the DL because of a thumb laceration, incurred while moving his bags from the baggage compartment on the team bus, the team was going to need that boost to the offense. Hicklen does a lot of things well; he covers lots of ground in the outfield with sure-handed glove work (71 games in OF, 2 errors, 1.87 RF/9), he squares up the ball frequently and has shown a great deal of pop (18 doubles, 3 triples, 17 homers), and he steals bags fearlessly. It seemed that, once he swiped second, he was almost a lock to try for (likely successfully) third immediately afterward. Isbel was a similar runner, in terms of style and aggression. Hicklen also brings added energy to this lineup, though it’s not as if they lack for it. At 22 years old, with his current tool profile, it’s safe to say that his performance at Wilmington is no concern.

SS Cristian Perez (.278, 14 doubles, 37 RBI, 10 SB) isn’t a power bat, but makes a lot of contact and shows a very good eye at the plate. Perez has struck out a total of 94 times over his 194 career games (784 PA), only 43 this year, and while he isn’t likely to walk much (53 BB, career; 11 in 2018), he doesn’t need to. He puts the ball in play with regularity, and aside from a .221 BA/.566 OPS in 24 games in July, Perez has been one of them more consistent hitters on this team. A .348 BA/.756 OPS in June certainly made an impression, during which he struck out only six times in 91 plate appearances. Yet another nineteen-year-old player on this Legends roster, Perez had little difficulty adjusting to Class-A competition. A .252 average vs. RHP (.354 in 92 PA vs. LHP) is acceptable, and should improve in 2019. Making 14 appearances at third base after the loss of Dennicher Carrasco, Perez sometimes struggled with the throw to first, but he also made some low throws from short (10 errors in 69 games at SS, 3 errors in 14 games at 3B). Second base may be in his future, though he could certainly gain arm strength over the next year or two.

Speaking of second base, Ricky Aracena (.261 BA, 10 doubles, 40 RBI, 17 steals in 95 games) is slowly building on the promise that led some international scouts to label him the next Rafael Furcal. With almost no present power of which to speak, Aracena’s value lies primarily in his glove. Coming into 2018, he already had 30 games at short with Lexington, and has been learning second base on the fly since SS Jeison Guzman has been getting the bulk of the time at Aracena’s old position. He is taking reasonably well to the keystone (94 games at 2B, 16 errors, 4.21 RF/9), and has the quickness and footwork to settle in permanently. Listed at 5’8”, which may be generous, there is still room for added strength.

CF Kyle Isbel made his Class-A debut on July 19^th and promptly made his presence known. Isbel batted .342 (.984 OPS) over 10 July games, with five extra-base hits and six steals. He also struck out only four times in his 44 plate appearances. August was more of the same, with a dip in Isbel’s average (.286) and OPS (.750), but he tacked on nine doubles, two homers, ten RBI and six more steals. His strikeouts spiked (36 in 121 PA), even though his pitch selection appeared to be advanced for Low-A. Also intriguing was his lack of a platoon split vs. LHP (.354 between Idaho Falls and Lexington in 89 PA, .314 in 204 PA vs. RHP). He demolished rookie-league pitching to the tune of a 1.063 OPS in 119 PA over 25 games.

UT Manny Olloque made his return to Lexington after starting the year in Triple-A Omaha (.544 OPS in 9 games), then heading to the Pioneer League and the Idaho Falls Chukars, where he performed well enough (.317 BA, 1.006 OPS in 11 games). Olloque’s power seems to have improved since last year, as he popped 21 XBH in 48 games with the Legends. The BB/K ratio is atrocious (7 BB, 67 K), but he did seem more comfortable at the plate this year. He definitely slowed down in August, with his OPS dropping 181 points from July (.690 in August, .871 in July), but he finished on the upswing, tallying a .787 OPS in his final 10 games (3 XBH, 10 RBI).

C Sebastian Rivero (.258, 16 doubles, 7 HR, 34 RBI, .692 OPS in 77 games) had a June to forget (.167 BA, .406 OPS in 17 games), but ranged in OPS between .597 (August) and .898 (July) the rest of the year. In 60 appearances behind the plate, Rivero threw out 35% of base-runners, and made only five errors in that time-span (8 passed balls). He took well to the backup role, but certainly could progress further than that in the coming years.

This is bound to be an exciting series. Lexington hasn’t seen playoff baseball in a very long time, and the team is running half a dozen promotions for this series opener, so the place will likely be packed to the gills. More to come after the completion of Game One.

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

BPKC Friday Hitter of the Day Nick Dini 2-4 HR, 2b, 2 RBI
BPKC Saturday Hitter of the Day Jackson Lueck 3-4 2R, 2b, HR, 2 RBI

BPKC Friday Pitcher of the Day Tad Ratliff 2.2 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 6 K 34p/23k
BPKC Saturday Pitcher of the Day Trevor Oaks 6.2 IP 3 H 0 R 0 ER 3 BB 3 K 10-3 GO-FO 90p/57k

Friday Lexington Legends 3 Augusta GreenJackets 2
Saturday Greenville Drive 3 Lexington Legends 0

First-round pick Daniel Lynch earned his first Low-A victory in his first start with Lexington, tossing five innings with six hits allowed and two runs allowed. The lefty put away five hitters with strikeouts in earning the win. Outfielder Brewer Hicklen connected on his 13th home run and scored a second run after a walk and stolen base to help pace the offense to a win. During Saturday’s game right-hander Yefri Del Rosario tossed five innings of one-run baseball with just an unearned run allowed as Greenville scored their first run on an errant throw to third by catcher Sebastian Rivero. That Driver would tack on a pair of insurance runs while the Legends would be shutout on just four hits.

Yefri Del Rosario 5 IP 5 H 1 R 0 ER 1 BB 5 K 4-2 GO-FO 86p/54k
Daniel Lynch 5 IP 6 H 2 R 2 ER 1 BB 5 K 4-4 GO-FO 72p/44k
Nick Pratto 3-9 SB, K, CS

Friday Salem Red Sox 10 Wilmington Blue Rocks 1
Saturday Wilmington Blue Rocks 16 Salem Red Sox 1

Not a whole lot was positive for Wilmington on Friday night as the offense went 0-11 with runners in scoring position during a 10-1 loss. Starter Andres Sotillet made his first High-A start for Wilmington, giving up three of the ten runs in his five-inning start while allowing five hits and one walk. The right-hander struckout five hitters, connecting in the zone with 62 strikes on his 86 pitches. The game got away from the pen with seven runs allowed from Corey Ray and Justin Camp. The second game in the series was all Wilmington on Saturday with all nine Blue Rock hitters collecting a rbi in the lopsided victory. With seven different Rocks collecting multiple hit games it was Meibrys Viloria who cracked the only home run for the good guys as part of a three run night for the catcher. Starter Ofreidy Gomez earned his third win of the season with five innings of one run ball giving up a solo home run to Carolina League leading home run hitter Bobby Dalbec for the only run allowed by Wilmington pitching on the night.

Meibrys Viloria 3-8 3R, HR, 2 RBI, BB
Blake Perkins 2-9 2R, RBI, BB, 5K
Gabe Cancel 3-9 R, 2-2b, 3 RBI, 2 BB

Friday Tulsa Drillers 5 NW Arkansas Naturals 4
Saturday Tulsa Drillers 12 NW Arkansas Naturals 8

The Naturals built a 4-1 lead only to watch it disappear in the later innings. Catcher Nick Dini connected on his sixth Double-A home run. Starter Scott Blewett gave up a leadoff home run in the fourth and sixth innings during his three-run five-plus inning start. Relievers Gabe Speier and Yunior Marte each gave up a run with Marte’s coming in the eighth to hand NW Arkansas the loss. Two years removed from a 14 loss season starter Foster Griffin is on his way to besting that mark, recording his 12th loss on Saturday night after giving up six runs in six innings to Tulsa. The Naturals bullpen once again struggled with three different relievers allowing runs including two more by Bryan Brickhouse to balloon his ERA to over 9 in Double-A action. Newly acquired Kelvin Gutierrez collected a pair of extra base hits in the loss.

Kelvin Gutierrez 2-8 2b, 3b, 3 RBI
Elier Hernandez 5-9 2R, RBI
Khalil Lee 1-10 R, 2b, 3K

Friday Memphis Redbirds 6 Omaha Storm Chasers 3
Saturday Omaha Storm Chasers 1 Memphis Redbirds 0

Lefty Jake Kalish gave up six runs in the first three innings before settling down some but it was too much for the offense to overcome in the loss. Memphis centerfielder Oscar Mercado may have stolen two to three runs in the outfield with three outstanding defensive plays, shagging a deep fly from Nicky Lopez while also making two diving catches to save the game. Starter Trevor Oaks bested his Triple-A 2.00 ERA with six and two-thirds scoreless ball during Saturday night’s game, navigating around three hits and three walks with the aid of 10 groundouts. First baseman Frank Schwindel drove in the game’s only run with a groundball single up the middle.

Frank Schwindel 2-8 RBI BB
Nicky Lopez 1-7 RBI, 2BB, 2K
Ryan O’Hearn 1-7 2b, 3K

Friday Danville Braves 5 Burlington Royals 4
Saturday Burlington Royals 6 Johnson City Cardinals 5

A pair of unearned runs during a one-run loss cost the Royals in their game with the Braves on Friday. The defense committed four errors during the game, costing Yarelmy Garcia a run in his five innings as the right-hander gave up three in five innings despite recording just one strikeout in that time. Pitching in relieve Malcolm Van Buren gave up two runs to take the loss during his three innings as the hard-throwing righty struggled with the zone, walking three hitters while on the hill. Royals 5th round draft pick Austin Cox got knocked around for the first time in his young career as the lefty gave up six hits and five runs (4 ER) in five innings while striking out seven. The offense bailed him out with a pair of home runs that tied the game up, the second coming via Jackson Leuck who also scored the game-winning run when Jose Marquez was plunked with the bases loaded.

Marlin Willis 4 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 2 BB 6 K 5-1 GO-FO 66p/38k
Austin Cox 5 IP 6 H 5 R 4 ER 2 BB 7 K 3-4 GO-FO 77p/50k
Jackson Lueck 4-7 3R, HR, 2-2b 2 RBI

Friday Helena Brewers 8 Idaho Falls Chukars 7
Saturday Missoula Osprey 12 Idaho Falls Chukars 0

The Chukars didn’t do as much as they could have with 17 hits in the final game of their series with Helena, going 3 for 14 with runners in scoring position to fall one run short. The Chukars’ Connor Mayes gave up seven runs in just five innings on 12 hits in the loss. The Royals 2nd round pick Jonathan Bowlan got tagged for 10 hits and seven runs in just five innings during Saturday’s game. The offense struggled to mount an attack against Missoula starter Marcos Tineo as the Arizona Diamondbacks prospect limited them to just two hits over six shutout innings. The Osprey continued to pile on against the bullpen while the offense was shutout on just two hits.

Jonathan Bowlan 5 IP 10 H 7 R 7 ER 0 Bb 2 K 9-2 GO-FO 67p/45k
Kyle Isbel 3-4 3R, 3b, K, BB
Chase Vallot 0-6 K

Friday Boxscores
Saturday Boxscores

Sunday Probables
Omaha – Jon Dziedzic 3-7 3.83 ERA 1.30 WHIP
NW Arkansas – Dallas Beeler 0-1 17.18 ERA 3.55 WHIP
Wilmington – Gerson Garabito 3-6 4.02 ERA 1.45 WHIP
Lexington – Carlos Hernandez 6-3 3.34 ERA 1.16 WHIP
Burlington – Elvis Luciano 0-3 6.48 ERA 1.86 WHIP
Idaho Falls – TBD

HR Roll Call Ryan O’Hearn (11), Amalani Fukofuka (5), Tyler Straub (2), Brewer Hicklen (1), Esteury Ruiz (1), Ismaldo Rodriguez (4)

BPKC Hitter of the Day Esteury Ruiz 4-5 3R, 2-2b, HR, 7 RBI

BPKC Pitcher of the Day Tad Ratliff 2 IP 0 H 0 R 0 BB 6 K 25p/19k

Lexington Legends 17 Greenville Drive 7

Fireworks Friday around most minor league parks occurred on the field in Greenville by the Lexington bats during the game.

The club knocked out 20 hits and 17 runs in a rout that included 12 runs between the third and fourth innings. The Legends popped six hits, had a hit by a pitch and a walk in the third inning with four of those hits going for extra bases to put eight runs on the board.

The team kept pushing runs across in the next three innings with eight more runs as they continued to pressure the Greenville pitching to build a huge 17-5 lead on the way to an easy win.

Boxscore Link

Yeison Melo 4-6 2R, 2b, 2 RBI
Khalil Lee 3-6 2R, 2b, 3b, 3 RBI
Angelo Castellano 4-5 3R, 2b, RBI

AZL Royals 20 AZL Padres 5

The AZL squad took care of business with 17 hits and 20 runs in a whitewash of the D-Backs squad.

The 4 through 6 hitters in the lineup did the majority of the damage, connecting on eight hits with Esteury Ruiz and Brewer Hicklen each hitting a home run while combining to drive in 11 of the team’s 20 runs.

The Royals 2016 draftee Malcolm Van Buren pitched a perfect first inning in his return from Tommy John to combine with five of the other six pitchers to toss scoreless innings in the win.

Boxscore Link

Brewer Hicklen 2-5 2R, HR, 4 RBI
Nick Pratto 1-5 R, 2b, 3 RBI, BB
MJ  Melendez 2-4 3R, RBI, BB, 1-2 Caught stealing

DSL Royals 2 DSL A’s 1 F/10

The two teams were held scoreless in extra innings on Friday.

The A’s score in the tenth with a run after pushing their extra inning runner across. The Royals would answer back getting a wild pitch to push their runner to third and tying the game on a ground out.

With the game tied at 1-1 and two outs, the Royals slugger Ismaldo Rodriguez unloaded on his fourth home run of the season to walk it off for the DSL Royals.

Boxscore Link

Ismaldo Rodriguez 1-5 HR
Warling Vicente 1-4 R, 2b, BB
Angel Zerpa 5 IP 1 H 0 R 1 BB 3 K 8-1 GO-FO

Orem Owlz 17 Idaho Falls Chukars 5

Julio Pinto’s struggles continued with 11 runs allowed (8 ER) in just two innings for the right-handed pitcher. Those runs put the squad in a huge hole that they were unable to dig out of.

The Chukars hit a pair of home runs but went 2 for 12 with runners in scoring position to drop the game.

Boxscore Link

Amalani Fukofuka 1-5 HR
Darrell Miller 2-4 R, 2-2b, RBI
Tyler Straub 1-4 HR, 2 RBI

Danville Braves 5 Burlington Royals 3

The Royals got beat by the Braves again despite their leadoff man doing everything he could.

The Braves got after Ismael Maldonado for five runs (4 ER) in just four and one-third innings, giving up five hits and three walks against just one K. Those five runs put the Royals behind 5-0.

Despite Michael Gigliotti reaching base all four times, he came up the rest of the lineup wasn’t doing much heavy lifting with just four hits. The centerfielder did double in a pair of runs in the seventh and scored on a sac fly by Jeison Guzman but the Royals couldn’t get anything else in the loss.

Boxscore Link

Michael Gigliotti 3-3 R, 2b, 2 RBI, BB, SB (2)
Seuly Matias 1-4 2K
Jeison Guzman 0-2 RBI

Salem Red Sox 3 Wilmington Blue Rocks 1

The Rocks starter got off to a slow start in a low scoring loss.

Righty A.J. Puckett gave up 10 hits in six innings, allowing three runs with single tallies in each of the first three innings. The Pepperdine product struck out six hitters while allowing just one walk and hitting the zone with 70 pitches out of 99 thrown.

Those three runs were plenty with Wilmington going scoreless til the ninth when Wander Franco scored after a one-out double.

Boxscore Link

Wander Franco 3-4 R, 2b
A.J. Puckett 6 IP 10 H 3 R 3 ER 1 BB 6 K 7-2 GO-FO 99p/70k
Walker Sheller 3 IP 2 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 0 K 3-4 GO-FO 42p/29k

NW Arkansas Naturals 8 Corpus Christi Hooks 7

The Naturals connected on 15 hits and walked the game off with another win over the Astros Double=A squad.

After a pair of runs given up in the first inning, NW Arkansas connected on six singles around a walk to plate four runs and grab the lead back. The Astros would look to put the stranglehold on the game, scoring five runs to take a 7-4 lead into the sixth frame.

Those runs wouldn’t be enough with NW Arkansas scoring three in the sixth with a rbi double by Samir Duenez and a two-run double by Donnie Dewees. The Naturals would threaten in the eighth but come up short before Dewees would triple in the ninth and score on Nick Dini’s sac fly to walk off.

The win went to Richard Lovelady after tossing two innings in his Double-A debut while hitting 100 mph on the stadium radar gun.

Boxscore Link

Nicky Lopez 4-5 2-2b
Donnie Dewees 4-5 R, 2b, 3b, 3 RBI
Samir Duenez 2-4 2R, 2b, 2 RBI, BB

Colorado Sky Sox 5 Omaha Storm Chasers 2

The rain delayed the Chasers game for a couple hours but couldn’t delay another loss to Colorado Springs for Omaha.

The Sky Sox score five runs in the first three innings to put Omaha down early. From there the bullpen settled things down with Brian Flynn and Kyle Zimmer tossing four scoreless innings.

The Chasers offense would score a pair of runs but come up short with just five hits on the night.

Boxscore Link

Ryan O’Hearn 1-2 HR, 2BB
Frank Schwindel 2-4
Kyle Zimmer 1 IP 0 H 0 R 1 BB 2 K