Royals July 18th Minors Recap

Omaha lost their second straight game to New Orleans, this time by a 5-3 score.

It was a battle of veterans, as Joe Saunders made his second start for Omaha, while the Zephyrs threw Brad Penny. Saunders was roughed up from the beginning, starting with back-to-back walks to start the game. The Zephyrs scored three runs in the first, while collecting just two singles.

Saunders allowed five runs (four earned) on eight hits and two walks over 4.2 innings. Casey Coleman held New Orleans to just one hit over the next 3.1 innings before Buddy Baumann pitched a perfect ninth.

Meanwhile, Penny scattered seven hits and a walk over six innings. He allowed two runs, but threw just 79 pitches.

The Storm Chasers collected nine hits, three for extra bases. However, they struck out ten times. Johnny Giavotella hit a solo home run in the eighth (one of his two hits). Justin Maxwell went 3-for-4 with a double.

NW Arkansas ended their losing streak with a 7-4 victory over Springfield. The Naturals collected 14 hits, but also committed four errors.

The Naturals scored two in the first, one on a Hunter Dozier single and the last on Micah Gibbs‘ single (though Dozier was thrown out at the plate to end the inning). They scored a run on a balk in the 2nd inning.

The bulk of the Naturals offense came from the 4-7 hitters. Cheslor Cuthbert and Dozier each had two hits. Edinson Rincon had three hits, while Gibbs went 4-for-5 with two RBIs.

Matt Murray made his second straight start and was solid over the first four innings. He allowed an unearned run on three hits and a walk. Ali Williams earned his fourth win in relief, though he allowed a run on a solo home run in his two innings of work.

Angel Baez would allow another solo homer the next inning and Scott Alexander would allow a run in the eighth. Andrew Triggs earned his 14th save by throwing just nine pitches in the ninth.

Blue Rocks DH Michael Antonio against Potomac on June 5, 2014 (Jen Nevius).

Wilmington moved into first place in the Carolina League’s Northern Division with a 3-0 victory in Potomac. It completed the four game sweep.

The game was scoreless until the ninth. Up until the top of the ninth, the Blue Rocks had just one hit. With two strikes to lead off the inning, Terrance Gore singled. Jack Lopez followed with a bunt single. After a Raul Mondesi sac bunt, the P-Nats walked Mark Threlkeld to load the bases for Michael Antonio, who broke the scoreless tie with a sac fly. Cody Stubbs provided the insurance with a two-run double.

In the bottom of the eighth, the P-Nats Khayyan Norfolk doubled with one out off Blake Wood. However, he missed first base and was called out. That could have changed the whole outcome.

Both teams had solid pitching performances from their starters. Jonathan Dziedzic allowed four hits and a walk over seven innings. He also picked two runners off base. For the P-Nats, Austin Voth struck out eight and lowered his ERA to 0.27 after seven scoreless innings (his fifth start).

Lexington lost the first game of their series in Savannah, 5-1.

The Legends collected eight hits, but went 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position and struck out 12 times. All of their hits were singles. Dexter Kjerstad had two hits for the third straight game.

Matt Tenuta took the loss, as he allowed four runs (three earned) on nine hits over four innings. Though Pedro Fernandez only allowed one run on three hits over the final four innings and struck out seven, he walked five and hit a batter.