Royals August 13th Minors Recap

Omaha beat Salt Lake, 5-3. The Storm Chasers are now tied for first place.

Carlos Peguero hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the first. However, the Storm Chasers had to come back to win. Francisco Pena hit a two-run homer in the sixth to give Omaha the lead. It was his 25th of the season. Those two drove in all five runs.

Despite not collecting a hit, Terrance Gore stole his fifth base in Triple-A.

The comeback made a winner of Aaron Brooks, who allowed three runs on four hits and two walks over seven innings. He struck out six. Chris Dwyer earned his first save of the season with two perfect innings of relief.

NW Arkansas lost to Corpus Christi, 6-5. The Hooks scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth.

Brandon Finnegan entered in relief in the seventh and allowed a solo home run. In the 8th inning, he allowed another homer, though this was a three-run shot. After a walk, he then allowed a run scoring double. However in the inning, the Naturals defense committed three errors, two by third baseman Hunter Dozier. So, only one of the runs Finnegan allowed was earned.

In the Naturals four-run top of the sixth, Dozier hit a two-run home run, his fourth in Double-A, but first since July 10th (he also hit a double). Orlando Calixte drove in the first two runs of the inning with a single.

The loss negated the solid start by Christian Binford, who allowed a solo home run in the sixth. Overall, he allowed just three hits and struck out eight over six innings.

Wilmington and Frederick played two on Wednesday night, with the Blue Rocks taking both games. With the victories, they are now 3.5 games back of first place Potomac (who lost both games of their doubleheader). Lynchburg remains three games ahead of the Blue Rocks for the final playoff spot.

Blue Rocks starter Sean Manaea against Winston-Salem on July 27, 2014 (Jen Nevius).

Both games were pitcher’s duels. Sean Manaea won the first game, throwing seven shutout innings in the 4-0 win. Manaea allowed just two hits, a walk, and two hit batters. He struck out seven.

The Blue Rocks got on the board in the bottom of the first on Raul Mondesi‘s two-run home run, his fourth in four games. They added two more runs in the fifth on Fred Ford‘s two-run homer, his first as a Blue Rock.

The Blue Rocks won the second game, 1-0 in walk off fashion.

With two outs and a runner on first base in the bottom of the seventh, Ramon Torres stole second base and moved to third on the throwing error. Mondesi then struck out swinging, but the pitch got away and Torres raced home for the game winner.

Both teams had just two hits. Mondesi collected the game’s first hit with one out in the 3rd inning. The Keys picked up their first hit with one out in the bottom of the third. Both of their next hits came in the seventh.

Glenn Sparkman allowed just one hit and two walks over six scoreless innings. He struck out seven and continues to lead the Carolina League with a 1.37 ERA. Daniel Stumpf was credited with the win in relief, as he allowed one hit and struck out two in the seventh.

Lexington was swept in Kannapolis, losing the finale by a 9-5 score.

The Legends were leading 3-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh, but the Intimidators scored seven runs to take the lead. In that inning, they collected five hits. There was an error, a hit batter, a walk, and a passed ball.

Four of the Legends runs scored via the long ball. Dominique Taylor and Elier Hernandez hit solo shots, while Frank Schwindel hit a two-run shot in the eighth.

Alexis Rivera collected three hits, but also committed two errors. Taylor, Schwindel, and Chad Johnson each had two hits in the loss.