KC Royals Minors Recap: Kris Medlen Pitches Well

Omaha re-starts their season on Thursday in Nashville. They will have Miguel Almonte in their rotation, as the KC Royals announced his promotion on Wednesday. Almonte last pitched for NW Arkansas on July 12th and could pitch on Friday.

In the Triple-A All-Star Game in Omaha, the International League came back to beat the Pacific Coast League, 4-3.

Storm Chasers manager Brian Poldberg went with Round Rock closer Jon Edwards (17-of-18 in save opportunities) in the ninth with a 3-1 lead instead of his own reliever. Edwards blew the save and left with one out and runners on the corners.

Then Poldberg went to Louis Coleman, who immediately allowed an RBI single to give the International League the 4-3 lead. Coleman then got out of the jam with a strikeout and a ground out.

Former Royal Blake Wood came on in the bottom of the ninth for the save for the IL. He walked the leadoff hitter (two in the inning) and the PCL had the tying run on second base, but Wood struck out the final batter of the game. And Wood was NASTY.

Omaha third baseman Cheslor Cuthbert entered on defense in the sixth. He went 0-for-2 with a strikeout.

No, John Lamb did not start the game in his home park (nor did he pitch), leaving many on Twitter to believe that Lamb could be the 26th man on Friday for the Royals in their doubleheader in Chicago.

NW Arkansas blew the lead in losing their first game in Springfield, 6-3.

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Clinging to a 3-0 lead,

Aroni Nina

entered in relief and walked back-to-back hitters with one out. Nina was pulled after back-to-back RBI hits and a walk that loaded the bases. In came lefty

Sam Selman

, who after striking out the first batter he faced, allowed a go ahead grand slam.

The no decision went to rehabber Kris Medlen, who threw his best (and possibly last in the minors) game since coming back from Tommy John surgery. Medlen allowed three hits and two walks over seven scoreless innings. He struck out four. The only base runner to reach against Medlen after the 3rd inning was a walk in the seventh.

On offense, the Naturals collected 13 hits, including solo home runs from Lane Adams and Alex Liddi (Liddi fell a triple short of the cycle). Leadoff hitter Ramon Torres went 2-for-4 with a double and a walk. Jorge Bonifacio went 2-for-4, while Bubba Starling went 3-for-4 with a double.

Terrance Gore pinch ran in the eighth, stole his 33rd base, and scored a run.

*Brooks Pounders continues his rehab, moving from the AZL to Idaho Falls. He made four starts for the AZL Royals, totaling six innings.

Wilmington played two to start their home series against Frederick on Wednesday night. After rain delayed the start of the suspended game by about an hour and a half, the Blue Rocks took Game 1, 15-10.

The Blue Rocks used a massive ten-run bottom of the seventh to mount the comeback. It all started with a leadoff walk. They sent 14 men to the plate and walked five times (twice with the bases loaded), collected two sac flies, hit three singles, a double, and had a hit batter. There was also an error.

Humberto Arteaga had three hits and scored four runs. Santiago Nessy, Elier Hernandez, Robert Pehl, and Logan Moon all had two hits in the win. Nessy drove in three runs. Pehl walked twice and scored two runs. Moon scored three runs and drove in two.

Yender Caramo earned the victory in relief, allowing one run on six hits and two walks over 4.1 innings. He struck out three.

The Blue Rocks lost the second game, 5-2 in 11 innings (it was a scheduled seven inning affair). Their day ended around 12:30am ET, with camp day on Thursday (11am ET).

The Keys scored a run in the top of the seventh to tie the game up and send it into extra innings. They took the lead once reliever Estarlin Cordero left the game (4IP, H, 0R, BB, 3K), though Cordero allowed the tying run in the seventh.

Robinson Yambati got two quick outs, but then back-to-back walks put the Keys in business. A two-run double broke the tie, which was followed by an RBI single. Yambati needed 31 pitches (16 strikes) to get out of the 11th inning.

Cody Stubbs tripled in two runs in the bottom of the fourth. Pehl had two more hits in the loss.

After throwing 28 pitches in the first inning, starter Sean Manaea settled down (much better than he did in the suspended game). Over five innings, he allowed an unearned run on two hits and two walks while striking out five. Manaea threw 80 of his 49 pitches for strikes.

In a rarity, Manaea “started” both games on Wednesday night. In the suspended game, he ended up allowing seven runs on ten hits and two walks over 3.2 innings. He struck out four.

*On a negative note, Mauricio Ramos was hit by a pitch and left the first game. He was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBIs. Ramos did not play the second game.

**In roster news, outfielder Dexter Kjerstad was released. Reliever Andrew Edwards was activated from the DL and made his first appearance since June 26th. In the first game, he allowed two runs on two hits and a walk in the ninth.

For the second straight night, Lexington gave up double-digit runs in Delmarva. They lost Wednesday night, 11-3.

Foster Griffin got the start for the Legends and allowed two runs on three hits over three innings. He walked four and struck out two. Just 33 of his 67 pitches were strikes. Emilio Ogando took the loss, as he allowed six runs (four earned) on seven hits and two walks over 2.2 innings. He struck out five. Eric Stout allowed the final three runs on five hits over 2.1 innings. Stout allowed a two out, two-run home run in the seventh.

On offense, DonAndre Clark led off and went 2-for-4 with a run scored and two stolen bases. Samir Duenez also had two hits in the loss.

Idaho Falls played a doubleheader against Missoula. The Chukars lost the first game, 2-1 in nine innings.

The Osprey hit a two out solo home run in the bottom of the ninth for the walk off victory (it was a makeup game from the other night in Missoula, so the Osprey were the home team). Tripp Davis was the losing pitcher.

Carter Hope got the start for the Chukars and pitched five scoreless innings. He allowed three hits and walked one while striking out three. Brian Bayliss allowed one run on three hits and a walk over three innings. He struck out three.

Cody Jones had two hits from the leadoff spot in the loss. He also stole his sixth base.

The Chukars won the second game, 10-8. They used a seven-run bottom of the fifth.

In the 5th inning, they walked four times to open the inning. Two straight singles followed to score three runs. After another walk, Brawlun Gomez delivered a two-run triple and scored on Jeckson Flores‘ double.

Hunter Haynes earned the victory (his first) in relief of Daniel Concepcion (2.1IP, 3H, 4R, 3ER, BB, 4K, HR). Haynes allowed four runs on three hits and three walks over 3.1 innings. Matt Portland earned his first save with 1.1 scoreless innings of relief.

Burlington lost to Pulaski, 5-3. The Royals scored a run in the ninth and had a chance to take the lead, as they had the tying run on second base, but a pop up and a ground out ended the game.

The Royals out-hit the Yankees, 8-5, but all eight hits were singles and they struck out ten times. The Royals also hit into two double plays. Colton Frabasilio had two hits in the loss.

Errors were also an issue for the Royals, as they committed two of them. All five runs scored by the Yankees were unearned.

Igol Feliz took the loss, allowing all five runs on five hits and three walks over 4.1 innings. He struck out four, but allowed a two out, three-run home run in the fourth.

Jake Kalish allowed one of the two inherited runners to score in the fifth, but the only base runner he allowed over 2.2 innings was one who reached on an error (four strikeouts). Matt Ditman struck out the side in his one inning of work.

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