Royals June 23rd Minors Recap

Omaha and Oklahoma City played a doubleheader on Sunday. OKC walked off 6-5 in ten innings in Game 1 (it was supposed to be seven innings).

Will Smith allowed his first runs since moving to the bullpen, one run to be exact, but it tied the game at 5-5 in the seventh. In the bottom of the tenth, OKC scored with two outs on a Brandon Laird single (he had hit a two-run homerun earlier).

The Storm Chasers collected 11 hits and seven walks, but went just 3-for-12 with runners in scoring position. Christian Colon, Xavier Nady, and Paulo Orlando each had two hits, with Orlando hitting a homerun. Johnny Giavotella went a perfect 3-for-3 (though he was picked off second base).

Max Ramirez courtesy of Minda Haas (Royal Blues)

The Storm Chasers took Game 2, 4-3. They broke the 3-3 tie in the top of the 7th inning on Max Ramirez‘ RBI single. It was dicey in the bottom of the inning, as OKC had the bases loaded. However Buddy Baumann came in and induced a ground out to end the game.

NW Arkansas lost in walk off fashion to Tulsa, 2-1 in ten innings. The Naturals will now enjoy the two-day All-Star break (they are hosting the Texas League All-Star Game).

Until the tenth, the lone runs were scored via solo homeruns, one by the Drillers Kyle Parker (his 12th) and one by Naturals All-Star Rey Navarro. Until the tenth, the Naturals bullpen pitched seven hitless innings of relief behind Sugar Ray Marimon (2IP, 2H, R, 2BB, 3K). They used five relievers, with Sam Runion taking the loss (it all started with a leadoff walk).

*I forgot to mention last night that first baseman Matt Fields was added to the All-Star team. It is expected for him to participate in the HR Derby (he is tied for second in the TL in homers with 18).

Wilmington dropped their opening series of the second half with a 4-3 loss to Salem.

It was another rough start for Kyle Zimmer, who allowed a three-run homerun in the first inning (though he did strike out the side in that inning). He lasted six innings and allowed four runs on seven hits and three walks. Spencer Patton kept the Blue Rocks in the game with three hitless innings of relief.

The Blue Rocks cut the deficit to one in the bottom of the 8th inning on back-to-back RBI ground outs.

Michael Antonio‘s second homerun of the season provided the walk off heroics, as Lexington beat Savannah, 4-3. His homerun led off the bottom of the ninth.

The bulk of the scoring (all but one run) came in the game’s final three innings. The Legends tied the score in the bottom of the 8th inning with two outs. Mark Donato hit a sac fly (he went 2-for-3) and Bubba Starling followed with an RBI single (one of his two hits).

After Crawford Simmons only lasted 3.2 innings, Ali Williams followed with three innings of relief. He only allowed a solo homerun, while striking out seven. Matthew Murray earned the win, despite allowing a run over 2.1 innings. He struck out five.