Royals July 9th Minors Recap

Omaha lost 2-1 to Memphis. The Storm Chasers collected just four hits, though two of those hits went for extra bases.

Brett Hayes hit a solo homerun in the 2nd inning that gave the Storm Chasers the early 1-0 lead.

Chris Dwyer was the hard luck loser, as he allowed two runs on six hits and a walk over six innings. Kelvin Herrera pitched two perfect innings of relief while striking out three.

Kyle Zimmer is finally pitching like the KC Royals top prospect, as Wilmington beat visiting Frederick, 8-1. Unlike last night’s sloppy game, tonight’s game was well played.

Zimmer struck out a career-high 13 batters over six innings. He allowed four hits, three straight in the 3rd inning after trying to catch a comebacker with his bare hand. That move has now brought a fining system by manager Vance Wilson. Every time Zimmer tries to catch a ball with his bare hand, he will be assessed a fine.

Zimmer retired ten in a row to finish his outing. Six of those outs came via the strikeout. Six of his 13 strikeouts were called third strikes. He threw 96 pitches, 68 for strikes.

The strikeout parade did not end after Zimmer exited. Cody Fassold struck out four over two scoreless innings and Cory Hall struck out one in the ninth (he threw just six pitches). That brings the Keys strikeout total to 18.

The Blue Rocks offense finally solved the problem of Keys starter Tim Berry, who had baffled them all season long. They chased him after just 4.2 innings. He allowed six runs on ten hits. He did strike out six.

Every Blue Rocks hitter had at least one hit, with six hitters having multi-hit games. The bottom four hitters (Jared Schlehuber, Parker Morin, Tyler Chism, and Geulin Beltre) went a combined 8-for-15 with four runs scored and all eight RBIs.

*The roster parade continued, as outfielder Tyler Chism returned from his “one day stint” on rookie ball Burlington’s roster, while infielder Jack Lopez was placed on the inactive list. Chism started as the DH and went 3-for-4 with three RBIs.

Lexington lost their first game at home to Greensboro by a 7-2 score. The Legends collected just three hits.

Daniel Stumpf was the hard luck loser, as he was leading 2-0 heading into the 6th inning. He allowed a three-run homerun in the sixth after a fielding error kept the inning alive.