Royals July 24th Minors Recap

A seven run top of the eighth for OKC made a laugher of their win over Omaha. The Storm Chasers led 4-2 heading into that inning and lost 11-4.

OKC sent ten men to the plate in the 8th inning and were helped out by two Omaha errors. They also had seven hits, including a two-run inside-the-park homer. That made a loser of reliever Michael Mariot, who allowed five runs (plus two inherited runs) on five hits over just one inning of work.

Outfielder Gorkys Hernandez made his KC Royals debut by going 1-for-5 with two strikeouts and a stolen base while batting leadoff.

*In roster news, Omaha and NW Arkansas swapped catchers: Manny Pina moved back up and Mitch Canham went back down.

NW Arkansas won both of their games on Wednesday night. In finishing up last night’s suspended game, Brian Fletcher provided the heroics with a two-run homerun in the bottom of the 11th inning for the 11-8 walk off win.

That was Fletcher’s third homerun of the game and his fifth hit of the game.

In the second game, Aaron Brooks carried a no-hitter into the 6th inning en route to the Naturals 7-0 victory. Brooks allowed back-to-back singles with two outs in the sixth. However, he escaped that jam and went the distance to earn the complete game shutout (9IP, 4H, 0R, 0BB, 5K). He only threw 96 pitches, 71 for strikes.

The Naturals broke the game open with a five run 7th inning, as they sent ten men to the plate. Fletcher carried his hot-hitting into the second game, going 2-for-5. Juan Graterol went a perfect 3-for-3 with two RBIs.

Wilmington broke their nine-game losing streak with a 7-2 win over Myrtle Beach in the first game of their long homestand. It helps that they scored five runs in the bottom of the first and the Pelicans are terrible on the road, despite being in first place (8-10 on the road, 19-12 overall).

The Blue Rocks sent ten men to the plate and chased the Myrtle Beach starter after he only recorded one out. Jorge Bonifacio hit one of his two doubles in the first to drive in a run.

For the first time in a week, the Blue Rocks had a solid outing from a starter. Leonel Santiago won his first game with Wilmington, as he allowed two runs on five hits over five innings. He walked one and struck out three. Daniel Hernandez was solid in relief once again, allowing just one hit and a walk over three scoreless innings. He struck out five.

*In roster news, reliever Spencer Patton was promoted to Double-A, while Ali Williams took his spot (from Lexington). Infielder Yowill Espinal fills the spot that was vacated with the trade of Alex McClure.