Royals August 16th Minors Recap

Over 13,000 fans packed AutoZone Park in Memphis to see Omaha win 5-2. The Redbirds actually had the tying run at the plate with two outs, but Michael Mariot induced a ground out to end the game.

Christian Colon hit his 12th home run of the season, a solo shot in the first to give the Storm Chaser the early lead they would not relinquish. A three-run fifth put the game away.

Chris Dwyer earned his ninth win of the season, as he allowed one run on five hits and two walks over 5.2 innings. He struck out five. Francisley Bueno followed with 2.1 scoreless innings of relief.

NW Arkansas walked off against San Antonio, as Cheslor Cuthbert sent the fans home happy in the 12th (it was his only hit). He led off the inning with his fifth home run in Double-A for the 2-1 victory.

The Naturals tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the eighth on Brett Eibner‘s two out double. The top three hitters in the Naturals order (Eibner, Orlando Calixte, and Jorge Bonifacio) went a combined 6-for-15. Whit Merrifield went 3-for-4.

Sugar Ray Marimon started and allowed one run (a solo homer) on five hits and a walk over six innings. He struck out four. The Naturals bullpen threw six scoreless innings, with Santiago Garrido and Zach Jackson throwing two innings each.

The win put NWA into a three-way tie for second place (or last place depending on how you look at it). They are one game back of first place in the Texas League’s North Division.

Wilmington lost in walk off fashion once again in Lynchburg by a 6-5 score. The loss dropped the Blue Rocks into third place, 1.5 games back of the Hillcats and 9.5 games back of first place (and first half champion) Potomac. The P-Nats come to Frawley Stadium for five games beginning on Saturday night.

It was a crazy bottom of the ninth and it all started with a walk.

Three straight strikeouts should have sent the game into extra innings, but two straight wild pitches allowed one of those Ks to reach base. Another wild pitch put two runners into scoring position before a walk off single by David Rohm.

On offense in the loss, Ethan Chapman and Yowill Espinal both collected three hits, but neither scored a run.

Lexington also lost in walk off fashion. They lost in Greenville by a 2-1 score. The Drive’s two runs came via solo home runs.

That came after the Legends tied the game in the top of the 8th inning, with the run scoring on the Drive’s second error of the inning. The Legends picked up two hits in the inning after only having two hits up to that point.

Legends starter Crawford Simmons allowed one run on three hits and a walk over 5.1 innings. He struck out three. Kevin Allen followed with two scoreless innings of relief before Mark Peterson allowed the walk off homer with two outs in his second inning of work.

The Legends have now lost six in a row and dropped to three games back in the South Atlantic League’s Southern Division.