Royals April 5th Minors Recap

With the Kansas City Royals promotion of right-hander Aaron Brooks on Saturday, Triple-A Omaha would need another starter for Saturday’s doubleheader against Nashville.

The Storm Chasers lost the first game, 2-1. Omaha led 1-0 after the first inning on Johnny Giavotella‘s RBI ground out.

John Lamb got the start and was dominant early in his first start of the 2014 season. After allowing a double and a sac bunt to start the game, Lamb struck out the next six batters. However in the third, the Sounds scored their two runs on a triple and a single.

The Storm Chasers did not have a base runner after an error in the fourth. They collected just three hits and all three were doubles.

Former Royal Irving Falu went 2-for-3 with a double in the first game.

Royals first baseman Matt Fields during spring training in 2014 in Peoria (Jen Nevius).

Omaha walked off in the second game, 4-3. With two on and one out, Matt Fields delivered the game winner with a single. It was his second RBI of the game (he tied the game in the fifth with a two out single).

Brett Eibner hit his first Triple-A home run, a solo shot to lead off the fifth. Christian Colon and Brian Fletcher each collected three hits. Gorkys Hernandez stole a base in both games.

With the loss of Brooks, the Storm Chasers were a little thin in terms of pitching. Justin Marks, who is expected to pitch in relief this season, got the start and allowed one run on two hits, two walks, a hit batter, and a wild pitch. Cory Wade followed and allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits over 1.1 innings. The first batter he faced hit a home run.

Donnie Joseph was dominant over 2.1 innings. He allowed one hit while striking out four. Joseph did allow an inherited runner to score in the fourth. Spencer Patton picked up the win with 1.1 scoreless innings of relief.

Double-A NW Arkansas held on to beat host Frisco, 3-2. Cheslor Cuthbert broke the tie with a solo home run in the third.

The Naturals collected seven hits by seven different players. Cuthbert’s homer was the only extra base hit.

It was a rough Double-A debut for Greg Billo, who walked four in the very first inning to force in the RoughRiders first run. He allowed another run in the second before having a 1-2-3 third. Billo needed 74 pitches to get through his three inning start, though he only allowed one hit.

Hassan Pena made his Royals debut and picked up the win. He retired all but one of the batters he faced (walk) over three innings of work. Cody Fassold worked around a two out double in the seventh and had a perfect eighth, before Malcom Culver earned the save, as he stranded the tying run on second base (who was there with one out).

High-A Wilmington lost their first game of the season. They lost to host Winston-Salem, 3-2. The Dash broke the tie in the eighth on a sac fly.

Courtney Hawkins hit his second homer in two days, a two out, two-run shot to give the Dash the lead in the fifth (the runner on base reached via an error). Hawkins drove in the game winner on the sac fly after Tim Anderson tripled to lead off the 8th inning.

The Blue Rocks collected nine hits, including four doubles, but went 2-for-20 with runners in scoring position. Hunter Dozier, Zane Evans, and Mark Donato each had two hits (including a double).

The loss negated the solid start by Christian Binford, who allowed two unearned runs on six hits over five innings. He struck out six and did not walk a batter. Zeb Sneed made his High-A debut with two perfect innings of relief, before Kyle Bartsch took the loss.

Low-A Lexington lost to visiting West Virginia, 2-0.

The Legends collected just four hits, two by Ramon Torres. All four hits were singles and they did not walk.

Matt Tenuta was the hard luck loser, as he allowed one run on five hits and a walk over six innings. He struck out five. Kevin Perez allowed an unearned run in the ninth (3IP, H, BB, 3K).