Royals April 19th Minors Recap

The entire Kansas City Royals farm system lost on Saturday.

Omaha lost their first game at home to Nashville by a 5-1 score. The Sounds scored in two innings.

The Storm Chasers had just five hits, two by Johnny Giavotella. Paulo Orlando drove in the lone run with two outs in the seventh. They struck out 13 times.

PJ Walters dropped to 0-2, as he allowed three runs on seven hits and one walk over seven innings. He struck out four. Cory Wade allowed two runs on three hits and two walks in his two innings of work.

NW Arkansas lost their finale in Tulsa by a 9-3 score. The Naturals have Easter Sunday off as they return to Springdale to play four against Springfield.

The Naturals actually out-hit the Drillers, 10-9, but went just 3-of-17 with runners in scoring position (they also walked six times). Jorge Bonifacio hit two doubles. Lane Adams, Cheslor Cuthbert, and Edinson Rincon each had two hits in the loss.

However, the defense committed three errors and Juan Graterol had a passed ball. Left fielder Ethan Chapman did throw out a runner at second base and third base.

Greg Billo dropped to 0-2 on the season, as he allowed five runs (two earned) on three hits and two walks over four innings. Angel Baez continues to struggle as a reliever, as he allowed three runs on four hits over two innings. He did strike out four. Noel Arguelles allowed one run over two innings of relief.

*In more injury news for the Naturals, infielder Angel Franco went on the DL with a strained right groin. Fellow infielder Yowill Espinal was re-instated from the DL (though he was not really hurt).

Wilmington and Myrtle Beach played two on Saturday evening, with the Pelicans taking both games. They won the first game by a 4-3 score. Both teams scored three runs in the first inning.

In the first, the Blue Rocks collected four straight hits to drive in the first two runs. After a hit batter, a Jack Lopez force out drove in their final run. They only collected two more hits after the first. Raul Mondesi had two hits in the loss, upping his average to an even .300

It was the first bump in the road for reigning Carolina League Pitcher of the Week Christian Binford, who allowed all four runs on four hits and three walks over just 4.1 innings.

After the Blue Rocks scored in the top of the first inning, the Pelicans went on to a 7-2 victory in the second game.

Daniel Stumpf dropped to 0-3 on the season, as he allowed four runs on nine hits over four innings. He did not walk a batter and struck out five. Reliever Aroni Nina did not fare any better (2IP, 3H, 3R, BB, 4K). Two of those runs scored via a 5th inning home run.

The Blue Rocks collected seven hits. Zane Evans caught his first game since coming off the DL two days ago and went 2-for-4 with his seventh double of the season. Lopez also had two hits in the loss.

In the 4th inning, both Mondesi and manager Darryl Kennedy were ejected (Mondesi had just struck out swinging to end the inning).

Lexington lost the finale (and series) to Augusta on Saturday by a 5-2 score. The Legends have Easter Sunday off as they head out on the road, first starting in Hickory on Monday.

Jake Junis was the losing pitcher, as he allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits and two walks over five innings. He had one of the Legends’ three errors (Mauricio Ramos committed his eighth of the season at third base). After Matt Alvarez allowed a run in his two innings of work (he struck out five), former catcher-turned pitcher Kenny Swab made his 2014 season debut with two scoreless innings of relief.

The Legends collected nine hits, three by Ramos. He hit two doubles and had the lone RBI. Fred Ford hit his eighth double of the season and scored the two runs.