Royals May 16th Minors Recap

Omaha was shut out 4-0 by Memphis. Both teams collected six hits, but the Redbirds made the most of theirs.

The Redbirds hit three home runs accounting for all of their runs.

Sugar Ray Marimon was the hard luck loser, as he allowed two solo homers to Scott Moore over seven innings of work. He walked two and struck out six. Donnie Joseph allowed a two-run shot in the eighth.

The Storm Chasers had six singles, two each by Christian Colon and Paulo Orlando. CC now has an eight-game hitting streak and is up to a respectable .284.

NW Arkansas lost their home series opener to Tulsa, 3-1.

The Naturals had just three hits, all singles. Jorge Bonifacio drove in the lone run with a sac fly in the sixth (Whit Merrifield had singled to lead off the inning, stole second base, and moved to third base on a fly out).

Andy Ferguson was the hard luck loser, as he allowed three runs on seven hits over seven innings. He struck out a season-high eight. Matt Murray pitched two perfect innings of relief with two strikeouts.

Former Royals minor leaguer Cole White pitched two shutout innings of relief for the Drillers to lower his ERA to 1.42.

*Manager Vance Wilson was ejected in the 7th inning.

Wilmington split their doubleheader in Lynchburg. The Blue Rocks won the first game 5-1. The Hillcats had just tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth when the Blue Rocks exploded for four runs in the top of the fifth.

The Blue Rocks sent nine men to the plate. They collected four straight hits to start the inning, including Bubba Starling‘s two-run single. Starling would come around to score the inning’s final run on a ground out. Raul Mondesi and Starling combined for four of the team’s seven hits.

Though starter Sean Manaea pitched fairly well (4IP, 6H, R, 2BB, 6K), he seemed to fall apart in the fourth and fifth and was pulled with one on in the 5th inning. Glenn Sparkman earned the win in relief with three scoreless innings and three strikeouts.

The Blue Rocks lost the second game by a 7-1 final. They had just four hits and three errors.

A rough 6th inning for the Wilmington defense put the game out of reach. With reliever Zeb Sneed on for his first inning, the infield defense committed three errors and Sneed threw a wild pitch. The Hillcats sent nine men to the plate, as Johnny Walter came on with runners on the corners and induced a ground out to end the inning.

Down 7-1, the Blue Rocks had the bases loaded (via walks) with one out in the top of the seventh. However, back-to-back strikeouts of Starling and Hunter Dozier ended it. They went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and grounded into a double play.

Lexington was blown out in their finale in Asheville by an 11-1 final (and lost the series). The Legends now return home for eight games beginning Saturday against Hagerstown.

The Legends scored their lone run in the ninth on Dominique Taylor‘s home run. Every hitter collected at least one hit, except Fred Ford, but they went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. Ramon Torres and Frank Schwindel each had two hits in the loss. Schwindel hit his eighth double of the season.

The Tourists collected 16 hits, nine for extra bases. Six of their hitters had multi-hit games.

Legends starter Matt Tenuta was battered for seven runs on 11 hits over four innings. He allowed four doubles, a triple, and two home runs. Tripp Davis returned to the active roster and allowed two runs on three hits and a walk over two innings. Jose Miguel Rodriguez also allowed two runs over the final two innings.

*In roster news, catcher-turned-pitcher Kenny Swab was released. Davis was activated to take his place in the bullpen.