Royals May 27th Minors Recap

I apologize for not providing a Memorial Day Royals Minors Recap, but my trip to Virginia did not end well and I did not return home to NJ until around 2am. But I am back at it tonight.

Royals Carlos Peguero homers during spring training against San Diego in 2014 (Jen Nevius).

Omaha won in OKC in the first game of the series, 9-1. It started with a rain delay. The Red Hawks actually led 1-0 heading into the 4th inning.

Every starter had at least one hit, except Johnny Giavotella and Matt Fields, who batted ninth in the Storm Chasers order. One day after seeing his hitting streak come to an end, Paulo Orlando moved into the leadoff position and went 1-for-5 with a run scored and two RBIs on a one out triple in Omaha’s three-run 6th inning.

Christian Colon and Justin Maxwell each had three hits. Brett Eibner, Carlos Peguero, and Francisco Pena each had two hits in the win. Peguero drove in two runs in the fourth with a single and drove in another with a double in the sixth. Pena drove in two runs in his return to the minors (he did not play during his big league callup).

The offensive explosion made a winner of veteran Brett Tomko, who allowed a run on three hits over five innings. He did walk five, hit a batter, and threw a wild pitch. Buddy Baumann dominated in relief. He allowed two hits over three scoreless innings while striking out three.

*With Pena being sent down from the big leagues, Beau Maggi was sent to NW Arkansas. Reliever Wilking Rodriguez was promoted from NWA and made his Triple-A debut. He allowed a double in the ninth, while striking out two.

NW Arkansas‘ two-game winning streak came to an end with a 3-2 loss in San Antonio.

The Naturals out-hit the Missions, 10-8, but struck out nine times and only collected one RBI. Every starter but Juan Graterol had at least one out. Justin Trapp and Lane Adams each collected two hits.

Left fielder Ethan Chapman picked up two outfield assists, including throwing a runner out at the plate. He also went 1-for-3 at the plate.

Andy Ferguson took the loss, as he struggled a bit with his command. He threw 89 pitches, 57 for strikes. Ferguson allowed three runs on five hits and two walks over four innings. The Naturals bullpen trio allowed three hits and three walks over the game’s final four innings.

*The Naturals also received reliever Ali Williams from Wilmington. He has high strikeout numbers (37 in 24 innings), but he also walks a lot (11). Williams made his Double-A debut, allowing one hit and a walk over two scoreless innings of relief. He struck out three. Logan Davis was “assigned” to Idaho Falls.

Blue Rocks third baseman Hunter Dozier at the plate on April 13, 2014 (Jen Nevius).

Wilmington won the first game of their series in Carolina with a 6-0 victory. The game was scoreless before the Blue Rocks got on the board in the seventh with two runs off Mudcats starter Ryan Merritt. Four straight hits produced the runs.

The Blue Rocks added four more runs in the 8th inning and were helped out by two Mudcats errors, to go along with three hits and two sac flies.

Coming off a hot week and being named the Carolina League’s Hitter of the Week, third baseman Hunter Dozier collected two more hits, drove in a run, and scored two runs.

Unfortunately the runs were not scored so that Glenn Sparkman could pick up the win. In his second start, Sparkman allowed three hits in five scoreless innings. He struck out four and lowered his ERA to 1.67. Zeb Sneed was awarded the victory with four shutout innings. He allowed three hits while striking out three.

Bubba Starling saw his 15 game hitting streak come to an end with an 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. He did drive in a run with a sac fly.

The win has put the Blue Rocks into sole possession of first place in the Northern Division.

*The Blue Rocks received pitcher Luis Santos from Lexington, who has six starts (nine total appearances). He last pitched on May 23rd, putting him in line to pitch on May 28th (tomorrow).

**Shortstop Raul Mondesi was still not back in the lineup for the tenth straight day.

Lexington lost in walk off fashion on the road in Asheville, 10-9. They led 9-6 heading into the bottom of the eighth. The Legends have now lost six of their last seven games and are eight games away from elimination in the South Atlantic League’s Southern Division.

A combined five home runs were hit, including one in the ninth for the Tourists to tie the game. The Legends hit three homers, though they were all solo shots.

Every Legends hitter collected at least one hit, except Dexter Kjerstad (0-for-5 with a run scored). Mauricio Ramos had three hits, while Alfredo Escalera-Maldonado, Fred Ford, and Samir Duenez each had two hits in the loss.

Alex Black took the loss in relief, as he recorded just two outs, but allowed two runs on a home run and a triple. The winning run scored on a ground out that could not be turned into a double play to send the game into extra innings.

Matt Tenuta started, but allowed six runs on ten hits and one walk over 5.2 innings. Matt Alvarez allowed one of the runs to score, along with two of his own on five hits over 2.1 innings.