Royals May 28th Minors Recap

By Jen Nevius |

Omaha won the pitcher’s duel over OKC, 2-0. The game was scoreless until the 8th inning.

The Storm Chasers broke the scoreless tie in the top of the eighth when Christian Colon singled in Paulo Orlando, who tripled with one out (CC was then picked off first base). They tacked on an insurance run in the ninth on an error.

Omaha saw the return of Clayton Mortenson, who made his 2014 debut with five scoreless innings. He allowed two hits and two walks while striking out four. Casey Coleman followed with two scoreless, while Wilking Rodriguez threw a perfect eighth. Spencer Patton earned his ninth save of the season, though he needed 21 pitches to finish the game.

The Storm Chasers collected seven hits, just one for extra bases (Orlando’s triple).

For OKC, starter Rudy Owens returned from his first big league start with 6.2 scoreless innings. He struck out seven.

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NW Arkansas

lost to San Antonio by a

6-5

score. It was their second straight loss. The Naturals scored four runs in the top of the first and tied the game up in the ninth, only to see the Missions walk off.

In the first, the Naturals collected five hits, including Lane Adams‘ two-run double. Adams would then triple to lead off the ninth and score on Juan Graterol‘s double. Between those two innings, the Naturals had just four hits. Orlando Calixte, Adams, Graterol, and Edinson Rincon collected two hits each in the loss.

After struggling in the 1st inning (though he was hurt by an error), Jason Adam recovered to throw four scoreless innings before the sixth. He left with runners at second and third base with one out in favor of lefty Scott Alexander, who wild pitched both runs in. Alexander went on to allow a run in the seventh on two singles and two stolen bases.

Angel Baez took the loss, as he allowed a single in the ninth and balked the runner into scoring position with two outs. The winning run scored on a ground ball that could not be fielded by second baseman Justin Trapp.

Blue Rocks starter Miguel Almonte against Salem on May 12, 2014 (Jen Nevius).

Wilmington scored three runs in the 2nd inning and made it hold up in their 3-0 victory in Carolina. The Blue Rocks maintained their lead in the Carolina League’s Northern Division. They have not allowed a run over 24 straight innings.

In that 2nd inning, the Blue Rocks were helped out by two errors by the Mudcats. The lone RBI went to Kenny Diekroeger, who singled with two outs. A throwing error on his single led to another run scoring and Terrance Gore‘s ground ball to second base was booted, leading to the final run scoring.

They had a few more chances, but struck out 11 times, five times with runners in scoring position. Cody Stubbs and Gore each had two hits in the win. Stubbs had the lone extra base hit (a double).

It has been a year of inconsistency so far for Miguel Almonte, but tonight was one of his great starts. The right-hander allowed five hits over 6.1 shutout innings (a season-high). He struck out seven and induced eight ground outs. Lefty Kyle Bartsch followed with 1.2 scoreless innings before Mark Peterson earned his tenth save with a perfect ninth.

The Blue Rocks saw the return of Raul Mondesi, though as the DH. The time off hurt his swing, as he struck out in all four at-bats (three times with a runner on second base). He did walk and steal a base in the ninth.

In negative news, third baseman Hunter Dozier was replaced in the 3rd inning after being hit by a pitch in the top of the inning (on his left hand) and being thrown out trying to steal second base (in which he injured his right hand). X-Rays were negative on both of Dozier’s hands.

Lexington salvaged their series finale in Asheville with a 15-7 comeback victory. A five-run 6th inning put the Legends ahead for good.

In that 6th inning, the Legends had just two hits, but worked three walks, a hit batter, and stole two bases. They were also helped by an error. Mauricio Ramos had the big hit that inning, a two out, two-run single. The Legends went on to score four more in the 7th inning, which started with a walk and a stolen base.

Frank Schwindel had the big hit in the seventh, a two out, two-run double. He drove in six runs on four hits. He fell a triple short of the cycle (two doubles, a single, and a two-run home run in the first).

The Legends collected 15 hits, one each from every hitter but Carlos Garcia. They also stole four bases. Alfredo Escalera-Maldonado went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and four runs scored from the leadoff spot. Ramon Torres and Fred Ford each had two hits in the win. Torres also scored four runs from the two-spot in the order.

The offensive explosion made a winner of reliever Andrew Edwards, who allowed two hits and a walk over 2.2 innings. He entered the game in relief of Luke Farrell (4.1 IP, 6H, 7R, 5BB, 2K, 2HR) in the fifth with two outs and the bases loaded and allowed two runs to score. Tripp Davis walked one over two scoreless innings of relief.

*Catcher Luis Villegas was activated from the DL to make his 2014 debut. He went 1-for-4 with two runs scored from the ninth spot in the order.

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