Royals July 1st Minors Recap

Omaha lost their doubleheader in Iowa. Their four game losing streak has dropped them into third place (2.5 games back). They lost the first game, 5-3.

The Storm Chasers out-hit the Cubs, 8-7. Brian Bocock and Johnny Giavotella each had two hits in the loss. Franciso Pena hit a solo home run that tied the game in the fourth with two outs. It was his career-high 14th of the season.

Louis Coleman got the start and allowed three runs over two innings. He did strike out five. Lefty Tim Collins took the loss, as he allowed a run in the fifth. Over three innings, he allowed just two hits and struck out four.

The Storm Chasers lost the second game by a 7-4 score. They took a 4-2 lead in the top of the eighth, only to see the Cubs walk off with five runs in the bottom of the inning.

Carlos Peguero had hit a two-run homer in the top of the eighth to give Omaha their short-lived lead.

Ramon Troncoso took the loss, as he allowed four of the five runs in the 8th inning. He left with two men on base, as Spencer Patton allowed a three-run walk off homer on the 2-0 pitch he threw to Brett Jackson. That’s now six straight poor outings for Patton, as he ERA climbed to 4.54.

The loss negated the solid start by Clayton Mortenson, who allowed two runs on six hits and three walks over five innings. He struck out six.

On offense in the loss, Whit Merrifield and Matt Fields had two hits.

NW Arkansas had the day off as they open a six-game homestand against the teams they just played on the road (Midland and Frisco). They will also have a new starting pitcher and that would be Christian Binford, who was promoted today from Wilmington. Binford had been a workhorse for the Blue Rocks (their best pitcher) and really hates to walk batters.

Blue Rocks DH Michael Antonio against Potomac on June 5, 2014 (Jen Nevius).

Wilmington ended their six-game losing streak with an 8-2 victory over visiting Potomac.

The Blue Rocks got on the board in the very first inning, scoring on an error. Raul Mondesi ended the Blue Rocks home hitless streak in the first (18.1 innings).

They put up a four-spot in the fourth, which started with a single by Bubba Starling. Michael Antonio doubled him in and scored on Cam Gallagher’s sac fly. Cody Stubbs tripled in a run and scored on a wild pitch. In the 5th inning, the Blue Rocks tacked on three more runs, two scoring on another Antonio double.

Meanwhile, Luis Santos bounced back from some poor starts to really control the game and win his first game as a Blue Rock. He was helped out by some stellar defense by the outfield trio of Stubbs, Starling, and Daniel Rockett, along with Jack Lopez at second base.

Reliever Aroni Nina entered in relief in the sixth with two men on base. A nice play by Mondesi at shortstop ended the inning. Nina then blew away the P-Nats in the seventh. It was the best I have seen him this season.

Take a look and listen to what Antonio said following the game. He even drops Manny Ramirez‘ name as a mentor.

*In roster news, I already mentioned the loss of Binford. 2014 top pick Brandon Finnegan was in uniform tonight, though he will not pitch in a game until “around the second week of July” according to manager Darryl Kennedy. Infielder Ramon Torres will be joining the team to play some third base (along with second base) and Lopez will also play some third base. First baseman Mark Donato was released.

Lexington lost the slugfest to Greensboro, 16-12. Both teams scored five runs in the ninth and both had six-run innings. The two teams combined for 37 hits.

After the GreenJackets scored six runs in the 2nd inning, the Legends came back with six runs of their own to tie the game in the fourth. Four of those runs came on Dexter Kjerstad‘s grand slam.

Alfredo Escalera-Maldonado fell a triple short of the cycle, though he hit two home runs and drove in four runs. Elier Hernandez also had four hits. All but two Legends had multi-hit games.

Outside of that 2nd inning, starter Cody Reed was not that bad. Five of the eight hits he allowed came in that inning. Outside of that inning, there was never more than one base runner. Reed lasted five innings and only three of the runs were earned.

It was a tough night for reliever Crawford Simmons, who allowed nine earned runs over 3.2 innings. He allowed seven hits and walked six. He did leave with the bases loaded in the ninth and Tripp Davis allowed all three inherited runners to score on a grand slam.