Royals July 11th Minors Recap

Omaha used their power to win at Colorado Springs, 9-1.

In the Storm Chasers four-run 5th inning, Matt Fields hit a two-run home run to tie him for the team lead. Pacific Coast League All-Star and HR Derby participant Francisco Pena hit his now team-leading 18th homer in the seventh (a two-run shot). Both also hit doubles in the win.

The Storm Chasers collected 13 hits, one each by everyone except Paul Janish. Johnny Giavotella, Justin Maxwell, and Jimmy Paredes all had two hits.

Chris Dwyer made his first start since May and allowed one run on two hits and a walk over four innings. Casey Coleman was credited with the win, as he allowed three hits and two walks over 3.1 scoreless innings. Spencer Patton struggled a bit with his command (32 pitches, 18 strikes), but did not allow a hit over 1.1 innings of relief.

*In roster news, catcher Juan Graterol was promoted from Double-A NWA. Christian Colon was sent back from the big leagues.

NW Arkansas won the pitcher’s duel in Springfield, 3-1. The Naturals had just six hits.

Max Ramirez, who was just reinstated from the DL, provided the offense. His two out, two-run home run in the top of the 8th inning gave the Naturals some insurance (the Cardinals scored their run in the bottom of the inning). Ramirez also hit a double.

Jason Adam earned his fourth win of the season, as he allowed five runs and two walks over seven innings. He struck out seven. Scott Alexander allowed the lone Springfield run on four hits. Andrew Triggs picked up his 13th save of the season with a perfect ninth (just nine pitches).

Blue Rocks starter Glenn Sparkman against Carolina on May 21, 2014 (Jen Nevius).

Wilmington also won a pitcher’s duel. They won 2-0 over visiting Salem.

Blue Rocks starter Glenn Sparkman allowed just three hits over six scoreless innings. Two of those hits came in the 3rd inning when the Red Sox had runners at first and third and nobody out.

After Sparkman, Yender Caramo threw 1.1 perfect innings of relief before Kyle Bartsch ran into some trouble in the 8th inning, in which two wild pitches put a runner on third base after a single. Bartsch battled back with a strikeout to end the inning.

Mark Peterson earned his 18th save of the season by working around a leadoff hit batter in the ninth. He recorded the first two outs on pop ups to second base.

Bubba Starling went 3-for-4 to raise his average to .211. He drove in one of the runs, with the other scoring on a sac fly.

Lexington was shut out by Hagerstown by a 5-0 score.

After Legends starter Cody Reed allowed all five runs (three earned) on nine hits and four walks over just 4.2 innings, newly promoted Andrew Brockett pitched 3.1 scoreless innings of relief. Timothy Hill struck out the side in the ninth.

On offense, Fred Ford had two of the Legends’ six hits. Alfredo Escalera-Maldonado and Kenny Diekroeger each hit doubles in the loss.

*In roster news, Brockett was added from Burlington, while Alex Black was placed on the temporarily inactive list.

2014 draft pick Brandon Downes of UVA made his professional debut tonight with Idaho Falls. He led off, played centerfield, and went 1-for-5 with a double. Logan Davis also returned to the Chukars after a fine display as a fill-in in Omaha (.294 in five games).