KC Royals April 21st Minors Recap

Omaha held on to beat Memphis, 4-2.

The Storm Chasers received another solid outing from veteran Joe Blanton, who allowed four hits and two walks over six scoreless innings. He struck out six. Scott Alexander followed with two hitless innings of relief before Michael Mariot allowed two runs in the ninth and left with the bases loaded and just one out. Joe Paterson earned his first save by escaping the jam unscathed.

Omaha scored all four of their runs in the bottom of the fourth. Whit Merrifield tripled to lead off the inning and scored on Reymond Fuentes‘ single. Four batters later, Casey Kotchman doubled in two runs and then scored on Matt Fields‘ two out single.

NW Arkansas won their second series in a row, with an 8-4 victory over Frisco. The Naturals scored all their runs over the first three innings.

Leadoff hitter Lane Adams went 3-for-4 with a double, a walk, and a run scored. He also threw a runner out at second base. Alex Liddi drove in two runs in the first with a single. He also tripled and scored two runs. Angel Franco went 2-for-4 with a run scored, an RBI, and a sacrifice. Dusty Coleman drove in two runs.

Jorge Bonifacio hit his fourth home run of the season, a two out, two-run shot in the 2nd inning. Terrance Gore also had two hits in the win.

Glenn Sparkman won his first game in Double-A with six solid innings. He allowed two runs on three hits and three walks while striking out six. Matt Murray earned his first save, allowing two runs on three hits and a walk over the final three innings. He allowed two solo home runs in the ninth.

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Wilmington

was shut out by Potomac,

. The Blue Rocks collected just two hits against a starter with an ERA of 0.51.

Their first hit came in the first, as Ramon Torres led off with a single. Their final hit came in the fifth, a Dominique Taylor single with one out (he was erased on an inning ending double play). The Blue Rocks only other base runners came via walks: one in the first (which was erased on an inning ending double play) and one to lead off the ninth.

The Cody Reed–Luke Farrell piggy-back combination wasn’t as good the third time around. Reed started and allowed three runs on seven hits and two walks over 3.1 innings. He struck out one. Farrell allowed three runs on three hits and two walks over 4.2 innings. He struck out eight and left two runners stranded in the fourth.

Lexington lost their second straight to Greenville, this time by a 5-3 score.

Matt Tenuta took the loss, as he allowed four runs on five hits and three walks over 5.2 innings. He allowed a two out, three-run home run in the third. Matthew Strahm pitched the final 3.1 innings and allowed one run on three hits while striking out four. He also picked off a base runner.

The top two in the Legends order: Carlos Garcia and Humberto Arteaga, each collected two hits.

Catcher Luis Villegas (who was in uniform for the Blue Rocks home opener on Thursday) made his season debut with the Legends. He went 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI, and two runs scored. Mike Hill, who had been catching, played third base and went 1-for-3 with a triple and a run scored.

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