KC Royals May 16th Minors Recap

Omaha lost to Memphis, 5-0.

Redbirds starter Tim Cooney carried a no-hitter into the 7th inning before Casey Kotchman singled with one out in the inning. The Storm Chasers did walk twice and Reymond Fuentes reached on an error (and stole two bases).

John Lamb took his first loss of the season, as he allowed four runs on six hits and four walks over 5.2 innings. He struck out six. Brian Broderick followed and allowed a solo home run over his 2.1 innings of work.

In the fifth, both manager Brian Poldberg and pitching coach Al Nipper were ejected. It came after a balk and then a walk by Lamb.

NW Arkansas beat Springfield, 10-2. The Naturals broke the game open with six runs in the bottom of the eighth.

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The Naturals collected 12 hits, with five players having multi-hit games.

hit his Texas League leading ninth home run of the season, a solo shot in the third. He went 2-for-5 in the game to give him a .366 batting average (now second in the TL).

also hit a solo homer in the eighth, just his second of the season.

Alex Liddi went 2-for-3 with a triple, an RBI, a stole base, and three runs scored. Leadoff hitter Angel Franco went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. He is now hitting .342. Jorge Bonifacio went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. He is in the midst of a seven-game hitting streak (four of which are multi-hit games).

Miguel Almonte allowed just two hits and a walk over five scoreless innings to improve to 4-1 on the season. Of his 69 pitches, he threw 42 for strikes. It was another rough outing for Brandon Finnegan, this time out of the bullpen. He allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits and three walks over just 1.2 innings. He threw 47 pitches, 25 for strikes.

Finnegan was pulled in favor of fellow lefty Sam Selman with two men on base. Selman left them stranded while striking out five over 2.1 scoreless innings to earn his first save of the season.

Wilmington scored three runs in the top of the ninth to win in Lynchburg, 4-2.

The Blue Rocks took a 1-0 lead in the seventh on Frank Schwindel‘s third home run of the season (he also doubled). However, Nick Green allowed a run in the bottom of the seventh and a solo home run to lead off the eighth to give the Hillcats the lead.

That led to the heroics in the top of the ninth. With two on and one out, Dexter Kjerstad was called on to pinch hit and hit his first home run with the Blue Rocks to give them the lead. It was the team’s first pinch-hit homer since 1998 (the last time they won a Carolina League title that wasn’t shared).

Kevin McCarthy earned the win in relief, as he pitched a perfect eighth after the homer and then worked around a two out single in the ninth.

Eric Skoglund took the no decision, as he allowed just four hits and a walk over six scoreless innings. He struck out ten.

Lexington lost in Savannah, 5-2. The Sand Gnats scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth.

Torey Deshazier took the loss in relief, allowing four runs on six hits and a walk over 2.1 innings. Five of those hits came in the eighth (he also committed a throwing error).

The Legends collected ten hits, two hits each by Carlos Garcia, Elier Hernandez, Wander Franco, Humberto Arteaga, and Brandon Downes. Downes doubled and scored a run.

Nik Stephenson took the no decision, allowing just one run on three hits and a walk over 5.2 innings.

Next: Royals Prospect Watch: Bubba Starling