KC Royals Minors Recap: Alex Liddi Leads Naturals to Victory

Omaha enjoyed the day off before they begin a four-game road trip in New Orleans beginning Thursday.

NW Arkansas had to comeback and hold on to beat Tulsa, 11-10. The two teams combined for 34 hits.

In the bottom of the seventh, Lane Adams hit his first home run with the Naturals to tie the game. With two outs, Alex Liddi doubled in the go ahead run.

The Naturals offense scored five runs in the bottom of the first, but starter Christian Binford once again struggled. He was pulled in the 5th inning with the bases loaded and nobody out. Daniel Stumpf allowed all three to score. So Binford’s final line looked like this: 4IP, 11H, 8R, 7ER, 3BB, 9K, HR. Stumpf then allowed a run of his own on three hits over two innings.

Malcom Culver allowed an unearned run over two innings of work and was credited with the win. Benino Pruneda earned the save with a perfect ninth.

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The Naturals had seven extra base hits.

hit his 11th homer of the season, a two out, three-run shot in the first.

went 3-for-4 with a triple, three runs scored, and an RBI. He also stole his sixth base of the season. Liddi went 4-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.

, who was named the Texas League Player of the Month for May, went 2-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI.

Bubba Starling went 3-for-4 with a triple and two runs scored. Kenny Diekroeger went 2-for-4 with a double, a run scored, and an RBI. Parker Morin went 2-for-4 with a triple and an RBI.

*Naturals hitting coach Brandon Moore was ejected in the fifth.

Wilmington‘s offense came alive in their 11-5 victory in Winston-Salem. With the Frederick loss, the Blue Rocks now have a six game lead over the Keys (and Lynchburg) with 11 games to go.

Every Blue Rocks hitter collected a hit, as they pounded out 16 of them. They also made the most of four Dash errors. Mauricio Ramos got them on the board with his first home run of the season, a two-run shot in the third. Cam Gallagher added a two-run shot in the Blue Rocks’ six-run 5th inning.

Ramon Torres went 5-for-6 with two runs scored. Jack Lopez saw his batting average climb to .240 with a 3-for-5 night. Lopez doubled, scored a run, and drove in a run.

All of that offense made a winner of Eric Skoglund, who improved to 5-2 on the season. He allowed four runs on seven hits over seven innings. He struck out two and induced nine ground outs.

Lexington walked off in their 5-4 victory over Lakewood.

Down 4-1 heading into the bottom of the ninth, the Legends scored four runs. It all started with one of Alfredo Escalera-Maldonado‘s three hits on the day. Brandon Downes drove in two runs with a double to tie the game, but the potential winning run was thrown out at the plate for the second out. Up came Chad Johnson, who already had a hit on the day. Johnson lined a single to left field for the game winner.

Ryan O’Hearn had put the Legends on the board in the first with his league-leading 14th home run.

The walk off made a winner of Emilio Ogando, who pitched a perfect top of the ninth (three ground outs). Foster Griffin got the start and allowed all four runs on seven hits over five innings. He struck out three. Matt Strahm followed with three scoreless (one walk and two strikeouts).

Next: Kansas City Royals 2015 MLB Draft Review