KC Royals June 16th Minors Recap

Omaha walked off over Iowa, 6-4. All of their runs came via the long ball.

Francisco Pena hit three home runs (two solo shots and one two-run homer) and walked with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. That brought up Casey Kotchman, who hit his fifth home run of the season for the walk off win. The Storm Chasers only had seven hits.

Aaron Brooks got the no decision, as he allowed four runs (three earned) on ten hits and a walk over seven innings. He struck out five. Scott Alexander struck out two in the eighth. Brian Broderick earned the win after he threw a scoreless ninth (just six pitches).

NW Arkansas split their doubleheader against Arkansas. The Naturals are 5.5 games ahead of the Travelers with six to go.

The Naturals won the first game, 5-1 behind the best start of the season from Christian Binford.

Binford allowed just one hit over five scoreless innings. That hit came with two outs in the fifth. He did however walk four and strike out three (73 pitches, 37 for strikes).

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The ball was carrying at Arvest Park, as the Naturals hit three home runs.

got the scoring started in the third with his first home run of the season. In the sixth, both

and

hit two-run home runs. It was Fuenmayor’s 11th of the season and Bianucci’s 12th.

The Naturals lost the second game, 8-1. With the game tied at 1-1, the Travelers scored seven runs in the top of the third.

That made a loser of Luke Farrell, who allowed eight runs (seven earned) on eight hits and two walks over 2.2 innings. He allowed two homers and one run scored after he was pulled from the game.

The Naturals lone run came via Zane Evans‘ solo home run in the 2nd inning with two outs.

On a positive note, Mark Peterson threw three scoreless innings of relief and struck out three.

Wilmington lost to Salem, 4-3. Thankfully both Frederick and Lynchburg lost, so the Blue Rocks are still four games up with five games to go.

The ball was carrying out of Frawley Stadium, at least for the Red Sox. They hit two solo home runs with two outs, one in the seventh to briefly break the tie and one in the top of the ninth for the eventual game winner.

The Blue Rocks offense had their chances, but went 3-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Mauricio Ramos and Jack Lopez each had two hits in the loss.

Jake Junis took the no decision, as he allowed two unearned runs on three hits, a walk, and two hit batters over five innings. Matt Strahm made his High-A debut and allowed the 7th inning homer (3IP, H, R, BB, 5K). Matt Alvarez took the loss, as he allowed that one hit in the ninth.

Lexington won their series opener in Augusta, 4-2. However, the Legends were eliminated from the first half title.

Ryan O’Hearn hit his South Atlantic League leading 15th home run of the season in the top of the first to give the Legends a 2-0 lead, a lead they would never relinquish.

Humberto Arteaga, Elier Hernandez, Wander Franco, and Chad Johnson each had two hits in the win. On a negative note, the Legends struck out 14 times and went just 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

Nik Stephenson earned the win, as he allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits and three walks over five innings. Corey Ray followed with three scoreless innings (H, BB, K). Evan Beal earned his fourth save by striking out two of the three batters he faced.

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