KC Royals Minors Recap: Danny Duffy Strikes Out Six

Omaha won the series over Iowa by winning the afternoon finale, 7-4.

Danny Duffy made another rehab start for the KC Royals and allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits over 3.2 innings. He struck out six and allowed a home run. Chris Dwyer followed and allowed two runs on three hits and two walks over 3.1 innings. Michael Mariot earned his fifth save with two hitless innings of relief. He struck out six, but threw 45 pitches.

Dusty Coleman got the Storm Chasers on the board in the sixth with a two out, three-run home run off Cubs starter (and former Royal) Felipe Paulino. Cheslor Cuthbert gave the Storm Chasers the lead in the seventh with a two-run homer. Both Coleman and Cuthbert had two hits.

Paulo Orlando went 3-for-4 with a double, a run scored, and an RBI. Brett Eibner went 2-for-3.

NW Arkansas won the opener in Springfield, 9-3. With Arkansas not playing, the Naturals have a six game lead with five to go. The Travelers have seven games to go in five days.

The Naturals used the longball in the victory. They hit four home runs.

Jorge Bonifacio got them on the board in the top of the first with a two-run home run (his 11th of the season). In the third, Balbino Fuenmayor hit a two-run homer (his 12th of the season). Zane Evans added his own two-run home run in the fourth. Hunter Dozier hit a solo shot in the eighth. Fuenmayor and Evans each had three hits in the win.

Leadoff man Lane Adams went 2-for-4 with a triple and two runs scored.

Jonathan Dziedzic earned his fourth win, as he allowed two runs on eight hits and two walks over five innings. He struck out two. After Sam Selman allowed a solo home run over his two innings of work, Aroni Nina pitched two hitless innings of relief.

Wilmington lost their first half home finale (and the series) to Salem, 7-0. On a night the Blue Rocks had a chance to clinch the first half Northern Division title, they instead saw their lead over Lynchburg dwindle to three games with four remaining. Frederick is still four games back with four games to go (which is where Wilmington is now headed).

“It is just one of those where we faced a pretty tough pitcher and one of our best guys didn’t have his best stuff.” Blue Rocks manager Brian Buchanan

For the first five innings, the Blue Rocks were no-hit by Salem starter

. With two outs in the sixth,

collected the first hit, a single. Over the next three innings, the Blue Rocks had two runners on base, but never scored.

For the second straight start (and second straight against Salem), Cody Reed was off. He struggled the entire night, allowing four runs on nine hits and two walks over just 4.2 innings. His ERA rose to 2.14 and no longer leads the Carolina League in that category. Reed allowed a two out, two-run home run to Sam Travis on a 3-0 count (he hit one against Reed over the weekend).

Next up was Robinson Yambati, who allowed a solo home run in the sixth and then left the game in the seventh with the bases loaded (after three walks and two wild pitches).

Lexington lost in walk off fashion in Augusta, 8-7 in 11 innings. The GreenJackets scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth with two outs to tie the game. The game should have went to the 12th, but an error by Humberto Arteaga at shortstop kept it alive.

The Legends led 7-1 after four innings.

Ryan O’Hearn hit his South Atlantic League leading 16th home run in the fourth (a two-run shot). He also struck out three times. Arteaga and Wander Franco each had two hits. Alfredo Escalera-Maldonado went 3-for-6 with a double and two runs scored.

After Legends starter Torey Deshazier allowed four runs on eight hits and a walk over 5.1 innings, Yunior Marte then allowed three runs of his own (and two of Deshazier’s) over five innings of relief. He took the blown save.

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