KC Royals Minors Recap: Kris Medlen Makes Debut

Omaha and Nashville played scoreless baseball until the Storm Chasers took a 1-0 lead in the top of the tenth on a Casey Kotchman sac fly.

Louis Coleman looked to close out the victory in the bottom of the tenth. He allowed a leadoff single, but Moises Sierra threw out the base runner trying to stretch it into a double. With one out, Coleman allowed a double and then the rains came.

Scott Alexander entered in relief after the one hour and 28 minute delay and got a ground ball to first base. However, Cheslor Cuthbert had to avoid the broken bat and dive to the first base bag to record the out and end the game.

Buddy Baumann made the spot start and pitched four scoreless innings. He allowed just one hit and walked one while striking out six. Matt Murray made his Triple-A debut and followed with four scoreless innings of his own. He did allow four hits and walked three while striking out two.

NW Arkansas played a doubleheader in Springfield and lost both games.

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The Naturals lost the first game

in nine innings (it was a scheduled seven inning game). The two teams combined for 25 hits.

Kris Medlen made his KC Royals debut and allowed three runs (one earned) on four hits (including a solo home run) over four innings. He hit two batters and struck out five. Medlen committed an error, picked off a base runner, and induced six ground outs.

Unfortunately, the Naturals bullpen left a lot to be desired. The trio that followed Medlen (Benino Pruneda, Daniel Stumpf, and Malcom Culver) allowed seven runs on eight hits and three walks over 4.1 innings.

On offense, Raul Mondesi hit a two-run homer (one of his two hits) and Jorge Bonifacio hit a three-run home run (his 12th of the season). Balbino Fuenmayor, Alex Liddi, Kenny Diekroeger, and Parker Morin each had two hits in the loss.

The Naturals lost the second game, 9-4. They had a 4-0 lead until the Cardinals scored nine runs in the bottom of the fourth.

Starter Miguel Almonte started the inning and allowed a single. He was pulled in favor of Ali Williams, who recorded just one out. He did however allow two, three-run home runs. Then Mark Peterson entered and allowed a three-run homer of his own. Peterson finally got out of that inning and pitched two more scoreless innings of relief.

The Naturals scored two runs in the top of the first on a ground out and a Hunter Dozier two out double. They scored two more runs in the top of the fourth on a Zane Evans double (he hit two of them) and a passed ball.

Lane Adams also had two hits in the loss. Terrance Gore went 1-for-1 with two walks and stole his 25th base of the season.

*Prior to the DH, Mike Bianucci (who was voted in as a starter for the Texas League All-Star Game) was suspended for 80 games after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drugs. Going into Friday night, the Naturals had just 75 regular season games remaining.

Despite losing in Frederick 5-1, Wilmington clinched the first half Northern Division title in the Carolina League, as second place Lynchburg lost. It was their 1st first half title since 2006 when they were affiliated with Boston and first since 2002 with the Royals.

The Blue Rocks led 1-0 before the Keys broke through with a four-run bottom of the seventh to chase starter Yender Caramo (6.2IP, 5H, 2R, 0BB, 3K) and greet reliever Ashton Goudeau (1.1IP, 3H, 3R, 2ER, 0BB, 0K). Goudeau allowed a two out, three-run home run in the seventh.

Lexington walked off in their series opener over Rome, 6-5 in ten innings. Mike Hill led off the bottom of the tenth with a walk off solo homer (he entered on defense in the fifth).

The Legends overcame four errors, which cost them two runs.

Emilio Ogando earned the win in relief, as he allowed an unearned run on three hits and two walks over 5.2 innings.

Leadoff hitter Corey Toups went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Chase Vallot went 2-for-4 with a run scored. Samir Duenez went 2-for-3 with a triple, a walk, and two runs scored.

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