KC Royals Joba Chamberlain Makes Omaha Debut

Omaha held on for the 8-7 victory in their series opener in Las Vegas. The 51’s had the tying run on second base in the bottom of the ninth.

For the second straight day, there was a disastrous debut for the Storm Chasers. On Wednesday night, it was Joba Chamberlain who entered in relief. He started the 8th inning and did not record an out. Chamberlain allowed three runs on four hits, a balk, two wild pitches, and a stolen base before he was pulled.

In came Louis Coleman, who allowed a single and a walk around two strikeouts to escape the jam. Coleman then allowed a run in the ninth.

Jose Martinez fell a home run short of a cycle, as he went 4-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI. Cheslor Cuthbert and Christian Colon each had three hits. Cuthbert doubled and scored two runs, while CC drove in two runs.

Reymond Fuentes, Francisco Pena, and Casey Kotchman each had two hits in the win.

Andy Ferguson earned the win, as he allowed two runs on five hits over 5.1 innings. He struck out five.

*Outfielder Brett Eibner was placed on the DL to make room for Chamberlain.

NW Arkansas beat San Antonio, 12-2. The Naturals collected 20 hits.

The Naturals scored six runs in the top of the first and never looked back. Raul Mondesi, Alex Liddi, and Parker Morin each had four hits in the win.

Zane Evans went 2-for-5 with four RBIs. Bubba Starling went 3-for-4 with an RBI, three runs scored, and a stolen base. Jorge Bonifacio had two hits in the win.

The offensive outburst made a winner of Jonathan Dziedzic, who allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits and two walks over five innings. Malcom Culver struck out the side in the sixth before handing the ball to Paul Clemens to make his NWA debut. He earned the save with three scoreless innings (H, 0BB, K).

Wilmington won the back-and-forth affair over Potomac, 7-6.

“I didn’t know about him having it [opposite field power] in this park but I knew he could hit it,” Blue Rocks manager Brian Buchanan said about O’Hearn’s homer. “That ball was hit well.”

The Blue Rocks tied the game in the bottom of the seventh on a

opposite field solo home run. It was his fourth homer against the P-Nats over the last five games (he has six total).

The Blue Rocks scored the go ahead run in the bottom of the eighth on a wild pitch.

The P-Nats had taken the lead in the top of the seventh against Blue Rocks reliever Yender Caramo on a wild pitch. Caramo earned the win (3IP, H, R, 0BB, 3K).

The P-Nats started Washington Nationals rehabber David Carpenter and the Blue Rocks got a leadoff triple by Carlos Garcia and a Jack Lopez sac fly to take a quick lead. “It was good [to score off Carpenter],”Buchanan said after the game. “Garcia had a real good at-bat against him, gets that triple and then Jack (Lopez) came up and he threw him a fastball and did what he needed to do with it. Scoring first is huge. They did a good job and came out ready to go.”

The P-Nats put up a four-spot in the third against Blue Rocks starter Pedro Fernandez (6IP, 8H, 5R, 0BB, 4K), capped by their other rehabber Reed Johnson‘s three-run homer. The Blue Rocks came back with their own four-spot in the fourth, which started with a Cam Gallagher solo homer (the ball was carrying to left field). Lopez doubled home two runs with two outs.

Lexington lost their series to West Virginia, losing the series finale 6-2.

The Legends collected seven hits, two by Mike Hill, who doubled and hit a solo home run. Shortstop Corey Toups was replaced on defense in the top of the third (he went 0-for-2 and struck out for the final out in the second).

Matt Tenuta took the loss, though he pitched well. He allowed two runs on five hits and two walks over six innings. He struck out one. Nick Green followed and allowed four runs on six hits over three innings. He allowed a two-run homer in the seventh.

Idaho Falls beat Billings, 8-6.

The Chukars scored four runs in the bottom of the first. Three runs scored on a Joshua Banuelos single and an ensuing throwing error.

Marten Gasparini went 2-for-2 with with a triple and three RBIs. He also stole his 24th base (and did not commit an error). Leadoff hitter Cody Jones went 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored.

Todd Eaton earned the win, though he allowed six runs (five earned) on eight hits and a walk over 6.1 innings. He struck out four. Drew Milligan followed and allowed two hits over 2.2 scoreless innings. He struck out five in earning his second save.

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