Diamonds in the Rough 6.26

Royals affiliates went 2-3 with losses in both rookie leagues.  HR Roll Call Cheslor Cuthbert (5) 

Pine Tar Press Hitter of the Day Cheslor Cuthbert 2-4 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI

Will Smith via mindahaas.net

Pine Tar Press Pitcher of the Day Will Smith 7.2 IP 5 H 1 R 0 ER 0 BB 7 K 80/103 Strikes/P

Omaha Storm Chasers 5 Oklahoma City RedHawks 1

Ten days between starts is all lefty Will Smith needed to find his groove.  The Royals left-hander was outstanding in his first start back matching his longest outing and highest K total of the year while allowing just 5 hits and one unearned run to gain his second AAA victory of the season.  The Chasers offense gave him enough runs to gain that victory by coming up with a big 8th inning, scoring 3 runs on a three consecutive singles and a two run double by David Lough.  The win pushed Omaha’s road record over .500 for the first time this season while also moving their lead in the division to 16 games over second place Iowa.

W: Smith (2-4, 4.13) L: Galarraga (1-1, 2.16)

Wilmington Blue Rocks 11 Potomac Nationals 2

I don’t know what happened to the Blue Rocks offense but I like it.  The Rocks were no hit for 7 innings yesterday but since have exploded for 19 runs including 11 runs during their Tuesday thumping of the Nationals.  The Rocks put a pair on the board in the first thanks to a sac fly and a RBI double by Bret Eibner to take an early 2-0 lead.  That lead would be cut in half with Brooks Pounders on the mound and stay steady there until the 5th inning when a Nationals error scored a Rocks run and extended the inning giving them the ability to tack on a couple more and push their lead to 5-1.  The sixth would include another error by the Nationals and 3 more runs from the Rocks including a 2 run home run by Cheslor Cuthbert, his third and fourth RBI of the night.  The Rocks would tack on three more in the 7th to give them their first double digit scoring effort of the year to coast home to an easy win.

W: Pounders (1-2, 4.67) L: Ray (3-4, 5.26)

Beloit Snappers 8 Kane County Cougars 0

Things didn’t go well in the box or on the hill Tuesday night for the Cougars.  Starter Kellen Moen was knocked around in his 4.2 innings giving up a pair of home runs and 7 runs while on the mound.  Those runs were more than enough to take down the Cougars who managed just 3 hits and a pair of walks off Snappers starter Matthew Summers who pitched a complete game shutout.  Reliever Andrew Triggs made his first appearance for the Cougars striking out 2 in his one inning.

W: Summers (7-4, 3.69) L: Moen (3-4, 5.58)

Bluefield Blue Jays 3 Burlington Royals 0

The Royals had just four singles which wasn’t enough as each member of their pen gave up a run to take a shutout defeat.  Speedy Terrance Gore stole his fifth base of the young season and starter Colin Rodgers pitched three scoreless innings despite not striking out a hitter in that time.  We should see Bubba Starling in the lineup on Wednesday.

W: Comer (1-1, 2.25) L: Stueve (0-1, 7.88)
S: Broussard (1)

Ogden Raptors 6 Idaho Falls Chukars 3

Five errors is hard to overcome and that was definitely the case for the Chukars in the second game of their three gamer with first place Ogden.  It was a tough night for sixteen year old shortstop Adalberto Mondesi who committed two errors in the first inning, three overall while also going 0 for 4 at the plate with 2 strikeouts.  The shortstops errors cost starter Sam Selmon a run and a few extra pitches forcing the left-hander that the Royals are going very slow with to make it through just 2.2 innings, allowing 4 hits and 2 runs (1 ER) during his start.  The infield had a brutal night as a whole with third baseman Nick DelGuidice making an error, catcher Jin-Ho Shin committing a throwing error as well as allowing a passed ball.  Those five errors and the passed ball helped the Raptors to four unearned runs taking the win and pushing their lead in the division back to two games over the Chukars and Rockies.

W: Stem (1-0, 0.00) L: Hentges (0-1, 11.25)
S: Gonzalez (2)