Diamonds in the Rough 7.12

Royals affiliates finished Thursday with a 3-3 record.  HR Roll Call Matt Fields (8) Angel Franco (3) 

(Photo Minda Haas)

Pine Tar Press Hitter of the Day Tony Abreu 2-5 2 R, 2 RBI

Pine Tar Press Pitcher of the Day Andy Ferguson 5.2 IP 6 H 3 ER 1 BB 8 K

Photo by Gretchel Daugherty / Grand Junction Daily Sentinel

Pine Tar Press Rookie League Player of the Day Ali Williams 6 IP 3 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 11 K

Iowa Cubs 12 Omaha Storm Chasers 11

The Chasers lost an ugly one Thursday night that featured five errors, thirty one hits and twenty three runs.  Starter Doug Davis wasn’t fooling anyone in his five innings, giving up six runs on nine hits and three walks including four runs that came in the 5th to tighten what was a 7-2 Omaha lead.  The game was evened up in the top of the 6th at seven until Wil Myers grounded a ball behind third with the bases loaded chasing a run home on an infield single and another scoring when Josh Vitters throw eluded the first baseman.  That lead wouldn’t last long for the Chasers as Jeremy Jeffress would come on in relief of Brandon Sisk giving up four hits, a walk and a sac fly that allowed the Cubs to chase home five runs.  The Chasers would come up a run short in their bid at a comeback to drop their fourth game in a row to Iowa all by a one run margin.

W: Cabrera (2-0, 2.53) L: Jeffress (4-3, 4.94)
S: Bowden (2)

Springfield Cardinals 7 NW Arkansas Naturals 0 

The Cardinals super prospect Oscar Taveras had his way with Sugar Ray Marimon and the rest of the Naturals staff leading the way to a win Thursday night.  The Dominican born 20 year old prospect collect four hits on the night including his 18th home run of the season driving in 3 runs and scoring another.  The Cardinals were seeing the Royals starter Marimon quite well collecting 10 hits in just 4.2 innings, scoring 6 runs including a 3 run home run by Chris Swauger.  The game turned into a laugher as the NW Arkansas offense was unable to cash in on their six hits, going 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position.  Leftfielder Brian Fletcher extended his hitting streak to nine games with a 2 for 4 effort including his fifth double since joining the Naturals.

W: Rosenthal (8-6, 2.78) L: Marimon (1-2, 4.29)

Wilmington Blue Rocks 8 Potomac Nationals 3

The Rocks offense continued their scoring spree busting out the long ball Thursday night to go up 2-0 in their four game series with Potomac.  The top of the order didn’t get much done collecting just one hit but they were capably picked up by the bottom six with home runs from Matt Fields and Angel Franco as well as another that got changed to a single due to Brett Eibner over running Lane Adams on the bases.  What should have been Eibner’s 12th home run of the season took place in the 5th when he cleared the left field wall but Eibner over ran Adams on the bases due to congestion on the bases as the runners in front of him were tagging up instead of playing the ball halfway.  The run wouldn’t matter thanks to solid pitching by starter Andrew Ferguson giving Wilmington 5.2 solid innings in his first High A start striking out 8 and limiting the Nationals to 6 hits and 3 runs earning the win as the bullpen pitched 3.1 scoreless.

Vance Wilson Audio

W: Ferguson (1-0, 4.76) L: Ray (3-6, 5.11)

 South Bend Silver Hawks 9 Kane County Cougars 1

Not shocking that the Cougars didn’t have much luck versus Diamondbacks 2011 1st round pick Archie Bradley as the big Oklahoma right-hander put six Cougars away via strikeout, working 6 innings while allowing just one run to cross.  The Cougars lone run in the game came via three consecutive singles in the 3rd inning from Kenny Swab, Tim Ferguson and Justin Trapp but Bradley was able to wiggle out of that slight jam with a force out, a strikeout and a flyout by Jorge Bonficaio.  From there the Cougars would be quieted getting just a walk off Bradley in his final three innings and unable to get anything going on the Silverhawks bullpen.  The same couldn’t be said of the Kane County pen with the final three pitchers giving up six runs on six hits and four walks during the final four innings including the first run allowed by Andrew Triggs since joining the Kane County bullpen.

W: Bradley (8-5, 3.80) L: Moen (3-6, 5.50)

Idaho Falls Chukars 5 Helena Brewers 0

Chukars starter Ali Williams was outstanding Thursday night in helping Idaho Falls capture a win.  The former college reliever dominated the Brewers lineup for 6 innings giving up just three singles and a walk in that time while striking out a career high 11.  Two of the Brewers singles came with two out in the first inning but Williams struck out the final hitter of the inning and finding a groove in the next five innings that saw him work around a walk in the 4th, a defensive error in the 5th and another single in the 6th.  Scoreless through 5 Idaho Falls got on the board with a pair of singles and a throwing error.  Five Chukars hits and another Brewers error would expand the lead to 5-0 in the 7th with the big knock coming off the bat of Ethan Chapman with a 2 run triple that scored Parker Morin and Nick Delguidice.  Those runs were plenty for reliever Joe Lopez to earn his first save with 5 strikeouts over the final 2.2 innings.

W: Williams (2-1, 2.42) L: Lorenzo (1-1, 3.05)
S: Lopez (1)

DSL Royals 5 DSL A’s 4 F/12

DSL Royals placed three players on the DSL All Star team.
Catcher Eddy Melo  19, .278/.336/.352
Infielder Wander Franco 17, .289/.396/.438 8-2b, 4-3b, 1 HR 8-2 SB-CS
Pitcher Miguel Almonte 19 RHP, 3-1 7 GS 32.2 IP 22 H 33/6 K/BB 1.38 ERA

W: Rios (1-1, 3.77) L: Gonzalez (0-2, 11.08)

WP: Hoyos, Almonte, E, Melgar, Rios.
IBB: Pimentel (by Machado), Franco (by Almonte, E).
HBP: Zarraga (by Feliz), Raga (by Feliz), Zarraga (by Machado), Castellano (by Duno).