Diamonds in the Rough 8.13

5-2 record for Royals affiliates on Monday.  HR Roll Call Mark Donato (3) Alexis Rivera (2) 

Photo by Levi Payton

Pine Tar Press Hitter of the Day Nick Van Stratten 3-3 2b, BB, 2 RBI

Pine Tar Press Pitcher of the Day Brooks Pounders 7 IP 4 H 1 R 0 ER 0 BB 5 K

Pine Tar Press Rookie League Player of the Day Torey Deshazier 3.1 IP 0 H 0 R 1 BB 8 K

Omaha Storm Chasers 5 Tuscon Padres 2 

Magic Number = 5.  The Chasers lowered that magic number with four runs in the middle innings that starter Ryan Verdugo and a pair of relievers made stand up.  Wil Myers accounted for two of those runs singling and scoring in the 4th and driving in Anthony Seratelli in the 5th.  Derrick Robinson accounted for the other two runs in that time scoring on a Johnny Giavotella hit in the 5th and then driving in Max Ramirez with a single in the 6th.  Starter Ryan Verdugo won his 10th game of the season by allowing just 2 runs (1 ER) in six innings while working around four hits and for walks with the help of seven strikeouts.  The Chasers defense committed three errors including two by Johnny Giavotella who is getting playing time at third base but those errors weren’t killers thanks to the pitching staffs 10 K’s.  Two of those K’s came in the 8th by newcomer Donnie Joseph who worked around one of Giavotella’s errors in the 9th to complete the save and four game sweep by Omaha.

W: Verdugo (10-3, 3.51) L: Bay (2-8, 5.17)
S: Joseph (2)

NW Arkansas Naturals 4 Frisco Rough Riders 3

The Naturals put together a late comeback to avoid a home sweep against Frisco.  The Rough Riders took a lead in the 3rd inning when everyones #1 prospect Jurickson Profar took starter Justin Marks deep for his 14th home run of the season. Frisco tacked on a couple more in the 4th to push their advantage to 3-0 with another off Marks and their lone run off piggyback partner Michael Mariot.  The Naturals got a run back in the 4th when Brian Fletcher stole second after a hit by pitch eventually scoring on a Carlo Testa RBI single.  Down 3-1 the Naturals rally got going in the 7th with a leadoff single by Testa and a two out RBI single by Yem Prades and another run scoring hit by Whit Merrifield that tied the game.  Mario Lisson would double in the 8th, move to third with one of the Naturals six steals on the night and score the lead run on Rey Navarro’s sac fly.  Reliever Sam Runion would work around a hit in the 9th to earn the win for Mariot and the Naturals.

W: Mariot (6-3, 3.29) L: Rodebaugh (2-5, 2.27)
S: Runion (3)

Wilmington Blue Rocks 4 Potomac Nationals 3

The Rocks got another good pitching performance from one of their starting pitchers  to take game one of the series with last place Potomac.  Brooks Pounders was attacking the zone, walking zero, limiting Nationals hitters to just five singles, and getting through seven innings with just one unearned run to earn his 5th win of the season.  The offense backed up Brooks with a  pair of run in the first on a runs scoring double by Nick Van Stratten and a double play that scored Cheslor Cuthbert after one of his two hits.  With the score 3-1 the Rocks got a much needed insurance run after Lane Adams reached on a wild pitch strikeout and was driven in by a Van Stratten single.  That run would come in handy when Edwin Carl struggled in the ninth allowing three consecutive singles before turning things over to Robinson Yambati who finished off the inning with a pair of strikeouts that left the tying run at 3rd base.

W: Pounders (5-4, 4.83) L: Karns (8-4, 2.26)
S: Yambati (3)

Cedar Rapids Kernals 5 Kane County Cougars 1

Starter Aaron Brooks fell victim to the long ball costing his team and his personal stat line a loss Monday.  The 2011 9th round pick gave up a three run home run in the 1st to put his team behind early then sandwiched four zeroes from the 2nd thru the 5th before falling victim to a two run home run in the 6th that put his team down 5-1.  Those five runs were plenty for the Kernals to sandwich the last game of the series as their starter Eswarlin Jimenez shutdown the Cougars offense for eight innings while allowing just three hits, a walk and a run in that time.

W: Jimenez (7-4, 3.45) L: Brooks (9-12, 4.93)

Idaho Falls Chukars 3 Billings Mustangs 1

A 8th inning rally gave the Chukars a late win to keep pace in their 2nd half division race.  Starter Ali Williams gave the Idaho Falls five quality innings allowing just an unearned run in that time while allowing five hits and a walk against his six K’s.  Unfortunately Ali was unable to earn a win for his work as Billings starter Ismael Guillen outdid him to the tune of just three singles, a walk and 10 strikeouts while on the mound, keeping Idaho Falls down 1-0.  That score would stand up until the 8th when Parker Morin got a rally started with a leadoff double.  Morin would come around following a Jerico Blanco single and a Adalberto Mondesi ground out.  Mondesi and Diego Goris, who had reached on a single, moved into scoring position with one out on a wild pitch both scoring later on a single by Elier Hernandez.  Those two runs would prove to be the winners with the bullpen finishing off scoreless frames in the final two innings.  The win kept Idaho falls a game back of first place Orem for the 2nd half title with 23 games remaining in their season.

W: Cruz (2-3, 6.59) L: Klimesh (0-2, 3.47)
S: Middendorf (3)

AZL Royals 14 AZL Brewers 3

W: Deshazier (1-3, 7.85) L: Banda (1-3, 7.24)
S: Castillo (2)

DSL Astros 7 DSL Royals 5

W: Arauz (1-1, 1.38) L: Diaz (2-2, 7.89)
S: Mesa (4)