Royals Minor League Report (6/20): Pitching Gems Lost in Late Innings

[Kevin O'Brien]

 

Four Royals affiliates fell on the same night despite individual standouts. Drew Beam dominated for Northwest Arkansas, allowing one run over 7 1/3 innings with five strikeouts before the bullpen faltered in extras. Matthew Lugo and Drew Waters homered for Omaha in a 10-inning loss. Blake Wolters struck out six for Quad Cities, and Josh Hammond collected three hits for Columbia. Shane Van Dam logged 5 2/3 innings in the Fireflies' shutout defeat.

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Lugo And Waters Go Deep, But Storm Chasers Fall In Ten

The Omaha Storm Chasers traded blows with the Iowa hosts before losing 7-6 in ten innings.

Lugo led the offense, going 2-for-5 with a double and a solo home run, his fifth, in the third inning.

 

 

Waters followed immediately with a solo shot of his own, his ninth, to give Omaha a 4-2 lead in that third frame. The early scoring came in bunches, as both clubs plated runs in each of the first three innings. Brett Squires singled home Lugo in the first, and Kevin Newman doubled home Gavin Cross in the second.

 

 

Mitch Spence carried the bulk of the work on the mound, allowing four runs on five hits over six innings with one walk and four strikeouts. Omaha kept fighting late, with Abraham Toro doubling home Josh Rojas in the seventh and Rojas delivering a sacrifice fly that scored Cross to tie the game 6-6 in the eighth.

 

 

The hosts walked it off with a run in the tenth. Cross reached three times on a hit and two walks and scored twice, while Brandon Drury added two hits.

Omaha left ten runners on base, a tally that loomed large in a one-run defeat. The Storm Chasers generated plenty of traffic and timely power but could not push across the deciding run in the extra frame.

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Josh Rojas	3	1	1	1	1	0
Matthew Lugo	5	2	2	1	0	0
Brett Squires	5	0	1	1	0	1
Abraham Toro	4	0	1	1	0	1
Drew Waters	4	1	1	1	1	1
Brandon Drury	4	0	2	0	1	0
Gavin Cross	4	2	1	0	1	2
Luke Maile	4	0	1	0	0	2
Elih Marrero	1	0	0	0	0	0
Kevin Newman	5	0	1	1	0	2

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Jose Cuas	2/3	3	2	2	0	1	0
Ben Sears	1	2	0	0	1	0	0
Mitch Spence	6	5	4	4	1	4	3
Génesis Cabrera	1	1	0	0	0	1	0
Anthony Gose	1	1	1	0	0	3	0

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Naturals Bullpen Squanders Beam's Gem In Extra-Inning Loss

Drew Beam was excellent for the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, working 7 1/3 innings and allowing one run on two hits with one walk and five strikeouts.

 

 

The Naturals broke a scoreless game in the seventh. Omar Hernandez reached on a sacrifice bunt and a throwing error that let Jack Pineda score, then Justin Johnson doubled home Hernandez, and Colton Becker doubled home Johnson for a 3-0 lead. Canyon Brown added a two-run double in the eighth, scoring Pineda and Hernandez to push the lead to 5-1.

 

 

The bullpen could not hold it, however. Zachary Cawyer allowed two runs over two innings, and after a scoreless frame from Caden Monke, Dennis Colleran Jr. surrendered four runs while recording just one out in the eleventh. The Tulsa visitors plated four in the ninth and two in the eleventh to win 7-5.

Brown finished 2-for-5 with two RBIs, Carson Roccaforte reached three times on a hit and two walks, and Pineda walked three times and scored twice.

The Naturals stranded 12 runners on the night, repeatedly failing to add insurance. Beam's outing was the clear highlight, as he carried a no-hit bid deep before the offense and bullpen could not deliver the finish his start deserved.

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Carson Roccaforte	4	0	1	0	2	0
Colton Becker	5	0	1	1	0	1
Sam Kulasingam	5	0	0	0	1	4
Spencer Nivens	5	0	1	0	0	2
Daniel Vazquez	4	0	1	0	0	1
Jack Pineda	2	2	1	0	3	0
Omar Hernandez	4	2	1	0	0	0
Canyon Brown	5	0	2	2	0	1
Justin Johnson	5	1	1	1	0	3

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Drew Beam	7 1/3	2	1	1	1	5	1
Zachary Cawyer	2	1	2	1	2	5	1
Caden Monke	2/3	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dennis Colleran Jr.	1/3	3	4	4	1	0	2
Brandon Johnson	2/3	0	0	0	0	1	0

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River Bandits Buried By Big Fourth In Lopsided Loss

The Quad Cities River Bandits managed only one run in a 14-1 loss to the Wisconsin hosts.

 

 

Wolters got the start and absorbed the most damage, working 4 2/3 innings and allowing six runs on five hits with three walks and six strikeouts. The visitors broke through against him with a four-run fourth, capped by a run-scoring single, an RBI double, a run-scoring fielder's choice, and a sacrifice fly that built a 4-0 lead. Nick Conte followed and gave up two more across the fifth and sixth, including a two-run double in the sixth. Cory Ronan then surrendered home runs in the seventh and eighth, and Angel Acosta allowed a solo shot in the ninth as the hosts steadily pulled away.

Quad Cities avoided the shutout in the sixth, when Tyriq Kemp lifted a sacrifice fly to left field that scored Ramon Ramirez. That was the lone bright spot on the scoreboard for the River Bandits, who otherwise found little traction against Wisconsin pitching.

Nolan Sailors paced the offense with a 3-for-4 night that included a triple, and Ramirez added a hit and scored the team's only run. Quad Cities drew eight walks but stranded 11 runners, repeatedly failing to convert chances into runs. Blake Mitchell walked once but struck out three times, and Diego Guzman also struck out three times.

Wolters generated swings and misses in volume with his six strikeouts, but the damage on the scoreboard piled up around him as the visitors continued to add on through the late innings.

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Nolan Sailors	4	0	3	0	1	0
Blake Mitchell	4	0	0	0	1	3
Ramon Ramirez	4	1	1	0	0	1
Chris Brito	1	0	0	0	0	1
Luke Pelzer	3	0	1	0	1	1
Derlin Figueroa	3	0	0	0	1	1
Tyriq Kemp	3	0	0	1	0	0
Erick Torres	4	0	0	0	0	2
Connor Rasmussen	2	0	1	0	2	0
Diego Guzman	4	0	0	0	0	3

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Blake Wolters	4 2/3	5	6	6	3	6	0
Nick Conte	1 1/3	3	2	2	2	3	0
Cory Ronan	2	5	5	4	1	0	2
Angel Acosta	1	3	1	1	0	0	1

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Hammond's Three Hits Wasted In Fireflies Shutout Loss

The Columbia Fireflies were blanked 6-0 by the Hickory hosts despite a strong individual day from Josh Hammond, who went 3-for-4.

Van Dam handled the bulk of the pitching, working 5 2/3 innings and allowing six runs, five earned, on 11 hits with three walks and no strikeouts. The hosts opened the scoring with a single run in the third and then broke the game open with five runs in the sixth, the decisive frame that put the game out of reach. Columbia's offense generated little, managing six hits and drawing no extra-base hits on the night.

Hammond's three singles accounted for half of the team's hit total. Yandel Ricardo reached three times on a hit and two walks from the leadoff spot, and Sean Gamble added a hit and a walk. The rest of the lineup combined to strike out repeatedly, with Stone Russell and Gabriel Silva each striking out three times.

 

 

Yeri Perez and Henson Leal combined for 2 1/3 scoreless innings in relief, with Leal allowing one hit and recording a strikeout. The Fireflies stranded four runners and could not string together enough offense to capitalize on the few opportunities they created. Van Dam absorbed heavy contact throughout his start as Columbia fell on the road.

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K
Yandel Ricardo	4	0	1	0	0	2
Josh Hammond	4	0	3	0	0	0
Stone Russell	4	0	0	0	0	3
JC Vanek	4	0	1	0	0	1
Sean Gamble	2	0	1	0	1	1
Roni Cabrera	3	0	0	0	0	0
Jhosmmel Zue	3	0	0	0	0	2
Angel Ramirez	3	0	0	0	0	0
Gabriel Silva	3	0	0	0	0	3

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR
Shane Van Dam	5 2/3	11	6	5	3	0	0
Yeri Perez	1	0	0	0	2	0	0
Henson Leal	1 1/3	1	0	0	0	1	0

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Top-20 Prospect Performance

1. Kendry Chourio: DNP
2. David Shields: DNP
3. Sean Gamble: 1-for-2, BB, K
4. Blake Mitchell: 0-for-4, BB, 3 K
5. Josh Hammond: 3-for-4
6. Ramon Ramirez: 1-for-4, R, K
7. Drew Beam: 7 1/3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 1 HR
8. Asbel Gonzalez: DNP
9. Ben Kudrna: DNP
10. Carson Roccaforte: 1-for-4, 2 BB
11. Yandel Ricardo: 1-for-4, 2 BB
12. Felix Arronde: DNP
13. Blake Wolters: 4 2/3 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 6 K
14. Michael Lombardi: DNP
15. Luinder Avila: DNP
16. Steven Zobac: DNP
17. Frank Mozzicato: DNP
18. Daniel Vazquez: 1-for-4, K
19. Warren Colcano: DNP
20. Shane Panzini: DNP

 

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