Royals Minor League Report (9/10): Omaha Rolls, Quad Cities Grinds, Northwest Arkansas Comes Up Short

Omaha shut out Indianapolis 8-0, with John Means and Hunter Patteson combining for seven scoreless innings and Carson Roccaforte doubling twice and Luca Tresh driving in two. Quad Cities beat South Bend 3-1 as Kendry Chourio struck out six over 4 1/3 innings and Emmanuel Reyes earned a ticket to the Midwest League Championship Series. Northwest Arkansas lost 3-2 to Tulsa despite four hits from Angel Acosta, a Spencer Nivens home run, and four hitless innings of relief from Coleman Picard.

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Storm Chasers Pile Up Eleven Hits, Shut Out Indianapolis 8-0

Omaha scored in five separate innings, and its pitching staff kept Indianapolis off the board in an 8-0 win.

The Storm Chasers broke through in the second for three runs.

Roccaforte doubled to left, Peyton Wilson walked, and both runners moved up on steals during a Drew Waters strikeout. Tresh brought Roccaforte home with a sacrifice fly to center, Alejo Lopez singled to left to score Wilson, and Maikel Garcia doubled to left to score Lopez.

Javier Vaz and Brett Squires drew walks before the inning ended. Roccaforte doubled again in the third, and Tresh singled him in, and a wild pitch scored Vaz in the fourth.

Omaha added two more in the sixth.

Vaz and Squires singled, and Roccaforte reached on a fielding error by the first baseman that allowed both runners to score. Tresh walked in the seventh, and Colton Becker singled him home for the final margin.

Means gave Omaha four innings, allowing two hits and no runs, walking none and striking out four. Patteson followed with three scoreless innings on four hits, one walk, and two strikeouts, and he earned the win. Connor Seabold worked a scoreless inning with a hit, a walk, and a strikeout. Scott Alexander finished with a scoreless inning, no hits, and two walks.

Omaha had 11 hits, drew six walks, went 4-for-17 with runners in scoring position, and left 12 runners on base. Roccaforte went 2-for-5 with two doubles and two runs. Tresh was 2-for-3 with two RBI and a walk. Lopez had two hits and an RBI, and Becker had two hits in two at-bats.

The Storm Chasers are now 64-74. 

Acosta Collects Four Hits, But Naturals Drop 3-2 Decision To Tulsa

Acosta had four hits and Northwest Arkansas loaded the bases in the seventh, but the Naturals lost 3-2 to Tulsa.

Northwest Arkansas tied it up in the fourth. Nivens led off the inning with a home run to right field, his ninth of the season, tying the game at 1-1.

Tulsa moved back in front with two runs in the fifth. Northwest Arkansas couldn't come back from that deficit. 

The Naturals put together their best inning in the seventh.

Justin Johnson singled to right and was picked off trying to take second. Canyon Brown was hit by a pitch and stole second. After a strikeout, Acosta doubled to right to score Brown and cut the deficit to 3-2. Acosta took third on a passed ball, Connor Rasmussen walked, and Sam Kulasingam walked to load the bases, but Nivens flied out to right to end the inning.

Connor Scott walked in the eighth before a double play closed the inning, and Acosta singled with two outs in the ninth, but Northwest Arkansas did not score again.

Grant Gambrell took the loss after five innings, giving up five hits and three runs, with three walks and five strikeouts. Coleman Picard followed with four scoreless innings, allowing no hits and no walks while striking out five.

Acosta finished 4-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Nivens went 2-for-4 with a home run, a double, and an RBI. Johnson had a single, Rasmussen and Kulasingam each drew a walk, and Brown was hit by a pitch.

The Naturals totaled seven hits, three walks, and eight strikeouts, and they left seven runners on base while going 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position

Northwest Arkansas is now 56-77.

River Bandits Strike Out Fourteen, Add Late Run To Beat South Bend 3-1

Quad Cities pitchers struck out 14, and the River Bandits built enough offense to win 3-1 at South Bend, clinching a West Division title and their spot in the Midwest League Championship Series

Quad Cities took the lead in the second.

Derlin Figueroa walked to open the inning and moved to second on a groundout, and Austin Charles doubled to left to score him. Ramon Ramirez singled to left in the sixth, and Jose Cerice doubled to score him for a 2-0 lead.

South Bend cut the lead to 2-1 in the seventh, and Quad Cities answered with a run in the eighth.

Cerice singled to center, and Nolan Sailors doubled to right, moving Cerice to third. Charles then grounded to shortstop on a fielder's choice that retired Cerice at home, and Sailors advanced to third. Tyriq Kemp walked to load the bases, and Asbel Gonzalez was hit by a pitch to force in Sailors.

Chourio, the Royals' No. 1 prospect, started Game 2 of this playoff series and threw 4 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out six.

Ethan McElvain followed with 2/3 of a scoreless inning, walking one and striking out one. Emmanuel Reyes earned the win with three innings, three hits, one run, no walks, and five strikeouts. L.P. Langevin finished with a scoreless inning and two strikeouts for the save.

Quad Cities had seven hits, drew eight walks, went 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position, and left 13 runners on base.

Cerice went 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI. Charles was 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Sailors had a double, a walk, and a hit by pitch. Blake Mitchell drew three walks. Leadoff hitter Gonzalez had a hit, an RBI, and two hit-by-pitches.

Dayton beat Great Lakes on Thursday 6-0 to tie up the East Division playoffs at one game apiece. Game 3 will be on September 11th in Dayton. The River Bandits will play the winner on September 13th at Modern Woodsman Park in Davenport. 

Top-20 Prospect Performance

1. Kendry Chourio: 4 1/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
2. David Shields: DNP
3. Josh Hammond: DNP
4. Blake Mitchell: 0-for-2, 3 BB, 1 K
5. Sean Gamble: DNP
6. Ramon Ramirez: 1-for-5, 2 K
7. Zion Rose: 1-for-5, 1 K
8. Asbel Gonzalez: 1-for-3, RBI, 2 K
9. Carson Roccaforte: 2-for-5, 2 2B, 1 K
10. Taylor Rabe: DNP
11. Yandel Ricardo: DNP
12. Justin Lamkin: DNP
13. Drew Beam: DNP
14. Michael Lombardi: DNP
15. Jack Slightom: DNP
16. Felix Arronde: DNP
17. Angeibel Gomez: DNP
18. Ben Kudrna: DNP
19. Steven Zobac: DNP
20. Blake Wolters: DNP

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