Royals Minor League Report (9/5): Velasquez, Naturals Bats Carry Royals Farm

Vince Velasquez allowed one unearned run over six innings with seven strikeouts as Omaha beat St. Paul 6-1, and Alejo Lopez drove in four. Northwest Arkansas collected 13 hits in a 10-3 win at Arkansas, where Justin Johnson had three hits and scored four times, and Frank Mozzicato struck out four in relief. Quad Cities fell 5-3 at Peoria despite Tyriq Kemp's two-run homer and three scoreless innings from Aiden Jimenez and Yimi Presinal.

The Columbia Fireflies game was canceled because of weather and will not be made up this season. 

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Lopez Drives In Four As Omaha Beats St. Paul

Omaha built a lead in the middle innings and beat St. Paul 6-1, backing six innings of one-run pitching from Vince Velasquez. Velasquez gave up three hits and two walks and struck out seven, and the only run against him was unearned. It was a quality start.

The Storm Chasers erased a 1-0 deficit in the third. Jacob Berry led off with a double, and after a pop-out, Lopez singled him home to tie the game. A fly out followed, then Peyton Wilson walked and Brett Squires singled to right to score Lopez for a 2-1 lead.

Omaha put the game away in the fourth.

Drew Waters opened with a single and Berry singled with one out, and Jorge Alfaro then reached on a throwing error that brought Waters home. Lopez followed with a three-run homer, his second of the year, to make it 6-1.

Gavin Cross added a single before the inning ended.

Berry finished 3-for-4 with two doubles and two runs, Lopez went 2-for-4 with the homer and four runs batted in, and Waters was 2-for-4 with a run. Omaha totaled 11 hits, two walks, went 3-for-8 with runners in scoring position, and left seven on base.

Matt Moore worked two innings, allowing three hits without a run and striking out one. Lucas Erceg retired all three batters he faced and struck out two.

The Storm Chasers are now 62-72. 

Johnson Scores Four Times In Northwest Arkansas Rout

Northwest Arkansas piled up 13 hits and beat Arkansas 10-3, scoring in four different innings and pulling away in the sixth.

The Naturals opened the scoring in the second. Justin Johnson singled, Connor Scott singled behind him, and Canyon Brown singled to bring Johnson home. Alberto Rodriguez then grounded into a force out that scored Scott for a 2-0 lead. Northwest Arkansas added two more in the third on a two-out single by Johnson and a double by Scott.

The sixth broke the game open for the Naturals.

Johnson walked to start the inning, and Scott doubled him to third. After a pop-out, Rodriguez singled home Johnson, and Scott scored on a throwing error during Angel Acosta's line out. Luke Pelzer singled in Rodriguez, Javier Vaz walked, and Sam Kulasingam singled home Pelzer to push the lead to 8-3. Johnson doubled in a run in the ninth, and Brown singled in another.

Johnson finished 3-for-4 with a double, a walk, two runs batted in, and four runs scored. Scott was 3-for-5 with two doubles, and Brown went 2-for-5 with two runs batted in. The Naturals left seven on base and went 8-for-19 with runners in scoring position. 

Chase Jessee gave up three runs, only one earned, on two hits and two walks over three innings with two strikeouts. Shane Panzini followed with two scoreless innings, one hit, one walk, and three strikeouts. Caden Monke worked an inning with a hit and a strikeout. Frank Mozzicato threw two scoreless innings with two hits, a walk, and four strikeouts. Lastly, Zachary Cawyer allowed two hits without a run and struck out one.

The Naturals are now 55-74. 

Kemp Homers In Quad Cities Loss At Peoria

Quad Cities managed six hits and lost 5-3 at Peoria, unable to hold a tie it created in the fourth inning.

The River Bandits trailed 2-0 when they answered in the fourth. Ramon Ramirez led off with a single, Chris Brito struck out, and Kemp followed with a two-run homer, his 13th of the season, to tie the game 2-2.

Two more outs ended the inning there for Quad Cities.

Peoria took the lead back in the bottom half with a pair of runs on a double and another double, then added a run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly to make it 5-2.

Quad Cities got one back in the seventh to make it close.

Erick Torres singled to open the inning, and Ben North reached on catcher's interference, but a double play moved Torres to third with two outs before Nolan Sailors doubled to right to score him. Asbel Gonzalez drew a walk, and a fly out ended the threat.

Sailors finished 2-for-4 with a double and a run batted in. Kemp went 2-for-4 with the homer and two runs batted in, and Gonzalez walked twice. The River Bandits struck out 13 times, went 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position, and left six on base.

Tanner Jones allowed five runs on six hits and three walks over five innings, striking out six. Jimenez followed with 1 2/3 scoreless innings on three hits and a walk with one strikeout, and Presinal retired all four batters he faced over 1 1/3 innings with three strikeouts.

The River Bandits are now 69-57. 

Top-20 Prospect Performance

1. Kendry Chourio: DNP
2. David Shields: DNP
3. Josh Hammond: DNP
4. Blake Mitchell: DNP
5. Sean Gamble: DNP
6. Ramon Ramirez: 1-for-4, 2 K
7. Zion Rose: 0-for-4, K
8. Asbel Gonzalez: 0-for-1, 2 BB
9. Carson Roccaforte: DNP
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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