Royals Minor League Report: Pitching Shines But Three Affiliates Fall In Extras

Royals farmhands had a rough night across the system. Mitch Spence delivered a quality start in Triple-A, but Omaha fell in extras after Gavin Cross's two-run double in the ninth tied it. Carson Roccaforte and Connor Scott homered for the Naturals in a 10-9 walk-off loss. Justin Lamkin spun five scoreless innings, and Ramon Ramirez homered as Quad Cities blanked Cedar Rapids, 2-0. Michael Lombardi struck out nine over five hitless innings in Columbia's extra-inning defeat.

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Storm Chasers Fall In Walk-Off After Cross Doubles In Two To Force Extras

Omaha lost 5-4 in 10 innings to the Indianapolis Indians, undone by a walk-off single in the bottom of the tenth. The Storm Chasers struck first in the third when Josh Rojas drove a two-run home run to right field, his third of the season. Indianapolis cut the lead in half in the bottom of the third on an RBI double.

Cleanup hitter Luca Tresh went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a stolen base. With two outs in the ninth and Omaha trailing 4-2, Tresh singled, Elih Marrero walked, and Gavin Cross laced a two-run double to right that scored both runners and tied the game at 4-4. Cross finished 1-for-3 with a walk and the two-RBI double.

Mitch Spence delivered a quality start of 6 2/3 innings, allowing one hit, two runs, two earned, two walks, and four strikeouts. Chazz Martinez followed and surrendered three hits, two earned runs, and a walk while recording one out, taking the blown save. Steven Cruz worked one inning of one-hit relief, walking one and striking out two. Jose Cuas was charged with the loss after 1 2/3 innings, allowing two hits, an unearned run, two intentional walks, and a strikeout. The zombie runner scored on a soft single to right to end it.

Omaha left six runners on base.

Naturals Drop Slugfest As Frisco Walks Off In The Tenth

Northwest Arkansas lost a 10-9 thriller to the Frisco RoughRiders in 10 innings despite a four-hit night from Jack Pineda and home runs from Carson Roccaforte and Connor Scott. Leadoff hitter Roccaforte opened the scoring with a solo home run in the first, his eighth of the season.

The Naturals built a 5-2 lead in the fourth when Jorge Alfaro was hit by a pitch, Pineda doubled to put runners on the corners, and Scott launched a three-run home run to right field. Pineda went 4-for-5 with a double, a stolen base, and two runs scored. Scott finished 2-for-5 with two runs, three RBI, a stolen base, and the homer. Rudy Martin Jr. went 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, a stolen base, and two runs scored.

The decisive sixth brought three more runs. Pineda singled, Scott singled to put runners on the corners, and with two outs Martin doubled to score Pineda before Sam Kulasingam singled to plate Scott and Martin, pushing the lead to 8-4.

Drew Beam allowed seven hits, four runs all earned, three walks, and two strikeouts across five innings, surrendering one home run. Caden Monke followed with a clean inning, retiring the side in order with two strikeouts. Christian Chamberlain was charged with two earned runs on a hit and a walk while recording one out. Brandon Johnson worked 1 2/3 innings, allowing three hits and one earned run while striking out three, picking up a hold. Zachary Cawyer took the loss after one inning, allowing two hits, three runs, one earned, and four walks, two of them intentional, while striking out two.

Northwest Arkansas left six runners on base.

River Bandits Blank Kernels Behind Lamkin's Six-Strikeout Start

Quad Cities won 2-0 over the Cedar Rapids Kernels behind a strong start from Justin Lamkin and a hitless bullpen finish. The River Bandits scored both runs early. In the second, cleanup hitter Ramon Ramirez crushed a solo home run to left field, his fourth of the year. In the third, Angel Acosta singled and reached second on a sacrifice bunt by Nolan Sailors that was misplayed at first, then scored when Blake Mitchell ripped a ground-rule double to shallow right.

Ramirez finished 3-for-4 with the home run, an RBI, a run scored, and a strikeout. Mitchell went 1-for-4 with the RBI double, while Erick Torres added a single and a stolen base. Asbel Gonzalez drew a walk and struck out twice. The rest of the lineup combined for two more hits, but the Bandits stranded 11 runners on base.

Justin Lamkin earned the win with five scoreless innings, allowing two hits, two walks, and striking out six. Ryan Ure followed with a scoreless inning, surrendering one hit and two walks while striking out one, picking up a hold. L.P. Langevin worked two scoreless innings of hitless relief, walking two and striking out two, also recording a hold. Kamden Edge closed it out with a scoreless inning, walking two and striking out one, earning his first save of the season. The bottom of the ninth was not played.

Lombardi Strikes Out Nine In Fireflies' Extra-Inning Loss

Columbia fell 3-2 in 10 innings to the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers despite a dominant start from Michael Lombardi. The Fireflies' two runs both came in the fourth. Leadoff hitter Henry Ramos singled, Yandel Ricardo doubled to put runners on second and third, and Josh Hammond grounded out to score Ramos. Brooks Bryan walked, Sean Gamble singled to load the bases, and Hyungchan Um followed with an RBI single that scored Bryan, with Gamble thrown out at third to end the inning.

Cleanup hitter Brooks Bryan went 1-for-3 with a double, a walk, and a run scored. Ricardo finished 1-for-4 with a double. Hammond added a double of his own and an RBI. Ramos, Gamble, Um, and JC Vanek each contributed a single.

Michael Lombardi turned in five scoreless, hitless innings, walking two and striking out nine. Darwin Rodriguez was charged with the loss, going 4 1/3 innings while allowing four hits, three runs, two earned, one walk, and four strikeouts, also taking the blown save. Rodriguez surrendered the tying run in the bottom of the ninth on a Marcelo Alcala double, then yielded the walk-off run in the tenth on a wild pitch that scored the zombie runner from third.

The Fireflies left four runners on base.

Top-20 Prospect Performance

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

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