The KC Royals have won three straight series, as they went 4-2 last week. Overall, they are 23-29 and seven games out of first place in the American League Central. The Royals are just one game behind the Detroit Tigers for third place. They open a series at home tonight against the Minnesota Twins.

Omaha went 4-3 this past week and are 34-24 overall. The Storm Chasers are still in first place in the Pacific Coast League’s American Northern Division by eight games. They continue their series against Memphis over the next two days.

NW Arkansas went just 2-4 last week and are 28-27 overall. They are in second place in the North Division of the Texas League. The Naturals finish up their series in Frisco tonight with a chance to sweep.

Wilmington went 3-4 this past week and are 26-29 overall. The Blue Rocks are now in second place and just 2.5 games back in the Carolina League’s Northern Division. Problem is, they do not play another divisional foe prior to the first half ending in two weeks.

Kane County went 3-4 last week and are 30-27 overall. The Cougars are in third place (five games back) in the Midwest League’s Western Division. They finish up their home series against Peoria tonight.

Hitter of the Week

Majors: Alex Gordon got hot over the last week, as he moved back to the leadoff spot that he thrived in last season. In six games, he went 9-for-24 (.375) with four doubles, four runs scored, and four RBIs.

Minors: Lane Adams, Kane County. He went 9-for-30 (.300) with a homerun, four runs scored, and eight RBIs.

Honorable Mention: Wil Myers, Omaha. He has jumped to Triple-A without much of a struggle. Last week, he went 12-for-28 (.429) with four doubles, three homeruns, seven runs scored, and ten RBIs.

Pitcher of the Week:

Majors: I feel like I am constantly honoring the bullpen, which is much deserved. However this week, I am going to honor three starting pitchers who helped the Royals win series. Felipe Paulino‘s dominance has been fairly unexpected, but it has happened nonetheless. He made one start last week and allowed just three hits and three walks over six scoreless innings. He struck out five in picking up the win over Oakland.

Will Smith won his first game in the big leagues in his second start (against Cleveland). He allowed two runs on four hits over six innings. He struck out five.

Vin Mazzaro won the finale on Sunday against his former team (the A’s) with six shutout innings. He allowed just four hits and three walks while striking out three.

Minors: Greg Billo, Blue Rocks. He is coming off winning the Pitcher of the Week honor in the Carolina League. Overall, he allowed just one run on four hits and three walks over 7.1 innings (one relief outing and a start). He struck out eight.

Omaha made an RBI ground out in the 2nd inning hold up, as they beat Memphis, 3-0. The Storm Chasers tacked on two runs in the bottom of the 8th inning on a Clint Robinson two-run double.

Jake Odorizzi made the start but lasted just five innings due to four walks (95 pitches). He allowed just two hits in his scoreless innings. Doug Davis pitched three shutout inning of relief behind Odorizzi.

On offense, David Lough picked up two of Omaha’s five hits.

NW Arkansas scored five runs in the top of the 10th inning en route to their 10-5 win. Julio Rodriguez drove in two runs with a single and Paulo Orlando followed with a three-run homerun (Rodriguez had three hits and Orlando finished with two hits).

Leading 5-3 heading into the bottom of the 9th inning, Patrick Keating allowed a two-run homerun to Mike Olt (his second of the game) to tie the game and send it to extra innings. Keating rebounded with a 1-2-3 bottom of the 10th inning.

The much-anticipated matchup between Wilmington’s Yordano Ventura and Frederick’s Dylan Bundy was just as advertised. Both had similar lines, but the Blue Rocks handed Bundy his first professional loss, 1-0.

Ventura pitched five shutout innings and allowed three hits and three walks while striking out six. Bundy allowed one run on three hits and a walk over five innings. He struck out seven. “Bundy looked incredible,” said Blue Rocks manager Vance Wilson following the game.

The Blue Rocks scored their lone run on a suicide squeeze by Alex McClure in the bottom of the 5th inning.

The Blue Rocks took the second game of the doubleheader, 2-1 with another solid pitching performance. Greg Billo followed up his Carolina League Pitcher of the Week performance with five innings. He allowed one run on four hits and a walk while striking out six.

Nick Rogers picked up his seventh save of the save with two 1-hit innings of relief.

Frederick had taken a 1-0 lead in the top of the 4th inning, only to see the Blue Rocks score two runs in the bottom of the inning. Cheslor Cuthbert, who hadn’t played since May 29th, went 2-for-3. Geulin Beltre also went 2-for-3.

Kane County was pummeled 15-3 by Peoria. The Cougars runs were scored in the final two innings.

Jorge Bonifacio went 2-for-3 in the loss. The Cougars used five pitchers, including yesterday’s starter Angel Baez, who was ejected in the 9th inning (though I think someone typed in the wrong reliever). Michael Giovenco pitched two hitless innings of relief while striking out three.

Omaha led 5-0 after the top of the 3rd inning and held on for the 6-3 victory over New Orleans. Brandon Sisk earned the win in relief of starter Jake Odorizzi, who lasted just four innings. Sisk pitched two shutout innings and allowed just one hit.

New Orleans brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the 9th inning against Roman Colon, but he struck out Gaby Sanchez (who was recently demoted from Miami) to end the game (Sanchez left seven men on base).

Wil Myers, as the DH on Monday, went 3-for-4 with two doubles, two RBIs, and two runs scored. Clint Robinson went 2-for-3.

Omaha returns home on Tuesday to face Iowa and Memphis.

A four-run top of the first inning did in NW Arkansas, as they lost to Frisco, 9-6. The Naturals had 11 hits, including five doubles (two from Julio Rodriguez) and a solo homerun by John Whittleman.

Yem Prades went 3-for-5 and Mario Lisson went 2-for-3 in the loss. The Naturals will enjoy Tuesday’s off day before heading out on the road to play Midland and Frisco again.

Two 2-run innings held up, as Wilmington beat Carolina, 4-3. Angel Franco hit a two-run homerun in the top of the 4th inning to break the 2-2 tie. It was his first of the season (he went 2-for-5)

Brian Fletcher went 2-for-4 and Geulin Beltre went 3-for-5. The seldom used Luis Piterson went 3-for-4 with two runs scored.

The new piggy-back combination of Leondy Perez and Greg Billo pitched well, especially Billo. He pitched 2.1 shutout innings of relief and did not allow a hit.

Kane County scored two runs in the bottom of the 9th inning to tie the game at 9-9 and send it into extra innings. Orlando Calixte hit a two-run homerun to tie the game (he went 4-for-7). They had a chance to win it with the bases loaded by Jorge Bonifacio struck out to end the inning.

The game would go to the 12th when the Cougars needed to use a position player to pitch. That was Dean Espy and things fell apart. Beloit scored six runs on five hits in the top of the 12th and won 15-9. The two teams combined for 41 hits (Michael Antonio went 4-for-7)

The Cougars had the bases loaded with nobody out to start the bottom of the 12th inning, but did not score.

Nick Graffeo pitched three scoreless innings of relief before Espy came on in the 12th inning. Graffeo allowed just one hit while striking out three.

The Wilmington Blue Rocks offense broke out on Monday night against visiting Potomac to take over sole possession of second place in the Northern Division of the Carolina League. They hit the ball hard, alot of line drives instead of trying to hit the ball out of the park. Though they did get a long ball from Juan Graterol, his first of the season.

Check out the postgame interview with manager Vance Wilson, as he talks about the offensive breakout, the pitching performances of both starter Greg Billo and reliever Leondy Perez, and his take on Graterol’s homer.

The Blue Rocks also had a stellar performance from starter Greg Billo. Check out his postgame interview, as he talks about his outing and his jersey number change.

Mike Montgomery allowed a three-run homerun to Matt Long of Salt Lake in the top of the 2nd inning and the Bees held on for the 4-2 victory.

Francisley Bueno did pitch two perfect innings of relief while striking out four for Omaha.

Omaha collected five hits, two coming from second baseman Tony Abreu.

Despite collecting 12 hits, NW Arkansas lost their day-game finale to Arkansas, 6-3. They went just 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position and committed four errors.

Of the 12 hits, only one went for extra bases (a double by Sharlon Schoop). Yem Prades, Carlo Testa, and and Rey Navarro each collected two hits. Eric Duncan went 4-for-4.

Ryan Dennick pitched two scoreless innings of relief for the Naturals.

Everything went right for the Wilmington Blue Rocks as they welcomed the Potomac Nationals to town. They won 7-0 and you can check out more from the game HERE. Not a bad night to move into sole possession of second place.

They received great starting pitching from Greg Billo, who allowed just two hits and a walk over seven scoreless innings. Leondy Perez followed up Billo’s performance with two perfect innings of relief (I had him at just 20 pitches).

The offense finally busted out with line drives and gappers. They collected seven runs on 11 hits. Brian Fletcher went 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Juan Graterol went 2-for-4 and hit his first homerun of the season.

Two Kane County errors, including the 19th for shortstop Orlando Calixte, cost the Cougars three runs, as they lost their finale to Wisconsin, 7-4.

The Timber Rattlers scored three runs in the first inning, as Jason Rogers tripled in one run and Nick Ramirez doubled in another. They really never looked back from there.

On offense, Justin Trapp and Michael Antonio collected two hits each. Antonio scored two runs.

It has been dark and dreary all day and thunderstorms are in the forecast for tonight’s Wilmington Blue Rocks game. After an eventful weekend against Myrtle Beach, where the Blue Rocks won two games in walk-off fashion and were no-hit on Saturday, the Blue Rocks welcome Northern Division foe Potomac to Frawley Stadium for the first time.

The Nationals and Blue Rocks are tied for second-place in the Carolina League’s Northern Division. The CL crowns a first-half champ, so this is a big series for both teams.

With the Nationals in town, I was hoping to see two of Washington’s top prospects: third baseman Anthony Rendon and starter Matt Purke. Rendon started the season with Potomac but injured his ankle again and could miss most of the season. Purke is also on the DL, as he is currently in Florida trying to get innings under his belt before making his official debut.

Even without those two, Potomac still has a few prospects on their roster (according to Baseball America). Outfielder Michael Taylor is #14 and is considered to be a Mike Cameron type-outfielder. He is very athletic and has great upside, but still is just 21 years old. He is currently hitting .252 with 19 RBIs. Lefty Robbie Ray (#17) has made three starts (11.25 ERA), but was much better in his last start (6IP, 7H, 4R, 0BB, 0K).

Almost the Nationals entire infield is on BA’s top 30 prospect list. Shortstop Rick Hague (#15) returned to Potomac after having June shoulder surgery. He is currently hitting .254. Third baseman Zach Wolters (who came over from Arizona in the Jason Marquis deal last year) is ranked #19. He is only hitting .213. Second baseman Adrian Sanchez (#28) is hitting .241.

Catcher David Freitas (#27) is seventh in the CL in hitting at .311. He has 18 RBIs and has walked 16 times to just 19 strikeouts. Outfielder Kevin Keyes (#30) out of Texas rounds out their prospects. He is only hitting .187.

The Potomac manager is former Blue Rocks manager Brian Rupp. His hitting coach is former big leaguer (and Phillies outfielder) Marlon Anderson.

Tonight’s pitching matchup pits two right-handers against each other vying for their fourth wins of the season. Both were also 28th round picks in the MLB Draft.

Matt Swynenberg takes the mound for Potomac, sporting a 3-1 record and a 3.95 ERA over eight appearances (seven starts). Over his last two starts, he has only pitched five innings in both starts. Though he has been good, the team as a whole has not. They have the worst ERA (5.72) in all of High-A.

Greg Billo gets the ball for Wilmington with a new jersey number (he’s now wearing #15). He also does not have his name on the back, making some think he is a new player. Billo has struggled a bit (especially with the longball on the road), but has pitched at least six innings in his last two starts.

Lineups:

Nationals: Blake Kelso (3B), Justin Bloxom (1B), Hague (SS), Freitas (C), Walters (DH), Taylor (CF), JP Ramirez (LF), Sanchez (2B), and Randolph Oduber (RF).

Blue Rocks: Whit Merrifield (2B), Angel Franco (DH), Brian Fletcher (LF), Brett Eibner (CF), Cheslor Cuthbert (3B), Kevin David (C), Geulin Beltre (RF), Juan Graterol (1B), and Alex McClure (SS).

» Continue reading “Rain Stay Away from Wilmington”

All four of the KC Royals full season minor league affiliates won on Friday.

Omaha had two 3-run innings en route to winning the series finale at Sacramento, 7-1. Terry Evans accounted for the three runs in the 2nd inning with a three-run homerun.

Tony Abreu went 2-for-4 with a solo homerun. Max Ramirez went 2-for-3 with two RBIs while Kevin Kouzmanoff went 2-for-4.

The offensive outburst made a winner of Will Smith, who allowed just one run on six hits over seven innings. He struck out six. Tommy Hottovy finished off the Rivercats with two scoreless innings of relief. He struck out four.

One day after a no-hitter, NW Arkansas received another stellar pitching performance, this time from Jake Odorizzi. He allowed two runs on six hits over seven innings en route to the Naturals 8-2 win over Springfield. Odorizzi struck out seven.

Patrick Keating pitched two perfect innings of relief with two strikeouts.

The Naturals also had two 3-run innings. In the 5th inning, John Whittleman hit a three-run homerun (three of his four RBIs). Christian Colon went 3-for-4 with three runs scored. Carlo Testa went 2-for-4.

A five-run outburst in the 5th inning gave Wilmington the 6-5 win at Frederick. In that inning, Brett Eibner hit a grand slam.

Whit Merrifield led off the game with a solo homerun (one of his two hits). The offensive outburst made a winner of Greg Billo, who allowed four runs on four hits and two walks over six innings (he allowed two homeruns).

The wild game of the night went to Kane County, as they scored three runs in the bottom of the 9th inning to beat Clinton, 8-7. Orlando Calixte hit a walk-off solo homerun with two outs (and he didn’t make an error).

The Cougars had 15 hits. The 2-5 hitters (Daniel Mateo, Jorge Bonifacio, Lane Adams, Michael Antonio, and Calixte) went 13-for-23 with eight runs scored and eight RBIs.

All of the KC Royals affiliates won on Saturday (including the Royals)!

After a crazy 9th inning that sent the game into extra innings, Johnny Giavotella hit a walk off homerun to send the Omaha fans happy with a 10-9 win. Gio went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBIs.

Oklahoma City scored four runs in the top of the 9th inning after Omaha scored two runs in the bottom of the 8th inning. The Storm Chasers then scored two runs in the bottom of the 9th inning to send the game to the tenth. Max Ramirez and Anthony Seratelli hit solo homeruns in the 9th inning (Ramirez went 2-for-4 with three RBIs).

In the pitcher’s duel for NW Arkansas and Tulsa, the Naturals got the best performance in their 2-1 victory. Jake Odorizzi allowed just one run (a solo homerun to Josh Rutledge) over 7.1 innings. He allowed two hits and one walk while striking out 11.

The Naturals collected nine hits. John Whittleman went 3-for-4 with a run scored. Carlo Testa went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a stolen base.

Down 2-0, Wilmington scored three runs in the 2nd inning and another in the 3rd inning and never looked back in their 8-3 win at Potomac.

Brian Fletcher went 4-for-5 with a run scored. Brett Eibner went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBIs. He hit his fourth homerun of the season.

Greg Billo got the win, as he allowed three runs on four hits and two walks over 5.2 innings. He struck out five. The Blue Rocks bullpen did not allow a run or walk over the final 3.1 innings. Nick Rogers allowed one hit while striking out three over two shutout innings.

Kane County scored two runs each over the final two innings en route to their 7-4 victory over Beloit. Brooks Pounders earned the victory despite blowing the save. He allowed three runs (one earned) over three innings. Orlando Calixte‘s 17th error, a wild pitch, and all three hits Pounders allowed came in the 6th inning.

Santiago Garrido got the no decision, despite allowing an unearned run on five hits over five innings. He struck out four.

Runey Davis hit a two-run homerun (he went 2-for-2) and Daniel Mateo went 2-for-3 with a run scored.

On Monday night, with the hot Salem Red Sox in town, the Wilmington Blue Rocks ended their five-game losing streak by ending the Red Sox’ five-game winning streak.

The Blue Rocks offense was patient against Salem starter Drake Britton, who they faced last week. They put some hits together against reliever Pete Ruiz, who relieved Britton in the third inning. They then received three shutout innings of relief from Jon Keck en route to their 8-3 victory.

Following the game, manager Vance Wilson talked about the outing by starter Greg Billo, the relief effort from Keck and then Nick Rogers, and the offense coming together.

Did you think facing Britton twice in a week helped?

“Yeah, you know the last time we faced him, he was on. Obviously from his numbers, we knew he could get wild. I thought our guys did a really good job being patient and seeing which guy we were going to get. Didn’t swing at any bad pitches for the most part and we were lucky to get him out of there,” Wilson said.

Right fielder Geulin Beltre had his best day of the season after really struggling so far. He went 3-for-4 with three RBIs:

That's my hot dog from tonight

It’s Dollar Dog Night at the Wilmington Blue Rocks game, as they welcome the Salem Red Sox to town. My dad is really excited about the hot dogs. I’m interested in the game itself (though I think I’ll be eating a hot dog too).

The Blue Rocks and Red Sox met exactly a week ago in Salem and the two teams split the four-game set. This series in Wilmington will also be a four-game set. That means that some of the same pitching matchups should meet up.

Tonight, Salem will send Drake Britton to the mound. Britton had a year to forget last season in the Carolina League and his return wasn’t anything to get excited about (though he is still ranked #16 in Baseball America’s top prospects). Until last week’s start against the Blue Rocks. He allowed one hit and two walks over five shutout innings. He struck out seven. Can Britton build on this start, or will the Blue Rocks offense make adjustments in their second-go-round?

Britton will again be opposed by Blue Rocks starter Greg Billo. In their first meeting, Billo allowed three runs on eight hits and two walks over 4.1 innings. He has struggled to find the kind of success he had last season in the Midwest League.

Salem has a roster chock full of prospects, including pitcher Matt Barnes, who was promoted today and the Blue Rocks will miss him this series. Barnes is ranked #8, as the Red Sox first round pick out of UConn.

Outfielder Jackie Bradley, who was Whit Merrifield’s teammate on South Carolina’s National Championship team, is the Red Sox #10 prospect according to Baseball America. Fellow outfielder Brandon Jacobs is #6. Shortstop Xander Bogaerts is ranked #2. Second baseman Sean Coyle is #14. Wednesday’s starter Brandon Workman, a second round pick in 2012 out of the University of Texas, is #15. Catcher Christian Vazquez rounds out the prospect list at #29.

» Continue reading “Dollar Dog Night in Wilmington”