Dateline: Fox Mill 1
On a very pleasant late summer evening, the Royals played the Diamondbacks. Eric led off with a single, Matt singled and Robbie doubled to score Eric. Matt looked sharp on the mound as he got the D-backs leadoff hitter to fly out to Justin in left. The next batter grounded back to the mound for out two. A single, hit batter and two more singles resulted in two runs. Matt settled down and got the third out. After one it was tied at Devil Rays 2 Royals 1.
Nihal led off the second with a single, Justin walked and the threat ended as Justin was picked off at first. Matt looked sharp as he got the first batter to ground out to Eric at third who fired to Ryan at first for out one. A ground out to the mound and then a pop out to Alec at short ended the D-rays half of the inning. The Royals jumped on the D-Rays pitcher in the third as Ryan walked, Eric grounded into a fielders choice. Matt singled and Eric moved to second and then third on wild pitches. Matt singled to score Eric. Robbie singled to score Matt. Jake and Cam walked. Spensor singled to score Robbie and Jake. Nihal hit a towering fly to left but it was caught for out three. Jake pitched the third and looked great as after a leadoff walked, he go the next batter to ground into a fielders choice, the leadoff man struck out and the last batter hit a sharp grounder to first where Spensor made a nice play for out three. After three it was Royals 5 Devil Rays 2.
Royals bats were quiet in the fourth. Robbie went to the mound and gave up a leadoff double, hit the next batter and walked the next batter to load the bases with no outs. He settled down and worked out of the jam by getting the next batter to ground into a fielders choice back to the mound where Robbie alertly fired back to Matt at the plate for out one. He struck out the next batter for a huge out two and the last batter hit a towering popup to Danny who made a key catch for out three.
In the fifth, the Royals picked up an insurance run as Eric and Matt walked and moved to third and second on wild pitches. Alec picked up a key RBI with a ground out to second. Eric came on in the fifth and was dominant. He struck out two batters quickly and got the last batter to ground out back to the mound. Royals went down in order in the sixth, but Eric, after giving up a ground ball that resulted in an infield error, settled down to strike out the side. Final Score: Royals 6 Diamondbacks 2.
Coach Goldstein said, “It was nice to see us put a few runs on the board. For the second game in a row we only walked one batter, so I really can’t say enough good things about our pitching.” Coach Grossman was again away on a scouting trip but said, “I’m looking forward to our next game. I can’t wait to actually be at one of our games. These scouting trips are just a pain and I’d much rather be with my team.”