With his workload steadily increasing, Royals' right-hander Christian Binford continues to perform. On Monday night, Binford pitched his longest outing of the year, going six innings to notch his first victory. The Royals won the rubber game against the Pulaski Mariners by a score of 5-3.

Binford was solid over the first five innings of work. He allowed three hits during that stretch and only allowed one runner to get into scoring position. The starter began to taper off toward the end of his start. Binford gave up three runs on three hits in his sixth and final inning of work, but held on to put himself in line for the win.

On the offensive side, the Royals struck first in the second inning. Two leadoff walks and an error by Pulaski handed Burlington the game's first run. Then, Fred Ford singled through the right side to plate another. The Royals could have had more if not for miscues on the bases, but they would deliver again when Cameron Gallagher homered to begin the fourth.

The fifth inning turned out to be the most crucial for Burlington. Terrance Gore led off with a walk, then Humberto Arteaga singled up the middle. Gore was running on the pitch and made it from first to third, while Arteaga advanced to second on the throw to third. That brought Bubba Starling to the plate with the Mariner's infield pulled in. Starling singled past the diving glove of second baseman Martin Peguero, scoring both runners and giving the Royals the 5-0 lead. That hit and those RBI's turned out to be the difference in the game.

After Freddy Rodriguez pitched well for 1.2 innings, John Walter came in to collect the save. The righty retired all four batters he faced to notch his seventh save of the season, tying him for second in the league.

With the win, Burlington improves to 4.5 games ahead of the Danville Braves for first place in the Appalachian League East. The Royals play a doubleheader on Tuesday night in Danville to start a four-game series. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 5 p.m.