Royals Win on Walk-Off HBP

Burlington, NC - The Burlington Royals (5-20) got their first walk-off win of 2018 when Jose Marquez was hit by a pitch to score Jackson Lueck and complete a 6-5 win over the Johnson City Cardinals (9-14) on Saturday.
The game was scoreless through the first three frames, but the Cardinals struck first in the fourth, taking a 1-0 lead.
The Royals answered with two runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth, on Juan Carlos Negret's third home run of the season.
Johnson City went ahead again in the fifth inning, scoring four runs off Burlington Starter Austin Cox.
Trailing 5-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Royals tied the game with three runs. Rhett Aplin scored on a wild pitch, and then Lueck blasted a game-tying home run to make it 5-5.
Thanks to four scoreless innings of relief work from Marlin Willis, the game remained 5-5 until the bottom of the ninth inning. In that inning, Lueck led off with a double, Bhret Bewley and Hunter Strong walked, and then Marquez was hit by a pitch to end the game.
With the win, the Royals pick up victory number five of the season and will look to clinch a series win Sunday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. from Burlington Athletic Stadium.
The Burlington Royals are the Appalachian League affiliate of the Kansas City Royals.
Single-game tickets are on sale now. Call 336-222-0223 or visit www.burlingtonroyals.com for more information.
WP - Marlin Willis (2-1)
LP - Jacob Sylvester (1-1)
Highlights:
Jackson Lueck - 3-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R
Juan Carlos Negret - 2-run HR
Jose Marquez - 2-3, RBI, walk-off HBP
Marlin Willis - 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K