Royals on the Farm 4/11

AAA -- Omaha: Round Rock 2, O-Royals 1

LF Butler 1-4 -- .250
RF Maier 2-4, CS -- .222
DH Costa 1-4, HR, RBI, RS -- .100
CF Gathright 0-4, 2 K -- .185
SS Blanco 1-3 -- .083
1B Koonce 0-2, 2 BB, K -- .278
3B Aviles and 2B Cortez, both 1-4, K -- dropped to .391 and .353
* Berroa and Huber got their second straight day off.

Day 3 IP, ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 0 K -- ND, 3.86 ERA
Wright 5 IP, ER, 3 H, 2 K, pickoff, E (missed catch) -- L, 0-2, 2.89 ERA

Two rough innings were enough to cost Omaha the game Wednesday. The game was scoreless going into the bottom of the 3rd when SP Zach Day gave up a leadoff double and a 2-out RBI single to make it 1-0 Express. Shane Costa got the run back in the 4th with a leadoff homer for his 1st of the season, and RP Matt Wright came in because of Day's pitch count and allowed a double, HBP, steal of third and an RBI single before recording an out. He only allowed 1 more hit and 2 more baserunners thereafter but the damage, amazingly, was done. The Royals stranded 2 in the 6th and got 2 on with 1 out in the 9th but failed to rally as a Mitch Maier force out and Fernando Cortez ground out ended the game. Omaha is 2-5 and 2 games out of first. Express RF Hunter Pence was 1-4 with his 4th RBI to move to .174, LF Josh Anderson was 1-3 to move to .273 and SP Matt Albers got the win with 7 IP of an ER on 6 hits and a walk with 5 K to move to 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA. Former Royal Miguel Asencio picked up his 2nd save with 2 solid IP.

The series finale is tonight. Pitchers: Omaha LH Tyler Lumsden (1-0, 0.00) vs. RH Juan Gutierrez (0-0, 1.80).

AA -- Wichita: off day

The Wranglers start a 4-game set at the defending TL champ Corpus Christi Hooks (1-4, AA Astros) tonight. The teams split a winter weather-plagued opening series, 1-1. SPs Luke Hochevar and Troy Patton lock horns again in the opener tonight. Patton got the best of Hochevar in a 5-1 season opening Hooks win April 7.

A-Adv. -- Wilmington: Kinston 2, Blue Rocks 1 (11)

2B Perez 2-4, 2B, K -- .286
CF Bigler 1-5, RBI, 2 K -- .111
DH Vega 1-4 -- .280
LF Santana 1-3, S, RS, SB (2) -- .200 -- that's it, only 5 hits in 11 innings
IF Johnson 0-3, BB, K -- .143
3B Lisson 0-4, K, CS -- .130
C Balduf E (1), pickoff

Hardy 6 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, BB, 3 K -- ND, 0.00 ERA, nice start
B. Johnson 4 IP, ER, 3 H, BB, K, HRA -- BS, 1, 4.00 ERA
Humen 1/3 IP, UER, 2 H, K, WP -- L, 0-1, 0.00 ERA

Manager John Mizerock and the impotent Wilmington offense suffered another narrow loss Wednesday to drop a second straight to Kinston by a 2-1 count. Neither team could muster more than 1 hit per inning until Kinston got 2 in the 5th off Rowdy Hardy but Wilmington struck first in the 6th when an Ethien Santana leadoff single was followed by a steal of second and advance to third on an Indians throwing error, and a 1-out single by Brett Bigler gave the Blue Rocks a 1-0 lead. Blake Johnson relieved Hardy to start the 7th and gave up a homer to the first batter he faced -- Kinston 1B Stephen Head -- to tie the game. Johnson got out of a jam in the 8th and the game went to the bottom of the 11th at a 1-1 deadlock. David Humen came in for Wilmington and started the half-inning by giving up back-to-back singles. A strikeout for the first out was followed by C Todd Balduf throwing the ball away on a pickoff attempt to allow the runners to get to second and third and a Humen wild pitch to the next batter brought the winning run home. The Rocks are 2-5 and 3 games back of first. DH Max Ramirez was 2-4 with a HBP for Kinston to move to .312, Head was 2-5 with his first homer and RBI of the season to move to .200 and Topeka native Jerad Head was 0-2 with a walk to sit at .000. Humen took the loss while Kinston RP T.J. Burton pitched a perfect 11th for the win.

The series wraps tonight before Wilmington returns home to Delaware for its home opener. Pitchers: Wilmington righty Chris Nicoll (0-1, 6.75) vs. Kinston lefty David Huff (0-0, 2.25). Huff was the No. 1 pick of the Indians last year out of UCLA.

A -- Burlington: snowout

The game was rescheduled as part of a doubleheader today at Cedar Rapids. Angelo Morales will start the opener for Burlington vs. the Kernels' Tim Schoeninger.