Royals on the Farm 4/16

AAA -- Omaha: O-Royals 8, Albuquerque 5

LF Butler 2-3, 2 BB, 2 RS, E (1) -- .341 (.442 OBP), fielding error for Billy
RF Maier 3-5, 2 RBI (4), K, RS, E (1) -- .298, nice day for Mitch
SS Aviles 2-4, BB, 2 RBI (5), RS -- .302
DH Costa 2-5, RBI (3), RS -- .221
1B Huber 1-3, BB, HBP, 2B (2), 2 RBI (3), RS -- .211
C Tupman 1-4, BB, RBI (3) -- .304
3B Berroa 0-5, E (4) -- .357
CF Gathright 0-2, 4 BB (!), RS, 2 SB (5) -- .220 (.439 OBP), musta been walk night at Rosenblatt -- 10 walks by 2 'Topes
* The Royals left 13 on base.

Day 3 IP, 3 R (2 ER), 2 H, 3 BB, K -- ND, 4.70 ERA, still on long road back
Wright 4 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 6 K -- W, 1-2, 3.38 ERA
Shiell 2 IP, H, BB, 4 K -- 1.17 ERA

The O-Royals came back from a 3-run deficit with a big 4th to propel them to the 3-run win. Zach Day made his third rehab start and gave up 2 doubles with 2 out in the 1st. The second one scored 2 runs to make it 2-0 Albuquerque. The Royals stranded 2 in the 1st and left the bases full in the 2nd before the Isotopes padded their lead with a sac fly after an Angel Berroa fielding error. Omaha stranded 2 again in the 3rd before breaking through in the 4th with a 2-out RBI single by Shane Costa. Albuquerque starter Jeff Fulchino issued his 7th walk of the game and was pulled for RP Nic Ungs, who gave up back-to-back 2-run singles by Mike Aviles and Mitch Maier to make it 5-3 Omaha. The Isotopes tied it off RP Matt Wright in the 6th but Omaha regained the lead that inning on an RBI double by Justin Huber and an RBI single by Matt Tupman. Maier drove home a run with a single in the 7th for some insurance and Jason Shiell pitched the final 2 innings to lock down the win. Omaha is 5-7 and 1 1/2 games back of first. Isotopes LF John Gall was 2-3 with 2 doubles (6) to move to .395 and DH Chad Hermansen was 2-3 with his 5th double and 3 RBI (6) to move to .414. Ungs took the loss in relief to drop to 0-1 with a 4.00 ERA.

Oddly, the Omaha newspaper on-line and the O-Royals website has the final score at 9-5 but I can't find a ninth run anywhere in the game log, so I'm going with 8-5. A 4-game home set with the Round Rock Express (, AAA Astros) begins tonight. Pitchers for game 1: Express RH Fernando Nieve (0-1, 6.75) vs. LH Tyler Lumsden (1-1, 7.56). The Royals are 1-3 vs. Round Rock thus far but Nieve took the loss in the Royals' win. Lumsden also got beat around in his start vs. the Express.

AA -- Wichita: San Antonio 6, Wranglers 1

RF Padilla 2-4, RBI (4), 2 K, CS -- .483
1B Brazell 1-3, BB -- .343
SS Brewer 0-3, E (4) -- .312
LF Lubanski 1-3, BB, K, RS -- .250
DH Stodolka 0-4, 3 K -- .200, rough night for Mike
3B Lewis 1-4, 2 K, E (1) -- .250

Elarton 3 IP, 3 R (1 ER), 5 H, K -- L, 0-1, 3.00 ERA, first rehab start
Connolly 3 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, BB, 2 K -- 9.45 ERA
Plummer 2 IP, 2 H, BB, 2 K -- 1.29 ERA

Two 3-run innings helped the Missions drop Wichita to a 4th straight loss. Scott Elarton made his first rehab start for Wichita and allowed only 1 hit through 2 IP before hitting trouble in the 3rd. Jace Brewer's 4th error put runners at the corners with 1 out and Elarton gave up a 2-run double and a 2-out RBI double to give San Antonio a 3-0 lead. Jorge Padilla hit a 2-out RBI single in the 4th but the Wranglers stranded 2 in the inning. Mike Connolly came in for the 4th and gave up 3 runs in the 5th thanks in part to Richie Lewis' 1st error as a Wrangler to make it 6-1. Wichita stranded 4 runners thereafter in dropping the game. Wichita is 5-6 and now tied for first with Tulsa. Missions LF Peter Ciofrone was 3-4 with his first 2 doubles and 2 RBI (8) to move to .355, RF Will Venable was 3-5 with his 3rd double and an RBI (4) to move to .400 and 3B Chase Headley was 1-4 with his 5th double and 2 RBI (9) to move to .295.

The series wraps tonight. Pitchers: Wichita TBD (altho I think it's Luke Hochevar's turn) vs. the Missions' Sean Thompson (2-0, 0.75).

A-Adv. -- Wilmington: rainout

The game with the Kinston Indians will be made up in June. The series continues tonight as righty Carlos Rosa (1-0, 0.00) takes on Kinston lefty Ryan Edell (0-0, 1.80 ERA). The Blue Rocks are 2-2 versus Kinston this season.

A -- Burlington: Bees 7, Kane County 0 (1-hitter)

3B Maddox 2-5, HR (2), 3 RBI (9), K, 2 RS -- .333
1B Turner 2-5, 2B (2), HR (1), 2 RBI (3), 2 K, RS -- .182
SS McConnell 2-5, RBI (4), K, RS, SB (2) -- .222
RF Gonzalez 0-3, SF, RBI (2), K -- .136
CF Morel 2-4, BB, 2 2B (3), K, RS -- .241
LF Dickerson 1-4, RS -- .360
2B Mertins 0-4, BB, K, RS, SB (3) -- .207

Mozingo 6 IP, 0 ER, H, 5 K -- W, 1-1, 1.64 ERA, great game
D'Amico 3 IP, K -- SV, 1, 2.25 ERA

Harold Mozingo and Yovany D'Amico mowed through the Cougars and the Bees got the 2-day, 3-game sweep. The Bees started the game off on the right note in the 1st with 4 runs on a Chris McConnell RBI single and a 3-run homer by Marc Maddox for his 2nd of the season. The Cougars chipped in 3 errors in the inning. Mozingo gave up the lone hit in the 2nd and Jase Turner cranked a 2-run homer in the 3rd for his 1st of the season to make it 6-0 Burlington. An O.D. Gonzalez sac fly in the 5th made it 7-0 and Mozingo and D'Amico retired the last 13 Kane County batters. Only the hit and a Mozingo HBP kept the Bees from perfection. The Bees are 7-2 and a game back of Clinton for first. RF Jermaine Mitchell had the Cougs' only hit to go 1-3 and improve to .167. KC starter John Herrera took the loss with 6 R (5 ER) over 4 IP to drop to 0-1 with a 5.00 ERA.

A 4-game set at the Fort Wayne Wizards (2-5, A Padres) starts tonight. Bees LH Ryan DiPietro (0-0, 6.00) starts vs. RH Andy Underwood (1-0, 0.00). The Fort Wayne roster features Friars OF prospects Cedric Hunter (hitting only .160 with a .530 OPS now) and Kyler Burke (.240/.656 in same categories) along with pitching prospects Aaron Breit (0-2, 11.57 ERA, yikes) and Drew Miller (0-1, 3.60).