Royals on the Farm 4/17

AAA -- Omaha: Round Rock 5, O-Royals 1

LF Butler 0-4 -- .312
RF Costa 3-4 -- .286
DH Maier 1-4, HR (1), RBI (5), RS -- .294
SS Aviles 1-4, 2B (2), K -- .298
CF Gathright 0-2, 2 BB, K -- .209
3B Berroa 0-4 -- .312
1B Huber 0-3, BB, 3 K -- .182

Lumsden 6 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, BB, 3 K, HRA -- L, 1-2, 6.28 ERA, no run support
Ray IP, 2 ER, H, 2 BB, 2 K -- 7.11 ERA, looks like Dayton whiffed on this one
Musser and Hoelscher -- 2 hitless IP of relief

After beating Fernando Nieve around in their first matchup, the O-Royals got shut down by Nieve over 6 IP and the Express took the series opener. SP Tyler Lumsden gave up two singles to start the game and a double play ball scored Round Rock's 1st run to make it 1-0 in the 1st. Joey Gathright bunted out to leadoff the game, again, and the Omaha offense struggled with 2 hits and 2 runners stranded through 4 innings. Lumsden gave up a leadoff homer to C Eric Munson in the 5th and an RBI double later in the inning made it 3-0 Round Rock. Ken Ray came in for the 7th and quickly allowed 2 walks and a 2-run double to make it 5-0. RP Jared Gothreaux replaced Nieve in the bottom of the 7th and gave up a solo homer to Mitch Maier for his 1st AAA HR to cut the lead to 5-1. The Royals stranded 2 in the 8th but didn't threaten again. The O-Royals are 5-8 and 1 1/2 games back of first. Express 1B Mark Saccomanno was 2-3 with 2 doubles (4) and 3 RBI (9) to move to .296 and RF Hunter Pence was 0-4 with a K and an OF assist at second to drop to .304. Munson's HR was his 2nd and Nieve got the win with 6 IP of 3 hits and 3 walks to move to 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA.

The series continues tonight. Pitchers: Express RH Juan Gutierrez (0-1, 3.60) vs. RH Dewon Brazelton (0-2, 6.75).

AA -- Wichita: Wranglers 4, San Antonio 0

1B Brazell 2-4, HR (5), RBI (7), K, RS -- .359
2B Falu 2-5, RS -- .186
DH Lewis 1-3, BB, 2 RBI (5) -- .257
RF Padilla 1-3, BB, RBI (5) -- .469
CF Greenberg 1-3, 2 BB, 3B (2), K, RS, SB (2) -- .220

Hochevar 7 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 11 K -- W, 1-1, 3.00 ERA, awesome line, 0 BB:11 K
DeHoyos 1 1/3 IP, K -- 0.00 ERA

Luke Hochevar pitched to his potential and the Wranglers snapped their 4-game skid by blanking the Missions. Wichita stranded runners in the 2nd and 3rd but Hochevar was perfect through 3 1/3 IP. The Wranglers loaded the bases with 1 out in the 5th thanks in part to an error by Missions 3B Chase Headley (a college teammate of Hochevar's), and Jorge Padilla followed with an RBI single. Richie Lewis hit a 2-out, 2-run single and Wichita took a 3-0 lead off Missions starter Sean Thompson. San Antonio's only other base runner was on a ground-rule double in the 6th and the Wranglers picked up an insurance run in the 8th on a leadoff homer by Craig Brazell for his 5th of the season. Gabe DeHoyos got the last 4 outs for Wichita after Hochevar left with an 11-K game in 7 2/3 IP. Wichita is 6-6 and still tied with Tulsa atop the division. Missions LF Peter Ciofrone was 1-4 with his 3rd double and a K to move to .343, Headley was 0-3 with a K and his 2nd error to drop to .277 and RF Will Venable was 0-3 with 2 K to drop to .368. Thompson took the loss with 3 UER on 4 hits and 6 walks over 4 2/3 IP to drop to 2-1 with an 0.54 ERA.

Wichita has the day off Wednesday in preparation for a 4-game home set with the Arkansas Travelers (4-8, AA Angels). You gotta figure this is a rivalry that's gonna heat up next year when the Wranglers move to Northwest Arkansas. The Travs' roster features Angels top pitching prospect Nick Adenhart (2-0, 0.79 ERA), SS prospect Sean Rodriguez (.343 BA, .489 OBP, 1.117 OPS) and P Jose Arredondo (0-1, 2.45 ERA).

A-Adv. -- Wilmington: Kinston 4, Blue Rocks 1

SS Arce 1-3, RBI (3) -- .233
3B Lisson 1-4, 2 K -- .237
DH Vega 1-4, 2 K, RS -- .243
2B Johnson 0-3, BB, K -- .156
CF Duarte 0-4, K, E (1), OF assist at second -- .105

Rosa 6 1/3 IP, ER, 4 H, 3 K -- L, 1-1, 0.53 ERA, tough luck loss, no run support
Haltiwanger 1 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, BB -- 10.80 ERA, ignominious debut for guy from Keppinger trade
Oliveros IP, ER, 2 H, K -- 3.86 ERA

Kinston starter Frank Herrmann was in lockdown mode and an already struggling Blue Rock offense didn't need that to happen as the Rocks lost another game. Luckily, though, SP Carlos Rosa was on the mound to help keep Wilmington in the game as he lost despite another great start. Mario Lisson hit a 2-out single in the 1st but that would be the only hit allowed by Herrmann, who retired 16 straight before getting pulled to start the 7th. Rosa, meanwhile, got out of a 2-on, 2-out jam in the 3rd and was pulled in the 7th with a runner on second and 1 out. RP Russ Haltiwanger, who came over from Cincinnatti in the offseason in the Jeff Keppinger deal, made his organizational debut and got a pop out but then gave up a 2-run double and an RBI double to give the K-Tribe a 3-0 lead. Valentino Arce singled home a run in the 8th but Kinston got the run back in the 9th with an RBI base hit off Rayner Oliveros. Wilmington is 4-7 and 3 games back of first. Kinston 2B Brian Finegan was 1-4 with his 3rd double and 2 RBI (7) to move to .217, Topeka product Jerad Head had an RBI double in going 1-2 with his 1st RBI of the season to move to .143, and 1B Stephen Head was 2-4 with his 3rd double, a RS and his 2nd E of the season to move to .250. Herrmann picked up the W with 1 hit and 6 Ks over 6 IP to move to 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA. RP Scott Roehl picked up his 2nd save and kept his ERA at 0.00 as well.

The weather-shortened series wraps tonight as Wilmington sends righty Blake Johnson (0-1, 4.00) and lefty Rowdy Hardy (0-0, 0.00) against Kinston lefty David Huff (0-0, 2.25).

A -- Burlington: Fort Wayne 2, Bees 1

3B Thompson 1-3, 2B (2) -- .217
1B S. Lucas 0-3, RBI (4), K -- .250
LF Dickerson 0-4, RS -- .310
CF Morel 1-4, OF assist at second -- .242
SS McConnell 0-4, K -- .194
2B Mertins 0-3, BB, K -- .188

DiPietro 4 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 7 K, 2 WP -- L, 0-1, 4.91 ERA
Cribb 3 2/3 IP, 5 K -- 0.00 ERA, perfect in season debut

While Ryan DiPietro was solid for the most part and Josh Cribb was great in Tuesday's opener with the Fort Wayne Wizards, the theme of no run support in the Royals' minors carried on as the Bees managed only 2 hits in a narrow loss. Wizards OF (and Pads' hot prospect) Cedric Hunter hit a 2-out single in the 1st, advanced to second on a wild pitch by DiPietro and scored on a single by 1B Daryl Jones to give Ft. Wayne a 1-0 lead. DiPietro gave up a 2-out double and RBI single in the 3rd to make it 2-0 and Wizards starter Andrew Underwood handed a no-hitter to the bullpen in the 7th. RP Rolando Valdez came in for the 8th for Ft. Wayne and gave up a double to Mike Thompson to break up the no-no before a Scott Lucas RBI ground out got the Bees on the board. Burlington left the tying run at third, tho, and stranded runners in the 9th to end the game. Burlington is 7-3 and still a game back of first. Hunter was 1-2 with a walk, K and RS for the Wizards to move to .185 and 3B Rayner Contreras was 1-4 with his 2nd RBI and 2nd SB to move to .333. Underwood got the win with a walk and 4 K over 6 IP to move to 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA and RP R.J. Rodriguez picked up his 2nd save in the 9th and dropped his ERA to 6.00.

The series continues tonight. Pitchers: Bees LH Brent Fisher (0-0, 3.60) vs. LH Orlando Lara (0-1, 12.27).