Royals on the Farm 4/22

AAA -- Omaha: Memphis 10, O-Royals 5

DH Butler 3-5, 2B (4), HR (5), 4 RBI (20), 2 K, 2 RS -- .344, wants to come to KC, I'd think
2B Cortez 2-4, 2B (2), K -- .278
CF Gathright 1-4, BB, K, RS -- .254
SS Berroa 1-5, 2 K -- .294
LF Costa 1-3, 2 BB, 2B (3), 2 RS -- .321, wants to ride back with Billy
RF Maier 0-5 -- .254
C Tupman 1-3, BB -- .324
1B Huber 0-4, K, E (1) -- .135

Lumsden 3 IP, 7 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, 3 K, HRA, 2 WP -- L, 1-3, 8.83 ERA, not quite ready for prime time?
Markray 3 IP, ER, 2 H, BB, K, HRA -- 2.25 ERA
Hoelscher 2 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, K -- 7.50 ERA, time to go back to AA

Tyler Lumsden got roughed up...again...and the Redbirds took the second of the first two with Omaha. After Joey Gathright bunt grounded out to lead off the game (I'm shaking my head at manager Mike Jirschele right now, altho I know Joey is speedy), Omaha stranded 2 in the first and Memphis quickly struck for 4 runs off Lumsden on a 2-run double, RBI single and RBI ground out. Lumsden pitched in with 2 walks and 2 wild pitches in the inning. In the 3rd, Lumsden gave up a 2-run homer to Memphis 1B Tagg Bozied, who had hit the RBI single in the 1st, and another RBI double made it 7-0 Redbirds. RP Thad Markray came in for the 4th and allowed a leadoff homer to RF Nick Stavinoha in the 5th to make it 8-0. Billy Butler doubled home Shane Costa and scored on a wild pitch in the 6th to cut it to 8-2 but Memphis got both runs back in the 8th off RP Nate Hoelscher thanks in part to a Justin Huber error. With 2 out in the 9th, Butler cranked a 3-run homer for his 5th of the season to cut it to 10-5 but Mitch Maier flew out in the next AB to end it. Omaha is 7-11 and 4 1/2 games back. Bozied was 2-3 with his 3rd homer and 3 RBI (14) to move to .222, Stavinoha was 2-3 with his 3rd homer and 6th RBI to move to .240 and LF Ryan Ludwick was 1-3 with his 4th double and 2 RBI (14) to move to .333. Memphis starter Mike Smith got the win with 2 ER on 4 hits and 4 BB with 6 K over 6 IP to move to 2-2 with a 4.12 ERA.

Game 3 of the 4-gamer is tonight. Pitchers: Omaha RH Dewon Brazelton (0-3, 5.14) vs. LH Chris Narveson (1-1, 5.00). SS Andres Blanco has been put on the DL with a sore knee. IF Richie Lewis has been promoted from Wichita to take Blanco's place for the time being. Lewis was hitting .260 in 15 games with Wichita. Brian Bannister is also expected to get called up and take Brandon Duckworth's rotation slot as Duckworth moves to the pen.

AA -- Wichita: Wranglers 7, Arkansas 3

C Donachie 2-4, 2B, HR (1), 3 RBI (3), 2 K, RS -- .118
LF Lubanski 2-3, BB, HR (3), RBI (8), RS, CS -- .296
RF Padilla 1-4, HR (1), RBI (6), 2 RS -- .364
3B Lucas 2-4, 2B, RBI (4) -- .280
2B Lewis 2-4, 2B, RBI (6), K, RS -- .260
CF Joseph 1-5, 2 K -- .303
DH Brazell 1-4, K -- .327
1B Stodolka 1-3, BB, RS -- .234

Hochevar 7 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 7 K, 2 HRA -- W, 2-1, 3.27 ERA
DeHoyos IP, K -- 0.00 ERA (through 7 2/3 IP so far)
Plummer IP, H, BB -- 1.12 ERA

A 5-run inning helped Wichita come back from a 3-0 deficit Sunday. SP Luke Hochevar gave up a 2-out single and then a 2-run homer to SS Sean Rodriguez in the 1st to put Wichita behind the 8-ball early, 2-0. Hochevar stranded 2 Trav runners in the 2nd but gave up a solo shot to Rodriguez in the 3rd to make it 3-0 Arkansas. Wichita broke the ice off Travs starter Dan Davidson in the 4th as Jorge Padilla hit his 1st homer of the year -- a solo shot -- to cut the lead to 3-1. As Hochevar settled down with perfect 5th and 6th innings, Wichita took command with 5 runs in the bottom of the 6th on an RBI double by Richie Lewis (Chris Lubanski was thrown out at the plate on the play), a 3-run homer by Adam Donachie for his 1st of the season, and an RBI single by Ed Lucas to make it 6-3 Wichita. Lubanski went solo for his 3rd homer of the year in the 7th and, after Gabe DeHoyos set down the 10th-12th straight batters for Arkansas, RP Jarod Plummer stranded 2 runners in the 9th to lock down the victory for Hochevar. Wichita is now 7-9 and in a 3-way tie for first with Arkansas and Tulsa. Rodriguez was 2-4 with 2 HR (4) and 3 RBI (8) to move to .346 and Davidson took the loss with 4 R (1 ER) on 8 hits and 2 BB with 4 Ks over 5 2/3 IP to drop to 0-3 with a 2.49 ERA.

The Wranglers start a 4-game set at the Springfield Cardinals (5-8, AA guess who) Monday. Pitchers are Wichita's Mike Connolly (0-0, 9.45 ERA) and Springfield's Chris Lambert (0-1, 2.87). Springfield's roster includes Cards' top prospect OF Colby Rasmus (.222 BA, .707 OPS thus far), C Bryan Anderson (.316 BA, .918 OPS), P Jaime Garcia (1-1, 2.81), OF Cody Haerther (DNP so far) and IF Tyler Greene (.205 BA, .634 OPS), not to mention OF Joe Mather, who currently leads the minors with 7 HR and has a 1.326 OPS.

A-Adv. -- Wilmington: off day

The Blue Rocks got a needed day off to lift weights and take BP as the offense stinks. Wilmington starts a 4-game set at the Frederick Keys (6-7, A-Adv. O's) tonight. The Keys feature Orioles' top pitching prospect Brandon Erbe (0-0, 3.78 ERA) and Robin's son 1B Dustin Yount (.036 BA, .223 OPS, yikes, unfortunately didn't get all of Robin's baseball genetics, as he's 24 and struggling in A-Advanced). Blue Rocks righty Carlos Rosa (1-1, 0.53) takes on Frederick righty David Hernandez (1-1, 5.79) in game 1.

A -- Burlington: Dayton 2, Bees 0

3B Maddox 2-4 -- .360
LF Dickerson 1-4, K -- .304
C Morizio 1-2, BB, K -- .167
2B Mertins 0-3, BB, K -- .182

Cribb 5 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 3 K, HRA -- L, 0-1, 2.08 ERA
DiPietro and Hayes -- 3 IP scoreless relief

Dragons starter Daryl Thompson stopped the Bees in their tracks as Burlington scraped together only 4 hits and 2 walks in the loss. One pitch was all that counted in the game as Bees SP Josh Cribb gave up a 2-run homer to CF Drew Stubbs in the 3rd. Burlington got the tying run on in the 9th but Joe Dickerson struck out to end the game. Other than that, the Bees hadn't really threatened. Burlington is 9-6 and a game back of first. Stubbs was 2-4 with his 2nd homer and 2 RBI (9) to move to .357, C Eddy Rodriguez was 2-3 to move to .312 and SS Chris Valaika was 0-4 with 3 Ks and his 5th E to drop to .423. Thompson got the win with 6 IP of 3 hits and 6 Ks to move to 3-0 with a 0.53 ERA. Jose Rojas picked up his 3rd save with 2 scoreless IP to keep his ERA at 0.00.

The series continues tonight with game 3. Pitchers: Bees RH Angelo Morales (3-0, 1.32) vs. Dragons RH Rafael Gonzalez (2-0, 0.00).