Royals on the Farm 4/26

AAA -- Omaha: O-Royals 8, Nashville 4

LF Butler 1-5, 2 K, picked off -- .333
DH Gathright 3-4, HBP, RBI (8), RS, picked off -- .269
SS Berroa 3-5, RBI (5) -- .318
1B Huber 2-4, 2 RBI (6), K, RS -- .184
3B Aviles 2-4, BB, RBI (10), K, 2 RS -- .311
2B Lewis 1-2, BB, SF, 2 RBI (3), RS, SB (1) -- .333, doing better at AAA than AA
RF Costa 1-5, 2B (5), 2 K, RS -- .348
CF Maier 0-2, 2 BB, K, RS -- .259

Elarton 5 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 8 H, BB, 0 K, HRA, WP -- W, 1-1, 5.91 ERA, getting back to mediocre form
Standridge and Musser 3 1/3 IP scoreless relief -- welcome back to Omaha

Two rallies got the O-Royals the win in the opener with the division-leading Sounds Thursday. SP Scott Elarton gave up a 2-out RBI single in the 2nd to spot Nashville the 1-0 lead but the Royals came back with 4 in the 2nd on a 2-out rally. The Royals hit 4 straight singles in the inning, including RBI hits from Justin Huber, Joey Gathright and Angel Berroa. The last run of the inning came thanks to a Sounds fielding error on a ball hit by Shane Costa and Omaha had a 4-1 lead. Elarton gave up 2 runs in the 3rd on 3 hits and a sac fly and Nashville cut the lead to 4-3. A Richie Lewis sac fly in the bottom of the inning made it 5-3 and Elarton settled down until giving up a solo homer to 1B Brad Nelson in the 6th. Nashville stranded the tying run at third versus Jason Standridge in the 7th and Omaha rallied for 3 in the bottom of the frame on RBI singles by Mike Aviles, Lewis and Huber to get some insurance at 8-4. RP Neal Musser stranded 2 in the 8th and had a perfect 9th as Omaha got the win. Omaha is 8-13 and 5 1/2 games back of the Sounds. Nelson was 2-3 for Nashville with his 4th HR and 8th RBI to move to .348 and 3B Ryan Braun was 0-4 with a sac fly for his 15th RBI to drop to .319. SP Zach Jackson took the loss with 5 R (4 ER) on 7 hits and 3 walks with 5 K over 5 IP to drop to 3-2 with a 4.10 ERA. He also had 2 wild pitches.

The series goes to game 2 tonight in Omaha. Probable starters: Sounds RH R.A. Dickey (1-2, 7.00) vs. RH Zach Day (0-0, 3.38).

AA -- Wichita: Springfield 6, Wranglers 2

DH Brazell 2-3, BB, RBI (10) -- .338
RF Padilla 1-3, HBP, RBI (8), 2 K -- .358
LF Lubanski 1-4, BB, 2B (4), RS -- .303
1B Stodolka 1-4, K -- .236
2B Valentin 0-4, SB (1) -- .143
*The Wranglers left 10 on base.

Christensen 4 IP, ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 4 K, HRA -- ND, 3.78 ERA
Hughes 2 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K, HRA -- L, 0-2, 4.72 ERA
Cromer 2/3 IP, 2 BB -- 5.40 ERA
Santos IP, 2 ER, 3 H, BB, HRA -- 5.40 ERA

The Wranglers came back to take a late lead but the bullpen couldn't hold it as Springfield scored 5 late runs to win. SP Danny Christensen stranded 2 runners over the first 3 innings but gave up a 2-out solo homer to 1B Joe Mather in the 4th to give the Cards a 1-0 lead. Wichita couldn't make any headway against SP Mitch Boggs and, when Boggs was pulled to start the 7th, the Wranglers took advantage. A 2-out single and walk from RP Michael Cooper were followed by RBI singles from Craig Brazell and Jorge Padilla to give Wichita a 2-1 lead. The lead lasted only 2 batters into the bottom of the 7th as RP Dusty Hughes gave up a leadoff double to Mather and a 2-run homer to C Bryan Anderson to give Springfield the 3-2 lead. P Jason Cromer came in with 2 on and 1 out and ended up walking in the 3rd run of the inning to make it 4-2 Cards. RP Arthur Santos gave up a leadoff homer to Mather (the first batter he faced) in the 8th to pad the Cardinals' lead and an RBI single later in the inning made it 6-2. Wichita went down in order in both the 8th and 9th. Wichita is 8-11 and 1 1/2 games back. Mather was 3-4 with his 5th double, 2 HR (9, leads the minors) and 2 RBI (14) to move to .361, Anderson was 2-2 with 2 walks, his 2nd homer and 2 RBI (8) to move to .318 and CF Colby Rasmus was 0-4 with 2 K to drop to .203. RF Juan Encarnacion was 0-5 but stole a base. RP Kevin Ool got the win with 2 1/3 IP of hitless relief to move to 1-0 with a 1.17 ERA. Boggs allowed only 5 hits and 3 walks with 4 K over 6 IP to drop his ERA to 3.20.

A 4-game set at the Arkansas Travelers (8-12, AA Angels) starts today. Wranglers righty Luke Hochevar (2-1, 3.27) is set to go against Travs lefty Dan Davidson (0-3, 2.49). Royals lefty John Bale is set to make a rehab start in game 2 Saturday. Wichita is 1-3 versus Arkansas thus far. In other news, Carlos Rosa got the call up from Wilmington, so he will join the Wranglers likely in Little Rock.

A-Adv. -- Wilmington: Frederick 2, Blue Rocks 1

CF Duarte 2-4, 2B (2), K, SB (4) -- .284, seven-game hit streak
C Thibault 1-3, BB, 2B (3), RBI (4), K -- .261
2B Perez 1-4, 2B (2), K, E (2) -- .286
3B Lisson 0-4, 2 K -- .221
1B Vega 1-4, 2B (2), 2 K, RS -- .200

Cortes 4 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 3 K -- L, 0-1, 4.50 ERA, season debut
Pimentel 4 IP, 2 H, 2 K -- 3.00 ERA, looked sharp thus far

The Keys earned a series split with one 2-run inning. Miguel Vega led off the 2nd with a double off Keys SP Brandon Erbe and Kiel Thibault drove him home with a 1-out double to give the Rocks a 1-0 lead. The Keys got the first 2 runners on off SP Dan Cortes in the 4th but Cortes fought back to get 2 outs before giving up a 2-run single to 1B Mark Fleisher to give Frederick a 2-1 lead. The Blue Rocks stranded 2 runners over the middle innings and stranded potential tying run Jose Duarte at third in the 8th before going down in order in the 9th to end it. Wilmington is 6-13 and 5 games back. Fleisher was 1-2 with a walk, his 2nd E and 2 RBI (5) to move to .188, LF Jacob Duncan was 1-3 with a RS to keep his BA at .333 and Erbe picked up the W with 6 IP of an ER on 5 hits with 7 Ks to move to 1-0 with a 3.18 ERA. He retired 14 of 16 after Thibault's RBI. RP Richard Salazar picked up his 1st save with 1 1/3 hitless IP.

The Blue Rocks move on Friday to start three at home versus the Winston-Salem Warthogs (, A ChiSox). Pitching probables for game 1: Rocks righty Patrick Green (0-1, 3.38) vs. WS southpaw Ryan Rodriguez (first appearance). The Rocks are 0-3 versus the Warthogs thus far in '07. Rosa's promotion to Wichita cleared the way for the 20-year-old Cortes to join the Blue Rocks from extended ST. Cortes was piece #2 behind Tyler Lumsden in the Mike MacDougal deal.

A -- Burlington: Bees 7, Quad Cities 3

RF Gonzalez 2-3, HBP, 2B (2), 2 RBI (5), K, 2 RS -- .191
C Everett 2-3, BB, 2 2B (5), RS -- .273
LF Dickerson 1-4, 2 RBI (9) -- .278
SS McConnell 1-4, BB, 2 RBI (8), K, CS -- .250
3B Maddox 0-4, 3 K -- .339
2B Mertins 1-3, BB, K -- .194
DH S. Lucas 1-1, 3 BB, 3 RS -- .212

Santiago 7 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 3 K -- W, 1-1, 2.42 ERA, nice start
Campbell 2 IP, ER, 3 H, BB, 2 K, WP -- 1.02 ERA

Two innings worth of offense drove the Bees to the series opening victory. SP Mario Santiago gave up single runs in the 2nd and 3rd to give Quad Cities a 2-0 lead but the Bees got a run back in the bottom of the 3rd on a 1-out RBI double by O.D. Gonzalez. As Santiago retired 12 straight Swing batters, the Bees moved ahead in the 5th with a 2-run single by Joe Dickerson. The lead grew with 4 Bees runs in the 6th on a bases loaded HBP by Gonzalez, 2-run single by Chris McConnell and a Swing error that scored a run to make it 7-2. P Matt Campbell gave up a run in the 8th but didn't allow the Swing to pose much of a threat in closing out the game. The Bees are 10-8 and 1 1/2 games back of first. Swing 1B Brandon Buckman was 3-4 with his 17th RBI to move to .309, SS Christian Lopez was 1-4 with his 4th RBI and 1st E to move to .326 and SP Tyler Herron took the loss with 4 2/3 IP of 3 ER on 5 hits and 2 BB with 3 K to move to 0-3 with a 5.94 ERA.

The series wraps on the Burlington side tonight before shifting to the QC for 2 more games. Pitching probables for game 2: Bees RH Harold Mozingo (2-1, 3.38) vs. Swing RH Mike Schellinger (0-2, 4.50). The Bees have had some roster changes. As expected, SP Angelo Morales was put on the DL with shoulder problems, righty P Yovany D'Amico was brought back from extended ST, OF Jarrod Dyson was put on the bereavement list for the second time this season for a death in the family (first time was for his father, this time his grandma -- condolences go to Dyson) and speedy OF Derrick Robinson will get his first taste of full season minor league action by joining the Bees. No word yet on how long Morales will be on the shelf, but the Burlington Hawk Eye reports it's at least 2 weeks.