Royals on the Farm 4/29

AAA -- Omaha: O-Royals 5, Nashville 4 (10)

LF Butler 0-2, 3 BB -- .337, 10-game hit streak snapped
CF Gathright 3-5, 2B (5), RBI (9), K, RS -- .309
1B Huber 2-4, BB, HR (2, walkoff), RBI (10), K, 2 RS -- .211, starting to heat up
DH Costa 1-2, 2 BB, SF, 3B (2), RBI (5) -- .355
3B Cortez 1-4, 2B (3), RBI (8), K, RS -- .279
C Phillips 1-4, RBI (2), K -- .103
RF Maier 1-5, 2B (2), K, RS -- .261
SS Aviles 0-5, K -- .322

Hendrickson 4 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 6 K, HRA -- ND, 5.26 ERA
Buckner 2 IP, ER, 2 H, BB, K -- 4.50 ERA, AAA debut
Musser 3 IP, BB, K -- 0.00 ERA
Standridge IP, H, K, WP -- W, 1-0, 0.00 ERA

Joey Gathright made a clutch play in the 9th to get the game to extras and Justin Huber brought the lumber in the 10th to get Omaha a 4-game sweep of the division-leading Sounds. The O-Royals stranded 2 in the 1st and 1 in the 3rd before Nashville scored 3 in the 4th off SP Ben Hendrickson on an RBI double and then a 2-run homer by SS Ozzie Chavez to make it 3-0. Omaha broke through in the 4th as well as Fernando Cortez hit an RBI double, Paul Phillips hit an RBI single and Joey Gathright hit an RBI force out to make it 3-3. Billy Buckner made his Omaha debut in the 5th and allowed a 2-out double and RBI single to give Nashville a 4-3 lead. The O-Royals stranded 2 in both the 5th and 6th and the game went to the bottom of the 9th at 4-3. Gathright singled to lead off the frame, was sacrificed to second by Richie Lewis and then scored on a Shane Costa sac fly to center (that's speed, taking two bases on a sac fly) to tie the game. Gathright hurt his leg on the play and had to leave the game, though. Team site reports it was a cramp and he's day-to-day. In the bottom of the 10th, Huber came up with 1 out and smoked a homer to center for his 2nd of the season to end the game. Omaha is 11-13 and 2 1/2 games back. They passed Iowa so are officially out of the cellar, at least for one day. Sounds 1B Andy Abad was 2-5 with his 3rd double and 8th RBI to move to .259, Chavez was 1-4 with his 1st homer and 2 RBI (8) to move to .259 and 3B Ryan Braun was 0-3 with 2 Ks before getting ejected in the 5th for crying about a called strikeout. RP Dennis Sarfate took his first blown save and loss with 2 ER on 2 hits and a walk over 1 1/3 IP to drop to 1-1 with a 3.75 ERA.

Omaha starts a 4-game home set with the Memphis Redbirds (13-11, AAA Cardinals) today. Probable starters for game 1: Redbirds RH Mike Parisi (2-0, 3.77) vs. rehabbing Omaha RH Luke Hudson. The O-Royals are 0-4 vs. Memphis thus far.

AA -- Wichita: Arkansas 5, Wranglers 1

2B Valentin 2-4 -- .267
3B Lucas 2-4, 2 E (3) -- .250
LF Joseph 1-4, RBI (8), SB (1), CS -- .260
DH Lubanski 1-4, K -- .308
1B Brazell 1-4, K -- .321
RF Padilla 1-4, CS -- .354

Rosa 6 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 3 K, pickoff -- ND, 0.00 ERA, very nice debut
Cedeno 2/3 IP, UER, BB, pickoff -- 3.60 ERA
Plummer 2/3 IP, 4 UER, H, HRA -- BS, 1, L, 0-1, 0.84 ERA

Carlos Rosa dueled with Nick Adenhart and neither came out the victor as all the scoring was done in the 8th in a 5-1 Wrangler loss. Rosa retired 11 straight Travs at one point while Adenhart's longest streak was 8 straight. Wichita possibly could have scored in the 7th when Jorge Padilla hit a 1-out single, but he was caught stealing before the Wranglers hit 2 straight singles and Adam Donachie struck out to end the inning. Travs RP Bill Edwards came in for the 8th and Onil Joseph hit a 1-out RBI single before Craig Brazell left the game after striking out to end the inning. RP Jarod Plummer relieved RP Juan Cedeno with 1 out and 1 on in the bottom of the 8th and 2 Ed Lucas throwing errors were sandwiched around a hit-by-pitch to bring the tying run home. Plummer then gave up a grand slam to 3B Freddy Sandoval and Arkansas made it 5-1. Wichita is 9-13 and 1 1/2 games back of first. Arkansas only had 3 hits in the game but ended up with 5 runs. Sandoval was 1-4 with a fine time for his 1st homer and 4 RBI (11) to move to .278, 2B Adam Morrissey was 1-3 with his 9th RBI to move to .316 and Edwards got the win with an ER on 4 hits over 2 IP to move to 2-1 with a 3.65 ERA. Adenhart allowed 6 hits and a walk with 4 K over 7 IP to drop his ERA to 0.80.

The series finale should be ongoing. Starters were Arkansas RHP Chris Saenz (1-1, 9.69 ERA) and Wichita LHP Jason Cromer (0-2, 5.68 ERA).

A-Adv. -- Wilmington: Blue Rocks 7, Winston-Salem 1

RF McFall 2-4, 2B (3), 3 RBI (5), K, RS -- .219
DH Kaaihue 1-4, 2B (2), RBI (8), 2 K, RS -- .182, 7-game hit streak
SS Arce 2-3, 2B (5), RS, picked off, E (5) -- .246
1B Vega 2-4, K, 2 RS -- .228
2B Johnson 1-2, 2 BB, 2 RS -- .161

B. Johnson 7 IP, 0 ER, H, 3 K -- W, 1-2, 2.59 ERA, awesome game
Hardy 2 IP, ER, 3 H, K, WP -- SV, 1, 0.87 ERA

Blake Johnson had his best start to date as a Royals farmhand and the offense picked him up late in the game to get him his first win of the season. Johnson and Warthogs SP Clayton Richard dueled back and forth to 6 1/2 shutout innings in Wilmington before the Rocks struck in the bottom of the 7th. Josh Johnson led off with a walk, Kila Kaaihue doubled him home to help chase Richard and Brian McFall hit an RBI single off RP Garry Bakker before a Bakker wild pitch scored a third run to make it 3-0 Blue Rocks. P Rowdy Hardy came in for Wilmington in the 8th and got out of a 2-on, 1-out jam before the Blue Rocks scored 4 off RP Jason Rice in the 8th on a Warthog error, a McFall 2-run double and a throwing error on a passed ball third strike that allowed another run to score to make it 7-0. Hardy gave up a 2-out RBI single in the 9th but induced a ground out to end the game without further damage. Wilmington is 8-14 and 4 games back of first. 3B Javier Castillo was 2-4 for Winston-Salem to move to .333, but the Warthogs had only 4 hits. RF Aaron Cunningham was 0-4 to drop to .358 and Richard took the loss with 3 ER on 5 hits and 2 walks with 3 Ks over 6 IP to drop to 1-1 with a 3.62 ERA.

The Blue Rocks welcome the Frederick Keys (10-10, A-Adv. Orioles) to town for 4 games starting today. Righty Chris Nicoll (0-2, 4.24) starts the opener against an unknown Keys starter. The Blue Rocks are 2-2 versus the Keys thus far.

A -- Burlington: Quad Cities 6, Bees 2

2B Mertins 1-4, 2 RBI (11) -- .200
DH Maddox 1-4, 2 K, RS -- .301
SS McConnell 1-3, HBP, RS, SB (3) -- .264
CF Robinson 1-4, 2 K, SB (1) -- .182

Fisher 4 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, 2 K -- L, 0-2, 3.32 ERA, don't like how he's been pitching -- injury????
DiPietro 3 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, K, HRA -- 4.97 ERA

The Bees managed only 5 hits and the Swing jumped all over two Bees pitchers as the Swing took 3 of 4 from Burlington. An RBI single off SP Brent Fisher in the 2nd gave Quad Cities a 1-0 lead. Three extra-base hits in the 3rd were converted to 2 runs as the Swing extended the lead to 3-0. Fisher was pulled for Ryan DiPietro in the 5th as the Bees were 1-hit by Swing SP Elvis Hernandez through 5. DiPietro gave up a leadoff homer to 2B Jaime Landin in the 6th and the Swing padded the lead with 2 runs in the 8th on 3 hits, 2 walks and a sac fly. The Bees were being shut out on 3 hits entering the 9th but got a 1-out 2-run single by Kurt Mertins to get on the board. Burlington loaded the bases with 2 out but pinch hitter Joe Dickerson struck out looking to end the game. Burlington is 10-11 and 2 1/2 games back. Landin was 3-4 for QC with his 2nd double, 2nd homer and 7th RBI to move to .294, DH Christian Reyes was 2-3 with his first 2 RBI to establish a .667 BA and Hernandez got the win with a hit and 4 Ks over 5 IP to move to 3-2 with a 2.05 ERA. P.J. Walters got a 4-inning save for his 1st of the season.

The Bees start a 4-game home set versus the Lansing Lugnuts (13-6, A Blue Jays) tonight. Lefty Everett Teaford (1-1, 2.70) will go against Lansing's Chase Lirette (2-1, 0.49) in the opener. The Lugnuts' roster features Jays' prospects OF Travis Snider (top prospect in the organization, .392 BA, 1.056 OPS thus far, and he's 19), P Kyle Ginley (0-2, 6.75) and Lirette. In some interesting news for Royals fans, Marc Maddox was called up to Wilmington and SS prospect Jeff Bianchi will join Burlington from extended ST. Here's hoping Bianchi stays healthy and rakes like in the past.