Royals on the Farm 5/24

AAA -- Omaha: O-Royals 3, Oklahoma 2 (8/G1)

1B Butler 0-2, HBP -- .330
CF Gathright 2-3, BB, 2 RBI (17), K, picked off, E (1) -- .308
3B Aviles 1-3, RBI (27) -- .326
DH Brazell 1-3, 2B (3), K -- .383
C LaRue 0-2, S -- .000
LF Maier 0-3 -- .267
RF Padilla 1-2, BB, 2 RS -- .254
SS Blanco 0-1, 2 S -- .161

Shiell 6 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 5 K, HRA -- ND, 2.43 ERA
Musser 2 IP, BB, K -- W, 2-0, 0.00 ERA

Omaha was held silent by former Royal P Mike Wood but rallied late to force "extras" in a planned 7-inning game and won in the 8th. SP Jason Shiell gave up a solo homer to RedHawks 2B Tug Hulett, the second batter of the game, and Oklahoma had a 1-0 lead. Wood took a no-hitter into the 6th as Shiell dodged a couple bullets to keep the score at 1-0. With 1 on and 1 out in the 6th, Joey Gathright broke up the no-no with an RBI single that also tied the game. Neal Musser replaced Shiell with 2 on and 0 out in the 7th and allowed a sac fly to give the RedHawks a 2-1 lead. Craig Brazell doubled to lead off the Omaha 7th and Mike Aviles drove home pinch runner Richie Lewis with a single to tie the game once more and force extra innings. Jorge Padilla led off the Omaha 8th with a single and Wood was pulled for A.J. Murray with 1 out and Padilla at second. Gathright came through again with a walkoff single that scored Padilla to give Omaha the 3-2 win. Oklahoma C Nick Trzesniak was 2-3 to set a .667 BA, Hulett (son of former major leaguer Tim Hulett) was 1-4 with his 2nd homer and 19th RBI to move to .312 and Wood took the loss with 3 ER on 4 hits and 2 walks with 2 Ks to drop to 3-1 with a 2.58 ERA.

O-Royals 10, Oklahoma 6 (7/G2)

LF Butler 1-2, 2 BB, HR (9), 4 RBI (29), 2 RS -- .333, clutch grand slam
1B Brazell 2-4, 2 HR (11), 3 RBI (21), K, 2 RS -- .391, flammable
2B Lewis 2-2, SF, 2B (4), 3 RBI (6), RS -- .208
SS Aviles 2-3, 2B (10), RS -- .331
RF Maier 2-3, 2 2B (7), 2 RS -- .274
CF Gathright 0-3, BB, RS -- .301
DH LaRue 0-3, HBP, K -- .000
C Tupman 1-2, BB, RS -- .320

Markray 3 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, BB, K -- 4.50 ERA
Giron IP, 3 ER, 2 H, BB, 2 K, HRA -- 5.59 ERA
Ray 2 IP, ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 2 K, HRA -- W, 2-1, 4.76 ERA
Buckner IP, H, 2 K -- 3.50 ERA

Craig Brazell had another 2 homer game and a 7-run outburst in the 6th got Omaha the comeback win and the 4-game sweep of the RedHawks. SP Thad Markray gave up 2 runs on 3 hits in the 2nd but a Richie Lewis sac fly in the 3rd cut the lead to 2-1. Roberto Giron came in for the 4th and allowed a solo homer by RedHawks RF Kevin West to make it 3-1 Oklahoma. Brazell cranked a 2-run homer off RP Franklyn German in the bottom of the 4th to tie the game and mark his 10th at AAA. The Royals stranded 2 in the inning and Oklahoma got a 2-run single by LF Jason Botts off Ken Ray in the 5th to take a 5-3 lead. A leadoff homer by 3B Dave Matranga off Ray in the 6th made it 6-3 RedHawks when Omaha came up in the bottom of the inning. With the bases loaded and 1 out, Lewis singled 2 runs home and a Gathright walk reloaded the bases. With 2 out, Butler stepped up versus RP Michael Bumstead and took a 2-0 pitch out of the park to left for a grand slam that made it 9-6 Omaha. Brazell followed with his 11th homer and Omaha had a 10-6 lead. Billy Buckner gave up a leadoff double in the 7th but set the next three down in order to end it. Omaha is 23-24 and 3 1/2 games back. Matranga was 2-3 with his 1st double, 3rd homer, 3 RBI (11) and 1st SB to move to .270, Botts was 2-4 with his 13th double and 2 RBI (36) to move to .270 and West was 2-4 with his 3rd homer and 10th RBI to move to .262. RP A.J. Murray took the loss with 5 ER on 3 hits and 2 walks with 2 Ks in 1 IP to drop to 2-2 with a 5.82 ERA.

The O-Royals start a 4-game home set versus the New Orleans Zephyrs (23-25, AAA Mets) tonight. Probable starters: Zephyrs LH Adam Bostick (2-3, 5.55) vs. RH Zach Day (1-0, 2.93). Butler received a curtain call from the Omaha fans for his grand slam. Omaha is 1-3 versus New Orleans thus far. Three of those 4 went into extras and all were 1-run games.

AA -- Wichita: Frisco 11, Wranglers 4

LF Valentin 2-4, E (2) -- .266
3B Eure 1-4, HR (2), 2 RBI (8), RS -- .245
SS Falu 1-4, BB, 2 RBI (10), K, CS -- .244
1B Stodolka 1-4, 2 K, RS -- .291
DH Gaffney 1-4, K, RS -- .318
CF Greenberg 1-2, BB, HBP, 2B (8), K, RS -- .222

Rosa 1 2/3 IP, 7 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, K, HRA, E (1) -- L, 2-2, 4.75 ERA, oooooof
Santos 2 1/3 IP, 2 UER, 2 H, 2 BB, K -- 4.15 ERA
Atencio 2 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 3 K, HRA -- 4.32 ERA
Tamayo 1 2/3 IP, K -- 0.00 ERA

Carlos Rosa got hammered for a change and Wichita dropped its 4th straight in taking the sweep from Frisco. Jeff Eure hit a 2-run homer in the top of the 1st off SP Doug Mathis for his 2nd homer and the Wranglers surged ahead. That surge came to an abrupt halt in the Frisco 2nd when Rosa gave up 5 runs on 5 hits, 2 walks and his own throwing error and Arthur Santos came in and gave up a 2-run double to make it 7-2 Frisco. Irving Falu hit a 2-out, 2-run single in the 4th to cut it to 7-4 but Santos gave up a 2-run double in the bottom of the inning to make it 9-4. RP Greg Atencio gave up a leadoff homer to 1B Adam Fox in the 5th and walked in a run in the 7th. Wichita managed only 2 hits after the 4th. Wichita is 21-26 and 4 1/2 games back. Frisco C Salomon Manriquez was 3-4 with 2 doubles (4) and 3 RBI (20) to move to .291, 3B Travis Metcalf (former KU player) was 2-4 with his 12th double and 2 RBI (29) to move to .299 and 2B German Duran was 1-3 with his 10th homer and 2 RBI (23) to move to .287. Mathis got the win despite 4 ER on 5 hits and 2 walks with 5 K over 5 IP to move to 4-3 with a 2.53 ERA.

The Wranglers start a 3-game set at the Midland RockHounds (27-15, AA Athletics) tonight. Probable starters: Wichita lefty Jason Cromer (2-3, 6.21) vs. Midland righty Michael Madsen (3-0, 1.45, 0.87 WHIP, I prefer to call him Mr. Blonde or Budd, myself). Midland's roster features A's prospects C Landon Powell (.208 BA, .623 OPS), 3B Jeff Baisley (.274 BA, .788 OPS) and OF Richie Robnett (.224 BA, .639 OPS, team leading 27 RBI).

A-Adv. -- Wilmington: off day

Wilmington starts a 3-game set at the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (19-26, A-Adv. Braves) tonight. The Blue Rocks are 2-5 versus the Pelicans thus far. Probable starters: Rocks RH Blake Johnson (2-4, 4.30) vs. Pelicans RH Jairo “J.C.” Cuevas (0-6, 5.35).

A -- Burlington: Bees 3, Great Lakes 2

3B Mertins 1-3, BB, RBI (19), K, SB (10) -- .243
LF Dickerson 1-3, BB, K, 2 RS, 3 SB (11) -- .267
CF Robinson 1-4, K -- .247
SB McConnell 0-2, 2 BB, SB (7) -- .218
SS Bianchi 0-3, BB, K -- .257

Mozingo 5 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 5 K -- W, 3-5, 4.18 ERA
Hartsock 1 1/3 IP, H -- 1.96 ERA
Chambliss 2 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 4 K, WP -- SV, 2, 1.64 ERA

RP Tyler Chambliss had a shaky 9th but held on for his 2nd save as Burlington earned a 4-game split versus the Loons. With 2 outs and a man on second in the 3rd, Derrick Robinson singled and an error by pitcher Clayton Kershaw allowed the runner to score to make it 1-0 Bees. With 2 out and Joe Dickerson on first in the 4th, Dickerson stole second and advanced to third on another Loons error before pulling off a straight steal of home to give the Bees a 2-0 lead. Dickerson walked and stole second in the 6th before Kurt Mertins singled him home to make it 3-0. Chambliss stranded 2 in the 8th after SP Harold Mozingo and Aaron Hartsock pitched 7 scoreless innings. Chambliss gave up a leadoff single and RBI double before loading the bases with no outs. A K was followed by a sac fly to cut the lead to 1 but Chambliss struck out DH Adolfo Gonzalez to end it. Burlington is 19-25 and 10 games back. Great Lakes 2B Preston Mattingly was 2-4 with his 4th double and 12th RBI to move to .190, RF James Peterson was 1-2 with 2 walks and his 4th double to move to .391 and Kershaw took the loss with 4 IP of 2 R (1 ER) on 3 hits and 3 walks with 7 Ks to drop to 4-2 with a 2.79 ERA.

The Bees start a split 4-game set with the Clinton LumberKings (27-17, A Rangers) tonight. Probable starters: Bees RH Josh Cribb (1-2, 4.45) vs. Clinton LH Mike Ballard (5-3, 4.60). The Bees are 2-2 versus Clinton thus far. As I predicted at one point earlier this season, P Brent Fisher was put on the DL with a rotator cuff strain (he wasn't the same pitcher as the last couple seasons) and P Henry Barrera has been brought up from extended ST. Barrera started the season in Burlington but was sent down after it was determined he had an "illegal delivery," whatever that means.