Royals on the Farm 5/9

AAA -- Omaha: Sacramento 10, O-Royals 2

RF Padilla 1-4, HR (2), 2 RBI (3), 2 K, RS -- .250
CF Gathright 1-4, SB (7) -- .306, finally back from "leg cramps"
2B Berroa 1-3, S -- .303
3B Aviles 0-4 -- .317
DH Brazell 0-4, K -- .000, AAA '07 debut
C Phillips 1-2, 2 BB, RS, PB (4) -- .154
LF Maier 0-4 -- .250
1B Cortez 1-4 -- .311
SS Blanco 0-3 -- .111

Wright 4 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 K, HRA -- ND, 4.34 ERA
Markray 2 1/3 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, BB, K -- L, 2-1, 3.80 ERA
Giron 2 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, BB, 2 K, HRA -- 4.12 ERA

None of the three Royals' pitchers Wednesday was immune to getting roughed up by Sacramento as the RiverCats evened the series at 1 game each. Starter Matt Wright gave up a 2-run homer in the 1st to CF Hiram Bocachica and, although Joey Gathright reached on a bunt single to lead off the Royals' 1st (hey, it finally worked), Omaha left the bases loaded in the inning. Wright stranded 2 in scoring position in the 4th and the Royals finally struck back as Jorge Padilla hit a 2-run homer for his 2nd of the season at AAA in the bottom of the inning to tie it at 2. Thad Markray came in to pitch the 5th and allowed 3 runs on 4 hits and a sac fly as Sacramento roared back ahead and Sacramento starter Colby Lewis retired 9 straight after the Padilla homer. Markray gave up an RBI double in the 7th and a 1-out single by Fernando Cortez in the bottom of the inning was followed by Lewis retiring another 5 straight into the 9th. RP Roberto Giron had 2 on with 2 out in the Sacramento 8th when he gave up a 3-run homer to SS J.J. Furmaniak to make it 9-2. An RBI double off Giron in the 9th made it 10-2 and the O-Royals didn't threaten in their half of the 9th. Omaha is 15-18 and 3 games back. Bocachica was 2-4 with his 6th homer, 6th SB and 3 RBI (22, along with 3 RS) to move to .324, Furmaniak was 2-5 with his 6th double, 6th homer and 3 RBI (16) to move to .297 and RF Jason Perry was 2-4 with his 2nd RBI to move to .455. Lewis got the win with 8 IP of 2 ER on 5 hits and a walk with 3 K to move to 4-1 with a 2.42 ERA.

The series continues tonight with game 3. Probable starters: RiverCats LH Dan Meyer (1-0, 0.87) vs. Omaha RH Ben Hendrickson (2-2, 5.97).

AA -- Wichita: Wranglers 5, Springfield 3

3B Lucas 1-4, HR (2), 2 RBI (10), K, RS -- .301
C Donachie 1-3, BB, RBI (7), 2 K, RS -- .186
DH Valentin 1-4, 2B (2), RBI (10), K -- .250
1B Stodolka 1-2, 2 BB, 2 RS -- .309
LF Lubanski 1-3, BB, RS, SB (2), CS (5) -- .288

Rosa 7 IP, 3 ER, 10 H, 2 K, HRA -- W, 1-0, 2.41 ERA, not beautiful but solid
DeHoyos 2 IP, 3 K -- SV, 1, 1.15 ERA, 0.77 WHIP

The Wranglers had half the hits as Springfield did but did more with them along with 5 BB to win the series opener. After 2 perfect innings from SP Carlos Rosa, the Wranglers gave him some run support in the 3rd on a wild pitch that scored Adam Donachie to make it 1-0. The Cards got a 1-out double that looked to drive home a run in the bottom of the inning but RF Onil Joseph threw the runner out at the plate via relay man 2B Irving Falu and Rosa got out of the inning unscathed. Chris Lubanski walked to lead off the Wichita 4th and Ed Lucas followed with his 2nd homer of the season before a Donachie RBI single made it 4-0 Wranglers. Springfield finally got to Rosa in the 5th as 2B Jarrett Hoffpauir hit a 2-run homer off Carlos to cut the lead in half. A Geraldo Valentin RBI double off SP Jaime Garcia in the 6th got the run back but Springfield scored once in the bottom of the 6th to make it 5-3. The defense struck again in the 7th as Rosa gave up a 2-out double to LF Sean Danielson but CF Adam Greenberg nailed him trying to stretch it into a triple via relay man SS Jace Brewer. Danielson pulled a Berroa by making the third out at third. Lubanski did the same in the 8th as Wichita had 2 on with 1 out but Valentin struck out and Lubanski was nailed trying to steal third. Gabe DeHoyos took over for Rosa in the 8th and pitched 2 perfect innings of relief for his 1st save of the season. Wichita is 16-16 and 1/2 a game back of Tulsa. Danielson was 2-4 with his 4th double to move to .414, SS Tyler Greene was 2-3 with his 6th double to move to .237 and Hoffpauir was 1-4 with his 4th homer and 2 RBI (12) to move to .289. Rehabbing OF Juan Encarnacion is still hitting only .154 for Springfield and Garcia took the loss with 5 1/3 IP of 5 ER on 4 hits and 4 walks with 3 Ks to drop to 1-2 with a 3.94 ERA.

The teams will play a doubleheader today to make up an earlier rained-out game. Probable starters: Game 1: Wichita lefty Mike Connolly (2-0, 5.09) vs. Cards lefty Eric Haberer (2-1, 3.29). Game 2: Wranglers lefty Dusty Hughes (0-2, 4.00) vs. Cards righty Jose Garcia (1-1, 4.11).

A-Adv. -- Wilmington: Blue Rocks 10, Lynchburg 0

LF Peralta 2-4, 2B (1), 2 RBI (2), K, RS -- .500, Felix's A-Advanced debut
CF Duarte 2-5, 2 2B (7), RBI (10), K, 2 RS -- .280
DH Kaaihue 1-3, SF, 2B (3), 2 RBI (15), K, RS -- .196
RF McFall 2-3, RBI (10), RS, OF assist at home -- .234
3B Maddox 1-4, BB, RBI (7), 2 RS -- .300
C Clark 1-3, BB, RBI (5), RS -- .273
2B Perez 0-2, 2 BB, RBI (5), K -- .259
SS Lisson 1-4, BB, 2B (7), 2 RS -- .257
SS Arce 0-1 -- .256, hit streak snapped at 9 games

B. Johnson 5 IP, 6 H, 2 BB, 4 K -- W, 2-2, 2.97 ERA
Haltiwanger 3 IP, 2 H, 3 K -- 5.84 ERA, best outing yet
D'Amico IP, 2 H -- 0.00 ERA

The Blue Rocks' three pitchers gave up 10 Lynchburg hits but none scored a run as Wilmington won its sixth straight in runaway fashion. The Rocks wasted no time as Jose Duarte led off the bottom of the 1st with a double and scored on a Marc Maddox single before a Kila Kaaihue sac fly plated Maddox to make it 2-0. Starter Blake Johnson got into a little trouble in the 2nd with 2 on and 1 out but Hillcats RF Brad Corley flied out to Brian McFall in right and McFall nailed the runner from third on a 2-hopper at the plate to end the inning. Wilmington broke out in force in the 3rd as the Rocks scored 6 in the frame on a Duarte RBI double and then, with 2 out, RBI singles by McFall and Cody Clark, a bases loaded walk drawn by Wilver Perez and a 2-run single by Felix Peralta, who was making his Wilmington debut Wednesday. Johnson loaded the bases but got out of it in the 4th before stranding 2 in the 5th. Wilmington made it 10-0 with 2 in the 6th on an RBI double by Kaaihue and a Lynchburg error that scored a run. RP Russ Haltiwanger stranded 2 in the 7th but had a perfect 8th before Yovany D'Amico stranded 2 in the 9th to end it. Wilmington is white hot at 15-17 but still 3 1/2 back in the Carolina League Northern division. Lynchburg 1B Jason Delaney was 2-4 to move to .327, LF Jamie Romak was 2-3 with his 3rd double to move to .250 and SS Dan Schwartzbauer was 2-5 to move to .276. Hillcats SP Kyle Bloom took the loss with 8 ER on 6 hits and 2 BB with 3 K over 2 2/3 IP to move to 2-3 with a 6.21 ERA.

The Blue Rocks go for the sweep tonight. Probable starters: Wilmington righty Chris Nicoll (0-3, 4.33) vs. Lynchburg lefty Brian Holliday (0-0, 1.46). Peralta took OF Andrew Larsen's roster spot as Larsen hit the DL with his dislocated ankle.

A -- Burlington: Bees 6, Clinton 4

DH Bianchi 3-5, 2B (2), RBI (3), 2 RS -- .333
SS McConnell 3-5, K, RS -- .252
3B Thompson 2-5, HR (7), 4 RBI (19), 2 K, RS -- .239
C Morizio 1-4, HR (1), RBI (6), 2 K, RS -- .244
LF Dickerson 2-5, K, RS, CS -- .280
RF Gonzalez 2-4, 2B (6), K -- .229

Fisher 4 IP, ER, 4 H, BB, 4 K, HRA, WP -- ND, 5.68 ERA, better than last couple starts
DiPietro 4 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 6 K -- W, 1-1, 4.57 ERA
Chambliss IP, K -- SV, 1, 0.66 ERA

The Bees outlasted the LumberKings and took advantage of 3 Clinton errors to snap a 5-game skid Wednesday. Jeff Bianchi doubled with 2 out in the 1st and scored on a Mike Thompson single to give the Bees a 1-0 lead. The game stayed that way into the 4th when Matt Morizio hit a solo homer for his 1st of the season to make it 2-0 Bees. SP Brent Fisher gave up a solo homer to 3B John Whittleman in the bottom of the inning to cut it to 2-1 but the Bees put some space between the two teams with 3 in the 5th on a Bianchi RBI single and 3-run homer by Thompson for his 7th of the season to make it 6-1. Ryan DiPietro came in to pitch the 5th for Burlington and loaded the bases on a double and 2 walks before an RBI single and a 2-run Whittleman double cut it to 6-4. DiPietro settled down to get out of the inning and, along with Tyler Chambliss, kept Clinton in check for the rest of the game. Burlington is now 13-18 and 6 games back. Whittleman was 2-4 for Clinton with his 11th double, 5th homer and 3 RBI (19) to move to .333, LF K.C. Herren was 2-4 to move to .333 and DH Chad Tracy was 2-4 with his 25th RBI to move to .290. Clinton SP Michael Ballard took the loss with 8 IP of 6 ER on 11 hits with 14 Ks (wow) to move to 3-3 with a 5.85 ERA.

The series continues tonight as it shifts to Burlington. Probable starters: Bees LH Everett Teaford (1-3, 4.82) vs. Clinton RH Omar Poveda (3-0, 2.19). Burlington activated C Ross Boudreaux from the DL Wednesday.