Royals on the Farm 6/14

Some good news to kick off today's RotF report: KC has signed a whopping 26 draft picks, including the following (draft round in parentheses): RHP Mitch Hodge (4th); SS Fernando Cruz (6th, good signing); OF Hilton Richardson (7th, athleticism's the word); RHP Casey Feickert (8th); RHP Greg Holland (10th); OF David Lough (11th, another pick I'm glad to see signed); C Sean McCauley (12th round, had said he was leaning toward college ball); RHP Alex Caldera (13th round); RHP Matt Mitchell (14th round); C Ryan Eigsti (15th round, defensive specialist); CF Patrick Norris (16th round, switch hitter); RHP Ivor Hodgson (17th round, reliever, I think); C Joe Billick (19th round); RHP Mike Lehmann (20th round); RHP Ben Norton (24th round); 1B Clinton Robinson (25th round, got size at 6-5); RHP Nate Lovell (26th round); RHP Dane Secott (27th round); SS Kyle Martin (29th round, Texas Tech product); 1B Brett Amyx (30th round, got Robinson beat at 6-6, great bat AND glove at U Texas-Tyler, another signing I greatly advocate); 1B Jake Lane (32nd round, solid 1B); OF Wilson Tucker (33rd round, put up good stats at Belmont U); C Tom Hill (34th round); 2B Mike Bionde (36th round); RHP Clegg Snipes (40th round); and 3B Devery Van De Keere (48th round, yes...one of my favorite name guys signed). That's more than half the KC draft right there -- the Royals still need at least the top 3 to sign. No word yet as to the assignments for any of the '07 draft picks signed.

AAA -- Omaha: O-Royals 3, Iowa 1

DH Butler 1-4, BB, 3B (1), K, RS -- .280, flashing some speed
1B Brazell 3-4, BB, 3 2B (14), RBI (30) -- .322
3B Brewer 2-3, BB, RBI (3), RS -- .211
SS Berroa 1-5, RBI (16) -- .271
CF Maier 1-5, 3 K -- .280
LF McCarthy 1-4 -- .250, Omaha debut for newest Royal Bill
C Tupman 0-4, K -- .320
*Omaha left 10 on base.

Buckner 7 IP, ER, 11 H, 6 K -- W, 5-2, 4.76 ERA, nice start
Hoelscher 2 IP, BB, K -- SV, 1, 3.79 ERA

Omaha starter Billy Buckner bent but didn't break as the Royals averted a sweep with a win in the series finale. The Royals stranded 2 in the 1st and Iowa left a runner at third before Omaha struck in the 2nd on a Jace Brewer RBI single for a 1-0 lead. Billy Butler led off the 3rd with his first triple of the season and scored on a Craig Brazell double to make it 2-0. Iowa threatened in the 3rd as they started the inning with three straight singles but RF Jorge Padilla kept a run from scoring and the Royals got a double play by nailing runners at home and third. Angel Berroa singled home a run in the 6th to give Omaha a 3-0 lead and the Cubs finally got to Buckner with a run in the 6th. Buckner stranded 2 in the 7th and handed the ball to Nate Hoelscher with 2 on and no outs in the 8th. Hoelscher left the bases full and pitched a perfect 9th to end it for his 1st save of the season. Omaha is 33-34 and 6 1/2 games back. Iowa SS Ronny Cedeno was 4-4 with his 7th double, 1st triple, 6th error and a RS to move to .347, LF Micah Hoffpauir was 2-4 with his 57th RBI to move to .315 and SP John Webb got the loss with 5 1/3 IP of 3 ER on 9 hits, 4 walks and 3 Ks to drop to 1-4 with a 6.04 ERA.

The Royals start a 4-game set at the Nashville Sounds (, AAA Brew Crew) tonight. Probable starters: Omaha RH Jason Shiell (0-2, 3.28) vs. Sounds RH Tim Dillard (3-4, 4.32). OF Shane Costa didn't even take the field for Omaha as he got recalled as Grudz hit the DL. Neal Musser also got called up to take Brandon Duckworth's place as Duckworth also hit the shelf. McCarthy, 27, is the PTBNL from the Graham Koonce deal with Atlanta made earlier this season. He was hitting .224 with 5 HR and 18 RBI in 49 games with the Bravos' AAA club in Richmond.

AA -- Wichita: Springfield 11, Wranglers 2

1B Stodolka 1-3, BB, 2B (12), RBI (25) -- .265
SS Falu 2-4, 2B (7) -- .244
RF Valentin 2-4, RS -- .296
3B Sandberg 2-4, RS, 2 E (3) -- .200
2B Gaffney 2-3, K -- .299
C Espino 2-3 -- .253
CF Greenberg 1-4, 2B (15), RBI (20), K, OF assist at home -- .250

Hochevar 4 2/3 IP, 7 R (5 ER), 10 H, 6 K, HRA, 2 WP -- L, 3-6, 5.05 ERA, hope Royals haven't screwed up his mechanics beyond repair
Santos 3 1/3 IP, 2 H, 2 K -- 3.77 ERA
Lowery 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, HRA -- 11.05 ERA, game called in the 9th because of rain

Luke Hochevar had yet another tough game and Wichita got pounded by Springfield. A solo homer in the 1st and 2 runs on 3 hits, a Hochevar wild pitch and Jared Sandberg error gave the Cardinals a 3-0 lead. Irving Falu hit a 1-out double in the 3rd and Geraldo Valentin singled only to see Falu nailed at the plate by Cards CF Colby Rasmus. Mike Stodolka doubled Valentin home to cut the lead to 3-1 but Wichita stranded 2 in the inning. Hochevar didn't survive the 5th as the Cardinals scored 4 runs on 5 hits, a wild pitch and hit batsman to make it 7-1. Adam Greenberg doubled in Wichita's second run in the 6th but the damage had been done. RP Devon Lowery allowed 4 more Springfield runs in the 9th on 2 walks, an RBI single and 3-run homer before the rain mercifully ended the game. Wichita is 25-41. Cards C Bryan Anderson was 3-4 with 2 RBI (26) and 2 RS to move to .304, SS Tyler Greene was 2-5 with his 17th double, 8th HR and 4 RBI (24) to move to .245 and Rasmus was 1-4 with his 11th homer and 39th RBI to move to .267. SP Kevin Ool got the W with 6 IP of 2 ER on 12 hits and 3 Ks to improve to 4-2 with a 5.14 ERA.

Game 3 is tonight. Probable starters: Springfield righty Mitch Boggs (5-3, 4.24) vs. Wichita righty Leo Nunez (1-0, 0.82). IF Jeff Eure was put on Wichita's DL and IF Valentino Arce was brought up from Wilmington to take his place.

A-Adv. -- Wilmington: off day

The Blue Rocks start the final set of the first half at home versus the Winston-Salem Warthogs (36-30, A-Adv. ChiSox) tonight. Wilmington is 3-7 versus the Warthogs.

A -- Burlington: Bees 8, Peoria 6

LF Dickerson 3-5, 2B (11), 2 RBI (20), SB (17) -- .262
C Morizio 2-2, 2 BB, SF, 2B (8), 2 RBI (15), RS -- .248
CF Robinson 2-5, 3B (2), 2 RBI (9), K, SB (13), 2 RS -- .260
2B Mertins 1-4, BB, RBI (26), RS, 2 SB (19) -- .274
DH Everett 1-4, BB, RBI (20), 2 RS -- .288
SS Bianchi 1-5, RS, SB (4) -- .248
RF Walton 0-4, 3 K -- .000, Bees debut

Mozingo 6 IP, 6 ER, 7 H, BB, 5 K, 2 HRA -- W, 6-5, 4.04 ERA
Wladyka 1 1/3 IP, 2 H -- 13.50 ERA
Hayes 1 2/3 IP, H, K -- SV, 4, 4.54 ERA

Burlington came out ahead in a shootout with the Chiefs to take the 4-game sweep. Joe Dickerson hit a 2-run single in the 1st to get Burlington started but starter Harold Mozingo gave up a 2-run homer ro RF Yusuf Carter in the 2nd to tie it. Brady Everett hit an RBI ground out in the 3rd to make it 3-2 Bees but Peoria retaliated with 2 runs on 3 hits in the bottom of the frame to take a 4-3 lead. It was Burlington's turn in the 4th as the Bees scored 3 runs on a 2-out, 2-run triple by Derrick Robinson and a Kurt Mertins RBI single to take a 6-4 lead. Again, the Chiefs didn't quit as Carter stepped up and slammed another 2-run homer off Mozingo to tie the game in the bottom of the inning. A Matt Morizio sac fly gave the Bees a 7-6 lead and Morizio took a bases-loaded walk in the 9th to make it 8-6. RP Chris Hayes got Carter to ground into a game-ending double play for his 4th save. Burlington is 29-37. Carter was 2-4 for Peoria with 2 HR (9) and 4 RBI (39) to move to .258, 3B Josh Lansford was 1-4 with 2 RBI (29) to move to .277 and RP Don Walters took the loss with 2 IP of an ER on a hit and walk with a K to drop to 0-1 with a 5.00 ERA.

The Bees finish their first half with 3 at the Kane County Cougars (22-44, A Athletics) starting tonight. Probable starters: Burlington's Josh Cribb (1-5, 6.55) vs. Kane County's Henry Alberto Rodriguez (3-3, 2.93).