Royals on the Farm 6/16

AAA -- Omaha: Nashville 7, O-Royals 5

1B Butler 2-3, BB, 2B (8), K -- .289
LF McCarthy 2-4, 2B (1), K, RS -- .308
CF Maier 1-4, BB, HR (6), RBI (31), 2 K, RS -- .288
3B Wathan 1-4, 2 RBI (2), K, RS -- .250, Omaha debut for John's son Derek, newest Royal signee
DH Brazell 0-4, 2 K -- .316

Wright 5 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 4 K -- ND, 4.19 ERA
Giron 3 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 5 K, 2 HRA -- BS, 1, L, 0-3, 5.45 ERA

A tenuous Omaha lead fell apart late as Nashville took game 2 of the set. A sac fly in the 1st gave the Sounds a 1-0 lead but Mitch Maier tied it in the 3rd with his 6th homer of the season. The Royals loaded the bases with 1 out in the 4th and Derek Wathan made his Omaha debut a good one with a 2-run single to give Omaha the lead. Two wild pitches by Nashville starter Chris Oxspring scored 2 more runs in the inning to make it 5-1 O-Royals. Nashville trimmed the lead to 1 with 3 runs in the 5th on 3 hits and a walk off SP Matt Wright. RP Roberto Giron came on for the 6th and took the lead into the 8th before a 2-out solo homer by Nashville C Vinny Rottino tied the game. With 1 out in the 9th, Giron gave up a single and then a walkoff 2-run homer to 2B Callix Crabbe to end the game. Omaha is 33-36 and 7 games back. Rottino was 3-4 with 2 SB (10), his 7th homer and 28th RBI to move to .303, Crabbe was 2-4 with his 4th homer, 2 RBI (20) and 3 RS to move to .298 and RP Joe Thatcher got the win with 2/3 IP and a K to move to 1-1 with a 2.31 ERA. Oxspring K'd 9 despite giving up 5 ER.

Game 3 of the set is tonight. Probable starters: Omaha LH Nate Hoelscher (2-0, 3.79) vs. Sounds RH R.A. Dickey (4-4, 5.78). Hoelscher is making a spot start for Ben Hendrickson, who has "left side tightness" according to the team site. Wathan was signed away from the Long Island Ducks in the Atlantic League, where he was hitting .264 with 3 HR and 13 RBI in 36 games. Justin Huber went back on the DL with hammy problems and LHP John Bale's rehab assignment once again ceased as he strained a muscle in....how should I say....his hindquarters. At this rate, we'll be lucky if he sees action at all for KC this season.

AA -- Wichita: Springfield 6, Wranglers 5

RF Valentin 3-4, BB, 2B (7), RBI (21), 2 RS -- .305
CF Greenberg 2-5, HR (3), RBI (21), K, 2 RS -- .262
DH Lubanski 2-3, 2 BB, RS -- .296
3B Sandberg 0-3, 2 BB, RBI (2) -- .222
LF Blalock 0-4, BB, RBI (15) -- .165
C Espino 1-4, RBI (10) -- .265
1B Stodolka 1-4, BB, 2 K -- .259
*Wichita stranded 12.

Hughes 3 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 2 K, HRA -- ND, 4.03 ERA
Atencio 4 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 3 K, 2 WP -- L, 1-4, 4.19 ERA
Cromer IP, ER, H, 3 BB, 2 K -- 5.96 ERA

The game was tied into the late innings but Wichita's season continued to circle the drain as the Cardinals scored 2 late runs to win. Geraldo Valentin got Wichita off to a good start with an RBI double in the 1st and Damaso Espino hit an RBI single in the 2nd to make it 2-0. SP Dusty Hughes stranded Cardinals in each of the first 3 innings but Springfield got on the board in the 4th on a sac fly and then a 2-run homer by LF Mark Shorey to make it 3-2 Cards. Greg Atencio took over and got out of the inning but allowed a run on 2 hits, 2 walks and a wild pitch to make it 4-2. Adam Greenberg led off the 5th with his 3rd homer and Jared Sandberg hit an RBI ground out to tie the game. Wichita stranded 2 in the 7th and Shorey drove a run home in the 8th to give Springfield a 5-4 lead. RP Jason Cromer walked in an insurance run in the 9th but Wichita loaded the bases with 2 out in the 9th before Springfield RP Chris Perez walked Jake Blalock to force in a run. Mike Gaffney grounded out, tho, as Perez picked up his 18th save. Wichita is 25-43. Cards DH Bryan Anderson was 3-3 with 2 walks and his 8th double to move to .315, Shorey was 2-4 with his 2nd homer and 3 RBI (10) to move to .286 and RP Zach Zuercher got the win with 2 IP of 2 walks and a K to improve to 1-0 with a 2.81 ERA.

A 4-game set at the Tulsa Drillers (33-35, AA Rockies) starts this afternoon. Probable starters: Wichita lefty Mike Connolly (3-2, 4.55, leads Wichita SPs with more than 5 starts with 1.34 WHIP) vs. Tulsa righty Ryan Mattheus (3-4, 4.58). Wichita is 4-8 versus the Drillers. I guess 3B Ed Lucas has been diagnosed with a stress fracture in his back and won't be back until the late part of the season, if at all. He has been on the DL for a couple weeks now.

A-Adv. -- Wilmington: Blue Rocks 6, Winston-Salem 1

2B Johnson 2-4, 2B (3), 2 RBI (11), SB (2) -- .216, haven't logged much on Johnson yet this season, but he has a .350 OBP
DH Kaaihue 2-3, BB, RBI (42), K, RS -- .251
1B Vega 2-4, K, RS -- .215
C Thibault 2-4 -- .268
CF Duarte 1-4, BB, RBI (17), 2 RS, SB (18) -- .296
LF Bigler 1-3, BB, RBI (17), RS -- .240
SS McConnell 1-4 -- .125
3B Lisson 0-3, K -- .285

Hardy CG, ER, 6 H, 2 K -- W, 8-1, 1.55 ERA, 83 pitches, Wichita's gonna need him in second half

A 5-run 6th helped Rowdy Hardy notch another win but the Rocks were eliminated from the first-half playoff chase despite the victory. Kila Kaaihue hit an RBI single to give Wilmington a 1-0 lead in the 1st and Hardy took a 3-hit shutout through 6 IP. The Rocks loaded the bases with none out in the bottom of the 6th and Brett Bigler took a bases-loaded walk to bring a run home before Jose Duarte did the same, Josh Johnson hit a 2-run double and Duarte scored on a wild pitch to make it 6-0. Hardy gave up 3 hits and a sac fly in the 7th but pitched a perfect 8th and 9th to notch his 8th win. Wilmington moved to 30-37 but officially was eliminated from the first-half race as Frederick clinched the division with a win Saturday. Warthogs DH Tyler Reves was 2-3 with his 2nd SB to move to .219 and SP Matt Zaleski took the loss with 5 IP of 3 ER on 7 hits, a walk and 2 Ks to drop to 3-2 with a 4.00 ERA.

The Rocks ended the first half today with a 5-2 loss to Winston-Salem. Starters were Rocks righty Dan Cortes (0-3, 3.58) and Warthogs righty Derek Rodriguez (6-1, 4.24).

A -- Burlington: Kane County 3, Bees 0

LF Dickerson 2-4, K, CS -- .266
SS Bianchi 1-4 -- .248
CF Robinson 0-4, 2 K, E (3) -- .254
DH Everett 1-4 -- .286
2B Soto 0-3 -- .000, Bees debut

DiPietro 4 1/3 IP, 3 R (2 ER), 5 H, 3 BB, 3 K, HRA -- L, 3-4, 4.70 ERA
Cegarra 3 2/3 IP, H, 3 K, WP -- 6.75 ERA

Both teams had 6 hits but Kane County did more with theirs and shut out the Bees. With 2 out in the 1st, Derrick Robinson muffed a fly ball and KC RF Jermaine Mitchell came all the way around to score for a 1-0 Cougars lead. Starter Ryan DiPietro gave up another run in the 2nd and Mitchell homered in the 5th to make it 3-0. The Bees stranded 2 in the 7th but the Bees didn't have more than 1 base runner in any other inning. Burlington is 29-39. Mitchell was 1-4 with his 4th homer and 29th RBI to move to .293, SP Trevor Cahill went 7 IP of 6 hits and a walk with 4 Ks to improve to 3-1 with a 3.94 ERA and RP Derrick Gordon picked up his 1st save of the season.

The series and first half are wrapping up this afternoon. Starters were Bees LH Everett Teaford (2-6, 5.02) and Cougars RH Scott Deal (3-5, 4.39). Burlington's up, 5-3, midway through.

Rookie -- Burlington: Three days before opening day and still no posted roster for the B-Royals. I'm hoping one gets posted tomorrow. The Royals are playing an exhibition tonight vs. the Monroe Channelcats, who are a wood-bat barnstorming team of college players. The B-Royals' manager is Darryl Kennedy, who spent the last 2 seasons as manager of Frisco in the AA Texas League.