Royals on the Farm 6/17

AAA -- Omaha: Nashville 4, O-Royals 2

1B Butler 0-3, BB, K -- .285
DH Brazell 1-4, HR (16), RBI (31), 2 K, RS -- .315
3B Aviles 1-4, K, RS, SB (4), E (10) -- .314, back from DL
C Tupman 0-3, BB -- .305
CF Maier 0-4, K -- .285

Hoelscher 4 1/3 IP, UER, 5 H, 2 BB, 4 K -- ND, 3.40 ERA
Markray 2 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 2 K, HRA -- L, 3-3, 4.23 ERA
Ray IP, 2 K -- 4.37 ERA

Omaha scored the first 2 runs but Nashville scored the last 4 runs to set up a 4-game sweep. Omaha stranded 2 in the 2nd but Craig Brazell led off the 4th with his 16th HR and a 2-out Sounds error allowed Mike Aviles to score to make it 2-0 Omaha. An Aviles error scored a Nashville run in the bottom of the inning but starter Nate Hoelscher and RP Thad Markray stranded 2 Sounds in the 5th. Nashville took the lead in the 6th on a 2-run homer by CF Laynce Nix off Markray and added a run in the 7th to take a 4-2 lead. Omaha only had 1 base runner after the 4th. Omaha dropped to 33-37. Nashville 2B Chris Barnwell was 3-4 with 2 RS to move to .274, Nix was 1-4 with his 6th homer and 2 RBI (24) to move to .260 and SP R.A. Dickey got the win with 7 IP of 2 runs (1 ER) on 4 hits, 3 walks and 6 Ks to improve to 5-4 with a 5.32 ERA. RP Grant Balfour picked up his 2nd save.

The series wrapped up with a win by Nashville in a matinee today. Starters were Omaha LH Tyler Lumsden (5-4, 5.18) and Sounds LH Zach Jackson (7-3, 4.85).

AA -- Wichita: Tulsa 12, Wranglers 0 (4-hitter, ouch)

LF Lubanski 2-4, 2 K, SB (3) -- .300
1B Stodolka 1-3, K -- .260
3B Gaffney 1-2, HBP, 2B (6) -- .301
SS Arce 0-2, BB, K, 4 E (4) -- .000, not Valentino's day
2B Valentin 0-4 -- .297

Connolly 6 IP, 10 R (5 ER), 10 H, 7 K, 3 HRA -- L, 3-3, 4.84 ERA
Cedeno 2 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, K, HRA, WP -- 4.41 ERA

Tulsa drilled out 10 runs over the first 4 innings and Wichita's impotent offense didn't respond. Tulsa scored 2 in the 1st on 2 hits and a Valentino Arce throwing error and added 3 in the 2nd on 4 hits and another Arce error to make it 5-0 off starter Mike Connolly. Back-to-back homers in the 3rd made it 7-0 Tulsa and 2 Arce errors, a sac fly and a 2-run homer in the 4th scored 3 more runs for a 10-0 Drillers lead. Wichita stranded 2 in the 7th and Tulsa scored 2 in the 8th off RP Juan Cedeno to make the final tally 12-0. Wichita is 25-44. Tulsa SS Jonathan Herrera was 3-5 with 2 doubles (17) and 3 RS to move to .291, 3B Christian Colonel was 2-5 with his 23rd double, 7th homer and 3 RBI (39) to move to .300 and starter Ryan Mattheus got the win with 7 shutout innings of 4 hits, 2 walks and 7 Ks to move to 4-4 with a 4.17 ERA.

Game 2 is tonight. Probable starters: Wichita lefty Dan Christensen (1-6, 5.43) vs. Tulsa righty Ching-Lung Lo (2-5, 5.57). This is (thankfully) the final game of the first half, although Wichita has one more series with Springfield before the all-star break.

A-Adv. -- Wilmington: Winston-Salem 5, Blue Rocks 2

RF Perez 1-3, BB, K, E (4), OF assist at third -- .309
C Clark 1-4, 2 K -- .277, team only had 2 hits
2B Maddox 0-3, SF, RBI (20) -- .252
CF Duarte 0-2, 2 BB, K, CS, OF assist at second -- .294
3B Lisson 0-4, 2 K, E (8) -- .280
LF Bigler 0-1, 2 BB, RS -- .238
SS McConnell 0-2, BB, 2 K, RS -- .100

Cortes 2 IP, 2 ER, H, 2 BB, 3 K, WP -- L, 0-4, 3.86 ERA
Oliveros IP, nothing -- 2.66 ERA
Godin 3 IP, UER, H, BB, K -- 7.64 ERA
Barnes IP, BB -- 3.51 ERA
de la Vara IP, ER, 2 H, BB -- 0.89 ERA
Haltiwanger IP, ER, H, 2 BB -- 3.62 ERA

Winston-Salem took the lead in the 1st and didn't relent as Wilmington ended the half with its third-worst win total in a half in team history. SP Dan Cortes loaded the bases with 1 out in the 1st and allowed 2 runs on a force out and wild pitch. On a slim pitch count after returning from a personal leave of absence, Cortes was pulled for Rayner Oliveros for the 3rd. Jason Godin took over in the 4th and allowed an unearned run on a sac fly over 3 IP. Wilmington was being no-hit into the 5th by Warthogs SP Derek Rodriguez but tightened the game in the 6th with 2 runs on a wild pitch and a sac fly by Marc Maddox to cut it to 3-2. RP Gilbert de la Vara allowed an insurance run in the 8th and the Rocks left 2 in scoring position in their half of the inning. Russ Haltiwanger allowed a run in the 9th to make it 5-2 and Wilmington left 1 on in the 9th. Wilmington finished the first half at 30-38 and 1 1/2 games back of first. They lost 14 of their last 18. Warthogs SS Robert Hudson was 2-5 with 2 SB (6) and his 4th RBI to move to .333, LF Daron Roberts was 1-3 with 2 RBI (32) to move to .293 and Rodriguez got the win with 7 IP of 2 ER on 1 hit, 3 walks and 5 Ks to improve to 7-1 with a 4.14 ERA. RP John Wesley got his 4th save.

The all-star break begins today. The game is Tuesday night in Stockton, Calif. 1B Kila Kaaihue has been promoted to Wichita. Hopefully he performs better there than in his last try at AA. RHP Chris Nicoll was transferred to the DL with a strained quad. C Todd Balduf was sent down to Idaho Falls.

A -- Burlington: Bees 13, Kane County 6

CF Robinson 5-6, 2B (6), 3B (3), RBI (10), 2 RS, 2 SB (15) -- .273, best pro game yet, HR short of cycle
RF Peralta 4-5, HR (1), 2 RBI (2), 2 RS -- .625
C Howell 3-5, 2 2B (3), 4 RBI (12), RS -- .229
LF Dickerson 3-3, 2 BB, HBP, 3 RS, CS -- .276
1B Everett 2-6, 2 K, RS, SB (2) -- .287
3B Thompson 1-4, BB, HBP, HR (14), 3 RBI (38), 2 RS -- .230
2B Mertins 1-5, SF, RBI (27), 2 K, RS, SB (20) -- .269
SS Bianchi 0-6, RBI (13), 3 K, SB (5) -- .239
*The Bees still stranded 11.

Teaford 7 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, BB, 4 K -- W, 3-6, 4.91 ERA
Hartsock IP, 2 R (1 ER), 2 H, E (3) -- 2.88 ERA
Barrera IP, ER, 2 H, K -- 4.50 ERA

The Bees opened fire on the Cougars in the 5th and when the smoke cleared the Bees had a 13-6 win to salvage one game of the series. Derrick Robinson led off the game with a double and scored on a Jeff Bianchi ground out to make it 1-0 Bees in the 1st. The Bees left the bases full but scored 2 in the 2nd on a Robinson RBI triple and Cougars error. Kane County tied it in the 3rd with 3 runs on 4 hits and a sac fly off SP Everett Teaford. Burlington stranded 2 in the 4th but scored 2 in the 5th on a 2-run homer by Mike Thompson for his 14th of the season. Thompson took a HBP in the 6th to force home a run and Jeff Howell followed with a 3-run double to make it 9-3 Bees. Felix Peralta led off the 7th with his 1st homer for Burlington this season and the Bees added 3 in the 8th on a Howell RBI double, a Peralta RBI single and Kurt Mertins sac fly to make it 13-3. The Cougars scored 2 off RP Aaron Hartsock in the 8th and 1 off Henry Barrera in the 9th but Barrera closed the door. Burlington finished the first half at 30-39. KC CF Mike Massaro was 3-5 with his 5th double, 14th RBI, 7th SB and 2 RS to move to .305, RF Jermaine Mitchell was 2-5 with 2 RBI (31) to move to .295 and P John Herrera took the loss with 3 2/3 IP of 4 runs (2 ER) on 7 hits and 5 Ks to drop to 2-7 with a 5.09 ERA.

The all-star break began today. The game is Tuesday night at Kane County in Geneva, Ill.

Rookie -- Burlington: As expected, a B-Royals roster was posted today. Some of the '07 draftees included on the team are C Tom Hill, 1B Brett Amyx, 1B Jake Lane, SS Kyle Martin, OFs David Lough, Wilson Tucker and Patrick Norris and P Alex Caldera. A couple other non-drafted free agent pickups are also included. We'll see who sticks out. The season starts this week.

Rookie -- Idaho Falls: The Chukars' roster has also been filled out and includes '07 draftees P Greg Holland, P Dane Secott, P Clegg Snipes, Cs Joe Billick and Ryan Eigsti, 1B Clint Robinson, 2B Mike Bionde, and 3B Devery Van De Keere.

Still no additions to the AZL roster yet, although I expect the signed HS draftees to be there.