Royals on the Farm 6/18

AAA -- Omaha: Nashville 6, O-Royals 2

DH Butler 2-3, BB, 2 2B (10), RS -- .291
RF Padilla 2-3, HBP, RBI (16), CS -- .278
3B Aviles 2-4, 2B (14) -- .317
CF Maier 2-5, 2 K -- .286
SS Berroa 1-4, RBI (17), K -- .255
1B Brazell 0-4, 2 K, E (5) -- .307

Lumsden 4 IP, 6 R (4 ER), 8 H, 2 K, balk -- L, 5-5, 5.40 ERA
DeHoyos 2 IP, H, BB, K, WP -- 2.79 ERA
Braun 2 IP, H, K -- 2.57 ERA

The Sounds jumped on SP Tyler Lumsden and Omaha couldn't recover as Nashville swept the 4-game set. The Royals stranded Billy Butler at third in the 1st and the Sounds retaliated with 2 runs on 4 hits and a sac fly in their half of the inning. Two hits and a sac fly brought home 2 more Nashville runs in the 3rd and Omaha got on the board in the 4th on a Jorge Padilla RBI force out that scored Butler to cut it to 4-1. A Craig Brazell error in the bottom of the 4th allowed a run while yet another sac fly made it 6-1 Sounds. Angel Berroa hit a 2-out RBI single in the 5th but the Royals would squander a couple chances down the stretch to take the loss. Omaha is 33-38 and 9 games out. Nashville 1B Joe Dillon was 2-4 with his 15th double and 42nd RBI to move to .279 and SP Zach Jackson got the win with 6 IP of 2 ER on 7 hits, 1 walk and 4 Ks to improve to 8-3 with a 4.61 ERA.

Omaha has today off before starting a 3-game set at the New Orleans Zephyrs (38-33, AAA Mets) Wednesday night.

AA -- Wichita: Tulsa 12, Wranglers 4

LF Blalock 2-4, HR (1), 2 RBI (17), K, RS -- .171
2B Falu 2-5, 2B (8), 2 RBI (15) -- .242
SS Arce 2-3, HBP, RS -- .222
CF Joseph 2-4, RS, SB (7) -- .225
1B Kaaihue 2-4, E (1) -- .500, '07 Wichita debut
RF Valentin 1-5, 2B (8), K, RS -- .294
DH Lubanski 0-5, 2 K -- .293

Christensen 4 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, BB, 4 K, HRA, pickoff -- L, 1-7, 5.57 ERA
Santos 2 1/3 IP, 8 ER, 10 H, HRA, WP -- 5.81 ERA, sweet Moses!
Plummer IP, K -- 3.62 ERA

A 3-0 Wichita lead evaporated as Tulsa ripped 2 Wranglers pitchers. Jake Blalock cracked his 1st homer of the season for a 2-run shot in the 1st to make it 2-0 Wichita and an Irving Falu RBI double in the 2nd made it 3-0. SP Dan Christensen worked out of a jam in the 3rd but Wichita left the bases loaded in the 4th and Tulsa's bats awoke. The Drillers scored a run on 3 hits that inning and then got a 3-run homer from 3B Christian Colonel in the 5th to take a 4-3 lead. The Tulsa surge continued with 4 in the 6th on 4 hits and a wild pitch and the Drillers scored 4 more off RP Arthur Santos in the 7th on a 3-run jack by 1B Aaron Rifkin and a sac fly. Falu hit an RBI single in the 9th but it was too little, too late as Tulsa got the win. Wichita finished the first half at a sterling 25-45. Rifkin was 2-4 with his 8th homer and 3 RBI (27) to move to .258, Colonel was 2-5 with his 24th double, 8th homer and 3 RBI (42) to move to .302 and SS Jonathan Herrera was 3-5 with 2 RBI (24) to move to .297. SP Ching-Lung Lo got the win with 5 IP of 3 ER on 9 hits and a walk with 3 Ks to improve to 3-5 with a 5.56 ERA.

The series continues with game 3 tonight as the slate is wiped clean for the second half. Probable starters: the big matchup finally happens tonight....Wichita RH Luke Hochevar (3-6, 5.05) vs. Tulsa RH Greg Reynolds (4-1, 1.58, 0.83 WHIP, fellow top-5 pick last season). The Royals released P Danny Tamayo.

A-Adv. -- Wilmington: All-star break day 1

The Blue Rocks finished the first half at sixth in the eight-team Carolina League in batting (.249), last in OPS (.664) and seventh in OBP (.322) while being sixth in runs scored at 282. Pitching-wise the team was third in ERA (3.51), first in WHIP (1.23) and second in walks allowed (187) but seventh in Ks (398). IF Wilver Perez leads the team with a .309 BA and .846 OPS in 45 games. Kila Kaaihue (now, as noted above, in Wichita) was second in OPS at .780 while IF Mario Lisson was the only other Rock above .750 in that stat at .756. OF Jose Duarte is hitting .294 with a .739 OPS and leads the team with 18 SB. Rowdy Hardy, of course, is the team's stud pitcher with an 8-1 record, 1.55 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, and 49 Ks compared to only 7 walks. He has also allowed only 1 HR in 81 1/3 IP. RP Gilbert de la Vara has 6 saves, a 0.89 ERA, a 1.05 WHIP and 26 Ks in 30 1/3 IP and RP Rayner Oliveros has a 2.66 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and better than 3-1 K/BB ratio in 40 2/3 IP.

The all-star game pitting the Carolina League stars versus the California League stars is tonight in Stockton. Hardy, Lisson, Duarte, de la Vara and P Julio Pimentel (3-3, 2.96 ERA, 17 BB, 31 K) will be the Rocks' representatives. Hardy was once again named the league Pitcher of the Week Monday after going 2-0 with a 0.56 ERA, 1 walk and 8 Ks on the week.

A -- Burlington: All-star break day 1

The Bees were 12th in the 14-team Midwest League in batting in the first half (.243), 10th in OPS (.676), tied for 10th in OBP (.313) and 12th in runs scored (274). The pitching was in the lower middle of the pack at a 4.06 ERA (10th), 1.31 WHIP (7th), 196 walks (7th) and 494 Ks (9th). C Brady Everett leads the team with an .854 OPS and .287 BA along with 6 HR and 20 RBI in 49 games; IF Mike Thompson has a .768 OPS and .230 BA with 14 HR and 38 RBI in 55 games; IF Kurt Mertins is hitting .269 with a .739 OPS while leading the team with 20 SB; and C Matt Morizio and OF Joe Dickerson have identical .711 OPS. P Tyler Chambliss leads the regular section of the pitching staff with a 1.12 WHIP, 2.41 ERA and 3-0 record along with 16 BB and 49 Ks in 41 IP; P Matt Campbell is 4-2 with a 3.71 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 11 BB and 42 Ks in 51 IP; and P Harold Mozingo leads the team in wins at 6-5 with a 4.04 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 18 BB and 67 Ks in 71 1/3 IP.

The Midwest League all-star game is tonight in Geneva, Ill. Thompson and Chambliss are the Bees' representatives.

Rookie -- Burlington: The B-Royals play their first game ever tonight as the opener of a 2-game set at the defending Appy League champ Danville Braves (Rookie guess who). Probable starters: Danville lefty Jeff Locke vs. B-Royals righty Eduardo Paulino. Paulino was last year's Royals' Dominican Summer League Pitcher of the Year after posting a 1.55 ERA in 69 2/3 IP. Danville's roster features Braves prospects P Neftali Feliz, Locke, and P Steven Evarts along with a couple '07 Braves draftees, including 6th-rounder SS Michael Fisher out of Georgia Tech.

Rookie -- Idaho Falls: The Chukars open another Pioneer League season tonight with the first of three at the Casper Rockies (Rookie guess who). No announced starters yet. Casper's roster features '07 Rockies draftees 4th round P Isaiah Fronenberger, 7th rounder 1B Jeff Cunningham, 8th rounder P Parker Frazier, 9th rounder 2B Jordan Pacheco and 10th rounder P Jeff Fischer, among others.

Rookie -- AZL: The Royals start play Friday. No complete roster yet.