Royals on the Farm 6/19

AAA -- Omaha: off day

The O-Royals start a 3-game set at the New Orleans Zephyrs (38-33, AAA Mets) tonight. Probable starters: Omaha righty Billy Buckner (5-2, 4.76) vs. New Orleans righty Mike Pelfrey (2-1, 2.87, former Wichita State pitcher). Billy Butler is back in the majors as Mike Sweeney made his first trip back to his well broken-in seat on the DL Monday.

AA -- Wichita: Wranglers 1, Tulsa 1 (12/susp.)

LF Lubanski 3-5, 2B (12), K, OF assist at second -- .300
1B Stodolka 2-5, HR (8), RBI (27), K, RS -- .264
2B Valentin 2-5 -- .297
DH Kaaihue 0-4, K -- .250

Hochevar 7 IP, UER, 5 H, 5 K -- 4.63 ERA
Plummer 3 IP, H, 5 K -- 3.35 ERA
Cromer IP, nothing -- 5.84 ERA

The matchup between '06 #1 pick Luke Hochevar and '06 #2 pick SP Greg Reynolds of Tulsa lived up to the billing as neither gave up an earned run and a late Mike Stodolka homer sent the game to extras. It was suspended in the 12th because of lightning and will be finished today before the regularly scheduled game. Irving Falu's 14th error of the season helped lead to a Tulsa run in the 1st but Hochevar stranded 2 in the inning. From there, it became a pitchers' duel as Reynolds left after holding the Wranglers to 2 hits and a walk over 5 IP to drop his ERA to 1.42. Hochevar kept pace in allowing 5 hits with 5 Ks over 7 IP. Wichita stranded 2 in the 6th before Tulsa RP Steven Register came in to close out the game with a 1-0 lead in the 9th. Chris Lubanski and Jared Sandberg struck out to start the inning but Stodolka homered to left center for his 8th of the season and the game was tied. Tulsa left a runner at second in the 10th and the Wranglers had 2 on with 2 out in the 11th when Stodolka singled but Geraldo Valentin was thrown out at home by Tulsa RF Jordan Czarniecki and the 1-1 tie remained. The game was suspended going into the top of the 12th. Tulsa 1B Aaron Rifkin was 2-4 to move to .263 and LF Christian Colonel was 1-5 with his 25th double and 43rd RBI to move to .300.

After finishing Tuesday's game, the teams will complete the series. Probable starters: Wichita righty Leo Nunez (1-0, 1.20) vs. Tulsa lefty Franklin Morales (0-3, 3.50). The Hochevar-Reynolds matchup was historic in that it was the first time in the history of the draft the first 2 picks had faced off as starting pitchers at any level.

A-Adv. -- Wilmington: California League 10, Carolina League 5

CF Duarte 0-2, K
3B Lisson 0-4, K, E

Hardy IP, H, BB -- got the start, pretty cool
Pimentel IP, 3 UER, 3 H, BB, E -- both errors for Carolina were by Rocks....great
de la Vara IP, K

The Blue Rocks wrap up the all-star break today before getting back into action to start the second half Thursday.

A -- Burlington: Midwest East 8, Midwest West 2

1B Thompson 0-1 (Burlington's in the West division)

Chambliss 1/3 IP, BB, K

The Bees get back into second half action tomorrow with a home series.

Rookie -- Burlington: B-Royals 11, Danville 7

SS Martin 3-5, RBI, 3 RS -- .600, nice pro debut
1B Amyx 1-5, GS, 5 RBI, K, RS -- .200, but a grand slam in his first pro game, gotta love that
RF Tucker 1-4, SF, RBI, K, CS -- .250
C Doscher 1-3, SF, RBI, 2 K -- .333
LF Norris 2-5, 2 RS, 2 SB -- .400, another good debut
3B Jimenez 2-4, BB, 2 K, RS, 2 SB, E -- .500
2B Molina 2-4, 2 2B -- .500
CF Lough 1-5, 3 RS, SB -- .200
DH Lane 1-3, HBP, RS, SB -- .333

Paulino 5 IP, ER, 5 H, BB, HRA, E -- W, 1-0, 1.80 ERA
Lopez 2 2/3 IP, 6 R (4 ER), 6 H, BB, K -- 13.50 ERA
Woods 1 1/3 IP, H -- 0.00 ERA

The B-Royals cranked up the offense for their first game and held off the Braves late. Three Danville errors in the 1st helped the Royals to 4 runs on a Kyle Martin RBI single, Brett Amyx RBI ground out and a 2-run error by P Jeff Locke on a ball hit by Wilson Tucker. Starter Eduardo Paulino's only damage was a solo homer by LF Cody Johnson in the 2nd as he stranded 2 in the 3rd and the B-Royals got a Nick Doscher sac fly in the 4th to make it 5-1. Burlington could have done more damage but Johnson threw out Tucker at the plate to end the rally on a would-be sac fly. A balk scored a Royals run in the 5th and a Tucker sac fly made it 7-1. Paulino loaded the bases with 1 out in the 5th and got a double play ball to escape the jam. The B-Royals loaded the bases to start the 6th and, with 2 out, Amyx jacked a grand slam to left for his first pro homer to make it 11-1. Danville scored a run on 2 hits off RP Yensi Lopez in the 7th and then, with 2 out in the 8th, 3 straight RBI singles knocked Lopez out of the game for Ryan Woods. A throwing error by 3B Antonio Jimenez scored 2 more runs to cut it to 11-7 but Woods got out of the inning and had a comparatively quiet 9th to end it. Burlington is 1-0. Braves 2B Cole Miles was 4-5 with a double and 2 RBI, Johnson was 2-4 with a homer and RBI and Locke took the loss with 2 IP of 4 runs (1 ER) on 3 hits and 2 Ks to drop to 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA.

The short series wraps up tonight. No announced starters yet.

Rookie -- Idaho Falls: Chukars 7, Casper 6 (11)

2B Seratelli 3-4, BB, 2 RS, SB, CS -- .750
C Eigsti 2-4, BB, 2 RBI, K, E, picked off -- .500
CF Van Stratten 2-6, 2 RBI, K, RS -- .333
RF Gonzalez 1-5, HR, RBI, K, 2 RS -- .200
3B Van De Keere 2-6, K, CS, E -- .333
SS Juan 1-5, BB, 2B, RBI, K, RS, E -- .200
1B Robinson 0-5, 2 K
C Billick 0-5, K

Leonard 4 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 4 K -- 4.50 ERA
Baldwin 2/3 IP, ER, H, K, WP -- 13.50 ERA
Norton 3 1/3 IP, 3 H, 2 K -- 0.00 ERA
Swaggerty 0 IP, 3 ER, 2 H, BB -- infinite ERA
Holland 2 IP, 2 H, 3 K -- BS, 1, W, 1-0, 0.00 ERA
Roach IP, BB, K -- SV, 1, 0.00 ERA

The Chukars survived a rough 9th to win in 11 and start the season with a W. The game was scoreless into the 3rd before Idaho Falls got things started with back-to-back doubles by Alvi Morel and Manni Juan to take a 1-0 lead. Casper took the lead off SP John Leonard with 2 in the 4th on 4 hits and a throwing error by Ryan Eigsti but the Chukars scored 4 in the 5th on a 2-run single by Nick Van Stratten and a 2-run single by Eigsti to make it 5-2 IF. The Rockies scored a run off RP Burke Baldwin in the 5th but O.D. Gonzalez hit a solo homer in the 6th to put the lead back to 3 at 6-3. RP Ben Swaggerty came on in the 9th to close it out but left after giving up a double, walk and double to cut the lead to 6-4 and bring in RP Greg Holland. Holland traded 2 outs for a run to make it 6-5 and then gave up an RBI single to tie the game before getting out of the inning. A Casper error and wild pitch allowed the Chukars to score a run in the top of the 11th and Jason Roach stranded 2 in the bottom of the inning in picking up his 1st save. Idaho Falls is 1-0. Rockies 3B Shane Lowe was 3-5 with 2 SB and an RBI, 2B Zack Murry was 3-6 with a steal and RP Edgmer Escalona took the loss with an IP of an UER on a hit to drop to 0-1.

The series continues tonight. Probable starters: IF's Justin Phillips vs. Casper's Juan Nicasio.