Royals on the Farm 6/5

AAA -- Omaha: Portland 5, O-Royals 4 (10)

1B Butler 1-4, BB -- .284
C Phillips 2-3, BB, RBI (3), K -- .190, back in Omaha and off the 40-man
3B Cortez 2-5, 2B (8), K -- .286
CF Gathright 1-5, 2B (8), RBI (20), K -- .328
DH Brazell 1-5, HR (14), RBI (26), K, RS -- .308
LF Huber 1-4, HR (5), RBI (24), K, RS -- .264
RF Maier 1-4, 2B (9), RS -- .280
SS Aviles 0-5, K -- .315

Wright 4 IP, 4 R (3 ER), 8 H, BB, 3 K -- ND, 3.38 ERA, not good day for his WHIP
Bale and Giron 3 IP hitless relief -- 3 K in 2 IP for Bale is good sign
Ray 2 1/3 IP, ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 2 K -- L, 2-2, 4.34 ERA

Omaha forced extras with a big 9th but Ken Ray couldn't hold the line in the 10th as Portland earned a split of the 4-gamer. Justin Huber hit a 2-out solo homer in the 2nd for his 5th of the season but Portland tied it in the 3rd on 3 hits off SP Matt Wright. The Beavers moved ahead with a run on 2 hits in the 4th and 2 runs on 2 hits, a walk and Richie Lewis' 2nd error of the season to make it 4-1 Beavers. John Bale took over with 2 on and 0 out and sat down 6 straight Portland batters. The game stayed 4-1 into the 9th when Craig Brazell led off with his 14th homer at AAA this season. With 2 out and Mitch Maier at second, Paul Phillips singled him home to cut the lead to 1 at 4-3. Richie Lewis kept the game alive with a single and Joey Gathright had the big hit with a ground-rule double to drive Phillips in to tie the game. You've gotta figure if that ball doesn't hop the fence Omaha takes the lead, I'd think. RP Royce Ring came in for Portland and got Fernando Cortez to fly out to end the rally. In the bottom of the 10th, Ray, who was on his third IP, gave up a leadoff walk and, with 1 out, 2B Royce Huffman doubled the winning run home to end it. Omaha is 30-29 and 5 1/2 games back. 3B Craig Stansberry was 3-5 with 3 RBI (35) for Portland to improve to .326, SS Oscar Robles was 2-4 with his 7th RBI to move to .322 and Ring got the win with 1 1/3 hitless IP to move to 2-0 with a 0.68 ERA.

The O-Royals have today off before starting a 4-game home set vs. Nashville.

AA -- Wichita: Wranglers 6, Arkansas 2

2B Valentin 2-5, RBI (15), K, 2 RS -- .280
LF Lubanski 2-4, RS -- .276
C Donachie 1-4, GS (3), 4 RBI (19), K, RS -- .203
DH Blalock 0-1, 2 BB, SF, RBI (12), K -- .189
1B Stodolka 0-3, BB, RS -- .265

Nunez 3 IP, 2 H, BB, K -- 1.50 ERA, rounding into shape?
Rosa 4 2/3 IP, ER, 2 H, BB, 3 K -- W, 3-3, 4.76 ERA
Cromer 1/3 IP, ER, H, BB, K -- 6.25 ERA
Santos 0 IP, H, BB -- 4.44 ERA
Plummer IP, 3 K -- SV, 6, 4.20 ERA

The Wranglers built a 6-run lead and held on to snap another skid. A Jake Blalock sac fly in the 1st gave Wichita a 1-0 lead and the Wranglers poured it on in the 3rd with 5 runs on a Geraldo Valentin RBI single and 2-out grand slam by Adam Donachie off Travs SP Amalio Diaz. After Leo Nunez pitched 3 scoreless innings of rehab work, Carlos Rosa came in for the 4th and gave up a run on 2 hits and a sac fly but stranded 2 in the inning to keep it at 6-1. Rosa settled down to cruise until getting pulled with 2 out and none on in the 8th. Jason Cromer gave up a run in the inning on a walk and single and Arthur Santos gave up a walk and single to start the 9th before getting pulled for Jarod Plummer, who got a swinging K and two Ks looking to end it for save #6. Wichita is 23-34 and 6 1/2 games back. Arkansas RF Greg Porter was 2-4 with his 26th RBI and 11th SB to move to .271 and Diaz took the loss with 3 IP of 6 runs (5 ER) on 6 hits, a walk and 5 Ks to drop to 0-2 with a 3.50 ERA.

The series continues tonight. Probable starters: Wichita lefty Dusty Hughes (1-2, 4.30) vs. Travs righty Nick Green (4-3, 4.46, only 1.14 WHIP). According to the Wichita Eagle, Wichita is courting new teams to replace the Wranglers when they move to Springdale, Ark., after the season. I guess only indy league teams have shown interest thus far.

A-Adv. -- Wilmington: Kinston 7, Blue Rocks 5 (7/G1)

CF Duarte 4-4, 2B (9), 2 RS -- .297
3B Lisson 2-4, RBI (34), K, RS, picked off -- .303
1B Kaaihue 1-3, BB, HR (9), 3 RBI (39), K, RS -- .267
2B Maddox 1-3, HBP, RBI (15), RS -- .298

Godin 4 2/3 IP, 6 ER, 9 H, BB, 2 K, HRA, 2 WP -- L, 0-2, 12.46 ERA, not adjusting quickly to Carolina League
Humen 2 1/3 IP, ER, 2 H, BB, 2 K, HRA, WP -- 2.63 ERA

Wilmington made a late run at the K-Tribe but couldn't get over the hump in dropping the opener of a Tuesday twinbill. Kinston took the lead in the 3rd with a run on 2 hits and a wild pitch by SP Jason Godin and the Bees stranded 2 in the 3rd before the Tribe surged ahead with a 5-run 5th on 5 hits, a walk and another wild pitch by Godin. A homer off David Humen in the 6th made it 7-0 as Kinston SP Frank Herrmann took a 5-hit shutout into the 6th. Mario Lisson broke up the shutout with an RBI single and Kila Kaaihue followed with a 3-run homer for his 9th of the season to cut the lead to 7-4. Brian McFall chased Herrmann with a single but RP Dan Cevette got out of the 1-on, 0-out situation with no more damage to preserve the 3-run lead. With the game shortened to 7 innings for the doubleheader, the Rocks' last chance was the bottom of the 7th and, with 1 out, Jose Duarte completed a 4-4 day with a double and scored on a Marc Maddox single to cut the lead to 2. The Rocks loaded the bases with 2 outs but Miguel Vega struck out swinging to end the game. K-Tribe LF John Drennen was 3-4 with his 12th double and 2 RBI (33) to move to .251, 1B Michael Aubrey was 2-4 with his 5th double to move to .362 and RF Mike Butia was 3-3 with his 4th homer, 20th RBI and 3 RS to move to .228. Herrmann got the win with 5 IP of 4 ER on 9 hits with 2 Ks to improve to 4-1 with a 3.30 ERA. RP Kyle Collins picked up his 1st save.

Kinston 3, Blue Rocks 1 (8/G2)

LF Bigler 2-3 -- .235
CF Duarte 1-2, 2 BB, RS, SB (13), picked off -- .299
2B Maddox 0-4 -- .288
3B Lisson 0-2, SF, RBI (35), K -- .299
1B Kaaihue 0-2, BB, K, E (5) -- .264
RF Perez 1-3 -- .325

Oliveros 5 IP, ER, 4 H, 6 K -- ND, 1.67 ERA, nice start but no run support
Green 3 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, K, HRA -- L, 0-3, 5.66 ERA, another rough outing

Rayner Oliveros and Josh Tomlin pitched to a stalemate and the Tribe finally got 2 runs in the "extra" 8th to sweep the double dip. Oliveros gave up a run on 2 hits in the 1st and Tomlin allowed a Mario Lisson sac fly in the 1st and the game was tied at 1. Oliveros stranded 2 in the second but then retired 11 of 12 before getting pulled for Patrick Green in the 6th. The Rocks got a base runner per inning on Tomlin but couldn't generate a rally and he left after 6 IP. Green loaded the bases with 1 out in the 6th but got out of the jam with a double play ball and the game went to the 8th tied at 1. Kinston RF Nathan Panther led off the 8th with a homer off Green and a 2-out RBI double by LF Mike Butia made it 3-1 Tribe. Brett Bigler led off the Rocks 8th with a single but the next three batters went down in order to end it. Wilmington is 27-30 and 2 games back. Butia was 2-4 with his 5th double and 21st RBI to move to .236 and RP James Deters picked up the victory with 2 IP of 2 hits and 2 Ks to move to 4-2 with a 1.91 ERA. Tomlin set his ERA at 1.50 in his first start since being called up from A ball in Lake County.

The set comes to a close tonight. Probable starters: Rocks ace southpaw Rowdy Hardy (6-0, 1.21) versus Indians lefty Ryan Edell (5-2, 3.73).

A -- Burlington: Cedar Rapids 7, Bees 1

SS Bianchi 2-4, K -- .263
C Morizio 0-4, RBI (13), 2 K, E (3), 2 PB (4) -- .232
3B Mertins 1-4, 2 K, 2 E (8) -- .265
2B McConnell 1-4, 2 SB (12) -- .220
LF Dickerson 1-3, BB, 2B (8), K, CS, RS -- .260

DiPietro 3 IP, 6 R (4 ER), 5 H, 6 BB, 4 K, HRA -- L, 2-3, 5.00 ERA, yikes, 6 walks
Chambliss 4 IP, ER, 3 H, BB, 4 K -- 1.62 ERA, has had good season thus far
Barrera and Hayes 2 IP scoreless relief

The Bees got shut down by Kernels SP Trevor Bell and Cedar Rapids got 2 innings of offense to get the win for a 3rd straight over Burlington. SP Ryan DiPietro had 4 walks in the 1st, including loading the bases with none out, but got a liner double play to help escape the inning with no damage done. A Matt Morizio ground out scored Joe Dickerson in the 2nd as the Bees took a 1-0 lead but it was short-lived as the Kernels scored 2 in the 3rd on a 2-run shot by LF Chris Pettit. The floodgates opened in the 4th as the Kernels scored 5 runs on 3 hits and a Kurt Mertins error off DiPietro and a sac fly and 3 hits off RP Tyler Chambliss to make it 7-1. Bell retired 12 of 13 after the Morizio RBI and Chambliss retired 10 of 12 after the last run scored in the 4th. The 7-1 score remained into the 9th and the Bees got the first 2 on in their half of that inning before Kernels RP Warner Madrigal struck out 3 straight to end it. Burlington is 25-33. Pettit was 1-1 with 2 walks, his 8th homer, 3 RBI (35) and a RS to move to .370, 1B Mark Trumbo was 2-4 with 2 doubles (13) and a RS to move to .268 and Bell got the win with 6 IP of an ER on 4 hits and a walk with 6 Ks to improve to 1-2 with a 3.54 ERA.

The Bees have today off before starting a 4-gamer at Beloit Thursday.