Royals on the Farm 6/6

NOTE: Delayed today because of draft day -- Royals have drafted 3B/SS/?? Mike Moustakas out of an LA high school in round 1, 6-4 RHP Sam Runion out of a North Carolina HS in round 2, 6-2 LHP Danny Duffy out of a California HS in round 3 and RHP Peter Hodge Nielsen out of a British Columbia, Canada HS in round 4.

AAA -- Omaha: off day

The O-Royals return home for the last pre-College World Series homestand with 4 versus the Nashville Sounds (33-26, AAA Brewers) starting tonight. Probable starters: Brewers' top pitching prospect and Nashville RH Yovani Gallardo (8-1, 2.14) vs. former Brewer farmhand and now Omaha RH Ben Hendrickson (5-3, 5.01). The O-Royals are 4-0 versus Nashville in '07. I think the Royals have brought IF Jace Brewer up from Wichita, as he's now on Omaha's roster. Pretty good sign. Reportedly Angel Berroa will likely accept his assignment to AAA and come back to Omaha after Joey Gathright justifiably got the call back to the bigs.

AA -- Wichita: Arkansas 5, Wranglers 3

LF Lubanski 2-4, 2B (10), K, RS -- .281
3B Eure 1-3, BB, 2 RBI (11), 2 K, E (3) -- .209
DH Greenberg 1-3, SF, 2B (11), RBI (18), K -- .255
1B Stodolka 0-4, 3 K -- .258
2B Valentin 1-4, K, CS -- .279

Hughes 1 2/3 IP, 3 H, K -- ND, 4.06 ERA, injury???
Atencio 2 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 2 K, WP, balk -- L, 1-2, 4.59 ERA
Lowery 2 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, BB, 3 K, HRA, WP, balk -- 8.44 ERA
Tamayo 2 IP, 2 K -- 5.14 ERA

A 9th inning rally got the Wranglers close but wasn't good enough. SP Dusty Hughes got in and out of trouble in the 1st and was pulled with 2 on and 2 out in the 2nd for Greg Atencio, who stranded the bases loaded. Travs starter Nick Green took a perfecto into the 4th before the Wranglers got 2 hits in that inning but got no runs. Arkansas scored a run on 3 hits off Atencio to start the 4th and RP Devon Lowery gave up another run on a wild pitch to make it 2-0 Travs. Lowery gave up a 2-run homer in the 5th and, with 2 out in the 6th, the Travs rallied for a run on 2 hits and a balk, after which manager Tony Tijerina got tossed. Green retired 11 of 12 into the 8th and the Wranglers loaded the bases with 1 out to chase Green for RP Aaron Pullin. Pullin escaped the jam with a pop out and strikeout but the Wranglers loaded the bases again with 1 out in the 9th off RP Jose Arredondo. Adam Greenberg hit a sac fly and Jeff Eure hit a 2-run single to cut the lead to 5-3 but RP Bill Edwards got Onil Joseph to fly out to end it. Wichita is 23-35 and 7 1/2 games back. Travs 2B Adam Morrissey was 2-5 with his 19th RBI to move to .284, LF Aaron Peel was 1-4 with his 3rd error, 5th homer and 2 RBI (23) to move to .244 and Green got the win with 7 1/3 scoreless IP of 3 hits, 2 walks and 9 Ks to move to 5-3 with a 4.03 ERA. Edwards picked up his 1st save.

The series continues tonight. Probable starters: Wichita lefty Jason Cromer (2-4, 6.25) vs. Travs righty Miguel Gonzalez (2-2, 3.50, 1.14 WHIP). The Wichita roster reflects the signing of 3B Jared Sandberg, who is Ryne's nephew and a 29-year old who has bounced around and was once a D-Rays prospect.

A-Adv. -- Wilmington: Kinston 6, Blue Rocks 4

3B Maddox 2-5, 2B (10), 3B (1), RBI (16), RS -- .292
CF Duarte 2-4, BB, RBI (15), OF assist at home -- .302
PH Perez 1-1, RBI (20) -- .331, let-him-play, let-him-play
SS Lisson 0-3, 2 K, E (6) -- .295
DH Kaaihue 0-4 -- .258

Hardy 5 2/3 IP, 5 ER, 11 H, BB, 5 K, HRA -- L, 6-1, 1.79 ERA, Tribe finally got to Rowdy
Haltiwanger 3 1/3 IP, ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K, HRA -- 3.45 ERA

The K-Tribe got to Rowdy Hardy early and hung on to win. Hardy gave up a 2-run homer to Tribe 1B Michael Aubrey in the 1st and, with 2 outs in the 3rd, allowed 3 more runs on 3 hits and 2 hit batsmen to make it 5-0 Kinston. Wilmington had only 3 hits off Kinston starter Ryan Edell through 5 innings and CF Jose Duarte kept the deficit at 5 by nailing a runner at the plate to end the Kinston 5th. Marc Maddox broke the ice with an RBI triple in the 6th and a wild pitch on a Mario Lisson strikeout allowed Maddox to score on the throw to first to cut it to 5-2. PH Wilver Perez hit an RBI single in the 8th to cut the lead to 2 but Aubrey hit another homer off Russ Haltiwanger in the 9th to make it 6-3. Duarte hit a 2-out RBI single in the 9th to put the tying run on base but Maddox popped out to end the game. Wilmington is 27-31 and 2 games back. Aubrey was 3-3 with a walk, 2 HR (5), 3 RBI (11) and 3 RS to move to .400, 2B Jared Goedert was 3-5 with his 3rd RBI and 2nd error to move to .240 and DH Wes Hodges was 2-4 with 2 RBI (26) to move to .285. Edell got the win with 7 IP of 2 UER on 5 hits with 3 Ks to improve to 6-2 with a 3.28 ERA and RP Scott Roehl picked up his 9th save.

The Blue Rocks start a 4-game set at the Winston-Salem Warthogs (31-28, A-Adv. ChiSox) tonight. Probable starters: Rocks right-hander Julio Pimentel (3-1, 2.56) vs. Warthogs lefty Clayton Richard (4-2, 3.12). The Blue Rocks are 2-4 versus Winston-Salem thus far. In other news, five Rocks were named to the Carolina League all-star team today -- 3B Mario Lisson will start for the league while CF Jose Duarte is a reserve and pitchers Rowdy Hardy, Julio Pimentel and Gilbert de la Vara earned slots. Their game versus the Cal League all-stars takes place June 19 in Stockton, Calif. The Rocks tied Salem for the most selections of any league team.

A -- Burlington: off day

The Bees start a 4-game set at the division-leading Beloit Snappers (35-22, A Twins) tonight. Probable starters: Bees LH Everett Teaford (1-5, 5.04) vs. Beloit RH Jeff Manship (5-1, 1.49). Beloit's roster features Twins prospects OF Chris Parmelee (.233 BA, .722 OPS), SS Paul Kelly (no stats yet) and P Manship (stats already reported, 0.71 WHIP in 60 IP, wow).