Royals on the Farm 4/14

AAA - Omaha: O-Royals 4, Memphis 1

SS Berroa 3-4, HR (2), RBI (5), 2 RS, SB -- .410
2B Aviles 2-5, 2B (6), RBI (12), K -- .340
DH Shealy 1-4, HR (4), RBI (8), RS -- .190, all he hits are homers
C Tupman 2-4 -- .240
LF Lubanski 2-4, RBI (6), CS -- .216, snaps 1-fer streak
CF Costa 1-4, S, 2B (7), RS -- .341
1B Stodolka 0-3, BB, K, E -- .400
* Jason Smith struck out 4 times.

de la Rosa 5 IP, ER, 4 H, 4 K -- W, 1-0, 1.86 ERA
Peralta 2 IP, H, 2 K -- 0.00 ERA
Musser 2 IP, H, 2 BB, 2 K, WP -- SV, 3, 1.69 ERA

*** Omaha earned a series split with some key extra base hits. Ryan Shealy got the O-Royals started with a leadoff homer in the 2nd for his 4th of the season. The Royals stranded 2 but scored another run in the 3rd on back-to-back doubles by Shane Costa and Mike Aviles to make it 2-0 off Memphis starter Mike Parisi. Omaha starter Jorge de la Rosa cruised through 2 but gave up a double and RBI single in the 3rd to cut the lead in half. de la Rosa stranded 2 in the 4th but Omaha did the same in the 5th before tacking on another run in the 6th on a 2-out RBI single by Chris Lubanski, who was then thrown out trying to steal second to end the inning. Joel Peralta came in for the 6th and stranded 2 in the 7th as Mike Stodolka committed his 1st error of the season. Angel Berroa finished a 3-4 day with his 2nd homer to lead off the 9th and it padded the Omaha lead to 4-1. Neal Musser left runners at the corners in the 9th in notching his 3rd save. Parisi took the loss with 3 ER on 9 hits, a walk and 6 Ks over 6 IP to drop to 1-1 with a 3.24 ERA. 3B David Freese was 2-4 with his 2nd double to move to .279.

The O-Royals are 7-4 and 1.5 games up on first. A 4-game set at the Nashville Sounds (2-10, AAA Brewers) starts tonight. Starters: Omaha RH Luke Hochevar (0-1, 3.97) vs. Sounds LH Chris Narveson (0-2, 4.50). Nashville's roster features Brew Crew prospect lefty Zach Jackson (1-2, 5.50, 1.44 WHIP in 18 IP), a rehabbing Yovani Gallardo, and former Royals RP Steve Bray (9.00 ERA, 1.25 WHIP in 4 appearances), P Jason Shiell (0-1, 6.23 ERA, 2.77 WHIP out of pen) and OF Mel Stocker (.874 OPS thus far).

AA - NW Arkansas: Corpus Christi 6, Naturals 1

SS Sanchez 2-3, 2 BB, 2 2B (3), CS -- .229
CF Duarte 0-4, SF, RBI, K -- .182
DH Valentin 0-3, BB, K -- .375
1B Kaaihue 0-3, BB, K -- .270
*The Naturals stranded 10.

Rosa 4 IP, ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 4 K, WP -- L, 1-1, 1.93 ERA, tough luck
Colon 2 IP, K -- 5.14 ERA
Crist 1 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, K, HRA -- 21.60 ERA, season debut
Green 1 1/3 IP, ER, H, 2 K, HRA -- 10.80 ERA

*** A narrow 1-0 Hooks lead was blown open off RP Kyle Crist in the 8th and the Naturals managed only 4 hits in the loss. Starter Carlos Rosa stranded 2 Hooks in the 1st but NW Arkansas did the same despite an Angel Sanchez double in the bottom half. The Hooks broke through with a run in the 4th on 2 hits, a wild pitch and walk. The game stayed 1-0 into the 7th when the Naturals again stranded 2. Crist stranded one runner in his first inning of work in the 7th but ran into trouble in the 8th as 3 straight hits to start the inning were followed by a 3-run jack by Hooks 1B Rob Cosby to make it 5-0. Sanchez walked to lead off the 8th but the Naturals again made nothing of it and Sanchez got thrown out in a strike-em-out, throw-em-out DP at third to end the inning. The Hooks got an insurance run with a solo homer by 2B Drew Sutton in the 9th. NWA loaded the bases with 1 out in the bottom of the 9th thanks to 2 Hooks errors but all they got was a Jose Duarte sac fly. RP German Melendez picked up his 1st save with 2 1/3 hitless IP as SP Brad James got the win with 6 IP of 4 hits, 2 walks and 3 Ks to improve to 1-1 with a 1.59 ERA. Three Hooks had 2-hit games and Cosby was 1-3 with a walk, his 3rd homer and 3 RBI (13) to move to .268.

The Naturals are 4-7 and a 1/2-game back of Tulsa. The series wraps tonight as the Naturals' Julio Pimentel (0-1, 8.59) matches up with Hooks starter Brian Bogusevic (0-1, 5.63). To make room for Crist on the roster, P Matt Peterson was put on the 7-day DL with back problems.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Kinston 7, Blue Rocks 5

C Howell 1-3, BB, GS, 4 RBI (7), K, RS -- .381
1B D. Wood 2-4, RBI (3), K, RS -- .194
2B-1B W. Perez 2-4, 2 2B, RS, SB -- .308
RF Dickerson 1-4, RS -- .381, 10-game hit streak
CF D. Robinson 0-5, 3 K, OF assist at home -- .238
SS McConnell 0-5, K, E -- .111
DH Bianchi 0-1, BB -- .108
3B J. Johnson 0-2, 2 BB, K, RS -- .313

B. Wood 3 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 5 BB, 2 K, 2 WP -- 4.15 ERA, not the K/BB ratio you want to see
Nicoll 3 2/3 IP, ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 4 K, WP -- 4.35 ERA
Barrera 2 1/3 IP, 3 R (1 ER), 4 H, 3 BB, 2 K -- L, 0-1, 3.52 ERA

*** The Rocks' pitchers were wild and the fruits of an early 4-run inning were washed away as Kinston gook game 1 of the 3-game set. Rocks starter Blake Wood loaded the bases with no outs in the 2nd and allowed a sac fly before striking his way out of the jam. The Blue Rocks loaded the bases in their half of the 2nd as well and, with 1 out, Jeff Howell cranked a grand slam to center to make it 4-1 Wilmington. It was Howell's 1st homer of the season. With 2 out and 1 on in the Kinston 3rd, Wood gave up a walk, 2 wild pitches and an RBI double to cut the lead to 1. Chris Nicoll came in for the 4th and allowed a leadoff single, stolen base, 1-out wild pitch and sac fly to tie the game. The game stayed tied as Nicoll worked around a double in the 6th and the Rocks could get nothing out of a bases loaded, 1 out situation in their half of the inning. Kinston again loaded the bases off Nicoll to start the 7th and CF Derrick Robinson helped turn a fly out into a double play by nailing the runner trying to score from third before RP Henry Barrera came in and ended the threat. Barrera got the first 2 outs in the 8th but then loaded the bases thanks in part to a Chris McConnell error and 3B Beau Mills doubled home 2 runs to break the tie. Wilmington got 1 run back in the bottom of the 8th as Wilver Perez hit a 1-out double and David Wood singled him home. Yet again, Kinston loaded the bases to start the 9th and got an insurance run out of the situation before RP Neil Wagner pitched a perfect 9th for his 1st save. RP Josh Tomlin got the win with 4 IP of an ER on 3 hits, 2 walks and 4 Ks to improve to 2-1 with a 4.32 ERA. Starter Carlton Smith went 4 IP of 4 ER on 4 hits, 2 walks and 3 Ks to make his ERA 9.00. SS Carlos Rivero was 3-5 with 2 doubles (5) and his 6th RBI to move to .452, CF Cirilo Cumberbatch was 3-4 with his 1st double, 1st steal and 2 RBI (3) to move to .250 and Mills was 1-3 with 2 walks, his 2nd double and 2 RBI (6) to move to .391.

Wilmington is 3-8. The series is continuing tonight. Starters: Rocks right-hander Matt Kniginyzky (0-0) and Kinston righty Jeanmar Gomez (0-0).

A - Burlington: Bees 6, Lansing 2

C Eigsti 2-4, 2B (2), RBI (3), K -- .192
RF Walton 1-3, BB, 2B (2), 2 RBI (4), K, RS -- .185
1B Hayes 1-4, 2B, RBI, K -- .111
3B Taylor 0-3, BB, RBI (3), RS, E -- .121
2B A. Perez 2-5, 2B, K, RS, SB (2) -- .182
DH C. Robinson 1-3, BB, 2B (4), K, RS -- .257
LF Ortiz 0-5, K -- .295
CF Lough 1-2, BB, HBP, 2 RS -- .263
*Still no Moustakas.

Gutierrez 5 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 8 K -- W, 1-0, 1.13 ERA
Lopez 3 IP, BB, 4 K -- 1.50 ERA
Bradley IP, H -- 0.00 ERA

*** The Bees' pitchers had a nice game and the offense did enough to churn out a 6-2 win in the opener with the Lugnuts. Dan Gutierrez had runners at the corners with no outs in the 1st but got out of the jam thanks to 2 Ks. The Bees jumped all over Lugnuts starter Trystan Magnuson in the 1st as Jason Taylor drove home a run with a groundout and a 2-out error opened the door for more as the second run scored, Shawn Hayes cracked an RBI double and Ryan Eigsti singled home a run to make it 4-0 Bees. Burlington stranded 2 in the 2nd and Gutierrez allowed a run on a 2-out RBI triple in the 3rd. Another triple led to a Lansing run in the 4th to cut the lead to 4-2 and Gutierrez stranded 2 Lugnuts in the 5th. With 2 on and 1 out in the 6th, Jamar Walton came through with a 2-run double and the lead was stretched back to 4. The Bees stranded 2 more in the 7th but Yensi Lopez and Anthony Bradley did the job out of the pen for Burlington as Bradley got a double play in the 9th to end the game. Magnuson took the loss with 4 runs (1 ER) on 5 hits and 2 walks over 2 IP to drop to 0-2 with a 3.68 ERA. CF Darin Mastroianni was 2-4 with his 1st triple, 3rd steal and 5th RBI to move to .220 and DH Manuel Rodriguez was 0-3 with a walk and his 14th RBI to drop to .438.

Burlington is 5-6 and 5 1/2 games back. The series is continuing tonight. Matt Mitchell (0-0, 0.00) starts for the Bees versus Lansing's Kyle Ginley (1-0, 2.45). Mike Moustakas was a late scratch from Monday's lineup, but did DH tonight.