Royals on the Farm 4/15

AAA - Omaha: O-Royals 4, Nashville 1

DH Buchanan 1-4, HR, 2 RBI, K, RS -- .111
CF Costa 2-5, HR, RBI (3), K, RS -- .347
3B Smith 2-4, 2B (4), K -- .298
SS Berroa 1-4, 2B (6), RBI (6), RS -- .395
2B Aviles 0-3, 2 BB -- .320
1B Shealy 0-4, K -- .174
LF Lubanski 0-4, 3 K -- .195

Hochevar 6 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 5 K -- W, 1-1, 2.60 ERA, nice outing, 86 pitches, first quality start of the season for Omaha for any starter
Giron 3 IP, ER, H, 3 BB, 4 K, HRA -- SV, 1, 4.82 ERA

*** Luke Hochevar had his first exceptional outing of the season and the O-Royals used a couple dingers to beat the Sounds. Omaha stranded the bases loaded in the 1st and had trouble breaking through off Sounds starter Chris Narveson. Hochevar also had a rocky 1st as he loaded the bases with 1 out but got a double play ball to avert the rally. The game stayed a pitchers' duel into the 7th, when Damon Hollins led off with a single for Omaha and scored on an Angel Berroa double to knock Narveson out of the game. Brian Buchanan was the next batter up and creamed a 2-run homer to left off RP Steve Bray for his first as a Royal to extend the lead to 3. Two outs later, Shane Costa slammed his first homer of the season and it was 4-0 O-Royals. Roberto Giron took over for Hoch in the 7th and stranded 2 on walks in that inning before giving up a solo homer to lead off the 9th but closing the door for his 1st save. Despite the solid outing, Narveson took the loss with 6 IP of 2 ER on 3 hits, 3 walks and 6 Ks to drop to 0-3 with a 3.94 ERA. Two former Royals, Bray and Jason Shiell, finished the game for the Sounds. DH Brad Nelson was 2-4 with his 2nd homer and RBI of the season to move to .359.

Omaha is 8-4 and 2.5 games up on first. The series goes to a game 2 matinee today. Starters: O-Royals RH Kyle Davies (1-0, 2.25) vs. Sounds RH Richie Gardner (0-0, 0.00). With 3 DPs turned Tuesday, the O-Royals have turned 19 on the season, which is the most in the PCL.

AA - NW Arkansas: Corpus Christi 3, Naturals 2

CF Duarte 1-5, HR, RBI (2), 2 K, RS -- .184
RF McFall 1-4, RBI (4), K, OF assist at home -- .156
SS Sanchez 0-2, 2 BB -- .216
1B Kaaihue 0-2, BB, HBP, K -- .256
LF Valentin 1-4, K -- .364
3B Lisson 0-4, K, SB (3) -- .114

Pimentel 6 2/3 IP, ER, 4 H, BB, 6 K -- ND, 5.14 ERA, 87 pitches, nice start
D. Hughes 1 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 K, HRA -- L, 1-2, 2.25 ERA, his first misstep
De La Cruz IP, 2 H -- 3.12 ERA

*** A 2-run 8th broke the ice on a duel of pitching staffs and the Naturals couldn't rally in the 9th. The Hooks got to NWA SP Julio Pimentel quick as a double and single with 1 out in the 1st pushed the first run across. Pimentel responded by retiring the next 12 Corpus Christi batters. The Naturals stranded 2 in the 1st and had a line-out double play end the 4th. They finally got to Hooks SP Brian Bogusevic in the 6th as Jose Duarte led off the inning with his 1st homer of the season. The game went to the pens in the 7th and Dusty Hughes came out for his first full inning of work in the 8th. It didn't go well as a leadoff double was followed by a 2-run homer by Hooks C Lou Santangelo to make it 3-1 CC. RP Julio De La Cruz stranded 2 in the 9th and the Naturals were down to their last 3 outs. The bottom of the 9th started well as a walk and single were followed by a Brian McFall RBI single to cut the lead to 1 and put the tying run in scoring position with no outs. Hooks RP Jose Oyervidez came in and K'd Marc Maddox in his attempt to get a sac bunt down, got Irving Falu to pop out and then induced a Duarte groundout to end the game for his 1st save. RP Ryan McKeller got the win with an IP of a walk and 2 Ks to move to 2-0 with a 1.04 ERA. Bogusevic allowed an ER on 3 hits with 3 BB and 2 Ks over 6 IP to move his ERA to 3.86. Hooks SS Tommy Manzella was the only Hook with more than 1 hit at 2-4 with his 1st double to move to .286. Santangelo was 1-3 with his 2nd homer and 2 RBI (6) to move to .263.

The Naturals are 4-8 and a game back. They have a day off today before hitting the road to start their first series versus natural rivals the Arkansas Travelers (AA Halos).

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Blue Rocks 5, Kinston 2

CF Dyson 3-4, BB, RS, 2 CS -- .174
1B D. Wood 2-4, 2 RBI (5), K, RS, SB (2), 2 E (3) -- .225
2B Mertins 2-2, 2 BB, 3B, RBI (5), SB (4), 2 RS -- .303
C Howell 1-4, RBI (8), K, PB (2) -- .360
SS McConnell 1-3, S, RS, SB (4), E (2) -- .128
RF Dickerson 0-3, HBP, 2 K -- .356, knew I shouldn't have mentioned the hit streak
3B J. Johnson 0-3, BB, 3 K -- .263

Kniginyzky 3 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 3 H, BB, 4 K, WP -- ND, 2.19 ERA, took liner off arm but reportedly no serious injury
Hartsock 5 IP, BB, 4 K, WP -- W, 1-1, 1.29 ERA, great outing
Chambliss IP, H, BB, 3 K -- SV, 1, 1.86 ERA

*** Aaron Hartsock pitched 5 hitless innings of relief and the Rocks got some offense going to even the series with the K-Tribe. A Chris McConnell error started the game in the 1st and it haunted starter Matt Kniginyzky as a passed ball and wild pitch brought the run home without a hit from the Tribe. The Rocks responded, however, versus Kinston starter Jeanmar Gomez as David Wood drove home 2 with a 2-out single, Kurt Mertins tripled Wood home and Jeff Howell hit an RBI single to make it 4-1 Blue Rocks going into the 2nd. The Rocks left 2 in scoring position in the 3rd and, after working fairly routine 2nd and 3rd innings, Kniginyzky was pulled after a leadoff double and walk to start the 4th. I guess he was hit in the right forearm by a liner in the 3rd and it shook him up. Hartsock came in and got a double play before allowing a run on a wild pitch but stranded 2. The Rocks left 2 more in scoring position in the 4th but got a run back in the 5th as Mertins walked, advanced to second on an error, advanced to third on a balk and scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-2 Wilmington. The Rocks stranded 2 in the 7th but it didn't matter as Hartsock and Tyler Chambliss shut the door, including Chambliss stranding 2 in the 9th with 2 clutch Ks. Gomez took the loss for Kinston with 3 1/3 IP of 4 ER on 8 hits, 2 walks and 5 Ks to drop to 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA. Four Kinston batters had a hit each.

Wilmington is 4-8 and 5.5 games out. The series wraps tonight as Rocks pitchers Greg Holland and Everett Teaford "piggyback" against Kinston righty Paolo Espino. The Rocks team total of 29 SBs is best in the Carolina League.

A - Burlington: Lansing 5, Bees 1

1B C. Robinson 2-4, 3B, HR (4), RBI (5), RS -- .282
CF Lough 2-4, CS, OF assist at home -- .286
LF Ortiz 2-4, 2 K -- .313
DH Moustakas 1-4, K -- .182
3B Taylor 1-4, 2 K, CS -- .135

Mitchell 6 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, BB, 3 K, 2 pickoffs -- L, 0-1, 1.50 ERA, not a bad start, but no run support
Paulino 3 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, BB, 5 K -- 8.10 ERA

*** The Bees were shut out into the 9th and Lansing evened the series at a game each. The teams had a runner each half-inning until the Lugnuts stranded 2 in the 4th and the Bees left 2 in scoring position in their half of the frame. Lansing finally got to Bees starter Matt Mitchell in the 5th with a run on 2 hits and a hit batsman, although David Lough saved a run by throwing a runner out at the plate. A triple and sac fly pushed across another run in the 6th and the Bee offense sputtered into the 7th down, 2-0. Clint Robinson led off the 7th with a triple for the Bees but was stranded after 2 Ks, a walk, and a K looking by Adrian Ortiz to end the threat. RP Eduardo Paulino gave up 3 runs in the 9th on a 2-out, 2-run triple by SS Justin Jackson and an RBI single to blow the game open to 5-0. Robinson hit his 4th homer with 1 out in the 9th but that was all she wrote for Burlington as RP Cody Crowell went 2 1/3 IP for his 2nd save. Lansing SP Kyle Ginley got the win with 6 2/3 IP of 8 hits, a walk and 10 Ks to move to 2-0 with a 1.53 ERA. He and Crowell combined for 14 Ks on the game. Jackson was 2-4 with his 4th double, 1st triple and 3 RBI (5) to move to .250 and 1B Manuel Rodriguez was 2-4 with 2 doubles (7) and a RS to move to .444.

Burlington is 5-7 and 6 games out. The series is wrapping as I type with a matinee. Starters are Burlington's Ed Cegarra and Lansing's Nate Starner. Burlington broke through and has a 2-0 lead in the 4th.