Royals on the Farm 4/20

AAA - Omaha: O-Royals 6, New Orleans 1

SS Aviles 3-4, 2 2B (9), RBI (15), 2 RS -- .324, considering bringing him up at short???
DH Buchanan 2-4, HR (2), 3 RBI (5), RS -- .188
CF Costa 2-3, BB, 2B (10), RBI (7), RS -- .354
LF Lubanski 1-3 -- .222
1B Shealy 0-4, K, RS -- .175, not exactly proving he should be in KC
RF Stodolka 0-4, 2 K -- .297, was hot, now slumping
2B Berroa 0-4, 2 K -- .339

de la Rosa 6 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 6 K -- W, 2-0, 1.15 ERA, reaped PCL honor
Salmon 2 IP, ER, 2 H, 2 K -- 2.92 ERA
Musser IP, H, 2 K -- 1.29 ERA

*** Jorge de la Rosa pitched another good game and Omaha evened the series with the Zephyrs. The Royals took control from their first AB as Dave Matranga singled and advanced to second on a New Orleans error and Mike Aviles doubled him home to put Omaha up, 1-0. de la Rosa left a runner at third in the 3rd and Omaha tacked on 4 runs on a Shane Costa RBI double and Brian Buchanan 3-run jack for his 2nd of the season to make it 5-0 O-Royals. de la Rosa stranded 2 in the 5th and Aviles scored on a Ryan Shealy double play ball in the bottom of the inning to make it 6-0. Brad Salmon took over in the 7th and allowed a run on 2 doubles in the 8th but Neal Musser finished it off. Zephyrs SP Ruddy Lugo took the loss with 6 IP of 6 runs (2 ER) on 10 hits, a walk and 5 Ks to fall to 2-1 with a 2.88 ERA. RF Victor Mendez was 2-3 with a double to move to .286.

Omaha is 10-6 and 3 games up on first. Game 3 is ongoing. Starters: Zephyrs RH Jose Diaz (0-2, 3.12) vs. Omaha LH Mike Maroth (0-0, 6.75). de la Rosa was named PCL Pitcher of the Week today to become the first O-Royal to win the award since Brett Laxton in July 2002. If that doesn't say something about the Omaha teams in recent history, I don't know what does.

AA - NW Arkansas: Arkansas 2, Naturals 1

RF McFall 2-4, RBI (6), SB (2) -- .186
LF Valentin 2-4 -- .356
CF Suero 1-4, 2 SB (6) -- .222
SS Sanchez 0-3, BB, K, 2 SB -- .184
1B Kaaihue 0-3, BB, K -- .222

Rosa 6 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, BB, 6 K, HRA, WP -- L, 1-2, 2.25 ERA, hard loss
De La Cruz 2 IP, H -- 2.53 ERA

*** The Naturals offense struggled to score once again and Arkansas swept the 4-game set. Starter Carlos Rosa left a runner at third in the 1st and NWA CF Ovandy Suero stole 2 bases but was left at third in the 3rd. Rosa gave up a solo homer to CF Cody Fuller in the Arkansas 3rd and 3B Corey Smith doubled to lead off the 4th, advanced to third on a 1-out single, and stole home to make it 2-0 Travs. The Naturals were being shut out on 2 hits entering the 7th by two Travs pitchers and stranded 2 in that frame. Like Suero, Sanchez reached and stole 2 bases in the 8th but was left at third as NW Arkansas couldn't get that clutch hit. The Naturals got runners to the corners to start the 9th and a Brian McFall forceout scored Juan Richardson. McFall stole second but Irving Falu struck out and Cody Clark grounded out to end the game. Reliever Kevin Jepsen allowed a run but notched his 2nd save and moved his ERA to 0.93. Starter Dan Denham went 5 2/3 IP for the win and allowed 2 hits, 2 walks and 2 Ks to move to 1-1 with a 1.00 ERA. Fuller was 1-3 with his 1st homer and RBI to move to .194 and DH Nate Sutton was 2-3 to move to .286.

NWA is now 4-12 after the sweep by the Travs. A 4-game home set with the Springfield Cardinals (5-11, AA St. Loueeee) started tonight. Starters: NWA's Julio Pimentel vs. Cards SP Jaime Garcia. The Cards' roster features Redbirds prospects Garcia, righty Adam Ottavino (0-2, 7.43, 1.80 WHIP in 3 starts), C Bryan Anderson (.943 OPS thus far), righty Clayton Mortensen (1-1, 3.07, 1.02 WHIP in 3 starts), and 3B Allen Craig (.687 OPS), among others. Lefty Mark Mulder is rehabbing with Springfield.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: rainout

*** Sunday's game will be made up in June. The Rocks were to start a 3-game set at the Frederick Keys (9-7, A-Adv. O's) tonight but it got rained out, too. They're making it up with a Tuesday double dip. Probable starters, G1: Rocks RH Matt Kniginyky (0-0, 2.19) vs. Keys RH Brandon Erbe (1-1, 3.78); G2: RH Greg Holland (1-0, 1.80) and LH Everett Teaford (1-0, 1.17) will tag team vs. Keys RH Pedro Beato (2-1, 3.86). The big name on the Frederick roster is O's top prospect C Matt Wieters (1.273 OPS, 4 HR, 12 RBI in 15 games) but the roster also includes 3B Billy Rowell (only 1 AB so far), righty Jake Arrieta (1-0, 2.75, 1.12 WHIP in 4 starts and 19 2/3 IP), Beato and Erbe, among others.

A - Burlington: West Michigan 6, Bees 5 (11)

RF Tucker 2-4, BB, 2 2B, RBI (3), 2 RS, E -- .152
LF Ortiz 2-5, 2 RBI (4), CS -- .313
SS Moustakas 1-5 -- .220
2B Jimenez 2-5, 2B, RBI (4), 3 K, RS -- .194
C Eigsti 1-5, RBI (4), 2 K -- .162
1B C. Robinson 2-5, 2 K, RS, picked off -- .302
3B Taylor 0-5, K -- .167

Gutierrez 3 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 4 K -- 2.37 ERA
Swaggerty 3 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 3 H, BB, 2 K -- 4.15 ERA
Bradley 4 2/3 IP, ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 K -- L, 1-1, 0.66 ERA

*** The Bees pulled off a 9th inning rally but couldn't get over the top as the Whitecaps took 2 of 3 in the series. Burlington struck first with 2 outs in the 2nd as Wilson Tucker and Antonio Jimenez hit back-to-back doubles and Ryan Eigsti singled Jimenez home to make it 2-0 Bees. With 2 on thanks to walks and 1 out in the 3rd, starter Dan Gutierrez gave up a 2-run triple to 2B Justin Henry to tie the game. Henry scored on a sac fly and it was 3-2 Whitecaps. In the bottom of the 7th, a Wilson Tucker error put the leadoff batter at third, and after 2 singles scored a run, Ben Swaggerty was pulled for Anthony Bradley. Bradley gave up a sac fly to make it 5-2 West Michigan. WM starter Jonathan Kibler retired the last 10 Bees he faced and the Whitecaps pen took over in the 8th. The Rocks put 2 on with 0 outs in the 9th and Tucker doubled home a run before 2 Ks put the game on the line with the tying run in scoring position at second. Adrian Ortiz came through with a huge 2-run single to tie the game but Alwin Perez flew out to end the rally. Bradley pitched into the 11th and had the winning run at third with 1 out when an intentional walk loaded the bases. A sac fly by 3B Roger Tomas ended it. RP Paul Nardozzi got the win with an IP of a walk and 2 Ks to move to 2-0 with a 0.90 ERA. Kibler went 7 IP of 2 ER on 6 hits and 5 Ks to move his ERA to 2.00. Tomas was 1-2 with a walk, 2 sac flies, 2 RBI (4) and 2 SB to move to .348. LF Kody Kaiser and 1B Christopher Carlson had 2-hit games for the Whitecaps.

Burlington is 7-9 and 7.5 games out. The Bees had today off before taking on Quad Cities for a 3-game series starting Tuesday. The Quad Cities team is no longer the Swing of the Quad Cities. They're now the Quad Cities River Bandits.