Royals on the Farm 4/22

AAA - Omaha: O-Royals 12, New Orleans 4

RF Hollins 2-4, 3B, HR (2), 5 RBI (11), RS -- .207
CF Costa 1-4, SF, HR (3), 3 RBI (10), 2 RS -- .329
2B Matranga 3-3, 2 BB, 2 RBI (4), 3 RS -- .500, nice job out of leadoff spot
DH Buchanan 3-5, RBI (6), 2 RS -- .286
SS Aviles 2-4, BB, RBI (16), RS -- .329
LF Lubanski 1-3, BB, 2B (2), 2 K, 2 RS -- .233
1B Stodolka 0-4, K -- .256

Davies 7 IP, 2 H, 3 K -- W, 2-1, 0.90 ERA, shutdown night for Hiram, only 82 pitches
Salmon IP, 2 ER, 3 H, BB, K -- 4.05 ERA
Musser IP, 2 ER, 2 H, K, HRA -- 3.38 ERA

*** Omaha did all its damage in the first 4 innings and Kyle Davies took care of the rest, for the most part. The first 2 Royal batters walked and a Brian Buchanan RBI single got the scoring started before Damon Hollins laced a 2-out, 2-run triple to left to make it 3-0 after 1. With 2 in scoring position and no outs in the 2nd, Dave Matranga singled home 2 runs and Shane Costa hit a 1-out, 2-run homer to right for his 3rd of the season to make it 7-0 O-Royals. The other 5 Royal runs came in the 4th as Mike Aviles hit an RBI single, Costa lifted a sac fly and Hollins cranked a 3-run homer to left for his 2nd as a Royal to give him 5 ribbies on the night. Davies pretty much cruised through his 7 innings but relievers Brad Salmon and Neal Musser both gave up 2 runs in their inning of work to make the final 12-4. Zephyrs SP Brian Stokes took the loss with 3 1/3 IP of 11 ER on 9 hits, 3 walks and 3 Ks to drop to 2-2 with a 5.91 ERA. 3B Anderson Machado was 2-4 with a run scored to get to .225.

Omaha is 11-7 and 3 games up on first. They have the day off today before hosting a set with the Nashville Sounds starting Thursday. Davies is second in the PCL in ERA behind Missouri product Max Scherzer of Tucson. The Royals' 3 game division lead is the team's largest since 2003.

AA - NW Arkansas: Springfield 7, Naturals 4 (14)

3B Richardson 2-4, 2B (2), 2 RBI (5) -- .250
1B Kaaihue 2-6, HR (6), 2 RBI (18), RS -- .226
SS Sanchez 2-6, 3 K, RS, picked off, E (5) -- .203, ejected in 13th
LF Suero 2-6, 3 SB (9), OF assist at second -- .238
CF Duarte 0-5, 2 BB, 3 K, RS, SB (8) -- .172
DH Lucas 0-5, BB, K -- .000, season debut
* The Naturals stranded 11.

Hardy 6 IP, 3 ER, 10 H, BB, 2 K -- ND, 6.30 ERA, not missing many bats, but only 1 XBH allowed
Crist 2 IP, 2 H -- 9.82 ERA
De La Cruz 3 IP, ER, 3 H, BB, 2 K, WP -- BS, 2, 2.63 ERA
Green 3 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, K -- L, 0-1, 8.59 ERA

*** NW Arkansas had a great 8th inning rally put the Naturals in position for the win but Julio De La Cruz couldn't hold the lead in the 9th and the Nats lost in 14. The Cards scored a run on 3 hits off NWA starter Rowdy Hardy in the 1st but a Juan Richardson RBI double tied the game after 1. Hardy stranded 2 in the 3rd but allowed a run on a walk and 2 hits in the 4th and then another run on 2 hits in the 5th to make it 3-1 Springfield. The Naturals sprinkled some baserunners through the middle innings but couldn't cash in and the 3-1 lead held into the 8th. With 2 out in the Cards 8th, RP Kyle Crist allowed 2 singles but the Naturals nailed a runner at the plate in a rundown to end the threat. Joshua Dew took over pitching duties for Springfield in the 8th but was pulled after giving up a Richardson RBI single to cut the lead to 1. New pitcher Zach Zuercher fared no better, however, as Kila Kaaihue was the first batter he faced and said "Aloha" in sending a pitch to right center for his 6th homer of the year for a 2-run shot to make it 4-3 NWA. De La Cruz came on to close it out in the 9th but started the inning with a single, wild pitch and walk. A groundout brought home the tying run and the game went to extras. RP Patrick Green came in to pitch the 12th for NW Arkansas and left the bases full. Angel Sanchez was ejected after getting struck out looking to end the Nats 12th. The Naturals loaded the bases with 1 out in the 13th but Marc Maddox struck out and Cody Clark flew out to kill the threat. With 2 out in the 14th, Green gave up a double, IBB, RBI single, and 2-run single with a runner getting caught on the basepaths after the damage was done. Cards RP Luke Gregerson stranded 1 in the 14th for his 1st save for Springfield as RP Nick Webber got the win with a scoreless IP to move to 1-1 with a 5.11 ERA. Cards starter Clayton Mortensen went 7 IP and allowed only an ER on 5 hits, a walk and 4 Ks to make his ERA 2.49. Cards DH Brandon Yarbrough was 4-7 with 3 RBI (4) out of the 9-hole for Springfield to move to .270 and CF Jon Jay was 3-5 with 2 walks and 2 RS to move to .292. Six other Cardinals had 2-hit games.

The Naturals are 5-13 but only 3 games back. Game 3 of the series is tonight as NWA's Daniel Cortes (0-1, 1.35) takes on Cards high-level prospect SP Adam Ottavino (0-2, 7.43).

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Frederick 4, Blue Rocks 1 (7/G1)

2B Mertins 1-3, E (5) -- .346
RF Dickerson 1-3, 3B (3), RS, SB (8), OF assist at second -- .333
3B J. Johnson 1-3, K, SB (2) -- .296, Rocks only had 3 hits
1B Seratelli 0-3, RBI (6) -- .132
CF D. Robinson 0-3, K -- .186
SS McConnell 0-3 -- .121, five guys in lineup have BAs in the .100s
C Howell 0-3, K -- .359

Kniginyzky 4 IP, ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 4 K -- ND, 2.20 ERA
Hartsock 2 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, BB -- L, 1-2, 2.50 ERA

*** The Rocks couldn't get to Keys starter Brandon Erbe very often but the Keys got to Wilmington RP Aaron Hartsock to take a 4-1 win in the opener. Joe Dickerson led off the Rocks 2nd with a triple and scored on an Anthony Seratelli groundout to make it 1-0 Wilmington. Starter Matt Kniginyzky, who returned after taking a line drive off his arm in his last start, stranded 2 in the 2nd but had some struggles in the 4th with a single, walk and single loading the bases before he walked in the tying run. The Rocks stranded 2 in the 5th and the Keys broke through vs. Hartsock in his 2nd inning of work, the 6th, with 3 runs on 4 hits. Erbe pitched a 1-2-3 7th for a complete game win with an ER on 3 hits, a walk and 3 Ks to move to 2-1 with a 3.04 ERA. Keys SS Jason White was 1-2 with a walk and 3 RBI (8) to move to .211 while Orioles uberprospect C Matt Wieters was 1-3 with a RS to move to .417 and 3B Billy Rowell was 1-2 with a walk, RBI (1), RS and his 1st error to move to .333.

Keys 2, Rocks 1 (7/G2)

CF Robinson 3-4, 2 2B (2), K -- .222
2B Mertins 1-3, K, RS -- .345
RF Dickerson 1-3, 2 SB (10) -- .333
SS McConnell 1-3, K -- .131
1B D. Wood 0-2, SF, RBI (6), K -- .175

Holland 3 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 7 K, WP -- L, 1-1, 2.63 ERA
Teaford 2 IP, H, 2 K -- 1.04 ERA
Barrera 1/3 IP, K -- 3.00 ERA

*** One rough inning for Greg Holland was enough as the Rocks offense sputtered again and the Keys ended up sweeping the doubleheader. Derrick Robinson led off the game with a double for Wilmington but was stranded where he stood and that set the tone for the Rocks. Holland had an easy time into the 3rd when he gave up a 1-out walk, RBI double, wild pitch and sac fly to make it 2-0 Keys. David Wood hit a sac fly in the 4th to cut the lead in half but the Rocks stranded 2. Everett Teaford relieved Holland with 2 on and 2 out in the 4th and got out of the jam and, after Jarrod Dyson was picked off in the Rocks 5th, Wilmington manager Darryl Kennedy was ejected. The pickoff hurt as the Rocks came up with 2 ensuing singles and stranded 2 in the frame. Another caught stealing in the 7th hurt badly as Matt Morizio walked and was caught stealing second only to see Wilver Perez reach on an error and Robinson rip another double that maybe would have scored Morizio, but didn't score Perez, who tried to make it home from first and was cut down at the plate to end the game in an exciting fashion. Keys starter Pedro Beato went 5 IP of an ER on 6 hits, a walk and 5 Ks to improve to 3-1 with a 3.38 ERA and RP Wilfredo Perez got his 1st save with 2 IP of a hit, walk and 2 Ks to drop his ERA to 2.70. SS Chris Amador was 2-3 with his 3rd double, 6th SB, 2nd E and 8th RBI to move to .284, Wieters was 0-2 with a sac fly and his 13th RBI to go with 2 Ks to drop to .400 and Rowell was 1-3 to stay at .333.

Wilmington is 6-12 and 7.5 games back. The series concludes tonight. Probable starters: Rocks righty Jason Godin (0-0, 5.40) vs. Keys righty Jake Renshaw (2-1, 5.40).

A - Burlington: Bees 5, Quad Cities 2

3B Taylor 2-2, BB, HBP, 2 HR (3), 3 RBI (10), 3 RS, 2 SB (7) -- .196, first multihomer game as pro, great line
SS Moustakas 0-4, BB -- .204
2B Evangelho 1-4, RBI (2), 3 K -- .080
LF Ortiz 2-4, BB, RS -- .324
1B C. Robinson 0-2, 2 BB, K -- .291

Paulino 6 IP, 6 H, 5 K -- W, 1-2, 5.06 ERA, nice night
Chavez 2 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, K -- 9.00 ERA, season debut
Lopez IP, 2 H -- SV, 1, 2.08 ERA

*** Jason Taylor was the man for Burlington on Tuesday and starter Eduardo Paulino wasn't too shabby, either, as the Bees took the opener from the River Bandits. Taylor led off the 2nd with his 1st homer of the game and 2nd of the season and Zach Evangelho hit an RBI single later in the inning to make it 2-0 Bees. Paulino stranded 2 in the 2nd and Taylor led off the 4th with his 2nd homer of the game and 3rd of the season to increase the lead to 3-0. Taylor walked and stole second to lead off the 6th and later stole third before scoring on a passed ball to further stretch the lead. Paulino hit 2 batters in the 6th but worked around them before departing for Chris Chavez in the 7th. With the bases loaded and 1 out in the 7th, Taylor was hit by a pitch to make it 5-0 Bees. Chavez allowed 2 hits but emerged unscathed in the 7th before giving up a 2-out, 2-run rally in the 8th on 3 hits. Yensi Lopez stranded 2 in the 9th for his 1st save. QC starter Andres Rosales took the loss with 4 IP of 3 ER on 4 hits, 3 walks and 3 Ks to drop to 0-1 with a 3.21 ERA. Four Bandits had 2-hit games led by 3B Domnit Bolivar, who was 2-4 with his 7th RBI and 4th error to move to .189.

Burlington is 8-9 and 6.5 games back. Game 2 is tonight. Starters have yet to be announced on the Bees' site. Starter Dan Gutierrez was put on the DL as Chavez made his debut. Gutierrez's injury isn't specified anywhere I've seen.