Royals on the Farm 4/24

AAA - Omaha: O-Royals 12, Nashville 11

2B Aviles 2-5, 3B (3), HR (3), 3 RBI (19), K, 2 RS -- .333
LF Lubanski 3-4, 2B (3), HR (4), 3 RBI (13), K, 2 RS -- .266, just needed a triple
C Tupman 3-5, RBI (4), RS -- .310
CF Costa 2-5, RBI (11), K, RS -- .333
RF Hollins 1-5, HR (3), 3 RBI (14), K, RS -- .206
DH Stodolka 1-2, 2 BB, HR, RBI (5), 3 RS -- .267
1B Shealy 1-4, BB, K, RS -- .174
SS Berroa 1-4, RS -- .313

Lumsden 3 1/3 IP, 9 R (8 ER), 9 H, 4 BB, K, 3 HRA (!), pickoff -- ND, 9.56 ERA.....i'm coming to the conclusion he's a bust, or needs some kind of medical attention to his arm
Giron 2 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, BB, 2 K, HRA -- 5.28 ERA
Tsao 2 IP, H, K -- W, 1-0, 3.86 ERA
Musser IP, K -- SV, 4, 3.00 ERA

*** The two teams combined for 8 homers as a 7-run Omaha 3rd almost went for naught but the O-Royals got a comeback victory. Tyler Lumsden's day got off to a bad start as the Sounds clubbed 2 homers for 3 runs in the 1st. Omaha stranded 2 in the 2nd and Nashville scored a run on 2 walks and 2 hits in the 3rd. Omaha turned it around in the bottom of the 3rd as Mike Aviles hit a 2-run triple, Matt Tupman hit an RBI single, Damon Hollins crushed a 3-run homer for his 3rd of the season and Mike Stodolka went solo for his first longball of the season to make it 7-4 Omaha. Lumsden responded by loading the bases with 3 singles to start the 4th and then a Jason Smith error (his 5th) allowed a run in and, after a sac fly, 1B Brad Nelson cranked a 3-run homer to right center for his 2nd of the game to chase Lumsden. Roberto Giron gave up a 2-run homer later in the inning as Nashville made it 11-7. Aviles hit his 3rd homer of the season in the 4th to cut the lead to 3 and Chris Lubanski and Shane Costa hit RBI singles in the 5th to trim it to 11-10 Sounds. "The Big" Lubanski came back up in the 7th with 1 on and 1 out and came up with the biggest hit of the game -- a 2-run homer for his 4th of the season to make it 12-11 Omaha. Chin-hui Tsao and Neal Musser finished it as Omaha took the wild opener. Former Royal RP Steve Bray took the loss along with his 2nd blown save with 1 1/3 IP of 2 ER on a hit, walk and K to drop to 0-2 with a 12.38 ERA. Starter Nic Ungs went 2 2/3 IP and allowed 7 ER on 8 hits, a walk and 3 Ks in moving his ERA to 12.86. Nelson was 3-5 for Nashville with 2 HR (6) and 5 RBI (9) to move to .339 and CF Mike Cameron, working his way back to Milwaukee from a 25-game suspension, was 1-4 with a walk, homer and 2 RBI with 2 RS to set his BA at .250.

Omaha is 12-7 and 3 games up on first. Game 2 is tonight. Probable starters: Sounds lefty Zach Jackson (1-3, 7.04) vs. Omaha RH Matt Wright (0-1, 5.14).

AA - NW Arkansas: Naturals 4, Springfield 2 (7/G1)

RF McFall 1-2, BB, HR (2), RBI (7), RS -- .196
C Donachie 1-1, BB, RBI (3), RS -- .182
CF Duarte 0-2, SF, RBI (4) -- .167, makes it 6 guys in lineup batting in .100s
1B Richardson 0-2, SF, RBI (6) -- .242

D. Hughes 4 IP, ER, 4 H, BB, 2 K, pickoff -- ND, 2.00 ERA, solid first start of season, 58 pitches
Colon 2 IP, ER, 2 H, HRA -- W, 1-0, 4.91 ERA
Lowery IP, H, 2 K -- SV, 2, 0.90 ERA

*** Dusty Hughes made his 1st start of the season a good one and the Naturals took the first of 2 with Springfield Thursday. Hughes allowed a 2-out double and RBI single in the 2nd to spot the Cards a 1-0 lead but NWA tied it in the 3rd with a Juan Richardson sac fly altho the Naturals stranded 2. Brian McFall untied it with a solo homer in the 4th for his 2nd of the season and Adam Donachie hit an RBI single before a Jose Duarte sac fly made it 4-1 NW Arkansas. Roman Colon gave up a solo homer in the 6th and Devon Lowery worked around a leadoff double in the 7th to pick up his 2nd save. Starter Adam Ottavino went the distance for Springfield and allowed 4 ER on 5 hits with 4 walks and 2 Ks over 6 IP to drop to 0-3 with a 6.98 ERA. C Brandon Yarbrough was 2-3 with his 2nd double and 5th RBI along with his 2nd passed ball to move to .300.

Springfield 4, Naturals 3 (7/G2)

2B Lucas 1-2, BB, RBI, CS -- .143
PH-RF McFall 1-1, RBI (8) -- .212
RF-LF Valentin 1-3, RBI (6), RS -- .338
CF Duarte 0-4, K -- .156
SS Sanchez 1-4 -- .206

B. Johnson 4 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 3 K, HRA -- L, 1-2, 5.40 ERA
Crist 2 1/3 IP, 2 H, K -- 6.00 ERA

*** The opposite of the first game occurred as this time Springfield scored 4 runs in the middle innings and held on to win. Starter Blake Johnson had a runner nailed at the plate and left the bases loaded in the 1st and the Naturals also stranded 2 in the opening frame. The Cards got to Johnson in the 4th with 3 runs on a homer, 3 other hits and a hit batsman to take a 3-0 lead. NWA stranded 2 in the 4th (c'mon, I can't be the only one that, every time I type or read NWA pictures Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and Eazy-E in Raiders hats on the bases or at bat, right? Right? (crickets chirping)) and the Cards pushed across another run in the 5th to chase Johnson as Kyle Crist stranded 2. The Naturals finally broke through in the 6th as they got 2 on with 1 out and Geraldo Valentin singled home a run. A Cards error allowed a second run to score and pinch hitter Brian McFall singled in a run to cut the lead to 1 with the tying run at third. Marc Maddox came in to pinch hit and Ed Lucas tried to score as McFall got caught in a rundown but Lucas was thrown out trying to score and Maddox struck out to kill the rally. The Naturals went down in order in the 7th as Springfield RP Luke Gregerson picked up his 2nd save. Cards SP P.J. Walters got the win with 5 1/3 IP of 3 runs (2 ER) on 5 hits, 2 walks and 2 Ks to improve to 1-2 with a 2.96 ERA. CF Jon Jay was 2-4 with his 3rd homer and 9th RBI to move to .292.

The Naturals are 6-14 and 4 games out. The Naturals resume the "Diamond Series" with a 4-game home set with the Arkansas Travelers (8-12, AA Halos) starting tonight. The Travs swept NWA in their first 4-game set. Probable game 1 starters: Travs' Dan Denham (1-1, 1.00) vs. NWA's Carlos Rosa (1-2, 2.25). The Naturals took a do-over with the promotion to replace DL'ed starter Dan Cortes and sent Chris Hayes back to Wilmington in favor of bringing RP Jarod Plummer to Springdale.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: off day

*** Wilmington starts a 3-game home set vs. the Winston-Salem Warthogs (9-7, A-Adv. ChiSox) tonight. Probable starters: Rocks SP Blake Wood (0-1, 5.29) vs. Winston-Salem righty John Ely (0-1, 1.89). The Warthogs' roster features White Sox prospects lefty Anthony Poreda (0-1, 2.35, 1.50 WHIP in 15 1/3 IP), Ely and 2B/OF John Shelby III (.545 OPS in 8 games, pretty sure it's son of retired major leaguer of same name).

A - Burlington: Quad Cities 5, Bees 4 (10)

3B Taylor 3-4, BB, K, RS, CS (2) -- .226
SS Moustakas 2-5, RBI (2), K, E (6) -- .210, best of times, worst of times
1B C. Robinson 2-5 -- .297
CF Ortiz 1-5, 2B (3), 2 K, RS, SB (4) -- .325
C Doscher 1-1, BB, 2B, RS, SB -- 1.000, season debut
DH Balduf 0-3, SF, RBI, K -- .200
2B A. Perez 0-5, RBI (2), 2 K -- .133

Augustine 6 IP, UER, H, 2 BB, 4 K, 2 WP -- ND, 3.71 ERA, bullpen cost him well earned W
Mitchell 2 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 6 K, balk, E -- 3.14 ERA, rough one
Bradley 1 1/3 IP, UER, 2 H, 2 BB, E (2) -- BS, 1, L, 1-2, 0.60 ERA

*** The Burlington pen blew a lead in the 9th and the Bees lost it in 10 as 1 of their 4 errors proved very costly. Joe Augustine had a great start for Burlington as he took a no-hitter into the 6th. The Bees stranded 2 in the 1st but got on the board in the 3rd as Nick Doscher and Adrian Ortiz led off the inning with doubles, but somehow Doscher only advanced 1 base on Ortiz's hit. Alwin Perez drove in Doscher with a groundout and Mike Moustakas singled home Ortiz for his 2nd RBI of the season. The rally ended on a strike-'em-out, throw-'em-out DP as David Lough whiffed and Jason Taylor was nailed at second. Doscher left the game for a pinch runner after swiping second in the 5th and Burlington padded the lead with 2 in the 6th on a run-scoring Bandits error and Todd Balduf sac fly that made it 4-0 Bees. Augustine lost both the no-no and the shutout in the 6th as a 1-out single broke up the no-hitter and a run scored on an Augustine wild pitch to cut it to 4-1. Matt Mitchell came in for the 7th and allowed a run on 2 hits while otherwise striking out the side. He did the same in the 8th with only a single and walk allowed (no run this time) while he struck out 3. Then came the rough 9th as Mitchell allowed a leadoff single, balk, RBI double and walk and was pulled with the score 4-3 and 2 on with 1 out as RF Wilson Tucker and Moustakas combined to throw out the runner at third on the double. RP Anthony Bradley got the second out but gave up a game-tying RBI single to CF D'Marcus Ingram before stranding the bases full. The Bees stranded 2 in the 10th and the Bandits' 10th was doomed from the get-go. Bradley walked the leadoff guy then made a throwing error on a sac bunt attempt to put 2 on with 0 outs. Another single loaded the bases and the Bees were able to force one at home before C Luis De La Cruz hit a game-winning sac fly to right to end it. RP Cardoza Tucker got the win for QC with 2 IP of 2 hits and 4 Ks to move to 2-1 with a 7.94 ERA. Starter Shaun Garceau allowed 2 ER on 5 hits, 2 walks and 2 Ks over 4 1/3 IP to make his ERA 2.37. 3B Andrew Brown was 2-5 with his 3rd double and 12th RBI to move to .258.

Burlington is 8-11 and 7 games back. The Bees start a 3-game home set vs. the South Bend Silver Hawks (5-14, A D-Backs) tonight. Probable starters: Burlington SP Alex Caldera (1-1, 1.04) vs. SB SP Joshua Collmenter (1-1, 6.59). The Silver Hawks' roster features Arizona top prospect righty Jarrod Parker (0-1, 1.86, 1.45 WHIP in 9 2/3 IP (3 starts)).