Royals on the Farm 4/25

AAA - Omaha: cold and windout?

*** The team site says the game v. Nashville was postponed by "cold and wind" and will be made up in a July 8 doubleheader. The series continues with game 3 tonight. Probable starters: Sounds LH Zach Jackson (1-3, 7.04) vs. Omaha LH Jorge De La Rosa (2-0, 1.15).

AA - NW Arkansas: Naturals 3, Arkansas 0 (2-hitter)

LF Valentin 2-4, RBI (7), RS -- .348
DH Lucas 0-2, BB, RBI (2) -- .111
CF Duarte 1-4, 2 K, RS, 2 SB (10) -- .162
SS Sanchez 0-3, BB, K, RS -- .197
3B Lisson 1-3, BB, 2 SB (7) -- .178

Rosa 8 IP, H, 2 BB, 9 K, WP -- W, 2-2, 1.61 ERA, hopefully a breakout start
Plummer IP, H, K -- SV, 1, 0.00 ERA, season debut

*** One inning of scoring was enough as Carlos Rosa had an awesome start and the Naturals finally beat the Travelers in their 5th try of the season. As Rosa allowed only a walk through 3 IP, the Naturals moved ahead in the bottom of the 3rd as a 2-out error by Travs SS Hainley Statia opened the door. Jose Duarte reached on that error and stole second and third before scoring on a balk. Geraldo Valentin singled home Angel Sanchez, who had walked, and more walks loaded the bases before Ed Lucas took yet another walk to bring home a 3rd run and make it 3-0 NWA. Rosa took a no-hitter into the 7th but a leadoff single by DH Nate Sutton ended that bid. Jarod Plummer made his NWA debut and gave up a 2-out single in the 9th (again to Sutton) but shut the door for his 1st save. Arkansas SP Dan Denham took the loss with 6 IP of 3 UER on 3 hits, 4 walks and 4 Ks to drop to 1-2 with a 0.60 ERA. Sutton was 2-4 with a K to move to .296 and no other Travs had a hit.

NW Arkansas is 7-14 and 3 games back. The series continues tonight. Probable starters: NW Arkansas' Julio Pimentel (0-2, 3.60) vs. Arkansas' Fernando Rodriguez (0-2, 7.59).

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Blue Rocks 6, Winston-Salem 2

SS McConnell 4-5, 3 2B (8), RBI (3), 2 RS, SB (8), CS (4) -- .200, big game outta nowhere
2B Mertins 2-4, 2B (6), RBI (7), 2 RS, SB (5) -- .349, 11-game hit streak, I mention reluctantly
DH Seratelli 1-3, HBP, RBI (7), 2 K, RS -- .153
C Howell 1-4, RBI (10), 2 K -- .349
RF Dickerson 1-4, K -- .338
CF D. Robinson 0-4, BB, K, RS, SB (7), OF assist at second -- .200
3B J. Johnson 1-3, BB, K -- .273

B. Wood 6 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 K, HRA, 2 WP -- W, 1-1, 4.56 ERA
Haltiwanger 1 1/3 IP, 2 H -- 4.63 ERA
Barrera IP, 2 K -- 2.70 ERA

*** The Rocks offense got going and Blake Wood pitched well enough to get a win in the opener with the Warthogs. Derrick Robinson led off the Rocks 1st with a walk and stole second before Chris McConnell doubled him home. The Warthogs tied it in the 2nd on a double, 2 walks, a wild pitch and a run scoring sac fly. The Rocks stranded 2 in the 2nd but surged ahead in the 3rd with 3 runs on a passed ball that scored McConnell, a Jeff Howell fielder's choice that scored Kurt Mertins and a balk that scored Anthony Seratelli to make it 4-1 Rocks. Wood gave up a leadoff homer in the 5th to cut the lead to 2 but the Rocks got the run back with interest in the 7th as McConnell and Mertins started the inning with back-to-back doubles and Seratelli hit an RBI single to make it 6-2 Wilmington. RP Russ Haltiwanger stranded 2 in scoring position in the 8th but Henry Barrera pitched a perfect 9th to finish it. Warthogs starter John Ely took the loss with 6 IP of 4 ER on 6 hits, 3 walks and 5 Ks to drop to 0-2 with a 2.88 ERA. 3B C.J. Retherford was 2-3 with his 2nd homer and 2 RBI (7) to move to .291.

Wilmington is 8-12 and 5.5 games back. The series continues tonight. Probable starters: Rocks right-hander Mario Santiago (0-2, 2.71) and Winston-Salem southpaw Aaron Poreda (0-1, 2.35).

A - Burlington: South Bend 8, Bees 4

LF Lough 4-4, 3 RBI (7), SB (3) -- .296
SS Moustakas 1-4, RS -- .212
CF Ortiz 2-5, RS, 2 SB (6) -- .329
2B A. Perez 0-4, RBI (3), K, SB (4), 2 E (4) -- .125
3B Taylor 0-2, 2 BB, 2 RS, SB (9), E (4) -- .219

Caldera 6 IP, 5 R (4 ER), 8 H, 2 BB, 6 K -- L, 1-2, 2.31 ERA
Swaggerty 1 1/3 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 2 H, 2 BB, K -- 4.50 ERA
Arias 1 2/3 IP, UER, 2 BB, 2 K -- 3.27 ERA

*** The Bees made 4 errors and South Bend coasted to the win in the series opener. The Silver Hawks scored 3 in the 1st off Bees starter Alex Caldera on 4 hits and a walk, including a couple of doubles. A Jason Taylor error led to another South Bend run in the 4th to make it 4-0. Taylor drew a 2-out walk in the Bees 4th, stole second and scored on a David Lough single to cut the lead to 3. Caldera gave the run back in the 5th on a triple and RBI forceout to make it 5-1. The Bees jumped back in the game in the 6th as Lough singled home 2 runs and Taylor scored on a South Bend error to cut the lead to 5-4. The Bees left the bases loaded, however, and South Bend pulled back away with 2 in the 8th off Ben Swaggerty on 2 doubles, a walk and Alwin Perez error. Another error in the 9th added an insurance run to make it 8-4 Silver Hawks and the Bees stranded 1 in the 9th. SB starter Joshua Collmenter went 5 1/3 IP of 4 ER on 5 hits, 2 walks and 4 Ks to move to 2-1 with a 6.63 ERA. SS Matt Oxendine was 3-4 with 2 doubles (3), a walk and RS along with his 5th error to move to .341 and 2B Taylor Harbin was 2-6 with 2 doubles (6), his 15th RBI with a K and RS to move to .238.

The Bees are 8-12 and 7.5 games back. Game 2 of the set is tonight. Probable starters: Bees' Juan Abreu (0-1, 5.73) v. SB's Jordan Norberto (0-3, 14.00).