Royals on the Farm 4/26

AAA - Omaha: Nashville 13, O-Royals 9

2B Aviles 3-5, 3B (4), HR (4), RBI (20), 2 RS -- .349, needed double for cycle, also part of 4 double plays turned by O-Royals
1B Shealy 2-5, HR (5), RBI (9), 2 RS -- .189
C Tupman 2-5, HR (2), RBI (5), RS -- .319
3B Matranga 2-3, SF, 2B, RBI (5), K, RS -- .538
CF Maier 1-5, HR, 2 RBI (3), K, RS -- .286, finally back from wrist injury?
RF Costa 1-5, HR (4), 2 RBI (13), RS -- .325
DH Hollins 1-4, BB, RBI (15), RS -- .209
LF Lubanski 0-3, BB, 2 K, E -- .254

Wright 4 IP, 7 R (4 ER), 6 H, 3 BB, 4 K, 3 HRA -- ND, 6.00 ERA, not off to same start as in '07
Salmon 1 1/3 IP, 4 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 3 K -- L, 2-1, 6.14 ERA, still awaiting word on the PTBNL to Reds in this trade
Fulchino 2 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, K, WP -- 3.72 ERA
Mildren IP, 3 BB, K, 2 WP -- 0.00 ERA, touch-and-go Omaha debut

*** Omaha blew 2 leads in a steady drizzle as Nashville evened the series at a game each. A Chris Lubanski error helped lead to 3 unearned runs on SP Matt Wright in the 1st as he allowed a 2-out RBI single and 2-run homer to spot Nashville a 3-0 lead. Costa hit the first of 5 Omaha homers in the 1st with a solo shot for his 4th of the season to cut the lead to 3-1. Dave Matranga hit a bases-loaded sac fly in the 2nd but Omaha stranded 2 in the inning. The Royals stormed ahead in the 3rd as Mike Aviles led off the inning with his 4th homer and Ryan Shealy and Matt Tupman went back-to-back with solo shots with 1 out for their 5th and 2nd of the season, respectively. The lead lasted 2 batters into the Sounds 4th as a leadoff walk was followed by a 2-run homer to tie the game at 5. Wright immediately gave up another homer for back-to-back longballs and the Sounds scratched out another run in the inning to make it 7-5 Nashville. Mitch Maier retied it in the bottom of the 4th with his 1st homer of the season - a 2-run shot - in his first game back off the DL with a wrist injury. Aviles tripled to chase Sounds starter Zach Jackson and scored on a Costa groundout to give Omaha an 8-7 lead. Brad Salmon took over for Wright in the 5th and allowed a game-tying RBI double. He was pulled for Jeff Fulchino with the bases loaded and 1 out in the 6th and Fulchino allowed all 3 runners to score on 2 singles to make it 11-8 Sounds. Shealy scored on a Damon Hollins forceout in the 7th but Nashville scored 2 in the 8th on 2 hits, 2 walks and a wild pitch off Fulchino. RP Paul Mildren loaded the bases with no outs in the 9th but escaped the jam unscathed. Omaha stranded 1 in the 9th. RP Erasmo Ramirez got the win for Nashville with 2 2/3 IP of a hit and K to move to 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA. Jackson went 3 1/3 IP and allowed 8 ER on 9 hits, a walk and 2 K with 5 HR allowed to bump his ERA to 8.89. Sounds 1B Russell Branyan was 4-4 with his 9th double, 4th homer, 5 RBI (15) and a walk to move to .406. DH Brad Nelson and C Vinny Rottino had 3 RBI each.

Omaha is 12-8 and 1.5 games up on first. The series wraps today as Sounds LH Chris Narveson (0-3, 4.29) takes on Royals LH Jorge De La Rosa (2-0, 1.15).

AA - NW Arkansas: Naturals 7, Arkansas 2

C Donachie 3-3, BB, 2B (2), 2 RBI (5), RS, picked off runner -- .231
DH Richardson 1-4, HR, 3 RBI (9), K, RS -- .229
RF McFall 2-4, 2B (3), RBI (9), RS -- .220
CF-LF Suero 1-3, BB, S, RBI (5), 2 SB (11), CS (3) -- .240, nice to see some life out of the minor league affiliates' offenses
CF Duarte 1-1, RS -- .174
SS Sanchez 1-4, BB, 2B (4), 2 K, RS -- .200

Pimentel 8 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 5 K -- W, 1-2, 3.21 ERA, nice start
De La Cruz IP, nothing -- 2.45 ERA

*** A 5-run 3rd was all NW Arkansas needed as Julio Pimentel was sharp. Pimentel stranded 2 in the 1st and ran into trouble in the 3rd with 2 runs allowed on 3 doubles. The Naturals responded off Travelers starter Fernando Rodriguez with 5 runs in the 3rd on an Adam Donachie RBI single, suicide squeeze by Ovandy Suero, and a 3-run homer by Juan Richardson for his 1st as a Natural. Pimentel responded by retiring 15 of 17 through 8. Suero stole 2 bases in the 7th but was thrown out trying to score on a ball that got away from the Arkansas catcher. The Naturals got to the Travs' pen for 2 in the 8th as Brian McFall and Donachie hit RBI singles to make it 7-2. Julio De La Cruz pitched a perfect 9th to finish it. Rodriguez took the loss with 6 IP of 5 ER on 8 hits, a walk and 3 Ks to drop to 0-3 with a 7.57 ERA. SS Hainley Statia was 2-4 with his 2nd SB to move to .202.

The Naturals are 8-14 and 2 games back after their first back-to-back wins of the season. The series continues late this afternoon as NWA's Rowdy Hardy (0-2, 6.30) takes on Arkansas' Brok Butcher (2-0, 2.78), who got 1 of his 2 wins versus the Naturals.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Blue Rocks 4, Winston-Salem 1

CF D. Robinson 3-4, 2B (3), RBI (4), 2 RS, 2 SB (9) -- .230
C Howell 2-4, 2B (6), RBI (11), K -- .362, forgot to mention him along with Mertins and Dickerson as offensive forces for the Rocks
SS McConnell 1-4, RBI (4), K -- .203
2B Mertins 0-3, BB, RS, SB (6) -- .333, hit streak snapped as I jinxed a second one for the Rocks
RF Dickerson 0-3, HBP, K, 2 SB (12), picked off -- .324
3B J. Johnson 0-2, BB, RS -- .257, may not get a hit daily, but does get on base

Santiago 5 1/3 IP, ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 4 K, HRA, WP -- W, 1-2, 5.52 ERA
de la Vara 2/3 IP, BB, K -- 5.63 ERA
Nicoll IP, 2 K -- 3.14 ERA
Hartsock IP, 2 H, 2 K -- 2.37 ERA
Chambliss IP, BB, 2 K -- SV, 4, 1.42 ERA

*** The Rocks used the combined efforts of 5 pitchers to take another game from the Warthogs. Starter Mario Santiago had a shaky 1st but stranded the bases full. Derrick Robinson had a great 1st as he led off the inning with a single, stole second, advanced on a groundout and stole home on a double steal with Joe Dickerson to put the Rocks on top, 1-0. Santiago stranded 2 more in the 2nd but then retired 10 of 12 through 5. The Rocks extended the lead with 2 in the 5th on a 2-out Robinson RBI double and Chris McConnell RBI single to make it 3-0. Santiago lost the shutout with an inside-the-park homer to lead off the 6th and Gilbert de la Vara stranded 2 in the inning. RP Aaron Hartsock stranded 2 in the 8th and the Rocks got an insurance run on a Jeff Howell RBI single in the bottom of the inning. Tyler Chambliss worked around a leadoff walk in the 9th for his 4th save. Warthogs starter Aaron Poreda took the loss with 6 IP of 3 ER on 6 hits and 3 Ks to drop to 0-2 with a 2.95 ERA. 3B C.J. Retherford was 2-3 with his 3rd homer and 8th RBI with a walk to improve to .310.

Wilmington is 9-12 and 5.5 games back. The series concludes this afternoon as Wilmington goes for a 4th straight win. Probable starters: Rocks lefty Everett Teaford and righty Greg Holland will piggyback against Winston-Salem righty Jacob Rasner.

A - Burlington: Bees 2, South Bend 0

3B Taylor 2-4, 3B, HR (4), 2 RBI (12), RS -- .235, has looked good despite low BA
CF Ortiz 3-4, RS, 2 SB (8) -- .348, just looks good as speedy leadoff guy
SS Moustakas 1-4 -- .214, slowly raising average
RF Tucker 1-3, 3B -- .125

Abreu 6 IP, 3 H, 7 K, WP -- W, 1-1, 3.71 ERA, wow
Z. Peterson 3 IP, 2 H, BB, 2 K -- SV, 1, 6.00 ERA

*** Juan Abreu had a good start and Jason Taylor provided the offense as the Bees evened the series with the Silver Hawks. Abreu gave up a leadoff double in the 1st but stranded the runner at third and retired 16 of 17 thereafter into the 6th. A Wilson Tucker triple was squandered by the Bees in the 2nd and Taylor got the Bees on the board with a 1-out solo homer in the 4th for his 4th of the season. Taylor came back up in the 6th and drove Adrian Ortiz home with a triple to make it 2-0 Bees. Zach Peterson faced little resistance in his 3 IP to lock down the save for Abreu. Silver Hawks SP Jordan Norberto took the loss with 6 IP of 2 ER on 5 hits and 3 Ks to drop to 0-4 with a 9.60 ERA. CF Evan Frey was 2-4 with his 5th double and 6th SB to move to .354.

Burlington is 9-12 and 7 games back. The series ends today as Bees SP Eduardo Paulino (1-2, 5.06) takes on South Bend's Bryan Augenstein (0-0, 3.18).