Royals on the Farm 4/27

AAA - Omaha: O-Royals 3, Nashville 2

2B Aviles 1-4, 2B (10), RBI (21), RS -- .344
SS Berroa 1-3, HR (3), RBI (7), RS -- .307
RF Costa 1-3, BB, RBI (14), K, picked off -- .326
CF Maier 1-3, BB, K, RS, OF assist at second -- .294
1B Shealy 0-3, BB -- .182
C Tupman 1-4, K -- .314

de la Rosa 6 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 8 K -- W, 3-0, 1.64 ERA, is Jorge a AAAA pitcher?
Musser 2 2/3 IP, 2 BB, 4 K -- SV, 5, 2.31 ERA, old school save

*** Neal Musser held the lead in relief for Jorge de la Rosa and Omaha ended up with 2 of 3 from the Sounds. The game was quiet until the 3rd when de la Rosa gave up 3 singles for a run to start the inning. With runners at the corners and 0 out, de la Rosa bore down to strike out the side from there and keep the deficit at 1. Omaha was being no-hit by Nashville starter Chris Narveson entering the 4th but Mitch Maier broke that up with a single to start the inning and Mike Aviles doubled him home to tie the game. Shane Costa brought home Aviles with a single but was picked off to thwart any further rallying. Angel Berroa hit a solo homer in the 5th for his 3rd of the season and Omaha led, 3-1. The Sounds got a 2-out RBI single in the 6th to cut the lead back to 1 but de la Rosa held on until getting pulled with 1 on and 1 out in the 7th after 95 pitches total. Musser walked the bases full with 2 outs but K'd Sounds LF Brad Nelson to end the would-be rally. The Royals also left the bases loaded in the 7th but Musser pitched a perfect 8th and 9th to pick up his 5th save. Narveson took the loss with 7 IP of 3 ER on 5 hits, 3 walks and 4 Ks to drop to 0-4 with a 4.18 ERA. DH Russell Branyan was 2-4 with his 16th RBI to move to .412 while biding his time waiting for a break in Milwaukee.

Omaha is 13-8 and 2.5 games up on first. A 4-game set at the Sacramento RiverCats (12-11, AAA A's) starts tonight. Probable starters: Omaha LH Mike Maroth (0-1, 7.50) vs. RiverCats RH Kirk Saarloos (2-0, 2.45). The O-Royals are 15-25 lifetime vs. Sacramento, which is Omaha's worst winning percentage versus any PCL opponent. The Sacramento roster features A's prospects OF Carlos Gonzalez (.930 OPS, top prospect), lefty Gio Gonzalez (0-1, 3.91, 1.52 WHIP in 5 starts), and lefty Dan Meyer (2-1, 6.11, 1.36 WHIP in 4 games (3 starts)). The team site front page now has Gio Gonzalez as tonight's starter for Sac'to. As a non-Omaha-related note, the Salt Lake Bees (AAA Halos) are now 21-1. Wow.

AA - NW Arkansas: Naturals 6, Arkansas 5 (13)

1B Richardson 3-7, HR (2), 4 RBI (13), RS -- .247
CF Duarte 4-6, BB, RBI (5), RS, OF assist at third -- .213
3B Lisson 2-6, 2B (5), K, E (2) -- .193
SS Sanchez 0-5, 2 BB, RBI (6), RS -- .187
LF Suero 1-4, 2 BB, 2 RS, 3 SB (14) -- .241, he does have speed
PH-C Donachie 1-1, 2 BB, SB -- .250
* RF Brian McFall wore the golden sombrero with 4 Ks, and the Naturals stranded 15.

Hardy 6 IP, 4 ER, 8 H, HRA -- ND, 6.23 ERA, struggles continue
Green IP, BB, K, WP -- 7.56 ERA
Lowery 3 IP, H, BB, 3 K -- 0.69 ERA
Colon 3 IP, ER, 3 H, BB, K -- W, 2-0, 4.50 ERA

*** From the bottom of the 6th inning on, the Naturals offense and bullpen ruled the day, but the pen almost let it slip away in the 13th with the offense fighting back for the win. Arkansas mounted the first rally of the game in the 4th as a hit batter, steal and RBI double added up to the first run of the game off Rowdy Hardy. In the 6th, the same guy who had doubled, Arkansas C Ben Johnson, slammed a 3-run homer to left to make it 4-0 Travelers. The Naturals got the 3-spot back in the bottom of the frame as Juan Richardson hit his 2nd homer of the season (and 2nd in as many games) for a 3-run shot to quickly trim the lead back to 1. RP Patrick Green left a runner at third in the 7th and Devon Lowery stranded 2 in the 9th as the Naturals were down to their last 3 outs. RP Kevin Jepsen came in to finish it for Arkansas but walked 2 with 1 out before Jose Duarte tied the game with a single. NW Arkansas had the bases loaded with 1 out but couldn't get the winning run home and the game went to extras. A Travs error helped NWA get runners to the corners with 0 out in the 10th but Ovandy Suero flew into a double play as Mario Lisson was nailed at the plate trying to score from third. The Nats had 2 on again with 0 out in the 11th but again squandered the chance to end it. RP Roman Colon stranded 2 Travs in the 12th and Arkansas was in position to take the lead in the 13th as 2B Ryan Leahy lifted a fly ball to center and Duarte nailed the runner at third but not before the lead run scored to make it 5-4 Arkansas. Jeff Kennard was brought in as the Travs tried to finish the game a second time but Suero led off with a single, stole second and third, and, after the bases were loaded, Suero scored on an Angel Sanchez fielder's choice to tie the game. Richardson followed with a walkoff single and the game was finally over after nearly 4 hours. Kennard blew his first save and took the loss with no IP and 2 ER on 3 hits and a walk to drop to 0-1 with a 6.00 ERA. Starter Brok Butcher went 6 IP and allowed 3 ER on 4 hits, 3 walks and 4 Ks to move his ERA to 3.14. Four Travs had 2-hit games, led by Johnson's 2-6 day with his 6th double, 3rd homer and 4 RBI (15) to move to .198.

NW Arkansas is 9-14 and 1.5 games back. The Naturals go for the sweep tonight versus the Travelers. Starters: NWA's Dusty Hughes vs. Arkansas' Anthony Ortega. IF Irving Falu was put on the DL and P Greg Atencio was activated to work out of the pen. Carlos Rosa was named TL Pitcher of the Week and thus far is 2-2 with a 1.61 ERA in five starts, which is good for 2nd in the TL in ERA.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Blue Rocks 6, Winston-Salem 3

SS McConnell 2-3, S, 2 2B (10), RBI (5), RS -- .221
3B J. Johnson 1-2, 2 BB, 3B (2), RBI (5), RS, picked off -- .270, has reached base in every game he's played this season
CF Dyson 1-3, BB, RBI (3), 2 SB (5) -- .211
RF Dickerson 1-3, BB, 2 RBI (11), SB (13) -- .324
1B D. Wood 0-4, RBI (7), K -- .169, caught 5 foul popouts at first
DH D. Robinson 0-3, BB, K, 2 RS, SB (10) -- .221

Teaford 6 IP, ER, H, 2 BB, 3 K -- W, 2-0, 1.16 ERA, pretty much lights out
Holland 3 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 6 K -- SV, 2, 3.24 ERA

*** Three 2-run innings and the pitching of Everett Teaford were good enough to get the Rocks the win and a 3-game sweep. The Rocks took the lead in the 2nd with a 2-out rally of a Matt Morizio single, Josh Johnson RBI triple and Jarrod Dyson RBI single to make it 2-0. Teaford cruised through 3 and the Rocks scored 2 more runs in the 3rd on a Chris McConnell RBI double and David Wood RBI groundout before they stranded the bases loaded. Teaford gave up a run on a triple and walk in the 4th but Joe Dickerson hit a 2-run single in the 4th to make it 6-1. Greg Holland took over in the 7th and gave up a 2-out, 2-run double to cut the lead to 3. He pitched a perfect 8th and worked around a walk in the 9th to pick up his 2nd save. Warthogs SP Jacob Rasner took the loss with 3 IP of 4 runs (2 ER) on 5 hits, 3 walks and a K to drop to 2-1 with a 1.71 ERA. C Francisco Hernandez was 1-4 with his 2nd double and 2 RBI (4) to improve to .167.

Wilmington is 10-12 and 4.5 games back after the sweep. A 3-game home set versus the Frederick Keys (13-9, A-Adv. O's) was set to begin today but game 1 was rained out. The Rocks were 1-2 versus the Keys in their first series. The game will be made up in a Tuesday doubleheader.

A - Burlington: Bees 3, South Bend 2

C Eigsti 1-3, 2 RBI (6), RS -- .154
LF Ortiz 2-4, SB (9) -- .355
SS Moustakas 0-4 -- .203
2B Jimenez 1-4, RBI (5), K -- .158
3B Taylor 1-3, CS (3), E (5) -- .239
1B C. Robinson 0-2, HBP, RS, picked off -- .288

Paulino 7 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, BB, 2 K, 2 balks -- ND, 4.30 ERA
Chavez 2 IP, H, K -- W, 1-0, 4.50 ERA

*** The Bees were being shut out on 3 hits entering the 8th but got to the South Bend bullpen to get a comeback victory. The game was scoreless into the 6th but Burlington SP Eduardo Paulino, who had faced the minimum over the first 5, gave up 2 runs that inning on 3 singles and a balk. Silver Hawks starter Bryan Augenstein retired the last 10 he faced and handed the ball to RP Ty Davis in the 8th. The Bees responded by putting 2 on with 0 out to chase Davis for Jeff Dietz, but the rally continued as Ryan Eigsti hit a 1-out, 2-run single to tie the game. A passed ball moved Eigsti to second with 2 outs and Antonio Jimenez came through with a clutch RBI single to give the Bees the lead. RP Chris Chavez stranded 2 in the 9th for his 1st win of the season. Dietz took the loss with an IP of an unearned run on 2 hits and a K to drop to 0-1 with a spotless ERA but also picked up his 1st blown save. Augenstein lost the win despite 7 IP of 3 hits and 6 Ks to drop his ERA to 2.43. 1B Michael Mee was 2-4 to move to .320.

The Bees are 10-12 and 6 games back. A 3-game home set versus the Cedar Rapids Kernels (12-10, A Angels) started tonight. Ed Cegarra started for the Bees. The Kernels' roster features Halos prospects righty Jordan Walden (1-3, 2.83, 1.22 WHIP in 5 starts) and lefty Robert Fish (1-0, 3.47, 1.29 WHIP in 5 starts). Jason Taylor was named MWL Player of the Week after going 8-17 for a .471 BA with 8 RS, 1 3B, 3 HR, 5 RBI and 4 SBs.