Royals on the Farm 5/1

AAA - Omaha: Sacramento 5, O-Royals 3

RF Costa 0-3, SF, 2 RBI (19), 2 K -- .324
SS Aviles 1-4, 3B (5), RBI (24), K, RS, 2 E (3) -- .358, both errors throwing
CF Maier 2-4, 2B (3), 2 RS -- .314
1B Shealy 0-4, 2 K -- .209
DH Lubanski 0-2, BB -- .244

Wright 4 2/3 IP, 3 R (1 ER), 8 H, 3 BB, 3 K, HRA -- ND, 5.16 ERA, 97 pitches
Tsao 2 1/3 IP, 3 K -- 2.61 ERA
Musser IP, 2 ER, H, BB, 2 K, HRA -- L, 0-1, 3.55 ERA

*** The Royals got the game tied in the 6th but Neal Musser gave up a big homer in the 8th to give the RiverCats a 3-1 series win. Mitch Maier led off the game with a double off rehabbing SP Rich Harden and scored on a Shane Costa groundout to get Omaha on the scoreboard. Matt Wright had a rough start as well as Sacramento started the bottom of the 1st with 3 singles for a run but stranded 2 in the frame. A 2-out error by Mike Aviles in the 4th kept the inning alive and Wright gave up a 2-run homer to C Landon Powell to make it 3-1 RiverCats. Wright walked 2 after the blast but left them stranded. He was pulled with 2 on and 2 out in the 5th and Chin-hui Tsao pitched well in retiring all 7 batters he faced. Maier led off the Omaha 6th with a single and scored on an Aviles triple before Costa hit a sac fly to tie the game at 3. Neal Musser came on to start the 8th for Omaha and had a runner at second with 2 outs when he, too, served up a 2-run homer to Powell to make it 5-3 Sacramento. Brad Ziegler pitched the 9th for Sacramento for his 3rd save. RP Dan Meyer got the win with 4 1/3 IP of 2 ER on 2 hits, a walk and 6 Ks to move to 3-1 with a 5.73 ERA. Harden allowed a run on 3 hits with 4 Ks over 3 2/3 IP. Powell was 2-3 for the RiverCats with a walk, 2 HR (6) and 4 RBI (13) to move to .213. 3B Jeff Baisley was 2-4 with his 13th RBI to improve to .282.

Omaha is 14-11 and still 3.5 games up on first. A 4-game set at the Fresno Grizzlies (14-13, AAA Giants) starts tonight. Probable starters: Omaha RH Jeff Fulchino (0-0, 3.72) vs. Fresno RH Brooks McNiven (NR). Fresno's roster features San Francisco top prospects OF Nate Schierholtz (.827 OPS), 2B Travis Denker (no stats yet) and righty Nick Pereira (2-2, 5.47, 1.78 WHIP in 5 starts). Omaha has promoted RP Devon Lowery from AA to make his first stint in AAA. Lowery had been solid as the Naturals' closer.

AA - NW Arkansas: Naturals 9, Springfield 6

3B Lisson 2-5, GS (2), 5 RBI (10), K, RS -- .200
1B Kaaihue 1-4, BB, 2 RBI (24), K, RS -- .225
CF Duarte 3-5, RS, E (2) -- .223
RF McFall 2-4, BB, K, RS -- .225
2B Maddox 1-5, 2B (3), RBI (3) -- .182
SS Sanchez 1-4, BB, K, 2 RS -- .184
DH Richardson 0-2, 3 BB, K, 2 RS -- .238

Pimentel 7 IP, 3 R (2 ER), 4 H, BB, 7 K, HRA, WP, E -- W, 2-2, 3.09 ERA
Colon 0 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, BB -- 6.43 ERA, that's not good for the ERA
Crist 2 IP, H, BB, K -- SV, 1, 4.91 ERA

*** A Mario Lisson grand slam fueled a 6-run Naturals 7th as NW Arkansas moved into a first-place tie with the Cardinals. Kila Kaaihue and Lisson had RBI singles in the 1st as the Naturals jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Kaaihue was later thrown out at home on a Brian McFall single and the Nats stranded 2. Starter Julio Pimentel gave up a 2-run homer in the 1st to tie the game and then made a throwing error in the 3rd that led to a Springfield run to make it 3-2. The Naturals left the bases loaded in the 5th but Joshua Dew came on to pitch the 7th for the Cardinals and NW Arkansas got a 2-out rally going. Jose Duarte singled and advanced on a balk before a Springfield error allowed him to score. Two more walks loaded the bases and Lisson cranked a grand slam to center to make it 7-3 Naturals. McFall followed with a single and Marc Maddox drove an RBI double to right to make it 8-3 Nats. NW Arkansas loaded the bases with no outs in the 8th as Kaaihue provided an insurance run with a groundout. Roman Colon came in to pitch the 8th for the Naturals and his inning went single, single, RBI single, RBI single, and walk before Kyle Crist relieved him. Crist allowed only 1 more run to score in the inning then stranded 1 in the 9th for his 1st save. Dew took the loss with an IP of 6 unearned runs (thanks to the 2-out error) on 5 hits and 2 walks to drop to 0-2 with a 7.11 ERA. Starter Adam Daniels allowed 2 ER on 5 hits, 3 walks and a K over 4 2/3 IP to move his ERA to 3.75. 3B Allen Craig was 2-5 with his 3rd homer and 3 RBI (19) to move to .248 and CF Jon Jay was 3-4 with 2 RBI (11) and 2 RS to move to .347.

NWA is 12-15 and now tied for first. The series wraps tonight. Probable starters: NWA's Rowdy Hardy (0-2, 6.23) vs. Springfield's Jaime Garcia (3-2, 2.17). To replace Lowery, the Naturals have once again recalled RP Chris Hayes off Wilmington's DL. RH Patrick Green has also been put on the DL after leaving Thursday's game with an arm injury.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Winston-Salem 6, Blue Rocks 4

SS McConnell 3-4, 2 RS -- .244
RF Dickerson 2-4, RBI (14), CS (5), OF assist at first -- .345
C Howell 1-4, RBI (12), 2 K, RS -- .316
LF Seratelli 1-4, 2B (2), RBI (8), K -- .145
CF D. Robinson 1-4, RS, E (2) -- .258
2B Mertins 0-4, K -- .295
3B J. Johnson 0-3, K, 2 E -- .250, on base streak snapped

Santiago 6 IP, 6 R (3 ER), 9 H, BB, 8 K, HRA -- L, 1-3, 5.23 ERA
Nicoll 2 IP, H, 2 K -- 2.76 ERA

*** A 9th inning rally made the final score a little more respectable for the Rocks but they still lost the opener with Winston-Salem. Starter Mario Santiago gave up 2 runs in the 1st on 2 singles and errors by Josh Johnson and Derrick Robinson. The Warthogs scored 3 more runs in the 3rd on 3 singles, a walk and another Johnson error and it became 5-0. Chris McConnell led off the Rocks 4th with a single and scored from first on a Joe Dickerson single to get Wilmington on the board. Santiago gave up a solo homer in the 5th and it was 6-1 Warthogs. Warthogs SP Aaron Poreda retired 14 of the next 15 after Dickerson's RBI single through 8. Robinson led off the 9th with a single, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on another Dickerson single to chase Poreda. Dickerson got caught stealing but the Rocks did score a couple 2-out runs on a Jeff Howell RBI single and Anthony Seratelli RBI double. RP Kanekoa Texeira got the final out for his 4th save. Poreda got the win with 3 ER on 7 hits and 4 Ks over 8 IP to improve to 1-2 with a 3.07 ERA. 2B Javier Colina was 3-4 with his 10th double and 2 RS to move to .304 and DH Lee Cruz was 2-4 with his 2nd homer and 2 RBI (7) to move to .254.

Wilmington is 11-15 and 7.5 games back. The series continues tonight as Rocks starter Greg Holland (1-1, 3.24) matches up with Warthogs SP Jacob Rasner (2-1, 1.71).

A - Burlington: off day

*** The Bees start a 3-game set at the Dayton Dragons (14-11, A Reds) tonight. No starters have been announced yet on the Bees' site. Dayton's roster features Reds top prospects SS Todd Frazier (1.027 OPS, 7 HR, 7 E in 25 games), righty Scott Carroll (0-1, 3.86, 1.41 WHIP in 5 starts) and 3B Brandon Waring (.936 OPS, 7 HR in 23 games).