Royals on the Farm 5/17

AAA - Omaha: Albuquerque 11, O-Royals 4

3B Smith 3-4, HR (9), 2 RBI (23), K, RS, E (8) -- .250
DH Buchanan 3-4, 2 RS -- .353
1B Stodolka 1-4, RBI (9), K -- .250
RF Costa 1-4, HR (8), RBI (27), RS -- .311
CF Maier 1-4, 2 K -- .360, 19-game hit streak
2B Aviles 0-4 -- .341, 3rd straight 0-fer

Rosa 3 IP, 5 ER, 8 H, 4 K -- L, 0-1, 15.00 ERA, rough 1st, 70 pitches overall
Colon 3 IP, 6 ER, 9 H, BB -- 6.30 ERA, poured gas on fire
Lowery 2 IP, 3 H, 3 K -- 0.73 ERA

*** Carlos Rosa got a baptism by fire into AAA pitching as 5 1st inning runs fueled an Isotopes rout. With 1 out in the 1st, Rosa gave up an RBI double, RBI single, double, 2-run double and RBI single before striking his way out of the inning. Mike Stodolka got an RBI groundout in the 2nd and Rosa stranded 2 in the 3rd. He was pulled for Roman Colon in the 4th and an RBI single made it 6-1 Albuquerque. The Isotopes put it in the bag with a 5-run 6th on 5 hits (inc. 2 doubles), a hit batsman and 2 sac flies off Colon. Omaha stranded 2 in the 7th as they just couldn't get to Isotopes SP Chris Seddon. In the 9th, Shane Costa led off with his 8th homer and Jason Smith hit a 2-run homer for his 9th of the season but it was much too little, too late. Seddon got the win with 7 IP of an ER on 5 hits and 4 Ks to improve to 3-2 with a 4.00 ERA. SS Chris Barnwell was 4-5 with 2 RS to move to .308, C Paul Hoover was 4-5 with his 2nd double and 2 RBI (10) to improve to .304, LF John Gall was 3-5 with 2 doubles (11) and 3 RBI (31) along with his 4th SB and 2 RS to move to .326, and 4 other Isotopes had 2-hit games.

Omaha is 18-21 and 1 game back. The series wraps with a double dip today. Probable starters - game 1: O-Royals RH Matt Wright (0-1, 4.41) vs. former Royal and now Isotopes RH Bobby Keppel (5-2, 6.42). Game 2: Omaha RH Jeff Fulchino (1-1, 4.07) vs. Isotopes RH Dallas Trahern (0-3, 9.37).

AA - NW Arkansas: Arkansas 6, Naturals 0

SS Sanchez 2-4, K, CS (3) -- .230
LF Valentin 1-4 -- .305
CF Duarte 0-4 -- .248
2B Maddox 1-3 -- .246

Pimentel 7 2/3 IP, 6 ER, 9 H, BB, 4 K, 2 HRA -- L, 2-4, 4.19 ERA, tough day, but only a couple pitches really hurt
C. Hayes 1/3 IP, nothing -- 1.00 ERA

*** The Naturals were shut out on 5 hits. A triple and RBI single off Julio Pimentel in the 2nd got Arkansas on the board. Pimentel gave up a 2-run homer in the 5th and the Nats were being shut out on 2 hits through 6. The Nats had 2 hits in the 7th but Angel Sanchez was caught stealing at third to help stymie the rally. A 3-run 8th put it away for the Travelers as Pimentel gave up a 3-run homer and was chased after a 2-out double. Northwest Arkansas didn't challenge again. Arkansas starter Fernando Rodriguez went the distance with 5 hits, a walk and 8 Ks to move to 3-4 with a 5.68 ERA. RF Jordan Czarniecki was 3-4 with his 8th double and 1st triple and a RS to move to .301. DH Ben Johnson had his 9th homer and 3 RBI (35).

NWA is 22-20 and 2 games up on first. Game 3 is this afternoon. Probable starters: NWA's Rowdy Hardy (1-3, 6.07) vs. Arkansas' Anthony Ortega (4-2, 4.40).

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Blue Rocks 5, Myrtle Beach 0

3B J. Johnson 2-3, BB, 2B (4), HR, 2 RBI (9), RS, E (4) -- .321
CF D. Robinson 3-5, K, 2 RS, 2 SB (17) -- .263
SS McConnell 1-5, RBI (12), CS (7) -- .254
2B Bianchi 2-3, BB, 2B (4), 2 RS -- .181, slowly heating up
RF Dickerson 0-3, BB, SB (17), CS (8), OF assist at third -- .285
C Howell 1-3, BB, 2B (7), K, picked off, E (2) -- .302
* LF Jarrod Dyson stole his 14th base.

B. Wood 6 IP, H, 2 BB, 10 K -- W, 2-2, 2.98 ERA, dominated
Hartsock 2 IP, 3 H -- 1.86 ERA
Barrera IP, 2 K -- 3.12 ERA

*** Blake Wood pretty much owned the Pelicans Saturday night and the Rocks got only their 2nd win of the season versus Myrtle Beach. An error on a Kurt Mertins forceout scored Derrick Robinson for the Rocks' first run in the 1st. The Rocks gave the Pelicans 2 outs, however, on the basepaths with 2 CS in the inning to cut the rally short. Jeff Bianchi hit a 1-out double in the 2nd, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on a passed ball to make it 2-0 Rocks. Jeff Howell doubled but was picked off at third in the 4th and Josh Johnson doubled home a run to make it 3-0. Wood allowed his only hit in the 2nd. The Rocks stranded 2 in the 5th and did it again in the 6th. Wood was removed on the heels of retiring 11 straight Pelicans as Aaron Hartsock took over to start the 7th. Johnson hit a solo homer for his 1st longball of the season in the 8th and Hartsock stranded 2 that inning. Robinson hit a 1-out single in the 9th, stole second and third, and scored on a Chris McConnell single to make it 5-0. Henry Barrera finished it in the 9th. Pelicans SP Kelvin Villa took the loss with 4 IP of 3 runs (1 ER) on 5 hits, 2 walks and 2 Ks to fall to 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA. Four Pelicans had a hit each.

Wilmington is 19-22 and 7 games out. The series ends tonight. Probable starters: Rocks' Mario Santiago (2-3, 4.75) vs. Myrtle Beach’s Deunte Heath (5-1, 1.84).

A - Burlington: Bees 3, Quad Cities 1

C Eigsti 3-3, CS, PB (6) -- .219
1B S. Hayes 0-2, 2 BB, RBI (5), RS -- .176
SS Moustakas 1-3 -- .245, pinch-hit for in 7th
LF Lough 2-4, RS, CS (2) -- .261
CF Ortiz 1-3, S, CS (4) -- .304
2B A. Perez 1-3, RBI (9) -- .218
PH-DH Martin 1-1 -- 1.000, season debut
3B Taylor 0-3, BB -- .213

Caldera 6 IP, ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 8 K, HRA, WP -- W, 3-2, 2.61 ERA
C. Chavez 3 IP, H, 2 K -- SV, 1, 1.23 ERA

*** Alex Caldera bounced back from a leadoff homer in the 1st to shut the River Bandits down and the Bees evened the series. The homer came off the bat of QC CF Thomas Pham and only 1 other batter got to third off Caldera. Caldera stranded 2 in the 2nd and the Bees took the lead in the bottom of the inning with 2 runs on RBI singles by Alwin Perez and Ryan Eigsti, although 2 were stranded in scoring position. Shawn Hayes took a bases-loaded walk in the 3rd but the Bees left the bases full. Caldera stranded runners at the corners in the 4th and Chris Chavez took over in the 7th. He left a runner at third that inning and got a double play to end it in the 9th. Quad Cities starter Blake King took the loss with 2 IP of 3 runs (2 ER) on 6 hits, 3 walks and a K to fall to 1-3 with a 4.99 ERA. 3 Bandits had 2-hit games.

Burlington is 16-24. The series ends today. Probable starters: Bees SP Sam Runion makes his '08 debut vs. QC's Eduardo Sanchez (3-1, 5.51). Runion and fellow '07 draftee Dan Duffy have joined what will now be a 6-man Burlington rotation. C Todd Balduf was put on the shelf with a strained oblique to open up the roster spot for IF Kyle Martin. No accompanying moves for the Runion/Duffy call-ups have been announced yet. It's nice to see some more '07 draftees getting some PT at A-ball.