Royals on the Farm 5/18

AAA - Omaha: Albuquerque 11, O-Royals 2 (7/G1)

2B Berroa 2-3, HR (7), RBI (17), RS -- .299
C Clark 2-3, 3B, HR, RBI, RS -- .667, making best of his short shot
LF Lubanski 1-3 -- .252
SS Aviles 1-3, K -- .341
CF Maier 0-2, BB -- .352, hit streak snapped
RF Costa 0-3 -- .305
1B Stodolka 0-3 -- .241

Wright 4 IP, 7 ER, 11 H, BB, 2 K, HRA -- L, 0-2, 5.59 ERA, something's not right with Wright this season
Salmon 2 IP, 4 R (2 ER), 4 H, 4 BB, HRA -- 5.68 ERA

*** Seven runs in the 5th and 6th got the Isotopes the opener of a Sunday twinbill. Angel Berroa cranked his 7th homer in the 2nd to make it 1-0 O-Royals. A single, double and 3-run homer off Matt Wright started the Albuquerque 2nd but Cody Clark cut the lead back to 1 with a solo homer for his 1st of the season in his 1st AB in Omaha. Albuquerque scored a run off Wright in the 4th on 3 hits. Clark tripled with 1 out in the 5th but was caught too far off base on a comebacker to Albuquerque SP Bob Keppel and was nailed. The Isotopes put it away with 5 runs in the 5th on 2 hits and a walk off Wright and a grand slam served up by Brad Salmon to CF George Lombard, who had a big game. Jason Smith's 9th error of the season and 4 walks by Salmon helped lead to 2 Isotopes runs in the 6th to make it 11-2 but Salmon left the bases full. Omaha stranded 1 in the 7th in the shortened doubleheader game. Keppel went 5 IP and allowed 2 ER on 5 hits, a walk and 2 Ks to improve to 6-2 with a 6.15 ERA. Lombard was 4-4 with the GS (2) and 6 RBI (10) to beat the O-Royals single-handedly and improve to .237 and C Paul Hoover was 3-4 with his 3rd double, 4th HR and 3 RBI (13) with 4 RS to move to .329. Three other 'Topes had 2-hit games.

O-Royals 10, Albuquerque 4 (7/G2)

1B Smith 3-4, 2 3B (4), HR (10), 4 RBI (27), RS -- .259
SS Aviles 2-4, GS (7), 4 RBI (34), 2 K, RS -- .345
DH Buchanan 3-4, 2B (3), HR (3), RBI (12), K, 3 RS -- .362
RF Costa 1-4, HR (9), RBI (28), 2 K, 2 RS -- .303
CF Maier 1-3, BB, RS -- .351

Fulchino 5 IP, 4 ER, 8 H, 9 K, HRA, 2 WP, balk -- W, 2-1, 4.60 ERA
Musser 2 IP, 2 H, BB, 3 K -- 3.91 ERA

*** The shoe was on the other foot in game 2 as the O-Royals got a grand slam from Mike Aviles en route to an easy win. Jason Smith hit a 2-out, 2-run triple in the 1st to get Omaha started but starter Jeff Fulchino served up a solo homer in the bottom of the 1st to cut the early lead in half. Omaha loaded the bases with 1 out in the 2nd and Aviles stepped up and slammed a longball to left for his 7th of the season to make it 6-1. Two batters later, Brian Buchanan went deep for his 3rd homer to make it 7-1. Smith followed with a triple to chase Isotopes SP Dallas Trahern. Shane Costa hit his 9th homer with 2 out and 0 on in the 4th and, after Buchanan doubled, Smith continued his big game with a 2-run homer for his 10th of the season. Fulchino balked a run home in the 4th and gave up another run on a single and double. Three more hits off Fulchino in the 5th brought home another run to make it 10-4. Neal Musser left the bases loaded in the 7th to finish it. Trahern took the loss with 1 2/3 IP of 7 ER on 7 hits, a walk and K to drop to 0-4 with a 12.00 ERA. DH Jason Wood was 3-4 with a RS to move to .347 and 1B John Gall was 2-4 with his 6th homer, 2 RBI (33) and his 5th SB to improve to .338. SS Chris Barnwell also had 2 hits for Albuquerque.

Omaha moved to 19-22 with the split. A 4-game home set vs. the Iowa Cubs (20-22, AAA you know who) starts tonight. Starters for game 1 were I-Cubs RH Kevin Hart (0-0, 2.53) and Omaha LH Tyler Lumsden (1-4, 6.82). Iowa's roster features Cubs prospects CF Felix Pie (.143 OPS in 12 ABs), 2B Eric Patterson (.723 OPS in 25 games), and former Royal SS Andres Blanco (.704 OPS, 9 E in 36 games).

AA - NW Arkansas: Naturals 3, Arkansas 2 (10)

3B Lucas 3-4, RS, SB (5), CS (3) -- .273
DH Valentin 2-5, 3B -- .308
LF Suero 1-5, RBI (9) -- .256
RF McFall 0-2, BB, SF, RBI (25), K -- .242
C Thibault 0-4, RBI (2), K, SB -- .136
CF Duarte 1-5 -- .247
2B Maddox 0-4 -- .237

Hardy 6 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 3 K, pickoff -- 5.69 ERA, decent start
D. Hughes 4 IP, 3 H, 7 K -- W, 4-2, 2.56 ERA

*** The Naturals blew 1 lead but made a second one stand in the 10th to finally beat the Travelers on the road. Starter Rowdy Hardy hit 2 batters but stranded them in the 1st and hit a third in the 2nd in allowing a run. Hardy stranded 2 in the 3rd and a Geraldo Valentin triple went for nothing in the 4th as Arkansas held its lead. Ed Lucas led off the 5th with a single, stole second, advanced on a bunt and scored on a Kiel Thibault fielder's choice to tie the game. A Brian McFall sac fly in the 6th gave NWA a 2-1 lead but Hardy allowed a 2-out RBI single to tie it in the bottom of the inning. The game went to the 10th and NWA put 2 on with 2 outs before Ovandy Suero hit an infield single off the pitcher's glove to bring home Irving Falu and make it 3-2 Nats. The Nats stranded 2 but it didn't matter as Dusty Hughes pitched a perfect 10th for the win. RP Kevin Jepsen took the loss with an IP of an ER on 4 hits and a K to fall to 1-1 with a 2.11 ERA. Starter Anthony Ortega went 9 IP and allowed 2 runs (1 ER) on 5 hits, a walk and 3 Ks to move his ERA to 3.81. Three Travs had 2-hit games, including former Royal farmhand CF Adam Greenberg, who was 2-5 with his 4th double to move to .343.

NWA is 23-20 and 3 games up on first. The series is concluding tonight. Starters were Blake Johnson and Arkansas' Brett Mosebach, but the game is in extras.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Blue Rocks 8, Myrtle Beach 6

2B Bianchi 3-5, 2 2B (6), 2 RBI (6), K, RS -- .208, over Mendoza line is big step
CF D. Robinson 2-5, 2B (8), RBI (11), 3 K, RS -- .268
LF Bigler 1-3, BB, 2B (2), RBI (4), K, 2 RS, SB (3) -- .159
DH W. Perez 1-4, HR, RBI (5), K, 2 RS -- .196
RF-LF Dyson 1-4, RBI (8) -- .239
1B Seratelli 0-3, SF, RBI (12), K -- .137
SS McConnell 0-4, BB, K, RS, E (8) -- .247
3B J. Johnson 1-3, 2 BB, RS -- .322, OBP watch now at awesome .504

Santiago 4 IP, 3 R (2 ER), 4 H, 2 BB, 6 K -- 4.72 ERA
Nicoll 2 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 2 K, 2 HRA -- W, 1-1, 2.36 ERA
de la Vara IP, ER, 2 H, K -- 5.01 ERA
Chambliss 2 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, WP -- SV, 7, 0.82 ERA

*** The Rocks torched Pelicans ace Deunte Heath to take 2 of 3 from Myrtle Beach. Starter Mario Santiago stranded 2 in the 1st and, after Heath had hurled 2 perfect innings, the Rocks got to him in the 3rd with 2 runs on back-to-back RBI doubles by Brett Bigler and Derrick Robinson. Jarrod Dyson hit a 2-out RBI single in the 4th but was thrown out trying to stretch it to a double. Santiago finally gave up 3 runs to tie it in the 4th on 3 hits and a Chris McConnell error. Wilver Perez put Wilmington back on top with his 1st homer to lead off the 5th and the Rocks added 4 more runs in the inning on a run-scoring wild pitch, a 2-run Jeff Bianchi ground-rule double off RP Ferdin Tejeda, and an Anthony Seratelli sac fly. Chris Nicoll came in with a 8-3 lead to start the bottom of the 5th and gave up 2 solo homers in the inning. Wilmington stranded 2 in the 7th and Gilbert de la Vara came in to pitch the bottom of the frame and allowed a run on 2 hits to cut it to 8-6. Tyler Chambliss tiptoed around danger in the 8th by leaving the bases full and, after the Rocks stranded 2 in the 9th, Chambliss got a double play to leave a runner at third in the 9th for his 7th save. Heath took the loss with 4 IP of 8 runs (7 ER) on 6 hits, 3 walks and 4 Ks to fall to 5-2 with a 2.89 ERA. Two Pelicans had 2-hit games, including SS Brandon Hicks, who was 2-3 with 2 walks, 2 doubles (11), his 4th SB and a run scored to move to .255.

Wilmington is 20-22 and 6 1/2 games out after taking the series from the Pelicans. They have today off before starting a 3-game home set vs. Potomac Tuesday.

A - Burlington: Quad Cities 3, Bees 1

1B S. Hayes 2-3, BB, RBI (6) -- .216
SS Moustakas 0-3, BB, K -- .240
CF Ortiz 0-4, K, CS (5) -- .297
DH Taylor 1-4, K -- .214
3B Martin 0-4, E -- .200

Runion 6 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 4 H, BB -- L, 0-1, 1.50 ERA
Swaggerty IP, K -- 3.93 ERA
Z. Peterson 2 IP, ER, 3 H, BB, 3 K, HRA -- 4.73 ERA

*** The Bees offense sputtered as the Bandits took the rubber match with Burlington. Sam Runion had a decent Burlington debut as he held the Bandits hitless through 3. In the 5th, Quad Cities got to him as a bases-loaded double drove in 2 runs to make it 2-0. The Bees stranded 2 in the 7th and Zach Peterson gave up a leadoff homer in the 8th to make it 3-0. He stranded 2 but the Bees couldn't put a rally together until the 9th. Shawn Hayes hit a 1-out RBI single and the Bees had 2 on but that was all they could get as RP Cardoza Tucker notched his 4th save. Starter Eduardo Sanchez went 5 IP of 2 hits, a walk and 2 Ks to improve to 4-1 with a 4.22 ERA. CF Tommy Pham was 2-4 with his 1st double, 5th homer and 3 RBI (10) to move to .333. He also made a running catch on a deep fly by Kyle Martin to end it in the 9th.

Burlington is 16-25. A 4-day, 5-game home set versus the Kane County Cougars (26-14, A A's) started tonight. Starters were Cougars ace Craig Italiano and Bees SP Dan Duffy. The Bees are 0-3 versus the Cougs this season.