Royals on the Farm 5/2

AAA - Omaha: Fresno 6, O-Royals 4

2B Aviles 2-5, 2B (13), HR (6), RBI (25), RS, E (4) -- .360, rash of errors lately, this was another throwing E, is on a 14-game hit streak
SS Berroa 2-4, HR (4), RBI (8), K, RS, SB (2) -- .290
3B Smith 1-4, HR (7), RBI (14), K, RS, E (6) -- .245
LF Lubanski 1-4, 3B, RBI (15) -- .244
CF Maier 1-5, K -- .300
RF Costa 1-4 -- .321
DH Shealy 0-3, BB -- .202
1B Stodolka 0-2, 2 BB, RS -- .235

Fulchino 5 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 3 K -- ND, 3.68 ERA
Giron IP, 4 R (2 ER), 4 H, BB, K -- BS, 1, L, 1-2, 5.12 ERA
Lowery 2 IP, 2 K -- 0.00 ERA, nice AAA debut

*** Roberto Giron blew a 2-run lead in the 6th and Fresno slid past Omaha in the series opener. Omaha had runners at the corners with 1 out in the 1st but a would-be Ryan Shealy sac fly turned into a double play as Mitch Maier was shot down at the plate to keep the game scoreless. Jason Smith got Omaha started with a solo homer in the 2nd for his 7th of the season and, after Mike Stodolka walked, Chris Lubanski tripled him home to make it 2-0 O-Royals. Angel Berroa cracked his 4th homer in the 4th to make it 3-0. Jeff Fulchino made his first start for Omaha and faced little trouble into the 4th, but gave up 2 runs that frame on 3 hits and a walk to cut the lead to 3-2. Mike Aviles gave Omaha some insurance with a solo homer in the 5th for his 6th of the season. Omaha stranded 2 in the inning but Fulchino left 2 Grizzlies in scoring position in the 5th. Omaha stranded 2 more in the 6th and Giron took over for Fulchino in the bottom of the inning. The tying runs scored on 2 hits and a walk along with a double play, but Aviles made a key throwing error and Fresno SS Ivan Ochoa hit a 2-run triple to give Fresno the 6-4 lead. The Royals went down in order each of the last 3 innings as RP Alexander Hinshaw notched his 4th save. P Jesse Foppert got the win with 2 IP of a hit, walk and K to improve to 1-0 with a 3.07 ERA. Starter Brooks McNiven went 5 IP and allowed 4 ER on 8 hits and 2 walks to set a 7.20 ERA. 1B Brett Harper was 3-4 with his 13th RBI to move to .284 and 3B Julio Cordido was 2-4 with 2 RBI (14) to move to .350.

Omaha is 14-12 and 2.5 games up on first. The series resumes tonight with game 2. Probable starters: O-Royals RH Brandon Duckworth (1-1, 3.92) vs. Fresno RH Victor Santos (2-0, 4.23).

AA - NW Arkansas: Springfield 7, Naturals 3

1B Richardson 2-4, 2B (3), RBI (14), CS (2) -- .250
DH Valentin 2-5, 2 K, RS -- .338
CF Duarte 1-5, 2B (2), RBI (7), 2 K -- .222
SS Sanchez 0-5, RBI (7), K, E (7) -- .174

Hardy 5 2/3 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 5 H, BB, 3 K -- 5.40 ERA
De La Cruz 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 2 HRA -- L, 0-1, 4.42 ERA
Hayes 1 2/3 IP, ER, H, 4 K, HRA -- 5.40 ERA, season debut

*** The Naturals got the game tied in the 7th but just as quickly watched the tie vanish as the Cardinals rallied to finish the series with a 7-3 win. The Naturals left 2 in scoring position in the 2nd and Springfield struck first in the 3rd with a run on a hit and Angel Sanchez throwing error. Both teams squandered chances in the 4th but NW Arkansas tied it in the 6th on a Juan Richardson RBI double. Three Cardinals hits scored a run in the 6th to chase Rowdy Hardy, who had perhaps his best start of the season, but the Naturals tied it off Cards RP Rob Zimmermann in the 7th on a Jose Duarte RBI double. Julio De La Cruz had gotten the last out in the 6th but gave up a solo homer to leadoff the Springfield 7th and then a 3-run homer later in the inning to make it 6-2. RP Chris Hayes debuted for the Naturals and served up a solo homer in the 8th to make the deficit 5. The Naturals loaded the bases with 0 outs in the 9th but scored only a single run on a Sanchez groundout to fall, 7-3 as RP Luke Gregerson picked up his 4th save. Zimmermann got the win with 2 IP of an ER on 2 hits, a walk and K to move to 1-0 with a 3.24 ERA. Starter Jaime Garcia allowed an ER on 5 hits, 3 walks and 5 Ks to make his ERA 2.06. 3B Allen Craig was 3-4 with his 4th homer and 3 RBI (22) and 1st SB to improve to .265 and DH Luke Gorsett was 2-4 with his 2nd homer and 2 RBI (4) to improve to .214.

NW Arkansas is 12-16 and a game back. A 4-game home set with the Tulsa Drillers (11-17, AA Rockies) starts tonight. Probable starters: Tulsa's Xavier Cedeno (3-2, 4.73) vs. NWA's Dusty Hughes (1-2, 3.00). Tulsa's roster features Rockies' top prospects righty Casey Weathers (1-0, 1.69, 0.94 ERA in 10 2/3 IP out of the pen), SS Chris Nelson (.660 OPS, 13 E in 26 games), OF Dexter Fowler (.843 OPS in 28 games), righty Brandon Hynick (1-2, 5.85, 1.52 WHIP in 6 starts) and 2B Eric Young Jr. (.908 OPS, 10/14 SB in 22 games), among others.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Blue Rocks 11, Winston-Salem 3

1B D. Wood 3-5, 2B (3), 2 RBI (9), RS -- .200
3B J. Johnson 2-3, 2 BB, 2B, 2 RBI (7), 2 RS, picked off -- .277
DH D. Robinson 3-6, RBI (5), K, SB (14) -- .273
CF Dyson 1-4, BB, 2 RBI (5), K, RS -- .188
2B Seratelli 2-5, BB, HR (2), RBI (9), K, 2 RS, SB (4) -- .160
C Morizio 2-4, BB, RBI (7), 3 RS, 3 SB (5), E (4), 2 PB (3) -- .257
LF Bigler 0-1, SF, 3 BB, RBI (2), K -- .104
SS McConnell 1-5, BB, 2B (11) -- .242
RF Dickerson 1-5, HBP, 2B (5), K, 2 RS, SB (16) -- .337, Rocks were 6/7 in SB
* The Rocks stranded 11.

Holland 6 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, BB, 10 K -- W, 2-1, 3.47 ERA, nice
Hartsock 2 1/3 IP, H, BB -- 2.11 ERA

*** Wilmington scored in 6 separate innings to roll past the Warthogs and even the series. The Rocks got an RBI single from Jarrod Dyson in the 2nd but stranded the bases full. A Dyson forceout pushed in another run in the 4th and an error on a Derrick Robinson stolen base allowed Dyson to score to make it 3-0 Rocks. The Warthogs scored 2 runs off SP Greg Holland in the 4th but the Rocks broke out with 4 in the 5th on a Matt Morizio RBI single, 2-run Josh Johnson double and Brett Bigler sac fly to make it 7-2. Anthony Seratelli hit a solo homer in the 6th for his 2nd of the season to make it 8-2 and Robinson singled home a run in the 7th. Holland allowed a run in the 7th but the Rocks further socked the game away with 2 in the 8th on a David Wood 2-run double. Aaron Hartsock was solid over the last 2 1/3 innings. Warthogs SP Jacob Rasner took the loss with 4 IP of 3 runs (2 ER) on 6 hits and 5 walks to drop to 2-2 with a 2.16 ERA. 3B C.J. Retherford was 2-4 to move to .282.

Wilmington is 12-15 and 7.5 games back. Game 3 is tonight. Probable starters: Rocks southpaw Everett Teaford (2-0, 1.16) vs. Warthogs right-hander Matt Long (1-2, 4.38). The Rocks lead all of the minor leagues with 69 steals. The next closest is Columbus in the Low-A Sally League with 59.

A - Burlington: Dayton 3, Bees 1

2B A. Perez 0-2, SF, RBI (5), K -- .139
CF Ortiz 1-4, K -- .342, 13-game hit streak
SS Moustakas 0-4, 2 K -- .182
3B Taylor 1-4, K -- .253
1B C. Robinson 0-4 -- .237

Z. Peterson 5 IP, 3 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 5 K -- L, 0-2, 5.85 ERA
Abreu 3 IP, H, 5 K -- 3.15 ERA

*** The Bees' offense sputtered and Dayton got enough off of Zach Peterson to win. Peterson stranded 2 in the 1st but Dayton didn't break through until scoring 2 in the 4th on 3 hits and a walk to take a 2-0 lead. Alwin Perez hit a sac fly in the 5th to get Burlington on the board but Dayton got the run back in the bottom of the inning on 2 hits off Peterson. Fifteen of the last 16 Bees went down without reaching as Tyler Rhoden picked up his 1st save. RP Matthew Klinker got the win with 7 IP of an ER on 5 hits and 6 Ks to move to 2-1 with a 2.49 ERA. David Weathers made a rehab start for Dayton and went an inning. Three Dragons had 2-hit games led by RF Denis Phipps, who was 2-4 with 2 doubles (8) and RS to move to .274.

Burlington is 11-15 and 9 games back. Game 2 is tonight as Bees SP Eduardo Paulino (1-2, 4.30) vs. Dragons SP Luis Montano (4-0, 1.27).