Royals on the Farm 5/7

AAA - Omaha: O-Royals 7, Portland 1

DH Shealy 3-4, 2B (5), RBI (16), RS -- .226
SS Aviles 1-3, BB, 2B (15), 3 RS -- .351
CF Maier 1-3, BB, HR (3), RBI (8), RS -- .373
1B Stodolka 1-4, RBI (8), 2 K, RS, E (2) -- .250
LF Lubanski 1-3, BB, 2B (5), RBI (16), K -- .237
3B Smith 0-2, BB, SF, RBI (19) -- .236
2B Matranga 1-4, K, RS -- .367

Fulchino 5 2/3 IP, 2 H, 3 BB, 4 K -- W, 1-0, 2.66 ERA, good outing, 85 pitches
Lowery 2 1/3 IP, UER, 2 H, K -- 0.00 ERA
Musser IP, K -- 2.65 ERA

*** Three O-Royals pitchers combined to hold the Beavers to 4 hits as Omaha evened the series. Ryan Shealy hit a 2-out RBI double in the 1st to put Omaha on top. Starter Jeff Fulchino was solid throughout his 5 2/3 IP and Omaha added 3 runs in the 4th on a run-scoring wild pitch, Mike Stodolka RBI single and Chris Lubanski RBI double to make it 4-0. Mitch Maier led off the Omaha 5th with his 3rd homer and another wild pitch by Beavers SP Josh Geer scored a run to make it 6-0. Omaha tacked on a run in the 7th on a Jason Smith sac fly and RP Devon Lowery lost the shutout as a 2-out error by Stodolka in the 8th was followed by an RBI double for an unearned run. Neal Musser pitched a 1-2-3 9th. Geer took the loss with 6 IP of 6 ER on 7 hits and 4 walks with 3 Ks to drop to 2-3 with a 4.72 ERA. LF Chase Headley was 2-3 with a walk, his 10th double and 14th RBI to improve to .275.

Omaha is 16-15 and still 2.5 games up on first. Game 3 is tonight. Probable starters: Portland LH Shawn Estes (4-2, 3.67) vs. RH Brandon Duckworth (2-1, 5.13).

AA - NW Arkansas: Springfield 8, Naturals 1 (7/rain)

1B Kaaihue 1-1, 2 BB -- .253
2B Maddox 1-1, 2 BB, RS -- .211
CF Duarte 0-4, K -- .243
SS Sanchez 0-2, BB, K -- .179
LF Valentin 0-3, K -- .304

Hardy 6 1/3 IP, 7 ER, 10 H, 2 K, HRA -- L, 0-3, 6.16 ERA, isn't walking any but isn't fooling many either
Plummer 2/3 IP, ER, H, HRA -- 7.94 ERA

*** Rowdy Hardy got shelled again and the Naturals fell in the series opener in a rain-shortened game. The Naturals stranded 2 in the 1st and the Cards struck first in the 3rd with a run on 2 hits and a couple steals. The Naturals stranded 2 more in the 3rd and Springfield broke out for 5 runs in the 4th on a leadoff homer and 4 other hits, including 3 for extra bases. NWA stranded 2 in the 4th (sensing a trend?) and only scored in the 6th thanks to a 2-out Cards error that scored Marc Maddox. Jarod Plummer gave up a 2-run homer to the first batter he faced in the 7th and rain stopped play for good after the half inning. Cards SP Jesse Todd went 3 1/3 IP of 2 hits, 3 walks and 6 Ks in his Springfield debut and P Nick Webber got the win with 2 2/3 IP of an UER on 2 hits and 2 walks to move to 3-1 with a 6.14 ERA. 3B Allen Craig, who has terrorized NWA pitching this year, was 2-4 with 2 HR (6) and 3 RBI (28) to move to .284 and CF Shane Robinson was 3-4 with his 18th RBI and a RS to move to .422. KU product and Andy's "Jr." A.J. Van Slyke was 1-3 with his 1st RBI and 2nd SB to move to .238. He also made his 1st error of the season to allow the Naturals' only run.

NW Arkansas is 16-17 and 1 game back. Game 2 is tonight as SP Dusty Hughes (2-2, 3.04) takes the hill versus Springfield's Clayton Mortensen (1-2, 5.10).

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Blue Rocks 7, Salem 2

RF Dickerson 2-4, 3B (4), RBI (17), K, RS, CS (6) -- .324
CF Dyson 2-4, RBI (6), RS -- .246
SS J. Johnson 2-3, BB, 2B (2), RS, picked off -- .283
DH Seratelli 1-4, RBI (10), K, SB (7) -- .156
C Morizio 1-4, RBI (8), RS, E (5) -- .233
LF Bigler 1-3, RBI (3), K, RS -- .140
2B Bianchi 0-3, SF, RBI (2), K -- .128, back from DL
3B Mertins 1-3, HBP, K, RS, SB (8), E (7) -- .305

Santiago 5 IP, 2 UER, 5 H, 6 K -- W, 2-3, 4.21 ERA
Haltiwanger 2 1/3 IP, 2 H, BB, K -- 4.67 ERA
Nicoll 1 2/3 IP, H -- 2.37 ERA

*** Almost everybody got in on the action as the Blue Rocks swept the Avalanche. Nobody had reached base yet going into the Wilmington 2nd but that changed as the Rocks scored 4 runs on RBI singles by Matt Morizio and Brett Bigler and another RBI single by Jarrod Dyson that turned into a 2-run hit thanks to a Salem error. Starter Mario Santiago stranded 2 in the 3rd but, with 2 on and 2 out in the 4th, a Kurt Mertins error scored 2 runs to cut the lead in half. Wilmington got the runs back in the 6th on a Joe Dickerson RBI triple and Anthony Seratelli RBI base hit to chase Salem SP Casey Hudspeth. Jeff Bianchi added some insurance with a sac fly in the 7th to make it 7-2 and the Rocks pen took care of the rest. Hudspeth took the loss with 5 IP of 6 runs (5 ER) on 9 hits with 2 Ks to fall to 2-3 with a 5.21 ERA. 3B Jhon Florentino was 2-4 to move to .268.

Wilmington is 15-17 and 5.5 games back. The Blue Rocks have today off before starting a 3-game home set with Myrtle Beach.

A - Burlington: Bees 7, Fort Wayne 4

3B Taylor 2-3, 2 BB, 3B (2), 2 RBI (16), RS, CS (5) -- .240
CF Lough 3-5, 2B (3), K, 3 RS -- .252
SS Moustakas 0-4, HBP, RBI (9), K -- .213
C Eigsti 1-4, 2B (5), RBI (11), 2 K, RS -- .184
1B Jimenez 0-2, 2 BB, RBI (7), K, RS, SB (3) -- .138
PH-2B Evangelho 0-3, RBI (4), K -- .125
LF Ortiz 1-5, 2B (4), RS, picked off -- .331
2B-RF A. Perez 2-3, BB, 2B (4), K, SB (5) -- .175

Abreu 3 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 5 K, HRA -- 4.30 ERA
Z. Peterson 6 IP, 4 H, 7 K, WP -- W, 1-2, 4.50 ERA, nice game for Zach

*** When the dust settled on an early flurry of scoring, the Bees had the lead and Zach Peterson took it from there. Adrian Ortiz led off the game with a double and scored on a Mike Moustakas groundout to make it 1-0 Burlington. Bees starter Juan Abreu walked the first 2 batters he faced as Fort Wayne rallied for 3 in the 1st with 2 doubles added in the inning. The Bees left 2 in scoring position in the 2nd and Abreu stranded 2 in the 2nd. Jason Taylor ripped a 2-out RBI triple in the 3rd to cut the lead to 3-2 but Abreu gave up a solo homer in the bottom of the frame to give the run back. The Bees tied it with 2 in the 4th on a 2-out RBI double by Ryan Eigsti and an error that scored Eigsti. Burlington piled on 2 more in the 5th on a Taylor RBI single and bases loaded walk by Antonio Jimenez that made it 6-4 Bees. The Bees left the bases full, however. Peterson responded by pitching solidly throughout the last 6 innings. Zach Evangelho drove in a run with a groundout in the 9th to account for the Bees' final run. P Tyler Davis took the loss with 1 1/3 IP of 3 runs (2 ER) on 3 hits, 2 walks and a K to fall to 1-3 with a 3.97 ERA. Starter Matt Teague went 3 2/3 innings and allowed 3 ER on 4 hits, 2 walks and 3 Ks to make his ERA 5.28. SS Lance Zawadzki was 2-5 with his 4th double and 2 RBI (15) to move to .229 and 1B Felix Carrasco was 2-4 with his 4th double, 5th homer and 21st RBI to move to .244.

The Bees are 14-17 and 8.5 games back. They start a 4-game home set vs. the Beloit Snappers (14-18, A Twins) tonight. Probable starters: Bees SP Eduardo Paulino (1-2, 5.61) vs. Beloit's Mike Tarsi (0-6, 6.75). Beloit's roster features Twins prospects OF Ben Revere ('07 1st rounder, 1.043 OPS in 9 games), righty Mike McCardell (0-1, 2.53, 1.31 WHIP in 4 starts, is on DL), OF Chris Parmelee (.892 OPS, 6 HR in 29 games) and 3B Deibinson Romero (.581 OPS in 17 games, now on DL).