Royals on the Farm 6/11

AAA - Omaha: O-Royals 7, New Orleans 2

CF Maier 2-5, RS, SB (4) -- .316
C B. Pena 2-4, 2B, RBI (2), RS -- .333
LF Lubanski 1-4, 2B (10), 2 RBI (31), K, RS -- .259
2B Matranga 1-4, S, HR (3), 2 RBI (17), RS -- .267, hitting fairly well lately
SS Smith 1-3, S, RBI (43), K -- .265
1B Butler 0-4, RS -- .367, where'd the power go?
DH Shealy 0-3, BB -- .229, where'd the bat go?

Lumsden 6 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 4 BB, K, E (2) -- 6.71 ERA, not pretty but good enough
Colon 2 2/3 IP, BB, 2 K -- W, 2-1, 5.13 ERA

*** The Royals put together a big rally in the 9th to take a second straight from the Zephyrs Wednesday. Billy Butler reached on an error in the 4th and scored on a 2-out single from Jason Smith to give Omaha a 1-0 lead. The Zephyrs answered with a run in the bottom of the inning off Tyler Lumsden to tie it and then moved ahead with a run in the 5th. With 2 out and Mitch Maier at third after a throwing error on his 4th stolen base of the season, Ryan Shealy reached on an error in the 6th as Maier scored to tie the game. Lumsden was pulled with 2 on and 1 out in the 7th and Roman Colon got an inning-ending double play. Omaha had a runner at second and 1 out in the 9th when the offense turned it up a notch. Brayan Pena doubled in a run and, two batters later, Chris Lubanski hit a 2-run double. With 2 out, Dave Matranga slammed his 3rd homer of the season for a 2-run shot to finish the rally with a 7-2 Omaha lead. Colon pitched a perfect 9th to finish off the victory. Zephyrs RP Carlos Muniz took the loss with an IP of 5 ER on 4 hits and a walk to fall to 2-3 with a 3.38 ERA. Starter Brian Stokes went 8 IP and allowed 2 unearned runs on 5 hits with 4 Ks to drop his ERA to 4.10. RF Raul Gonzalez was 2-3 with a double in his first game of the season for the Zephyrs.

Omaha is 31-33 and 5.5 games back. The series wraps tonight. Probable starter for New Orleans is Nelson Figueroa (2-0, 2.40). Carlos Rosa was supposed to start for Omaha but got called up to the KC pen after Brett Tomko was DFA'd. That's $3 million the Royals aren't getting back. Maybe they can find a sucker to trade him to??? Probably too much to ask.

AA - NW Arkansas: Tulsa 7, Naturals 4

DH Valentin 2-5, RS -- .287
SS Sanchez 2-5 -- .262
RF McFall 1-4, BB, HR (10), RBI (33), RS, OF assist at third -- .250
LF Falu 1-4, RBI (11) -- .268
3B Lisson 0-3, SF, RBI (20), K -- .205, really disappointing thus far
CF Duarte 1-3, 2 BB, RS -- .252
2B Maddox 1-3, BB, K -- .294, 11-game hit streak
* The Naturals stranded 10.

B. Johnson 4 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, BB, 2 K, HRA, E -- L, 5-5, 4.14 ERA
D. Hughes 1 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, BB, HRA -- 3.08 ERA
Atencio 2 IP, ER, 2 H, BB -- 5.60 ERA, seems like he pitches every game

*** A 5-run 5th was all Tulsa needed to nail down the 4-game sweep of the Naturals. The offenses were held silent on the scoreboard until the top of the 4th when NWA singled the bases loaded but almost blew the scoring chance until a 2-out throwing error allowed a run to score. Angel Sanchez tried to make it 2 runs but was nailed at the plate to end the inning. The Nats stranded 2 in the 5th and starter Blake Johnson coughed up the lead with a single and 2-run homer to start the Tulsa 5th. He was pulled with 2 on and 2 out and Dusty Hughes came in and gave up an RBI double and 2-run single before getting out of the inning with NWA down, 5-1. The Naturals loaded the bases again to start the 6th and Mario Lisson hit a sac fly before Irving Falu singled in a run to cut the Tulsa lead to 5-3. The Nats left the bases full and Hughes gave up a solo homer in the bottom of the 6th to make it 6-3 Tulsa. Greg Atencio gave up another run on a walk and 2-out RBI double in the 7th but Brian McFall led off the 8th with his 10th homer of the year to trim the lead back to 3. The Naturals ended up leaving 2 in scoring position in the inning and didn't really threaten in the 9th as Ryan Mattheus logged his 9th save for Tulsa. Starter Xavier Cedeno went 5 1/3 IP and allowed 3 runs (1 ER) on 7 hits, 3 walks and 2 Ks to improve to 4-6 with a 5.61 ERA. Three Drillers had 2-hit games, including CF Dexter Fowler, who had 3 RBI.

NWA is 31-33 and 2 games back as the first half is going south rapidly in Springdale. A 4-game set at the Springfield Cardinals (33-31, AA duh) starts tonight. Probable starters: NWA's Dan Cortes (2-3, 3.52) vs. Cards' Adam Ottavino (0-4, 7.64). The Naturals are 7-5 versus the Cards.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Frederick 3, Blue Rocks 1 (1-hitter)

3B W. Perez 1-3, 2B (6), K, SB (3) -- .179, only thing between Rocks and a no-no
LF Seratelli 0-4, RBI (29), K -- .213
SS J. Johnson 0-3, BB, RS -- .282
DH Dickerson 0-2, BB, HBP -- .313, hit streak snapped
2B Bianchi 0-3, S, 2 K -- .258
* CF Derrick Robinson came in as a defensive replacement in the 8th and had an OF assist at second.

Godin 7 IP, ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 3 K, HRA -- 5.32 ERA
Chambliss IP, 2 ER, 3 H, K -- L, 2-1, 3.52 ERA

*** One measly 8th inning double was all the Rocks offense could generate as Keys starter Brandon Erbe mesmerized Wilmington bats. Rocks starter Jason Godin pitched well but walked 2 batters in the 1st before leaving them both in scoring position. He stranded 2 more in the 4th and finally faltered in the 5th by serving up a leadoff homer. Erbe retired 15 straight into the 7th before walking 2 to start that inning. An Anthony Seratelli RBI groundout tied the game but the Rocks left the lead run at third. Erbe left the game to the pen in the 8th with the Rocks still hitless and RP Ryan Rodriguez gave up a 1-out double to Wilver Perez to end the no-hitter. The Rocks ended up leaving 2 in scoring position and Tyler Chambliss gave up a 2-run single in the bottom of the 8th to break the stalemate. Chad Thall pitched a perfect 9th for his 3rd save. Rodriguez got the win with an IP of a hit, walk and K to move to 3-0 with a 2.15 ERA. Erbe allowed only 2 walks with 9 Ks over his 7 IP to drop his ERA to 4.65. 1B Brandon Snyder was 1-4 with 2 RBI (30) to move to .275 and C Matt Wieters was 1-1 with 2 walks and his 7th double to move to .344.

The Rocks are 33-33. A 4-game home set versus the Winston-Salem Warthogs (27-38, A-Adv. ChiSox) starts tonight. The Rocks are 4-3 versus Winston-Salem. Probable starters: Rocks righty Ed Cegarra (2-1, 5.79) vs. Warthogs righty John Ely (2-6, 4.02).

A - Burlington: Bees 11, Wisconsin 6

2B Martin 4-4, BB, 2B (6), 2 HR (4), 4 RBI (13), 3 RS -- .369
3B Moustakas 2-4, BB, 2B (9), HR (9), RBI (30), 2 RS -- .230
CF Ortiz 2-4, BB, 3B (5), 2 RBI (19), K, 2 RS -- .297
SS J. Rivera 3-4, BB, 2B (6), RBI (6), RS, SB -- .349, better than expected thus far
DH C. Robinson 1-5, RBI (18), K, RS -- .241
LF Lough 1-4, S, RBI (24) -- .254
1B Taylor 1-5, 3 K, RS, SB (22), E (13) -- .220
* The Bees left 10 on base.

Mitchell 6 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, BB, 6 K -- W, 4-5, 4.10 ERA
Augustine 3 IP, 3 R (1 ER), 7 H, 3 K -- SV, 5, 2.26 ERA

*** Kyle Martin brought the thunder and a big 1st set the tone to set the Bees up for a sweep. Adrian Ortiz singled and scored on a Rattler error in the 1st and, after a Clint Robinson RBI single, Martin stepped up and jacked a 3-run homer to left center for his 3rd of the season to make it 5-0 Bees. The Bees still managed to leave 2 in scoring position and Matt Mitchell gave up 2 runs on 2 XBH and a sac fly in the 2nd to get Wisconsin on the board. The Bees left the bases full in the 4th but Martin led off the 5th with his 4th homer of the season and 2nd of the game. Ortiz added a 2-run triple and Lough singled in Ortiz to make it 9-2 Bees. Wisconsin scored another run off Mitchell in the 6th and Joe Augustine came in and had a rough 7th as the Rattlers plated 3 runs on 3 hits and a Jason Taylor error at first to cut the lead to 9-6. Mike Moustakas hit his 9th homer as a solo shot with 2 out in the 7th. Augustine loaded the bases with 0 outs in the 8th but wriggled out of the jam to keep the lead at 10-6. Juan Rivera doubled in an insurance run in the 8th and Augustine benefitted from a double play in the bottom of the frame to wrap up his 5th save. Rattlers SP Juan Ramirez took the loss with 3 IP of 5 runs (4 ER) on 6 hits, 2 walks and 3 Ks to drop to 3-5 with a 4.08 ERA. RF Joe Dunigan was 3-4 with 2 SB (13) and a RS to move to .232 and 3 other Rattlers had 2-hit games.

Burlington is 28-38. The series wraps tonight as Alex Caldera starts for the Bees.