Royals on the Farm 7/28

AAA - Omaha: Tucson 5, O-Royals 4

LF Lubanski 1-3, HR (12), 2 RBI (41), RS -- .242
3B Dawkins 2-4, RS, CS (2) -- .292
1B Shealy 1-4, 2B (16), RBI (45), K -- .295
RF Stodolka 1-4, 2B (10), RBI (20) -- .277
DH B. Pena 1-4, RS -- .295
SS Sanchez 0-3, 3 K -- .191

Duckworth 6 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 3 K, WP -- 5.01 ERA
Bale IP, 2 H -- 4.50 ERA
Salmon 1 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, K -- BS, 5, L, 7-6, 4.86 ERA, blown 4 of 5 save opps this month; bullpen as whole has blown 7 of 9 save opps in July

*** Chris Lubanski gave Omaha the lead in the 8th but Brad Salmon helped give the game back to Tucson in the 8th and 9th. Ryan Shealy hit an RBI double in the 1st and Mike Stodolka followed with an RBI groundout to make it 2-0 Omaha. Brandon Duckworth made the lead only temporary, tho, by giving up 2 runs on 4 hits in the 1st. Duckworth left 2 in scoring position in the 2nd and neither team threatened again until the 6th when Duckworth gave up a double and run-scoring wild pitch to make it 3-2 Sidewinders. Lubanski smacked a 2-run homer to right in the 8th for his 12th of the season and Omaha grabbed a 4-3 lead. Salmon came in for the 8th and allowed 3 2-out singles to bring the tying run in to score. Tucson struck again with 2 out in the 9th as Salmon gave up a double and then a walkoff RBI single to C Robby Hammock to end it. RP Connor Robertson got the win with 1 2/3 scoreless innings of work to move to 7-2 with a 3.53 ERA. Starter Evan MacLane allowed 4 ER over 7 1/3 IP to move his ERA to 4.86. DH Jeff Salazar was 3-4 with a walk, double and RBI and 4 other Sidewinders had 2 hits.

Omaha is 49-60. The series wraps tonight as LH Dusty Hughes (2-0, 3.67) takes on Tucson RH A.J. Shappi (1-3, 6.37). It's happened -- Kila Kaaihue has been called up to Omaha and will join the team in Omaha Wednesday.

AA - NW Arkansas: Naturals 10, Springfield 4

SS Lisson 3-4, 3B (3), 2 HR (11, one was grand slam), 6 RBI (46), 3 RS -- .214
1B Richardson 4-4, HR (10), 2 RBI (56), 3 RS -- .294
DH Kaaihue 2-5, 2B (11), RBI (79), K, 2 RS -- .314
2B Falu 2-5, 2B (7), 2 K -- .263
LF Suero 0-4, RBI (22), 2 K -- .263
CF Duarte 0-5 -- .261
3B Lucas 1-4, BB, 2 K, RS -- .312

Cortes 6 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 K, 2 HRA -- W, 6-4, 4.41 ERA
Crist 2 IP, 3 K -- 4.60 ERA
de la Vara IP, ER, 3 H -- 3.94 ERA

*** Mario Lisson was the man Monday as he showed a flash of the talent that led KC to put him on the 40-man roster. With the bases loaded and no outs in the NWA 2nd, Lisson smoked a grand slam to left for his 10th homer of the season and the Naturals had a 4-0 lead. The Cardinals got a homer off Dan Cortes to get on the board in the 4th and then scored 2 in the 5th on another homer to cut it to 4-3. The Nats were far from done, tho, as Kila Kaaihue doubled home a run in likely his final game of the season for the Naturals per the callup, Juan Richardson followed with a 2-run homer for his 10th of the season and Lisson hammered a solo homer for his 2nd of the game and 11th of the season to make it 8-3. Lisson came through again in the 7th with an RBI triple and scored on an Ovandy Suero groundout to make it 10-3. Gilbert de la Vara allowed a run in the 9th but the Cards would not rally. Starter Jess Todd allowed 8 ER over 5 IP to fall to 3-5 with a 3.12 ERA. 3B Allen Craig was 2-4 with his 19th homer and an RBI and also had a K and his 13th error. LF Daryl Jones also had 2 hits for Springfield.

The Naturals are 23-14 and 4 games up on first with the big sweep. A 3-game set at the Tulsa Drillers (18-19, AA Rockies) starts tonight. Blake Wood (3-5, 6.58) is slated to take on Tulsa's Alan Johnson (3-10, 5.01) in game 1. NWA is 9-10 versus the Drillers. My money is on 1B Brad Correll or OF Cody Strait to move up from Wilmington to take Kaaihue's spot.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Potomac 9, Blue Rocks 3

DH Mertins 2-4 -- .301
2B Bianchi 2-4, 2B (25), K, RS, SB (9) -- .246
LF Ortiz 1-4, RBI, K -- .250, first RBI as a Rock
SS McConnell 1-4, RBI (25), K, E (26) -- .280, what's happened to the D?
1B Correll 0-3, SF, RBI (17), K -- .354
RF Strait 0-4, K -- .338
3B J. Johnson 0-4, K -- .278
CF D. Robinson 0-3, BB, RS -- .243

Cegarra 4 IP, 7 ER, 11 H, BB, K -- L, 3-6, 5.58 ERA, having same problem Blake Wood is at AA....consistency
Holland 3 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, BB, 3 K, HRA -- 3.75 ERA
Barrera IP, K -- 2.91 ERA, called for 2 more illegal pitches

*** A 5-run Potomac 2nd did the trick for the Nats in the opener with Wilmington. Ed Cegarra left the bases loaded in the 1st but wasn't nearly as lucky in the 2nd as Potomac rapped out 6 singles and a 3-run double in a 5-run inning. The Rocks answered with 3 in the 3rd on RBI singles by Adrian Ortiz and Chris McConnell and a Brad Correll sac fly to cut it to 5-3. Cegarra allowed another run before getting pulled in the 5th and Greg Holland gave up 3 singles for 2 more runs in the inning. Holland served up a solo homer in the 6th to make it 9-3 and the Rocks stranded 2 in the 9th. Potomac SP Erik Arnesen allowed 3 runs (1 ER) over 6 2/3 IP to move to 1-0 with a 1.35 ERA. 2B Mike Martinez was 3-5 with a double, 3 RBI and RS while 5 other Nationals had 2-hit games.

Wilmington is 17-19 and 3 games out. The series continues tonight as lefty Paul Mildren (0-4, 7.27) tries to right the ship against Nationals hot prospect southpaw Ross Detwiler (5-7, 5.44).

A - Burlington: Bees 5, South Bend 0 (5-hitter)

1B Taylor 3-4, 2B (9), RBI (42), RS, SB (34), picked off -- .223
SS Moustakas 2-3, BB, HR (15), 2 RBI (49), 2 RS -- .258
2B Giavotella 2-4, 2B (11), RS -- .305
DH Walton 1-4, 2 RBI (36), K, SB (6) -- .237
LF Francis 1-4, K -- .333
RF Van Stratten 1-4, OF assist at second -- .354

Mitchell 5 IP, 2 H, 5 BB, K -- W, 7-8, 3.72 ERA, walks were a problem, but not a killer
Augustine 4 IP, 3 H, BB, 2 K -- SV, 8, 3.13 ERA

*** Matt Mitchell and Joe Augustine didn't exactly dominate the Silver Hawks but they pitched well enough to get a shutout as the Bees took the series finale. The Bees struck early as Mike Moustakas hit an RBI single, Jason Taylor laced an RBI double and Jamar Walton singled home 2 runs to make it 4-0 in the 1st. That stayed the score for a while as Mitchell worked around 5 walks. Moustakas broke the drought in the 7th with his 15th homer of the season and Augustine stranded 1 in the 9th to finish it. South Bend SP Joshua Collmenter took the loss with 4 ER allowed over 5 IP to fall to 11-6 with a 3.18 ERA. 1B Chance Wheeless was 2-4 with a double in the loss.

The Bees are 21-15 and a half-game up on first. A 3-game home set with the Dayton Dragons (22-15, A Reds) starts tonight as Ray Liotta makes his Bees debut versus Dragons SP Kyle Lotzkar (2-3, 4.50). The Bees are 1-2 versus Dayton. With Liotta added, P Tim Huber was reassigned to Idaho Falls. P Brandon Sisk has also been added to the Bees' roster from IF.

Rookie - Idaho Falls: Chukars 8, Casper 1

RF Testa 2-3, BB, RS -- .222
SS Alfaro 1-5, HR (4), 3 RBI (32), 2 K, RS -- .258
CF Norris 1-3, 2 BB, RBI (8), K, RS, SB (16) -- .243
LF Griffin 1-4, 3B (2), RBI (15), 2 K, RS, 2 SB (5) -- .281
C McCauley 1-2, 2 BB, HR (2), RBI (15), K, RS, SB (3) -- .274
2B F. Garcia 0-4, RBI (9), 2 K, E (7) -- .261
1B Espinosa 1-3, BB, K, 2 RS -- .165

Morgan 4 IP, ER, 4 H, 3 K, balk -- 4.56 ERA
Rada 4 IP, 2 H, 2 K -- W, 2-1, 4.15 ERA
B. Hardy IP, 2 K -- 5.89 ERA

*** The Chukars also started their second half on the right foot by rolling past Casper in the series opener. Shawn Griffin roped an RBI triple in the 1st but IF stranded 2 and Casper tied it off Ryan Morgan in the 2nd on 3 hits. J.D. Alfaro gave the Chukars a lead they wouldn't relinquish with a 3-run homer in the 2nd for his 4th of the season. Morgan retired the last 5 he faced and Orlando Rada followed with 4 scoreless innings. Sean McCauley made it 5-1 with a solo homer for his 2nd of the season in the 6th and the Chukars put it away with 3 in the 8th on a run-scoring double play, a bases-loaded walk by Patrick Norris and a run-scoring wild pitch. Casper starter Marco Duarte took the loss with 4 ER allowed over 4 IP to fall to 2-3 with a 5.68 ERA. 3B Alex Feinberg was 2-3 with a double.

IF is 1-0 on the second half. The series continues tonight as Aneidy Toribio (0-3, 5.81) is set to go versus Casper's Ethan Hollingsworth (3-3, 6.21).

Rookie - Burlington: B-Royals 3, Bluefield 0

2B J. Gutierrez 1-4, RBI (8) -- .257
CF Aparicio 1-2, RBI (20), K, RS -- .232
C Moctezuma 1-3, RBI (7) -- .200, back from minor injury
1B Vittek 1-3, HBP, 2 K -- .290
CF H. Richardson 0-2 -- .230
DH Morales 1-3, K, RS, SB -- .208
3B F. Cruz 0-3, K -- .240
*RF Warren McFadden had an OF assist at first.

Lehmann 7 IP, 4 H, 7 K -- W, 3-2, 3.25 ERA, very nice
Bowden 2 IP, 2 H, 3 K -- SV, 5, 0.49 ERA, been very good NDFA pickup

*** A 3-run Royals 4th and the pitching of Mike Lehmann and Barry Bowden combined to give the Royals the finale with the O's. Julio Aparicio started the scoring with an RBI single in the 4th and the Royals added 2 more runs on RBI singles by Miguel Moctezuma and Jorge Gutierrez. Bluefield made a couple minor scoring threats but nothing serious. Bluefield SP Tyler Sexton was hit for 3 ER over 3 2/3 IP to fall to 2-4 with a 3.28 ERA. 2B Buck Britton was 2-4 for the O's.

Burlington is 14-26. The Royals have today off.

Rookie - AZL: Giants 3, Royals 1

CF Llanos 1-4, K, RS, 2 SB (7) -- .171
RF Del Rosario 0-4, K -- .314
3B D. Batista 0-3, BB, 2 K -- .309
C Matos 1-4, 2 K, 2 PB (3) -- .270
DH Culver 0-2 -- .125

Montgomery 4 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, BB, 3 K -- L, 0-1, 2.61 ERA, first pro decision an L
J. De La Cruz 2/3 IP, 2 H, K -- 2.08 ERA
L. Perez 3 IP, H, BB, 3 K -- 2.16 ERA

*** Mike Montgomery took his first pro loss but didn't get much run support as the Royals managed only a run on 4 hits in the loss to the Giants. The Giants scored 2 in the 2nd on 3 hits and a walk off Montgomery and, as the Royals were being 2-hit through 5, Montgomery was pulled with 1 on and 1 out in the 5th. Julio De La Cruz allowed 2 hits to push a run home for a 3-0 Giants lead. Alex Llanos scored the Royals' only run in the 6th when he singled, stole 2 bases and scored on a throwing error. The Royals left 2 in scoring position in the 7th and stranded another in the 9th as RP Chris Wilson picked up his 2nd save. Starter Kyle Nicholson got the win for the Giants with an unearned run allowed over 6 IP to improve to 2-1 with a 2.28 ERA. Three Giants had 2-hit games.

The Royals are 1-1 and are set to play the 1-1 Mariners tonight.