Royals on the Farm 8/18

AAA - Omaha: rainout

*** Omaha is 54-75. The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader to wrap up the Oklahoma series today. After KC signed retread P Kip Wells today, I assume Jeff Fulchino or Joel Peralta (nope, I guess it's Josh Newman) will be headed back to Omaha soon. Probable game 1 starters today: RH Brandon Duckworth (4-11, 4.93) vs. RedHawks RH Luis Mendoza (2-2, 5.04); and game 2: RH Kyle Davies (6-2, 2.06) vs. Oklahoma RH Elizardo Ramirez (10-5, 4.21).

AA - NW Arkansas: Frisco 6, Naturals 1

SS Lisson 1-3, BB, 2B (20), K, RS, SB (27), E (22) -- .216
2B Maddox 1-4, 2 K, picked off -- .278
DH Lucas 1-3, SB (11) -- .307
CF Duarte 0-4, 2 K -- .254
1B Richardson 0-4 -- .293

B. Johnson 6 IP, 6 R (3 ER), 9 H, 4 K, HRA, pickoff -- L, 9-9, 4.98 ERA
de la Vara 1 1/3 IP, H, 2 K -- 2.70 ERA
C. Hayes 2/3 IP, nada -- 1.65 ERA

*** The Natural offense was again pretty much comatose as Frisco avenged a sweep last week by turning the tables on the Naturals. Blake Johnson got the first 2 outs in the 1st without incident but then ran into trouble as two singles, a Mario Lisson error, and a 2-run triple gave Frisco a 3-0 lead. Lisson doubled and later stole home in the 2nd but neither team threatened for a while. The RoughRiders got a 3-run homer in the 6th to make it 6-1 and the stagnant NWA offense didn't respond. I would blame the loss of Ka'aihue to Omaha but they did the same thing in the first half with Ka'aihue in the lineup every day. Frisco SP Derek Holland allowed an ER over 6 IP to move to 2-0 with a 0.64 ERA. 2B Jose Vallejo was 3-3 with 2 RS, RF Dustin Majewski was 2-5 with his 4th triple, 7th HR and 5 RBI along with a K and RS, and rehabbing 1B Hank Blalock was 2-4 with 2 K and 2 RS.

NWA is 32-24 and in a 6-game tailspin going into a major 4-game home set versus the Springfield Cardinals, who happen to share the division lead at this point. Shades of the first half when NWA blew it down the stretch. Dan Cortes (8-4, 4.02) will try to be the stopper for the skid vs. Springfield's Brad Furnish (1-0, 1.80).

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Myrtle Beach 5, Blue Rocks 3

DH Strait 2-4, HR (10), RBI (30), K, 2 RS -- .305, could use his bat at NWA right now
3B J. Johnson 1-2, BB, 2B (12), 2 RBI (34), K -- .263
RF Orlando 1-3, K -- .269
LF Ortiz 1-3, 2B (2), K -- .299
CF D. Robinson 0-4 -- .248
SS McConnell 0-4, K -- .258
1B Correll 1-4, RS -- .299
2B Bianchi 0-4, K, E (5) -- .253, rash of errors lately

Cegarra 7 IP, 5 R (4 ER), 6 H, BB, 2 K, 2 HRA -- L, 5-7, 5.02 ERA
Barrera 2 IP, H, BB, 3 K -- 3.10 ERA

*** The Rocks tried to come back from a 5-run deficit but couldn't get it done Monday. The first 18 batters of the game went down in order until Myrtle Beach broke the spell with a 3-run 4th on 2 hits and a 2-run homer. A solo homer off Ed Cegarra in the 6th made it 4-0 and Pelicans SP Carlos Rivas was perfect through 5. He stranded 2 in the 6th and Myrtle Beach tacked on a run in the 7th thanks in part to a Jeff Bianchi error. Josh Johnson clubbed a 2-run double in the 7th to get the Rocks off ground zero but a Cody Strait solo homer in the 9th for his 10th for Wilmington was the only other flash of success for the Rocks. Rivas got the win with 6 IP of a hit, walk and 6 Ks to improve to 5-3 with a 4.40 ERA. RP Ferdin Tejeda got his 4th save. 1B Ernesto Mejia was 2-4 with 2 HR (20), 3 RBI and 2 RS.

Wilmington is 27-30 and 4 games back. Game 2 is tonight as Mario Santiago (7-7, 3.68) takes on Myrtle Beach's Kyle Cofield (7-6, 3.49).

A - Burlington: Bees 1, Quad Cities 0 (3-hitter)

C Eigsti 2-3, HR (9), RBI (35), K, RS -- .223, supplied all the offense Bees needed
LF Walton 3-4 -- .266, too bad he doesn't hit like this the first 2-3 months
3B Moustakas 1-4, 2B (22), CS (4) -- .268
RF Francis 1-2, 2 BB -- .227
2B Giavotella 0-4, K -- .304
1B Taylor 1-4, K, SB (39) -- .237
DH C. Robinson 0-4, K -- .256
SS Martin 1-4, K -- .308

Duffy 5 IP, 2 H, BB, 7 K, WP -- W, 8-4, 2.20 ERA, another great start
Z. Peterson 4 IP, H, BB, 3 K -- SV, 5, 3.39 ERA

*** Dan Duffy and Zach Peterson dazzled the River Bandits to hold them to 3 hits and got the win despite minimal run support. The Bees stranded 2 in the 2nd and Duffy loaded the bases with no out in the 2nd but pulled a Houdini with 2 Ks and a flyout to escape the jam. Ryan Eigsti homered to lead off the 3rd for his 9th of the season and, remarkably, the run would hold up. Duffy retired 12 of the last 13 he faced and Peterson's biggest jam came when he had a runner at third with no outs in the 7th but got a sac bunt, K, and caught the runner trying to score on a ball that got away from Eigsti. He was perfect in the 8th and 9th for his 5th save. QC SP Deryk Hooker took the loss with 5 2/3 IP of an ER allowed to fall to 0-1 with a 1.69 ERA. CF Tommy Pham was 2-4 with a double and K.

The Bees are 35-21 and 3.5 games up on first. They go for the 4-game sweep tonight as Luis Cota (1-2, 4.56) faces Quad Cities' Jonathan Stambaugh (2-2, 5.93). Thirteen games remain for the Bees.

Rookie - Idaho Falls: Chukars 19, Billings 5

DH A. Perez 3-5, SF, 2 2B (14), 5 RBI (33), 3 RS -- .251
C McCauley 4-6, 2B (12), RBI (19), K, 4 RS -- .278
RF Testa 3-5, 2 2B (4), 3 RBI (23), K, 4 RS -- .274
1B Van De Keere 3-5, 3 RS, E (14) -- .292
2B F. Garcia 2-4, BB, 2B (8), 3 RBI (13), 2 RS -- .229
3B Jimenez 2-6, 2B (9), 3 RBI (23), 2 K, CS (5) -- .292
SS Alfaro 2-5, BB, 2B (16), 3B (5), RBI (40), K, RS -- .265, he and Testa have been cream of '08 draft class among hitters thus far
CF Norris 1-4, 2 BB, 2 K, RS, SB (25), CS (5) -- .249
LF Griffin 1-6, 2B (13), 3 K, RS, SB (9) -- .243, team had 9 doubles

Morgan 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, K, 2 WP -- 6.82 ERA
J. Garcia 4 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, K -- W, 4-1, 3.31 ERA
Huber 2 IP, 2 H, BB, 2 K -- 2.12 ERA
B. Hardy 2 IP, H, 4 K -- 4.50 ERA

*** Wow. When I signed off yesterday the Chukars were down early but they turned that around in a big way to rout the Mustangs. A 7-run 3rd and 6 late gravy runs made up most of the damage on Billings. It looked to be a different story in the 1st as Billings chased Ryan Morgan after only 1 out and 3 runs on 2 hits and 2 walks. Justin Garcia finished the inning and IF got 1 run back in the bottom of the 1st as an Antonio Jimenez RBI single following a J.D. Alfaro triple. IF surged ahead with 3 in the 2nd on a run-scoring Mustangs error, a Fernando Garcia RBI groundout and Alwin Perez sac fly. The Mustangs tied it on 2 hits off Garcia in the 3rd but Idaho Falls broke the game open in the bottom of the frame. Sean McCauley hit an RBI single to start the scoring and Carlo Testa hit an RBI single, Fernando Garcia hit a 2-run double, Perez singled in a run, and Antonio Jimenez hit a 2-out, 2-run double to make it 11-4 Chukars. Testa doubled in a run in the 4th and scored on a Perez groundout to make it 13-4. Justin Garcia allowed another run in the 5th but by then 1 run wasn't much damage. Perez doubled and scored on an error in the IF 7th and the Chukars finished it with 5 runs in the 8th on a Testa RBI double, a Perez 2-run double, a run-scoring wild pitch and Alfaro RBI double. Billings SP Lance Janke took the loss with 2 1/3 IP of 11 runs (7 ER) allowed to fall to 3-2 with a 5.57 ERA. Mustangs RF Byron Wiley was 3-5 with 3 doubles and 3 RBI and 2 other Mustangs had 2 hits.

IF is 10-11 and 6 games back. Game 2 is tonight as Aneidy Toribio (1-4, 5.36) takes on Billings' Jamie Arneson (5-2, 4.30).

Rookie - Burlington: B-Royals 10, Kingsport 3

CF Aparicio 4-4, BB, RBI (24), 2 RS -- .241
1B D. Cruz 2-5, 2B (6), 3 RBI (13), K, RS, E (4) -- .277
2B A. Franco 3-5, BB, HR, RBI (22), K, 2 RS, SB (13) -- .262
C S. Perez 3-5, RBI (10), K -- .325, has hit when healthy
DH Vittek 2-5, 2B (6), RBI (25), K, 2 RS -- .283
RF McFadden 2-4, HBP, RBI (6), RS, picked off -- .235
SS J. Gutierrez 1-5, RBI (10), K -- .246
LF Caldwell 1-5, K -- .194
3B F. Cruz 0-4, HBP, 2 RS, E (8) -- .238

Baez 5 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 2 K -- W, 2-2, 3.18 ERA
G. De La Cruz 2 1/3 IP, ER, 3 H, 2 K, HRA -- 5.16 ERA
Bowden IP, H, K -- 1.09 ERA

*** Burlington took an early 4-0 lead and never trailed in the opener versus the Mets. The Royals posted 4 runs in the 2nd on RBI singles by Diego Cruz and Salvador Perez, a run-scoring Jorge Gutierrez double play ball and a Julio Aparicio RBI single. They tacked on 2 in the 5th as Josh Vittek and Cruz hit RBI doubles. Manauri Baez stranded 2 in the 1st but was otherwise solid through 5, and Angel Franco homered off rehabbing former Royals reliever Ambiorix Burgos in the 6th to make it 7-0. Baez finally seemed to tire in the 6th as Kingsport scored 2 runs on 4 hits off Baez and Giancarlo De La Cruz in the inning. De La Cruz gave up a solo homer in the 7th but Burlington put it away with 3 runs in the 9th on a Warren McFadden RBI single, a Cruz RBI groundout and Gutierrez RBI single. Mets SP Robert Carson worked 4 innings of 4 ER allowed to fall to 2-2 with a 1.73 ERA. DH Dock Doyle was 2-4 with a run scored for the Mets.

Burlington is 21-37. Game 2 is tonight with no announced starters on the team site.

Rookie - AZL: Mariners 9, Royals 6

CF Llanos 3-3, 2B (7), RS, OF assist at home -- .189, nice game for Alex
1B A. Marte 1-4, 2 RBI (11), K, RS -- .212
2B Espinal 1-3, RBI (15) -- .229
C Matos 1-4, RBI (6) -- .270
SS Jose 1-4, RBI (14), 3 K, E (9) -- .262
3B D. Batista 0-4, BB, 2 K, RS -- .326

Sample 2 1/3 IP, 8 R (7 ER), 6 H, 5 BB, 5 K, balk -- L, 0-5, 9.00 ERA
Sirrett 4 2/3 IP, ER, 3 H, 3 K, WP -- 2.38 ERA
Feickert IP, 2 H, BB -- 8.18 ERA
A. Martinez IP, H, K, WP -- 10.45 ERA

*** The Mariners pounded Tyler Sample for 8 runs in the first 3 innings and that was it for the Royals. Two walks, a balk, a Lifete Jose error and 2 hits scored 4 M's runs in the 1st and 2 hits and 2 walks in the 2nd made it 5-0 Mariners. They finished the surge with 3 runs in the 3rd on a walk, 3 hits and a wild pitch off Sample and Onassis Sirrett. The Royals got 2 runs in the 3rd on a run-scoring wild pitch and a Yowill Espinal RBI single. The Mariners picked up an insurance run off Sirrett in the 6th but the Royals scored 4 in the 8th on a 2-run Alexis Marte single, a Mauricio Matos RBI single and Jose RBI single to cut it to 9-6. The Royals left 2 in scoring position in the 9th as RP Cheyne Hann notched his 2nd save. RP Fray Martinez got the win with 2 ER allowed over 4 innings of work to improve to 1-8 with a 6.84 ERA. Starter Austin Bibens-Dirkx worked 2 scoreless frames to drop his ERA to 2.25. SS Cesar Fuentes was 3-4 with a walk, 2 doubles, 2 RBI and 2 RS and CF Jarrett Burgess was 3-5 with a double, triple, 2 RBI and a run scored. DH Leury Bonilla had 2 hits as well for the M's.

The Royals are 7-12. They play the 9-8 Angels tonight.