Royals on the Farm 4/11

AAA - Omaha: O-Royals 9, Albuquerque 0 (2-hitter)

SS L. Hernandez 4-4, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 RS -- .400, nice night out of 9 slot
CF Murphy 3-5, 2 RS -- .308
C House 2-5, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, RS -- .231
RF Maier 1-5, HR (2), 3 RBI (7), K, RS -- .385
1B Ka'aihue 0-3, 2 BB, 2 K, RS -- .091
DH Shealy 1-5, 4 K -- .143, 13 Ks through 3 games, yikes
LF Lubanski 1-5, 2B, 3 K, RS -- .462
3B Metcalf 0-2, 3 BB -- .200

Phillips 6 IP, H, 3 BB, 4 K, balk -- W, 1-0, 0.00 ERA, only 68 pitches, nice debut, I smell a potential replacement for Ho-Ram
Rosa 2 IP, H, 2 K -- 0.00 ERA
Hughes IP, BB, K -- 0.00 ERA

*** Lefty Heath Phillips had a great organizational debut and the O-Royals steamed past the Isotopes to take an edge in the 4-game series. Tommy Murphy singled in the 1st and scored on a J.R. House double and Omaha had a 1-0 lead. Phillips worked around a hit and walk in the 1st and didn't allow another hit through 6. The 1-0 lead held into the 5th when Omaha padded it with 3 runs on Mitch Maier's 2nd homer of the year, a 3-run shot to chase Isotopes starter Eric Milton. Luis Hernandez led off the 7th with a double and later scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-0 Omaha. His next time up, in the 8th, he followed with a 2-run single and the lead was 7-0. House finished it off with a 2-run blast in the 9th for his first as a Royal and Dusty Hughes pitched the 9th after 2 solid innings from Carlos Rosa to end it. Milton allowed 4 ER on 6 hits and a walk with 7 Ks over 4 IP to set a 9.00 ERA and take the loss. RF Jason Repko and CF Xavier Paul had the 'Topes' hits to keep their averages at or over .400.

Omaha is 2-1. The teams finish the series today as the scheduled starters are Omaha's Brandon Duckworth and Isotopes righty knuckleballer Charlie Haeger.

AA - NW Arkansas: San Antonio 6, Naturals 5

CF Duarte 1-3, BB, SF, 2 RBI (3), picked off -- .273
DH C. Smith 1-4, RBI, K -- .083
1B McFall 1-4, HR, RBI (4), RS -- .455
C Howell 1-3, BB, 2B, RBI, K, RS -- .333
LF Dickerson 1-3, 2 BB, RS, SB, E, OF assist at second -- .250
3B J. Johnson 1-4, 2B, RS, SB -- .250
2B McConnell 1-3, S, 3B, RS -- .333
SS Lisson 1-5, 2 K -- .182

B. Johnson 4 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, K -- 6.75 ERA, not as bad as it looks
Crist 1 2/3 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 0 H, 5 BB, E, WP -- 5.40 ERA, weird line
Hayes 2/3 IP, H, 2 K, E -- 5.40 ERA
Marte 1 2/3 IP, UER, BB, K, E, WP -- L, 0-1, 0.00 ERA, no hits allowed but took the loss

*** NWA took a lead, blew it, got the game tied, then lost by bumbling the game away in the 8th. With 2 out and 2 on in the NWA 1st, Corey Smith singled home a run but then a double steal backfired as Cody Strait was thrown out trying to get home and the Naturals had to settle for a 1-0 lead. Blake Johnson got in early trouble as the Missions plated a run on 3 hits in the 1st, but Chris McConnell led off the Nats 3rd with a triple in his first AB of the season and scored on a Jose Duarte single to make it 2-1 NWA. Brian McFall cranked a solo homer in the 4th to make it 3-1 and Johnson had settled down through 4. He was pulled for Kyle Crist with 2 on and 0 out in the 5th and, with the bases loaded, a Crist fielding error and wild pitch allowed the tying runs to score. A groundout plated the third run of the inning and San Antonio took a 4-3 lead. Crist walked 4 batters in a row with 2 out in the 6th and the Missions lead became 5-3. NWA got back in the game in the 7th as Josh Johnson and Jeff Howell led off the inning with back-to-back doubles to trim the lead to 1. Duarte added a sac fly to tie the game at 5. In the bottom of the 8th, the Missions had a man on second with 2 outs after a walk and pickoff throwing error by Victor Marte. Joe Dickerson followed with a fielding error in left that allowed the lead run to score, but the Nats got the tying run to third with 1 out in the 9th. Duarte popped out, and after an intentional pass to Dickerson, Mario Lisson struck out with the bases juiced to end the game as Evan Scribner picked up his 1st save for the Missions. RP Chris Britton pitched a perfect 8th for the win. Starter Cesar Carrillo allowed 3 ER on 5 hits and 3 walks with a K over 5 IP to set a 5.40 ERA. LF Luis Durango and 1B Craig Cooper had 2 hits each for the Missions with Cooper driving in 2 runs.

NWA is 1-2. A 3-game set at the Corpus Christi Hooks (2-1, AA Astros) starts today. Starters are Blake Wood and Hooks lefty Doug Arguello. The Hooks roster features 'Stros prospects righty Sergio Perez, lefty Polin Trinidad, OF Collin DeLome, and Arguello. Former Omaha Royals Chad Spann and Andy Van Hekken are also on the Hooks roster.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Blue Rocks 11, Myrtle Beach 9

DH Lough 2-3, BB, HBP, HR, 4 RBI, 2 RS -- .300
LF Ortiz 3-4, SF, 2 RBI (3), RS -- .300
3B Moustakas 2-4, BB, RBI (2), 3 RS, CS -- .167
1B Seratelli 1-4, S, RBI, K, E -- .400
SS Bianchi 1-3, 2 BB, K, 3 RS, SB, E (2) -- .250
C Eigsti 1-4, S, RBI (2), 3 K -- .111
CF D. Robinson 0-6, RBI (2) -- .231, not a good line in leadoff slot
RF Walton 0-2, 3 BB, K, RBI, RS -- .000, would have been better line in leadoff slot
2B Giavotella 0-5, BB, 2 K, RS -- .167

Liotta 2 1/3 IP, 5 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 0 K -- 19.29 ERA, yowch
Paulino 3 IP, ER, 3 H, 4 BB, 2 K, HRA, WP -- W, 1-0, 3.00 ERA, other than walks, decent line
Villa 1 2/3 IP, 3 R (2 ER), 3 H, BB, 2 K, HRA -- 10.80 ERA
Swaggerty IP, H, 2 K -- 0.00 ERA
Hartsock IP, H, 2 K -- SV, 1, 0.00 ERA

*** The Rocks blew one big lead and almost blew a second one but pulled out the 11-9 win. Starter Ray Liotta worked around 2 hits in the 1st and the Rocks took the lead on an Adrian Ortiz RBI single in the 2nd before stranding the bases loaded. They surged with 4 runs in the 3rd, however, as they loaded the bases with none out and David Lough and Anthony Seratelli hit RBI singles, Ryan Eigsti hit a 1-out RBI single to chase starter Carlos Rivas, and Ortiz lifted a sac fly to make it 5-0 Blue Rocks. Liotta hit a wall in the 3rd as his inning went single, flyout, RBI triple, RBI single, walk and walk before Eduardo Paulino came in and walked 3 to score 2 runs and let in another run on a wild pitch to tie the game at 5. Two Pelicans errors opened the door in the 4th and Lough walked through with a 3-run homer for his 1st of the season to give the Rocks back the lead at 8-5. The Rocks drew 4 walks off RP Tyler Wilson in the 6th as Jamar Walton's brought home a run to make it 9-5 but the Rocks would leave 'em loaded for a second time en route to stranding 9 in the game. Paulino gave up a leadoff homer to LF Cody Johnson (his 3rd of the series) in the 6th to cut the lead back to 3 but Ortiz singled to lead off the Wilmington 7th and later scored on a Mike Moustakas single to make it 10-6. Kelvin Villa had cleaned up a Paulino mess in the 6th but made his own in the 7th as he served up a 2-run homer to 3B Donell Linares and 2 doubles brought in another run to cut the lead to 10-9 before Villa stranded 2 in scoring position. Walton walked to lead off the 9th and later scored on a Derrick Robinson groundout to give the Rocks some insurance and Aaron Hartsock stranded 1 in the 9th for his 1st save of the season. Rivas allowed 5 ER on 6 hits and 3 walks with 2 Ks over 2 1/3 IP to set a 19.29 ERA but it was RP Michael Mehlich who took the loss with 2 2/3 IP of 3 unearned runs on a hit with 2 Ks. SS Randy Gress led the Pelicans with 3 hits but also made an error and 4 others had 2 hits. RF Jason Heyward was 1-4 with a walk, K, and RS.

The Rocks are 2-1. The series ends today as Mario Santiago takes the hill vs. Pelicans lefty Cole Rohrbough.

A - Burlington: Clinton 3, Bees 2

1B Hosmer 2-4, 2B (2) -- .364
LF Tucker 1-3, 2B, RBI -- .333
DH McCauley 1-2, BB, RS -- .200
CF Van Stratten 0-4, K -- .091
SS Alfaro 0-4, 2 K -- .000
3B Martin 0-4, 2 K, RS -- .091
RF Francis 0-4, 2 K -- .333
C Bonilla 0-3, K -- .000

Cota 5 IP, ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 8 K -- L, 0-1, 1.80 ERA, tough loss
Saito 2 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 3 H, 2 K, WP -- 4.50 ERA
Bowden IP, 2 K -- 0.00 ERA
Thompson IP, K -- 0.00 ERA

*** Luis Cota had a good first start but got negatory run support and the Bees got swept. Cota's main misstep was a leadoff triple he allowed in the 1st to CF Maximo Mendez, who tormented the Bees all series. He scored on a single to give the LumberKings the lead and Nebraska product and Clinton SP Aaron Pribanic would sit down 11 Bees in a row after an Eric Hosmer 2-out single in the 1st. Cota stranded 2 in the 4th and struck out the side around a single in the 5th to keep the game at 1-0. Derrick Saito came in for the 6th and allowed 2 runs on 2 hits, a hit batsman, an Antonio Jimenez error at second and a wild pitch. Pribanic was pulled going into the 7th and the Bees finally got to work against RP Bobby LaFromboise with 2 runs on a Sean McCauley RBI single and Wilson Tucker RBI double. Hosmer led off the inning with a double but was thrown out on a fielder's choice at third to cost the Bees the eventual tying run. The Bees went down in order in the 8th and 9th as Keith Meyer picked up his 1st save. Pribanic allowed a hit and walk with 5 Ks over 6 IP to get a win in his season debut. Mendez was 2-4 with a triple, K and RS to leave the series with a .500 BA.

The Bees are 0-3 and have Easter Sunday off before hitting the road.