Royals on the Farm 4/17

AAA - Omaha: Albuquerque 8, O-Royals 4

SS L. Hernandez 3-4, 2B (3), 3 RBI (8) -- .407, productive out of 9 slot
1B Ka'aihue 1-4, BB, HR (2), RBI (7), 3 K, RS -- .152, rare 3K night for Kila
C House 1-5, K -- .351
3B Metcalf 1-3, BB, 2B (4), 2 RS -- .267
LF Lubanski 1-4, 2B (2), RS -- .389, late hit keeps streak alive at 9
DH Shealy 0-3, BB, 2 K -- .257
2B Hulett 0-1, 3 BB -- .382

Duckworth 3 1/3 IP, 6 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, K, 2 HRA -- L, 0-1, 8.59 ERA
Colon 1 2/3 IP, 2 H, BB, 2 K -- 2.84 ERA
Hamulack 2 IP, 2 ER, H, BB, 3 K, HRA -- 12.46 ERA
Atencio 2 IP, H, 3 K -- 6.23 ERA

*** Brandon Duckworth got torched and the Royals dropped their home opener. Duckworth gave up a 1-out triple and RBI single in the 1st before stranding 2. Omaha got it tied in the 2nd as 3 walks loaded the bases and Luis Hernandez knocked an RBI single but that was all the Royals would get out of the rally. Duckworth gave up a 3-run homer to former Royals prospect DH Dee Brown in the 3rd and the Isotopes wouldn't trail in the game. Kila Ka'aihue struck for his 2nd homer of the season as a solo shot in the 3rd but Duckworth served up a solo shot to 3B Hector Luna in the 4th and was pulled with 1 on and 1 out. Roman Colon allowed another run to score on 2 hits and a walk and Omaha was down, 6-2. Omaha stranded 2 in both the 5th and 6th and Tim Hamulack came in for the 6th and served up a 2-run homer to LF Mitch Jones in the 7th to make it 8-2. With 2 out and 2 on in the 8th, Hernandez came through again with a 2-run double to cut it to 8-4 but the Royals went down in order in the 9th to end it as Jeff Weaver picked up the 3-inning save. Starter Charlie Haeger bounced back from getting creamed in his first start versus Omaha to go 6 innings for the win. He allowed 2 ER on 5 hits and 7 walks with 3 Ks to move to 1-1 with an 8.10 ERA. Three players had 2 hits for Albuquerque. Brown's big blast was his 2nd of the season and he also walked 3 times with 2 RS as he's hitting .474 in the early going. CF Xavier Paul was 2-4 with a walk, his 9th RBI and 2 SB (6) as he's hitting .563.

Omaha is 5-4 and now in third place in the division. Game 2 is tonight as Bruce Chen (0-0, 1.69) takes on Isotopes lefty Shawn Estes (0-0, 2.25).

AA - NW Arkansas: San Antonio 5, Naturals 4

CF Duarte 2-3, 2 BB, 3B, RS, SB (6) -- .400
3B C. Smith 2-5, 2B, RS -- .147
1B McFall 1-5, HR (3), 3 RBI (13), K, RS -- .310
SS Lisson 1-4, HBP, RBI (4), K, RS -- .280
LF Dickerson 0-3, BB, S, K -- .222
2B Mertins 1-3, HBP, SB -- .261
* The Naturals stranded 10, although the Missions stranded 11.

B. Johnson 4 1/3 IP, 4 ER, 9 H, BB, 3 K -- L, 0-1, 7.56 ERA, more of what we saw out of Blake in '08
Sencion 2 1/3 IP, ER, 3 H, K -- 1.08 ERA
Crist 1 1/3 IP, H, K -- 9.00 ERA
Marte IP, H, BB -- 3.18 ERA

*** A late NW Arkansas rally wasn't enough as the Missions came away with a narrow win. Blake Johnson had another rough outing, which started after he got the first 2 outs rather easily. Four straight singles scored 2 runs and the Missions had a 2-0 lead before the Naturals even got to bat. Jose Duarte led off the NWA 1st with a single, stole second and scored on a Mario Lisson single to cut the lead in half. He tripled his next time up in the 3rd but was stranded there. The Nats got 2 on with 1 out in the 4th but stranded both in scoring position, and Johnson faltered again in the 5th as 3 more singles and a double scored 2 more runs to make it 4-1 SA. Carlos Sencion came in with the bases loaded and 1 out and got out of the jam without further damage. Kyle Crist came in with 2 on and 2 out in the 7th and allowed an RBI single to make it 5-1. The Naturals stranded 2 in the 7th but got to work in the 8th as Brian McFall blasted a 3-run homer for his 3rd of the season to cut the lead to 5-4. A Duarte walk loaded the bases with 2 out but Joe Dickerson lined out to end the threat. The Naturals went down 1-2-3 in the 9th as RP Evan Scribner picked up his 2nd save of the season with 1 2/3 scoreless IP of work. Starter Cesar Carrillo got the win with 6 IP of an ER on 4 hits and 3 walks with 3 Ks to move to 1-0 with a 3.27 ERA. LF Mike Baxter was 3-5 with a double, his 11th RBI and 2 RS to move to .382. Four other Missions had 2-hit games. C Mitch Canham was 2-5 with his 6th RBI to move to .478.

NWA is 4-4 in a 3-way tie for first. The series wraps tonight as Blake Wood (0-0, 7.50) vies against San Antonio lefty and former Mizzou P Nathan Culp (1-0, 1.80).

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Lynchburg 4, Blue Rocks 3

1B C. Robinson 3-4, 2B (4), RBI (6), K, RS -- .400, 8-game hit streak
CF D. Robinson 2-4, BB, RBI (4), K, SB (6), picked off (2) -- .294
DH Lough 2-4, RBI (5) -- .250
2B Giavotella 0-4, BB, RS -- .219
3B Moustakas 0-5, 2 K -- .229
SS Bianchi 1-3, BB, 2B (3), K, RS -- .294
LF Ortiz 1-4, K -- .286

Santiago 4 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, K -- L, 0-2, 10.57 ERA
Godin 3 1/3 IP, H, 2 BB, K -- 1.04 ERA
Swaggerty IP, nothing -- 0.00 ERA

*** The Rocks outhit the Hillcats, 10-6, but a 4-run Lynchburg rally was enough to get a victory and spoil the Wilmington home opener. Mario Santiago loaded the bases with Hillcats in the 1st but got a double play to end the threat. David Lough hit a 2-out RBI single to give Wilmington the early lead in the 1st, and Clint Robinson led off the Wilmington 2nd with a double and scored on a 2-out Derrick Robinson single to make it 2-0. Santiago was pitching fairly well going into the 5th but his inning went double, RBI single, groundout, HBP, walk, sac fly, 2-run triple. Jason Godin got the final out to put out the fire but the Hillcats had a 4-2 lead. The Rocks didn't threaten again until the 8th when Jeff Bianchi hit a 1-out double and scored on a 2-out Clint Robinson single to cut the lead to 1. The tying run was left at third, tho, and Derrick Robinson was picked off at second base in the 9th to spoil a possible rally as R.J. Rodriguez picked up his 3rd save for Lynchburg. Starter Chi-Hung Cheng got the win with 5 IP of 2 ER on 6 hits and a walk with 6 Ks to improve to 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA. Six Hillcats had 1 hit each. 3B Pedro Alvarez was 0-1 with 3 walks and a RS to drop to .207. RF Miles Durham was 1-3 with a walk, his 2nd triple and 2 RBI (4).

The Blue Rocks are 5-4 and 2 games back of the Hillcats. Game 2 is tonight as Everett Teaford (0-0, 2.08) toes the rubber versus former Royals farmhand lefty Paul Mildren (0-1, 5.79).

A - Burlington: Beloit 6, Bees 5 (10)

SS Alfaro 2-4, SF, HR, 2 RBI, 2 RS -- .211
DH McCauley 2-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI -- .200
RF Francis 1-3, 2 BB, K, RBI (3), RS, SB (3) -- .320
1B Hosmer 1-5, K -- .172
CF Norris 1-4, BB, SB (2), CS -- .211
C Bonilla 0-4, K -- .211

Cota 5 IP, 4 R (3 ER), 8 H, BB, K, HRA, 2 pickoffs -- 3.60 ERA
Bryant 2 IP, ER, 3 H, 2 K -- 4.50 ERA, season debut
Thompson 2 2/3 IP, ER, 2 H, 5 K, HRA -- L, 0-1, 6.75 ERA

*** The Bees forced extras but it was Beloit that got a walkoff homer in the 10th to win it. Beloit took the lead in the 3rd with 2 runs on 4 hits off Luis Cota. J.D. Alfaro led off the Bees 4th with his 1st homer of the season and Sean McCauley hit a 2-out RBI double after Nick Francis walked to tie the game at 2. Cota gave up a leadoff homer to C Alexander Soto in the Beloit 5th and a second run would score in the inning on a fielding error by 2B Alwin Perez. Francis hit a 1-out RBI single in the 6th but the Bees left 2 in scoring position. Alfaro hit a sac fly in the 7th to tie it but Beloit regained the lead off Carson Bryant in the bottom of the inning on an RBI triple by 3B Dominic De La Osa. Burlington wouldn't go away, however, as McCauley hit an RBI double to retie the game at 4 in the 8th. James Thompson struck out the side in the 8th but gave up a 2-out walkoff homer to 2B Ramon Santana in the 10th as it was Santana's 3rd longball of the season. RP Steven Blevins pitched 2 2/3 hitless innings with 3 Ks for the win to move to 1-2 with a 12.46 ERA. Starter Bobby Lanigan allowed 3 ER on 6 hits, 2 walks and 2 Ks over 5 1/3 IP to move his ERA to 4.35. SS Nicholas Romero was 3-5 with an RBI, his 2nd SB and 2 RS to move to .280. Four other Snappers had 2 hits.

The Bees are 2-6 and 4 games out. Game 3 is ongoing as lefty Blaine Hardy (0-0, 0.00) got the start versus Beloit righty Brad Tippett (1-0, 5.40). Hardy got rocked and the Bees are down. Bryant and 1B David Wood joined the active roster as Ivor Hodgson was put on the DL and Juan Rivera started his 50-game suspension.