Royals on the Farm 4/19

AAA - Omaha: O-Royals 3, Albuquerque 0 (3-hitter)

2B Hulett 2-3, BB, 2B (5), K, RS -- .366
RF Aldridge 2-4, K -- .200
1B Ka'aihue 1-3, BB, HR (3), 2 RBI (9), K, RS -- .195, slowly heating up
3B Metcalf 0-3, SF, RBI (7), K -- .243
CF Murphy 1-4, 2B, 2 K, RS -- .262
LF Lubanski 0-4, 2 K -- .326
DH Buchanan 0-3, BB -- .000, season debut

Bannister 2 IP, K -- 3.46 ERA, callup pending?
Newman 3 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 2 K -- W, 1-0, 7.36 ERA
DiNardo 4 IP, H, 4 K -- SV, 2, 4.50 ERA

*** Josh Newman and Lenny DiNardo pitched 7 good innings after Brian Bannister pitched just long enough to get some action in as Omaha shut down the Isotopes, 3-0. Newman stranded 2 in the 3rd and Travis Metcalf hit a sac fly in the bottom of the inning to give Omaha a 1-0 lead. With 2 out and 1 on in the 5th, Kila Ka'aihue smoked his 3rd homer of the season for a 2-run shot to make it 3-0. DiNardo gave up a leadoff single in the 6th then retired 12 straight Isotopes to pick up his 2nd save. Starter Miguel Pinango took the loss for Albuquerque with 3 ER allowed on 7 hits and 4 walks with 5 Ks and 2 balks over 6 IP to fall to 1-2 with a 9.20 ERA. 3B Hector Luna continued his solid series with a 2-3 day with his 1st double to move to .308. CF Xavier Paul was 0-3 to drop to .487.

Omaha is 6-5 and a game back of Iowa in the division race. The teams got an early start on the series finale today as Luke Hochevar (2-0, 2.45) took on Isotopes righty Giancarlo Alvarado (0-1, 5.59).

AA - NW Arkansas: Corpus Christi 3, Naturals 2

CF Duarte 2-3, BB -- .375
C Suomi 1-3, HR (2), 2 RBI (4), K, RS -- .353
LF Dickerson 0-4 -- .194
SS Lisson 0-3, BB, K, E (3) -- .250
DH McFall 0-4, K -- .270
3B J. Johnson 0-3, BB, RS -- .167
2B McConnell 0-2, HBP, 2 K -- .133

Kniginyzky 6 IP, ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 0 K -- 3.27 ERA, first quality start for any Nats pitcher in '09
Holland IP, 2 ER, 3 H, BB, K -- BS, 1, L, 1-1, 2.57 ERA
de la Vara 2 IP, H, K -- 4.50 ERA

*** The Naturals had a 2-1 lead going into the 7th but the bullpen couldn't hold it as the Hooks took the series opener. Two double plays helped Matt Kniginyzky out of the first 2 innings and John Suomi helped his Canadian countryman out with a 2-run homer for his 2nd of the season in the 2nd to make it 2-0. Kniginyzky got another DP behind him in the 4th but got touched up for a run on 2 hits in the 5th to cut the lead in half. The Naturals left 2 in scoring position in the 5th and Greg Holland took over for Kniginyzky in the 7th. He loaded the bases with 1 out then gave up a sac fly and RBI single to lose the lead before getting out of the jam. RP Rob Semerano allowed a hit over 3 IP to get his 2nd save. Starter Brad James got the win with 2 ER on 4 hits and 3 walks with 3 Ks over 6 IP to move to 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA. 1B Mark Ori was 3-4 to move to .424 while SS Wladimir Sutil was 1-2 with a sac fly and 2 RBI (5) to move to .296.

The Naturals are 5-5 and a game back of Tulsa. Game 2 is tonight with CC as Dan Cortes (0-2, 8.10) tries to get back into form versus Corpus Christi righty Sergio Perez (2-0, 0.82), who stifled the Nats the last time they faced him.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Blue Rocks 8, Lynchburg 7 (10)

LF Lough 3-5, 2B (3), RBI (8), RS -- .317
CF Orlando 1-5, HR (key shot), 3 RBI (4), RS -- .143
3B Moustakas 1-4, BB, HR (2), 2 RBI (11), 2 RS, CS (2) -- .256
SS-1B Seratelli 1-5, RBI (2), E (2) -- .167
DH D. Robinson 0-4, BB, 2 K, RS -- .279
2B Giavotella 0-3, BB, HBP, 2 RS -- .205
1B C. Robinson 1-4, 2B (5) -- .351, left game in 9th
RF Ortiz 0-4, K -- .250

Caldera 4 IP, 5 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 2 K, WP -- 4.85 ERA, start to forget
Villa 4 IP, ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 4 K -- 3.12 ERA
Hartsock 2 IP, ER, 2 H, HRA -- BS, 1, W, 1-0, 1.69 ERA, gave up game tying HR to Alvarez in 9th

*** A 4-run 8th had the Rocks in position for a comeback win but Pirates top prospect Pedro Alvarez kept the Hillcats' hopes alive until Anthony Seratelli hit a clutch walkoff bunt single in the 10th. Mike Moustakas hit his 2nd homer of the season for a solo shot in the 1st and Wilmington had a 1-0 lead. Alex Caldera stranded a Hillcat at third in the 2nd then gave up 3 runs in the 3rd on 2 doubles, a single and 2 walks. The Rocks got runners at the corners with none out in the 4th but squandered the scoring chance. Caldera was pulled with 2 in scoring position with none out in the 5th and Kelvin Villa gave up a sac fly and 2-run double to make it 6-1 Lynchburg, and Johnny Giavotella nailed a runner at the plate to keep the score that way. The Rocks pulled closer in their half of the inning as a 2-run error by 1B Matt Hague made it 6-3. That was the score entering the 8th when RP Christian Castorri came in for Lynchburg and a Giavotella HBP and Moustakas walk were followed by a David Lough RBI double and a clutch 3-run homer by Paulo Orlando for his 1st of the year to make it 7-6 Rocks. Aaron Hartsock got the first 2 outs via groundout in the 9th but Alvarez lived up to his billing with a solo homer for his 3rd of the season to tie the game at 7. With 1 out in the Wilmington 10th, Jeff Bianchi and Lough singled and, with 2 out, Seratelli came through with a bunt single toward Alvarez to end the game in almost "Major League" fashion. Of course, this isn't the majors in a pennant winning situation and Seratelli isn't an old catcher with bad knees, but not everything can be Hollywood. Castorri blew his first save and took the loss with 2 2/3 IP of 5 ER allowed on 5 hits and a walk with 2 Ks to move his ERA to 12.15. Starter Matt McSwain allowed an ER on 4 hits with a K over 3 2/3 IP to move his ERA to 3.65. RF Miles Durham was 3-5 with 2 doubles (5) and 2 RBI (6) to move his BA to .233, Alvarez and DH Alex Presley had 2 hits with Alvarez chipping in his 16th RBI and both scoring twice. SS Jordy Mercer had 3 RBI (9) and made his 6th error.

The Rocks are 7-4 and tied with the Hillcats for first. A 3-game home set with the Salem Red Sox (6-5) starts tonight as Danny Duffy (1-0, 0.93) pitches vs. Salem righty Kyle Weiland (0-0, 12.71). (Actually it was rained out and will be made up as part of a doubleheader tomorrow). The Salem roster features Sox prospects OF Ryan Kalish (.353 BA, 1.069 OPS, 4 SB in 34 AB), SS Yamaico Navarro (on DL, only 7 AB), Weiland (2.82 WHIP in 5 2/3 IP), OF Che-Hsuan Lin (.179/.544 in 28 AB), and C Luis Exposito (.310/.934 in 29 AB). Former Royals IF Carlos Febles is Salem's hitting coach.

A - Burlington: rainout

The Bees are 2-7 and 5 games back of first. They had today off.