Royals on the Farm 4/28

AAA - Omaha: O-Royals 3, Oklahoma City 1

1B Ka'aihue 1-2, 2 BB, 2B (4) -- .217
C House 1-4, RBI (14), K -- .347
DH Shealy 1-2, BB, 2B (5), RBI (8), K, RS -- .348
RF Falu 1-3, 2B (2), RBI (4) -- .276
2B Hulett 0-4, 2 K, E (3) -- .357
3B Metcalf 1-4, K -- .286
LF Lubanski 0-4, RS, SB (5), OF assist at third -- .288

Duckworth 5 IP, ER, 3 H, 5 BB, 4 K, 2 WP -- W, 1-1, 7.16 ERA, about as good as it gets from Duckworth
Colon 3 IP, 2 H, BB, 4 K -- 3.21 ERA
Rosa IP, H, K, WP -- SV, 2, 3.27 ERA

*** Omaha scratched out the win to take 2 of 3 from the RedHawks in the rain-plagued set. Brandon Duckworth allowed a run on 2 hits and a wild pitch in the 1st but a Chris Lubanski OF assist at third via SS Luis Hernandez helped cut the rally short. Duckworth left 2 in scoring position in the 2nd and the O-Royals jumped ahead in their half on 2-out RBI doubles by Ryan Shealy and Irving Falu to make it 2-1 Omaha. Duckworth came away unscathed from 3 walks in the 3rd and then stranded the bases loaded in the 4th. The O-Royals loaded the bases with 1 out in their half of the 4th but also could make nothing of it. J.R. House did add some insurance with an RBI single in the 5th and the bullpen took it from there. Carlos Rosa stranded a runner at third in the 9th in notching his 2nd save. OC starter Elizardo Ramirez took the loss with 5 IP of 3 runs (2 ER) on 4 hits, 3 walks and 3 Ks to drop to 0-3 with a 3.98 ERA. CF Julio Borbon was 3-4 with a walk, his 4th double, a K, RS and his 1st error to improve to .304. 3B Esteban German was 1-3 with a walk, his 2nd double, 6th RBI and 4th SB to move to .281.

The O-Royals are 11-8 and 1 1/2 games back of Iowa. They have today off as they are making their first trip to Nashville this season. I'm of the thought that the Royals should just trade either Shealy (much preferably) or Butler at this point because of the 1B depth right now. Maybe the Royals could get a viable SS out of it, or another pitching prospect. Shealy makes sense because he's not on the 40-man right now, he's got Ka'aihue and Butler in his way, he's still got some potential. Arizona is in the weak NL West and has 37-year old Tony Clark hitting .167 and Chad Tracy not hitting well there, tho they do have Conor Jackson in the OF who can play first. Jason Giambi isn't young and isn't exactly killing the ball in Oakland. Seattle has Russ Branyan and Mike Sweeney splitting time. You'd think Shealy could match Kendry Morales in Anaheim. Surely there's a match there somewhere.

AA - NW Arkansas: Naturals 3, Springfield 1

C Suomi 2-3, HR (3), RBI (6), RS, CS (2) -- .310
3B J. Johnson 2-4, K, CS (2), E (2) -- .161
LF Dickerson 1-3, BB, 2B (3), RBI (7), picked off -- .214
1B C. Smith 0-3, SF, RBI (6) -- .162
CF Duarte 1-3, BB, RS -- .328
SS Lisson 0-3, BB, K, SB (3) -- .232
DH Mertins 0-3, BB, K -- .269
2B McConnell 0-2, BB -- .136

B. Johnson 6 IP, H, BB, 2 K -- W, 1-2, 4.95 ERA, very nice start, not many Ks but I'm not gonna crab about that line, left with blister on finger
Hayes 2 IP, UER, H -- 1.69 ERA
Marte IP, H, K -- SV, 2, 2.45 ERA

*** Blake Johnson had his best start in a while and the Nats took another game from Springfield. NW Arkansas loaded the bases with none out in the 1st and Corey Smith hit a sac fly but that was all the Naturals would get in the inning. Joe Dickerson came through with a 2-out RBI double in the 3rd to make it 2-0 and John Suomi led off the 4th with his 3rd homer of the season to make it 3-0. Johnson took a perfect game into the 6th then lost it on a double before stranding runners at the corners. Chris Hayes gave up an unearned run in the 7th on a Josh Johnson error and RBI single but recovered to strand 2. Victor Marte stranded 1 in the 9th for his 2nd save. Starter Brandon Dickson took the loss for the Cardinals with 5 1/3 IP of 3 ER allowed on 6 hits and 4 walks with 2 Ks to fall to 1-1 with a 5.48 ERA. Three Cardinals had a hit each in the loss. 2B Daniel Descalso was 1-4 with his 19th RBI and 3rd error to drop to .368. 3B Brett Wallace was 0-4 to drop to .286.

NWA is 9-9 and 2 games back of the Cards. Game 3 is tonight as Blake Wood (1-0, 4.11) tries to make it 2 good starts in a row versus Springfield lefty Brad Furnish (1-0, 2.16). Blake Johnson's 16 retired in a row on Tuesday set a new NWA record, eclipsing the previous mark of 13.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Potomac 7, Blue Rocks 6

SS Bianchi 2-3, BB, RBI (11), RS, SB (4), E (4) -- .319
1B C. Robinson 2-3, BB, 2B (8), RBI (13), RS -- .373, still down in 7 slot
2B Giavotella 2-5, 3B, 2 RS -- .217
3B Moustakas 0-1 -- .288, pulled after popout in 1st
3B Seratelli 1-2, SF, RBI (8), K, RS, E (3) -- .281
CF D. Robinson 0-5, RBI (8), picked off -- .233
RF Lough 1-3, HBP, K, picked off -- .318
LF Ortiz 1-4, OF assist at third -- .250

Paulino 4 2/3 IP, 5 ER, 10 H, 2 BB, 2 HRA -- 6.75 ERA, not good day for WHIP
Liotta 2 IP, 2 BB, 2 K -- 6.43 ERA
Villa 1 1/3 IP, 2 UER, 3 H, K -- L, 0-2, 2.63 ERA

*** The Rocks came back from a 5-1 deficit to take a late lead but some defensive letdowns fueled a Potomac comeback win. Mike Moustakas popped out to end the Rocks 1st and was pulled on a manager's decision. Game story doesn't mention any injury. Eduardo Paulino got off to a poor start as SS Danny Espinosa clubbed a 2-run homer in the 1st for his 1st of the season. Paulino allowed another run on 3 hits and a walk in the 2nd to make it 3-0 Potomac. Clint Robinson led off the Rocks 3rd with a double and scored on a Derrick Robinson forceout to get Wilmington on the board. Paulino gave up a 2-run homer to DH Jesus Valdez (his 2nd) in the 5th and was pulled for Ray Liotta, who didn't allow a hit in his 2 innings of work. The Rocks rallied for 3 in the 7th on a Johnny Giavotella triple, Anthony Seratelli sac fly, Paulo Orlando run-scoring double aided by a Potomac error, and Clint Robinson RBI single that cut the lead to 5-4. Kelvin Villa got the last out to strand 2 in the 7th and the Rocks rallied again as Jeff Bianchi singled home the tying run and a passed ball allowed Seratelli to score with the lead run to make it 6-5 Rocks. Wilmington left the bases loaded and Villa had 1 on with 2 out in the 8th when consecutive throwing errors by Seratelli and Bianchi resulted in 2 runs scoring to swing the lead back to the Nationals. The Rocks went down in order in the 9th as RP Atahualpa Severino got his 3rd save. RP Dan Leatherman got the win despite 2 ER allowed on 4 hits and a walk with 2 Ks over an IP for his 1st blown save, but he moved to 1-0 with a 5.23 ERA. Starter William Atwood allowed 3 ER on 4 hits and a walk with a K over 6 1/3 IP to drop his ERA to 11.65. Five Nationals had 2 hits, as Valdez moved to .273 and picked up 2 RBI for 9 on the season and Espinosa had 2 RBI with his homer to move to 8 RBI. RF Michael Burgess was 2-4 with a run scored, his 5th SB and an OF assist at second to move to .200.

The Rocks are 9-10 and 3 1/2 games back of Lynchburg. Game 2 is tonight as Mario Santiago (0-2, 8.43) faces Nationals lefty Tom Milone (1-1, 3.45).

A - Burlington: Clinton 1, Bees 0

1B Hosmer 2-4, 2 K -- .207
LF D. Wood 1-3, 2B (2) -- .222
CF Tucker 1-3, 2B (3) -- .176, that's all the Bees' hits
SS Alfaro 0-4, 2 K -- .176
RF Francis 0-4, K -- .356
C McCauley 0-3, K -- .163

Baez 4 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, K, 2 WP -- 2.57 ERA
B. Hardy 4 2/3 IP, ER, 2 H, 8 K -- 2.89 ERA, needed some run support

*** Both offenses were sluggish but the LumberKings rallied in the 9th for the 1-0 win. The Bees had hits in each of the first 3 innings but couldn't get a run home. Manauris Baez stranded 2 in both the 1st and 2nd and did so again in the 4th before getting pulled for Blaine Hardy to start the 5th. Clinton SP Brett Lorin retired 11 straight at one point and Hardy kept pace into the 9th, having retired all 12 he faced. Hardy gave up a leadoff double in the bottom of the 9th but would get a fielder's choice at the plate to keep the Bees alive with a man at first and 2 outs. SS Terry Serrano came through with the gamebreaking double as the runner scored from first to end the game. RP Steven Hensley got the win with 2 perfect innings of relief to move to 4-0 with a spotless ERA. Lorin allowed only 4 hits with 5 Ks over his 7 IP to drop his ERA to 0.75. Serrano was the only 'King with 2 hits as he was 2-3 with a walk, his 1st double and 8th RBI along with his 4th SB to move to .242.

The Bees are 5-12. A 3-game home set with the Peoria Chiefs (9-8, A Cubs) starts tonight as Sam Runion (1-2, 9.00) faces Chiefs righty Alberto Cabrera (0-1, 8.31). The Chiefs roster features Cubbie prospects 3B Josh Vitters (top position prospect, .309 BA, .774 OPS, 4 E in 15 games and 55 ABs), SS Ryan Flaherty (.304/.918 in 46 ABs), righty Aaron Shafer (2-1, 3.18 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 1 BB/13 K in 17 IP), SS Junior Lake (.196/.586, 16 K, 6 E in 16 games and 46 ABs), and righty Chris Carpenter (1-1, 2.25, 1.05, 11 BB/21 K in 20 IP).