Royals on the Farm 5/30 -- May wrapup a day early

I'm gonna go ahead and wrap up May a day early, because I know I'm not gonna have the time to do it tomorrow. Your tops in OPS and WHIP will be listed after each team's update....

AAA - Omaha: Nashville 6, O-Royals 2 (7/G1)

SS Lisson 1-3, 3B, 2 RBI -- .190
1B Ka'aihue 1-1, 2 BB, 2B (14), RS -- .288
DH House 1-3, K, RS -- .307
3B Metcalf 0-3, K -- .243
RF-LF Aldridge 0-2, BB, OF assist at second -- .272

M. Wright 4 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 5 K, 2 HRA -- L, 0-2, 7.71 ERA
Hamulack 1 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, BB, HRA, WP -- 8.05 ERA, think it's time to part ways with Tim

*** The Sounds rallied back from a 2-0 deficit to win the first of two with the Royals Saturday. Omaha's big hit came in the 2nd when Mario Lisson ripped a 2-out, 2-run triple for his first AAA RBIs. Matt Wright gave up a solo homer to RF Brendan Katin (his 7th) in the bottom of the inning, though, as the Sounds cut the lead in half. Omaha stranded 2 in the 4th and Wright lost the lead in the 4th as 3B Adam Heether clubbed his 4th homer of the season to tie the game. An RBI double gave the Sounds the lead and chased Wright from the game in the 5th as Tim Hamulack came in to strand 2. The Sounds picked up the remainder of their runs in the 6th as Katin led off the inning with his 2nd homer of the game and 8th of the season and 3 other hits brought in 2 runs to make it 6-2. Omaha stranded 1 in the 7th as Chris Narveson picked up his 5th save for the Sounds. Starter Matt Ginter got the win with 5 IP of 2 ER allowed on 3 hits and 2 walks with 2 Ks to improve to 2-1 with a 2.96 ERA. Katin was 2-3 with 2 HR and 2 RBI (35) along with a K to improve to .285. LF Jason Bourgeois was 2-2 with his 5th double and 2 RBI (17) to move to .296.

O-Royals 2, Nashville 1 (7/G2)

DH Thorman 1-3, HR (5), 2 RBI (12), RS -- .197
C House 0-3 -- .302
1B Ka'aihue 0-3, K -- .282
3B Metcalf 0-2, HBP, 2 K, RS -- .240
SS Lisson 0-2, K -- .174
CF Duarte 0-2 -- .182

D. Hughes 4 IP, ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 2 K, WP -- 4.70 ERA
Yabuta 2 IP, H, 2 BB, 2 K -- W, 1-1, 5.52 ERA
Atencio IP, nothing -- SV, 2, 4.94 ERA

*** The teams combined for only 7 hits but Omaha made its 3 count as a Scott Thorman 2-run homer made the difference and the Royals split the doubleheader. Dusty Hughes made the spot start for Omaha and stranded 2 in the 2nd and then uncorked a run-scoring wild pitch in the 4th to give the Sounds a 1-0 lead. Travis Metcalf was hit by a pitch to lead off the 5th before Thorman connected on his 5th homer of the season to make it 2-1 Omaha. Yasuhiko Yabuta stranded 2 in the 5th and the Sounds wouldn't threaten again. Starter Josh Butler took the loss in his Nashville debut with 6 IP of 2 ER allowed on 3 hits with 4 Ks to drop to 0-1 with a 3.00 ERA. Four Sounds had a hit each.

The Royals are 23-27 and 3 1/2 games back. The series wraps today as Heath Phillips (2-4, 6.70) faces Sounds righty Tim Dillard (6-2, 3.48). Brayan Pena was called back up to KC as John Buck went on the DL with a back injury.

Omaha's tops in OPS (min. 20 games played overall and on active roster, * means leads team) are....1B Kila Ka'aihue leads the way with a .977 OPS (.282 BA/.439 OBP/.538 SLG, 34 RS*, 14 2B*, 8 HR*, 25 RBI, 46 BB*, 38 K, 2 E in 47 G/156 ABs, that's what we wanna see); followed by C/LF Brayan Pena at .888 (.307/.354/.534, 11 RS, 6 2B, 4 HR, 18 RBI, 4 BB/9 K, 2/3 SB, 3 E in 22 G/88 ABs, still pulling for him to displace Buck, tho his work behind the plate seems lacking); 1B/DH Ryan Shealy at .879 (technically not on active roster as he's on the DL and keep in mind he only played 7 games in May, .345/.454/.425, 15 RS, 7 2B, 000000 HR, 12 RBI, 18 BB/25 K in 25 G/87 ABs, has better OBP than Ka'aihue in many less ABs, but where's the power?); OF Chris Lubanski at .850 (same caveats as Shealy, only played 4 games in May, .308/.388/.462, 18 RS, 6 2B, 2 HR, 15 RBI, 12 BB/15 K, 6/7 SB in 24 G/91 ABs, hopefully back from hamstring injury soon); and C J.R. House at .756 (.302/.354/.402, 27 RS, 6 2B, 4 HR, 22 RBI, 14 BB/19 K, 2 E in 43 G/179 ABs, cooled some in May). Others of note: 2B Tug Hulett was hitting .296 with an .841 OPS before his call-up with a team-leading 32 RBI along with 28 RS and 11 2B; newest Royal LF Scott Thorman is hitting only .197 but has a .775 OPS, I didn't feel he had enough experience with Omaha to put him in the top 5; OF Cory Aldridge is hitting .268 with a .750 OPS and co-leads the active roster with 26 RBI; IF Irving Falu is hitting .275 with a .719 OPS, leads the team with 3 triples and has 16 BB with only 10 Ks in 142 ABs; 3B Travis Metcalf is hitting .240 with a .701 OPS with 29 RS, 10 2B, 5 HR, 26 RBI (tied with Aldridge), 17 BB/37 K and a team-leading 6 E in 48 G/175 ABs; OF Jose Duarte is hitting only .182 with a .468 OPS and 5 BB/8 K in his first 17 AAA games; and IF Mario Lisson is hitting .174/.435 with 0 BB/7 K in his first 7 AAA games.

Omaha's tops in WHIP (min. 40 IP starter/10 IP relief) are.... SP Lenny DiNardo with a 0.98 WHIP (4-1, 3.29 ERA, 2 SV, 2 HRA, 10 BB/39 K in 11 games (7 starts)/52 IP, looking good); SP Luke Hochevar at 1.02 (probably shouldn't include him since he's headed right back to KC, 5-1, 1.17, 1 CG shutout, 2 HRA, 11 BB/36 K in 7 starts/46 IP); SP Bruce Chen at 1.15 (has been nice addition at AAA, 2-2, 4.13, 1 CG shutout, 6 HRA, 18 BB/46 K* in 9 starts/52 1/3 IP*); RP Greg Atencio at 1.27 (2-2, 4.94, 2 SV, 1 HRA, 8 BB/29 K in 15 G/23 2/3 IP); and RP Yasuhiko Yabuta at 1.36 (1-1, 5.52, HRA, 5 BB/16 K in 9 G/14 2/3 IP). Others of note: Starter Brandon Duckworth has a 1.45 WHIP and 5.55 ERA with a team-leading 7 HRA and 19 BB/25 K in 9 starts/47 IP; starter Matt Wright has a 1.45 WHIP with 3 HRA and 5 BB/10 K through his first 4 starts and 18 2/3 IP; starter Heath Phillips is sitting at a 1.83 WHIP and 6.70 ERA with 3 HRA, 20 BB/32 K in 9 starts/47 IP; RP Dusty Hughes has a 1.48 WHIP and 4.70 ERA with 2 HRA, 9 BB/19 K in 14 games (1 start) and 23 IP; RP Carlos Rosa is struggling, to say the least, with a 1.73 WHIP and 7.23 ERA, 2 SV, 4 HRA, 13 BB/29 K in 15 G/23 2/3 IP, nice K rate tho; and Hamulack brings up the rear with a 2.21 WHIP and 8.05 ERA, 4 HRA, 12 BB/17 K in 15 G/19 IP.

AA - NW Arkansas: Frisco 7, Naturals 5

CF Strait 3-4, 2 2B (11), 3 RS, 2 SB (4) -- .304
C Clark 2-3, BB, 2B, 2 RBI, RS -- .667, '09 NWA debut at catcher
SS McConnell 2-4, 2B (3), RBI (9) -- .250, must like having shortstop to himself with Lisson gone
DH Mertins 2-5 -- .270
3B C. Smith 1-5, HR (7), RBI (27), 3 K, RS, E (11) -- .230
RF Parraz 1-4, BB, K -- .331

Cortes 5 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, 3 K -- L, 2-5, 4.01 ERA, hasn't pitched like top prospect this season
de la Vara 2 IP, 3 UER, H, 2 BB, K, HRA, pickoff -- 4.32 ERA
Holland IP, ER, 2 H, 4 BB, K -- 2.59 ERA
Sencion IP, K -- 4.39 ERA

*** Frisco held off the Naturals to win and take the opener of the series. Corey Smith got NWA started with a solo leadoff homer in the 2nd for his 7th of the season but the Naturals stranded 2 in the inning. Frisco moved ahead with 2 runs on 2 hits and a walk off Dan Cortes in the 3rd but the Nats stranded 2 more in the 3rd and Cortes worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the 4th. Cody Strait doubled with 1 out in the 4th, stole third and scored on a throwing error on the play to tie the game. Frisco grabbed momentum right back, though, with a run in the 5th on a hit, walk and 3 steals in the inning. Gilbert de la Vara came in to pitch the 6th and a Smith error helped lead to a 2-out, 3-run homer by 2B Guilder Rodriguez (his 1st of the season) to extend the lead to 6-2. The Nats would rally with 2 out in the 6th as Cody Clark and Chris McConnell hit back-to-back RBI doubles to trim the lead to 2. Greg Holland walked the bases loaded but worked out of the jam in the 8th and Clark hit an RBI single in the bottom of the inning to pull NWA within 1. Holland's struggles continued in the 9th as he allowed a walk, double and RBI single to make it 7-5 RoughRiders before Carlos Sencion got out of the jam. The Naturals left a runner at second in the 9th as RP Jose Diaz got his 7th save. Starter Michael Kirkman got the win with 5 IP of 2 ER allowed on 5 hits and 2 walks with 5 Ks to improve to 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA. CF Craig Gentry was 2-5 with 3 SB (15), a K and 2 RS to move to .254, and Rodriguez only had the homer but walked twice, stole his 7th base, drove in 3 runs (12) and scored twice to move to .279 with a 1-2 day. SS Marcus Lemon was 1-2 with 3 walks, his 3rd SB, 2 RBI (14), a K and RS and was picked off once to move to .285.

The Naturals are 22-25 and 6 games back while on a 5-game losing skid. Game 2 of the set is today as Anthony Lerew (3-3, 5.20) faces Riders righty Michael Schlact (0-1, 8.10).

Northwest Arkansas' tops in OPS (same mins. as above) are.... C John Suomi leading the way at 1.052 (.333/.411/.641, 18 RS, 4 2B, 6 HR, 13 RBI, 10 BB/14 K, 2 E in 25 G/78 ABs, too bad he's already 29 and only at AA); OF Jordan Parraz next at .911 (.331/.439*/.472, 18 RS, 10 2B, 2 3B*, 2 HR, 26 RBI, 20 BB*/15 K, 3/9 SB (yikes), 3 E in 42 G/142 ABs, and we got rid of Tyler Lumsden in the deal); 1B Brian McFall at .812 (.268/.341/.471, 20 RS, 11 2B*, 7 HR*, 32 RBI*, 11 BB/44 K*, 5 E in 44 G/157 ABs); OF Cody Strait at .805 (.304/.375/.430, 34 RS*, 11 2B*, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 18 BB/31 K, 4/8 SB, 1 E in 43 G/158 ABs, has been solid pickup from Reds); and C Jeff Howell at .777 (.282/.330/.447, 10 RS, 5 2B, 3 HR, 15 RBI, 6 BB/20 K, 3 E in 29 G/85 ABs). Others of note: 2B Kurt Mertins is sixth at .690 but has 9 errors. He does have 2 triples and 21 RBI but has 14 walks with 35 Ks in 41 G/159 ABs; OF Joe Dickerson is on the shelf but is sitting at a .655 OPS, 7 2B, 18 BB/19 K and 5/6 SB in 34 G/126 ABs; OF Jose Duarte got called up to Omaha despite only a .651 OPS in 28 games, but it was a defensive need situation, not as bad as Mario Lisson getting called up with a .566 OPS; 3B Corey Smith has a team leading 11 errors and a .648 OPS but is tied for the team lead with 7 HR and is second with 27 RBI with 39 Ks in 47 G/191 ABs; and SS Chris McConnell is up to a .616 OPS with an OBP just over .300, 6 BB/22 K and 5/6 SB in 27 G/80 ABs.

NWA's tops in WHIP are.... RP Chris Hayes at 1.01 (3-0, 0.53 ERA, 9 runs allowed, only 2 ER, 2 SV, 6 BB/14 K in 16 games/33 2/3 IP); RP Chris Nicoll at 1.09 (3-0, 1.84, 1 SV, 9 runs allowed (6 ER), HRA, 8 BB/28 K in 15 games/29 1/3 IP, I say this is Hamulack's replacement at AAA, but Hayes could come along too); RP Dan Cevette at 1.22 (0-0, 3.38, 6 BB/6 K in 8 games (1 start) and 10 2/3 IP); starter Blake Wood at 1.45 (2-3, 6.31, 1 CG, 7 HRA, 15 BB/31 K in 9 starts/45 2/3 IP, where'd the K's go?, ungood when 1.45 WHIP is in top 5 and is best mark among SPs to boot); and starter Matt Kniginyzky at 1.56 (1-5, 5.31, 8 HRA*, 13 BB/17 K in 9 starts/42 1/3 IP, bad BB/K, bad K rate). Others of note: RP Victor Marte had a 0.91 WHIP in 22 IP before getting his call to AAA; RP Greg Holland has a 1.56 WHIP but only a 2.59 ERA with 2 saves, 10 BB/25 K in 24 1/3 IP); starter Dan Cortes is next with a 1.58 WHIP with only 2 HRA but 32 BB/36 K in 10 starts/49 1/3 IP, back to old wild ways to some extent; starter Blake Johnson has a 1.59 WHIP with only 12 BB/21 K in 8 starts and 40 1/3 IP; and starter Anthony Lerew has a 1.78 WHIP with 5 HRA and 17 BB/20 K in 9 starts and 45 IP. Not much to write home about in the AA rotation. RP Carlos Sencion has a 1.73 WHIP while RP Gilbert de la Vara has a 1.84 WHIP in a combined 51 2/3 IP.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Blue Rocks 8, Myrtle Beach 6

SS Bianchi 3-5, RS -- .320
2B Giavotella 2-4, BB, 2 RBI (20), K, SB (9) -- .229
CF D. Robinson 2-4, BB, RBI (17), 2 SB (26) -- .242
RF Lough 2-4, BB, 2B (11), K, 2 RS, SB (6) -- .338
1B C. Robinson 1-4, SF, 3 RBI (28), RS -- .299
DH Walton 1-2, 2 BB, RBI (7), RS, picked off -- .274
LF Orlando 1-3, BB, HBP, 2B (9), RBI (13), RS, SB (7) -- .207
3B Moustakas 1-5, RS -- .271
* The Rocks stranded 11.

Caldera 5 IP, 6 ER, 6 H, 4 BB, 8 K, HRA, E (2) -- W, 1-2, 6.00 ERA, not quite a quality start
Chavez 2 2/3 IP, 6 H, BB, K, pickoff -- 2.89 ERA
Abreu 1 1/3 IP, 2 K -- SV, 3, 5.06 ERA

*** A 7-run Rocks 1st countered a 4-run opening frame for the Pelicans and Wilmington held on for the win. Caldera gave up a 2-run triple and then a 2-run homer to LF Cody Johnson (his 17th) in the 1st to spot Myrtle Beach a 4-0 lead. Wilmington did all its extensive damage in the 1st with 2 outs as they loaded the bases off SP Jeff Locke and Paulo Orlando took a bases-loaded HBP before Clint Robinson singled in 2 runs, Jamar Walton took a bases-loaded walk, and Derrick Robinson singled home a run to chase Locke from the game with only 2/3 IP. Johnny Giavotella singled home 2 more runs before Mike Moustakas popped out to finally end the rally. The Pelicans added 2 in the 3rd off Caldera on 2 hits and a walk to cut the lead to 7-6 but Wilmington picked up an insurance run in the 4th on a Clint Robinson sac fly to make it 8-6. Caldera left the bases loaded in the 5th, the Rocks stranded 2 in scoring position that inning, the Pelicans stranded 2 in the 7th, RP Juan Abreu came in to leave the bases loaded in the 8th and then pitched a perfect 9th for his 3rd save. Locke took the loss with 2/3 IP of 7 ER on 4 hits and 2 walks with a K to balloon his ERA to 5.52 with a 1-4 record. 3B Donell Linares was 4-5 with his 1st triple and 2 RBI (32) with 2 RS to move to .272, Johnson was 3-4 with a walk, his 11th double, the HR, 3 RBI (36) and a K to move to .276, and 1B Freddie Freeman was 1-3 with 2 walks, a K and 2 RS to move to .299.

Wilmington is 25-23 and 6 games back. The teams got an early start on the series finale today as Danny Duffy (5-1, 3.00) faced former Royal farmhand righty Erik Cordier (1-2, 3.24). Cordier is in line for the win right now in the late innings, but, hey, we got Tony Pena Jr.! Right? Right? Wooooooooh!

The Rocks' tops in OPS are.... OF David Lough narrowly in the lead with an .840 mark (.338*/.394*/.446, 20 RS, 11 2B, 22 RBI, 9 BB/22 K, 6/8 SB in 43 G/148 ABs); 1B Clint Robinson at .839 (.299/.355/.484*, 26 RS, 14 2B*, 5 HR, 28 RBI, 12 BB/33 K, 3 E in 44 G/157 ABs); SS Jeff Bianchi at .834 (.320/.381/.453, 28 RS, 12 2B, 3 HR, 20 RBI, 16 BB/39 K*, 10/12 SB, 5 E in 46 G/172 ABs, not as good as April but fairly consistent); part timer IF Anthony Seratelli at .774 (.288/.304/.470, 10 RS, 4 2B, 2 HR, 2 BB/13 K, 4 E in 21 G/66 ABs); and 3B Mike Moustakas at .755 (only .706 OPS in May, .271/.307/.448, 30 RS, 11 2B, 7 HR*, 35 RBI*, 10 BB/29 K, 2/6 SB, 13 E* in 45 G/181 ABs, not getting on base much, but is producing). Others of note: OF Jamar Walton is sixth at .739; 2B Johnny Giavotella is only at a .721 OPS but leads the team with 4 triples and 35 RS with 31 BB*/24 K, 9/14 SB and 9 E in 44 G/153 ABs; C Ryan Eigsti is at .689 in 111 ABs; OF Paulo Orlando is struggling at .589 with 39 Ks but also 3 triples and 7/8 SB in 145 ABs; OF Adrian Ortiz is lagging at .584 despite hitting .267, OBP is only .283, 2 3B, 4 BB/23 K, 7/9 SB in 146 ABs; OF Derrick Robinson is next to last at .581 with 26/34 SB, 23 RS, 6 2B, 17 BB/31 K in 178 ABs; and C Matt Morizio brings up the rear with a paltry .404 OPS in 39 ABs.

Wilmington's tops in WHIP are.... starter Everett Teaford at 1.00 (5-1, 2.65 ERA, 7 HRA*, 9 BB/38 K in 9 starts/51 IP, K/BB is good, K rate is OK, nothing great, has followed up good '08 with better start to '09); RP Brandon Sisk at 1.02 (1-2, 3.66, 4 SV, HRA, 7 BB/19 K in 19 2/3 IP, struggled a little this month but has finished strong); starter Danny Duffy at 1.15 (5-1, 3.00, 4 HRA, 13 BB/46 K in 9 starts/48 IP, looking good); RP Kelvin Villa at 1.45 (1-4, 3.48, 1 SV, 2 HRA, 9 BB/27 K in 31 IP); and RP Ben Swaggerty at 1.47 (3-1, 1.96, 11 BB/20 K in 18 1/3 IP, tied with Villa for team lead in holds at 4). Others of note: RP Aaron Hartsock was tops on the team at 0.86 with a 0.48 ERA, 11 saves and 3 BB/17 K in 18 2/3 IP before getting called to NWA; Juan Abreu would be in the top 5 with a 1.31 WHIP and has 5 BB/8 K in only 5 1/3 IP thus far; starter Alex Caldera sits with a 1.50 WHIP and 6.00 ERA, 4 HRA and 22 BB/55 K* in 10 starts and 48 IP, nice K rate; P Jason Godin has a 1.54 WHIP and 2.19 ERA with 7 BB/8 K in only 12 1/3 IP; starter Mario Santiago is at a 1.64 WHIP with 4 HRA, 20 BB/30 K in 9 starts/48 2/3 IP; part-time starter Ray Liotta is struggling at a 1.79 WHIP with 5 HRA, 13 BB/18 K in 10 games (5 starts)/34 2/3 IP; RP Chris Chavez has a 1.79 WHIP despite only a 2.89 ERA; and part-time starter Eduardo Paulino has a 2.11 WHIP in 31 1/3 IP. Rowdy Hardy brings up the rear with a 2.57 WHIP in only 7 innings of work thus far.

A - Burlington: Fort Wayne 6, Bees 4

SS Franco 1-4, 2 RBI (4), SB -- .200
DH Bonilla 1-4, 2B (6), RBI (14), 2 K, RS -- .239
1B Hosmer 1-5, RBI (24), K -- .260
CF Van Stratten 1-5, K, RS -- .342

Melville 4 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 7 K, HRA -- L, 1-2, 3.86 ERA, can't complain too much
Saito 2 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, K, HRA, WP -- 4.13 ERA
Thompson 2 IP, 2 UER, 3 H, 2 BB, 3 K, WP -- 2.92 ERA

*** A 9th inning rally fell short as Fort Wayne evened the series at a game each. Tim Melville stranded 2 TinCaps in the 3rd and allowed only a solo homer to 3B James Darnell (his 6th) in the 4th before getting pulled in the 5th. Derrick Saito allowed a run in the 5th but Burlington got on the board in the 6th on an Eric Hosmer RBI single before stranding the bases loaded. Saito served up a 2-run homer to C Ali Solis (his 3rd) in the 6th and James Thompson gave up a 2-out, 2-run double to Darnell in the 7th to make it 6-1 Fort Wayne before he left the bases full. The Bees went to work in the 9th as Jose Bonilla hit an RBI double and Angel Franco hit a 2-run single to cut the lead to 6-4. The Bees loaded the bases with 2 outs but Hosmer grounded out to end it as RP Brad Brach got his 14th save. Starter Nick Schmidt got the win with 5 1/3 IP of an unearned run allowed on 4 hits and a walk with 5 Ks to improve to 2-0 with a 4.55 ERA. Darnell was 3-3 with a walk, his 9th double, the HR, 3 RBI (28), his 14th error and 5th SB to move to .290, Solis' HR gave him 2 RBI (8) and SS Andrew Cumberland was 2-3 with his 9th SB, a walk, his 5th error and a RS to move to .352.

The Bees are 20-28. The series is wrapping up today as Sam Runion (2-3, 6.35) got drilled again versus TinCaps righty Erik Davis (4-1, 3.57).

The Bees tops in OPS are.... OF Nick Francis is one of two over the .900 mark at .956 (.322/.391/.566*, 25 RS, 14 2B*, 7 HR* (easily leads team), 31 RBI*, 16 BB/38 K, 9/11 SB, 4 E in 41 G/152 ABs); OF Nick Van Stratten is the other at .908 (.342*/.413/.495, 26 RS*, 10 2B, 2 3B*, HR, 21 RBI, 12 BB/13 K, 6/10 SB, E in 31 G/111 ABs); 1B/OF David Wood at .813 (.286/.375/.438, 13 RS, 8 2B, 2 HR, 16 RBI, 14 BB/18 K, 2/4 SB in 30 G/105 ABs); 2B Fernando Garcia at .806 (.293/.453*/.354, 14 RS, 3 2B, 23 BB/12 K, 10/15 SB, 10 E in 25 G/82 ABs, been solid); and 1B Eric Hosmer at .754 (.850 OPS in May, so hopefully the improvement continues, .260/.377/.377, 16 RS, 11 2B, 2 HR, 24 RBI, 28 BB*/41 K*, 2/3 SB, 1 E in 42 G/146 ABs, would like to see more power but it is a pitcher's league). Others of note: C Jose Bonilla is sixth way down at a .636 OPS with 8 BB/32 K in 109 ABs; C Sean McCauley is another jump down at .575 with 9 BB/15 K in 101 ABs, but is hitting only .198; Kyle Martin retired with a .530 OPS in 134 ABs; OF Patrick Norris has a .515 OPS but leads the team at 15/17 SB in 41 G/133 ABs, has also struck out 38 times; IF J.D. Alfaro earned a demotion with a .423 OPS in 101 ABs; and C Salvador Perez is still struggling with a .392 OPS and sub-.200 OBP in 100 ABs.

The Bees tops in WHIP are... RP Barry Bowden at 0.87 (0-1, 2.18 ERA, 5 SV, 2 HRA, 7 BB/26 K in 20 2/3 IP); RP Blaine Hardy at 1.12 (2-2, 3.00, 2 HRA, 8 BB/42 K* (!) in 12 games (3 starts) and 42 IP); RP Derrick Saito at 1.16 (1-3, 4.13, 2 HRA, 9 BB/31 K in 32 2/3 IP); starter Zach Peterson at 1.29 (on shelf, but 3-2, 4.24, 6 HRA, 9 BB/17 K in 7 games (6 starts) and 34 IP, expected better K rate than that); and part-time starter Manauris Baez at 1.33 (3-1, 3.05, 3 HRA, 10 BB/21 K in 11 G (5 starts) and 38 1/3 IP). Others of note: Tim Melville is off to a nice start with a 0.93 WHIP, 2 HRA, 4 BB/11 K in his first 3 pro starts/14 IP; swing starter Mike Lehmann has a 1.31 WHIP, 4 BB/5 K in his first 10 2/3 IP; RP James Thompson has 2 saves and a 1.38 WHIP with a 2.92 ERA, 5 HRA and 16 BB/29 K in 24 2/3 IP; P Luis Cota is on the shelf with a 1.42 WHIP and 5 BB/15 K in 19 IP; starter Bryan Casey has a 1.43 WHIP with a 2.74 ERA, 2 HRA, 20 BB/39 K in 9 starts/42 2/3 IP; starter Sam Runion is still struggling with a 1.54 WHIP, 7 HRA*, 10 BB/19 K in 9 starts/45 1/3 IP; reliever Carson Bryant has 2 saves and 19 BB/26 K in 26 2/3 IP despite a 1.65 WHIP; RP Justin Garcia has a 1.65 WHIP, too, with 4 HRA, 5 BB/22 K in 23 IP; and starter Mike Montgomery has posted a 1.91 WHIP, 3.27 ERA, 10 BB/12 K in his first 11 IP at Burlington.

Royals on the Farm 5/28 & 5/29

Another 2-day post....I don't think I did this many all last season, and this is already my 3rd or 4th this season. My Friday was spent driving 75 miles early in the morning to cover a state tourney high school baseball game (lost by the local team via run rule in 5) then stopping in the doctor's office on the way back to find out, 2 hours later, that I have strep throat. Then I spent another 45 minutes waiting for an antibiotic prescription before driving to a town neighboring mine where my middle daughter played softball and I tried not to infect anyone else. I finally got home around 8:30 p.m. and was in no mood to get a RotF report done, so my apologies. I was also worn out from watching a 21-20 4th grade girls' softball game. We were the 20 but I think we had a no-hitter. The other team scored all its runs via bases-loaded walks and hit batters. Our good pitcher had to leave after the 2nd inning for some reason, so the carnage was on from there. Soooooooo fun to watch, that first year of kid-pitch.

AAA - Omaha: Fresno 4, O-Royals 3 (Thu.)

LF-1B Thorman 2-4, BB, RBI (10), RS -- .217
DH B. Pena 2-5, 2 2B (6), RBI (18), RS -- .321
CF Duarte 2-3, BB, RS, SB -- .176
C House 1-3, BB, 2B (6), RBI (22), E (2) -- .304, 7/7 SB against for what's believed to be a new O-Royals record
1B Ka'aihue 1-2, BB, K -- .286, ejected in 6th
3B Metcalf 0-4, K, E (6) -- .246
SS Lisson 0-4, K -- .231
* Omaha stranded 10.

Hochevar 6 IP, 3 R (2 ER), 8 H, BB, 6 K -- L, 5-1, 1.17 ERA, untriumphant return to AAA
Hamulack 1 2/3 IP, ER, H, 2 BB, K, HRA -- 7.13 ERA
Rosa 1 1/3 IP, H, BB, 2 K -- 7.23 ERA

*** Luke Hochevar's temporary return to AAA started on a sour note as Fresno dealt him his 1st loss of the season. He stranded 2 in the 1st but Fresno got to him for 3 runs in the 3rd on 3 hits, a walk, errors by J.R. House and Travis Metcalf and 3 SB in the inning. Omaha stranded 2 in the 3rd and, after Kila Ka'aihue was ejected for arguing a called strikeout in the 6th, the Royals left the bases full that inning. Tim Hamulack gave up a solo homer to 1B John Bowker (his 3rd) in the 7th and Omaha stranded 2 that inning. Carlos Rosa came in to leave 2 in scoring position in the 8th and Omaha finally broke through with a House RBI double to cut the lead to 4-1. Rosa stranded 2 in the 9th and Brayan Pena hit a 2-out RBI double in the bottom of the 9th before Scott Thorman singled him home to trim the lead to 1 and bring the potential winning run to the plate. Brian Buchanan pinch-hit for Cory Aldridge, who had come in after Ka'aihue's ejection, and flew out to end the game as RP Geno Espineli got his 6th save. Starter Kevin Pucetas allowed 4 hits and 3 walks with 3 Ks over 6 IP to win and move to 5-1 with a 3.47 ERA. Bowker was 4-5 with his 6th SB, 2 doubles (10), his HR, 2 RBI (25), and 2 RS to move to .329. CF Eugenio Velez also had 2 hits and 2 SB (4) for the Grizzlies.

O-Royals 7, Nashville 3 (Fri.)

2B Falu 3-4, BB, 3B (3), 3 RBI (17), RS -- .281, has been solid out of leadoff spot
C House 2-5, RS -- .306
3B Metcalf 1-3, BB, SF, 2 RBI (26), RS -- .247
CF Duarte 1-2, 2 S, RBI (4), E (3) -- .189
DH B. Pena 0-4, HBP -- .307
1B Ka'aihue 1-5, 2B (13), 2 K, RS -- .283
SS Lisson 0-5, K -- .167
RF Murphy 1-1, 3 BB, 3 RS -- .219

DiNardo 6 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 5 H, BB, 6 K, HRA -- W, 4-1, 3.29 ERA
Marte 2 IP, ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 3 K -- 3.00 ERA
Atencio IP, K -- 5.16 ERA

*** Omaha took an early lead and kept pace with Nashville to take the opener of the 3-day, 4-game set. With 2 out and the bases loaded in the 2nd, Jose Duarte singled home a run and Irving Falu hit a 2-run single to give the Royals a 3-0 lead. Lenny DiNardo stranded 2 Sounds in the 2nd but got touched up for a solo homer by 1B Joe Koshansky (his 10th) in the 4th to get Nashville on the board. Travis Metcalf took a bases-loaded, 2-out walk in the 5th to get the run back and Tommy Murphy scored on a bases-loaded wild pitch in the 6th before Omaha stranded 2. Nashville got an unearned run off DiNardo in the 6th and got a run on 3 hits off Victor Marte before stranding the bases full in the 7th to cut it to 5-3. Falu hit an RBI triple in the 8th and Metcalf added a sac fly in the 9th before Greg Atencio pitched a perfect inning to finish the victory. Sounds SP Chase Wright took the loss with 5 1/3 IP of 5 runs (4 ER) allowed on 7 hits and 3 walks with 3 Ks to drop to 3-5 with a 4.58 ERA. DH Erick Almonte and Nomar's brother SS Michael Garciaparra had 2 hits for Nashville. Garciaparra also had his 4th error.

The O-Royals are 22-26 and 3 1/2 games back of the first-place Sounds (26-23, AAA Brew Crew). The teams play a doubleheader today as Matt Wright (0-1, 8.36) faces Nashville righty Matt Ginter (1-1, 2.79). The Royals are 6-3 thus far versus the Sounds.

AA - NW Arkansas: Midland 12, Naturals 8 (Thu.)

RF Parraz 3-4, BB, 3B (2), 4 RBI (26), CS (5) -- .328
SS McConnell 3-4, 2B (2), RBI (8), 2 RS -- .208, to date, a rare offensive outburst from Chris
CF Strait 2-4, BB, K, RS -- .300
C Suomi 1-5, RBI (12), RS, PB (2) -- .329
3B C. Smith 1-2, 3 BB, RBI (26), RS -- .225, nice night for OBP
DH Mertins 0-4, SF, RBI (21), 3 K -- .262

Kniginyzky 3 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 3 K, WP -- L, 1-5, 5.31 ERA
Nicoll 2 2/3 IP, 4 R (3 ER), 3 H, BB, 3 K, HRA, balk -- 1.84 ERA, has hit rough patch lately
Hartsock 1 1/3 IP, 3 R (2 ER), H, 3 BB, K, 2 WP -- 13.50 ERA, nerves?
Cevette 1 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 3 BB -- 3.38 ERA
Clark 1/3 IP, nothing -- 0.00 ERA for Cody the catcher

*** Both teams pounded out 11 hits but a couple Nats errors helped the RockHounds win and set up a chance at a 3-game sweep. Matt Kniginyzky stranded the bases full in the 2nd and a John Suomi RBI groundout put the Naturals on top that inning, 1-0. Jordan Parraz hit a 2-out RBI single in the 3rd to make it 2-0 but Kniginyzky ran into trouble in the 4th. He allowed 3 runs on a 2-run triple and RBI double to get pulled for Chris Nicoll, who got out of the inning without further damage. DH Tommy Everidge went long, though, for his 7th of the season to lead off the 5th off Nicoll and make it 4-2 Midland. A Kurt Mertins sac fly in the 5th cut the lead back to 1 but Nicoll was pulled for Aaron Hartsock to make his '09 AA debut with the bases loaded and 0 out in the 7th. The RockHounds scored 3 runs in the inning without a hit off Hartsock as a wild pitch, run-scoring error and sac fly made it 7-3. Corey Smith took a bases-loaded walk in the 7th to cut it to 7-4 but the Naturals left the bases full. Midland responded with 3 runs in the 8th off Hartsock and Dan Cevette to make it 10-4 but the Naturals weren't dead yet. Chris McConnell hit an RBI single and with the bases loaded and 2 out in the 8th, Parraz came through with a bases-clearing triple to cut the lead to 10-8. Midland picked up 2 insurance runs in the 9th, however, and the Naturals stranded 1 in the 9th as RP Sam Demel picked up his 8th save. Starter Carlos Hernandez got the win with 3 ER allowed on 6 hits and 4 walks with 2 Ks over 6 IP to improve to 2-0 with a 4.09 ERA. Four 'Hounds had 2 hits and 1B Chris Carter drove in 3 runs (38) and hit his 18th double. Everidge was 2-5 with his HR, 43rd RBI, a walk, K and 2 RS to move to .306. RF Matt Sulentic also drove in 2 runs (15).

Midland 7, Naturals 2 (Fri.)

SS McConnell 3-4, RS, SB (5), CS -- .237, bat is "en fuego"
RF Parraz 2-4, CS (6) -- .333
2B Mertins 2-5 -- .266
1B C. Smith 2-4, K, E (10), picked off -- .231
DH McFall 2-3, BB, K -- .275
C Suomi 1-2, 2 BB, HR (6), RBI (13), RS -- .333

B. Wood 4 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 4 BB, 4 K, 3 WP -- L, 2-3, 6.31 ERA
Hayes 4 1/3 IP, 4 UER, 6 H, 2 K -- 0.53 ERA, 65 pitches in relief

*** Four late runs helped Midland stave off the Naturals for the 3-game sweep Friday. Both teams stranded 2 in the 1st but John Suomi put the Naturals on top in the 2nd with his 6th homer of the season for a solo shot to make it 1-0. The RockHounds got a run on 2 hits off Blake Wood in the 4th and, after NWA stranded 2 in the 4th, Midland scratched out 2 more runs in the 5th on 2 hits, 3 walks and 2 Wood wild pitches to take a 3-1 lead. Chris Hayes came in to strand 2 and an error on a Kurt Mertins single in the 5th brought in a run to trim the advantage to 3-2. That was the score entering the 8th when the 'Hounds posted 3 runs on 3 hits and a Josh Johnson error at third. The Naturals stranded 2 in the 8th and Midland scored another run in the 9th thanks in part to a Corey Smith error. Midland SP Jason Fernandez allowed 2 ER on 9 hits and 2 walks with 6 Ks over 6 IP to improve to 5-4 with a 4.37 ERA. C Josh Donaldson was 3-5 with 2 doubles (15) and 2 RBI (35) along with his 6th passed ball, a K and RS to improve his BA to .281. Two other 'Hounds had 2 hits. 2B Adrian Cardenas was 1-4 with 2 RBI (29) to drop to .381.

The Naturals are 22-24 and 5 games back. A 3-game home set with the Frisco RoughRiders (23-22, AA Rangers) starts tonight. Dan Cortes (2-4, 3.86 ERA) will take on Frisco lefty Michael Kirkman (0-0, 5.40 ERA). The Frisco roster features Rangers prospects 1B Justin Smoak (top positional prospect, I kinda woulda liked to see the Royals pick him last season, .325 BA/.947 OPS, 28 RS, 9 2B, 6 HR, 25 RBI, 32 BB/30 K, 1 E in 41 G/151 ABs), lefty Kasey Kiker (3-2, 2.72 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 2 HRA, 26 BB/52 K in 9 starts and 46 1/3 IP), righty Omar Poveda (5-3, 3.10, 1.24, 3 HRA, 20 BB/27 K in 9 starts and 52 1/3 IP, one CG shutout), and SS Marcus Lemon (Chet's son and a Pipeline minors favorite, would LOVE to see KC swing a deal for him, .282/.710, 21 RS, 8 2B, 2 3B, 12 RBI, 16 BB/19 K, 2/3 SB, 12 E (oy) in 41 G/156 ABs). OF "The Other" Chad Tracy leads the Riders with 8 HR and 37 RBI but has only a .747 OPS with a sub-.300 OBP. OF Joe Dickerson was placed on the DL with a sore shoulder.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Blue Rocks 4, Frederick 2 (Thu.)

LF Lough 2-3, BB, RS, E -- .341
1B C. Robinson 1-3, BB, 2 RBI (25), RS -- .304
RF Walton 0-4, RBI (6), 3 K -- .268
C Morizio 1-3, RBI, K -- .154
DH Ortiz 1-3 -- .270
3B Moustakas 0-2, BB, S (???), CS (4) -- .282, had him bunt to move eventual winning run into scoring position in 8th
2B Giavotella 1-3, BB, RS -- .214
CF D. Robinson 0-4, K -- .232
SS Bianchi 0-3, BB, K, RS -- .315

Santiago 7 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 2 K -- 4.99 ERA
Abreu IP, BB -- W, 1-1, 6.75 ERA
Sisk IP, K -- SV, 4, 4.08 ERA

*** The Rocks fell behind late but rallied back to win the finale with the Keys. The Rocks stranded 2 in the 2nd as the game went scoreless into the 7th. Frederick finally got to Mario Santiago that inning for 2 runs on 2 hits, 2 walks and a sac fly as Santiago had a 4-hit shutout going into the inning. A single and Keys error gave Wilmington 2 in scoring position with none out in the 7th and Jamar Walton hit an RBI groundout before Matt Morizio singled in the tying run and the Rocks would strand 2. With 2 on and 2 out in the 8th, Clint Robinson had the big knock with a 2-run single and Brandon Sisk pitched a perfect 9th for his 4th save. RP Brett Bordes took the loss with 2 ER allowed on 2 hits and a walk and K over an inning of work to drop to 2-3 with a 9.28 ERA. Starter Zach Britton worked 7 IP of 2 runs (1 ER) allowed on 4 hits, 4 walks and 5 Ks to move his ERA to 2.45. C Caleb Joseph was 2-4 with his 23rd RBI to move to .326. 3B Tyler Henson was 1-2 with a sac fly, his 15th double and 26th RBI to move to .226.

Myrtle Beach 4, Blue Rocks 3 (13/Fri.)

2B Giavotella 2-4, BB, S, 2B (6), 2 RS, E (9) -- .221
CF D. Robinson 2-6, RS, SB (24) -- .236
DH Lough 1-6, 2 RBI (22), K -- .333
3B Moustakas 0-6, 2 E (13) -- .273, night to forget
SS Bianchi 1-5, BB, 2 K -- .311
1B C. Robinson 1-5, 2 K -- .301
LF Ortiz 1-5, 2 K, SB (7), OF assist at third -- .267

Teaford 6 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 4 K, HRA -- 2.65 ERA
Godin IP, 3 H -- 2.19 ERA
Swaggerty 2 IP, UER, H, BB, 4 K, pickoff -- BS, 2, 1.96 ERA
Sisk 2 IP, 5 K -- 3.66 ERA
Villa 2 IP, ER, 2 H, 4 K -- L, 1-4, 3.48 ERA

*** The Pelicans got the game tied in the 8th and then won it in 13. Both teams got out to a hot start as Myrtle Beach scored a run in the 1st on 2 hits and a walk off Everett Teaford before stranding 2. David Lough flipped the lead around, though, with a 2-out, 2-run single in the 1st to give the Rocks the lead. Teaford gave up a solo homer to C Matt Kennelly (his 1st) to lead off the 2nd but an error on a Jeff Bianchi single in the 3rd scored Johnny Giavotella to give the Rocks a 3-2 lead. Teaford stranded 2 in the 6th but left the lead to the pen in the 7th. Jason Godin returned from the DL to pitch a shaky 7th as the Pelicans got 3 hits but Adrian Ortiz helped throw a runner out at third to kill the threat. Mike Moustakas' 2nd error of the game started the 8th and Ben Swaggerty allowed a 1-out RBI single to tie the game. The Rocks stranded 2 in the 8th and squandered a leadoff double by Paulo Orlando in the 9th. Brandon Sisk struck out 5 of the 6 batters he faced in extras and the Rocks left 2 in scoring position in the 12th. With 2 on and 1 out in the MB 13th, a Giavotella error allowed the lead run to cross the plate and RP Thomas Palica pitched a perfect inning for his 3rd save. RP Lee Hyde pitched 2 scoreless innings to get the win and move to 1-0 with a 1.42 ERA. Starter Edgar Osuna allowed 3 runs (2 ER) on 6 hits and a walk with 3 Ks over 7 IP to move his ERA to 3.19. CF C.J. Lee and 1B Freddie Freeman had 3 hits each for the Pelicans. Freeman had a walk, his 11th double and a RS to improve to .299. RF Jon Owings had an OF assist at second and drove in 2 runs (7).

The Rocks are 24-23 and 7 games back. Game 2 of the 3-game set with the Pelicans (18-29, A-Adv. Braves) is tonight with Alex Caldera (0-2, 5.44) facing MB lefty Jeff Locke (1-3, 4.20). The Rocks are 4-4 versus the Pelicans.

A - Burlington: Bees 4, Lansing 2 (7/G1, Thu.)

1B Hosmer 2-4, 2 2B (10), RBI (19) -- .254
LF Van Stratten 2-4, 2B (10), RBI (19), RS -- .333
2B Franco 2-3, S, RBI (2), RS -- .211
RF Francis 1-4, 2B (14), RBI (31), K -- .322
CF Norris 2-3, RS -- .221
C Bonilla 0-2, 2 BB, K -- .235

Baez 5 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 3 K, HRA -- W, 3-1, 3.05 ERA
Bowden 1 2/3 IP, H, 2 K -- SV, 5, 2.18 ERA

*** Four 1-run rallies got the Bees a win in the first of two with the Lugnuts Thursday. Nick Francis put the Bees in front with a 2-out RBI double in the 1st and Nick Van Stratten hit an RBI groundout in the 2nd to make it 2-0 Burlington. Eric Hosmer hit an RBI double in the 5th to make it 3-0 and an Angel Franco RBI single in the 6th made it 4-0. Manauris Baez had a 3-hit shutout into the 6th but served up a 2-run homer to LF Brian Van Kirk (his 8th) that inning to give way to Barry Bowden with a 4-2 lead. Bowden stranded 1 in the 7th for his 5th save. Lansing SP Josh Wells allowed 4 ER on 10 hits and 3 walks with 2 Ks to drop to 2-5 with a 7.71 ERA. Van Kirk was 2-3 with his homer and 2 RBI (19) to improve to .288.

Lansing 7, Bees 2 (7/G2, Thu.)

CF Van Stratten 1-3, RBI (20), picked off -- .333
2B F. Garcia 1-3, RBI (5), CS (5), E (9) -- .292
1B Hosmer 0-2, BB, K -- .250
RF Francis 1-3, K, OF assist at second -- .322
DH Bonilla 1-3, K -- .238
C McCauley 0-3, K -- .196

Montgomery 3 IP, ER, 3 H, 4 BB, 5 K, WP -- 3.27 ERA
Lehmann 2 IP, 4 R (3 ER), 2 H, 3 BB, 2 WP, E -- L, 0-1, 4.22 ERA
Bryant IP, 2 UER, H, BB, K -- 4.39 ERA

*** Six late runs gave the Lugnuts a split of the doubleheader. Mike Montgomery stranded 2 in the 1st and the Bees took a 2-0 lead in the 3rd on a Nick Van Stratten RBI groundout and Fernando Garcia RBI single. Montgomery allowed a run on 2 hits and 2 walks in the 3rd before leaving the bases loaded. Lansing broke through with a 4-run rally off Mike Lehmann in the 5th on 2 hits, 2 walks and 2 Bees errors, not to mention 2 Lehmann wild pitches. Carson Bryant allowed 2 runs in the 6th on an Antonio Jimenez error and the Bees didn't threaten again. Lansing SP Chase Lirette got the win with 2 ER allowed on 5 hits and a walk with 3 Ks over 5 IP to improve to 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA. RF Johermyn Chavez was 3-4 with his 7th double and 2 RBI (28), his 4th error, K and 2 RS to move to .285.

Bees 11, Fort Wayne 5 (Fri.)

1B Hosmer 3-5, 2B (11), 4 RBI (23), 2 K, 3 RS -- .262, keep it up
LF-CF Van Stratten 3-4, 2 BB, RBI (21), 3 RS -- .349
RF Tucker 2-5, 2 RBI (9) -- .147
2B F. Garcia 2-6, 2 K, RS -- .295
DH D. Wood 1-4, BB, 2B (8), 2 RBI (16), RS -- .291
C McCauley 1-4, SF, 3B, 2 RBI (11) -- .198
SS-3B Jimenez 2-5, K, 2 RS -- .216
CF Norris 0-2, HBP, 2 K, OF assist at home -- .218

Casey 5 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, BB, 5 K, HRA -- W, 4-4, 2.74 ERA
B. Hardy 3 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 4 BB, 2 K -- 3.00 ERA, didn't have best stuff Friday
J. Garcia IP, H, BB, K -- 5.87 ERA

*** The Bees built an 11-2 lead and held on to win the opener with the TinCaps. The Bees got to Padres prospect Simon Castro for 3 runs in the 1st on an Eric Hosmer RBI single and 2-out, 2-run single by Wilson Tucker to jump out to the 3-0 lead. Bryan Casey struck out the side in the 1st and the Bees added 3 in the 2nd on a 2-run Hosmer double and Sean McCauley RBI triple to stretch the lead to 6-0. Casey got nicked for 2 runs in the 2nd on a solo homer by LF Jaff Decker (his 7th) and 2 other hits. Casey worked out of a 2-on, none-out jam in the 4th and then got an OF assist from Patrick Norris at the plate before stranding 2 in the 5th. The Bees loaded the bases with none out in the 6th and ended up with 4 runs on a Hosmer RBI single, 2-run David Wood double and McCauley sac fly to make it 10-2. Blaine Hardy left the bases loaded in the 6th and Nick Van Stratten singled home a run in the 7th to make it 11-2. Hardy gave up 2 runs in the 7th on 3 hits and a walk, including 2 doubles, and then allowed another run in the 8th before leaving 2 in scoring position. Justin Garcia stranded 2 in the 9th to finish it. Castro took the loss with 5 IP of 6 ER allowed on 8 hits and 2 walks with 5 Ks to drop to 2-3 with a 4.18 ERA. Three TinCaps had 3 hits and another had 2 hits. RF Dan Robertson had 3 hits with his 2nd double and 2 RBI (21) to move to .292. SS Andrew Cumberland improved to .341 with a 3-hit game.

The Bees are 20-27. The series with the TinCaps (29-19, A Padres) continues tonight as Tim Melville (1-1, 4.50) makes his 3rd pro start versus TinCaps lefty Nick Schmidt (1-0, 5.55). Ft. Wayne's roster features Friars prospects OF Jaff Decker (.303 BA/1.067 OPS, 23 RS, 7 2B, 7 HR, 20 RBI, 31 BB/24 K, 4/5 SB, 1 E in 31 G/99 ABs), 3B James Darnell (.276/.896, 26 RS, 8 2B, 2 3B, 5 HR, 25 RBI, 45 BB/41 K, 4/7 SB, 13 E in 46 G/152 ABs), 1B Allan Dykstra (.219/.783, 26 RS, 10 2B, 3 3B, 2 HR, 21 RBI, 44 BB/40 K, 6 E in 44 G/146 ABs), righty Castro (2-3, 4.18 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 3 HRA, 19 BB/48 K in 10 games (9 starts) and 47 1/3 IP), and OF Blake Tekotte (.203/.561, 26 RS, 4 HR, 13 RBI, 16 BB/35 K, 11/14 SB, 3 E in 45 G/177 ABs).

Royals on the Farm 5/27

AAA - Omaha: O-Royals 1, Fresno 0 (2-hitter, 7/G1)

1B Ka'aihue 2-3, 2B (12), RS -- .285
DH House 1-3, RBI (21) -- .303
C B. Pena 1-3, 2B (4) -- .325
3B Metcalf 0-2, BB -- .256
SS Lisson 1-3, K -- .333
CF Duarte 0-2, BB -- .130

Chen CG, 2 H, BB, 8 K, pickoff -- W, 2-2, 4.13 ERA, wonder if Royals will give him a look in KC this season

*** Bruce Chen was at the top of his game in hurling a complete-game shutout as the Royals squeaked out the first of two with Fresno Wednesday. Omaha stranded 2 in the 1st but got its only run in the 4th as Kila Ka'aihue led off with a double and scored on a J.R. House single. The Royals loaded the bases with none out that inning but got no more runs off Grizzlies SP Steve Hammond. Chen faced only 2 over the minimum and Fresno only got 1 guy to second base. Hammond took the loss with an ER allowed on 5 hits and 2 walks with 2 Ks to drop to 2-3 with a 4.05 ERA. 1B John Bowker was 1-2 with a walk but was also picked off once as he improved to .307.

Fresno 7, O-Royals 5 (7/G2)

RF Murphy 2-3, 2 2B (8), RBI (9), RS -- .220
LF Aldridge 2-3, HR (5), RBI (26), RS -- .278
1B Thorman 1-3, HR (4), RBI (9), RS -- .196
DH B. Pena 0-2, SF, RBI (17) -- .316
3B Metcalf 0-3, 2 K -- .252
SS Lisson 1-3, 2 K, RS -- .333
CF Duarte 1-2, RS -- .146

Duckworth 5 IP, 7 ER, 9 H, HRA -- L, 2-2, 5.55 ERA
Atencio IP, nothing -- 5.40 ERA
Marte IP, nothing -- 0.00 ERA, Omaha debut

*** Brandon Duckworth was nowhere near as sharp as Chen as Fresno split the double dip. The damage started early as C Adam Witter hit a 2-out, 2-run homer in the 1st for his 4th of the season. Omaha scored a run on an error and Brayan Pena hit a sac fly to tie the game in the 3rd, but Duckworth allowed 3 runs on 4 hits in the 4th to give Fresno the lead for good. Cory Aldridge went long for his 5th homer of the season in the bottom of the 4th to cut it to 5-3 but Fresno poured on 2 more runs in the 5th on 3 hits. Scott Thorman cranked his 4th homer of the season and 3rd as a Royal in the 6th and Tommy Murphy hit an RBI double in the 7th to cut it to 7-5 and bring the potential tying run to the plate but pinch-hitter Kila Ka'aihue grounded out and Irving Falu did the same as RP Geno Espineli picked up his 5th save. Starter Matt Kinney got the win with 6 1/3 IP of 5 runs (4 ER) allowed on 8 hits with 4 Ks to improve to 3-5 with a 6.49 ERA. Witter was 2-3 with his homer, 3 RBI (16) and 2 RS to move to .269 and Bowker also had 2 hits with his 23rd RBI to improve to .312.

The Royals are 21-25 and 4 1/2 games out. The series comes to a close tonight as Luke Hochevar (5-0, 0.90) tries to regroup back in AAA versus Grizzlies righty Kevin Pucetas (4-1, 3.86). The O-Royals are set to welcome their 11th million fan to Rosenblatt tonight. Chen's game 1 shutout gave the O-Royals 6 on the season, which is already better than their 2008 total.

AA - NW Arkansas: Midland 9, Naturals 4

3B C. Smith 1-4, BB, 2 RBI (25), 2 K -- .222
RF Parraz 1-3, 2 BB, RBI (22), OF assist at home -- .315
2B Mertins 0-5, 2 K, RS, 2 E (9) -- .269
DH Suomi 1-4, K, RS -- .338
PH-C Clark 0-0, 2 HBP, RS -- .000, '09 NWA debut
SS McConnell 1-4, RS, E (2) -- .176

B. Johnson 4 IP, 4 ER, 8 H, BB, 4 K, HRA, pickoff -- L, 2-4, 4.69 ERA
Sencion 3 IP, ER, 2 H, 2 BB -- 4.56 ERA
de la Vara 2 IP, 4 R (1 ER), 3 H, 2 BB, 2 K, HRA -- 4.70 ERA

*** Midland held off a NWA comeback with 4 late runs to put it away. Starter Blake Johnson allowed a run in the 1st on 3 hits and a walk, although Jordan Parraz stopped further damage with an OF assist at the plate to end the inning. Johnson got knocked around again in the 3rd as 3B Alex Valdez hit a 2-run shot for his 1st homer of the season and a double steal resulted in another run later in the inning to make it 4-0. Carlos Sencion took over in the 5th and allowed a run to stretch the lead to 5-0. Midland SP Graham Godfrey retired 12 in a row before stranding the bases full in the 6th. The Naturals finally snapped out of their funk in the 7th as they loaded the bases and, with 2 out, a Midland error broke up the shutout before Parraz took a bases-loaded walk and Corey Smith singled home 2 runs to trim the lead to 5-4. Brian McFall struck out to end the rally. Just as quickly, Midland regained some elbow room as a 1-out Chris McConnell error and single were followed by a 2-out, 3-run homer by SS Joshua Horton (his 2nd) off Gilbert de la Vara to make it 8-4. Midland scratched out another run in the 9th and NWA wouldn't rally. Godfrey got the win with 6 1/3 IP of 3 unearned runs allowed on 4 hits and 2 walks with 11 Ks to improve to 4-3 with a 3.86 ERA. Five 'Hounds had 2 hits as Horton led the way with his homer and 4 RBI (26) to move to .283. 2B Adrian Cardenas was 2-2 with 3 walks and 2 RS to improve to .402.

The Naturals are 22-22 and 4 games out. Game 2 is tonight as Matt Kniginyzky (1-4, 5.08) faces RockHounds lefty Carlos Hernandez (1-0, 3.60). OF Joe Dickerson is day-to-day with a bruised shoulder.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Frederick 4, Blue Rocks 2

SS Bianchi 2-4, K, SB (10) -- .321
2B Seratelli 1-3, BB, 2B (4), RBI (13), 2 K, RS, CS (2) -- .288
C Eigsti 1-3, RBI (17), K -- .260
CF D. Robinson 1-3, BB, 2B (6) -- .238
3B Moustakas 0-4 -- .286, gets close to .300, then falls back
1B C. Robinson 1-4, K -- .303
DH Lough 1-4, K, RS, SB (5) -- .333
LF Ortiz 1-3, CS (2), E -- .268

Paulino 6 IP, ER, 5 H, 8 K -- L, 1-2, 5.74 ERA, tough loss
Liotta 2 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, K -- 5.71 ERA
Chavez IP, H, BB -- 3.20 ERA

*** A flurry of late scoring resulted in a Keys win in a Wednesday matinee. Eduardo Paulino pitched well as he worked around a leadoff triple in the 1st. He stranded 2 in the 4th and the Rocks left a runner at third in the inning. Paulino gave up another leadoff triple in the 6th and this time the Keys made it count for a run as it was 1-0 with Ray Liotta taking over in the 7th. The Rocks squandered a would-be rally on the basepaths in the 6th and the Keys pushed in 2 runs in the 7th on 3 hits and a Rocks error. Anthony Seratelli hit a 2-out RBI double in the 7th and Ryan Eigsti singled him home to cut the lead to 3-2 but the Keys picked up a run on 2 hits in the 8th and RP Luis Lebron struck out the side in the 9th to get his 9th save. Starter Pedro Beato got the win with 6 1/3 IP of an ER allowed on 6 hits and a walk with 2 Ks to move to 3-3 with a 4.13 ERA. CF Matthew Angle was 3-5 with 2 triples (3) and his 8th RBI to move to .253 and three other Keys had 2 hits.

Wilmington is 23-22 and 6 games back. The series ends tonight as Mario Santiago (1-5, 5.40) faces Keys lefty Zach Britton (2-1, 2.66).

A - Burlington: rainout

The Bees are 18-26. The rainout will be made up as a doubleheader tonight. Manauris Baez will start one game against Lansing's Josh Wells while Mike Montgomery (0-1, 3.38) will start game 2.

Royals on the Farm 5/26

Ah, the Greinke start. An island of assurance in an ocean of uneasiness. Now back to sweating out the other 4 starters.

AAA - Omaha: rainout

Omaha is 20-24 and 4 games out. The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader today. Bruce Chen and Steve Hammond will start one game while Brandon Duckworth (2-1, 4.71) will face Grizzlies righty Matt Kinney (2-5, 6.60) in game 2. RP Victor Marte has been called up to Omaha from AA.

AA - NW Arkansas: off day

The Naturals are 22-21 and 3 games back. A 3-game home set with the Midland RockHounds (24-20, AA Athletics) starts tonight with Blake Johnson (2-3, 4.21) facing Midland righty Graham Godfrey (3-3, 4.40). Midland's roster features A's prospects SS Adrian Cardenas (came over from Phils in Blanton trade, .389 BA/1.073 OPS, 22 RS, 11 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 26 RBI, 13 BB/14 K, 3 E in 23 G/95 ABs), 1B Chris Carter (.277/.849, 38 RS, 17 2B, 5 HR, 35 RBI, 26 BB/48 K, 5/6 SB, 2 E in 44 G/177 ABs, BA is solid and it's 5th worst on team!), OF Corey Brown (.336/1.044, 21 RS, 11 2B, 2 3B, 5 HR, 24 RBI, 14 BB/29 K in 28 G/107 ABs), C Josh Donaldson (.278/.855, 32 RS, 13 2B, 4 HR, 33 RBI, 29 BB/32 K, 5 E in 41 G/151 ABs), righty Sam Demel (0-2, 0.98 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 7 saves, 1 HRA, 6 BB/17 K in 18 1/3 IP), and righty Arnold Leon (1-1, 4.35, 1.65, 1 SV, 2 HRA, 11 BB/17 K in 20 2/3 IP). Late, great comedian Chris Farley also plays for the Rockhounds but the righty pitcher has slimmed down in the afterlife to 220 lbs. Being dead, he is on the 7-day DL at the moment. Just kidding, I'm sure there are tons of Chris Farleys out there. This one is 26 and was 0-3 with an 8.18 ERA in 6 games (5 starts) and 22 1/3 IP before hitting the shelf. Midland may be sizzling on offense, but the pitching is mediocre.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Blue Rocks 1, Frederick 0

SS Bianchi 2-3, BB -- .316
RF Lough 2-3, S, K -- .336
3B Moustakas 1-3, BB, 2B (11), RBI (35), CS (3), E (11) -- .293
LF Ortiz 0-4, K -- .267, underperforms in leadoff spot again....maybe he's trying too hard
2B Giavotella 1-4, RS -- .211
1B C. Robinson 0-2, BB, K -- .305

Duffy 6 IP, 5 H, BB, 5 K -- 3.00 ERA
Villa 3 IP, H, 4 K -- W, 1-3, 3.41 ERA

*** Danny Duffy and Brian Matusz dueled to a draw but Kelvin Villa outdid RP Jake Stevens and Wilmington came out on top in the opener with the Keys. The Rocks left the bases loaded in the 2nd and Frederick stranded 2 in the 5th. Villa came in and struck out the side in the 7th and, with 2 out in the 8th, Johnny Giavotella singled and advanced to second on an error and Mike Moustakas had the gamebreaking RBI double to give the Rocks the lead. Villa pitched a perfect 9th to finish off the Keys. Stevens took the loss with an unearned run allowed on 2 hits and a walk with a K to fall to 2-1 with a 6.30 ERA. Matusz worked 7 IP of 4 hits and 2 walks allowed with 5 Ks to drop his ERA to 2.68. DH Bobby Stevens was 2-3 with his 4th double and a K to move to .309.

The Rocks are 23-22 after dropping a matinee with Frederick today as Eduardo Paulino took the loss. More on that tomorrow. Starter Everett Teaford was named the Carolina League Pitcher of the Week for May 18-24. Teaford was 2-0 with a 2.84 ERA and 10 K/1 BB in 12 1/3 IP over the week. P Jason Godin has been activated from the DL to replace Aaron Hartsock.

A - Burlington: Bees 5, Lansing 2

CF Norris 3-4, RBI (7), K, 2 SB (15) -- .211
1B Hosmer 2-4, BB, 2B (8), RBI (18), 2 K -- .246
RF Van Stratten 2-4, BB, RBI (18), RS, picked off -- .326
2B Franco 1-3, 2 S, 2B, RBI, K, RS -- .125
3B Fontaine 1-3, BB, RBI, K, RS, CS -- .111
DH Francis 1-5, K -- .324
C Bonilla 0-4, 3 K -- .240

Runion 7 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 5 K, HRA, WP -- 6.35 ERA, nice
Thompson 1 2/3 IP, H, K -- W, 1-1, 3.18 ERA

*** Sam Runion lost a shutout bid and the lead with 1 out in the 8th but the Bees responded in the 9th to win the opener with the Lugnuts. The Bees got 3 hits but no runs in the 1st thanks to a pickoff. The Bees stranded 2 in the 3rd and Runion left 2 in scoring position that inning. Patrick Norris gave the Bees the lead with a 2-out RBI single in the 4th but Antonio Jimenez was thrown out at the plate to end the inning. New Bee Chase Fontaine hit an RBI single in the 6th to make it 2-0 and the lead held into the 8th. Runion pitched well but served up a 2-run homer to LF Brian Van Kirk for his 7th of the season to tie the game in the 8th before James Thompson came in to finish the inning. With 1 on and 2 out in the 9th, Nick Van Stratten hit an RBI single and Angel Franco and Eric Hosmer hit back-to-back RBI doubles to give the Bees a 5-2 lead. Thompson stranded 1 in the 9th for the win. RP Dustin Antolin took the loss with 3 ER allowed on 3 hits and a walk with a K in 1 IP to fall to 0-1 with a 6.35 ERA. Starter John Anderson allowed an ER on 6 hits and 2 walks with 3 Ks over 4 IP to move his ERA to 3.95. 2B Justin McClanahan was 2-4 with a K to move to .294. Van Kirk had an OF assist at the plate and was 1-4 with the HR and 2 RBI (17) to drop to .278.

The Bees are 18-26. Game 2 is tonight as Manauris Baez (2-1, 3.00) takes on Lugnuts righty Josh Wells (2-4, 7.96).

Royals on the Farm 5/25

AAA - Omaha: O-Royals 4, Fresno 1

1B Ka'aihue 2-3, BB, HR (8), RBI (25), K, RS, E (2) -- .277, leads PCL with 43 walks
LF Thorman 1-3, BB, HR (3), 2 RBI (8), K, RS, OF assist at second -- .196
3B Metcalf 0-3, SF, RBI (24), K -- .259
DH B. Pena 0-2, 2 S, K -- .324
SS Lisson 1-3, K, SB -- .333, AAA debut
CF Duarte 0-3, OF assist at second -- .136, won't be at AAA long if he can't hit

Phillips CG, ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 5 K, WP -- W, 2-4, 6.70 ERA, first good start since first start

*** A 2-run 1st gave Heath Phillips all he needed as the lefty slapped together a complete-game victory for Omaha to snap a 6-game Royals skid. Scott Thorman did the damage in the bottom of the 1st with a 2-run shot for his 3rd of the season and 2nd for Omaha. Phillips stranded 2 Grizzlies in the 3rd and kept the lead intact despite a 4th-inning Fresno rally of a run on 3 hits as Thorman helped nail a runner at second to end the inning. Travis Metcalf got the run back with a sac fly in the 6th and Kila Ka'aihue hit his 8th homer of the season in the 8th to add some gravy to the lead. Two late double plays helped Phillips cruise to the win. Fresno SP Ryan Sadowski took the loss with 6 IP of 3 ER on 4 hits and 3 walks with 8 Ks to fall to 3-2 with a 4.20 ERA. Three Grizzlies had 2 hits in the loss.

The O-Royals are 20-24 and 4 1/2 games back. Game 2 is tonight as Bruce Chen (1-2, 4.76) faces Fresno lefty Steve Hammond (2-2, 4.32). RP Josh Newman has been released after posting an ERA in the 8s.

AA - NW Arkansas: Naturals 2, Arkansas 1 (7/G1)

DH McFall 2-3, HR (7), RBI (32), RS -- .281
CF Strait 2-3 -- .302
2B Mertins 1-4, RBI (20), K, E (7) -- .277
RF Parraz 0-2, BB -- .323
C Howell 0-3, 2 K -- .300
SS McConnell 1-2, BB, K, RS, SB (4) -- .180

Lerew 6 IP, ER, 5 H, BB, 5 K, E (2) -- W, 3-3, 5.20 ERA
Marte IP, nada -- SV, 4, 2.45 ERA

*** Anthony Lerew and Michael Anton dueled and Lerew came out ahead with a 2-1 win in the first of 2 with the Travelers Monday. The Nats stranded 2 in the 1st and Arkansas took the lead in the 2nd with a run on 2 hits before stranding 2 off Lerew. Kurt Mertins singled home a run to tie it in the 3rd and the Nats left 2 in scoring position in the 4th. Lerew stranded 2 in the 5th and Brian McFall gave the Naturals the lead with a solo homer in the 6th for his 7th of the season. Victor Marte pitched a perfect 7th for his 4th save in the twinbill-shortened game. Anton allowed 2 ER on 6 hits and 3 walks with 6 Ks over 7 IP to drop to 0-4 with a 4.23 ERA. Five Travs had a hit each.

Arkansas 1, Naturals 0 (2-hitter, 8/G2)

2B Mertins 1-3 -- .279
1B McFall 1-2, HBP -- .284
RF Parraz 0-3 -- .315
C Suomi 0-3, 2 K -- .343
SS McConnell 0-3, 2 K -- .172

Cevette 3 IP, K -- 1.93 ERA, nice spot start
Hayes 3 IP, H, 2 BB, K -- 0.61 ERA
Holland 1 1/3 IP, ER, 2 H, BB, 2 K -- L, 2-2, 2.31 ERA

*** The Naturals managed only 2 measly hits and the Travelers got a walkoff single in the 8th to end it. Travs spot starter Barret Browning retired 12 of the last 13 he faced through 5 but Nats starter Dan Cevette held Arkansas hitless through 3. Chris Hayes stranded 2 in the 4th and the Naturals stranded 2 in the 7th. Greg Holland came in and coasted through the 7th but gave up a walk and 2 1-out singles in the 8th to end the game. RP David Herndon got the win by striking out the side in the 8th to move to 2-4 with a 3.13 ERA. Browning allowed 2 hits with 2 Ks over 5 IP to drop his ERA to 2.49. The Travelers only had 3 hits as LF Coby Smith had the walkoff single and was 1-4 with his 12th RBI to move to .263.

NWA is 22-21 and 3 games back. They have today off. RP Aaron Hartsock has been called up to AA after posting 11 saves for Wilmington.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: off day

The Rocks are 22-21 and 5 games back. A 3-game home set with the Frederick Keys (22-22, A-Adv. O's) starts tonight as Danny Duffy (5-1, 3.43) faces O's pitching prospect Brian Matusz (3-2, 3.09). The Rocks are 1-2 versus the Keys. Duffy outdueled Matusz for a win earlier this season.

A - Burlington: Dayton 12, Bees 2

C S. Perez 2-4, K, E (4), pickoff -- .152, bat still hasn't awakened
1B Hosmer 1-3, BB, 2 RBI (17) -- .238
CF Norris 1-5, RS -- .194
DH Bonilla 1-4 -- .250

Melville 4 IP, 6 R (4 ER), 5 H, BB, 2 K, HRA, E, 2 WP -- L, 1-1, 4.50 ERA
Bryant IP, 5 R (3 ER), 4 H, 2 BB, K -- 4.56 ERA
Saito 3 IP, H, 5 K -- 3.52 ERA
Bowden IP, ER, H, HRA -- 2.37 ERA

*** Tim Melville's second start was as bad as his first start was good and the Bees had more errors (4) than runs as Dayton took 2 of 3 in the set. Melville served up a 2-run homer to DH Byron Wiley (his 2nd in the 1st but the rout wasn't really on until the 4th when the Dragons scored 4 runs on a walk, 2 hits, 2 errors, and a wild pitch to make it 6-0. The Bees stranded 2 in the 4th and Dayton added 5 runs in the 5th on 4 hits, 2 walks and another Bees error off Carson Bryant. Salvador Perez broke up a fledgling no-hitter in the 5th and the Bees stranded 2 more in the 6th. Eric Hosmer hit a 2-run single in the 8th to spoil the shutout but Barry Bowden gave up a solo homer to 2B Cody Puckett (his 9th) in the 9th to complete the scoring. Dayton SP Curtis Partch got the win with 5 IP of a hit and walk allowed with 3 Ks to improve to 3-3 with a 5.28 ERA. Three Dragons had multi-hit games as Puckett was 3-5 with 2 doubles (14), his homer, 3 RBI (27), a K and 3 RS to move to .290 and CF Dave Sappelt was 3-5 with his 14th SB, 10th double and 2 RS to move to .286. 1B Humberto Sosa also had 2 hits for Dayton and drove in 2 runs (16) while scoring twice.

The Bees are 17-26. A 3-game set at the Lansing Lugnuts (14-28, A Blue Jays) starts tonight. Sam Runion (2-3, 7.11) faces Lugnuts lefty John Anderson (1-2, 4.12) in the opener. The Lugnuts roster features Blue Jays prospects SS Tyler Pastornicky (.258 BA/.636 OPS, 21 RS, 3 3B, 13 BB/23 K, 15/24 SB, 11 E in 41 G/155 ABs), OF Markus Brisker (.106/.307, 10 BB/32 K, 11/14 SB in 36 G/94 ABs) and righty Chad Beck (only 2 IP thus far) among others. OF Johermyn Chavez leads the team with an .875 OPS, 27 RS, 5 3B, 7 HR, and 26 RBI in 40 games/147 ABs. Lefty starter Charles Huggins is 1-1 with a 1.57 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 11 BB/40 K in 7 starts and 34 1/3 IP.

Royals on the Farm 5/24

AAA - Omaha: Sacramento 12, O-Royals 4

C B. Pena 2-4, HR (4), 2 RBI (16), RS -- .333
SS Falu 2-4, RS -- .275
3B Metcalf 1-4, HR (5), RBI (23), 2 K, RS -- .265
2B Murphy 1-4, HR (2), RBI (8), K, RS -- .215
DH House 1-4 -- .302
1B Ka'aihue 0-3, BB, K -- .268
CF Duarte 1-3, S, 2 K -- .146

M. Wright 6 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 2 K, HRA, WP -- 8.36 ERA
Rosa 1 2/3 IP, 6 R (4 ER), 4 H, 3 BB, 3 K, HRA -- BS, 3, L, 0-5, 7.66 ERA, something's not right, or it's time to end the Rosa bullpen experiment
Newman 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 2 BB -- 8.47 ERA, might as well still be pitching in Colorado
Buchanan IP, nothing -- 13.50 ERA, pretty good when position player is best bullpen guy in game

*** Omaha's bullpen pulled another special in giving up 9 runs in the last 2 innings to blow a 4-3 lead and drop Omaha to a 6th straight loss. Travis Metcalf led off the Omaha 2nd with his 5th homer of the season but Matt Wright, who had been perfect in the first 2 innings, got dinged for 2 runs in the 2nd with one coming on a solo homer by 3B Jeff Baisley for his 1st of the season. Sacramento added a run in the 5th on 2 doubles but Omaha came back in the 6th. Tommy Murphy led off the bottom of the inning with his 2nd homer of the season and, 2 batters later, Brayan Pena went long for a 2-run shot for his 4th of the season to give the Royals a 4-3 lead. Carlos Rosa pitched a relatively easy 7th but loaded the bases with 1 out in the 8th and served up a grand slam to C Eric Munson (his 5th) before getting pulled with 2 out and the bases reloaded. Josh Newman walked in 2 runs before getting out of the jam. Newman then gave up 3 runs on 4 hits in the 9th before getting pulled for Brian Buchanan, who actually stranded an inherited baserunner. Omaha got 2 on in the 9th but made nothing of it. RP Brad Kilby got the win with 1 2/3 hitless IP to improve to 1-1 with a 1.29 ERA. Starter Gio Gonzalez allowed 4 ER on 8 hits and a walk with 5 Ks over 6 1/3 IP to move his ERA to 4.70. Four River Cats had 2 hits led by Munson, who was 2-5 with the HR, 5 RBI (25), a K and 2 RS to move to .276. DH Anthony Recker and CF Matt Carson also had 2 RBI for Sacramento.

Omaha is 19-24 and 5 1/2 games out. A 4-game home set with the Fresno Grizzlies (23-20, AAA Giants) starts tonight with Heath Phillips (1-4, 8.05) taking on Grizz righty Ryan Sadowski (3-1, 4.15). Fresno's roster features San Francisco prospect righty Sergio Romo (on rehab assignment, only 3 IP thus far). No other pitchers are really standing out for the Grizzlies. 1B Jesus Guzman leads the team with a .363 BA/.983 OPS, 27 RS, 12 2B, 3 3B, 6 HR, 32 RBI, 8 BB/31 K in 39 G/157 ABs. As part of the recent O-Royal roster shuffle, C Cody Clark was activated from the DL and sent to NWA.

AA - NW Arkansas: rainout

The Naturals are 21-20 and 2 1/2 games back. The game with Arkansas will be made up today as part of a Memorial Day doubleheader. I assume yesterday's scheduled starters will start one of the games while Anthony Lerew (2-3, 5.77) will face Travs lefty Michael Anton (0-3, 4.60) in the other game. In today's undeserved callup news, IF Mario Lisson has been promoted to Omaha after hitting .206 with double-digit errors in 36 games for the Naturals. He had the second-lowest BA and OPS for the Naturals. It's a headscratcher, other than the fact he's on the 40-man roster. Still, so was Danny Christensen and we didn't see him getting called up to pitch in Omaha when he was throwing BP to the other team every start a couple years ago.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Blue Rocks 5, Myrtle Beach 4

SS Bianchi 3-4, 2B (12), HR (3), RBI (20), RS, SB (9) -- .309
RF Lough 2-3, SF, 2B (10), 2 RBI (20) -- .328
3B Moustakas 1-5, 2B (10), RBI (34), RS -- .292
2B Giavotella 1-2, 2 BB, SF, RBI (18), 2 RS, SB (8) -- .210
CF D. Robinson 0-5 -- .236
C Eigsti 1-4, 2B (7), K, RS -- .265

Caldera 6 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, BB, 6 K, HRA -- 5.44 ERA
Swaggerty 2 IP, H, BB, 4 K -- BS, 1, W, 3-1, 2.20 ERA
Hartsock IP, BB -- SV, 11, 1.45 ERA

*** The Rocks blew a 3-run lead in the 7th but got a go-ahead homer from Jeff Bianchi in the 8th to win and take 2 of 3 in the series with the Pelicans. The Rocks jumped ahead in the 1st as Mike Moustakas hit an RBI double and David Lough added a sac fly before they stranded 2 with a 2-0 lead. Alex Caldera gave up a solo homer to RF Jason Heyward (his 9th) in the bottom of the inning but Lough hit a 2-out RBI double in the 3rd to get the run back and make it 3-1 Wilmington. Caldera struck out the side in the 5th as he retired 7 in a row and Johnny Giavotella lifted a sac fly in the 7th to make it 4-1 Rocks. Caldera gave up 2 runs on 3 hits to start the 7th and was pulled for Ben Swaggerty, who allowed a 2-out RBI single to tie the game before escaping the jam. Bianchi led off the 8th with his 3rd homer, off RP Mike Broadway, and Aaron Hartsock left 2 in scoring position in the 9th for his 11th save thanks to a Bianchi leaping catch of a liner with 2 outs. Broadway took the loss with an ER allowed on 2 hits over an inning of work to drop to 0-4 with a 7.13 ERA. Starter Jeff Locke allowed 4 runs (3 ER) on 7 hits and 2 walks with 4 Ks over 7 IP to move his ERA to 4.20. 1B Freddie Freeman was 2-4 with his 4th error, a K and RS to move to .290, 3B Donell Linares had 2 RBI (25), his 6th error and 9th double in going 1-3 to move to .238, and Heyward was 1-4 with a K, the homer and his 19th RBI to move to .281.

The Rocks are 22-21 and 5 games back. They have today off to recover from their season-long 10-game road trip.

A - Burlington: Bees 1, Dayton 0

RF Francis 2-4, 2B (13), RBI (30), 2 K, SB (9) -- .329
LF D. Wood 1-3, BB, K -- .301
CF-LF Van Stratten 0-3, BB, K -- .319
1B Hosmer 0-2, 2 BB, SB (2) -- .236
C Bonilla 0-4, 3 K -- .250
3B Fontaine 0-3, K -- .000, season debut of, you'll never believe it, a former Braves farmhand

Casey 5 2/3 IP, 3 H, 5 BB, 3 K -- W, 3-4, 2.63 ERA
B. Hardy 2 1/3 IP, 3 H -- 2.54 ERA
Thompson IP, K -- SV, 2, 3.43 ERA

*** The Dragons doubled up the Bees in hits, 6-3, but it was Burlington that got the shutout victory this time around. The only run of the game came in the bottom of the 1st as 2 walks set up a Nick Francis RBI double before the Bees left the bases loaded against Dragons SP Josh Ravin. Both teams stranded 2 in the 4th and Bryan Casey stranded 2 more in the 5th. That was about the worst trouble the Bees faced, tho, as Blaine Hardy and James Thompson cleaned up the win. Ravin took the loss with an ER allowed on 2 hits and 5 walks with 5 Ks over 5 IP to drop to 1-6 with a 4.60 ERA. Six Dragons had a hit each. CF Dave Sappelt stole his 13th base.

The Bees are 17-25. The series with the Dragons wraps today as Tim Melville (1-0, 1.50) makes his 2nd pro start versus Dayton righty Curtis Partch (2-3, 5.93).

Royals on the Farm 5/23

AAA - Omaha: Sacramento 5, O-Royals 2 (12)

LF Thorman 3-5, 2B (5), HR (2), 2 RBI (6), K, RS -- .200, nice game for new guy
C House 2-5 -- .304
DH B. Pena 1-5 -- .324
1B Ka'aihue 0-5, 2 K -- .274
3B Metcalf 1-5 -- .265
RF Aldridge 0-4, BB, 2 K -- .276, hit streak snapped
CF Duarte 0-4, BB, RS -- .132

DiNardo 7 IP, 2 H, BB, 7 K, E (3) -- 3.52 ERA, another great start wasted
Yabuta IP, 2 ER, 4 H, BB, K -- 6.39 ERA
Hughes 3 IP, 2 H, BB, K -- BS, 1, 5.21 ERA
Newman IP, 3 ER, 4 H, K -- L, 1-1, 7.02 ERA

*** Lenny DiNardo had a great start but the O-Royals bullpen once again struggled and blew the lead in the 9th before losing the game in the 12th for a third extra-inning loss in a row to the Cats. Both teams left a runner at third in the 3rd and DiNardo stranded 2 River Cats in the 5th. The Royals couldn't get to Sacramento SP Dana Eveland, either, and it wasn't until RP Jerome Williams came in in the 7th that the offense showed signs of life. Newest Royal Scott Thorman slugged a 2-out, 2-run homer for his 2nd of the season and 1st as a Royal and Omaha finally had a 2-0 lead. Yasuhiko Yabuta left the bases full in the 8th and was pulled with 2 on and 0 out in the 9th. Dusty Hughes inherited the mess and loaded the bases before a single and sac fly tied the game. He stranded 2 and the Royals would strand 2 in the 10th. Josh Newman came in for the 12th and allowed 3 runs on 4 hits, including 2 doubles, and Omaha went down in order in the bottom of the inning as RP Chad Reineke earned his 2nd save. RP Ryan Webb got the win with 3 scoreless innings of relief work to improve to 5-1 with a 5.22 ERA. Eveland allowed only 3 hits and a walk with 3 Ks over 6 IP to drop his ERA to 4.84. Four River Cats had 2 hits, including 1B Daric Barton, who had his 9th double and 23rd RBI along with a run scored to improve to .210. Newly demoted CF Aaron Cunningham was 1-6 with his 7th double and 9th RBI along with 4 Ks and a run scored to drop to .333.

Omaha is 19-23 and 4 1/2 games back while on a 5-game skid. The Royals will try to avoid the sweep today as Matt Wright (0-1, 11.25) faces River Cats lefty Gio Gonzalez (1-1, 4.44). Saturday's effort makes the bullpen, I believe, 7-15 in save chances. There have been a flurry of roster moves. RP Roman Colon got added to the 40-man and called up as Robinson Tejeda hit the DL with tendinitis in his rotator cuff. IF Tug Hulett got the call as Mike Aviles was put on the DL with his forearm problems, and RP John Bale was activated from the DL without an Omaha rehab appearance as Luke Hochevar has been shipped back to Omaha after some very disappointing action for KC.

AA - NW Arkansas: Naturals 8, Arkansas 7

2B Mertins 2-4, BB, 2B (7), 2 RBI (19) -- .278
LF Lucas 2-5, 2B (2), 3B, K, RS -- .333
1B C. Smith 2-5, K, RS, E (9) -- .227
DH McFall 2-5, 3 K, RS, CS -- .272
RF Parraz 1-5, 2 RBI (21), picked off -- .328
SS Lisson 1-4, SF, RBI (17) -- .206
C Howell 1-4, 2B (5), RBI (15), RS -- .312
3B J. Johnson 1-3, BB, 2B (2), RBI (5), 2 RS, E (3) -- .220
CF Strait 0-3, BB, K, 2 RS, OF assist at home -- .294

Cortes 5 IP, 6 BB, 4 K -- W, 2-4, 3.86 ERA, strange line, 99 pitches
Sencion 1/3 IP, ER, 2 H, BB -- 4.76 ERA
Nicoll 2 2/3 IP, ER, 3 H, BB, K, WP -- 1.01 ERA
de la Vara IP, 5 R (1 ER), 4 H, BB -- 4.71 ERA

*** Gilbert de la Vara and the defense almost blew a 6-run lead in the 9th but just escaped with a win. Dan Cortes held the Travelers hitless over his 5 innings of work but still had some trouble as he left 2 in scoring position in the 2nd and left the bases loaded in the 4th. NWA broke out with 3 runs in the 5th on a Jeff Howell RBI double and 2-run Jordan Parraz single before Parraz was picked off to end the inning. Cortes worked around 2 more walks in the 5th and the Naturals squandered another potential scoring chance in the 6th when Brian McFall was caught stealing at third to end the inning. Carlos Sencion came in for the 6th and was pulled with the bases loaded and 1 out. Chris Nicoll came in and allowed only 1 runner to score before escaping the jam. The Nats got the run back in the 7th on a Kurt Mertins RBI double but Arkansas answered with a run on 2 hits and a wild pitch off Nicoll to cut the lead to 4-2. The Naturals appeared to put it away with a 4-run 8th on a Mario Lisson sac fly, a Josh Johnson RBI double, a run-scoring Arkansas error and a Mertins RBI single before stranding 2. Nicoll stranded 2 Travs in the 8th and handed the ball to de la Vara in the 9th. A Johnson throwing error was followed by a 2-run double and a 2-out Corey Smith error cost the Nats another run as the lead was trimmed to 8-5. After a walk, de la Vara gave up an RBI single and then CF Peter Bourjos ripped a double to center that scored a run, but Cody Strait came through with a big play to combine with Mertins to throw the would-be tying run out at the plate to end the game. Travs SP Trevor Reckling took his 1st AA loss with 3 ER allowed on 6 hits and 2 walks with 3 Ks over 5 IP to fall to 3-1 with a 2.12 ERA. Four Travs had 2 hits led by 1B Mark Trumbo, who hit his 6th double and drove in 2 runs (20) in improving to .221. Bourjos hit his 7th double, drove in his 17th RBI, K'd twice and scored a run in improving to .323.

The Naturals are 21-20 and 3 games back. Game 3 is tonight as Blake Johnson (2-3, 4.21) faces Angels prospect righty Jordan Walden (0-2, 6.89).

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Blue Rocks 6, Myrtle Beach 5

3B Moustakas 2-4, BB, 2 RBI (33), RS -- .295
RF Lough 2-3, 2 BB, 2B (9), RS -- .320
DH Ortiz 2-5, RS -- .282
SS Bianchi 1-5, 2 RBI (19) -- .297
C Eigsti 1-4, BB, 2 RBI (16), K -- .266
CF D. Robinson 1-5, K, RS -- .244
2B Giavotella 1-4, BB, RS, E (8) -- .206
1B C. Robinson 1-4, BB, K, E (3) -- .309
* The Rocks stranded 12.

Teaford 6 1/3 IP, 3 R (2 ER), 4 H, 5 K, 2 HRA -- W, 5-1, 2.60 ERA
Chavez 2/3 IP, K -- 3.33 ERA
Sisk IP, K -- 4.32 ERA
Hartsock IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 K -- SV, 10, 1.53 ERA

*** Everett Teaford pitched well and the Rocks bullpen also held off a late rally to even the series with Myrtle Beach. Jeff Bianchi hit an RBI forceout in the 1st and the Rocks stranded 2 but took a 1-0 lead. Both offenses were quiet into the 5th when the Rocks scored 3 runs on a 2-run Mike Moustakas single and a Bianchi RBI single to make it 4-0. Teaford had a 1-hit shutout going into the 5th but gave up a leadoff homer to 3B Donell Linares (his 5th) that inning. The Rocks left 'em loaded in the 6th but got a 2-run, 2-out, bases-loaded single from Ryan Eigsti in the 7th to get some breathing room. They would need it as Teaford gave up a 2-run homer to RF Jon Owings (his 2nd) before getting pulled in the 7th. Aaron Hartsock got the first 2 outs quickly in the 9th but then gave up 2 runs on 3 hits to cut the lead to 1 before getting a game-ending K for his 10th save. Pelicans SP Edgar Osuna took the loss with 4 ER allowed on 9 hits and 2 walks with 2 Ks over 6 IP to fall to 3-4 with a 3.86 ERA. Linares was 2-4 with his homer, 23rd RBI and 3 RS to move to .236. Owings and C Matt Kennelly had 2 RBI each. CF Jason Heyward was 1-4 with a K to drop to .282.

The Rocks are 21-21 and 6 games back. The series wraps tonight as Alex Caldera (0-2, 5.35) faces Pelicans lefty Jeff Locke (1-3, 4.26).

A - Burlington: Dayton 5, Bees 0 (3-hitter)

RF Francis 1-4, 2B (12), K -- .324
DH D. Wood 1-3, K -- .300
1B Hosmer 0-4, K -- .240
LF Van Stratten 0-3, HBP -- .330
2B F. Garcia 0-4, E (8) -- .303
CF Norris 0-3, OF assist at home -- .193

Montgomery 3 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 0 K -- L, 0-1, 3.38 ERA, rough night
Lehmann 5 1/3 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 5 H, 2 K, HRA -- 2.08 ERA

*** Mike Montgomery's 2nd A-ball start didn't go near as well as his first as the Dragons shut down the Bees in the series opener. Montgomery never settled in as the Dragons stranded 2 in the 1st and Patrick Norris made an OF assist at the plate in the 2nd to keep Dayton off the board. The Bees left a runner at third in the 2nd and Dayton broke through in the 4th with 3 runs on 3 hits off Montgomery and a 2-out, 2-run triple off Mike Lehmann in relief. The Dragons added 2 runs in the 5th on a solo homer by 2B Cody Puckett (his 8th) along with 2 more hits and a Fernando Garcia throwing error that scored an unearned run. Dayton SP Matt Fairel retired 14 of the last 15 he faced and the Bees left another runner at third in the 8th before going down quietly in the 9th. Fairel allowed only 2 hits and a walk with a K over 7 IP to improve to 3-2 with a 2.68 ERA. Puckett was 3-4 with his HR and 24th RBI and a K to improve to .286. Three other Dragons had 2 hits and SS Miguel Rojas drove in 2 runs (15).

The Bees are 16-25. Game 2 is today as Bryan Casey (2-4, 3.09) faces Dragons righty Josh Ravin (1-5, 4.95).

Royals on the Farm 5/21 & 5/22

Man, two missed days this week. Yesterday was one part getting ready for Memorial Day weekend, one part shock at the Royals being shut down by Todd "Hell"emeyer. And then Lohse today. The Royals like to find ways to rain on your optimism parade. We get decent pitching, and the offense disappears. Damn.

AAA - Omaha: Sacramento 4, O-Royals 3 (10/Thu.)

SS Hulett 2-4, BB, HR (4), RBI (32), 2 RS -- .304
2B Falu 2-4, BB, RS, CS (2) -- .283
C House 1-5, RBI (20), 2 K -- .305
LF Aldridge 1-5, 2B (4), RBI (25), 3 K -- .284
1B Ka'aihue 1-3, 2 BB -- .286
3B Metcalf 0-5, 2 K, E (5) -- .275
DH Thorman 0-3, HBP -- .171, organizational debut
CF Duarte 0-4, BB, 2 K, OF assist at third -- .172
* Omaha stranded 11 and went 1-12 with RISP.

Chen 7 1/3 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 4 H, 6 K, E -- 4.76 ERA, nice outing, perfect into 6th
Atencio 2 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 3 K, WP -- BS, 2, L, 2-2, 5.66 ERA

*** The Royals had a 3-0 lead going into the 6th but blew it from there as Sacramento tied it in the 9th and won it in 10. J.R. House hit an RBI single and Cory Aldridge hit an RBI groundout in the 1st and Omaha jumped out to a 2-0 lead before leaving the bases full off River Cats SP James Simmons. The Royals stranded the bases full again in the 2nd but added a run in the 4th on a Tug Hulett solo homer for his 4th of the season. Bruce Chen was perfect until giving up a leadoff double in the 6th and the River Cats would plate 2 in the inning to cut the lead to 1. Omaha stranded 2 in the 6th and the 3-2 lead held into the 9th. Greg Atencio had come in to strand 1 in the 8th but allowed 3 straight singles with 2 out in the 9th to tie the game. Jose Duarte bailed him out by nailing a runner at third to end the inning. Atencio faltered with 2 out again in the 10th as a single and steal set up an RBI single by 2B Eric Patterson to give Sacramento its first lead of the game. Omaha stranded 1 in the 10th as RP Jeff Gray marked his 4th save. RP Jay Marshall got the win with a scoreless 1 2/3 IP to improve to 1-0 with a 1.71 ERA. Simmons allowed 3 ER on 7 hits and 4 walks with 6 Ks over 5 IP to move his ERA to 5.54. Patterson was 2-5 with his 18th SB, 10th double, and 2 RBI (16) to move to .317 and 3B Gregorio Petit also had 2 hits to improve to .296.

Sacramento 3, O-Royals 1 (12/Fri.)

1B Ka'aihue 1-4, BB, RBI (24) -- .285
SS Hulett 0-4, S, K -- .296
C B. Pena 1-4, BB, 2B (3), K -- .333
3B Metcalf 0-4, BB, K -- .267
DH Aldridge 1-3, 2B (5), K -- .286, 10-game hit streak
LF Thorman 0-5, 2 K -- .150, what a pickup!
CF Duarte 0-5, 2 K -- .147, all of a sudden struggling

Duckworth 7 IP, 3 H, BB, K, pickoff -- 4.71 ERA, wow
Colon 2 IP, 2 H, 3 K -- 2.84 ERA
Hughes 1/3 IP, nothing -- 6.19 ERA
Rosa 1/3 IP, 2 BB -- 6.53 ERA
Hamulack 2 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 3 K -- L, 2-1, 7.31 ERA, bullpen is in SORRY state
Yabuta 1/3 IP, K -- 5.40 ERA

*** The Royals were hitless into the 7th and stayed alive in the 11th before falling in 12 in a second straight extra-inning game with the River Cats. Brandon Duckworth and Vin Mazzaro were in a pitcher's duel as Duckworth escaped a jam in the 3rd and the Royals left 2 in scoring position in the 4th. Cory Aldridge broke up Mazzaro's no-hit bid with a 2-out double in the 7th but neither team would get to the opposing starter for a run. Roman Colon stranded 2 in the 8th and Omaha stranded 2 in the 9th as the game went to extras tied at 0. The Royals used 3 pitchers in the 10th with Tim Hamulack coming in to strand 2. The River Cats got a run on 2 hits and a walk in the 11th but Kila Ka'aihue tied it with an RBI single in the bottom of the inning. Hamulack gave up 2 runs on 3 hits and a walk in the 12th and the Royals went down in order in the bottom of the inning to end it. RP Jeff Gray got the win with 1 2/3 scoreless IP to move to 2-1 with a 2.16 ERA. Mazzaro finished with 8 IP of scoreless ball with only 1 hit and 1 walk allowed with 6 Ks to drop his ERA to 2.66. SS Cliff Pennington was 3-3 with his 16th SB, his 5th double and a walk to improve to .283. Two other Cats had 2 hits. Patterson's lone hit was his 4th triple and drove in the eventual game winning RBI (17) as he was 1-5 to drop to .313.

Omaha is 19-22 and 4 1/2 games back. Game 3 is tonight as Lenny DiNardo (3-1, 4.15) faces River Cats lefty Dana Eveland (1-0, 6.61). RP John Bale is continuing his rehab in Omaha. As shown, the Royals signed 1B/OF Scott Thorman (former Brave, shocker!) off the scrap heap and have assigned him to Omaha.

AA - NW Arkansas: Tulsa 5, Naturals 4 (Thu.)

DH McFall 3-4, HR (6), 3 RBI (31), RS -- .276
RF Parraz 1-4, RBI (19) -- .328
LF Dickerson 1-4, K, SB (5) -- .231
2B Mertins 1-4, 2B (6), K, RS -- .272
SS Lisson 1-4, K, RS, E (10) -- .211, first Royal farmhand to 10 E is on the 40-man
CF Strait 1-4, E -- .302
C Howell 0-4, K -- .315

Kniginyzky 5 IP, 5 R (2 ER), 7 H, BB, HRA -- L, 1-4, 5.08 ERA
Marte 3 IP, 2 H, K -- 2.57 ERA
Hayes IP, K -- 0.71 ERA

*** Tulsa had its runs scored by the 4th and hung on from there to leave Springdale on a winning note. Kurt Mertins doubled and scored on a Jordan Parraz single in the 1st and NWA had the lead. Matt Kniginyzky stranded 2 Drillers in the 2nd but Tulsa rallied in the 3rd for 4 runs on 4 hits and 2 Nats errors to surge to the lead. RF Ryan Harvey led off the 4th with his 6th homer of the season and Tulsa made it 5-1. Brian McFall pulled the Nats closer with a 2-out, 2-run homer in the bottom of the 4th for his 6th of the season to cut the lead to 5-3. His next time up in the 6th, McFall hit a 2-out RBI single to trim the advantage to 1. The Nats would strand 2, then strand another in the 7th before RP Andrew Johnston shut the door for his 13th save. Starter Keith Weiser got the win with 6 IP of 4 ER allowed on 6 hits and a walk with 2 Ks to move to 2-3 with a 5.12 ERA. LF Cole Garner and Harvey had 2 hits each for Tulsa. Harvey had the homer, his 7th double and 19th RBI along with his 1st error to improve to .226.

Naturals 4, Arkansas 3 (10/Fri.)

3B-2B Lucas 2-5, RBI (3), 2 K, SB (4) -- .321
DH Mertins 1-4, BB, RBI (17), 2 K, CS (3) -- .271
1B-3B C. Smith 1-5, 2B (5), RBI (23), RS -- .222
SS Lisson 0-4, RBI (16), K -- .205
LF Dickerson 1-5, K, RS, OF assist at second -- .230
CF Strait 1-4 -- .301
C Suomi 1-3, HBP, 2B (4) -- .359
2B McConnell 0-2, 2 K -- .169
PH-RF Parraz 1-1, HBP, 2 RS -- .333

B. Wood 7 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 6 K, HRA -- 6.37 ERA, not bad
Holland 2 IP, H, 2 K -- W, 2-1, 2.05 ERA
Hayes IP, H -- SV, 2, 0.68 ERA

*** The Naturals rallied in the 8th to stay alive and won in the 10th. Corey Smith doubled to lead off the NWA 2nd and scored on a Mario Lisson groundout to get the Nats a lead. Arkansas answered with 3 runs off Blake Wood in the inning on a solo homer by 1B Mark Trumbo for his 4th of the season and 2 other hits and a hit batsman to take a 3-1 lead. That remained the score going into the 8th when the Naturals rallied with a Kurt Mertins RBI single and Smith RBI forceout to tie the game. Ed Lucas had the key hit in the 10th with a go-ahead RBI single and Chris Hayes pitched the 10th for his 2nd save. RP Bobby Cassevah took the loss for Arkansas with 3 IP of 3 runs (2 ER) on 4 hits and a walk with a K to blow his 1st save and drop to 0-3 with a 1.78 ERA. Starter Trevor Bell allowed an ER on 4 hits with 7 Ks over 7 IP to lower his ERA to 2.34. LF Nate Sutton was 4-4 with his 3rd double, 1st triple and a run scored to bump his BA to .269. Trumbo was 1-4 with the homer and his 18th RBI to improve to .214.

The Naturals are 20-20 and 3 games out. Game 2 of the set with the Arkansas Travelers (15-25, AA Halos) is ongoing as Dan Cortes (1-4, 4.35) started versus Travs young lefty Trevor Reckling (3-0, 1.55), who already has 2 wins over the Nats but won't get a third today. The Naturals are 3-5 versus Arkansas this year going into today's game.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Salem 2, Blue Rocks 1 (Thu.)

SS Bianchi 2-4, K -- .302
DH Walton 2-3, BB, 2B, RS, SB (3) -- .309
CF D. Robinson 0-4, SF, RBI (16), 2 K -- .245
3B Moustakas 1-4, K -- .297
2B Giavotella 1-4 -- .203
1B C. Robinson 0-4, 2 K -- .318
LF Ortiz 1-2, 2 BB, SB (5) -- .270

Liotta 6 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 2 K, WP -- 5.23 ERA
Paulino 2 1/3 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 3 H, 2 BB, K, 2 E (3) -- BS, 1, L, 1-1, 6.75 ERA

*** Wilmington had a tenuous 1-0 lead and lost it in the 8th before an errant pickoff throw decided the game. The Rocks left the bases full in the 1st but got a run in the 2nd on a Derrick Robinson sac fly. Ray Liotta stranded 2 Red Sox in the 3rd but otherwise faced little trouble through 6 innings of work. In the Salem 8th, Eduardo Paulino made a fielding error before allowing a game-tying RBI single and stranding the bases full of Sox. The Rocks stranded 2 in the 9th and Paulino had runners at the corners with 1 out in the bottom of the inning when he made another error on a pickoff throw that allowed the winning run to score. RP Jason Rice threw 2 hitless innings for the win to move to 1-1 with a 3.43 ERA. Starter Dave McKae allowed an ER on 6 hits and a walk with 4 Ks over 5 IP to move his ERA to 4.62. LF Jason Place was 2-4 to improve to .263.

Myrtle Beach 5, Blue Rocks 1 (Fri.)

LF Ortiz 2-4, K, SB (6) -- .278
2B Giavotella 1-4, RBI (17), K, CS (5) -- .205
CF D. Robinson 1-4, 2B (5), 2 K, RS -- .245
3B Moustakas 0-4, 2 K -- .289, snaps 12-game hit streak
SS Bianchi 1-4, 2 K -- .301
DH Lough 1-4, K -- .311
1B C. Robinson 0-3, BB, K -- .311

Santiago 5 1/3 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, K, 2 HRA -- L, 1-5, 5.40 ERA
Abreu 1 2/3 IP, 2 BB, 2 K -- 9.00 ERA
R. Hardy IP, 2 H, 2 BB -- 7.71 ERA

*** The Rocks were 1-9 with runners in scoring position and the Pelicans took the opening game of the 3-game set. The Rocks left the bases full in the 2nd but took the lead in the 3rd on a Johnny Giavotella RBI single. Mario Santiago had a quiet first 3 innings but the Pelicans nailed him in the 4th with solo homers by RF Jason Heyward (Braves' top prospect, his 8th) and LF Cody Johnson (his 16th!, killed the Rocks in the first series) making it 2-1 MB. The Rocks left 2 in scoring position in the 5th and Myrtle Beach picked up 3 more runs in the 6th on 2 hits and 4 walks off Santiago and Juan Abreu to stake a 5-1 lead. The Rocks wouldn't threaten after the 5th. Starter Cole Rohrbough got the win for MB with 5 2/3 IP of an ER allowed on 5 hits and 3 walks with 5 Ks to improve to 2-1 with a 2.00 ERA. Heyward was 1-3 with a walk, his homer, his 18th RBI, 4th SB and 2 RS to improve to .283 with a .913 OPS. 1B Freddie Freeman and Johnson had 2 hits each. Johnson had a walk, his homer, his 32nd RBI and a K in improving to .283. Freeman had his 21st RBI as he improved to .292.

The Rocks are 20-21 and 6 games out. The series with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (15-26, A-Adv. Braves) continues tonight as Everett Teaford (4-1, 2.56) faces Pelicans lefty Edgar Osuna (3-3, 3.54). The Rocks are 2-3 versus the Pelicans. Former Royal farmhand righty Erik Cordier, who they gave up for TPJ, is on the Pelicans' roster.

A - Burlington: Bees 12, South Bend 2 (Thu.)

DH Hosmer 3-4, BB, RBI (13), 4 RS -- .243
1B D. Wood 3-5, 2B (6), 3 RBI (14), RS -- .313
RF Francis 3-5, 2B (11), 2 RBI (29), 2 K, 2 RS, CS (2) -- .336
C Bonilla 2-5, 2 2B (5), 3 RBI (13) -- .247
LF Van Stratten 2-4, 2B (9), RBI (17), K, 2 RS -- .358
PH-LF Tucker 1-1, HR (2), RBI (7), RS -- .125
2B F. Garcia 0-4, RS, SB (10) -- .310

Runion 6 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, BB, 3 K, 2 HRA -- W, 2-3, 7.11 ERA, good start
Saito 2 IP, H, 2 K, WP -- 3.90 ERA
Thompson IP, BB -- 3.60 ERA

*** The Bees offense took all the drama out of the game as Burlington steamrolled the Silver Hawks. Sam Runion gave up a solo homer to CF Alberto Diaz (his 5th) in the 1st but David Wood hit a 2-out RBI single in the bottom of the inning to even the score. Runion was victimized for another solo homer in the 2nd, this one by RF Isaias Asencio (his 2nd) and South Bend had a 2-1 lead. The Bees took the lead for good with a 4-run 3rd on a Nick Van Stratten RBI single, Eric Hosmer RBI single and 2-run Wood double to take a 5-2 lead. The Bees added 5 runs in the 7th on a 2-run Nick Francis double, a run-scoring passed ball and 2-run Jose Bonilla double to make it 10-2. Wilson Tucker hit a pinch-hit solo homer in the 8th for his 2nd of the season and Bonilla hit another RBI double to finish the scoring. The Silver Hawks only got 1 runner to second after the 2nd. Starter Randy Rodriguez took the loss with 5 IP of 5 runs (4 ER) allowed on 8 hits with 3 Ks to fall to 0-1 with a 3.60 ERA. Five Silver Hawks had a hit each. Diaz was 1-3 with a walk, K, his homer, his 22nd RBI and a RS to move to .230.

South Bend 4, Bees 2 (Fri.)

2B F. Garcia 2-4, 2B (3), RS, CS (4) -- .323
C Bonilla 2-3, BB, K -- .261
1B Hosmer 1-2, 2 BB, HR (2), 2 RBI (15), RS -- .248, slowly showing more signs of life
CF Van Stratten 0-4, K -- .341
RF Francis 0-4 -- .326
SS Franco 0-3 -- .000, season debut

Baez 5 IP, ER, 6 H, BB, 2 K -- 3.00 ERA
J. Garcia 1 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, BB, E -- L, 1-3, 6.14 ERA
Bowden 2 1/3 IP, H, 4 K, E -- 2.00 ERA

*** A 3-run 7th helped the Silver Hawks avert a sweep. South Bend stranded 2 off Manauris Baez in the 4th and the game was quiet going into the 5th when the Hawks got a run on 4 hits and an error before leaving the bases full. Eric Hosmer slammed a 2-run homer in the 6th for his 2nd as a pro and the Bees had a 2-1 lead. Things fell apart in the 7th, tho, as Justin Garcia allowed 3 runs on 4 hits, a walk, and his own error. The Bees stranded 2 in the 9th as RP Justin Mace got his 3rd save. Hosmer's homer was the Bees' last hit of the game. Starter Brett Moorhouse got the win with 2 ER allowed on 6 hits and a walk with 4 Ks over 8 IP to improve to 2-4 with a 3.46 ERA. SS Reynaldo Navarro was 3-5 with a run scored to move to .246. 3B Victor Estevez was 3-4 with a K and RS to move to .208.

The Bees are 16-24. A 3-game home set versus the Dayton Dragons (15-26, A Reds) starts tonight with Mike Montgomery (0-0, 0.00) making his second start of the season versus Dayton lefty Matt Fairel (2-2, 3.12). Dayton's roster features no top Cincy prospects. 2B Cody Puckett leads the Dragons with an .806 OPS, 12 2B, 7 HR and 23 RBI and 22 RS. He also has 11 BB/36 Ks in 38 G/157 ABs. 3B Carlos Mendez is hitting .330. Fairel has 53 Ks in 43 1/3 IP. RP Mace Thurman is 3-0 with a 3.33 ERA and 33 Ks in 27 IP. Former Royal 1B Todd Benzinger is the Dragons' manager. IFs Angel Franco and Chase Fontaine have been added to the Bees' roster. C Sean McCauley left Friday's game after being hit in the helmet with a backswing from a South Bend batter. 3B Kyle Martin has retired, surprisingly, although he wasn't hitting too well this season. Had a good '08, tho. IF J.D. Alfaro was also sent down to extended spring training after struggling with the Bees. I bet he's back in IF or rookie Burlington next month.

Royals on the Farm 5/20

AAA - Omaha: off day

The O-Royals are 19-20 and 3 1/2 games back. A 4-game home set with the Sacramento RiverCats (22-17, AAA Athletics) starts tonight with righty Brandon Duckworth (2-1, 5.66) likely to take on 'Cats righty James Simmons (2-1, 5.56). The Sac'to roster features A's prospects lefty Gio Gonzalez (1-1, 4.44 ERA, 1.68 WHIP, 2 HRA, 20 BB/28 K in 6 starts/24 1/3 IP), SS Adrian Cardenas (.177 BA/.512 OPS, 5 2B, 6 BB/12 K, 3 E in 18 G/62 ABs), righty Vin Mazzaro (1-2, 3.16, 1.22, 2 HRA, 15 BB/32 K in 8 games (7 starts)/42 2/3 IP), and Simmons (numbers above plus 1.62 WHIP, 2 HRA, 16 BB/23 K in 7 games (6 starts)/34 IP), plus 1B Daric Barton (.209/.635, 18 RS, 8 2B, only 1 HR, 22 RBI, 19 BB/22 K, 1 E in 37 G/129 ABs). Former Cubs prospect 2B Eric Patterson is doing well for Sacramento, hitting .313/.898 with 24 RS, 9 2B, 3 3B, 3 HR, 14 RBI, 21 BB/26 K, 17/20 SB, 2 E in 35 G/134 ABs.

AA - NW Arkansas: Tulsa 5, Naturals 3

DH McFall 2-4, 2B (11), 2 RBI (28), K -- .260
C Howell 2-3, RBI (14), K, picked off runner at third -- .333
CF Dickerson 1-3, BB -- .231
2B Mertins 0-4, 2 K -- .273
RF Parraz 0-3, BB, CS (4) -- .330
SS Lisson 1-3, HBP, 2 RS, E (9) -- .210
LF Strait 0-3, BB, 2 K -- .304

Lerew 4 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 2 K -- L, 2-3, 5.77 ERA
de la Vara 2 IP, ER, 2 H, BB, K, WP -- 4.50 ERA
Nicoll 2 IP, ER, 4 H, BB, K -- 0.75 ERA
Cevette IP, H, K -- 2.84 ERA

*** The Drillers doubled up the Naturals on hits and got the win in a matinee game Wednesday. Brian McFall hit a 2-out RBI single in the 2nd to get the Naturals a lead but was thrown out at second on the play to end the inning. Tulsa responded with 2 runs off Anthony Lerew in the 3rd on 4 hits and a Mario Lisson error before stranding 2. The Drillers pushed in another run in the 4th and then 1 more in the 5th to make it 4-1. Jeff Howell hit a 2-out RBI single in the 5th before the Nats stranded 2. Chris Nicoll allowed a run in the 8th, only his 2nd ER allowed in 24 IP, to give the Drillers some insurance at 5-2. McFall hit a 2-out RBI double in the 9th but Cody Strait struck out to end it. Starter Sam Deduno got the win for Tulsa with 7 IP of 2 ER on 2 hits and 5 walks with 6 Ks to improve to 5-1 with a 2.91 ERA. RP Andrew Johnston picked up his 12th save. Five Drillers had multi-hit games led by 1B Jeff Kindel, who was 3-5 with his 19th RBI and a K to improve to .330. The Drillers executed 2 successful squeeze plays in the win.

NWA is 19-19 and 3 games back. The series wraps tonight as Matt Kniginyzky (1-3, 5.29) faces Drillers lefty Keith Weiser (1-3, 4.99).

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Blue Rocks 8, Salem 4

3B Moustakas 3-5, 2B (9), RBI (31), 2 RS -- .299, 11-game hit streak
SS Seratelli 3-5, 3B, 3 RBI (12), K -- .300
LF Orlando 2-5, 3B (3), RBI (12), K, RS -- .225
DH Ortiz 2-5, RBI (12), K -- .267
2B Giavotella 1-3, 2 BB, 3B (4), RBI (16), K, 2 RS, SB (7) -- .202
CF D. Robinson 2-5, RS, 2 SB (22), picked off -- .252, been picked off 9 TIMES
1B C. Robinson 1-4, BB, 2B (14), K, RS -- .328
* The Rocks stranded 10.

Duffy 5 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 5 K -- W, 5-1, 3.43 ERA, not the smoothest start, but a W
Villa 3 IP, UER, 2 H, BB, K -- 3.81 ERA
Sisk IP, H -- 4.60 ERA

*** Anthony Seratelli and Mike Moustakas combined for 6 hits and 4 RBI as the Rocks continued a hot streak. Moustakas hit an RBI double in the 1st and Paulo Orlando hit a 2-out RBI triple to make it 2-0 Wilmington. Danny Duffy stranded 2 Red Sox in the 1st but allowed a run in the 2nd to cut the lead in half. With 2 out and the bases loaded in the 3rd, Seratelli stepped up and ripped a 3-run triple to make it 5-1 Rocks. Duffy got nicked for 2 runs in the 4th on 4 hits but the Rocks got the runs back in the 6th on a Johnny Giavotella RBI triple and run-scoring wild pitch. Kelvin Villa allowed an unearned run in the 8th but Adrian Ortiz hit an RBI single in the 9th to finish the scoring at 8-4. Salem SP Seth Garrison took the loss with 4 1/3 IP of 5 runs (2 ER) allowed on 9 hits and 3 walks with 3 Ks to drop to 2-4 with a 5.72 ERA. Three Sox had 2 hits. CF Che-Hsuan Lin was 2-4 with 2 doubles (7) and 2 RS, stole his 6th base and had 2 OF assists as he improved his BA to .205.

The Rocks are 20-19 and 5 games back. They go for the 4-game sweep tonight as Ray Liotta (1-2, 6.41) faces Sox righty Dave McKae (1-1, 5.06).

A - Burlington: Bees 11, South Bend 3

LF Van Stratten 4-4, BB, 2B (8), 3B (2), 3 RBI (16), 2 RS, SB (6) -- .351
RF Francis 3-5, 2B (10), 3 RBI (27), 2 K, RS, picked off -- .325
C McCauley 2-4, HR, 2 RBI (9), 2 RS, E (3) -- .202
2B F. Garcia 2-4, HBP, 2B (2), RBI (4), 2 K, 2 RS -- .333
1B D. Wood 2-5, RBI (11), K, RS -- .295, has been producing consistently
CF Norris 0-3, BB, RBI (6), 2 K, RS -- .196
DH Bonilla 0-3, BB, K, RS -- .237
SS Alfaro 0-4 -- .175

Melville 6 IP, ER, 2 H, BB, 2 K -- W, 1-0, 1.50 ERA, can't complain about that debut
Bryant 3 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 3 H, 3 BB -- SV, 2, 3.65 ERA

*** Tim Melville had a great pro debut and the Bees took the opener from South Bend. Nick Francis and Sean McCauley had RBI singles in the 1st to get the Bees on top but the Silver Hawks got their only run off Melville on a walk and double in the 3rd. The Bees responded with 2 runs in the 3rd on a 2-run Francis single to make it 4-1. Melville retired the last 12 he faced and McCauley led off the Bees 6th with his 1st homer of the season to make it 5-1. Carson Bryant allowed a run in the 8th but the Bees put it away with a 6-run rally in the bottom of the inning on a bases-loaded Patrick Norris walk, a 2-out, bases-loaded triple by Nick Van Stratten, a Fernando Garcia RBI double and a David Wood RBI single that made it 11-2. Bryant allowed a run in the 9th before finishing off the win. Starter Wade Miley took the loss with 4 ER allowed on 8 hits with 4 Ks over 5 IP to drop to 1-3 with a 3.92 ERA. 3B Justin Parker was 2-4 with a run scored to move to .316 and CF Brendan Duffy had 2 RBI (10) but was 0-4 to drop to .331.

The Bees are 15-23. Game 2 is ongoing as Sam Runion (1-3, 7.88) is facing Silver Hawks righty Randy Rodriguez (0-0, 0.00). The Bees are up, 5-2, in the middle innings.