Royals on the Farm 4/30 -- April wrapup

With this post I pass Hank Aaron. Yes, 756th post here. Of course, I don't really pass Aaron because not all the posts have been home runs, but 756 is 756. After another sparkling gem of a Zack Greinke start on Wednesday, the national spotlight is becoming more and more focused on him. My question, and I'm assuming a question on many others' minds, is, how does Greinke handle it? He has social anxiety disorder, right? I don't see him embracing superstardom that easily. But we'll see....I'm content to settle for a rare winning April and sole possession of first place in the AL Central by 1/2 a game at the moment.

AAA - Omaha: O-Royals 8, Nashville 2

RF Aldridge 4-4, 4 RBI (16) -- .295
LF Lubanski 3-5, 3 RBI (14), RS -- .308
1B Ka'aihue 2-3, 2 BB, 2 RS -- .238, leads PCL with 22 walks
C House 2-5, RS -- .351
SS Hernandez 1-5, RBI (13) -- .318
2B Hulett 0-3, 2 BB, K, RS -- .342
DH Shealy 0-1, 4 BB (!), K, 2 RS -- .343, none were intentional
3B Metcalf 0-5, 2 K, RS -- .265
* Omaha stranded 11.

Chen 7 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, BB, 5 K, 2 HRA, pickoff -- W, 1-1, 4.30 ERA, looking solid
Yabuta IP, BB, K -- 0.00 ERA
Newman IP, BB -- 6.48 ERA, bullpen has 14 inning scoreless streak going

*** Bruce Chen pitched well and the Royals' corner outfielders were 7-9 with 7 RBI in the series opening win over Nashville. The Royals loaded the bases with 1 out in the 2nd and Cory Aldridge started his day with an RBI single before Sounds SP Lindsay Gulin got a double play to escape with only 1 run allowed. The Royals left 'em full in the 2nd and Chen worked around 2 Nashville hits in the 4th. The O-Royals loaded the bases again with 1 out in the 5th and cashed in with a 2-out rally of an RBI single by Chris Lubanski, 2-run single by Aldridge and RBI single from Luis Hernandez to make it 5-0. Chen allowed a solo homer to DH Adam Heether in the 5th for his 1st of the season but Omaha scored 3 in the 6th on a 2-out, 2-run bases loaded single by Lubanski and another Aldridge RBI single to make it 8-1. SS Alcides Escobar connected on his 2nd homer of the season on a solo shot in the 6th but that was all either team would get from then on. Gulin took the loss with 5 ER allowed on 8 hits and 7 walks with 2 Ks over 5 IP to drop to 1-1 with a 8.53 ERA. Escobar was 2-4 with the homer and his 7th RBI and was also picked off as his BA rose to .276. 3B Mat Gamel was 1-3 with his 8th double, a walk and K to drop to .392.

The O-Royals are 12-8 and 1/2 a game back of Iowa now. Today's game has already been rained out. I assume it'll get made up Saturday, but we'll see, that hasn't been posted on the team site yet. Lenny DiNardo was to start tonight for Omaha.

Omaha's top 5 in OPS through April (min. 10 games and on active roster) are 2B Tug Hulett, who's hitting .342/.430/.534 (.964 OPS), 14 RS, team leading 9 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, team leading 20 RBI, 12 BB/15 K, 3 E in 19 games and 73 ABs; 1B Kila Ka'aihue, who's hitting .238/.425/.476 (.901 OPS without his bat really coming around until lately), 15 RS, 4 2B, 3B, 3 HR (leads team), 11 RBI, 22 BB/18 K, 0 E in 18 games and 63 ABs; C J.R. House, who's hitting .351/.400/.468 (.868 OPS), second on the team with 16 RS, 2 HR, 14 RBI, 6 BB/8 K, 0 E in 17 games and 77 ABs; LF Chris Lubanski, who's hitting .308/.393/.474 (.868 OPS), team leading 18 RS, 5 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 14 RBI, 11 BB/15 K (verrrrry nice to see), 5/6 SB, 0 E in 20 games and 78 ABs -- it looks like that offseason conditioning paid off well, he could be one of the first to get to KC if things fall right, and he's only 24; and 1B Ryan Shealy, who's hitting .343/.438/.418 (.856 OPS), 14 RS, 5 2B, 0 HR tho, only 8 RBI, 11 BB/22 K in 18 games and 67 ABs. Others of note: 3B Travis Metcalf .780 OPS (.265/.354/.426, 14 RS, 5 2B, 2 HR, 12 RBI, 10 BB/13 K, 2 E in 18 games and 68 ABs); OF Cory Aldridge .753 OPS (.295/.343/.410, 16 RBI (second on team) in 16 games and 61 ABs); and SS Luis Hernandez .716 OPS (.318/.352/.364, 3 2B, 13 RBI, 4 BB/3 K, 3 E in 18 games and 66 ABs). The only regular in the dumps is OF Tommy Murphy with a .590 OPS, and he co-leads the team with 5 SB and has scored 15 runs with 3 doubles. Irving Falu is carrying a .615 OPS off the bench. Mitch Maier had a 1.086 OPS in 27 ABs before getting his call.

Omaha's top 5 in WHIP through April are: RP Dusty Hughes 0.52 WHIP (only 7 2/3 IP, 0-0, 1.17 ERA, 2 BB/8 K, tied for team lead with 6 appearances); SP Lenny DiNardo 0.83 WHIP (18 IP, 1-0, 2 saves, 3.00 ERA, 2 BB/12 K, 1 HRA, one start in 5 appearances thus far was a doozy); SP Luke Hochevar 1.12 WHIP (25 IP leads team, 4-0, 1.44 ERA, 7 BB/16 K, 2 HRA in 4 starts); SP Bruce Chen 1.13 WHIP (23 IP, 1-1, 4.30 ERA, 7 BB/19 K (leads team), 4 HRA in 4 starts, only bad part is HR allowed, and it's not too horrible); and RP Carlos Rosa 1.18 WHIP (11 IP, 0-2, 2 saves, 3.27 ERA, 3 BB/11 K, 1 HRA in 6 games out of pen, is he the new closer? Appears to be). After that, it drops off the table to a 1.44 WHIP from RP Greg Atencio and goes from there. Brian Bannister had a 1.00 WHIP with 1 BB/8 K in 13 IP before getting called up. Heath Phillips (1-2, 6.38 ERA, 1.64 WHIP, 9 BB/16 K in 18 1/3 IP) and Brandon Duckworth (1-1, 7.16 ERA, 1.90 WHIP, 11 BB/11 K in 16 1/3 IP) round out the rotation with not so great numbers.

AA - NW Arkansas: Springfield 6, Naturals 2

2B-3B Mertins 3-4, BB, RBI (7), E (3) -- .300
C Howell 1-3, BB, RBI (5) -- .333
1B McFall 2-4, K -- .254
CF Duarte 1-5, K -- .299, slumping
SS Lisson 0-5, K -- .200
RF Parraz 1-2, BB, HBP, RS -- .328
LF Dickerson 1-4, 2 K -- .217
* The Nats stranded 11.

Kniginyzky 5 IP, 6 ER, 9 H, 2 K, 3 HRA, WP -- L, 0-2, 5.85 ERA, rough night
Cevette 2 IP, H, K -- 0.00 ERA, season debut
C. Hayes 2 IP, H, K -- 1.42 ERA

*** A 5-run Springfield 5th spoiled Matt Kniginyzky's start and the Cardinals salvaged the series finale. With 2 out and 1 on in the NWA 2nd, Joe Dickerson singled and Jeff Howell singled home a run to give the Naturals a 1-0 lead. The Nats stranded 2 and Kniginyzky made it through unscathed until the 4th when 3B Brett Wallace connected on his 5th homer of the season for the Cardinals to tie the game. The wheels fell off in the 5th as Kniginyzky gave up a 2-run homer to DH Mark Hamilton for his 1st of '09 and then allowed a solo homer by CF James Rapoport for his 2nd of the season to make it 4-1. Three hits, a wild pitch and Kurt Mertins error brought in 2 more earned runs in the inning to make it 6-1. The Naturals rallied again with 2 outs in the 5th as Mertins singled home a run to cut it to 6-2 but NWA would strand 2 in scoring position, then strand 2 more in the 6th. The Naturals got 2 in scoring position with 1 out in the 8th but Joe Dickerson struck out looking, and with the bases loaded, pinch-hitter John Suomi was struck out swinging by RP Francisco Samuel to end the threat. Samuel struck out the side around a walk in the 9th to get his 6th save. Starter Tyler Herron got the win with 2 ER allowed on 7 hits and a walk with 3 Ks over 6 IP to improve to 1-1 with a 6.88 ERA. LF Daryl Jones and 1B Andrew Brown had 3 hits for Springfield as Jones upped his BA to .358. Wallace's HR gave him his 13th RBI but he was 1-5 overall with 2 Ks to drop to .287. Hamilton's HR gave him 2 RBI (8) but his BA dipped to .302 with a 1-4 day. 2B Dan Descalso was 1-4 with his 21st RBI to drop to .385.

NWA is 10-10 and 2 games back of Springfield. A 4-game home set versus the Arkansas Travelers (9-11, AA Angels) starts tonight with Dan Cortes (0-3, 6.23) trying to recapture prime form versus 19-year-old Travs lefty Trevor Reckling (1-0, 0.00), who was great versus NWA in his AA debut last weekend. The Nats are 1-3 versus Arkansas after one series. SP Blake Johnson's finger blister has sent him to the DL and lefty RP Dan Cevette has been activated, obviously, as he appeared in Thursday's game. Johnson is only expected to miss one start for sure.

NWA's tops in OPS are: C John Suomi, who's hitting .314/.390/.600 (.990 OPS), 3 HR (co-leads team), 6 RBI, 5 BB/6 K, 0/2 SB, 2 E in 12 games and 35 ABs while splitting time behind the plate; C Jeff Howell, who's hitting .333/.382/.500 (.882 OPS), 2 2B, HR, 5 RBI, 3 BB/4 K, 2 E in 10 games and 30 ABs; 1B Brian McFall, who's hitting .254/.329/.507 (.836 OPS), 9 RS, 8 2B (easily leads team), 3 HR (co-leads team), 18 RBI (easily leads team), 4 BB/17 K, 1/1 SB, 2 E in 18 games and 67 ABs; OF Jordan Parraz, who's hitting .328/.406/.379 (.785 OPS), 10 RS, 3 2B, 10 RBI, 5 BB/7 K, 2/4 SB, 3 E in 17 games and 58 ABs; and OF Jose Duarte, who's hitting .299/.407/.373 (.780 OPS), 13 RS (co-leads team), 3 2B, 3B, 5 RBI, 13 BB/12 K (like that), 7/8 SB, 1 E in 18 games and 67 ABs. Others of note: 2B Kurt Mertins .766 OPS including .382 OBP, 3 2B, 3B, 7 BB/6 K, 3/5 SB, 3 E in 16 games and 60 ABs; OF Cody Strait .724 OPS, 13 RS, 2 HR, 8 BB/12 K in 18 games and 68 ABs; OF Joe Dickerson .629 OPS, 3 2B, 9 BB/11 K, 2/3 SB, 2 E in 16 games and 60 ABs, still adjusting to AA; and 3B Mario Lisson .583 OPS, 11 RS, 2B, HR, 10 RBI, 11 BB/14 K, 3/5 SB, 6 E (leads team) in 18 games and 65 ABs, mostly at short, these numbers aren't worthy of a 40-man spot. IF Josh Johnson has come off the bench to hit for a .537 OPS with 7 BB and 6 K in 33 ABs, and IF Chris McConnell is hitting for a .517 OPS thus far with a triple, 3 BB and 7 K in 27 ABs, but he only has 1 error in 10 games, so maybe he's gotten back to form there. 1B/3B Corey Smith has been a regular but is hitting for only a .490 OPS with 3 2B, 2 HR, 2 BB/16 K, 4 E in 20 games and 84 ABs.

NWA's tops in WHIP through April are: RP Chris Nicoll 0.90 WHIP (13 1/3 IP, 2-0, 1 save, 0.68 ERA, 3 BB/13 K in a team-leading 8 appearances); RP Victor Marte 0.91 WHIP (11 IP, 0-1, 2 saves, 2.45 ERA, 2 BB/9 K, HRA in 7 appearances); RP Chris Hayes 1.34 WHIP (12 2/3 IP, 2-0, 1.42 ERA, 2 BB/5 K in 7 appearances); SP Blake Johnson 1.45 WHIP (ungood when that WHIP is in top 5 on team, 20 IP (co-leads team), 1-2, 4.95 ERA, 7 BB/7 K in 4 starts); and a tie between SP Matt Kniginyzky 1.50 WHIP (20 IP (co-leads team), 0-2, 5.85 ERA, 3 BB/6 K, 5 HRA in 4 starts) and SP Blake Wood 1.50 WHIP (16 2/3 IP, 1-0, 7.56 ERA, 6 BB/14 K, HRA in 4 starts). That's a good sampling of how the AA pitching has been at NW Arkansas this season. Surely things can't get worse in May....Others of note: SP Anthony Lerew 1.53 WHIP (1-0, 3.66 ERA, 9 BB/8 K, 2 HRA in 4 starts and 19 2/3 IP); SP Dan Cortes 1.73 WHIP (0-3, 6.23 ERA, 9 BB/15 K (co-leads team with Sencion), HRA in 4 starts and 17 1/3 IP); and RP Carlos Sencion 1.53 WHIP (1-1, 3.45 ERA, 5 BB/15 K, 2 HRA in 7 appearances and 15 2/3 IP). RPs Gilbert de la Vara, Kyle Crist and Greg Holland each have WHIPs of 2.00 or over in a combined 29 2/3 IP. de la Vara and Crist have more BB than K while Holland has 3 BB with 10 K in 12 1/3 IP.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Blue Rocks 4, Potomac 1 (7/G1)

RF Lough 2-3, 2B (6), 2 RBI (15), picked off -- .333
LF Ortiz 2-3, K -- .270
DH Orlando 1-3, 2B (6), RBI (7), RS -- .188
C Eigsti 1-2, BB, RBI (6) -- .244
SS Bianchi 1-2, BB, SB (5), 2 RS -- .324
3B Moustakas 1-4 -- .286
CF D. Robinson 1-4, picked off -- .234
2B Giavotella 1-4, 3B (2), RS -- .219
1B C. Robinson 1-3, picked off -- .371, Nationals SP must have pretty good pickoff move

Santiago 6 IP, ER, 7 H, BB, 6 K -- W, 1-2, 6.27 ERA, quality start
Sisk IP, 2 BB, K, WP -- SV, 3, 3.38 ERA

*** The Rocks were 4-8 with runners in scoring position and got a great start from Mario Santiago to win the opener of the double dip with Potomac Thursday. Johnny Giavotella hit a 1-out triple in the 1st and, after a 2-out walk by Jeff Bianchi, David Lough smoked a 2-run double to get the Rocks started on top. Santiago struck out the side in the Nationals 1st but loaded the bases with 1 out in the 3rd before wriggling out of the jam. The Rocks got back to it in the 4th with 2 runs on a Paulo Orlando RBI double and a Ryan Eigsti RBI single but 2 were stranded. Santiago and Brandon Sisk didn't make it easy in the 7th in the shortened game as Santiago was pulled with 2 on and none out and a walk and wild pitch brought in a run. Sisk walked another to reload the bases but got 2 popouts and a swinging K to polish off his 3rd save. Potomac SP Tom Milone got the loss with 4 ER allowed on 11 hits and 2 walks with a K, but 3 pickoffs, to fall to 1-2 with a 4.15 ERA. 3B Stephen King (no, not the master of horror) was 2-4 with 2 K and his 2nd caught stealing to improve to .242. RF Michael Burgess was 1-3 with a K to improve to .205 and RF Chris Marrero was 1-3 to move to .307.

Potomac 6, Blue Rocks 0 (4-hitter, 7/G2)

RF Walton 2-3 -- .296
2B Giavotella 1-2, BB, 2B (3), SB (3) -- .227
DH Lough 1-2, HBP -- .338
CF D. Robinson 0-4 -- .222
3B Moustakas 0-3, K -- .274
1B C. Robinson 0-3 -- .356
LF Ortiz 0-3 -- .258

Teaford 4 IP, 6 ER, 8 H, BB, 2 K, 2 HRA -- L, 2-1, 4.43 ERA
Godin 2 IP, H, BB, K -- 2.38 ERA

*** The Rocks offense was held silent by Potomac starter Jeff Mandel as he went the distance for the complete-game shutout. Everett Teaford took his 1st loss of the season and the 1st inning indicated his outing as the Nationals scored 3 runs on 4 hits and a walk before stranding 2. SS Danny Espinosa went long in the 2nd for a 2-run homer for his 2nd of the season and it was 5-0 Potomac. The Rocks stranded runners in each of the first 4 innings and Nationals 2B Dan Nelson led off the bottom of the 4th with his 1st homer to polish off the scoring. The only inning Wilmington wouldn't strand a runner in was the 7th as Mandel pitched a 1-2-3 inning then to finish the victory. He allowed 4 hits with a walk and K to improve to 2-1 with a 2.66 ERA. King was 2-4 with his 3rd double, 8th RBI, 2 RS and his 7th error as his BA rose to .258. Espinosa was 2-3 with the HR, 2 RBI (10) and 2 RS to improve to .333. Burgess was 0-2 with a walk to drop to .200 while Marrero was 0-2 with a walk and K to drop to .299.

The Blue Rocks are 10-11 and 3 games back of first. A 3-game home set with the Winston-Salem Dash (11-10, A-Adv. ChiSox) starts tonight. Alex Caldera (0-1, 5.89) gets the start in the opener versus Dash righty Matthew Long (0-2, 8.66). The Rocks are 1-3 versus the Dash thus far. Going into Thursday's twinbill, the Rocks had been swept in every doubleheader they'd been a part of since May 12, 2007.

Here's the Rocks' tops in OPS for April: 1B Clint Robinson leads the way by hitting .356/.397/.589 (.986 OPS), 13 RS, 8 2B (leads team), 3 HR, 13 RBI, 4 BB/10 K, 1 E in 20 games and 73 ABs; 2B/SS Jeff Bianchi is next by hitting .324/.415/.507 (.922 OPS, nice line), 14 RS, 5 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 11 RBI, 10 BB/18 K, 5/6 SB, 4 E in 20 games and 71 ABs -- let's hope he's back to his once promising form for good; OF Jamar Walton has come off the bench to hit .296/.387/.519 (.906 OPS), 2 HR, 4 BB/6 K, 1 E in 9 games and 27 ABs; OF David Lough is at .338/.413/.465 (.878 OPS), 10 RS, 6 2B, HR, 15 RBI (co-leads team), 5 BB/8 K, 2/4 SB in 20 games and 71 ABs: and 3B Mike Moustakas is at .274/.321/.507 (.828 OPS), 17 RS (co-leads team), 5 2B, 4 HR (leads team), 15 RBI (co-leads team), 5 BB/12 K, 1/3 SB, 2 E in 19 games and 73 ABs -- room for improvement here, especially in OBP. Others of note: There's a drop off from there to 2B Johnny Giavotella at a .782 OPS (.227/.358/.424, 17 RS (co-leads team), 3 2B, 2 3B (co-leads team), 2 HR, 12 RBI, 12 BB/11 K, 3/4 SB, 4 E in 20 games and 66 ABs; OF Adrian Ortiz is off to a slow start with a .594 OPS (.258/.261/.333, 2B, 2 3B (co-leads team), 1 BB/8 K, 2/2 SB in 19 games and 66 ABs, needs to walk more); and OF Derrick Robinson is off to an even slower start at a team-low .527 OPS (.222/.292/.235, 13 RS, 2B, 8 RBI, 8 BB/12 K, 11/15 SB, 1 E in 19 games and 81 ABs). C Ryan Eigsti is in the middle there at a .730 OPS including a .397 OBP with 4 doubles, 11 BB/12 K in 45 ABs. UT Anthony Seratelli is sitting at a .650 OPS with 4 errors, 0 BB and 8 Ks in 35 ABs, and OF Paulo Orlando has a team-high 20 Ks with a .595 OPS, 6 doubles, only 3 walks and 4/5 SB. C Matt Morizio is hitting for a .585 OPS in only 17 ABs.

Wilmington's WHIP leaders through April are: RP Brandon Sisk 1.00 WHIP (only 8 IP tho, 0-1, 3 saves, 3.38 ERA, 4 BB/6 K in a three-way tie for team lead with 6 appearances); SP Danny Duffy 1.16 WHIP (20 2/3 IP (leads team), 2-1, 4.35 ERA, 5 BB/20 K (leads team), 4 HRA in 4 starts, altho those numbers are skewed by 1 bad start); SP Everett Teaford 1.18 WHIP (20 1/3 IP, 2-1, 4.43 ERA, 3 BB/16 K, 4 HRA in 4 starts); RP Aaron Hartsock 1.23 WHIP (only 7 1/3 IP, 1-0, 3 saves, 1.23 ERA, 2 BB/4 K, HRA, also tied for team lead with 6 appearances); and SP Alex Caldera 1.25 WHIP (18 1/3 IP, 0-1, 5.89 ERA, 6 BB/14 K, HRA in 4 starts). Others of note: No others in the regular rotation have a WHIP better than 1.93, including Mario Santiago (1.93 WHIP, 1-2, 6.27 ERA, 9 BB/13 K but 0 HRA in 4 starts and 18 2/3 IP), Ray Liotta (1.93 WHIP, 1-1, 6.43 ERA, 7 BB/6 K, 1 HRA in 5 games (2 starts) and 14 IP), and Eduardo Paulino (team-high 2.63 WHIP, 1-0, 6.75 ERA, 13 BB/3 K (not a typo), 4 HRA in 4 games (2 starts) and 13 1/3 IP) -- that's ugly; RP Kelvin Villa was 6th on the team with a 1.32 WHIP and is 0-2 with a 2.63 ERA, 4 BB/12 K and 2 HRA in 13 2/3 IP in tying Sisk and Hartsock with 6 appearances; and RP Chris Chavez has an ugly 1.85 WHIP but is 2-1 with a 3.46 ERA, 6 BB/11 K and 0 HRA in 13 IP. RPs Jason Godin and Ben Swaggerty have sub-3 ERAs but are walking as many as they strike out and have WHIPs of 1.41 and 1.80. RP Craig Rodriguez has a WHIP of 1.59 with a 6.35 ERA and 3 BB/6 K in 5 2/3 IP.

A - Burlington: Peoria 10, Bees 6

1B Hosmer 2-3, 2 BB, 2 2B (4), 3 RBI (7), RS -- .222, hope he's starting to warm up at plate
CF Norris 2-3, BB, RS, OF assist at third -- .222
RF Francis 1-5, HR (4), 3 RBI (14), 2 K, RS, E (3), OF assist at home -- .328
3B Martin 1-3, 2 BB, 2B (3), 2 RS -- .176
SS Alfaro 0-5, K -- .167
DH McCauley 0-4, K -- .161

Cota 4 IP, 6 R (4 ER), 8 H, K, HRA, WP, pickoff -- L, 0-2, 4.26 ERA
Bryant 2 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 3 K, WP -- 4.97 ERA
Thompson 2 1/3 IP, H, 2 BB, 2 K -- 6.75 ERA

*** The Chiefs jumped on Luis Cota for 6 runs in the first 3 innings and held off the Bees to extend Burlington's losing streak. Cota ran into trouble with 2 out in the 1st as the Chiefs put together 3 hits and a hit batsman for 2 runs to take an early lead. The Bees got a run back in the 1st on a Nick Francis RBI groundout after Kyle Martin led off the inning with a double. The Chiefs rallied again with 2 outs in the 2nd, this time for 3 runs on 3 hits and a Francis fielding error in right. Peoria RF Nelson Perez hammered his 3rd homer of the season to lead off the 3rd and make it 6-1 Chiefs. Eric Hosmer doubled with 2 out in the Bees 3rd and Francis followed with a 2-run shot for his 4th homer of the season to cut the lead to 6-3. The Bees stranded 2 in the 4th and Carson Bryant came in to pitch the 5th for the Bees and allowed a run on a double, wild pitch and sac fly. The Chiefs rallied for a run with 2 outs in the 6th on 2 walks and 2 hits before leaving the bases loaded with an 8-3 lead. Bryant gave up a 2-run triple to SS Junior Lake in the 7th to make it 10-3. The Bees rallied for 3 runs in the 9th on a 2-out, bases loaded double by Hosmer that plated 3 runs but Francis followed with a flyout to end it. Chiefs SP Aaron Shafer got the win with 3 ER allowed on 5 hits and 4 walks with 2 Ks over 5 IP to improve to 3-1 with a 3.68 ERA. LF Kyler Burke was 3-3 with 2 walks, 2 doubles (9), his 10th RBI and 2 RS to move to .327, and 4 others had 2 hits for the Chiefs. Perez hit his 5th double to go with his HR and 3 RBI (8) to improve to .194 and 2B Josh Harrison had a walk and 2 RBI (10) as his BA moved to .373. 3B Josh Vitters was 0-3 with a sac fly and his 7th RBI to drop to .302. Lake's 2 RBI gave him 3 on the season.

The Bees are 5-14 and on a 4-game skid. They try to break it tonight in the finale with Peoria as Zach Peterson (1-1, 3.57) takes the mound versus Chiefs righty Marcus Hatley (1-0, 5.25).

The Bees tops in OPS for April: You can probably guess #1 is OF Nick Francis with a 1.020 OPS (.328/.408/.612, 10 RS, 5 2B (co-leads team), 3B, 4 HR (only Bee with more than 1), 14 RBI (easily leads team, only Bee in double figs), 9 BB/14 K, 3/3 SB, 3 E in 19 games and 67 ABs, looking good); #2 is OF Nick Van Stratten at a .684 OPS (big dropoff, as you can see, he's on the DL at the moment with a hand injury, .227/.320/.364, 2B, 3B, 2 BB/4 K in 9 games and 22 ABs); #3 is 1B Eric Hosmer at a .628 OPS (would definitely like to see him in second by end of May at around the .800 mark in OPS, .222/.342/.286, 4 RS, 4 2B, 7 RBI (almost half coming Thursday), 12 BB (leads team)/21 K (also leads team), 0/1 SB, 0 E in 18 games and 63 ABs -- pitcher's league taking its toll on his stats; #4 is 1B David Wood at a .610 OPS (.227/.292/.318, 2 2B, 1 BB/3 K, 1 E in 7 games and only 22 ABs); and #5 is C Jose Bonilla at a .608 OPS (.216/.256/.351, 2 2B, HR, 7 RBI (tied with Hosmer for second on team), 1 BB/9 K, 2/3 SB in 10 games and 37 ABs). Others of note: OF Wilson Tucker is 6th on the team at a .586 OPS (3 doubles, 3 BB/10 K in 38 ABs); IF Kyle Martin is sitting at a .557 OPS (14 RS leads team, 3 2B, 3B, 6 RBI, 6 BB/16 K in 68 ABs); OF Patrick Norris is right behind at a .556 OPS (8 BB/14 K, 6/8 SB (leads team) in 54 ABs); IF Antonio Jimenez has a lowly .474 OPS (0 BB/15 K in only 46 ABs); C Sean McCauley is sitting at a .467 OPS (5 2B co-leads team with Francis, 3 BB/10 K in 56 ABs); SS J.D. Alfaro is at a lowly .449 OPS (7 RS, 4 BB/13 K in 16 games and 60 ABs); IF Alwin Perez has a .400 OPS, 4 errors and 0 BB/8 K in 7 games; and C Salvador Perez is bringing up the rear with a horrid .289 OPS (only 5 hits, 1 2B, 1 BB/8 K, 2 E in 12 games and 41 ABs).

The Bees WHIP leaders are: RP Barry Bowden 0.60 WHIP (only 6 2/3 IP, 0-0, 2 saves, 2.70 ERA, 1 BB/7 K, HRA in team leading 6 appearances); RP Blaine Hardy 0.86 WHIP (18 2/3 IP (third on team), 0-2, 2.89 ERA, 0 BB/25 K (!, leads team), HRA in 5 games (1 start) -- one start didn't go well but has been the Iceman out of the pen); RP Justin Garcia 1.03 WHIP (10 2/3 IP, 1-0, 1.69 ERA, 1 BB/10 K in 4 appearances); SP Zach Peterson 1.19 WHIP (17 2/3 IP, 1-1, 3.57 ERA, 5 BB/8 K (expected better), HRA in 4 games (3 starts)); and RP Manauris Baez 1.29 WHIP (14 IP, 1-0, 2.57 ERA, 5 BB/10 K in 5 games (1 start)). Others of note: Starters have not been a strength in Burlington as Luis Cota is the only other regular starter beside Peterson to have a WHIP less than 1.50, and his is 1.42 -- here's the rundown, Cota 1.42 WHIP (0-2, 4.26 ERA, 5 BB/15 K, 2 HRA in 4 starts and 19 IP (tied for team lead)), Bryan Casey 1.50 WHIP (0-3, 4.50 ERA, 3 BB/13 K, 0 HRA in 3 starts and 10 IP, not really that bad looking line), Sam Runion 2.00 WHIP (1-3, 9.47 ERA, 7 BB/7 K, 4 HRA in 4 starts and 19 IP (tied for team lead)), and Brent Fisher 2.12 WHIP (0-1, 7.15 ERA, 5 BB/7 K, HRA in 3 starts and 11 1/3 IP, looking better than Runion). Yikes. Only 3 I haven't mentioned on the active roster are RP Carson Bryant 1.50 WHIP (1-0, 4.97 ERA, 6 BB/15 K in 12 2/3 IP), RP Derrick Saito 1.59 WHIP (0-1, 7.15 ERA, 3 BB/13 K, HRA in 11 1/3 IP) and RP James Thompson 1.61 WHIP (0-1, 6.75 ERA, 8 BB/15 K, 4 HRA in 9 1/3 IP, also leads team with 6 appearances). Not a pretty pitching picture in Burlington, and they play in a pitcher's league....