Royals on the Farm 5/1

AAA - Omaha: rainout

The O-Royals are 12-8 and 1/2 a game back of Memphis in the American North division. They will make up the rainout, as expected, with a doubleheader today. I'm assuming Lenny DiNardo (1-0, 3.00) will pitch against Sounds righty Mike Burns (2-0, 3.91) in the opener while Luke Hochevar (4-0, 1.44) will pitch against Nashville lefty Chase Wright (1-2, 4.09) in the regularly scheduled game.

AA - NW Arkansas: rainout

NWA is 10-10 and 1 1/2 games back of first. The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader on June 11. The series will shrink to three games and starts tonight as Anthony Lerew (1-0, 3.66) is set to start versus Arkansas righty Tommy Mendoza (0-0, 5.79). Tonight is Kila Ka'aihue bobblehead night at Arvest Ballpark. I want one!

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Blue Rocks 6, Winston-Salem 4

2B Giavotella 2-3, BB, 2B (4), RS, 2 CS (3), E (5) -- .246
SS Bianchi 2-3, 2B (6), RS, CS (2) -- .338
1B C. Robinson 1-3, HR (4), 3 RBI (16), K, RS -- .355
3B Moustakas 1-3, SF, 2B (6), 2 RBI (17), K, RS -- .276
RF Lough 0-2, SF, RBI (16), K -- .329
CF D. Robinson 1-4, 3 K, RS, SB (12) -- .224

Caldera 4 2/3 IP, 4 R (3 ER), 6 H, 4 BB, 3 K -- 5.87 ERA
Chavez 2 1/3 IP, 2 H, 3 K -- W, 3-1, 2.93 ERA
Swaggerty IP, H, K -- 2.35 ERA
Hartsock IP, 3 K -- SV, 4, 1.08 ERA, dominant save

*** Wilmington lost an early lead but came back to get the win in the opener with the Dash. Alex Caldera got the start and had a rough outing as the Dash got a run on a triple, walk and single in the 1st before stranding 2. Three hits scored another run in the 2nd but Wilmington got on track in the bottom of the inning as Clint Robinson stepped up with 2 on and 1 out and clubbed his 4th homer of the season, this one to right, to make it 3-2 Blue Rocks. Caldera stranded 2 on walks in the 4th but ran into trouble again in the 5th as the Dash rallied with 2 outs with a walk, RBI single, and run on a throwing error by Johnny Giavotella to regain a lead at 4-3. Chris Chavez finished the inning and then stranded 2 in scoring position in the 6th. Giavotella and Mike Moustakas hit back-to-back 1-out doubles in the Rocks 6th to tie the game and a David Lough sac fly gave the Rocks the lead again at 5-4. Derrick Robinson stole third in the 8th and scored on a Moustakas sac fly to make it 6-4 and Aaron Hartsock struck out the side swinging in the 9th for his 4th save. Starter Matt Long took the loss for Winston-Salem with 6 IP of 5 ER allowed on 7 hits with 6 Ks to drop to 0-3 with an 8.37 ERA. 2B Dale Mollenhauer was 3-3 with a walk, his 3rd double and RS to move to .365 while 2 others had 2 hits for the Dash. 3B Brent Morel, who was hard on the Rocks in the first 4-game set, was 2-4 with 2 RBI (16) and a RS to move to .259, and CF Jordan Danks was 2-5 with his 15th RBI, 5th SB and a K to improve to .333.

Wilmington is 11-11 and 3 games back. Game 2 is tonight as Danny Duffy (2-1, 4.35) tries to return to dominance versus Dash righty Anthony Carter (2-1, 3.75).

A - Burlington: Bees 1, Peoria 0 (5-hitter)

LF D. Wood 1-3, RBI (2), K, CS -- .240
1B Hosmer 1-2, BB, 2B (5), RS, E -- .231
SS Alfaro 1-4, K -- .172
C McCauley 1-3 -- .169
DH Bonilla 0-3, K -- .200
2B F. Garcia 0-1, 2 BB, SB, CS -- .400
CF Norris 0-3 -- .211

Z. Peterson 6 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 5 K -- W, 2-1, 2.66 ERA
Saito 2 IP, H, K -- 6.08 ERA
Bowden IP, BB, K -- SV, 3, 2.35 ERA

*** The Bees survived a 1-6 night with runners in scoring position with a 5-hit shutout effort from three pitchers to snap a 4-game losing streak and avoid the sweep from Peoria. Starter Zach Peterson stranded 2 in the 1st and the Bees left a runner at third in the 3rd but were hitless going into the 4th. That changed when Eric Hosmer hit a 1-out double off SP Marcus Hatley and scored on a David Wood single to account for what would be the only run of the game. The Bees stranded 2 and Peterson stranded 2 more in the 5th but the Chiefs wouldn't threaten again. Hatley took the loss with an ER allowed on 3 hits and 2 walks with 2 Ks over 5 IP to fall to 1-1 with a 4.24 ERA. 3B Josh Vitters was the only Chief with more than 1 hit as he was 2-4 with his 3rd double and 5th error to improve to .313. DH Josh Harrison was 1-4 with a K to drop to .366.

The Bees are 6-14. A 3-game home set versus the West Michigan Whitecaps (15-5, A Tigers, best record currently in MWL) starts tonight as Brent Fisher (0-1, 7.15) starts versus Whitecaps righty Luke Putkonen (1-0, 1.42). The Whitecaps roster features Motor City Kitties prospects lefty Casey Crosby (2-0, 3.38 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 13 BB/28 K in 21 1/3 IP, nice K rate) and righty Brandon Hamilton (1-1, 5.14 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 7 BB/11 K in 14 IP). LF Jordan Newton leads the 'Caps with a .386 BA, 1.188 OPS and 3 HR in 44 ABs while lefty Matt Hoffman is 3-0 with a 1.07 ERA, 0.71 WHIP and 5 BB/21 K in 25 1/3 IP, Putkonen is pitching well, and 20-year-old lefty Mauricio Robles is outdoing Crosby's K rate by going 2-1 with a 3.92 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 7 BB/31 K in 20 2/3 IP.