Royals on the Farm 5/10

AAA - Omaha: O-Royals 3, Nashville 0 (7/G1)

3B Metcalf 2-3, 2B (8), K -- .275
2B Falu 1-3, RBI (11), K -- .262
1B Ka'aihue 0-2, SF, RBI (12) -- .221
SS Hulett 1-3, RS -- .295
LF B. Pena 1-3 -- .333
DH House 1-3 -- .324

Duckworth 6 2/3 IP, 5 H, 3 BB, 7 K, WP -- W, 2-1, 4.20 ERA
Colon 1/3 IP, nothing -- SV, 1, 3.06 ERA

*** The O-Royals took advantage of some Nashville miscues and got a good start from Brandon Duckworth to take the first of 2 with the Sounds on Sunday. Kila Ka'aihue got Omaha on top in the 1st with a sac fly and Omaha stranded 2 in the 2nd, but Duckworth held the Sounds hitless into the 5th. The first 2 Sounds reached on singles that inning and another single loaded the bases with 1 out before Duckworth escaped the jam. Two Sounds errors helped the Royals push across a run in the bottom of the 5th and Irving Falu added an RBI single to make it 3-0 Omaha. Duckworth loaded the bases with 2 out in the 7th and was pulled for Roman Colon, who got a lineout to center to end the game for his 1st save. Sounds SP Tim Dillard went the distance and allowed 3 runs (1 ER) on 7 hits and a walk with 3 Ks to drop to 5-1 with a 2.31 ERA. RF Jason Bourgeois was 2-3 to move to .286. 3B Mat Gamel was 0-3 with 2 K and his 8th error to drop to .340.

Nashville 5, O-Royals 3 (7/G2)

SS Falu 2-4, HR, 2 RBI (13), RS -- .277
1B Ka'aihue 1-2, BB, 2B (5), RBI (13) -- .227
LF B. Pena 1-3, 2B, RS, SB -- .333
C House 0-3 -- .314
3B Metcalf 0-3, K -- .267
2B Hulett 1-4, K -- .294

Newman 4 IP, ER, 5 H, BB, 4 K -- 5.11 ERA, serviceable start
Hughes 3 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, BB, K, 2 WP -- L, 0-1, 4.26 ERA

*** Falu and Ka'aihue added more RBI in the second game but it wasn't enough as Nashville scored 4 late runs to split the double dip. Josh Newman made the spot start and allowed a run on 2 hits in the 1st but that was the only run he would allow over 4 innings. Omaha stranded 2 in the 1st and Falu hit a 2-out RBI single in the 2nd to tie the game before the Royals stranded 2 more. Hughes came in for the 5th and allowed a run on a hit, walk and wild pitch and then a run on 2 hits in the 6th to make it 3-1 Sounds. Brayan Pena and Ka'aihue hit back-to-back doubles to lead off the 6th and cut it to 3-2 but Nashville scored 2 in the 7th on 3 hits and a wild pitch to get some breathing room. Falu hit a 2-out solo homer in the bottom of the 7th for his 1st career AAA homer but, otherwise, Nashville RP Chris Smith struck out the side for his 6th save. RP Chris Narveson got the win with 2 2/3 IP of an ER allowed on 2 hits with 3 Ks to improve to 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA. P Matt Ginter got the start and allowed an ER on 2 hits and 3 walks with a K over 3 IP to move his ERA to 2.51. Three Sounds had 2 hits. Bourgeois was 2-4 with his 7th RBI and 4th SB to move to .297. Gamel was 1-2 with a walk, sac fly, his 31st RBI, a K and RS to move to .343.

The O-Royals are 17-13 and a game back of first. The series wraps with an early start today as Bruce Chen (1-1, 4.82) faces Sounds lefty Lindsay Gulin (1-2, 8.64). With "The Mexicutioner" Joakim Soria foiling my fantasy teams by going on the DL, starter Luke Hochevar has gotten the call to KC, which bumps Sidney Ponson to the KC pen.

AA - NW Arkansas: Naturals 5, Tulsa 1

RF Parraz 3-5, 2 2B (8), HR, 2 RBI (15), RS -- .354, thank YOU, Astros
LF Dickerson 2-3, SF, RBI (10), SB (4) -- .261
SS Lisson 2-5, 2B (4), 2 K, RS -- .214
3B C. Smith 2-5, CS (3) -- .231
CF Duarte 1-4, BB, 2 RBI (7), K, RS -- .265
2B Mertins 1-5, 2 K -- .261
C Howell 1-4, PB (2) -- .308

Kniginyzky 7 IP, 4 H, BB, 4 K, WP -- W, 1-2, 5.79 ERA, best start of year to date, 92 pitches
Bale IP, UER, 2 H, K -- 5.40 ERA, no butt cramp this time
de la Vara IP, nothing -- 5.28 ERA

*** Matt Kniginyzky had a quality start and Jordan Parraz provided all the offense the Naturals needed to even the series with the Drillers. Parraz got it started with a 1-out RBI double in the 1st and NWA had the 1-0 lead. Kniginyzky was perfect through 3 and, in the NWA 4th, Joe Dickerson hit a sac fly and Jose Duarte hit a 2-out, 2-run single to make it 4-0. Kniginyzky allowed a walk and 2 hits in the 4th but stranded 2. Parraz led off the NWA 5th with his 1st organizational homer and the Naturals had a 5-0 lead. NWA left the bases loaded in the 8th and Kniginyzky handed the game to the pen. John Bale, whose first rehab appearance was limited by a cramp in his gluteus muscle, gave up a run on 2 hits in his inning of work but Gilbert de la Vara pitched a 1-2-3 9th to finish it. Starter Keith Weiser took the loss for Tulsa with 5 IP of 5 ER allowed on 10 hits and a walk with 5 Ks to drop to 1-3 with a 4.01 ERA. SS Daniel Mayora was 3-4 with his 12th RBI and 1st error to improve to .293.

The Naturals are 14-15 and 3 games back. Game 3 of the set is tonight as Blake Wood (1-1, 6.75) makes the start versus Tulsa righty Esmil Rogers (0-1, 4.62).

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Frederick 15, Blue Rocks 9

1B C. Robinson 2-4, HR (5), 3 RBI (21), K, RS -- .343
DH Moustakas 2-5, RBI (21), 2 K, 2 RS -- .278
SS Bianchi 1-4, 2 RBI (16), 2 RS, E (5) -- .301
RF Orlando 1-4, 2B (7), 2 RBI (10), K -- .198
CF D. Robinson 1-4, BB, 2B (2), 2 RS, SB (15), picked off -- .225
2B Giavotella 0-3, 2 BB, K, 2 RS, SB (4) -- .213
LF Ortiz 0-4 -- .272

Liotta 5 IP, 7 ER, 9 H, BB, 3 K, 4 HRA, WP, pickoff -- 7.33 ERA, may be time to part ways with Ray
Villa 2 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 3 K -- BS, 1, L, 0-3, 4.12 ERA
R. Hardy IP, 5 ER, 5 H, HRA -- 16.88 ERA, Rowdy got roughed up

*** The Rocks blew 4-2 and 8-4 leads and 3 Rocks pitchers got bombed en route to the 6-run loss. Starter Ray Liotta gave up a solo homer to 2B Bobby Stevens (his 1st) in the 1st then allowed a run on 3 hits in the 2nd before stranding 2. The Rocks didn't have a baserunner through 3 innings but got to SP Zach Britton in the 4th for 4 runs on a Jeff Bianchi RBI single and a 3-run shot by Clint Robinson for his 5th of the season. Liotta blew the lead by serving up a 2-run homer to DH Caleb Joseph (his 3rd) in the bottom of the inning but Wilmington struck for 4 runs again in the 5th on a Mike Moustakas RBI single, a run-scoring Keys error and a 2-out, 2-run double by Paulo Orlando that made it 8-4. Liotta gave up Stevens' second homer of the game and season in the Frederick 5th and then gave up a 2-run bomb to RF Billy Rowell (his 3rd) in the 6th before getting pulled with Wilmington clinging to an 8-7 lead. Kelvin Villa came in and gave up 2 more runs on 2 hits and 2 walks in the 6th before stranding 2. Another Rock run scored on an error in the 7th but Clint Robinson was thrown out at the plate trying to get the lead back to end the inning. Villa gave up a run on 2 hits in the 7th to make it 10-9 Keys and Rowdy Hardy put it out of reach by allowing 5 runs in the 8th on 5 hits, including Rowell's second homer of the game and 4th of the season for a 2-run shot that made it 15-9. Luis Lebron pitched a perfect 9th for the Keys. RP Cliff Flagello got the win with 2 IP of an unearned run allowed on 2 hits and a walk to move to 1-0 with a 7.47 ERA. Britton allowed 8 runs (4 ER) on 6 hits and 2 walks with 5 Ks over 5 IP to move his ERA to 2.73. Four Keys had multi-hit games as Stevens was 5-5 with his 3rd double, 2 HR, 4 RBI (6), 3 RS and was picked off to improve to .321. 3B Tyler Henson was 4-4 with a walk, 3 doubles (11), 2 RBI (14) and a whopping 5 RS to improve to .248. Rowell was 3-5 with his 5th error, 2 HR, 5 RBI (16), 2 RS and an OF assist at the plate to improve to .303 and Joseph was 2-5 with his HR and 3 RBI (14) along with a K and RS to move to .305.

The Rocks are 13-17 and 6 games back. They have today off.

A - Burlington: Bees 5, Great Lakes 4

RF Francis 2-3, HBP, HR (6), 2 RBI (22), 2 RS, SB (8) -- .314
1B Hosmer 2-4, HR (first as a pro), RBI (8), RS -- .233
3B Martin 2-4, SB (3) -- .206
C Bonilla 2-4, K, RS, CS (3) -- .262
LF Van Stratten 1-5, RS, SB (4), picked off -- .349
DH D. Wood 0-4, RBI (8), 2 K -- .250
SS Alfaro 0-4, K -- .174
CF Norris 1-4 -- .209

B. Hardy 5 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 7 K, WP, pickoff -- W, 2-2, 2.83 ERA
Baez 3 IP, ER, 2 H, 4 K, HRA -- 3.68 ERA
Thompson IP, ER, 2 H, BB, K, HRA -- SV, 1, 4.80 ERA

*** Eric Hosmer's first pro homer ended up being the difference as the Bees got the sweep and won despite going 1-13 with runners in scoring position in the game. Nick Francis hit a 2-out, 2-run homer in the 1st for his 6th longball of the season to spot the Bees a 2-0 lead. A run-scoring Loons error made it 3-0 in the 2nd but Blaine Hardy allowed a run on 3 hits in the 2nd before stranding 2 with the Bees up, 3-1. David Wood hit an RBI groundout in the 3rd to make it 4-1. The Bees stranded 2 in the 5th but a triple helped the Loons to a run in the bottom of the inning to cut the lead to 4-2. Manauris Baez gave up a solo homer to RF Kyle Russell (his 8th) in the 6th to trim the lead to 1 but Hosmer stepped up to hit his 1st pro longball to left with 2 outs in the 7th to give the Bees an insurance run. RP James Thompson came in for the 9th and gave up Russell's 2nd homer of the game and 9th of the season for a leadoff shot but stranded 2 to walk the tightrope for his 1st save. SP Justin Miller took the loss for Great Lakes with 5 IP of 4 runs (3 ER) allowed on 7 hits with a K to drop to 2-2 with a 5.68 ERA. Russell was 3-4 with the 2 HR and 2 RBI (30) with 3 RS to move to .330. SS Devaris Gordon was 1-1, took 2 HBPs, stole his 18th base and was ejected in the 5th after getting picked off. His BA moved to .342. 3B Anthony Hatch also had 3 hits for the Loons with his 7th double and 1st triple and a walk and RS to move to .235.

The Bees are 12-17 after the sweep but still 6 1/2 games back. They have today off.