Royals on the Farm 5/11

AAA - Omaha: Nashville 5, O-Royals 3

DH Buchanan 3-5, 2 2B (5), RBI (4) -- .281
1B Ka'aihue 1-3, 2 BB, 2B (7), 2 RBI (17), K, RS -- .237
RF B. Pena 2-5, RS -- .333
C House 2-5, K -- .325
2B Hulett 0-3, BB, HBP -- .278
3B Metcalf 1-4, BB, K -- .268
* Omaha was 3-18 with runners in scoring position and stranded 14.

Chen 5 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 5 BB, 5 K, HRA, 2 pickoffs -- 4.64 ERA
Atencio 1 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, BB -- BS, 1, L, 1-1, 8.25 ERA
Rosa 1 2/3 IP, H -- 4.24 ERA
Hamulack IP, nothing -- 5.73 ERA

*** Nashville surged ahead in the 7th and held on to take the series finale from Omaha. CF Tony Gwynn Jr. led off the game with his 2nd homer of the season and a walk, hit and sac fly off Bruce Chen made it 2-0 Sounds. Kila Ka'aihue struck for a 2-run double in the bottom of the 1st to tie the game but the Royals left 2 in scoring position in both the 2nd and 3rd as the score stayed 2-2. Both teams stranded 2 in the 4th but Omaha loaded the bases with none out in the 5th to chase SP Lindsay Gulin and took the lead on a Brian Buchanan RBI single before leaving 'em loaded. Greg Atencio came in for the 6th and allowed a run on 2 hits to tie it before getting pulled with 1 out and 2 in scoring position in the 7th. Carlos Rosa allowed an RBI groundout and RBI single to break it open before getting out of the jam. The Royals left the bases full again in the 7th and wasted another threat in the 8th. RP Chris Smith pitched a 1-2-3 9th for his 7th save for the Sounds. RP Dave Johnson got the win with 2 1/3 scoreless IP of 3 hits and 3 Ks to move to 1-0 with a 2.84 ERA. Gulin allowed 3 ER on 7 hits and 5 walks with 2 Ks over 4 IP to move his ERA to 8.38. Gwynn was 3-5 with his HR, 8th RBI, 2 RS and 12th SB to move to .328. 1B Erick Almonte also had 2 hits for Nashville and DH Joe Koshansky had 2 RBI to get to 20 on the season. 3B Mat Gamel was 1-4 with a walk to drop to .339.

The O-Royals are 17-14 and a game back of first. A 4-game set at the Salt Lake Bees (19-12, AAA Angels) starts tonight as Lenny DiNardo (2-1, 3.10) faces Bees righty Mike MacDonald (3-2, 5.53, yah mo b there). The Bees roster features Halos prospects righty Kevin Jepsen (0-0, 10.80 ERA, 3.00 WHIP, 1 save, 3 HRA, 7 BB/10 K in 5 appearances and 6 2/3 IP), righty Anthony Ortega (1-1, 9.88, 2.05, 2 HRA, 5 BB/2 K in 3 starts and 13 2/3 IP), righty Sean O'Sullivan (2-1, 6.65, 1.71, 3 HRA, 6 BB/12 K in 4 starts and 21 2/3 IP), IFs Brandon Wood (.306 BA/1.148 OPS, 6 HR, 11 RBI, 7 BB/12 K, 3 E in 13 games/49 ABs) and Sean Rodriguez (.225/.902, 24 RS, 2 3B, 9 HR, 28 RBI, 13 BB/36 K, 4/4 SB, 5 E in 29 games/102 ABs) and rehabbing starters John Lackey and Ervin Santana. Former Omaha P Brad Salmon is also on the Bees' roster. OF Chris Pettit is also playing well for Salt Lake, hitting .413/1.033, 13 2B, 21 RBI, 6 BB/15 K, 8/9 SB in 29 games/109 ABs. For Omaha, Ryan Shealy is day-to-day with a sore knee. RP Doug Waechter's rehab assignment has ended as he went back to KC after making only 1 appearance. P Matt Wright is expected to make his first start of the season this week.

AA - NW Arkansas: Tulsa 4, Naturals 0

RF Parraz 2-2, BB, HBP, picked off -- .369
LF Strait 2-4, K -- .268
CF Duarte 0-5, 2 K -- .252
2B Mertins 0-3, BB, K -- .253
SS Lisson 0-4, K -- .206
DH Dickerson 0-2, BB, HBP, K -- .256

B. Wood 5 IP, 4 ER, 8 H, K, HRA, WP -- L, 1-2, 6.83 ERA
Nicoll 2 IP, 3 H, 2 K -- 0.45 ERA
Cevette IP, BB, K -- 3.86 ERA

*** Blake Wood had a mediocre start and got no run support as Tulsa got the 6-hit shutout victory. The Naturals stranded 2 in the 1st and Tulsa wasted no time off Wood as the Drillers scored a run on 3 hits and a wild pitch. Two more Nats were stranded in the 2nd and 3rd. RF Daniel Carte cracked his 2nd homer of the season in the 5th and the Drillers got 2 runs off Wood and Chris Nicoll in the 6th to make it 4-0. The Nats got 2 on with 1 out in the 9th and loaded the bases with 2 out before Jose Duarte struck out looking to end it. RP Andrew Johnston got the final out for his 9th save. Starter Esmil Rogers got the win with 6 IP of 5 hits and 2 walks allowed with 7 Ks to improve to 1-1 with a 3.73 ERA. Three Drillers had 2 hits. 3B Darin Holcomb was 2-4 with his 8th double and 10th RBI to move to .230 while SS Dan Mayora was 2-4 with a K and 2 RS along with 2 SB (4) to move to .302.

NWA is 14-16 and 3 games back. The series wraps up with a getaway game today as Dan Cortes (0-4, 5.02) tries again for his 1st win of the season versus Drillers righty Andy Graham (1-1, 7.23). When Blake Johnson was activated from the DL, P Kyle Crist was released. He had been with the organization for 5 years.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: off day

The Rocks are 13-17 and 6 1/2 games back. A 3-game home set with the Kinston Indians (17-14) starts tonight with Mario Santiago (1-3, 6.20) facing K-Tribe lefty Russell Young (0-1, 7.00). The Rocks are 3-1 versus the Tribe thus far. P Juan Abreu has been added to the roster as RP Craig Rodriguez has been put on the DL.

A - Burlington: off day

The Bees are 12-17 and 6 1/2 games back. A 4-game set at the Kane County Cougars (19-11, A Athletics) starts tonight with Zach Peterson (3-1, 3.10) facing Cougs lefty Ben Hornbeck (2-0, 1.54). Burlington is 2-5 versus Kane County thus far.