Royals on the Farm 5/14

AAA - Omaha: Salt Lake 8, O-Royals 6

RF Aldridge 2-3, BB, HR (3), 2 RBI (21), RS -- .267
3B Metcalf 2-4, 2B (9), RBI (20), RS -- .292
1B Ka'aihue 2-4, BB, 2B (7), RBI (19), RS -- .250, warming up?
SS Falu 2-5, picked off -- .268
2B Hulett 1-5, RBI (22), K, RS -- .289
C B. Pena 1-3, BB, HBP, SB (2), 2 E (3) -- .351
DH House 0-5, K -- .317
CF Duarte 1-4, RS -- .250, AAA debut

Wright 4 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, K -- 6.75 ERA, blah debut
Rosa 2 1/3 IP, ER, 5 H, 6 K, HRA, WP -- 4.19 ERA
Colon 1 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 K, WP -- L, 2-3, 3.54 ERA
Newman 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, K, HRA -- 6.39 ERA

*** Omaha came back to tie the game in the 9th but Josh Newman served up a walkoff homer in the bottom of the inning to end it. Omaha stranded 2 in the 1st and Matt Wright allowed 2 runs on 2 hits and a sac fly as Salt Lake jumped ahead. Omaha took the lead in the 4th as Travis Metcalf hit a 1-out RBI double followed by a 2-run homer by Cory Aldridge for his 3rd of the season to make it 3-2 Royals. Wright was solid in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th but allowed the tying run on 2 hits and a Brayan Pena error before getting pulled for Carlos Rosa in the 5th. Pena made another error in the inning but also converted a strike-'em-out, throw-'em-out double play as Rosa limited the damage to only the tying run. Rosa stranded 2 in scoring position in the 6th but gave up the go-ahead homer to C Ryan Budde (his 2nd) in the 7th before getting pulled with 2 on and 1 out. Roman Colon stranded both baserunners but gave up a run on 2 hits in the 8th to send the game to the 9th with Salt Lake in the lead, 5-3. Kevin Jepsen came in to pitch the 9th for the Bees and had 2 out with a runner at third when Tug Hulett hit a clutch RBI single, Pena walked and Kila Ka'aihue tied the game with an RBI double before Omaha stranded 2. Newman came in with 1 on and 0 out in the 9th and, with 2 on and 1 out, gave up a walkoff 3-run shot to 1B Matt Brown (his 3rd) to end the game. Jepsen got the win despite his 2nd blown save with 2 ER allowed on 3 hits and a walk over an inning of work to move to 1-0 with an 11.74 ERA. Starter Brad Knox allowed 3 ER on 6 hits and 2 walks with a K over 6 IP to move his ERA to 5.13. CF Terry Evans was 4-5 with a K, 2 RS and his 7th SB to improve to .252. Brown was 2-4 with the HR and 4 RBI (21) to move to .238 and LF Chris Pettit was 2-5 with a K and RS to drop to .415. SS Gary Patchett also had 2 hits and 2 RBI (6) for Salt Lake.

The O-Royals are 17-17 and 2 1/2 games back of first while on a 5-game losing streak. They try to avoid the sweep tonight as Brandon Duckworth (2-1, 4.20) faces Bees righty Dan Denham (3-0, 2.87).

AA - NW Arkansas: Naturals 4, Springfield 2

3B Lucas 3-4, K, RS -- .750, nice '09 AA debut
C Howell 2-3, S, HR (3), 3 RBI (10), K, RS -- .305, best 3 hitters were 7-8-9 Thu.
CF Strait 2-3, BB, RS, CS (4) -- .311
DH McFall 1-4, HR (4), RBI (23), RS -- .255
LF Dickerson 0-4, BB -- .233
2B Mertins 0-3, BB, K, E (6) -- .262
RF Parraz 1-3, BB, 2B (9), OF assist at home -- .347
SS Lisson 0-4 -- .209

Lerew 5 IP, 2 ER, 9 H, BB, 3 K, E -- W, 2-2, 5.66 ERA, OK night on ERA, bad night for WHIP
de la Vara 2 2/3 IP, 3 H, K -- 4.50 ERA
Hayes 1 1/3 IP, H -- SV, 1, 0.78 ERA, just gets guys out, would like to see him and Nicoll together at back of KC pen someday

*** The Naturals dug the longball on Thursday and rode it to the win over Springfield. Anthony Lerew got in trouble in the 1st as the Cards knocked 3 straight 2-out singles but Jordan Parraz kept them off the board with an assist at the plate from right to keep the game scoreless. Brian McFall went solo for his 4th homer in the 2nd but the Nats would strand 2. Lerew stranded 2 in the 3rd but allowed the tying run on 2 hits and a walk in the 4th. Jeff Howell put the Nats ahead for good in the bottom of the inning with a 3-run bomb for his 3rd of the season to make it 4-1. Lerew allowed a run on 2 hits in the 5th and the Cards threatened again off Gilbert de la Vara in the 8th as Ed Lucas threw out a runner at the plate and Chris Hayes entered the game to strand the bases full. The Nats had 2 guys thrown out at the plate in the 8th but Hayes worked around a double in the 9th to end it for his 1st save. Starter Ryan Kulik took the loss with 5 IP of 4 ER on 7 hits, 2 walks and 2 Ks to drop to 0-2 with a 6.05 ERA. Six Cards had multi-hit games led by a 3-5 night from DH Mark Hamilton, who hit his 4th double and knocked in his 12th RBI in improving to .308. LF Daryl Jones was 2-4 with his 19th RBI and a K to bump his average to .324 and 3B Brett Wallace was 2-5 with his 5th double and a RS to improve to .281.

NWA is 16-17 and 2 games back of first. Game 3 is tonight as Matt Kniginyzky (1-2, 5.79) makes the start versus Cards righty Lance Lynn (1-0, 1.69).

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Blue Rocks 4, Kinston 3

RF Lough 2-4, 2B (7), RBI (17), RS -- .294
3B Moustakas 1-4, HR (5), 2 RBI (25), K, RS -- .275
SS Bianchi 1-4, 2B (9), 2 K, RS -- .304
CF D. Robinson 0-4 -- .228
2B Giavotella 0-3, BB, RS, SB (6) -- .200, has been pretty disappointing at plate, other than that 7 RBI game
1B C. Robinson 1-3, 2 K -- .339
LF Ortiz 0-3, 2 K -- .265

Caldera 4 IP, 3 H, 5 BB, 9 K, 2 WP -- 4.36 ERA
Chavez 1 2/3 IP, ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K, 2 WP -- W, 4-1, 3.00 ERA
Villa 2 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, K -- 4.57 ERA
Hartsock 1 1/3 IP, K -- SV, 7, 0.61 ERA

*** The Rocks got the sweep by holding off a late Kinston rally. Alex Caldera walked 2 but otherwise struck out the side in the 1st and then left the bases loaded in the 2nd. Jeff Bianchi and David Lough hit back-to-back doubles to get the Rocks the lead in the 2nd and Caldera gave up a single before striking out the side again in the 4th. Two Kinston errors led to a Blue Rocks run in the 4th and Caldera was pulled after giving up a leadoff walk in the 5th. Chavez allowed a run on 2 doubles and a walk before getting pulled in the 6th and Kelvin Villa stranded 2. Mike Moustakas went long in the 6th for a 2-run shot for his 5th of the season to make it 4-1 before the Rocks left 2 on. Villa gave up 2 runs on 4 hits in the 8th before Aaron Hartsock came in to strand 2. Hartsock pitched a perfect 9th for his 7th save. K-Tribe SP Paolo Espino took the loss with 5 IP of 2 runs (1 ER) on 3 hits and a walk with 4 Ks to drop to 0-1 with a 0.90 ERA. Three Indians had 2 hits, including DH John Drennen, who was 2-5 with his first 2 doubles and a RS to move to .308. 3B Lonnie Chisenhall was 2-5 with his 9th double and 2 Ks to move to .328. 2B Cord Phelps had 2 RBI (16).

Wilmington is 16-17 and 5 games back. A 3-game set at the Lynchburg Hillcats (21-12, A-Adv. Pirates) starts tonight with Danny Duffy (4-1, 3.38) facing 'Cats lefty Chi-Hung Cheng (3-1, 4.33). The Rocks are 2-1 versus the Hillcats this season. In case you're wondering, top prospect 3B Pedro Alvarez is still with Lynchburg and is hitting around .200 with 6 HR and 26 RBI in 32 games, with a .694 OPS. And he doesn't have Eric Hosmer's excuse of being fresh outta high school in A ball.

A - Burlington: Bees 6, Kane County 3 (7/G1)

2B F. Garcia 3-3, BB, 2 RS, 2 SB (7), E (4) -- .353
SS Martin 2-3, 2B (6), 2 RBI (11), RS, E (3) -- .212
1B Hosmer 2-4, RBI (9), RS -- .245, of course, I say that about Alvarez but Hosmer isn't close to those HR and RBI ###s
CF Norris 1-3, RBI (4), SB (11) -- .207
DH Tucker 0-2, SF, RBI (6) -- .121
LF Van Stratten 1-4 -- .333
RF Francis 1-4, K, RS -- .303

Casey 5 2/3 IP, 3 UER, 3 H, 4 BB, 5 K -- W, 2-3, 2.25 ERA
Bryant 1/3 IP, 3 BB -- 3.86 ERA
Bowden IP, nothing -- SV, 4, 2.84 ERA

*** The Bees racked up the runs off SP Anthony Capra to take the first of two with Kane County Thursday. Burlington took a 2-0 lead in the 2nd on a 2-out run scoring wild pitch and a Patrick Norris RBI single. Three singles loaded the bases with none out in the Bees 3rd and Kyle Martin ripped a 2-run double before scoring on a Wilson Tucker sac fly to make it 5-0. Bryan Casey had a good start as he stranded the bases full in the 3rd and held the Cougars scoreless into the 6th. With 2 out and 1 on in the 6th, Casey allowed a single and a Martin error loaded the bases. Carson Bryant came in and walked 3 runs in before getting out of the jam with a 5-3 lead. Eric Hosmer hit an RBI single in the 7th and Barry Bowden got 3 groundouts in the bottom of the inning for his 4th save. Capra took the loss with 5 IP of 5 ER on 10 hits with 2 Ks to drop to 0-2 with a 3.09 ERA. Three KC batters had a hit each.

Kane County 3, Bees 2 (7/G2)

CF Van Stratten 2-3, BB, 2B (5), RS, picked off -- .352
1B Hosmer 1-2, 2 BB, 2B (7), 2 RBI (11) -- .250, warming up...
DH Bonilla 1-3, K -- .265
RF Francis 0-3, BB, 2 K -- .295
C McCauley 0-3 -- .179

Runion 5 IP, 2 ER, 8 H, K -- 7.88 ERA, decent start
Saito 1 1/3 IP, ER, H -- L, 1-2, 4.50 ERA

*** Hit batsmen came back to haunt the Bees in the nightcap as a walkoff single ended the game. The Bees stranded 2 in the 1st but Sam Runion stranded the bases full in the KC 2nd. Eric Hosmer hit a 2-run double in the 3rd to give the Bees the lead but Runion allowed the Cougars to tie it in the bottom of the inning on 4 hits and Fernando Garcia's 5th error. The Bees stranded runners at the corners in the 5th and Nick Van Stratten was picked off at third to end the 7th. Derrick Saito pitched a perfect 6th but hit 2 batters with 1 out in the 7th before 3B Jason Christian singled in the winning run. RP Kenny Smalley got the win with 3 scoreless IP of relief with 3 hits and 2 walks allowed with 2 Ks to improve to 4-1 with a 2.05 ERA. Starter Brett Hunter went 4 IP of 2 ER on a hit and 5 walks with 3 Ks to move his ERA to 5.91. Christian and SS Dusty Coleman had 2 hits for the Cougars. Christian had his 26th RBI, a RS, 11th SB and 6th error in improving to .279. Coleman hit 2 doubles (13) and drove in his 26th RBI in moving to .311.

The Bees are 13-19 and 7 1/2 games out. The series wraps up tonight as Blaine Hardy (2-2, 2.83) faces Cougs righty Shawn Haviland (3-1, 2.31).