Royals on the Farm 5/15

AAA - Omaha: O-Royals 9, Salt Lake 8

DH B. Pena 2-4, BB, 2B (2), 3 RBI (10), 2 RS -- .366
C House 2-4, BB, RBI (19) -- .323
RF Aldridge 2-4, SF, RBI (22), K, RS -- .277
2B Hulett 2-3, BB, S, 2 RS, SB (3) -- .298
LF Murphy 2-4, BB, 2B (4), K, RS, SB (11), CS (2) -- .215
1B Ka'aihue 1-4, BB, HR (6), 2 RBI (21), 2 K, 2 RS -- .250
SS Falu 1-4, BB, SF, RBI (14), K -- .267
3B Metcalf 1-4, S, K -- .290
CF Duarte 1-4, BB, K, RS -- .250
* Omaha stranded 10.

Duckworth 5 IP, 8 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 3 K, 3 HRA, E -- 5.66 ERA
Atencio 4 IP, 3 H, 5 K, WP -- W, 2-1, 5.50 ERA

*** The Royals blew an 8-1 lead but pulled out the victory to avert the sweep at the hands of the Bees. Omaha jumped on Salt Lake SP Dan Denham as Brayan Pena hit an RBI single and Kila Ka'aihue smoked a 2-run homer for his 6th of the season in the 1st to make it 3-0 Royals. Brandon Duckworth got dinged on a solo shot by 1B Freddy Sandoval (his 3rd) in the 1st but Omaha pushed across 2 runs in the 3rd on a Pena RBI double and J.R. House RBI single to make it 5-1. The Royals loaded the bases to start the 4th and chase Denham from the game before Irving Falu hit a sac fly off Fernando Rodriguez and Pena hit an RBI forceout that scored 2 runs thanks to a Bees error to make it 8-1. Duckworth gave up a 3-run homer to 2B Sean Rodriguez in the bottom of the 4th for his 12th of the season and Salt Lake was back within striking distance. Duckworth got hammered again in the 5th as a 3-run homer by 3B Brandon Wood (his 9th) capped a 4-run rally to tie the game. RP Francisco Rodriguez came in for the 7th for Salt Lake and a Cory Aldridge sac fly helped Omaha regain a 9-8 lead. Omaha left 'em loaded in the 8th and Greg Atencio capped 4 scoreless IP by stranding 1 in the 9th for the win. Francisco "Not K-Rod" Rodriguez took the loss with an ER allowed on a hit and 2 walks with a K over an IP to drop to 2-1 with a 1.71 ERA. Denham allowed 8 runs (7 ER) on 9 hits and a walk over 3 IP to bump his ERA to 4.46. Wood was 2-4 with his homer and 3 RBI (18), a K and 2 RS to improve to .354, LF Chris Pettit was 2-5 with his 26th RBI and 10th SB to make his BA .414 and Sean Rodriguez was 1-3 with a walk, his HR, 3 RBI (36), a K and RS to improve to .256.

The O-Royals are 18-17 and 1 1/2 games back of first. A 4-game set at the Colorado Springs Sky Sox (20-14, AAA Rockies) starts tonight as Bruce Chen (1-1, 4.64) faces Sox righty Brandon Hynick (2-3, 5.79). The Sox roster features Rockies prospects 2B Eric Young Jr. (.295 BA/.768 OPS, 27 RS, 7 2B, 2 3B, 9 BB/20 K, 19/23 SB, 4 E in 30 games/122 ABs), Hynick (numbers above plus 1.41 WHIP, 5 HRA, 8 BB/19 K in 6 starts and 32 2/3 IP, 1 complete-game shutout), righty Greg Reynolds (0-0, 10.38 ERA, 2.08 WHIP, 3 BB/3 K in only 1 start and 4 1/3 IP, on DL), and OF Carlos Gonzalez (.339/1.061, 29 RS, 9 2B, 6 3B, 5 HR, 40 RBI (!), 17 BB/22 K, 2 E in 32 G/124 ABs). A few former Royals are on the squad, including Cs Sal Fasano and Paul Phillips, and RP Joel Peralta.

AA - NW Arkansas: Springfield 5, Naturals 4

CF Strait 2-4, 2 2B (7), RBI (10), RS -- .318
C Howell 2-4, RBI (11) -- .317
1B C. Smith 1-4, HR (6), 2 RBI (20), K, RS -- .246, tied Nats record with 13-game hit streak
LF Dickerson 1-4, RS -- .234
2B Mertins 1-4, 2 K -- .262
RF Parraz 0-3, BB, K -- .337
SS Lisson 0-3, BB, E (8) -- .203

Kniginyzky 6 IP, 5 R (2 ER), 6 H, BB, 4 K -- L, 1-3, 5.29 ERA
Nicoll 2 IP, 4 K -- 0.41 ERA
Bale IP, BB, K -- 2.45 ERA

*** A late Naturals rally fell short as Springfield earned at least a split of the 4-game set. Matt Kniginyzky and Lance Lynn were in a scoreless duel going into the 5th when the Cards broke out with 3 runs on 3 doubles and a Mario Lisson error that caused all 3 runs to be unearned. Springfield pushed across 2 more in the 6th on 3 hits and a hit batsman to make it 5-0. Corey Smith extended his hit streak with a 2-run homer in the 6th for his 6th of the season and NWA cut it to 5-3 in the 7th on a Jeff Howell RBI single. Cody Strait hit a 2-out RBI double in the 9th to cut the lead to 1 but Howell lined out to end the game as RP Francisco Samuel got his 9th save. Lynn got the win with 2 ER allowed on 4 hits and 2 walks with 3 Ks over 6 IP to improve to 2-0 with a 2.16 ERA. RF Tyler Henley was 2-4 with his 7th double, a K and RS to improve to .313 and LF Daryl Jones was 1-5 with his 8th double and 20th RBI with 2 K to drop to .319.

The Naturals are 16-18 and 3 games back. The series wraps tonight as Blake Wood (1-2, 6.83) faces Cards righty Brandon Dickson (2-2, 4.18).

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Lynchburg 6, Blue Rocks 4 (10)

LF Lough 2-4, RBI (18), K -- .302
RF Walton 2-4, SB -- .296
3B Moustakas 1-5, RBI (26) -- .272
CF Orlando 1-4, RBI (11), K, RS -- .206
C Eigsti 1-4, RBI (11) -- .247
DH Ortiz 0-5, K -- .252, gets shot in leadoff, this is how he responds
2B Giavotella 1-5, 2B (5), RS -- .200
SS Bianchi 1-3, 2 BB, 2 RS, 2 SB (8) -- .305
1B C. Robinson 1-4 -- .336

Duffy 5 IP, ER, 4 H, BB, 3 K, pickoff -- 3.16 ERA, not a long start, but worthy of a W
R. Hardy 1 1/3 IP, 2 H -- 11.25 ERA
Sisk 2 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 3 K, HRA -- BS, 3, 4.91 ERA, tough stretch continues
Abreu 0 IP, 2 ER, H, BB, HRA -- L, 0-1, 27.00 ERA

*** Hillcats 3B Pedro Alvarez took my criticism to heart and ended the game with a walkoff homer in the 10th as Lynchburg got a comeback win. Mike Moustakas hit an RBI single in the 1st but the Rocks stranded 2. Danny Duffy gave up a run in the 2nd on 2 hits and a walk before stranding 2, but the Rocks surged back ahead with 2 runs in the 4th on RBI singles by Paulo Orlando and Ryan Eigsti but the Rocks again stranded 2. Jeff Bianchi drew a 2-out walk in the 8th, stole second and scored on a David Lough single to make it 4-1 Rocks. With 2 out and 2 on in the 8th, the Hillcats got a big hit as RF Miles Durham hit a 3-run inside-the-park homer for his 3rd of the season to tie the game as Jamar Walton made a mistimed dive in right. Juan Abreu came on to pitch the 10th for Wilmington and gave up a walk then a 2-run homer to Alvarez (his 7th) to end the game. RP Michael Dubee pitched a perfect 10th for the win to move to 1-1 with a 2.33 ERA. Starter Chi-Hung Cheng pitched 5 2/3 innings of 3 ER allowed on 7 hits and a walk with a K to move his ERA to 4.41. LF Jared Keel was 4-4 with his 3rd double and 5th RBI to move to .303, Durham was 2-4 with the HR and 3 RBI (25) but was also picked off as his BA rose to .289, and Alvarez was 2-5 with the HR, 2 RBI (28), his 11th error and a K to improve to .208.

The Rocks are 16-18 and 6 games out. Game 2 is tonight as Eduardo Paulino (1-0, 6.63) faces former Royal farmhand now Lynchburg lefty Paul Mildren (1-3, 6.08).

A - Burlington: Kane County 3, Bees 2

LF D. Wood 2-4, 2B (4), RBI (9) -- .259
SS Martin 0-4, RBI (12), E (4) -- .200
RF Van Stratten 1-3, BB, 2B (6), K, RS, CS (2) -- .351
1B Hosmer 1-3, BB, 2 K, SB -- .253
C McCauley 1-3, S, K -- .184
DH Bonilla 0-4, K -- .250
CF Norris 0-2, BB, K -- .202

B. Hardy 5 IP, ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 K -- 2.67 ERA
J. Garcia IP, 2 R (1 ER), 3 H, K -- BS, 1, L, 1-1, 5.40 ERA
Thompson 2 IP, 2 BB, 2 K -- 4.24 ERA

*** The Bees struck in the 1st then were stymied the rest of the game as Kane County got a comeback victory. With 1 out and 2 on in the Bees 1st, Kyle Martin hit an RBI groundout followed by a David Wood RBI double to make it 2-0 Burlington. Blaine Hardy allowed a run on 2 hits in the bottom of the 1st and then a 4 1/2 inning scoreless stretch began. The Bees stranded 2 in the 3rd and Hardy left 2 in scoring position in the 5th. Justin Garcia came in to pitch the 6th and allowed 2 runs on 3 hits and a Martin throwing error as the Cougars took the lead. Eric Hosmer was on second with 1 out in the 8th when Martin lined into a double play and, in the ensuing argument, Bees manager Jim Gabella got tossed. The Bees stranded 1in the 9th as RP Jamie Richmond picked up his 3rd save. RP Jason Ray got the win with a scoreless inning of work to move to 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA. Starter Shawn Haviland allowed 2 ER on 6 hits and 2 walks with 5 Ks over 5 IP to move his ERA to 2.48. CF Mitchell LeVier and DH Jeremy Barfield had 2 hits for Kane County. Barfield hit his 1st double and drove in his 11th run to improve to .354.

The Bees are 13-20 and 8 1/2 games back. A 4-game home set with the Cedar Rapids Kernels (16-18, A Angels) starts tonight as Manauris Baez (1-1, 3.68) battles Kernels righty Manaurys Correa (1-2, 5.87). The Kernels roster features Halos prospects lefty Will Smith (0-1, 6.00 ERA, 1.73 WHIP, 2 HRA, 5 BB/18 K in 4 starts/15 IP), righty Tyler Chatwood (1-2, 2.45, 1.27, 1 HRA, 16 BB/20 K in 4 starts/22 IP), Correa (stats above plus 1.60 WHIP, 6 HRA, 12 BB/16 K in 6 starts/30 2/3 IP), righty Ryan Chaffee (1-1, 3.43, 1.19, 2 HRA, 12 BB/16 K in 4 starts/21 IP), righty Michael Kohn (2-0, 0.92, 1 SV, 0.71 WHIP, HRA, 5 BB/28 K in 14 games/19 2/3 IP), and 1B Gabe Jacobo (.258 BA/.710 OPS, 15 RS, 6 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 17 RBI, 9 BB/27 K, 2 E in 32 games/120 ABs).