Royals on the Farm 5/20

AAA - Omaha: off day

The O-Royals are 19-20 and 3 1/2 games back. A 4-game home set with the Sacramento RiverCats (22-17, AAA Athletics) starts tonight with righty Brandon Duckworth (2-1, 5.66) likely to take on 'Cats righty James Simmons (2-1, 5.56). The Sac'to roster features A's prospects lefty Gio Gonzalez (1-1, 4.44 ERA, 1.68 WHIP, 2 HRA, 20 BB/28 K in 6 starts/24 1/3 IP), SS Adrian Cardenas (.177 BA/.512 OPS, 5 2B, 6 BB/12 K, 3 E in 18 G/62 ABs), righty Vin Mazzaro (1-2, 3.16, 1.22, 2 HRA, 15 BB/32 K in 8 games (7 starts)/42 2/3 IP), and Simmons (numbers above plus 1.62 WHIP, 2 HRA, 16 BB/23 K in 7 games (6 starts)/34 IP), plus 1B Daric Barton (.209/.635, 18 RS, 8 2B, only 1 HR, 22 RBI, 19 BB/22 K, 1 E in 37 G/129 ABs). Former Cubs prospect 2B Eric Patterson is doing well for Sacramento, hitting .313/.898 with 24 RS, 9 2B, 3 3B, 3 HR, 14 RBI, 21 BB/26 K, 17/20 SB, 2 E in 35 G/134 ABs.

AA - NW Arkansas: Tulsa 5, Naturals 3

DH McFall 2-4, 2B (11), 2 RBI (28), K -- .260
C Howell 2-3, RBI (14), K, picked off runner at third -- .333
CF Dickerson 1-3, BB -- .231
2B Mertins 0-4, 2 K -- .273
RF Parraz 0-3, BB, CS (4) -- .330
SS Lisson 1-3, HBP, 2 RS, E (9) -- .210
LF Strait 0-3, BB, 2 K -- .304

Lerew 4 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 2 K -- L, 2-3, 5.77 ERA
de la Vara 2 IP, ER, 2 H, BB, K, WP -- 4.50 ERA
Nicoll 2 IP, ER, 4 H, BB, K -- 0.75 ERA
Cevette IP, H, K -- 2.84 ERA

*** The Drillers doubled up the Naturals on hits and got the win in a matinee game Wednesday. Brian McFall hit a 2-out RBI single in the 2nd to get the Naturals a lead but was thrown out at second on the play to end the inning. Tulsa responded with 2 runs off Anthony Lerew in the 3rd on 4 hits and a Mario Lisson error before stranding 2. The Drillers pushed in another run in the 4th and then 1 more in the 5th to make it 4-1. Jeff Howell hit a 2-out RBI single in the 5th before the Nats stranded 2. Chris Nicoll allowed a run in the 8th, only his 2nd ER allowed in 24 IP, to give the Drillers some insurance at 5-2. McFall hit a 2-out RBI double in the 9th but Cody Strait struck out to end it. Starter Sam Deduno got the win for Tulsa with 7 IP of 2 ER on 2 hits and 5 walks with 6 Ks to improve to 5-1 with a 2.91 ERA. RP Andrew Johnston picked up his 12th save. Five Drillers had multi-hit games led by 1B Jeff Kindel, who was 3-5 with his 19th RBI and a K to improve to .330. The Drillers executed 2 successful squeeze plays in the win.

NWA is 19-19 and 3 games back. The series wraps tonight as Matt Kniginyzky (1-3, 5.29) faces Drillers lefty Keith Weiser (1-3, 4.99).

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Blue Rocks 8, Salem 4

3B Moustakas 3-5, 2B (9), RBI (31), 2 RS -- .299, 11-game hit streak
SS Seratelli 3-5, 3B, 3 RBI (12), K -- .300
LF Orlando 2-5, 3B (3), RBI (12), K, RS -- .225
DH Ortiz 2-5, RBI (12), K -- .267
2B Giavotella 1-3, 2 BB, 3B (4), RBI (16), K, 2 RS, SB (7) -- .202
CF D. Robinson 2-5, RS, 2 SB (22), picked off -- .252, been picked off 9 TIMES
1B C. Robinson 1-4, BB, 2B (14), K, RS -- .328
* The Rocks stranded 10.

Duffy 5 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 5 K -- W, 5-1, 3.43 ERA, not the smoothest start, but a W
Villa 3 IP, UER, 2 H, BB, K -- 3.81 ERA
Sisk IP, H -- 4.60 ERA

*** Anthony Seratelli and Mike Moustakas combined for 6 hits and 4 RBI as the Rocks continued a hot streak. Moustakas hit an RBI double in the 1st and Paulo Orlando hit a 2-out RBI triple to make it 2-0 Wilmington. Danny Duffy stranded 2 Red Sox in the 1st but allowed a run in the 2nd to cut the lead in half. With 2 out and the bases loaded in the 3rd, Seratelli stepped up and ripped a 3-run triple to make it 5-1 Rocks. Duffy got nicked for 2 runs in the 4th on 4 hits but the Rocks got the runs back in the 6th on a Johnny Giavotella RBI triple and run-scoring wild pitch. Kelvin Villa allowed an unearned run in the 8th but Adrian Ortiz hit an RBI single in the 9th to finish the scoring at 8-4. Salem SP Seth Garrison took the loss with 4 1/3 IP of 5 runs (2 ER) allowed on 9 hits and 3 walks with 3 Ks to drop to 2-4 with a 5.72 ERA. Three Sox had 2 hits. CF Che-Hsuan Lin was 2-4 with 2 doubles (7) and 2 RS, stole his 6th base and had 2 OF assists as he improved his BA to .205.

The Rocks are 20-19 and 5 games back. They go for the 4-game sweep tonight as Ray Liotta (1-2, 6.41) faces Sox righty Dave McKae (1-1, 5.06).

A - Burlington: Bees 11, South Bend 3

LF Van Stratten 4-4, BB, 2B (8), 3B (2), 3 RBI (16), 2 RS, SB (6) -- .351
RF Francis 3-5, 2B (10), 3 RBI (27), 2 K, RS, picked off -- .325
C McCauley 2-4, HR, 2 RBI (9), 2 RS, E (3) -- .202
2B F. Garcia 2-4, HBP, 2B (2), RBI (4), 2 K, 2 RS -- .333
1B D. Wood 2-5, RBI (11), K, RS -- .295, has been producing consistently
CF Norris 0-3, BB, RBI (6), 2 K, RS -- .196
DH Bonilla 0-3, BB, K, RS -- .237
SS Alfaro 0-4 -- .175

Melville 6 IP, ER, 2 H, BB, 2 K -- W, 1-0, 1.50 ERA, can't complain about that debut
Bryant 3 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 3 H, 3 BB -- SV, 2, 3.65 ERA

*** Tim Melville had a great pro debut and the Bees took the opener from South Bend. Nick Francis and Sean McCauley had RBI singles in the 1st to get the Bees on top but the Silver Hawks got their only run off Melville on a walk and double in the 3rd. The Bees responded with 2 runs in the 3rd on a 2-run Francis single to make it 4-1. Melville retired the last 12 he faced and McCauley led off the Bees 6th with his 1st homer of the season to make it 5-1. Carson Bryant allowed a run in the 8th but the Bees put it away with a 6-run rally in the bottom of the inning on a bases-loaded Patrick Norris walk, a 2-out, bases-loaded triple by Nick Van Stratten, a Fernando Garcia RBI double and a David Wood RBI single that made it 11-2. Bryant allowed a run in the 9th before finishing off the win. Starter Wade Miley took the loss with 4 ER allowed on 8 hits with 4 Ks over 5 IP to drop to 1-3 with a 3.92 ERA. 3B Justin Parker was 2-4 with a run scored to move to .316 and CF Brendan Duffy had 2 RBI (10) but was 0-4 to drop to .331.

The Bees are 15-23. Game 2 is ongoing as Sam Runion (1-3, 7.88) is facing Silver Hawks righty Randy Rodriguez (0-0, 0.00). The Bees are up, 5-2, in the middle innings.