Royals on the Farm 5/23

AAA - Omaha: Sacramento 5, O-Royals 2 (12)

LF Thorman 3-5, 2B (5), HR (2), 2 RBI (6), K, RS -- .200, nice game for new guy
C House 2-5 -- .304
DH B. Pena 1-5 -- .324
1B Ka'aihue 0-5, 2 K -- .274
3B Metcalf 1-5 -- .265
RF Aldridge 0-4, BB, 2 K -- .276, hit streak snapped
CF Duarte 0-4, BB, RS -- .132

DiNardo 7 IP, 2 H, BB, 7 K, E (3) -- 3.52 ERA, another great start wasted
Yabuta IP, 2 ER, 4 H, BB, K -- 6.39 ERA
Hughes 3 IP, 2 H, BB, K -- BS, 1, 5.21 ERA
Newman IP, 3 ER, 4 H, K -- L, 1-1, 7.02 ERA

*** Lenny DiNardo had a great start but the O-Royals bullpen once again struggled and blew the lead in the 9th before losing the game in the 12th for a third extra-inning loss in a row to the Cats. Both teams left a runner at third in the 3rd and DiNardo stranded 2 River Cats in the 5th. The Royals couldn't get to Sacramento SP Dana Eveland, either, and it wasn't until RP Jerome Williams came in in the 7th that the offense showed signs of life. Newest Royal Scott Thorman slugged a 2-out, 2-run homer for his 2nd of the season and 1st as a Royal and Omaha finally had a 2-0 lead. Yasuhiko Yabuta left the bases full in the 8th and was pulled with 2 on and 0 out in the 9th. Dusty Hughes inherited the mess and loaded the bases before a single and sac fly tied the game. He stranded 2 and the Royals would strand 2 in the 10th. Josh Newman came in for the 12th and allowed 3 runs on 4 hits, including 2 doubles, and Omaha went down in order in the bottom of the inning as RP Chad Reineke earned his 2nd save. RP Ryan Webb got the win with 3 scoreless innings of relief work to improve to 5-1 with a 5.22 ERA. Eveland allowed only 3 hits and a walk with 3 Ks over 6 IP to drop his ERA to 4.84. Four River Cats had 2 hits, including 1B Daric Barton, who had his 9th double and 23rd RBI along with a run scored to improve to .210. Newly demoted CF Aaron Cunningham was 1-6 with his 7th double and 9th RBI along with 4 Ks and a run scored to drop to .333.

Omaha is 19-23 and 4 1/2 games back while on a 5-game skid. The Royals will try to avoid the sweep today as Matt Wright (0-1, 11.25) faces River Cats lefty Gio Gonzalez (1-1, 4.44). Saturday's effort makes the bullpen, I believe, 7-15 in save chances. There have been a flurry of roster moves. RP Roman Colon got added to the 40-man and called up as Robinson Tejeda hit the DL with tendinitis in his rotator cuff. IF Tug Hulett got the call as Mike Aviles was put on the DL with his forearm problems, and RP John Bale was activated from the DL without an Omaha rehab appearance as Luke Hochevar has been shipped back to Omaha after some very disappointing action for KC.

AA - NW Arkansas: Naturals 8, Arkansas 7

2B Mertins 2-4, BB, 2B (7), 2 RBI (19) -- .278
LF Lucas 2-5, 2B (2), 3B, K, RS -- .333
1B C. Smith 2-5, K, RS, E (9) -- .227
DH McFall 2-5, 3 K, RS, CS -- .272
RF Parraz 1-5, 2 RBI (21), picked off -- .328
SS Lisson 1-4, SF, RBI (17) -- .206
C Howell 1-4, 2B (5), RBI (15), RS -- .312
3B J. Johnson 1-3, BB, 2B (2), RBI (5), 2 RS, E (3) -- .220
CF Strait 0-3, BB, K, 2 RS, OF assist at home -- .294

Cortes 5 IP, 6 BB, 4 K -- W, 2-4, 3.86 ERA, strange line, 99 pitches
Sencion 1/3 IP, ER, 2 H, BB -- 4.76 ERA
Nicoll 2 2/3 IP, ER, 3 H, BB, K, WP -- 1.01 ERA
de la Vara IP, 5 R (1 ER), 4 H, BB -- 4.71 ERA

*** Gilbert de la Vara and the defense almost blew a 6-run lead in the 9th but just escaped with a win. Dan Cortes held the Travelers hitless over his 5 innings of work but still had some trouble as he left 2 in scoring position in the 2nd and left the bases loaded in the 4th. NWA broke out with 3 runs in the 5th on a Jeff Howell RBI double and 2-run Jordan Parraz single before Parraz was picked off to end the inning. Cortes worked around 2 more walks in the 5th and the Naturals squandered another potential scoring chance in the 6th when Brian McFall was caught stealing at third to end the inning. Carlos Sencion came in for the 6th and was pulled with the bases loaded and 1 out. Chris Nicoll came in and allowed only 1 runner to score before escaping the jam. The Nats got the run back in the 7th on a Kurt Mertins RBI double but Arkansas answered with a run on 2 hits and a wild pitch off Nicoll to cut the lead to 4-2. The Naturals appeared to put it away with a 4-run 8th on a Mario Lisson sac fly, a Josh Johnson RBI double, a run-scoring Arkansas error and a Mertins RBI single before stranding 2. Nicoll stranded 2 Travs in the 8th and handed the ball to de la Vara in the 9th. A Johnson throwing error was followed by a 2-run double and a 2-out Corey Smith error cost the Nats another run as the lead was trimmed to 8-5. After a walk, de la Vara gave up an RBI single and then CF Peter Bourjos ripped a double to center that scored a run, but Cody Strait came through with a big play to combine with Mertins to throw the would-be tying run out at the plate to end the game. Travs SP Trevor Reckling took his 1st AA loss with 3 ER allowed on 6 hits and 2 walks with 3 Ks over 5 IP to fall to 3-1 with a 2.12 ERA. Four Travs had 2 hits led by 1B Mark Trumbo, who hit his 6th double and drove in 2 runs (20) in improving to .221. Bourjos hit his 7th double, drove in his 17th RBI, K'd twice and scored a run in improving to .323.

The Naturals are 21-20 and 3 games back. Game 3 is tonight as Blake Johnson (2-3, 4.21) faces Angels prospect righty Jordan Walden (0-2, 6.89).

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Blue Rocks 6, Myrtle Beach 5

3B Moustakas 2-4, BB, 2 RBI (33), RS -- .295
RF Lough 2-3, 2 BB, 2B (9), RS -- .320
DH Ortiz 2-5, RS -- .282
SS Bianchi 1-5, 2 RBI (19) -- .297
C Eigsti 1-4, BB, 2 RBI (16), K -- .266
CF D. Robinson 1-5, K, RS -- .244
2B Giavotella 1-4, BB, RS, E (8) -- .206
1B C. Robinson 1-4, BB, K, E (3) -- .309
* The Rocks stranded 12.

Teaford 6 1/3 IP, 3 R (2 ER), 4 H, 5 K, 2 HRA -- W, 5-1, 2.60 ERA
Chavez 2/3 IP, K -- 3.33 ERA
Sisk IP, K -- 4.32 ERA
Hartsock IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 K -- SV, 10, 1.53 ERA

*** Everett Teaford pitched well and the Rocks bullpen also held off a late rally to even the series with Myrtle Beach. Jeff Bianchi hit an RBI forceout in the 1st and the Rocks stranded 2 but took a 1-0 lead. Both offenses were quiet into the 5th when the Rocks scored 3 runs on a 2-run Mike Moustakas single and a Bianchi RBI single to make it 4-0. Teaford had a 1-hit shutout going into the 5th but gave up a leadoff homer to 3B Donell Linares (his 5th) that inning. The Rocks left 'em loaded in the 6th but got a 2-run, 2-out, bases-loaded single from Ryan Eigsti in the 7th to get some breathing room. They would need it as Teaford gave up a 2-run homer to RF Jon Owings (his 2nd) before getting pulled in the 7th. Aaron Hartsock got the first 2 outs quickly in the 9th but then gave up 2 runs on 3 hits to cut the lead to 1 before getting a game-ending K for his 10th save. Pelicans SP Edgar Osuna took the loss with 4 ER allowed on 9 hits and 2 walks with 2 Ks over 6 IP to fall to 3-4 with a 3.86 ERA. Linares was 2-4 with his homer, 23rd RBI and 3 RS to move to .236. Owings and C Matt Kennelly had 2 RBI each. CF Jason Heyward was 1-4 with a K to drop to .282.

The Rocks are 21-21 and 6 games back. The series wraps tonight as Alex Caldera (0-2, 5.35) faces Pelicans lefty Jeff Locke (1-3, 4.26).

A - Burlington: Dayton 5, Bees 0 (3-hitter)

RF Francis 1-4, 2B (12), K -- .324
DH D. Wood 1-3, K -- .300
1B Hosmer 0-4, K -- .240
LF Van Stratten 0-3, HBP -- .330
2B F. Garcia 0-4, E (8) -- .303
CF Norris 0-3, OF assist at home -- .193

Montgomery 3 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 0 K -- L, 0-1, 3.38 ERA, rough night
Lehmann 5 1/3 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 5 H, 2 K, HRA -- 2.08 ERA

*** Mike Montgomery's 2nd A-ball start didn't go near as well as his first as the Dragons shut down the Bees in the series opener. Montgomery never settled in as the Dragons stranded 2 in the 1st and Patrick Norris made an OF assist at the plate in the 2nd to keep Dayton off the board. The Bees left a runner at third in the 2nd and Dayton broke through in the 4th with 3 runs on 3 hits off Montgomery and a 2-out, 2-run triple off Mike Lehmann in relief. The Dragons added 2 runs in the 5th on a solo homer by 2B Cody Puckett (his 8th) along with 2 more hits and a Fernando Garcia throwing error that scored an unearned run. Dayton SP Matt Fairel retired 14 of the last 15 he faced and the Bees left another runner at third in the 8th before going down quietly in the 9th. Fairel allowed only 2 hits and a walk with a K over 7 IP to improve to 3-2 with a 2.68 ERA. Puckett was 3-4 with his HR and 24th RBI and a K to improve to .286. Three other Dragons had 2 hits and SS Miguel Rojas drove in 2 runs (15).

The Bees are 16-25. Game 2 is today as Bryan Casey (2-4, 3.09) faces Dragons righty Josh Ravin (1-5, 4.95).