Royals on the Farm 5/26

Ah, the Greinke start. An island of assurance in an ocean of uneasiness. Now back to sweating out the other 4 starters.

AAA - Omaha: rainout

Omaha is 20-24 and 4 games out. The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader today. Bruce Chen and Steve Hammond will start one game while Brandon Duckworth (2-1, 4.71) will face Grizzlies righty Matt Kinney (2-5, 6.60) in game 2. RP Victor Marte has been called up to Omaha from AA.

AA - NW Arkansas: off day

The Naturals are 22-21 and 3 games back. A 3-game home set with the Midland RockHounds (24-20, AA Athletics) starts tonight with Blake Johnson (2-3, 4.21) facing Midland righty Graham Godfrey (3-3, 4.40). Midland's roster features A's prospects SS Adrian Cardenas (came over from Phils in Blanton trade, .389 BA/1.073 OPS, 22 RS, 11 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 26 RBI, 13 BB/14 K, 3 E in 23 G/95 ABs), 1B Chris Carter (.277/.849, 38 RS, 17 2B, 5 HR, 35 RBI, 26 BB/48 K, 5/6 SB, 2 E in 44 G/177 ABs, BA is solid and it's 5th worst on team!), OF Corey Brown (.336/1.044, 21 RS, 11 2B, 2 3B, 5 HR, 24 RBI, 14 BB/29 K in 28 G/107 ABs), C Josh Donaldson (.278/.855, 32 RS, 13 2B, 4 HR, 33 RBI, 29 BB/32 K, 5 E in 41 G/151 ABs), righty Sam Demel (0-2, 0.98 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 7 saves, 1 HRA, 6 BB/17 K in 18 1/3 IP), and righty Arnold Leon (1-1, 4.35, 1.65, 1 SV, 2 HRA, 11 BB/17 K in 20 2/3 IP). Late, great comedian Chris Farley also plays for the Rockhounds but the righty pitcher has slimmed down in the afterlife to 220 lbs. Being dead, he is on the 7-day DL at the moment. Just kidding, I'm sure there are tons of Chris Farleys out there. This one is 26 and was 0-3 with an 8.18 ERA in 6 games (5 starts) and 22 1/3 IP before hitting the shelf. Midland may be sizzling on offense, but the pitching is mediocre.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Blue Rocks 1, Frederick 0

SS Bianchi 2-3, BB -- .316
RF Lough 2-3, S, K -- .336
3B Moustakas 1-3, BB, 2B (11), RBI (35), CS (3), E (11) -- .293
LF Ortiz 0-4, K -- .267, underperforms in leadoff spot again....maybe he's trying too hard
2B Giavotella 1-4, RS -- .211
1B C. Robinson 0-2, BB, K -- .305

Duffy 6 IP, 5 H, BB, 5 K -- 3.00 ERA
Villa 3 IP, H, 4 K -- W, 1-3, 3.41 ERA

*** Danny Duffy and Brian Matusz dueled to a draw but Kelvin Villa outdid RP Jake Stevens and Wilmington came out on top in the opener with the Keys. The Rocks left the bases loaded in the 2nd and Frederick stranded 2 in the 5th. Villa came in and struck out the side in the 7th and, with 2 out in the 8th, Johnny Giavotella singled and advanced to second on an error and Mike Moustakas had the gamebreaking RBI double to give the Rocks the lead. Villa pitched a perfect 9th to finish off the Keys. Stevens took the loss with an unearned run allowed on 2 hits and a walk with a K to fall to 2-1 with a 6.30 ERA. Matusz worked 7 IP of 4 hits and 2 walks allowed with 5 Ks to drop his ERA to 2.68. DH Bobby Stevens was 2-3 with his 4th double and a K to move to .309.

The Rocks are 23-22 after dropping a matinee with Frederick today as Eduardo Paulino took the loss. More on that tomorrow. Starter Everett Teaford was named the Carolina League Pitcher of the Week for May 18-24. Teaford was 2-0 with a 2.84 ERA and 10 K/1 BB in 12 1/3 IP over the week. P Jason Godin has been activated from the DL to replace Aaron Hartsock.

A - Burlington: Bees 5, Lansing 2

CF Norris 3-4, RBI (7), K, 2 SB (15) -- .211
1B Hosmer 2-4, BB, 2B (8), RBI (18), 2 K -- .246
RF Van Stratten 2-4, BB, RBI (18), RS, picked off -- .326
2B Franco 1-3, 2 S, 2B, RBI, K, RS -- .125
3B Fontaine 1-3, BB, RBI, K, RS, CS -- .111
DH Francis 1-5, K -- .324
C Bonilla 0-4, 3 K -- .240

Runion 7 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 5 K, HRA, WP -- 6.35 ERA, nice
Thompson 1 2/3 IP, H, K -- W, 1-1, 3.18 ERA

*** Sam Runion lost a shutout bid and the lead with 1 out in the 8th but the Bees responded in the 9th to win the opener with the Lugnuts. The Bees got 3 hits but no runs in the 1st thanks to a pickoff. The Bees stranded 2 in the 3rd and Runion left 2 in scoring position that inning. Patrick Norris gave the Bees the lead with a 2-out RBI single in the 4th but Antonio Jimenez was thrown out at the plate to end the inning. New Bee Chase Fontaine hit an RBI single in the 6th to make it 2-0 and the lead held into the 8th. Runion pitched well but served up a 2-run homer to LF Brian Van Kirk for his 7th of the season to tie the game in the 8th before James Thompson came in to finish the inning. With 1 on and 2 out in the 9th, Nick Van Stratten hit an RBI single and Angel Franco and Eric Hosmer hit back-to-back RBI doubles to give the Bees a 5-2 lead. Thompson stranded 1 in the 9th for the win. RP Dustin Antolin took the loss with 3 ER allowed on 3 hits and a walk with a K in 1 IP to fall to 0-1 with a 6.35 ERA. Starter John Anderson allowed an ER on 6 hits and 2 walks with 3 Ks over 4 IP to move his ERA to 3.95. 2B Justin McClanahan was 2-4 with a K to move to .294. Van Kirk had an OF assist at the plate and was 1-4 with the HR and 2 RBI (17) to drop to .278.

The Bees are 18-26. Game 2 is tonight as Manauris Baez (2-1, 3.00) takes on Lugnuts righty Josh Wells (2-4, 7.96).