Royals on the Farm 5/7

AAA - Omaha: Memphis 3, O-Royals 2 (10)

LF B. Pena 2-4, RBI -- .500, Omaha '09 debut
SS Falu 2-4, K, picked off -- .280
2B Hulett 1-5, 2B (11), RBI (21), K, RS -- .305
DH Ka'aihue 1-4 -- .222
1B Shealy 1-4, 2 K -- .321
C House 1-4 -- .311
3B Metcalf 0-4, K -- .286

Hochevar 8 IP, 5 H, 0 BB, 9 K -- 0.90 ERA, wow, hell of a start to take a ND in, 97 pitches
Atencio 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 2 K -- 7.20 ERA
Hamulack 0 IP, 2 H -- BS, 1, 7.00 ERA, pen is struggling
Colon 1 1/3 IP, ER, 2 H, 2 K -- L, 2-2, 3.12 ERA

*** Luke Hochevar was at his best yet this season but came away empty handed as the O-Royals blew a 2-run lead in the 9th and lost in 10 as Memphis took 3 of 4 in the series. Hochevar struck out 5 of the first 6 he faced and stranded 2 in the 2nd. Hochevar retired 9 in a row going into the 8th. Omaha stranded 2 in the 5th off Redbirds SP Evan MacLane but otherwise were held in check until the 8th, when Tommy Murphy drew a 2-out walk and Tug Hulett hit a big RBI double to get Omaha the lead and chase MacLane from the game. Brayan Pena followed with an RBI single in his first Omaha game of the season and it was 2-0 Royals. Greg Atencio relieved Hochevar to start the 9th and had 1 on with 2 out when a single led Mike Jirschele to bring in Tim Hamulack, who allowed 2 RBI singles to blow the save before Roman Colon got the final out. Colon gave up a run on 2 hits in the 10th and RP Josh Kinney stranded 1 in the 10th for the win as he had 4 Ks in 2 IP to move to 1-0 with a 4.66 ERA. MacLane pitched 7 2/3 innings and allowed 2 ER on 7 hits and a walk with 5 Ks to drop his ERA to 4.45. DH Brandon Yarbrough and RF Mark Shorey had 3 hits each to move their respective BAs to .429 and .348 and pick up each's 1st RBI. Shorey stole his 1st base of the season and 2 others had 2 hits for Memphis. 1B Nick Stavinoha notched his 22nd RBI and 3rd error.

Omaha is 14-12 and 2 1/2 games back in a tight PCL American North. A 4-day, 5-game set with the Nashville Sounds (15-12, AAA Brewers) starts tonight. Lenny DiNardo (1-1, 3.68) faces Sounds lefty Chase Wright (1-3, 5.74) in the opener. The O-Royals are 2-1 versus Nashville in '09. IF Ed Lucas has been activated as OF Chris Lubanski was placed on the DL with his leg injury.

AA - NW Arkansas: Naturals 3, Springfield 2

2B Mertins 2-4, HR, RBI (11), K, RS -- .278
C Howell 1-2, BB, 2B (3), RBI (7), K, RS, CS -- .333
3B J. Johnson 1-3, RBI (2), K -- .227
CF Duarte 0-4 -- .278
RF Parraz 0-3, HBP, CS (3) -- .348
LF Dickerson 1-3, RS -- .253
SS McConnell 0-3, K -- .150

Cortes 6 IP, ER, 5 H, 4 BB, 8 K, E (3) -- 5.02 ERA, better
Marte 3 IP, ER, 3 H, 5 K -- W, 1-1, 2.40 ERA

*** Dan Cortes' elusive 1st win of the season slipped away once again but the Naturals got the win for RP Victor Marte. Cortes walked 2 in the 1st but stranded both and left the bases full in the 3rd. Neither team got on the board until the Cardinals rallied in the 6th for a run on 2 hits and a Cortes error. Kurt Mertins responded with a solo homer in the 7th for his 1st of the season to tie the game. The Naturals took the lead with 2 runs in the 8th on a Jeff Howell RBI double and 2-out Josh Johnson RBI single to make it 3-1. Marte allowed a triple and run in the 9th but closed the door for his 1st win of the season. Springfield SP Tyler Herron took the loss with 2 ER allowed on 3 hits and a walk with 8 Ks over 7 1/3 IP to drop to 1-2 with a 5.55 ERA. 3B Brett Wallace was 3-5 to move to .283 and 2 others had 2 hits for the Cards. C Tony Cruz was 2-4 with 2 doubles (4) and his 11th RBI and 2 K to move to .232.

NWA is 12-14 and 3 games back of first. The series wraps tonight as Blake Johnson (1-2, 4.95) returns from his DL stint to face Cards righty Trey Hearne (1-1, 3.13).

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Potomac 2, Blue Rocks 0 (3-hitter, 8/comp. Wed. game)

3B Moustakas 1-4, K -- .286
DH Ortiz 1-3, BB, 2 K -- .269
2B Giavotella 0-3, BB, K -- .228
SS Bianchi 0-3, 2 K -- .322
LF Lough 0-3 -- .308
RF Walton 1-2, HBP, K -- .308
* The Rocks turned 4 DPs.

Teaford 6 IP, 6 H, 2 BB, 8 K, WP -- 3.42 ERA, nice start
Sisk 2 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 2 K -- L, 0-2, 4.50 ERA, nice start to season has taken poor turn

*** The Rocks picked up where the game was left off in the 6th by rain Wednesday night and the offense would have a rough night as Potomac slipped by in the opener. Wilmington stranded 2 in the 1st and starter Everett Teaford got 2 double plays behind him through 3 innings. Teaford stranded 2 in the 4th and Wilmington did the same in the 5th. The game was originally set for 7 innings so the 8th was an extra inning and Brandon Sisk loaded the bases with none out in the Potomac 8th. He got a double play but couldn't tiptoe out of trouble as a walk and 2-run single by LF Jesus Valdez broke the game open. The Rocks went down in order in the bottom of the inning as RP Clint Everts pitched 3 hitless innings with 3 Ks to get the win and move to 1-0 with a 1.13 ERA. Starter William Atwood pitched 5 innings of 3 hits and 2 walks with 6 Ks to drop his ERA to 9.00. Valdez was 2-4 with 2 RBI (16) and 2 K and was caught stealing to improve to .300. RF Michael Burgess was 1-3 with a walk and 2 Ks to improve to .216.

Potomac 1, Blue Rocks 0 (5-hitter, reg. Thu. game)

C Eigsti 2-3 -- .241
RF Lough 1-4, 3 K -- .305
CF D. Robinson 1-4, 2 K -- .214
2B Giavotella 1-4, 2 K -- .229
3B Moustakas 0-4, 2 K -- .274
SS Bianchi 0-4, K, SB (6) -- .308
1B C. Robinson 0-3 -- .345
LF Ortiz 0-2, S, K -- .263

Caldera 6 IP, ER, 4 H, BB, 10 K -- L, 0-2, 4.97 ERA, very hard loss to take
Swaggerty IP, H -- 2.08 ERA
Hartsock 2 IP, 2 K -- 0.87 ERA

*** A 6th inning rally was enough to get Potomac the win and the sweep versus the Rocks as the offense again struggled. Potomac got a double off Alex Caldera in the 4th but didn't score. In the 6th, Caldera gave up a leadoff double and a 1-out single drove in the only run of the game. Wilmington stranded 2 in the 6th, 2 more in the 8th, and left the tying run at third in the 9th as RP Andrew Kown picked up his 3rd save. SP Bradley Meyers got the win with 7 IP of 3 hits and 8 Ks to move to 3-0 with a 1.16 ERA. CF Francisco Plasencia was 2-4 with his 8th double to move to .302 and Burgess was 1-3 with a K to move to .220.

The Rocks are 12-15 and 5 games back of first. A 3-game set at the Frederick Keys (10-17, A-Adv. Orioles) starts tonight. Danny Duffy (3-1, 4.21) starts the opener versus Keys lefty Brian Matusz (2-1, 3.67). The Keys roster features O's prospects Matusz (numbers above plus 1.44 WHIP, 3 HRA, 11 BB/32 K in 5 starts and 27 IP), lefty Zach Britton (0-1, 1.82 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 15 BB/27 K in 5 starts and 24 2/3 IP), OF Billy Rowell (.302 BA/.816 OPS, 15 RS, 8 2B, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 10 BB/26 K, 3 E in 26 games/96 ABs), 2B Ryan Adams (.360/.888, 4 BB/7 K, 2 E in 7 games/25 ABs), righty Pedro Beato (1-3, 4.74, 1.58, 5 HRA, 10 BB/22 K in 5 starts and 24 2/3 IP) and C Caleb Joseph (.310/.746, 8 RS, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 0 BB/12 K, 3 E in 18 games/71 ABs).

A - Burlington: Bees 12, Wisconsin 8

Hosmer DNP
LF Van Stratten 4-6, 2B (2), HR, 7 RBI (9), RS, SB (2) -- .321, what a return from DL
1B D. Wood 1-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI (4), 2 RS -- .250
C McCauley 2-5, RBI (5), K, RS, 2 E -- .171
DH Bonilla 2-5, RBI (8), K, RS, picked off -- .196
3B Martin 2-5, 2B (4), 2 K, RS -- .185
RF Francis 1-2, 3 BB, 2B (6), 2 RS, SB (7) -- .292
SS Alfaro 1-5, 2 RS -- .188
CF Norris 1-4, BB, 2 K, 2 RS, SB (9) -- .215

Z. Peterson 5 1/3 IP, 6 R (3 ER), 8 H, 2 BB, K, 2 HRA -- W, 3-1, 3.10 ERA
B. Hardy IP, 2 R (1 ER), H, HRA -- 2.66 ERA
Thompson 1 2/3 IP, 2 H, BB, 2 K -- 4.50 ERA
Bowden IP, H, BB, 3 K -- 3.09 ERA

*** A 6-run 5th did the trick for the Bees as they took the 3-game set with the Timber Rattlers. The Bees left 2 in scoring position in the 1st but jumped ahead with 2 in the 2nd on a 2-out, 2-run single by Nick Van Stratten. David Wood slammed a 2-run homer in the 3rd for his 1st of the season to make it 4-0 but Wisconsin tied it in the 4th off Zach Peterson on a solo homer by 1B Brock Kjeldgaard (his 5th) and a 2-out, 3-run homer by LF Michael Vass (his 2nd). The Bees loaded the bases with none out in the 5th and got 2 runs on a Sean McCauley single and accompanying T-Rat error, another run on a Jose Bonilla RBI single, and a 2-out, 3-run homer by Van Stratten for his 1st of the season to make it 10-4. Blaine Hardy came in with 2 on and 1 out in the 6th and allowed a sac fly and then a 2-run homer by RF Cutter Dykstra (his 1st) to cut the lead to 10-7. Van Stratten came through with a 2-run double in the 7th for his 6th and 7th RBI of the game and the Bees had more breathing room. James Thompson allowed an RBI single in the 7th but he and Barry Bowden stranded 2 in both the 8th and 9th to finish it. Rattlers SP Trey Watten took the loss with 4 IP of 8 runs (4 ER) on 9 hits, 3 walks and a K to fall to 1-4 with a 5.76 ERA. Five T-Rats had 2 hits as Vass drove in 4 runs (7) and made his 2nd error to move to .246 with a 2-3 game. 2B Brett Lawrie was 2-4 with a walk and his 20th RBI along with his 6th error to move to .330.

The Bees are 9-17. A 3-game set at the Great Lakes Loons (15-12, A Dodgers) starts tonight with Bryan Casey (0-3, 2.81) facing Loons righty Ethan Martin (3-0, 1.29). The Loons roster features LA prospects Martin (top prospect in LA minors, stats above plus 0.95 WHIP, 7 BB/28 K in 5 games (4 starts) and 21 IP), SS Devaris Gordon (Tom's son, .333 BA/.840 OPS, 20 RS, 3 2B, 4 3B, HR, 10 RBI, 8 BB/21 K, 14/16 SB, 12 E in 26 games/111 ABs), 3B Austin Gallagher (.294/.736, 13 RS, 6 2B, HR, 16 RBI, 9 BB/21 K, 2 E in 26 games/102 ABs), righty Justin Miller (2-1, 5.53, 1.52, 2 HRA, 9 BB/13 K in 5 starts and 27 2/3 IP), OF Kyle Russell (.330/1.040, 22 RS, 9 2B, 6 HR, 26 RBI, 14 BB/25 K in 27 games/97 ABs) and righties Nathan Eovaldi (1-3, 6.14, 1.77, 9 BB/14 K in 5 starts and 22 IP) and Javy Guerra (1-1, 1.84, 0.75, 7 saves, 1 HRA, 4 BB/20 K in 11 games and 14 2/3 IP). P Brent Fisher was placed on the DL to make room for Van Stratten. IF Alwin Perez has also been released.