Royals on the Farm 6/17

Leave it to the Royals to enter bizarro world where, now, everybody BUT Greinke wins their starts. Still, it's been a good run versus the NL.

AAA - Omaha: O-Royals 4, New Orleans 3

LF Thorman 3-5, HR (11), 3 RBI (26), RS -- .294, what a turnaround

RF Aldridge 3-4, SF, eventual GW RBI (30), K -- .275

3B Metcalf 2-4, BB, 2B (13), E (7) -- .259

CF Murphy 2-4, E (4), OF assist at second -- .217

1B Ka'aihue 0-3, 2 BB, 2 RS -- .271, been ho-hum year for Kila thus far

DH House 0-5, 2 K -- .264

SS Lisson 1-4, K, E (3) -- .227

* The Royals stranded 12 and were 2-14 with RISP.

Ponson 2 IP, H, 2 K -- 0.00 ERA

Hamulack 3 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 2 K -- 7.81 ERA

Hayes 4 IP, ER, 4 H, K -- BS, 1, W, 1-0, 2.61 ERA, first AAA win

*** As in Tuesday's game with the Zephyrs, the O-Royals took a 1st inning lead only to blow it. This time, tho, they hung in and won it in the 9th. Scott Thorman hit a 1-out, 3-run homer for his 11th of the season in the 1st and Omaha had a 3-0 lead on Zephyrs SP Clay Hensley. Omaha would strand 2 in that inning and in the 3rd. Sidney Ponson pitched 2 good innings of rehab work and Tim Hamulack entered the game in the 3rd only to allow 2 runs on 4 hits. Tommy Murphy made an error in center on the final hit but recovered to nail a runner at second to end the rally. Hamulack settled down and Chris Hayes took over in the 6th. A double and run-scoring Mario Lisson error tied the game and it was still tied at 3 into the 9th. RP Levale Speigner took over for the Zephyrs in the 9th and loaded the bases with none out. Cory Aldridge stepped up with 1 out and hit a sac fly to center to give Omaha the lead before the Royals stranded 2. Hayes gave up 2 2-out singles in the bottom of the 9th before closing the door for his 1st AAA victory. Speigner took the loss to fall to 3-2 with a 3.06 ERA. Hensley worked 5 2/3 IP of 3 ER allowed on 9 hits and 3 walks with 2 Ks to move his ERA to 4.08. RF Jai Miller was 3-4 with his 12th double and an OF assist at first to move to .288 and CF Cameron Maybin was 2-4 with a K, RS, and was caught stealing in improving to .301. 1B John Lindsey drove in 2 runs to make it 44 RBI on the season, and committed his 5th error.

The Royals are 26-40. A 4-game set at the Albuquerque Isotopes (32-34, AAA Dodgers) starts tonight as Robinson Tejeda makes a AAA rehab start versus Isotopes lefty Steven Randolph (2-2, 6.40). Omaha is 5-3 versus the 'Topes.

AA - NW Arkansas: Tulsa 11, Naturals 2

2B Mertins 2-3, BB, 2 RS -- .302

RF Parraz 2-3, BB, 2B (16) -- .354

DH McFall 0-2, HBP, SF, RBI (37) -- .250

3B-1B Lucas 0-4, RBI (19), 2 K -- .245

CF Duarte 1-5, K, picked off, E (2) -- .263

SS McConnell 0-4, K -- .218

Cortes 4 2/3 IP, 4 R (3 ER), 6 H, 4 BB, 4 K, 2 E (5) -- L, 4-6, 4.26 ERA

Nicoll 2/3 IP, 4 R (3 ER), 3 H, BB -- 4.33 ERA, great start to season is gone

Sencion 1 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, BB, K, HRA -- 6.06 ERA

Hartsock 2 IP, K -- 4.38 ERA, nice

*** The Drillers churned out 10 runs from the 5th through the 7th and walked away with the series finale. Dan Cortes loaded the bases in the 1st and allowed 1 run before stranding 2. The Naturals loaded the bases with 1 out in their half of the first as well and got a sac fly from Brian McFall to tie it before stranding 2. Cortes loaded the bases with none out in the 2nd but Cortes wriggled out of the tight spot. The Nats stranded 2 in the 3rd and Cortes stranded 2 more in the 4th before the Drillers finally got to him for 3 more runs in the 5th on 3 hits and Cortes' 2nd error of the game. Tulsa scored 4 runs off Chris Nicoll and Carlos Sencion in the 6th on 4 hits and a walk and sac flies to make it 8-1. Sencion gave up a 3-run homer to DH Jeff Kindel (his 3rd) in the 7th to make the lead 11-1 and the Naturals got their other run in the 8th on an Ed Lucas RBI forceout before stranding the bases full. Starter Keith Weiser got the win for Tulsa with 6 IP of an ER allowed on 3 hits, 4 walks and 5 Ks to improve to 5-5 with a 4.24 ERA. Four Drillers had multiple hit games, including a 3-6 day from Kindel, who had his homer, 4 RBI (31), a K and 3 RS to move to .294. SS Danny Sandoval was 3-6 with a K, his 1st SB and 2 RS to move to .318 and LF Cole Garner was 3-4 with a sac fly, his 7th SB, 2 doubles (11) and 2 RBI (26) to move to .310. Two other Tulsa batters had 2 RBI.

The Naturals are 33-31 and 2 games back of Springfield. This makes the 4-game set at the Springfield Cardinals (35-29) starting tonight rather pivotal. Anthony Lerew (4-3, 4.31) faces Cards righty Lance Lynn (5-2, 3.86). The Naturals are 7-5 versus the Cards. SS Jeff Bianchi has gotten the call to AA after hitting .301 in Wilmington. In return, IF Josh Johnson has gotten sent down to A-Advanced after struggling this season in his first taste of the Texas League. C Jeff Howell has been put on the DL with a broken thumb. Matt Kniginyzky has been moved to the bullpen in favor of newest Natural Everett Teaford.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Blue Rocks 7, Potomac 5 (10)

RF Lough 2-5, HR (4), RBI (25), RS, picked off -- .338

3B Moustakas 1-5, HR (8), 3 RBI (42), RS -- .272, ended 28-game HR drought

CF D. Robinson 2-4, BB, 2B (10), 2 RS, CS (9) -- .233

LF Orlando 2-5 -- .214

SS Bianchi 1-4, SF, RBI (28), E (6) -- .300, farewell, Wilmington

DH Walton 0-3, SF, RBI (13), 2 K -- .266

2B-1B Seratelli 1-4, S, 3B (2), 2 K, 2 RS, E (7) -- .307

1B C. Robinson 0-1, HBP -- .295

2B Giavotella 0-0, BB, S, RS -- .220

Duffy 5 2/3 IP, 5 R (3 ER), 9 H, 6 K, HRA, pickoff, WP -- 2.85 ERA, not his best start

Z. Peterson 1 1/3 IP, 2 H -- 0.00 ERA

Sisk 2 IP, H, 2 K -- W, 2-2, 2.60 ERA

Abreu IP, BB, 2 K -- SV, 6, 2.19 ERA

*** The Rocks came back from a 5-2 7th inning deficit to force extras and win it in 10. Mike Moustakas hit an RBI groundout in the 1st but Potomac matched the run on a Jeff Bianchi error, two steals and an RBI double in the bottom of the inning off Danny Duffy. Moustakas led off the 4th with his 8th homer of the season but Duffy gave up a 2-run homer to RF Aaron Seuss (his 1st) to swing the lead to the Nationals in the 5th. Duffy was pulled with 2 out and the bases loaded in the 6th and Zach Peterson allowed a 2-run single aided by an Anthony Seratelli error at second to make it 5-2 P-Nats. David Lough led off the 7th with his 4th homer of the season and Jamar Walton added a sac fly later in the inning to cut the lead to 5-4. Seratelli led off the 8th with a triple and scored on a Moustakas groundout to tie the game and it went to the 10th. With 1 out and runners at second and third, a Jeff Bianchi sac fly ended up scoring 2 runs as Seratelli scored from second. Juan Abreu pitched a good 10th for his 6th save. RP Jesse Estrada blew his 1st save and took the loss with 3 runs (1 ER) allowed on 3 hits and a walk over 3 IP to fall to 0-1 with a 1.13 ERA. Starter Will Atwood worked 5 2/3 IP of 2 runs (1 ER) allowed on 5 hits with 5 Ks to move his ERA to 5.46. Seuss was 3-4 with his homer and 3 RBI (6) to move to .229 and two other Nationals had 2 hits. CF Boomer Whiting stole 3 bases (29) and made his 1st error.

The Rocks are 37-28. They end the first half with a 5-game home set versus the Winston-Salem Dash (35-29, A-Adv. ChiSox, CL South first-half champs). The series starts tonight as Alex Caldera (1-4, 6.36) faces Dash righty Levi Maxwell (1-8, 5.51). Wilmington is 5-4 versus the Dash.

A - Burlington: Bees 8, Wisconsin 6

3B Fontaine 3-4, 2B (3), 3 RBI (9), K -- .253

1B D. Wood 2-4, RBI (22), K, 2 RS -- .261

C McCauley 2-4, RBI (12), 2 RS -- .223

2B F. Garcia 2-4, 3B (2), RBI (10), K -- .288

LF Van Stratten 1-4, HBP, RBI (25), RS, CS (5) -- .343

RF Francis 1-4, RBI (38), 3 K, RS -- .277

CF Dyson 0-5, 2 K, RS, SB (9) -- .340

DH Hosmer 0-3, 2 BB, K, RS -- .250

Lehmann 5 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, BB, 4 K -- 4.60 ERA

Baez 1 1/3 IP, 4 R (2 ER), 2 H, 3 BB, WP -- 3.61 ERA

Bowden 2 2/3 IP, H, 2 BB, K -- W, 1-2, 2.15 ERA

*** A crazy 7th saw 9 runs scored and the Bees come out ahead in an 8-6 victory. Wisconsin scored a run off Mike Lehmann in the 1st but the Bees tied it in the 2nd on a Fernando Garcia RBI single before stranding 2. Wisconsin added a run on 3 hits in the 5th but Nick Van Stratten singled in a run in the bottom of the frame to tie it at 2. Chase Fontaine put the Bees up with an RBI single in the 6th but the Rattlers struck for 4 runs in the 7th on 2 hits, 2 walks, and a hit batsman off Manauris Baez and Barry Bowden to take a 6-3 lead. Van Stratten reached on a 2-out error in the Bees 7th and the floodgates opened, as Nick Francis, David Wood and Sean McCauley hit consecutive RBI singles and Fontaine ripped a go-ahead 2-run double to make it 8-6. Bowden stranded 2 in the 8th but pitched a perfect 9th for his 1st win of the season. RP Cody Scarpetta took the loss for Wisconsin with 1 2/3 IP of 6 runs (1 ER) on 5 hits and a walk with 3 Ks to drop to 1-6 with a 3.99 ERA. Starter Efrain Nieves allowed 2 ER on 5 hits and a walk with 6 Ks over 5 IP to move his ERA to 5.88. RF Chris Dennis was 2-5 with a K, his 14th double and 17th RBI to move to .330. Five other Rattlers drove in a run each.

The Bees are 28-38. They end the first half with a 4-game set at the Peoria Chiefs (35-30, A Cubs) starting tonight with Mike Montgomery (1-1, 2.10) facing Chiefs righty Chris Archer (2-2, 2.18). The Bees are 1-2 versus the Chiefs.

The Royals have also signed 8th round righty Dusty Odenbach out of UConn.