Royals on the Farm 6/21 & 6/22

Remember when the battle cry for Baird apologists was "Wait 'til '08"? Yeah, it didn't happen in 2008. Nor will it happen in 2009, from the looks of things. Now we can have a new group saying "Wait 'til 2011!" Sorry, but my patience is wearing thin.

AAA - Omaha: Albuquerque 5, O-Royals 4 (12/Sun.)

1B Ka'aihue 2-4, BB, 2 HR (10), 2 RBI (31), K, 2 RS -- .267
LF Thorman 2-4, BB, HR (12), RBI (27), K, RS -- .307
2B Falu 2-5, BB, RBI (20), CS (4) -- .262
RF Murphy 2-4, BB, RS, SB (16) -- .228
C House 0-6 -- .269
3B Metcalf 0-5, BB, 4 K -- .245, golden sombrero
SS Lisson 0-4, S, 2 K -- .200
* Omaha turned 4 DPs.

Ponson 5 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, BB, HRA -- 2.57 ERA
Hayes 3 IP, ER, 2 H, K -- 2.70 ERA
Marte 1 1/3 IP, ER, 4 H, BB, 2 K -- BS, 2, 3.55 ERA
Atencio 2 IP, ER, 2 H, 3 K, WP -- L, 2-7, 6.34 ERA, think it's time for him to go elsewhere

*** Simply put, the Omaha bullpen stinks. The Royals blew yet another game in the 9th and Albuquerque won in 12 to take 3 of 4 in the set. Irving Falu hit an RBI single in the 2nd and Kila Ka'aihue popped his 9th homer of the year in the 3rd to make it 2-0 O-Royals. Sidney Ponson pitched well into the 5th but gave up a leadoff homer to former Royals OF prospect DH Dee Brown (his 13th) and another run on 3 hits tied the game at 2. Omaha left the bases loaded in the 6th and stranded 2 in the 7th before Chris Hayes allowed a run on a hit batsman (Brown) and 2 hits to make it 3-2 Isotopes. The longball erased the deficit in the 8th as Scott Thorman hit his 12th of the season to tie it and Ka'aihue made it back-to-back shots with his 10th of the season and 2nd of the game to give Omaha a 4-3 lead. Victor Marte came in to try and finish it in the 9th but gave up a 1-out single to Brown and another single and sac fly tied the game before Marte stranded 2 despite his 2nd blown save. Omaha didn't have a hit after the 8th and Greg Atencio gave up a 1-out single, steal and walkoff single to SS Chin-lung Hu to end it in the 12th. RP Henry Bonilla pitched a perfect 12th for the win to move to 3-5 with a 4.29 ERA. RP Will Ohman pitched a scoreless 1st in a rehab appearance. Former big deal Jason Schmidt allowed 2 ER over 5 IP to move his ERA to 4.70. Four Isotopes had multi-hit games. LF Luis Maza was 3-4 with a walk and 2 RBI (20) to move to .267. Brown was 2-3 with the homer, his 45th RBI and 2 RS to move to .308.

off day Monday

The O-Royals are 27-43. A 4-game set at the Memphis Redbirds (32-38, AAA Cards) starts tonight with Heath Phillips (3-6, 6.69) facing Memphis righty Mitch Boggs (2-3, 5.35). C John Suomi has been called up to Omaha after hitting over .300 with some pop in AA.

AA - NW Arkansas: Springfield 4, Naturals 3 (Sun.)

1B C. Smith 1-4, HR (13), RBI (46), 3 K, RS -- .245
CF Duarte 0-3, 2 BB, RBI (13), picked off -- .249
PH Suomi 1-1, RBI (18) -- .319
RF Parraz 1-4, K -- .354
2B Mertins 1-4 -- .304
SS Bianchi 0-4, K -- .417
C Clark 1-3, 2B (2), K, E -- .324

B. Wood 6 IP, 3 R (2 ER), 5 H, 2 BB, 5 K -- L, 2-6, 5.27 ERA
Swaggerty 2 IP, ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K -- 1.69 ERA

*** Springfield won a neck-and-neck game. The Naturals stranded 2 in the 3rd and Blake Wood allowed 2 runs that inning on 3 hits and a walk to spot the Cards a 2-0 lead. Jose Duarte got the Naturals on the board with an RBI groundout in the 5th and Corey Smith tied it in the 6th with his 13th homer of the season. Springfield regained the lead in the bottom of the inning as an RBI double made it 3-2. A walk and 2 hits scored another run in the 8th but Ben Swaggerty stranded the bases loaded. John Suomi hit a pinch-hit RBI single with 2 out in the 9th but there would be no rally as Duarte lined out and give RP Francisco Samuel his 17th save. Starter Trey Hearne worked 7 IP of 2 ER on 6 hits and 3 walks with 6 Ks to move to 7-1 with a 2.96 ERA. 2B Dan Descalso was 2-4 with his 24th double and 2 RBI (43) to move to .329. RF Tyler Henley stole his 5th base, walked twice and scored twice as he was 0-1 to drop to .325.

Naturals 12, Tulsa 4 (Mon.)

LF Lucas 5-6, 2B (5), 2 RS, SB (8), picked off -- .291
CF-RF Strait 3-5, 2 2B (18), 2 RBI (22), RS, SB (9) -- .288
RF Parraz 2-3, BB, HR (7), 2 RBI (42), RS -- .358, pulled for pinch runner in 6th
SS Bianchi 2-5, 2 RBI (3), K, 2 RS -- .412
1B C. Smith 2-5, 2B (11), 2 RBI (48), 2 RS -- .248
C V. Wilson 3-5, 2B (2), HR, RBI (3), RS -- .571
DH Suomi 0-3, BB, SF, RBI (19) -- .311
3B Mertins 0-6, RBI (31), K, RS -- .297
2B McConnell 1-5, K, RS -- .211

Cortes 6 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 4 K, HRA -- W, 5-6, 4.28 ERA
Nicoll 2 IP, ER, 2 H, BB, 2 K, 2 WP -- 4.34 ERA
Holland IP, BB -- 2.53 ERA

*** A 6-run rally put the game away for NWA. Jordan Parraz went solo in the 1st for his 7th homer of the season and Vance Wilson did likewise for the 1st time this season in the 2nd to make it 2-0 NWA. Dan Cortes allowed a run on 2 hits in the 2nd but NWA answered with 2 runs in the 3rd on a Corey Smith RBI double and Jeff Bianchi RBI single to stretch the lead to 4-1. Cody Strait stole home on a double steal with Ed Lucas in the 4th but Cortes allowed a run in the bottom of the inning to make it 5-2. NWA left the bases full in the 5th but went to work on RP Xavier Cedeno in the 6th. A run-scoring error started the big rally before Parraz singled home a run, another error scored a run to make it 8-2, Bianchi singled home a run, and Cody Strait smacked a 2-run double to stretch it to 11-2. Cortes allowed a leadoff homer to C Mike McKenry (his 8th) in the 7th and was pulled for Chris Nicoll. John Suomi hit a sac fly in the 8th and Nicoll allowed a meaningless run in the 8th before Greg Holland finished it. SP Greg Smith went 3 1/3 IP of 5 ER allowed on 8 hits and a K to fall to 0-1 with a 13.50 ERA. CF Anthony Jackson and DH Mike Paulk had 2 hits each for Tulsa. Jackson also stole his 14th base.

The Naturals are 36-33 and 1 game back with 1 game left in the first half. The series with the Drillers (37-32, AA Rockies) is 4 games but game 2 today is the first half finale. The Naturals' dreams of being in the playoff mix are done as the Drillers are dealing back a beating in spades. Anthony Lerew (4-3, 4.61) started versus Tulsa righty Esmil Rogers (6-2, 2.84). One of those guys is still in the game late, and it isn't Lerew. P Greg Holland has been named as an injury replacement for the TL All-Star Game, making it 5 Naturals playing in Frisco July 1. There was no mention of any Parraz injury Monday, but he didn't play today.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Winston-Salem 6, Blue Rocks 2 (7/G1, Sun.)

Moustakas DNP
RF Orlando 2-3, 2B (11) -- .229
SS Seratelli 1-3, 2B (8), RBI (16), RS, SB (6) -- .302
3B J. Johnson 0-1, BB, SF, RBI (2), E -- .333
CF D. Robinson 1-4, 2 K, OF assist at second -- .228
2B Giavotella 1-3 -- .215
DH Lough 0-3 -- .330
1B C. Robinson 0-2, BB, RS -- .292
LF Ortiz 0-2, BB, K -- .235

Santiago 6 1/3 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, BB, 4 K, pickoff -- L, 3-7, 4.20 ERA
Sisk 2/3 IP, ER, H, BB, K -- 2.86 ERA

*** The Rocks only scored in 1 inning as the Dash took the first of 2 to end the first half schedule Sunday. The Dash scored a run on 2 hits and an SB off Mario Santiago in the 1st but Anthony Seratelli doubled in a run in the 2nd and scored on a Josh Johnson sac fly to make it 2-1 Rocks. Santiago gave up a 2-out, 2-run double in the 4th to swing the lead back to Winston-Salem for good. Derrick Robinson was thrown out at home in the 6th and the Dash scored 3 runs in the 7th to help salt the game away. The Rocks left the bases loaded in the 7th as RP Henry Mabee picked up his 6th save. SP Justin Edwards got the win in his A-Advanced debut with 5 IP of 2 ER allowed on 3 hits and a walk with 2 Ks to move to 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA. 3B Brent Morel was 2-4 with 3 RBI (33) to move to .257, LF Tyler Kuhn was 2-3 with an SB and 2 RS to move to .625, and C Logan Johnson drove in 2 runs (16) but made his 14th passed ball to move to .239.

Blue Rocks 2, Winston-Salem 1 (7/G2, Sun.)

Moustakas DNP again
LF Lough 1-2, S, HR (5), RBI (30), K, RS -- .332
1B C. Robinson 1-3, RBI (36) -- .292
3B J. Johnson 1-3 -- .333
2B Giavotella 1-2, BB, RS, CS (6) -- .218
SS Seratelli 1-2, BB, E (8) -- .306

R. Hardy 6 IP, UER, 6 H, 4 K, WP -- W, 2-0, 2.25 ERA, if only every level were A-Advanced
Abreu IP, 3 K -- SV, 7, 2.02 ERA, dominant save

*** Rowdy Hardy pitched well and the Rocks ended the first half on a good note with a narrow win over the Dash. An Anthony Seratelli error contributed to the Dash's only run in the 3rd but David Lough led off the Rocks 4th with his 5th homer to tie it. Clint Robinson hit the go-ahead RBI single in the 6th and Juan Abreu struck out the side in the 7th for his 7th save. Dash SP Anthony Carter went the distance but took the loss with 2 runs (1 ER) allowed on 5 hits and 2 walks with 3 Ks to move to 6-4 with a 3.84 ERA. RF Salvador Sanchez was 3-3 with 2 SB (14) to move to .245 and 2B Dale Mollenhauer was 2-3 with his 14th double but was caught stealing for a 7th time despite moving to .290.

all-star break started Monday

The Rocks finished the first half 38-31. Lough, Moustakas and SP Dan Duffy are headed to the Carolina-California League AS Game, which is tonight in California.

A - Burlington: Bees 7, Peoria 1 (Sun.)

2B F. Garcia 2-3, BB, 3B (3), RBI (11), 2 RS -- .294
CF Dyson 2-5, 2 K, RS -- .343
3B Fontaine 1-3, SF, HR (2), 2 RBI (13), K, RS -- .270
DH Hosmer 1-4, BB, 2B (14), 2 RBI (39), 2 K -- .256
LF Van Stratten 1-5, RBI (28), K, RS -- .333
RF Francis 1-4, 3 K, RS -- .277
C Bonilla 1-4, 2 K -- .248

Runion 5 IP, 4 H, BB, 3 K, WP -- W, 3-4, 6.03 ERA, where'd that come from?
Casey IP, H, BB, K -- 3.59 ERA
Thompson 1 1/3 IP, ER, 2 H, 3 BB -- 2.41 ERA
Bowden 1 2/3 IP, H, K -- 2.03 ERA

*** Sam Runion had his best start of the season and the Bees ended the first half with a win. Runion stranded 2 in the 1st and Chase Fontaine hit a sac fly in the 2nd to give the Bees a 1-0 lead. Runion stranded 2 more in the 2nd but retired 7 straight into the 5th. Fontaine led off the Bees 5th with his 2nd homer, Nick Van Stratten hit an RBI single and Eric Hosmer ripped a 2-run double to make it 5-0. Fernando Garcia singled home a run in the 6th to extend the lead and Bryan Casey stranded 2 in the 6th. Barry Bowden came in with 1 out and the bases loaded in the 8th and allowed only 1 run to score before escaping the jam. Garcia tripled and scored on an error in the 9th and Bowden pitched a quiet 9th to finish it. Starter Aaron Shafer took the loss for Peoria with 4 1/3 IP of 5 runs (4 ER) allowed on 7 hits and a walk with 5 Ks to drop to 5-4 with a 5.04 ERA. C Mike Brenly was 3-4 to move to .277 and DH Jose Made was 2-4 to set a .500 BA. 3B Josh Vitters was 0-4 to drop to .308.

all-star break started Monday

The Bees ended the first half 29-41. Nick Francis, Nick Van Stratten, Bryan Casey and Barry Bowden are taking part in the MWL AS Game tonight in Clinton, Iowa.

Rookie - Idaho Falls: season starts tonight

The Chukars face the Casper Ghosts (Rookie Rockies) in the first series of the season, a 4-gamer. No announced starters on the team site. The Ghosts roster features '09 Rockies draftees 6th round righty Chris Balcom-Miller, 11th rounder OF Avery Barnes, 13th round lefty Paul Bargas, 14th round SS Jeff Squier and others.

Rookie - Burlington: season starts tonight

The B-Royals face the Princeton Rays in the first series of the season. John Lamb will face Rays righty Jason McEachern. The B-Royals roster features catchers Fernando Cruz (one to watch in his transition to a new position), Travis Jones ('08 50th rounder) and Miguel Moctezuma ('08 draftee, had middling debut last season), infielders Diego Cruz, Yeldrys Molina, Ryan Wood (one to watch in pro debut), Malcom Culver ('08 draftee), Yowill Espinal, Jake Kuebler (Alex Gordon's cousin, struggled in pro debut last year), and Jason Morales (showed some flashes last year), outfielders Geulin Beltre (did all right at AZL last season), Luis Del Rosario (ditto), Gabe McDougall ('09 draftee), Derek Rodriguez and Victor Soto (up from Dominican league last season). The pitching staff includes Buddy Baumann ('09 draftee), Greg Billo ('08 draftee), Gary Cuevas, Deybi De La Cruz, Ryan Dennick ('09 draftee), Carlos Fortuna, Keaton Hayenga (one to watch), Chase Hentges, Jaeson Hudnall, Scott Kelley ('09 draftee), Lamb (also one to watch, 5th rounder in '08), Dusty Odenbach, Leondy Perez, Brett Richardson (had nice '08) and Onassis Sirrett. Former Blue Jay Nelson Liriano is managing Burlington. The Rays roster features '09 Rays draftees 7th round OF Cody Rogers and a couple others from this year's draft.

Rookie - AZL: Royals 10, Padres 5 (Sun.)

DH Stovall 2-3, BB, SF, 2 RBI, RS -- .667, nice pro debut
1B G. Baldwin 1-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI, 2 K, 2 RS -- .250, also nice debut
3B Figueroa 1-3, S, SF, 3 RBI, K -- .333
RF Dickerson 0-3, 2 BB, RBI, RS -- .000, rehab
CF Llanos 2-5, K, 2 RS -- .400
SS A. Martinez 1-3, BB, K, 2 RS, SB -- .333

Avinazar 3 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, BB, 3 K -- 9.82 ERA
Folmer 1 2/3 IP, ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 4 K -- 5.40 ERA, 4 Ks in 5 outs is nice pro debut
Bavera 2 2/3 IP, H, 2 BB, 2 K, WP -- W, 1-0, 0.00 ERA, win in pro debut
Worrell IP, K -- 0.00 ERA, also trouble-free debut

*** The Royals scored 6 late runs to win their season opener. They stranded 2 in the 1st and SP Willian Avinazar allowed 2 Padre runs in the 1st on 2 hits and a walk. Joe Dickerson took a bases loaded walk in the 3rd, Ryan Stovall picked up his first pro RBI with a sac fly and Yunior Figueroa added a sac fly to make it 3-2 Royals. Avinazar and Richard Folmer allowed 3 runs in the 4th on 4 hits as the Padres came back to take a 5-3 lead. Folmer stranded 2 in the 5th and Geoff Baldwin walked and scored his first pro run on an error in the 6th to cut it to 5-4. Claudio Bavera stranded the bases loaded in the 6th and Baldwin stepped up in the 8th and slammed his 1st pro homer for a 2-run shot to give the Royals the lead. A run-scoring Padre error, Stovall RBI single, and 2-run Figueroa single made it 10-5 in the 9th and Josh Worrell pitched a perfect 9th in his pro debut. RP Stalyn Valdez took the loss and his 1st blown save with 2 ER allowed in 2 IP to set a 9.00 ERA. Starter John Hussey pitched a hitless 1st before getting pulled. 3B Dan Garce was 2-3 with a walk, double, RBI and RS and also committed 2 errors. The Pads had 5 errors in the game.

Royals 9, Dodgers 8 (11, Mon.)

DH Stovall 3-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI (4), K, 2 RS, SB -- .625, off to fine start
CF Llanos 3-5, 2 RBI, K, RS, SB -- .500
3B Figueroa 2-5, RBI (4), RS, 2 E -- .375
2B Piterson 2-5, RBI, K, 2 RS, SB -- .250
RF Dickerson 1-5, RBI (2), RS -- .125
LF S. Cabrera 0-3, HBP, RBI, 2 K, RS -- .125
1B G. Baldwin 0-5, 5 K -- .111, ouch

Amador 4 IP, 7 R (6 ER), 5 H, 4 BB, 4 K, 2 HRA, WP -- 13.50 ERA
L. Roberts 3 IP, H, BB, 2 K -- 0.00 ERA
S. De La Rosa 3 IP, ER, 2 BB, 3 K, WP, balk -- 3.00 ERA
Diaz IP, H, 2 K -- W, 1-0, 0.00 ERA, one appearance, 1 win in career

*** The Royals bounced back from a 5-run Dodger rally, lost a lead, tied it in the 9th, then won in 11. Royals SP Ezequiel Amador gave up back-to-back homers to 1B Clay Calfee (his 1st, a 2-run shot) and LF Nick Akins (his 2nd) in the 2nd then allowed 2 more runs to come in on a wild pitch and groundout later in the inning to give the Dodgers a 5-0 lead. Ryan Stovall led off the Royals 2nd with a double and scored on a Yunior Figueroa single before Santos Cabrera drove in Figueroa with a groundout to cut it to 5-2. Two Dodger errors started the Royals 3rd and Joe Dickerson hit an RBI single before Stovall doubled home 2 to tie the game. Stovall scored on a wild pitch to make it 6-5 Royals. Amador gave up 2 runs in the 5th on 2 hits and 2 walks before getting pulled with 2 on and 0 out, but Lee Roberts got out of the inning without further damage. Alex Llanos hit a 2-out RBI single in the 7th to tie it at 7 but Starling De La Rosa threw a run-scoring wild pitch in the 8th to make it 8-7 Dodgers. The Royals stranded 2 in the 8th but Luis Piterson hit a 1-out single in the 9th, stole second and scored on a Llanos single to tie the game. The game stayed tied until the bottom of the 11th when Juan Polonia led off with a single and moved to second on a throwing error on the play. He stole third with 1 out and scored on a Piterson walkoff single to give the Royals the win. Dodgers RP Beyker Fructuoso took the loss with an unearned run allowed over 1 1/3 IP to fall to 0-1 with a 0.00 ERA. SP Andres Santiago worked 5 innings of 6 runs (1 ER) allowed on 5 hits with 6 Ks to move his ERA to 1.80. DH Pedro Tavarez was 2-3 with a walk and RS to move to .714. Calfee's HR gave him 2 RBI (5) as he dropped to .300 with a 1-5 night.

The Royals are 2-0 and lead the AZL West. They play the 1-1 Indians tonight. The roster features catchers Edul Escobar (up from Dominican league last season), Mauricio Matos ('08 draftee) and Henry Moreno (another DSLer, hit for .914 OPS in Dominican last season), infielders Geoff Robinson ('09 10th rounder), Yunior Figueroa (hit .304 in DSL last season), Edwin Henriquez, Adrian Martinez (up from DSL), Luis Piterson (DSL), and '09 draftee Ryan Stovall (one to watch), outfielders Santos Cabrera (DSL), Alex Llanos ('08 draftee struggled somewhat in debut), Miguel Mariano, Juan Polonia (DSL) and NDFA Eric Shortell along with rehabbing Joe Dickerson. The pitching staff includes NDFA Jack Adams, Ezequiel Amador (DSL), Willian Avinazar (pitched well in DSL last season), Geronimo Batista (DSL), '09 draftee Claudio Bavera, Starling De La Rosa (DSL), '09 draftee Eric Diaz, '09 draftee Richard Folmer, Luis Ortega (also pitched well last season in DSL), NDFA Lee Roberts, Tyler Sample ('08 draftee, one to watch), Leonel Santiago (pitched well in DSL in '08), Jacob Theis and '09 draftee Josh Worrell.


The Royals signed Arkansas IF tandem Scott Lyons and Ben Tschepikow. Both are headed to Arizona to get over some nagging injuries then are headed to Idaho Falls.