Royals on the Farm 6/23

Since now we've got all 7 Royals affiliates firing at the same time, some of the guys on the fringe I may have noted in the early part of the season may not get noted now in the interest of time. When the short season leagues begin, this report can be a grind.

Nice to see Greinke get a win again.

AAA - Omaha: Memphis 6, O-Royals 3

DH Aldridge 3-4, HR (9), 2 RBI (38), RS -- .289
C House 2-4, 2B (9), K -- .273
SS Lisson 1-4, HR (5), RBI (9), K, RS -- .202, about every time he dips to Mendoza waterline, he stays afloat
3B Metcalf 0-4, 2 K, E (8) -- .241
1B Ka'aihue 1-3, BB, RS -- .268, Jacobs needs to have a hot couple weeks so the Royals can deal him
LF Thorman 0-4 -- .299

Phillips 4 IP, 6 R (4 ER), 10 H, BB, 2 K, 2 HRA -- L, 3-7, 6.81 ERA
Yabuta 2 IP, 3 H -- 4.79 ERA
Hamulack 2 IP, H, 3 K -- 7.28 ERA

*** Heath Phillips got knocked around and the O-Royals dropped the opener with Memphis. Omaha put 2 in scoring position with 0 out in the 1st but squandered the chance and Memphis stranded 2 in the 2nd off Phillips. The Redbirds cashed in in the 3rd as CF Shane Robinson led off their half of the inning with his 2nd homer, a sac fly brought in another run and 3B Brian Barden hit a 2-run homer for his 1st of the season for Memphis to make it 4-0. Omaha stranded 2 in the 4th and Memphis added 2 runs in the frame on 3 hits and a Travis Metcalf 2-out error. Cory Aldridge got Omaha off 0 with a 2-run homer in the 7th for his 9th of the season and Mario Lisson followed with his 5th homer to make it 2 straight games with back-to-back homers for the Royals. The Royals wouldn't threaten again as RP Jess Todd pitched a perfect 9th for his 14th save. Starter Mitch Boggs allowed 3 ER over 5 1/3 IP to improve to 3-3 with a 5.31 ERA. Five Redbirds had multiple hits.

The O-Royals are 27-44 and 6 games back of third place in the 4-team PCL American North. Once they get back within sight of the division lead, I'll let you know. Game 2 of the set with Memphis is tonight as Kyle Davies makes his '09 Omaha debut versus Redbirds righty Clayton Mortensen (6-4, 4.15). The team site has Davies starting in one place and Bruce Chen in another. If Chen is starting, I guess that likely means Sidney Ponson will replace Davies in the KC rotation Saturday? With John Suomi now up at AAA, the Royals have cut ties with C Matt Tupman. Tupman was hitting .261 in 21 games. Too bad Matt wasn't able to take advantage of his opportunities more the last few years.

AA - NW Arkansas: Tulsa 13, Naturals 1

SS Bianchi 3-4, RBI (4), E -- .476, gotta like this, other than error
LF Lucas 2-4, 2B (6), RS -- .298
3B Mertins 1-4, 2B (15), K -- .296

Lerew 4 IP, 9 R (7 ER), 7 H, 2 BB, 4 K, HRA, E (3) -- L, 4-4, 5.21 ERA
de la Vara 2 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 K, WP -- 5.30 ERA
Sencion IP, ER, 3 H -- 5.92 ERA
Hartsock IP, ER, 2 H, K, HRA -- 4.20 ERA

*** Tulsa rapped out 11 of its runs in the 3rd through 5th innings and the Naturals didn't recover. The game was quiet until Anthony Lerew served up a 3-run homer to CF Anthony Jackson (his 3rd) with 1 out in the 3rd. Jeff Bianchi hit an RBI single in the 4th to get NWA on the board but Tulsa answered with 2 runs in the 4th on 2 walks, a hit and 2 Naturals errors before leaving the bases full. Things fell further apart in the 5th as Lerew and Gilbert de la Vara were touched up for 6 runs on 6 hits, a hit batsman and a wild pitch as Tulsa made it 11-1. NWA stranded 2 in the 6th and Carlos Sencion allowed a run in the 7th before stranding 2. Aaron Hartsock gave up a solo homer to LF Cole Garner (his 6th) in the 8th to finish the scoring. Tulsa SP Esmil Rogers got the win with 8 IP of an ER allowed on 8 hits with 7 Ks to improve to 7-2 with a 2.68 ERA. Four Drillers had 2 or more hits as C Mike McKenry drove in 3 runs (28), as did SS Rex Rundgren (12). Jackson only had the homer as a hit but drove in 4 runs (19).

The Naturals finished the first half 36-34. Game 3 of the set is tonight as the records reset and Blake Johnson (5-5, 4.95) faces Drillers lefty Keith Weiser (5-5, 4.24). RP Dan Cevette has been activated from the DL to replace Suomi.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: California League AS 2, Carolina League AS 1 (10)

Duffy perfect IP, 1 K
Lough 1-2, K
Moustakas 1-2, K

The all-star break concludes today and the second half of the season starts Thursday.

A - Burlington: MWL East 6, MWL West 3

Francis 2-3, BB, 2 2B, RBI, RS -- only West leaguer with more than 1 hit
Van Stratten 0-3
Casey 2/3 IP, H, K
Bowden 2/3 IP, ER, 2 H, K

The all-star break ends today and the second half starts tomorrow.

Rookie - Idaho Falls: Chukars 10, Casper 1

C S. Perez 3-4, BB, 3B, 2 RBI, K, 2 RS -- .750, half-A player right now, I guess?
LF Aparicio 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI, RS -- .600
DH Griffin 2-3, BB, 2B, 3 RS -- .667
SS D. Batista 2-4, BB, 3B, RBI, K, RS -- .500
CF H. Richardson 2-4, 2B, 2 K, RS -- .500
RF Caldwell 1-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI, K, RS, E -- .333
3B Taylor 1-4, BB, K, RS -- .250
DH Cooper 0-1, K -- .000, pro debut
1B Espinosa 0-4, RBI, K -- .000

Paukovits 5 IP, UER, 3 H, BB, 8 K, WP -- W, 1-0, 0.00 ERA, nice first outing
Toribio 2 2/3 IP, 2 H, BB, 5 K -- 0.00 ERA
Basurto 1 1/3 IP, 3 K -- 0.00 ERA

*** Bryan Paukovits had a nice opening day start and the Chukars routed the Ghosts. Casper got a runner to 3rd in the first 2 innings but didn't score, and IF got an RBI single from Salvadore Perez in the 2nd to take the lead. Paukovits allowed a leadoff triple in the 3rd and a run-scoring error by 2B Angel Franco tied the game at 1. With 2 out in the 4th, the Chukars got a Perez RBI triple and 2-run homer by Allen Caldwell to make it 4-1. They added 4 in the 5th on a Deivy Batista RBI single, run-scoring wild pitch, and 2-run Julio Aparicio single to make it 8-1. Aneidy Toribio stranded 2 Ghosts in the 7th and Tito Espinosa hit an RBI forceout in the 7th that scored 2 runs thanks to a Ghosts error. RP Eric Basurto, who the Royals got for Ross Gload, pitched 1 1/3 perfect innings to finish it. Casper SP Kyle Hancock took the loss with 4 1/3 IP of 8 ER allowed on 10 hits with 3 Ks to drop to 0-1 with a 16.62 ERA. Five Ghosts had a hit each.

The Chukars are 1-0. Game 2 is tonight with no announced starters on the team site.

Rookie - Burlington: Princeton 2, B-Royals 1 (10)

SS Espinal 2-4, 3B, SB -- .500
LF MacDougall 1-3, BB, 2B, RBI, 2 CS, E -- .333, pro debut
2B R. Wood 0-4, K -- .000, pro debut
DH F. Cruz 1-3, K -- .333

Lamb 5 IP, ER, 4 H, BB, 2 K -- 1.80 ERA
Odenbach 1 1/3 IP, 2 H, BB -- 0.00 ERA, pro debut
Baumann 2 1/3 IP, 2 K, WP -- 0.00 ERA, pro debut
Hudnall 2/3 IP, ER, 3 H, BB, K -- L, 0-1, 13.50 ERA

*** The Royals tied it in the 8th but lost in 10 on opening night versus the Rays. Starter John Lamb stranded 2 in the 1st but gave up a 2-out RBI single in the 3rd for the only damage he took. Ryan Wood hit into a double play with 2 on in the 6th to stymie a Royal rally and Buddy Baumann stranded 2 Rays in the 7th to keep the game 1-0. Gabe MacDougall came through with a 1-out RBI double in the 8th to tie the game but was caught stealing third before a Yowill Espinal triple, which proved fruitless. Jaeson Hudnall came on with 2 out in the 9th and allowed a 1-out triple in the 10th before Rays 2B Kyle Spraker ended it with a walkoff squeeze bunt single. Rays RP Joey Callender went 5 innings for the win despite getting his 1st blown save. He is 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA. Starter Jason McEachern allowed only 3 hits with 4 Ks over 5 IP. Only 4 Rays had hits, and all 4 had multiple hits. LF Brian Bryles was 3-4 with a walk, double, triple and 2 RS to go with an OF assist at second. Spraker had both Rays RBI.

The B-Royals are 0-1. Game 2 is tonight as Deybi De La Cruz faces Rays righty Wilking Rodriguez.

Rookie - AZL: Indians 10, Royals 8 (12)

2B Piterson 3-6, 2B, RBI (2), 2 K, RS, SB (2) -- .357
3B Figueroa 3-6, RS, SB -- .429
RF Dickerson 2-4, BB, S, RBI (3), K, 2 RS, 2 SB, OF assist at home -- .250
DH Stovall 1-6, 2B (3), 2 RBI (6), 2 K -- .429
CF Llanos 1-7, RBI (3), K, SB (2), CS, OF assists at second and third -- .353, like to see leadoff guy take a walk once in a while
C E. Escobar 1-2, RBI -- .250
SS A. Martinez 1-5, BB, K, 2 RS, 3 SB (4) -- .167
C Matos 1-3, S, K, E -- .333, '09 debut
* The Royals stranded 11.

L. Ortega 3 2/3 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, 3 K, WP -- 12.27 ERA
G. Batista 4 1/3 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 4 H, BB, 4 K, HRA, WP -- 2.08 ERA
Adams 3 IP, H, 4 K -- 0.00 ERA, nice pro debut
Worrell IP, 3 UER, H, 3 BB, K, E -- L, 0-1, 0.00 ERA

*** The Royals came back from a 5-1 deficit to tie the game twice but a third time wasn't in the cards as the Indians pulled out the win in 12. Luis Ortega allowed a run on 2 hits in the 1st but the Royals matched the run with a 2-out Ryan Stovall RBI double in the bottom of the inning. The Indians took command with a 4-run 4th on 5 hits, a hit batsman and wild pitch off Ortega and RP Geronimo Batista to make it 5-1 Tribe. Luis Piterson hit an RBI single in the 4th to cut the lead to 3 and Joe Dickerson hit an RBI single in the 5th to cut it to 5-3. A throwing error by C Mauricio Matos allowed an Indians run to score in the 6th but the Royals kept chipping away as Juan Polonia scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the inning to cut it to 6-4. Stovall hit an RBI groundout in the 7th and Dickerson scored on a wild pitch to tie the game. The tie was short-lived as Batista gave up a solo homer to C Juan Aponte (his 1st) in the 8th to make it 7-6 Indians. Alex Llanos came through with an RBI single in the bottom of the inning to retie it and RP Jack Adams struck out the side in the 9th for the Royals in his pro debut. Josh Worrell took over in the 12th and made a 1-out throwing error that threatened to allow the lead run to score but Dickerson gunned down the runner at the plate from right to keep it tied at 7. Worrell walked the bases full and this time wouldn't escape as Aponte hit a 2-out, 3-run double to make it 10-7. Edul Escobar hit a 2-out RBI single in the bottom of the inning but that was it as Indians RP Vidal Nuno got his 1st save. RP Francisco Valera went 3 2/3 scoreless IP to get the win and move to 1-0. SP Daniel Jimenez pitched 4 innings of 2 ER allowed on 5 hits and a walk with 5 Ks to set a 4.50 ERA. Three Indians had more than 1 hit led by Aponte, who was 3-6 with his 1st double and HR and 4 RBI along with 2 K and 2 RS to move to .444. CF Trent Baker also drove in 2 runs (3).

The Royals are 2-1. They play the 1-1 Rangers tonight.