Royals on the Farm 6/4

AAA - Omaha: Round Rock 4, O-Royals 1

LF Thorman 2-3, BB -- .235
DH Buchanan 2-4, 2B (4), K -- .263
SS Lisson 1-4, HR (2), RBI (4), K, RS -- .189
2B Hulett 1-4, 2B (12), 2 K, picked off -- .295
C House 0-4 -- .297
1B Ka'aihue 0-2, 2 BB -- .278
3B Metcalf 1-4, K -- .238

DiNardo 7 2/3 IP, ER, 5 H, 9 K -- 3.02 ERA, another great start wasted
Atencio 1 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 2 K, WP -- L, 2-4, 5.88 ERA

*** The organization's recent stretch of bullpen woes continued as Greg Atencio allowed 2 late runs and the offense provided little run support. Omaha stranded 2 in the 2nd but Mario Lisson led off the 3rd with his 2nd AAA homer to put the Royals ahead. Omaha stranded 2 in the 5th and Scott Thorman was gunned down at the plate to end the 6th as Lenny DiNardo had a 1-hit shutout into the 7th. Two Round Rock doubles tied the game at 1 that inning and 2 singles in the 8th chased DiNardo for Atencio, who escaped the jam. Atencio loaded the bases with 1 out in the 9th and 2 singles scored 3 runs to break the tie. Brendan Donnelly pitched the 9th for his 3rd save and RP Casey Daigle got the win for the second day in a row with 1/3 scoreless IP to move to 3-0 with a 1.96 ERA. Starter Bud Norris pitched 6 innings of an ER allowed on 7 hits and 3 walks with 4 Ks to drop his ERA to 2.63. RP Tyler Lumsden got an out and has a 4.63 ERA for Round Rock. C Lou Santangelo was 2-4 with 2 RBI (10) to move to .182. SS Tommy Manzella was also 2-4 with his 16th double and 2 RS to move to .296.

Omaha is 23-31 and in last place by a solid margin now. The good times go deep into the top levels of the organization in KC! Although at least Omaha is getting good work out of its rotation of late. The O-Royals try to avoid the sweep tonight as Matt Wright (0-2, 7.71) faces Express righty Yorman Bazardo (6-2, 2.59).

AA - NW Arkansas: Midland 4, Naturals 1

2B Mertins 2-4, 2B (11), RS -- .295
3B C. Smith 1-4, 2B (6), RBI (37), K -- .250
CF Duarte 1-4, K, OF assist at first -- .265
RF Parraz 1-4 -- .348
DH Suomi 1-3 -- .330
SS McConnell 0-3, 2 K -- .229

B. Wood 6 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 5 K, pickoff -- L, 2-4, 6.10 ERA
Hayes 2 IP, ER, 3 H, 2 K, HRA -- 0.76 ERA

*** The Naturals managed to hold Midland to single-digit scoring but the offense was stymied as Midland moved to 5-0 versus NWA this season. Corey Smith hit a 2-out RBI double in the 4th to give the Naturals the lead but Blake Wood allowed 3 runs in the 5th on 3 hits and a walk as Midland surged ahead. Chris Hayes allowed a leadoff homer to LF Matt Spencer (his 2nd) in the 8th and the Naturals didn't threaten again. Midland SP Jason Fernandez went the distance with an ER allowed on 6 hits with 6 Ks to improve to 6-4 with a 3.92 ERA. 2B Adrian Cardenas was 3-3 with his 3rd SB, 12th double and a run scored to move to .389. 3B Alex Valdez was 2-3 with his 8th RBI and was picked off once as he improved to .286. Spencer drove in 2 runs to get to 13 RBI on the season. CF Corey Brown hit his 14th double with his 28th RBI as he was 1-3 to move to .331.

The Naturals are 24-27 and 5 games back. The series finishes tonight as Dan Cortes (2-5, 4.01) faces Midland righty and former Wichita State Shocker Travis Banwart (5-1, 3.40).

A-Adv. - Wilmington: rainout

The Rocks are 27-25 and 8 games back. The game will be made up as part of a Saturday doubleheader. The series with Lynchburg begins instead tonight with Danny Duffy (5-2, 2.95) slated to face Hillcats lefty Chi-Hung Cheng (5-2, 3.51).

A - Burlington: Bees 5, Quad Cities 4

CF Dyson 3-4, RBI, 2 RS, 2 SB, OF assist at first -- .667
1B Hosmer 1-4, 2B (12), 2 RBI (31), E (2) -- .267
3B Fontaine 1-4, RBI (2), K -- .161
LF Van Stratten 0-3, BB -- .336
RF Francis 1-4, K, RS -- .307
C McCauley 0-3, BB, K -- .213

Casey 5 IP, 4 R (2 ER), 8 H, 2 BB, 5 K -- 2.83 ERA
B. Hardy 3 1/3 IP, 2 H, BB, 4 K -- W, 3-2, 2.78 ERA
Thompson 2/3 IP, BB, K -- SV, 3, 2.84 ERA

*** The Bees took the lead in the 7th and held on to win and earn at least a split of the series with the River Bandits. Chase Fontaine hit an RBI single in the 2nd to give the Bees the lead but Quad Cities responded with 3 runs in the 3rd on 4 hits, a walk, and an error by Angel Franco at second. Eric Hosmer hit a 2-run double in the bottom of the inning to tie the game and, after Bryan Casey stranded 2 in the 4th, Jarrod Dyson singled in a run in the Bees' half to make it 4-3 Burlington. A Hosmer 2-out error in the 5th helped the Bandits tie the game and Blaine Hardy stranded 2 Bandits in the 7th. With Dyson at third and 2 out in the 7th, RP Jason Buursma was brought in and balked in the go-ahead run. James Thompson stranded 2 in the 9th for his 3rd save. RP Adam Veres took the loss with 1 2/3 IP of an ER allowed on a hit and walk with 2 Ks to drop to 2-3 with a 3.20 ERA. Starter Hector Cardenas lasted only 3 2/3 IP of 4 runs (3 ER) allowed on 6 hits and 2 walks to move his ERA to 3.95. 2B Alex Castellanos was 3-5 with his 8th SB and 20th RBI to move to .243. DH Charles Cutler was 2-4 with a HBP to move to .381 and CF Travis Mitchell was 2-4 with his 4th double, a K and RS to move to .278.

The Bees are 22-30 and 10 1/2 games out. The series ends tonight as Tim Melville (1-2, 3.86) faces Bandits righty Arquimedes Nieto (1-4, 3.51).