Royals on the Farm 7/5

Hey, the Royals won a couple games, versus a divisional opponent, to boot. This could be a very interesting month in terms of roster moves, etc. Or, with this organization, it could be very dull. I hope they make some improvements, or at least some addition by subtraction. As a reminder, I'm heading out on vacation tomorrow afternoon, late, so I don't know if there will be a report tomorrow or not. If not, I'll be back for reports either next Monday or Tuesday....

AAA - Omaha: Oklahoma City 3, O-Royals 2 (8/G1)

LF Thorman 1-3, 3B, RBI (34), RS -- .297
1B Ka'aihue 0-1, BB, SF, RBI (34) -- .262
C House 1-3, K, RS -- .264, team only had 2 hits
3B Lisson 0-3, 3 K -- .237, and the roller coaster goes back downhill

DiNardo 6 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, BB, 5 K -- 3.43 ERA, not much run support
Hayes 1 1/3 IP, ER, 3 H, BB -- BS, 2, L, 1-3, 3.05 ERA, I like Disco, like his blog, but the higher he goes the less guys he's gonna get out with his level of stuff, I hope he proves me wrong

*** A pitcher's duel shook out in a dramatic 7th before the O-Royals lost in "extras" in 8. Neither team had a hit until the 4th and Oklahoma City had a combined no-hitter going into the 7th, when J.R. House led off with a single and scored on a Scott Thorman triple before Kila Ka'aihue hit a sac fly to make it 2-0 Royals. Lenny DiNardo gave up 2 hits to start the 7th and was pulled for Chris Hayes, who allowed an RBI double and sac fly to tie the game. He gave up a leadoff triple to rehabbing Josh Hamilton in the 8th and then former Royal Esteban German ended it with a 1-out walkoff single. RP Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez got the win despite allowing the 2 ER in 2 IP to move to 2-0 with a 3.86 ERA. Starter Willie Eyre worked 4 innings of only a walk allowed with 3 Ks to drop his ERA to 0.71. Hamilton played in center and was 2-4 with a double, triple, K and RS to move to .200 in his rehab assignment. German was 2-4 with his 42nd RBI and a RS to move to .315, and 1B Justin Smoak (VERY arguable now the Royals could have/should have gotten him rather than Hosmer, but time will tell) was 1-3 with 2 K and a RS to move to .333 in his AAA debut.

O-Royals 4, Oklahoma City 1 (7/G2)

3B Lisson 3-4, 2B (6), RBI (16), K -- .252, thrill ride
DH House 1-3, BB, RBI (31), RS -- .265
1B Ka'aihue 1-4, RBI (35), K -- .262
2B Metcalf 1-4, RBI (39) -- .220
SS Falu 0-2, 2 BB, 2 RS, 2 SB (9) -- .264

Davies 5 IP, ER, 3 H, 4 BB, 3 K, WP -- W, 3-0, 0.47 ERA, gasp, he allowed a run
Waechter IP, H -- 0.00 ERA, rehab
Rosa 2/3 IP, H, 2 BB, K -- 5.72 ERA
Hughes 1/3 IP, K -- SV, 1, 4.17 ERA

*** Omaha bounced back with enough offense in game 2 to take down the RedHawks and split the twinbill. Kila Ka'aihue hit a 2-out RBI single in the 1st but the Royals would strand 2. Kyle Davies allowed his first and only AAA run of the season in the 2nd before also stranding 2. Mario Lisson and Travis Metcalf hit RBI singles in the 3rd to make it 3-1 and J.R. House singled home a run in the 4th to make it 4-1. Davies stranded 2 in the 5th and Carlos Rosa came in for the 7th after a solid inning of work from Doug Waechter. Rosa got 2 outs but also loaded the bases and Dusty Hughes was brought in and got a K for the save. Starter Josh Rupe allowed 4 ER on 6 hits and 4 walks to fall to 1-6 with a 6.92 ERA. Top Rangers prospect P Neftali Feliz worked 2 hitless innings to drop his ERA to 3.61. Hamilton was 0-3 with a walk and K for OKC while German was 3-4 at third with his 25th SB and 11th error to move to .321. Smoak was 0-2 with 2 walks and a RS to drop to .200.

The O-Royals are 33-49. Game 3 is today as Sidney Ponson (0-1, 3.50) continues rehabbing versus OKC righty Guillermo Moscoso (2-0, 0.64). It seems like the amount of Guillermos in baseball has decreased since the 1980s. Either that or the American media has changed them all to "Willie"s or "Willy"s, like with Willie Hernandez back with the Cubs/Tigers. I say more Guillermos!

AA - NW Arkansas: Naturals 14, Corpus Christi 4

LF Lough 3-5, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, RS -- .412, hasn't missed a beat
3B A. Gordon 2-4, 4 RBI, E -- .500, rehab
2B Mertins 2-6, 2 RBI (36), 3 K, RS -- .281
1B C. Smith 2-6, 2B (14), 2 RBI (53), 2 K, RS -- .258
RF Strait 2-5, K, 2 RS, SB (12) -- .288
C Clark 1-3, 2 BB, HR (5), 3 RBI (16), 3 RS -- .352
CF Dyson 1-4, BB, S, 2B, 2 K, 2 RS, OF assist at third -- .300
SS Bianchi 1-4, 2 BB, K, RS -- .393

Lerew 4 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 4 K, 2 WP -- 5.16 ERA
Sencion 3 IP, 2 H, 2 K -- W, 3-1, 5.44 ERA
Cevette 2 IP, H, BB, 3 K, WP -- 4.79 ERA

*** What looked early on to be a good night for Corpus Christi turned into a nightmare for the Hooks as NWA scored 14 unanswered runs in the win. Anthony Lerew got touched up for 3 runs in the 1st on 3 hits and a walk and then allowed a run in the 2nd on 2 hits, a walk, a hit batsman and wild pitch before Jarrod Dyson ended the inning by gunning down a runner at third. NWA came back in a big way in the 3rd with 5 runs on an Alex Gordon RBI groundout, a Corey Smith RBI single and a 3-run bomb by David Lough for his 1st AA longball. The Naturals kept it up with 2 runs in the 4th on a Kurt Mertins RBI fielder's choice and Gordon RBI single before leaving the bases full. The onslaught continued with 3 runs in the 5th on a 2-out Mertins RBI single and Gordon 2-run single to make it 10-4 NW Arkansas. The Nats' bullpen kept the Hooks in check and NWA added 4 in the 9th on a 3-run homer by Cody Clark for his 5th homer of the season and a Corey Smith RBI double finished it off. The Naturals torched CC starter Brad James for 7 ER on 7 hits and 3 walks with 3 Ks over 3 1/3 IP to drop him to 2-6 with a 5.99 ERA. Three Hooks had 2 hits, including LF Collin DeLome, who also had 2 RBI (40) and his 6th triple to move to .264.

The Naturals are 6-3 and 1 1/2 games up on first. Game 2 is tonight as Blake Johnson (5-5, 4.95) faces Hooks righty Kenny Baugh in his CC debut. IF Ed Lucas has been named Texas League Player of the Week for June 29-July 5 after hitting 8-12 (.667) in 5 games with 2 RBI and 6 RS. So the Royals sent Alex Gordon down to AA from Omaha because the O-Royals were headed on a road trip, and they didn't want to send him so far away? That's the gist of what I heard/read. OK, so....by my count, Corpus Christi is much farther away from KC than Oklahoma City, where the O-Royals are currently. I guess Omaha DOES go to New Orleans next, while NWA is just on a Texas road trip, but still....it smacks of "We want him to get back in shape versus AA competition rather than AAA competition," which is fine, but not what has been reported. Why not just say that?

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Kinston 2, Blue Rocks 0 (3-hitter)

3B Moustakas 1-4, 2 K -- .256
LF Ortiz 1-3 -- .248
2B Giavotella 0-3, BB -- .231

R. Hardy 7 IP, UER, 6 H, 5 K -- 1.76 ERA, tough loss
Villa IP, ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K, WP -- 3.80 ERA
Sisk IP, K -- 3.00 ERA

*** A 1st inning run ended up being enough for Kinston to take 3 of 4 from the Rocks to finish the series. Three hits scored the run in the 1st for the Tribe before Rowdy Hardy stranded 2. The Rocks stranded 2 in the 1st but Kinston SP Ryan Morris retired 14 in a row at one point. The Rocks wasted another chance in the 7th and Kinston got an insurance run off Kelvin Villa in the 8th. The last 7 Rocks went down in order as RP David Roberts got his 1st save. Morris allowed 3 hits and 2 walks with 7 Ks over 7 IP to improve to 4-8 with a 4.86 ERA. LF Lucas Montero and SS Ron Rivas had 2 hits for the Tribe. Montero also stole his 24th base.

The Rocks are 4-6 and 2 1/2 games back. They have today off. The Rocks have now been shutout 11 times in '09 and have a league-low 33 homers.

A - Burlington: Wisconsin 10, Bees 8

DH D. Wood 2-5, 3B (3), 2 RBI (29), K -- .242
RF Van Stratten 2-5, RBI (32), 2 RS, SB (13) -- .317
3B Taylor 2-5, 2B (3), RBI (7), K, E (2) -- .292
SS Rivera 2-4, SB (6), E (5) -- .250
1B Hosmer 0-2, 3 BB, 3 RS -- .249
C Bonilla 0-4, BB, K -- .234
CF Norris 1-4, 2 RS, SB (27), OF assist at home -- .237

Runion 5 IP, 7 R (4 ER), 10 H, 2 BB, 3 K, HRA, E -- L, 3-5, 6.15 ERA, BP continues
Saito 2 IP, UER, 3 H, BB, 2 K, WP -- 4.26 ERA
R. Pena 2 IP, 2 ER, H, BB, HRA -- 4.76 ERA

*** Wisconsin came out on top of a slugfest with the Bees. Sam Runion gave up a run in the 1st but the Bees answered with a Jason Taylor run-scoring double aided by a Rattler error. Runion stranded 2 in the 2nd but allowed 3 runs in the 3rd on 3 hits and a Juan Rivera error. Wisconsin padded the lead with 2 runs in the 4th on 3 hits and a walk to make it 6-1. He served up a solo homer to CF Juan Sanchez (his 1st) in the 5th and the Rattlers had a 7-1 lead. The Bees cut into the lead with 3 runs in the 5th on a run-scoring wild pitch, a Taylor RBI single and run-scoring Wisconsin error. The Rattlers added a run in the 7th off Derrick Saito thanks in part to a Taylor error but Patrick Norris nailed a runner at the plate to end the rally. David Wood hit a 2-out, 2-run triple in the 7th to cut it to 8-6 but Riquy Pena served up a 2-run homer to 1B Brock Kjeldgaard (his 13th) in the 8th to stretch the lead back to 4. The Bees scored a run on a passed ball in the 8th and Nick Van Stratten hit an RBI groundout but that was as close as Burlington would get. Wisconsin RP Nick Tyson pitched the 9th for his 4th save. Starter Cody Adams got the win with 5 IP of 4 runs (2 ER) allowed on 6 hits, 2 walks and a K to improve to 2-5 with a 5.40 ERA. Kjeldgaard and Sanchez both had 3 hits and 2 RS. SS Mike Marseco also had 2 hits. Kjeldgaard, 3B John Delaney and RF Mike Vass all had 2 RBI for the Rattlers. Delaney also made his 6th error.

The Bees are 4-6 and 4 games out. Game 3 is tonight as Tim Melville (2-4, 4.50) locks horns with Rattlers righty Wily Peralta (3-1, 3.41).

Rookie - Idaho Falls: Orem 5, Chukars 1

3B Morales 2-4, 2 2B, RBI (2), 2 K -- .333
DH S. Perez 1-4 -- .389
C Theriot 1-4, 2 K, RS -- .250
CF H. Richardson 0-2, BB, K -- .429

Paukovits 4 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 4 K -- L, 1-1, 2.77 ERA
Folmer 2 IP, ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 5 K -- 3.00 ERA
Hodge 3 IP, 2 K -- 4.50 ERA, best outing in a while

*** Orem got to IF pitchers early and the offense didn't respond, for once. Bryan Paukovits allowed 3 runs in the 1st on 4 hits then left the bases loaded in the 2nd. He left with 1 on and 0 out in the 4th and Richard Folmer allowed 2 runs in the inning on 3 hits and a walk before leaving the bases loaded. IF got its only run on a Jason Morales RBI double in the 5th, stranded 2 off Orem RP Mike Piazza (not THAT one) in the 7th and didn't threaten again. Owlz SP Buddy Boshers got the win with 6 IP of an ER allowed on 5 hits and a walk with 9 Ks to improve to 2-0 with a 2.16 ERA. Three Owlz had 2 hits and 1B Dillon Baird had 2 RBI (4).

The Chukars are 8-3 and 2 games up. They have today off.

Rookie - Burlington: rainout

The B-Royals are 5-7 and 2 games back. The game with Bluefield will be made up as part of a doubleheader tonight with no announced starters on the team site yet.

Rookie - AZL: off day

The Royals are 4-8 and 3 games back. They play the 6-5 Indians tonight.