Royals on the Farm 7/6

Had time to do today's report after all....see you all next week....have a good one!

AAA - Omaha: O-Royals 2, Oklahoma City 0

3B Metcalf 3-3, 2B (16), RBI (40), RS -- .228
RF Falu 1-4, RBI (26), K -- .264
2B Hulett 0-3, BB, K -- .302, back in O-Royals uni
1B Ka'aihue 0-2, 2 BB -- .260, keeping a healthy OBP, but it's dipped to .398
SS Lisson 0-4, 2 K, RS, SB (3) -- .245

Ponson 8 IP, 6 H, 2 BB, 3 K, WP -- W, 1-1, 2.42 ERA, what will they do with him when his rehab time is up?
Marte IP, K -- SV, 1, 3.57 ERA

*** Sidney Ponson led the Royals to a win despite the fact the RedHawks had two more hits than Omaha. Travis Metcalf hit a 2-out RBI single in the 5th to put Omaha on top and Ponson left the bases loaded in the 7th. Irving Falu hit a 2-out RBI single in the 8th to make it 2-0 and Victor Marte pitched a perfect 9th for his 1st save. RedHawks SP Guillermo Moscoso went 6 IP of an ER allowed on 2 hits and 2 walks with 5 Ks to take the tough loss and drop to 2-1 with a 0.90 ERA. CF Greg Golson was 2-4 with 2 K for OKC to move to .265 and 1B Justin Smoak was 0-3 with a walk to drop to .125. That's 12 shutouts now for Omaha on the season.

The O-Royals are 34-49. The set wraps tonight with Brandon Duckworth (2-2, 4.50) facing OKC righty Elizardo Ramirez (4-7, 4.56). IF Tug Hulett was demoted to Omaha as John Buck was activated from the DL. Hulett was 1-14 in KC, and was the odd man out in the infield. Since the Royals completed that blockbuster for OF Ryan Freel, somebody else will need to be demoted. I'm betting it's Brayan Pena. UPDATE: Nope, it's IF Luis Hernandez who was DFA'd. P Matt Wright has been released by KC, which comes as kind of a shock. Dayton doesn't seem to admit failure easily, and Wright was one of his Braves salvage projects.

AA - NW Arkansas: Naturals 11, Corpus Christi 7

1B C. Smith 3-5, 2B (15), RBI (54), RS, E (13) -- .263
3B Lucas 2-5, 2 RBI (26), 2 K, RS -- .307
C Clark 2-5, 2B (4), RBI (17), K, RS -- .356
RF Strait 1-3, 2 BB, 2 RBI (29), K, 2 RS, E (3) -- .289
2B Mertins 1-5, RBI (37), RS -- .280
LF Duarte 1-2, HR, RBI (20), RS -- .239
CF Dyson 0-4, BB, RBI (2), K, RS, SB (7) -- .273
DH Gordon 0-2, 3 BB, K, 2 RS -- .333
LF Lough 1-2, HBP, K, RS -- .421, left in 5th

B. Johnson 2 IP, 5 R (4 ER), 4 H, 2 BB, 3 K, HRA -- 5.35 ERA, 54 pitches
de la Vara 3 IP, ER, 3 H, BB, 2 K -- W, 4-1, 4.91 ERA
Orvella 1/3 IP, nothing -- 4.15 ERA, threw 1 pitch, injury???
Nicoll 2 1/3 IP, ER, 2 H, BB, 2 K, HRA -- 4.08 ERA
Swaggerty 1 1/3 IP, 2 K -- 2.19 ERA

*** Guess who took the big beating for Corpus Christi? Ah, yes, Tyler Lumsden took an old-fashioned Royals-era beating to take the loss as a 7-run Nats rally fueled the comeback from a 6-0 deficit. The Hooks pounded Blake Johnson for 4 runs in the 1st thanks in part to a 2-run jack by 'Stros prospect C Jason Castro (his 2nd). Johnson gave up a single run in the 2nd and didn't come out for the 3rd as Gilbert de la Vara allowed a run to make it 6-0 CC. The Naturals plated a run in the 4th as Ed Lucas singled home Alex Gordon but the Nats stranded 2. de la Vara left the bases full in the 4th and NWA broke out in a big way in the 5th. Jarrod Dyson started it by scoring on an error, Corey Smith doubled home a run, Lucas greeted Lumsden with an RBI single, Cody Strait hit an RBI single that cleared the bases thanks to a Hooks error, and Cody Clark hit an RBI single to make it 8-6 NW Arkansas. Jose Duarte led off the 7th with his 1st homer of the season, Dyson hit an RBI forceout and Kurt Mertins hit an RBI groundout to make it 11-6. Chris Nicoll gave up a solo homer to RF Mitch Einertson (his 7th) in the 7th but he and Ben Swaggerty finished off the 11-7 win. Lumsden took the loss with 1 2/3 IP of 6 runs (5 ER) allowed to fall to 0-1 with a 12.27 ERA. Starter Kenny Baugh allowed 5 ER on 5 hits and 5 walks with 3 Ks over 4 1/3 IP to move his ERA to 10.38. 1B Mark Ori had 3 hits and Castro had 2 in the loss. Castro and DH Andrew Locke drove in 2 runs each.

The Naturals are 7-3 and 1 1/2 games up on first. The set wraps tonight with Everett Teaford (2-2, 6.11) facing Hooks righty Sergio Perez (6-7, 4.48).

A-Adv. - Wilmington: off day

The Rocks are 4-6 and 2 1/2 games back. A 3-game set at the Lynchburg Hillcats (3-7, A-Adv. Buccos, first half division champs) starts tonight with Danny Duffy (6-3, 3.86) trying to break a string of bad starts versus 'Cats lefty Jeff Locke (1-2, 4.50), who came over to the Pirates in the Nate McLouth deal. The Hillcats are also sans Pedro Alvarez, who was called up to AA. The Wilmington News-Journal has a nice article about Mike Moustakas, if you're interested.

A - Burlington: Bees 4, Wisconsin 2

1B Hosmer 2-4, HR (4), 2 RBI (43), RS -- .253
LF Van Stratten 2-4, K -- .320
3B Taylor 2-4, 2B (4), K, RS -- .321
DH D. Wood 1-3, S, RBI (30), K, SB (5) -- .243
C Bonilla 0-1, 2 BB, SF, RBI (19), K -- .233
RF Francis 1-3, BB, RS -- .279

Melville 6 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 2 H, 2 BB, 7 K, HRA, pickoff -- W, 3-4, 4.11 ERA, one of best starts yet
B. Hardy 3 IP, H, 2 BB, K, 2 pickoffs -- SV, 2, 2.49 ERA

*** Tim Melville and Blaine Hardy limited the Rattlers to 3 hits to set up a try at a 4-game split tonight. Eric Hosmer blasted a 2-out solo homer (his 4th) in the 1st to put the Bees up early. Melville gave up a run thanks in part to a Juan Rivera error in the 2nd to tie it, then allowed a run in the 3rd on a solo homer by LF Peter Fatse (his 1st) to make it 2-1 Wisconsin. David Wood hit an RBI single in the 4th to tie it and Hosmer hit an RBI single in the 5th to give the Bees a 3-2 lead. Nick Van Stratten was thrown out at the plate on a Nick Francis single to cost the Bees a run and the Bees stranded 2. Melville retired the last 7 he faced and Hardy retired the first 4 he faced to make it 11 T-Rats down in a row. Jose Bonilla hit a sac fly in the 8th to make it 4-2 and the Bees left the bases loaded. Wisconsin stranded 1 in the 9th as Hardy locked down his 2nd save. RP Rigoberto Almonte took the loss with an ER allowed in an IP to fall to 0-4 with a 6.57 ERA. Starter Wily Peralta allowed 2 ER on 4 hits and 2 walks with 3 Ks over 4 IP to move his ERA to 3.48. Three Rattlers had a hit each.

The Bees are 5-6 and 4 games back. The series ends tonight with Mike Lehmann (3-3, 4.02) facing Rattlers lefty Dan Merklinger (2-2, 3.09).

Rookie - Idaho Falls: off day

The Chukars are 8-3 and 2 games up on first. A 4-game set at the Helena Brewers (8-5) starts tonight with Ivor Hodgson (0-0, 4.50) facing Brew Crew righty Adrian Rosario (1-1, 2.25). C Juan Graterol has been promoted to Burlington (A) after a middling start in IF. The Brewers roster features Mil-i-wau-kee (Wayne's World pronunciation) prospects righty Jake Odorizzi (1-1, 3.94, 1.19 WHIP, 4 BB/8 K in 16 IP) and IF Cutter Dykstra (Lenny's son, .152/.300/.333, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 7 BB/5 K in 9 G/33 ABs) as well as '09 draftees 1st round righty Eric Arnett, 2nd round C Cameron Garfield (1.047 OPS leads team), 3rd round SS Josh Prince, 6th round righty Hiram Burgos, 7th round OF Khris Davis, 8th round OF Chad Stang, 9th round lefty Jon Pokorny, 11th round righty Andre Lamontagne and others.

Rookie - Burlington: Bluefield 3, B-Royals 1 (7/G1)

C F. Cruz 0-2, RBI (3), K, PB (2) -- .219
SS Espinal 1-3 -- .347
3B Culver 1-2, SB (2) -- .292, team only had 2 hits
2B R. Wood 0-3 -- .178

Fortuna 4 2/3 IP, 3 R (2 ER), 5 H, 3 BB, 3 K, WP -- L, 1-1, 3.07 ERA
Dennick 1 1/3 IP, K -- 3.52 ERA

*** The B-Royals offense was inert in the loss in the first of 2 with Bluefield Monday. Carlos Fortuna walked the bases full to start the O's 2nd and the Orioles got 2 runs in the rally. They added a run in the 4th thanks mostly to an error by Victor Soto in left. The B-Royals broke up the perfect game, no-hitter and shutout in the 5th as Fernando Cruz hit an RBI fielder's choice to cut the lead to 3-1. They wouldn't threaten again. O's SP Robert Bundy went the distance and allowed an ER on 2 hits with 5 Ks to move to 1-2 with a 3.86 ERA. SS Gary Helmick had 2 hits for Bluefield and also stole his 1st 2 bases of the season.

Bluefield 5, B-Royals 0 (7/G2)

2B R. Wood 1-3 -- .188
3B Culver 1-2, picked off -- .308
SS Espinal 0-3, 2 K, E (5) -- .327

Cuevas 3 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 3 K, WP -- L, 0-1, 5.91 ERA
Kelley 2 1/3 IP, ER, 2 H, 5 K -- 1.17 ERA

*** If the Royals offense was inert in game 1, it was just as lifeless in game 2 with the benefit of 2 more hits. Gary Cuevas started and allowed 2 runs on 3 hits in the 2nd and 2 runs on 3 hits and a wild pitch in the 4th to make it 4-0 O's. Scott Kelley allowed a run in the 5th and the Royals never really threatened. Bluefield SP Robert Holloway got the win with 6 IP of 3 hits allowed with 9 Ks to improve to 1-1 with a 6.75 ERA. Three O's had 2 hits and DH Joel Polanco was 2-5 with 2 doubles, 3 RBI (6), a K and RS to move to .412.

The B-Royals are 5-9 and 4 games back. The series ends tonight with no announced starters on the team site. 3rd round pick C Wil Myers worked out with the B-Royals in recent days.

Rookie - AZL: Royals 10, Indians 7

SS A. Martinez 3-5, 3B, RBI (2), K, RS, CS -- .149
RF Llanos 2-4, BB, HR (2), 2 RBI (8), K, 2 RS, OF assist at third -- .298
C Moreno 1-4, 2 RBI (4), 2 K, RS -- .167
DH Figueroa 1-4, SF, RBI (8), K, RS -- .289
3B Stovall 1-4, 2B (4), RBI (11), 2 K, RS, 3 E (8) -- .280, second 3 E game this season
LF S. Cabrera 0-4, RBI (5) -- .152
1B G. Baldwin 0-3, BB, 2 K, 2 E (6) -- .243

Avinazar 4 IP, 4 R (2 ER), 5 H, 2 BB, 8 K, HRA, E, pickoff -- 5.09 ERA
Keck 2 IP, BB, K -- 10.13 ERA
Castaneda 1/3 IP, UER, H -- 9.00 ERA
L. Roberts 1 2/3 IP, 2 UER, H, BB, 2 K, WP -- W, 1-0, 1.13 ERA, first pro win
Bavera IP, nothing -- SV, 1, 0.00 ERA

*** The Royals pounded out a dazzling 6-run rally in the 9th to come back for the victory. The Royals caught 2 Indians on the basepaths in the 1st but Willian Avinazar gave up 2 runs in the 2nd on a 2-run homer by RF Darling Read (his 1st) to give the Indians the lead. The Royals tied it in the 3rd on RBI singles by Alex Llanos and Adrian Martinez. An Avinazar error scored a run in the Indians 3rd and the Indians pushed in another run in the 4th to make it 4-2. Martinez tripled and scored on a Yunior Figueroa sac fly in the 6th but the Indians got the run back off Federico Castaneda in the 7th. Llanos went long in the 8th for his 2nd homer of the season to cut it to 5-4 but the Indians scored 2 in the 8th off Lee Roberts thanks to Burlington errors to make it 7-4. Ryan Stovall doubled home the Royals' first run in the 9th and scored on a Santos Cabrera groundout before Henry Moreno hit a 2-run single to give the Royals an 8-7 lead. A passed ball and Martinez singled scored the Royals' other 2 runs in the inning to make it 10-7. Claudio Bavera pitched a perfect 9th for the save. Indians RP Francisco Valera lasted only 1/3 IP and allowed 6 ER to blow his first save and drop to 2-1 with a 4.76 ERA. Starter Mike Rayl went 4 IP of 2 runs (1 ER) allowed on 2 hits and a walk with 5 Ks to drop his ERA to 10.13. CF Trent Baker had 2 hits for the Tribe. He also walked twice and scored twice. Read had 2 RBI (4).

The Royals are 5-8 and 3 games back. They play the division leading 8-5 Mariners tonight.