Royals on the Farm 8/19

AAA - Omaha: Tacoma 10, O-Royals 5

1B Ka'aihue 2-3, BB, 2B (27), HR (17), 4 RBI (54), K, RS -- .263, readying for KC Sept. callup to ride the pine and watch Mike Jacobs flail
CF Raines 2-3, 2B (6), 3B, RS, E (2) -- .225
2B Falu 1-3, SF, RBI (38), RS -- .250
RF Aldridge 0-2, 2 BB, K, 2 RS -- .309
LF Lubanski 0-4, K, OF assist at home -- .227, ejected in 9th
3B Lisson 0-4 -- .218

O'Connor 4 2/3 IP, 8 R (5 ER), 10 H, 3 BB, 5 K, 4 HRA -- L, 1-1, 4.88 ERA
Hayes 3 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, K -- 4.17 ERA

*** Tacoma pounded out 7 runs in the first 2 innings and rolled past the O-Royals. Kila Ka'aihue started his day with an RBI double in the 1st but Mike O'Connor gave up 2 Rainier runs in the inning on 3 hits and a walk. Chris Lubanski and Luis Hernandez teamed up to nail a runner at the plate to end the inning. Tacoma socked 3 homers in the 5-run 2nd to take a 7-1 lead and Tim Raines Jr. tripled and scored on an Irving Falu sac fly in the 3rd to cut it to 7-2. Tacoma added single runs in the 5th, 6th and 8th. Ka'aihue smoked a 3-run homer to right (his 17th) in the 8th to account for the rest of Omaha's output. Tacoma SP Brandon Morrow worked 5 IP of 2 ER allowed on 3 hits and 2 walks with 5 Ks to move to 3-2 with a 3.98 ERA. Six Rainiers had multiple hits. 3B Chris Shelton had 2 HR (14) and 4 RBI (73) with 3 RS to move to .322. DH Brad Nelson had 2 hits and 2 RBI (40) and CF Jerry Owens had 3 hits and his 18th SB.

The O-Royals are 51-72. Game 3 is tonight as Lenny DiNardo (8-5, 3.24) faces Tacoma righty Andy Baldwin (6-9, 4.59). The Royals went ahead and put Brandon Duckworth on the DL with his sore elbow and have released IF Travis Metcalf, who I had higher hopes for than hitting .219 and getting released in August. Didn't we all...

AA - NW Arkansas: Midland 8, Naturals 0 (3-hitter)

CF Lough 1-3, BB -- .344
DH Mertins 1-3, K -- .284
LF Dyson 0-4, K -- .246
SS Bianchi 0-4, 2 K -- .329

B. Johnson 3 2/3 IP, 7 ER, 7 H, 4 BB, 3 K, 2 HRA -- L, 7-8, 5.00 ERA
J. Bannister 2 IP, ER, 2 H, 2 BB, K, WP -- 6.55 ERA
Castaneda 2 1/3 IP, 2 H, 4 K, WP -- 2.76 ERA

*** Blake Johnson and the Naturals got drilled, but luckily kept their lead as is in the division race. Manager Brian Poldberg was ejected in the 1st and the Naturals didn't have a hit after the 2nd. Johnson's fun began in the 1st when he served up a 2-run homer to 1B Chris Carter (his 23rd) and stranded 2 after NWA had done the same. The Naturals stranded 2 more in the 2nd and Johnson gave up a 3-run homer to C Josh Donaldson (his 7th) in the 3rd. Midland added 2 runs off Johnson in the 4th and a run off John Bannister in the 5th. The last 20 Naturals went down in order. Midland SP Graham Godfrey worked 7 IP of 3 hits and 2 walks allowed with 4 Ks to improve to 11-6 with a 3.54 ERA. Carter had 3 hits, his 13th SB, the homer, 2 RBI (96) and 2 RS to move to .335. Donaldson had 2 hits, his 17th passed ball, the homer, and 3 RBI (81). DH Matt Sulentic also had 2 hits and his 20th SB for the 'Hounds.

The Naturals are 29-22 and 2 games up on first. Game 2 is tonight as Everett Teaford (3-5, 6.00) faces Midland righty Arnold Leon (1-1, 3.88). The team site has finally confirmed the retirement of OF Joe Dickerson. This from the team site: "Dickerson had been removed from the Naturals' disabled list and placed on the restricted list in late July and was facing major surgery and a recovery timeline that would have sidelined him into the 2010 season." Also, former Royals farmhand and namesake of the Dan Christensen Waste of a 40-Man Slot Award currently held by Mario Lisson, Seattle minors lefty Dan Christensen, was just suspended 50 games for testing positive for a second time for a "drug of abuse". Not to kick a guy when he's down. He's the guy the Royals gave up for Roman Colon. Nobody won that deal except Dayton Moore and his ex-Braves collection.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Blue Rocks 9, Frederick 7

Moustakas, Hosmer DNP
1B C. Robinson 3-4, BB, HR (11), RBI (51), K, 3 RS, E (5) -- .283
2B Giavotella 1-4, BB, HR (4), RBI (41), 2 RS, SB (22) -- .253
RF Orlando 1-4, 2B (19), RBI (30), K, 2 RS, SB (16) -- .266
LF Walton 0-2, BB, SF, 2 RBI (28), SB (6) -- .249
3B Fontaine 0-2, 2 SF, 2 RBI (11) -- .319
CF D. Robinson 0-3, BB, HBP, RS, 3 SB (64) -- .240, shattered own Rocks season SB mark of 62

M. Santiago 3 1/3 IP, 6 R (5 ER), 10 H, 2 K -- 4.56 ERA
Liotta 1 2/3 IP, WP -- 3.84 ERA
Villa 3 IP, ER, 4 H, 2 K -- W, 5-7, 3.88 ERA
Basurto IP, 2 K, WP -- SV, 2, 0.84 ERA

*** Three late runs earned the Rocks a comeback victory. Frederick scored a run on 2 hits off Mario Santiago in the 1st but Jamar Walton tied the game with a sac fly in the 2nd. Six Keys hits scored 4 runs in the 2nd but Wilmington stayed in it with 3 runs in the 4th on a Paulo Orlando RBI double, Walton RBI groundout and Chase Fontaine sac fly. Santiago allowed another run in the inning before getting pulled for Ray Liotta, who stranded 2 in the 4th. Johnny Giavotella and Clint Robinson hit back-to-back homers in the 5th (their 4th and 11th, respectively) to tie the game at 6. Kelvin Villa allowed a run in the 6th but Fontaine tied it again with a sac fly in the 8th. Derrick Robinson created the go-ahead run in the 9th as he was hit by a pitch, stole second, stole third and scored on a throwing error on the play. Johnny Giavotella scored on another throwing error and the Rocks had the 9-7 lead, which Eric Basurto preserved. RP Brandon Cooney took the loss for Frederick with an IP of 2 unearned runs allowed to fall to 0-2 with a 1.29 ERA. Starter Kenny Moreland worked 5 IP of 6 ER allowed on 5 hits and 2 walks with 2 Ks to make his ERA 5.10. SS Pedro Florimon Jr. was 5-5 and a homer short of the cycle with 2 RBI (62) to move to .266. 1B Robert Widlansky had 4 hits and 4 RBI (48) for the Keys to move to .369.

The Rocks are 32-19 and clinging to their 1/2 game lead. The series wraps tonight as Danny Duffy (8-3, 3.38) faces Keys lefty Zach Britton (8-6, 2.71).

A - Burlington: off day

The Bees are 23-28 and 8 games out. A pivotal 4-game set at the Quad Cities River Bandits (23-28, A Cardinals) starts tonight with Mike Lehmann (4-5, 5.65) facing Bandits righty Kevin Thomas (5-7, 4.20). The Bees are 6-6 versus the Bandits.

Rookie - Idaho Falls: Billings 6, Chukars 3

2B Franco 1-4, 3B (3), RBI (18), RS -- .247
1B Espinosa 1-3, HBP, RBI (18), K -- .243
CF H. Richardson 0-3, BB, 3 K, E (3) -- .315
DH Lewis 0-3, BB, K -- .316
C Theriot 0-4 -- .303
3B Stovall 0-3, BB, RS, 2 E (5) -- .302
RF Llanos 0-3, K -- .211

Garrido 4 IP, 4 R (1 ER), 4 H, 2 BB, 2 K, E -- L, 1-3, 5.36 ERA
Shimek 1 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 4 H -- 8.31 ERA
Kelley 2 2/3 IP, 3 H, BB, K, WP -- 0.00 ERA

*** The Chukars mustered only 3 hits with 5 errors in the loss. Santiago Garrido stranded the bases full in the 2nd but then allowed 2 runs in the 3rd thanks in part to 2 errors in the inning. Another error in the 4th helped Billings post 2 more runs and Scott Shimek gave up 3 doubles for 2 runs in the 5th to make it 6-0. Mustangs SP Oscar Castro took a no-hitter into the 6th but Angel Franco broke it up with an RBI triple and scored on a balk to cut it to 6-2. Tito Espinosa hit an RBI single in the 9th but IF stranded 2 as RP Brian Pearl came in to get his 5th save. Castro got the win with 2 ER on a hit and walk with 7 Ks over 6 IP to move to 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA. Four Mustangs had 2 hits.

The Chukars are 9-7 and 5 1/2 games out. A 4-game set at the Great Falls Voyagers (7-9, Rookie ChiSox) starts tonight as Brendan Lafferty (3-1, 2.75) makes his 1st pro start versus GF righty Jimmy Ballinger (1-0, 3.86). IF is 2-1 versus the Voyagers.

Rookie - Burlington: off day

The B-Royals are 18-37. A 3-game home set with the Johnson City Cardinals (29-24) starts tonight as Tyler Sample (2-2, 4.26) faces JC righty Zach Russell (0-0, 2.45). The Royals are 1-2 versus the Cards.

Rookie - AZL: off day

The 6-13 Royals play the 9-11 Padres tonight.