Royals on the Farm 8/5

AAA - Omaha: O-Royals 14, Las Vegas 1

2B Falu 3-4, BB, 2B (13), 2 RBI (36), K, 3 RS -- .259
1B Ka'aihue 3-5, 2 RBI (45), 2 RS -- .267
RF Parraz 3-5, 2 2B (5), 2 RBI (5), RS, OF assist at second -- .303, would be nice to see him in KC in Sept.
CF Raines 2-4, 2 RBI (14), 2 RS -- .218
DH Hulett 2-3, 2 BB, 3B (4), RBI (46), 2 RS -- .315
SS Hernandez 1-4, BB, 2B (8), RBI (16), 2 RS -- .289
C House 1-4, BB, 2B (18), RBI (39), 2 RS -- .248
3B Lisson 0-4, BB, RBI (27), 2 K, RS -- .242
LF Lubanski 0-5, 2 K -- .252, struggling since return

Hughes 6 IP, ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 9 K, HRA, WP -- W, 1-2, 3.95 ERA, he WAS AZ Fall League pitcher of year not long ago, don't forget
Holland 3 IP, 3 H -- SV, 2, 9.00 ERA

*** Dusty Hughes only had 1 pitch hurt him in a good outing as the Royals clubbed the 51s. Hughes set the tone by striking out the side in the 1st and the offense responded with 5 runs in the bottom half on a Tug Hulett RBI single that scored 2 runs on a 51s error, a bases-loaded walk by Mario Lisson and a 2-run Tim Raines Jr. single. Jordan Parraz doubled a runner off second from right in the 2nd and it saved the Royals a run as C J.P. Arencibia took Hughes out of the yard for his 12th homer of the season. Omaha kept the pressure on with 3 runs in the 2nd on a 2-run Kila Ka'aihue single and Parraz RBI double. Hughes left the bases loaded in the 3rd and Omaha added 2 more runs on a Luis Hernandez RBI double and Hulett RBI triple to make it 10-1. Irving Falu hit a 2-run double in the 5th to make it 12-1 and J.R. House and Parraz added RBIs in the 8th to finish the rout. 51s SP David Purcey allowed 5 ER on 4 hits and 4 walks with a K in 1 IP to fall to 5-5 with a 4.71 ERA. RF Aaron Mathews had 2 hits for Vegas, plus 2 OF assists and his 3rd error.

Omaha is 46-64. Game 2 with the 51s is tonight as Heath Phillips (6-7, 5.85) faces momentary former Royals lefty Fabio Castro (6-5, 4.47). The Royals rule 5'd Castro a few years ago, then flipped him to Texas for Esteban German the same day. The Royals designated OF Ryan Freel for assignment, but I'd bet they release him rather than bring him to Omaha. Who knows, tho.

AA - NW Arkansas: Naturals 8, Tulsa 0

RF Duarte 2-3, BB, 2B (12), 3 RBI (33), K, 2 SB (17) -- .256
1B C. Smith 3-4, HR (19), 2 RBI (71), 2 RS -- .259
LF Lucas 2-4, RBI (35), RS -- .287
DH Bianchi 2-4, 2 RS -- .325
C Clark 2-4, 2B (11), RS -- .308
CF Dyson 1-5, K, SB (19) -- .272
2B Mertins 0-4, 2 K -- .276

R. Hardy 6 IP, 3 H, BB, 4 K -- W, 3-1, 2.53 ERA, much easier go of it in AA than last time around
Hartsock 2 IP, 2 H, BB, K, WP -- 3.48 ERA
Swaggerty IP, H, 2 K -- 4.05 ERA

*** Rowdy Hardy stifled the Drillers offense and NWA regained sole control of first place in the TL North. The scoring started with a Tulsa 2-run error in the 2nd and Jose Duarte added a 2-run single to make it 4-0 Nats. Hardy stranded 2 in the 3rd and Ed Lucas added an RBI single in the 5th to stretch the lead to 5-0. Duarte doubled home another run in the 6th and Corey Smith polished it off with a 2-run homer (his 19th) in the 7th. Aaron Hartsock stranded 2 in the 7th but that was Tulsa's last gasp. Tulsa SP Keith Weiser took the loss with 6 runs (4 ER) allowed on 10 hits and a walk with 5 Ks to drop to 7-11 with a 4.96 ERA. Rockies C prospect Mike McKenry had 2 hits, including his 23rd double, to move to .278.

The Naturals are 23-16 and back to a game up on first. A win versus Tulsa in tonight's series finale would be nice as Anthony Lerew (6-6, 4.62) faces Tulsa righty Andy Graham (2-4, 4.95).

A-Adv. - Wilmington: rainout

The Rocks are 23-14 and a game back of Potomac. The Rocks start a pivotal 4-game set at the Nationals (25-14) tonight with Mike Montgomery (0-0, 3.00) facing Nationals righty Trevor Holder (1-0, 1.80). The Wednesday game with Winston-Salem will likely be made up in their series in Wilmington next week. The Rocks are 4-9 versus the Nationals this season. P Louis Coleman has already been promoted to Wilmington after a few games with Burlington.

A - Burlington: Clinton 7, Bees 4

C Graterol 4-4, 2B (2), RBI (3), 2 RS -- .361
LF Griffin 1-4, RBI (11), 2 K -- .299
2B Molina 0-2, SF, RBI (5), K, SB, E (4) -- .158
DH Norris 0-5, K -- .247
CF Ortiz 0-4, OF assist at third -- .182
3B Taylor 0-4 -- .244
RF Francis 1-4, K, RS -- .254
SS R. Wood 1-3, BB, K, E (3) -- .130

Baez 5 IP, 7 R (6 ER), 11 H, 3 BB, K, HRA -- L, 5-5, 3.71 ERA
Odenbach 3 IP, 4 K -- 3.18 ERA, very nice

*** Clinton established an early lead and held tight to win. Clinton scored a run off Manauris Baez in the 1st and the Bees nailed a runner at the plate to end the rally. The LumberKings scored 2 more in the 2nd and a Yeldrys Molina sac fly in the 3rd got the Bees on the board. Clinton got the run back in the 3rd as Adrian Ortiz threw out a runner at third from center to end the inning. The Bees tightened the game, tho, with 2 in the 4th on RBI singles from Shawn Griffin and Juan Graterol to make it 4-3. Clinton pulled back away, however, with 3 in the 5th including a 2-run homer by CF Ryan Royster (his 1st) to make it 7-3. The Bees scored a run on an error in the 7th and then stranded 2 in the 9th. Starter Bobby LaFromboise got the win with 6 IP of 3 ER allowed on 6 hits with 4 Ks to improve to 7-6 with a 3.83 ERA. Royster was 3-4 with a double, the HR, 3 RBI and 2 RS to set a .750 BA in his Clinton debut. He's the nephew of former major leaguer Jerry Royster. LF Jacob Shaffer also had 3 hits and 2 RBI (32) to move to .290. SS Kyle Seager also drove in 2 runs (12).

The Bees are 16-22 and 6 games back. The Clinton series wraps tonight with Ivor Hodgson (0-1, 8.38) facing 'Kings lefty Anthony Vasquez (1-0, 1.59). RP Cole White has been promoted to Burlington from Idaho Falls.

Rookie - Idaho Falls: Orem 8, Chukars 7

RF Testa 4-5, 2B (9), HR (6), RBI (19), 3 RS, SB (9) -- .306
DH S. Perez 4-5, 2B (7), RBI (20), RS -- .304
SS D. Batista 1-4, BB, HR (9), 2 RBI (35), 2 K, 2 RS, E (10) -- .308
1B Espinosa 0-4, SF, RBI (14), 2 K -- .243
CF Llanos 0-5, K -- .133
C Theriot 1-2, BB, HBP -- .338

Lamb 5 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, BB, 2 K, HRA, pickoff -- 4.50 ERA
J. Garcia 1 2/3 IP, UER, 3 H -- 1.00 ERA
Toribio 1 1/3 IP, 4 ER, 5 H -- BS, 2, 5.02 ERA
Shimek 1/3 IP, UER, H, 2 BB -- L, 0-1, 6.48 ERA

*** Idaho Falls blew 2 leads, tied it in the 9th, then lost in the 9th. Two 2-out Orem errors in the 1st helped the Chukars make it 1-0. Salvador Perez hit a 2-out RBI single in the 3rd to make it 2-0 and John Lamb held the Owlz to only 1 hit going into the 5th. Orem CF Travis Witherspoon changed that with a 2-out, 2-run blast (his 1st) in the 5th to tie the game. Tito Espinosa hit a sac fly in the 6th and an Orem error scored another run to make it 4-2 Chukars. Orem got a run back in the 6th off Justin Garcia but Carlo Testa went solo for his 6th homer of the season in the 7th to make it 5-3. Aneidy Toribio stranded 2 Owlz in the 7th but got clubbed in the 8th for 4 runs on 5 hits. Deivy Batista tied it back up at 7 with a 2-run homer (his 9th) in the 9th but Scott Shimek gave up a walkoff single in the Orem 9th to end it. RP Yeison Almeida blew his 1st save but got the win with 2 ER allowed in 1 IP to move to 3-0 with a 2.53 ERA. Starter Stephen Locke worked 5 IP of 2 runs (1 ER) on 5 hits and a walk with 5 Ks to move his ERA to 5.09. RF Terrell Alliman and 2B Kevin Ramos had 3 hits for Orem. Witherspoon had 2 RBI (6) and SS Mike Wing had 3 RBI (21) for the Owlz. 1B Dillon Baird also had 2 hits to improve to .411.

The Chukars are 1-2. A 3-game set at the Ogden Raptors (1-2, Rookie Dodgers, first-half division champs) starts tonight with Pernell Halliman (2-1, 6.17) facing an unnamed Ogden SP. IF is 2-4 versus the Raptors.

Rookie - Burlington: rainout

The B-Royals are 12-29. The game with Pulaski will be made up as part of a doubleheader tonight. Tyler Sample (0-2, 4.43) will start one of the games for the Royals. No announced opposing Pulaski starter.

Rookie - AZL: Royals 7, Dodgers 4

2B A. Martinez 3-4, 3 RBI (13), CS (2), E (5) -- .234
1B G. Baldwin 2-5, 2 3B (3), RBI (16), 2 K, RS -- .312
SS McConnell 2-4, BB, 2 2B, RS -- .286, rehab
RF Cooper 2-3, HBP, K, 2 RS, 3 SB -- .667, nice AZL debut
DH Trapp 1-5, RBI (12), 2 K, RS, SB (8), CS (3) -- .313
3B Piterson 1-4, SF, RBI (9), RS -- .308
C Matos 1-4, 2B (4), RBI (7), K, RS -- .349
CF L. Adams 1-5, K -- .240

Avinazar 5 IP, 3 R (2 ER), 5 H, BB, 3 K -- W, 3-3, 5.98 ERA
Keck 3 IP, ER, 2 H, 2 BB, K -- 6.75 ERA
S. De La Rosa IP, K, WP -- SV, 1, 7.84 ERA

*** A 5-run 1st was enough to get the Royals the win Wednesday. The rally started with a Chris McConnell leadoff double and two errors brought him home. Geoff Baldwin hit an RBI triple, Luis Piterson hit a sac fly, Mauricio Matos hit an RBI double and Adrian Martinez hit an RBI single to make it 5-0. The other 2 Royal runs scored in the 3rd on a 2-run Martinez single. The Dodgers got to Willian Avinazar for a run in the 3rd, then scored another in the 4th. Jonathon Keck came in with the bases loaded and 0 out in the 6th and allowed only 1 run before escaping the jam with a 7-3 lead. Starling De La Rosa was brought in with 2 on and 0 out in the 9th and allowed a run on a wild pitch before closing the door for his 1st save. Starter Brandon Martinez took the loss for the Dodgers with 2 IP of 5 runs (1 ER) allowed on 6 hits with 2 Ks to fall to 0-3 with a 13.06 ERA. C Jan Vazquez had 2 hits, his 4th error and 4th passed ball to move to .159.

The 3-6 Royals are 4 games back and face the 2-7 Rangers tonight.