Royals on the Farm 4/13 - Bullpen problems abound

AAA - Omaha: O-Royals 4, Nashville 0 (3-hitter)

1B Ka'aihue 2-3, BB, HR (3), 2 RBI (6), RS -- .273
LF Coats 2-3 -- .333
3B Betemit 2-4, HR (2), RBI (6), RS -- .280
RF Parraz 1-3, SF, RBI (2), K -- .130
SS Aviles 1-4, K, RS, E -- .286
CF Lough 1-4, 3B, K, RS -- .250

G. Hernandez 6 IP, 3 BB, 4 K -- W, 1-0, 2.45 ERA, 84 pitches, wow, Davies better watch his back
Rupe IP, K -- 0.00 ERA
Herges IP, 2 H -- 5.40 ERA
B. Wood IP, H, K -- 6.75 ERA

* A great outing from Gaby Hernandez knocked the Sounds out of the unbeaten ranks. David Lough led off the 2nd with a triple and scored on a Jordan Parraz sac fly to make it 1-0 Omaha. Hernandez lost a perfect game in the 3rd but kept the no-hitter intact until handing the ball to Josh Rupe in the 7th. Omaha tacked on 3 runs in the 3rd on a Wilson Betemit solo homer (his 2nd) and a 2-run homer by Kila Ka'aihue (his 3rd) to make it 4-0. Hernandez worked through a jam in the 6th, and Rupe handed the no-no to Matt Herges in the 8th. It promptly disappeared as Herges gave up singles to the first 2 batters he faced but escaped unscathed. Blake Wood allowed one more hit in the 9th before polishing it off. Sounds SP Kameron Loe took the loss with 4 ER allowed over 6 IP. Omaha is 2-4. Phillip Humber starts Wednesday for Omaha.

AA - NWA: Corpus Christi 4, Naturals 3 (13)

RF Van Stratten 3-6, 2B -- .313
C Pina 2-5, S, 2B (2), RBI (5), 2 RS -- .368
CF D. Robinson 2-6, K -- .333
SS Seratelli 0-5, BB, RBI (2), K -- .364
LF Orlando 0-6, RBI (5), 2 K, CS -- .235
2B Giavotella 1-2, BB, S, 2 HBP, SB -- .263
1B C. Robinson 0-5, BB, K -- .227
The Naturals stranded 12.

Crow 6 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, BB, 5 K, HRA -- 1.69 ERA
B. Hardy 2 IP, H, BB, K -- 0.00 ERA
Sisk 3 IP, ER, 3 H, BB, 3 K, HRA -- BS, 1, 1.80 ERA
Swaggerty 2 IP, ER, 2 H, 3 K, HRA -- L, 0-1, 12.00 ERA

* It was a day of bullpen blues in the organization as NWA blew a lead in the 9th and lost in 13. The Hooks jumped ahead on Aaron Crow in the 4th as Roger's son 1B Koby Clemens hit a 2-run homer for his 2nd of the season. Crow would strand the bases loaded. The Naturals answered as Manny Pina hit an RBI double and scored on an Anthony Seratelli groundout to tie the game in the bottom of the inning. Paulo Orlando hit an RBI forceout in the 7th to give the Nats the lead and Brandon Sisk had the Hooks down to their last out when pinch hitter David Cook took him deep to tie the game. NWA left 2 in scoring position in the 9th and stranded 2 more in the 10th. Sisk stranded 2 Hooks in the 11th. It would be Clemens who would do in the Nats as he led off the 13th with his 3rd homer of the season and 2nd of the game, this one off Ben Swaggerty. The Nats went down without a fight in the 13th. RP T.J. Burton pitched 3 scoreless innings for the win. Four Hooks had 2 hits, including Clemens' 2 HR and 3 RBI (8) game. Blake Johnson left Monday's game with a finger blister, so doesn't sound like anything too serious. For those of you wondering where Mike Moustakas is, he tweaked an oblique late in spring training and is set to miss the first couple weeks of the season. A 3-game set at the San Antonio Missions is set to start Thursday.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Blue Rocks 3, Kinston 1

CF Norris 2-4, K, RS, 2 SB (3) -- .185
1B Hosmer 1-4, RBI (5) -- .455
LF Romak 1-3, BB, RBI (8), K, RS -- .304
C S. Perez 0-2, SF, RBI (3), K -- .429
RF Ortiz 0-4 -- .227
3B Gordon 1-3, BB, 2B (3), K, RS -- .286

Montgomery 7 IP, ER, 2 H, 13 K -- W, 1-0, 0.75 ERA, damn...
Basurto 2 IP, 4 K -- SV, 1, 0.00 ERA

* Mike Montgomery was at the top of his game (if he wasn't, I can't wait to see how Dayton Moore screws this up....it stinks to be cynical like that) and the Rocks got the win. Montgomery started out dominant by striking out the side in the 1st. Salvador Perez got the Rocks on the board with a sac fly in the 2nd and Eric Hosmer and Jamie Romak smacked RBI singles in the 3rd to make it 3-0. Montgomery was perfect through 6 but gave up a leadoff single in the 7th and a 2-out RBI double cost him the shutout. Eric Basurto pitched 2 perfect innings to finish it off. K-Tribe SP Kelvin De La Cruz took the loss with 3 ER allowed over 5 IP. 1B Nate Recknagel drove in Kinston's only run. The Rocks are 2-4 and a game back.

A - Burlington: Kane County 6, Bees 5 (11)

SS D. Batista 2-6, 3B, RBI (3) -- .167
2B Hall 1-5, BB, 2B (2), 2 RBI, K, 2 RS, SB (2) -- .238
DH Myers 0-6, RBI (2), 2 K -- .185
CF Testa 1-4, BB, 2 K, CS, E -- .300
The Bees stranded 10. 3B Fernando Cruz made 2 errors (3).

Lamb 4 2/3 IP, H, 2 BB, 6 K, pickoff -- 1.04 ERA, nice
Odenbach 1 2/3 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 4 H, BB, K -- 1.93 ERA
Mozingo 2 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 2 K, HRA, pickoff -- BS, 1, 5.79 ERA
Kelley 1 2/3 IP, ER, 3 BB -- L, 0-1, 10.80 ERA, major control problems thus far
Runion 0 IP, BB -- 9.00 ERA

* A 3-run 9th kept the Cougars alive and they didn't need to take the bats off their shoulders to win in the end. Wil Myers hit an RBI groundout in the 1st but it was just the start of an 0-6 day for him. Gerard Hall hit a 2-out, 2-run double in the 2nd and scored on a Deivy Batista triple to make it 4-0 Bees. A passed ball scored Joey Lewis in the 5th and Bees starter John Lamb had a 5-0 cushion. Unfortunately, he was pulled after allowing only a 1st inning single and 2 walks with 2 out in the 5th. Things started to falter in the 6th as Dusty Odenbach allowed a run and then allowed another in the 7th to cut the lead to 5-2. Harold Mozingo got a key pickoff to escape the inning without further damage and, after working around 2 walks in the 8th, Mozingo came back out to try to finish it in the 9th. He sandwiched 2 outs around a solo homer but then allowed a single and walk to set up a clutch 2-run double by DH Max Stassi to tie the game. Stassi was thrown out by 2B Hall at home to end the inning on the next play. With 2 out in the 11th, Scott Kelley walked the bases loaded and Sam Runion was brought in, only to walk in the winning run. RP Jose Guzman pitched 2 hitless innings for the win. Stassi had only the 1 hit but 3 RBI (6). Three Cougars had 2 hits. The Bees are 1-5 after the sweep. A 3-game home set with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (A Brewers) starts Wednesday.