Royals on the Farm 4/14 - Melville time

Wouldn't it be great if JoGui could keep this up all season? Ah, if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.

AAA - Omaha: Nashville 3, O-Royals 2

3B Maddox 1-3, HBP, 2 RBI (6), 2 K -- .370
SS Aviles 1-4, K -- .273
1B Ka'aihue 0-4, 2 K -- .231
CF Lough 0-4 -- .219
RF Parraz 0-4, K -- .111

Humber 7 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 6 K, 2 HRA -- L, 0-1, 5.73 ERA, not a bad start
Marte 2 IP, K -- 1.42 ERA

* Each team got 1 inning of offense and the Sounds' trumped the Royals'. Phil Humber had a rough 1st as RF Brendan Katin hit a 2-run shot followed by a solo homer by 1B Joe Koshansky to make it 3-0 Sounds. Marc Maddox hit a 2-run single in the 3rd and the Royals stranded 2 in the 6th as Sounds SP Chuck Lofgren had a good start. The last 8 Royals went down in order. Lofgren moved to 2-0 with the win. 2B Eric Farris had 2 hits for Nashville. Katin's 2 RBI gave him 8 on the season. Bruce Chen is slated to start Thursday's series finale. Omaha is 2-5.

AA - NWA: off day

* The Naturals are 4-2 and a game up on first. They're headed to San Antonio for a 3-gamer.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Blue Rocks 1, Kinston 0 (2-hitter)

RF Ortiz 3-4, BB, 3B, RBI (4), SB (5), picked off -- .308
CF Norris 2-4, BB, RS, SB (4) -- .226
LF Romak 2-4 -- .333
3B Gordon 0-3, BB, K, SB -- .235
1B Hosmer 1-4, 2 K -- .423
C S. Perez 1-4 -- .389
The Rocks stranded 10.

Melville 5 IP, H, BB, 8 K, WP -- W, 1-0, 7.94 ERA, very nice bounceback start
R. Pena 2 IP, H, BB, K -- 4.50 ERA
Baumann 2 IP, 5 K -- SV, 1, 1.69 ERA

* Tim Melville was lockdown in his second start after a first start in which he didn't make it out of the opening frame. Melville, like Mike Montgomery the night before, struck out the side in the 1st and the only run of the game scored in the 3rd when Adrian Ortiz singled home Patrick Norris. Melville coasted but was pulled after 5 and the bullpen held strong. Riquy Pena stranded 2 in the 7th and Buddy Baumann struck out 5 of the 6 batters he faced for a dominant outing. Tribe SP Nick Hagadone took the loss despite giving up only an unearned run with 6 K over 5 IP. The Rocks are 3-4 and a game back. They have Thursday off.

A - Burlington: Bees 8, Wisconsin 6

2B Hall 3-4, 2 2B (4), 4 RBI (6), RS -- .320
SS D. Batista 2-5, 2B, K, E (4) -- .207
1B Lewis 2-4, 2 K, 2 RS -- .250
C Myers 1-4, SF, HR, 2 RBI (4), RS, 2 PB (3) -- .194, hopefully gets him started, 1/2 SB against
DH Stovall 1-4, 2B, RBI (4), 2 K, RS -- .263
LF Caldwell 1-4, RBI, 2 K -- .182
CF Richardson 1-5, 2 K, 2 RS, SB (3) -- .240

Herrera 5 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 6 K, HRA -- W, 1-0, 3.00 ERA
Hodge 2 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, K -- 3.60 ERA
Runion IP, 2 ER, 3 H, K -- 13.50 ERA, sigh, just to recap, was drafted ahead of Nats' Jordan Zimmermann, Marlins' Mike Stanton, among others
Lehmann IP, K -- SV, 1, 6.35 ERA

* A 5-run 1st helped Kelvin Herrera and the Bees survive the opener with the T-Rats. Herrera gave up his runs early as 1B Chris Dennis clubbed a 2-run shot in the 1st. The Bees responded in a big way, tho, as Gerard Hall hit a 2-out, bases-loaded, 3-run double, Ryan Stovall doubled him home and Allen Caldwell hit an RBI single to make it 5-2 Bees. Wil Myers hit a solo homer in the 2nd for his 1st (hopefully of many) this season. Hall smoked another RBI double to give the Bees a 5-run lead. The Bees left the bases full. Things got a little shaky in the 7th as Mitch Hodge came in for his second inning of work and gave up a 2-run Dennis single to cut the lead to 3. Sam Runion came in for the 8th and gave up 2 runs (1 on a passed ball charged to Myers) and the Bees' lead was down to 1 at 7-6. Myers got the run back with a sac fly in the 8th and Mike Lehmann sat the Rattlers down in order in the 9th for his 1st save. Wisconsin SP Del Howell allowed 7 ER over 1 2/3 IP to take the loss. LF Khristopher Davis was 4-5 for the Timber Rattlers with a double and 2 RS. Dennis was 3-5 with his 2nd homer and 4 RBI (7). The Bees are 2-5.