Royals on the Farm 4/27

This is post #910 on the Pipeline, which for you fellow Beatles fans out there makes this the One After 909. Hard to pick a Beatles top 5 songs, but here's one:

1) Yesterday (most recorded song in history, just discovered Marvin Gaye's version a few months back, puts his own legendary spin on it); 2) Let It Be; 3) Golden Slumbers/Carry that Weight/The End; 4) Blackbird; 5) Long and Winding Road (the version on the reissued Let it Be...Naked album is even better than the original). So many good songs left off, too. It's really amazing what the Fab Four did for music. What can be said that hasn't already been said?

AAA - Omaha: Albuquerque 3, O-Royals 2 (10)

1B Ka'aihue 2-5 -- .284
CF Lough 2-4, S, RS -- .244
2B Getz 2-4 -- .500
DH Thorman 1-5, RBI (5), 2 K -- .246
LF Coats 0-3, SF, RBI (2) -- .314
RF Parraz 0-4 -- .157, hot start meant so much in '09, doesn't have that fortune in 2010

Lerew 6 IP, ER, 4 H, BB, 5 K -- 3.15 ERA, solid
Castaneda IP, K -- 0.00 ERA
Colon IP, nothing -- 0.00 ERA
B. Wood IP, 2 R (1 ER), 2 BB, 2 K -- L, 1-1, 3.27 ERA

* The teams battled for 6 scoreless innings before combining for 3 runs in the 10th as the Isotopes won the series finale. A Buck Coats sac fly in the 2nd gave Omaha a 1-0 lead but the Isotopes got a sac fly of their own in the 3rd. Both teams stranded 2 in the 4th and David Lough grounded into an inning-ending DP with the lead runner at third in the 8th. Blake Wood walked 2 in the 10th and a Cody Clark throwing error broke the game open as Albuquerque scored 2 runs for a 3-1 lead. Scott Thorman hit an RBI single in the 10th to put runners at the corners with 1 out in the bottom of the 10th but Kila Ka'aihue popped out and Lough grounded out to end the game. RP Travis Schlichting pitched a scoreless 9th for the win. Starter Josh Towers only allowed an unearned run over 6 IP. Four Isotopes had a hit each. The Royals are 8-11. They have Wednesday off.

AA - NWA: Naturals 6, Springfield 2

RF Van Stratten 3-4, HR, 2 RBI (8), K, 2 RS -- .300
CF D. Robinson 2-4, BB, RBI (4), 2 SB (14), picked off -- .319
SS McConnell 1-2, RBI (4) -- .225
LF-SS Seratelli 0-3, BB, RBI (3) -- .152
DH Giavotella 0-5, 2 K -- .348
3B Moustakas 1-4, 2B (3), 2 K, RS -- .360
1B C. Robinson 1-4, RS -- .283

Osuna 6 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, BB, 6 K, 2 HRA -- W, 3-1, 0.78 ERA
B. Hardy 3 IP, K -- SV, 1, 0.00 ERA, your next Omaha Royal, I'd bet

* Edgar Osuna had another good start and the Naturals tied the Cardinals for the division lead. Nick Van Stratten led off the 2nd with his 1st homer of the season and the Nats took command with 4 in the 4th on a Van Stratten RBI single, a bases loaded walk by Anthony Seratelli, a Chris McConnell RBI single and a Derrick Robinson RBI forceout. Osuna served up a solo homer but stranded 2 in the 4th and then gave up another solo homer in the 5th to cut it to 5-2. Clint Robinson scored on a passed ball in the 8th and Blaine Hardy was lockdown out of the bullpen to make it 12 scoreless innings to start the season. Springfield SP Gary Daley took the loss with 4 IP of 5 runs (3 ER) allowed. RF James Rapoport had 2 hits for the Cards. The Naturals are 11-7 and tied for first.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Salem 15, Blue Rocks 5

DH Prasch 2-3, BB, 2B (4), 2 RBI (7), RS -- .421
LF Taylor 2-3, 2B (4), K, 2 RS -- .224
SS Alfaro 1-5, 2B, RBI (4), 2 K, E -- .182
3B R. Wood 0-3, BB, RBI (4), E (5), K -- .105
C Theriot 0-4, RBI, K, 2 E -- .250
CF Norris 1-5, 2 K, RS, OF assist at home -- .273
1B Hosmer 1-4, BB, 2B (6) -- .435

Dwyer 4 2/3 IP, 3 R (2 ER), 4 H, 4 BB, 4 K, HRA, WP -- 3.57 ERA
J. Thompson 2 IP, 4 UER, 4 H, 2 BB, 3 K -- L, 0-2, 6.35 ERA
R. Pena 1 1/3 IP, 8 ER, 9 H, BB, K -- 13.50 ERA

* A 5-3 lead in the 7th went up in smoke as Salem poured it on late to win by 10. Eddie Prasch hit an RBI double and Ben Theriot hit an RBI groundout to give the Rocks a 2-0 lead in the 2nd. Chris Dwyer gave up a leadoff homer in the 2nd and the Sox got another run in the inning to tie the game. Ryan Wood hit an RBI groundout in the 4th and Dwyer got pulled with 2 on and 2 out in the 5th before James Thompson gave up a game-tying double. Prasch hit an RBI single in the 6th to make it 4-3 and J.D. Alfaro hit an RBI double in the 7th to make it 5-3 but Thompson got lit up in the bottom of the inning. He gave up 4 runs before Riquy Pena came in to strand the bases full. It was Pena's turn to get lit up, and he did, worse than Thompson, in the 8th as Salem pounded out 8 runs on 9 hits and a walk. Salem RP Michael Lee got the win with an ER allowed over 2 1/3 IP. Six Sox had multiple hits led by 3-hit games from 2B Oscar Tejeda and 3B Jonathan Hee. LF David Mailman drove in 4 runs and 4 others had 2 RBI. The Rocks are 9-10. According to the Star, Mike Montgomery is getting called up to AA. C Juan Graterol is headed back to Burlington as RP Thompson was activated from the DL.

A - Burlington: Beloit 6, Bees 4 (Monday)

RF Oriental 2-4, RBI (4) -- .212
DH Myers 1-4, HR (3), 3 RBI (10), K, RS -- .225
CF Testa 1-3, BB, 2 K -- .292
C Bonilla 1-3 -- .200, left in 9th with leg injury
LF Allen Caldwell had an OF assist at first.

Mitchell 7 IP, ER, 4 H, BB, 5 K -- 7.27 ERA
Runion IP, 2 R (1 ER), 3 H, K, WP -- BS, 1, 12.96 ERA, ERA actually dropped
Lehmann IP, 3 R (2 ER), 2 H, 3 BB, 2 K -- BS, 1, L, 0-2, 6.30 ERA

* When last I left the game last night, they were in a delay in the 9th with the Bees up 1 but Mike Lehmann having walked the leadoff batter. When play resumed, things went bad for the Bees. Matt Mitchell gave up a run in the 2nd but Wil Myers smoked a 3-run homer in the 3rd for his 3rd of the season to make it 3-1 Bees. Mitchell had his best start yet as he didn't budge another inch over 7 innings of work. Sam Runion came in, though, for the 8th and gave up 3 singles to load the bases with 1 out. A wild pitch scored 1 run and a Deivy Batista error helped the tying run score, so it's arguable that Runion could have escaped with the lead intact. Gerard Hall led off the Bees 8th with a walk, advanced on a passed ball and wild pitch, and then scored on a Rene Oriental single, although Joey Lewis was thrown out at the plate to end the rally. Lehmann walked the leadoff guy in the 9th and then, after a 62-minute rain delay in which Jose Bonilla left the game and Fernando Cruz took over at catcher, a steal and Cruz throwing error put the tying run at third. Lehmann then gave up an RBI double and a 2-out passed ball on Cruz let the lead run in. Lehmann gave up another RBI single before escaping the inning with the Bees down, 6-4. The Bees went down 1-2-3 in the 9th to end it. RP Kane Holbrooks got 1 out for the win. Starter Miguel Munoz only allowed Myers' homer over 6 IP. DH Aaron Hicks and RF Angel Morales had 2 hits for the Snappers. Morales had 2 SB (7). The Bees are 6-13 as Nick Wooley starts tonight's game.

Bees 13, Beloit 3 (Tuesday)

SS Hall 4-5, RBI (13), K, 4 RS, SB (7), E (5) -- .288
DH D. Batista 3-5, 2 2B (5), 2 RS -- .274
RF Oriental 3-5, 2B (3), RBI (5), K, 2 RS -- .239
3B F. Cruz 2-4, SF, 2 RBI (4), K -- .179
C Myers 1-3, BB, SF, HR (4), 4 RBI (14), RS, 2 PB (6) -- .230, ooooh, starting to heat up???
1B Lewis 1-3, 2 BB, 2B (5), RBI (15), K, RS, E (5) -- .231
CF Testa 1-5, 3B (2), RBI (8), 2 K, 2 RS -- .283
LF Caldwell 1-4, SF, 2B (4), RBI (6), RS -- .227

Wooley 5 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 5 BB, 6 K -- W, 1-1, 6.14 ERA
Paukovits 4 IP, ER, H, 2 BB, 6 K, WP -- SV, 1, 3.18 ERA

* The Bees poured on the O as a 16-hit barrage produced 13 runs and a 10-run win. Nick Wooley gave up a run before he recorded an out as the Bees had a passed ball and error in the inning but the 1 run was all the Snappers got out of the rally. Wil Myers made up for the passed ball as he came up with 2 on and 0 out in the bottom of the 1st and slammed a 3-run jack for his 4th of the season. Fernando Cruz and Allen Caldwell added sac flies and Burlington had a 5-1 lead. Carlo Testa ripped a 2-out RBI triple in the 2nd, scored on a Rene Oriental single and Oriental scored on a wild pitch to make it 8-1. Another wild pitch in the 3rd scored Gerard Hall to make it 9-1. Cruz hit an RBI single in the 4th to make it an even 10-1. Beloit scratched out another run in the 5th but the Bees matched it on a Joey Lewis RBI double. Beloit cut it to 11-3 in the 6th but the Bees got their last 2 runs in the 7th on a Hall RBI single and Myers sac fly. Beloit SP Brad Stillings allowed 8 runs (6 ER) over 2 IP to take the loss. SS Brian Dozier had 2 hits and his 6th RBI for Beloit. The Bees are 7-13.