Royals on the Farm 6/2 -- Duffy to return, Moustakas does return

AAA - Omaha: O-Royals 10, New Orleans 5

1B Ka'aihue 3-4, BB, 2B (8), HR (11), 2 RBI (36), 2 RS -- .347
2B Mertins 2-5, 2 2B (6), RBI (9), K, 2 RS -- .234
DH Parraz 2-4, BB, RBI (26), RS -- .265
SS Falu 3-6, 2B (7), RBI (14), 2 RS, SB (6) -- .319
LF Lough 3-5, RBI (23), 2 RS -- .278
CF Miller 1-4, BB, 2B (8), 2 RBI (19), K, RS -- .223
C Clark 1-5, RBI (9) -- .186

Bullington 3 IP, ER, 4 H, BB, 2 K -- 1.69 ERA
B. Hardy 3 IP, H, 5 K -- W, 1-0, 0.00 ERA, seamless transition to AAA
C. Hayes 3 IP, 4 R (3 ER), 6 H, 2 K -- SV, 2, 5.14 ERA

* The Royals walloped the Zephyrs. After a David Lough RBI single in the 1st, Kila Ka'aihue blasted his 11th homer of the season for a 2-run shot to make it 3-0 Omaha. Bryan Bullington allowed a run in the 1st but combined with Blaine Hardy to hold the Zephyrs in check through 6. Irving Falu hit an RBI double in the 2nd and an error scored Falu to make it 5-1 Royals. Jai Miller hit a 2-run double before Kurt Mertins hit an RBI double and Cody Clark singled in a run as the rout continued at 9-1. Jordan Parraz singled in the final run in the 6th for Omaha. New Orleans got no traction until Chris Hayes came in and allowed 4 runs late. Zephyrs SP Rick VandenHurk allowed 9 runs (8 ER) over 2 1/3 IP to fall to 4-3. RF Bryan Petersen and C Neil Wilson had 3 hits to lead 3 with multiple hits for the Zephyrs. Omaha is 29-22. Anthony Lerew starts Thursday's game 3.

AA - NW Arkansas: Naturals 8, Frisco 0

1B C. Robinson 3-4, BB, 3B, HR (6), 4 RBI (33), K, 2 RS -- .267
C Pina 2-4, BB, 2B (7), RBI (21) -- .270
RF Orlando 2-4, HR (2), RBI (19), RS -- .310
2B Giavotella 2-5, 2B (12), RS -- .282
SS McConnell 2-3, BB, 2B (8), RS -- .242
3B Moustakas 1-5, 2B (13), RBI (42), 2 RS -- .367
CF D. Robinson 0-4, BB, K, E (5) -- .296
LF Smith 0-4, K, RS -- .297
NWA stranded 10.

Santiago 6 IP, 6 H, 3 K -- W, 4-4, 2.53 ERA
Coleman 2 IP, BB, 2 K -- 2.14 ERA
Sisk IP, BB, 3 K -- 1.61 ERA

* The Naturals finally bested the top team in the TL South with a shutout victory Wednesday. Clint Robinson provided some early fireworks with a 3-run homer in the 1st for his 6th of the season. Mario Santiago stranded 2 in the 2nd. A Johnny Giavotella double-play ball scored a run before Mike Moustakas made his return to the lineup successful with an RBI double and Clint Robinson tripled in another run to make it 6-0 Rocks. Manny Pina doubled in a run in the 6th and Paulo Orlando led off the 7th with his 2nd homer of the season to finish the scoring. Frisco had its chances but Santiago kept working out of trouble and the bullpen gave the RoughRiders little opportunity. Frisco SP Tanner Roark took the loss with 6 runs (2 ER) allowed over 5 IP to fall to 5-2. SS Guilder Rodriguez had 2 hits and 3 errors. The Nats are 30-20. Eduardo Paulino starts Thursday's game 2. Moustakas was named the TL Player of the Month for May.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Kinston 2, Blue Rocks 0

LF Ortiz 2-4 -- .278
C S. Perez 2-4, K -- .291
1B Hosmer 1-4, K -- .352
RF Francis 1-4, 2B, K -- .158
SS Navarro 1-3, 2B (3) -- .204

Melville 6 IP, 2 ER, H, 2 BB, 6 K, HRA -- L, 1-6, 6.54 ERA, still showing improvement over early going, finished with 13 straight outs
Mozingo 2 IP, H, BB, 2 K -- 6.23 ERA
Basurto IP, BB -- 5.19 ERA

* The Rocks had 4 times as many hits as the Tribe but couldn't plate a run as Kinston used 2 early runs to get the win. The Rocks challenged Kinston LF Lucas Montero twice in the 1st and paid both times, and perhaps the blanking was the baseball gods' judgment, as both Adrian Ortiz and Eric Hosmer singled but were thrown out trying to stretch it to 2. Tim Melville gave up a walk and 2-run homer in the bottom of the 1st and he was perfect after the 1st. Wilmington stranded 2 in the 2nd and the Rocks actually had baserunners in each of the first 5 innings and squandered them all. The Rocks got the first 2 on in the 7th but blew it and that was their last chance. Kinston SP T.J. House pitched 5 scoreless to improve to 2-3. The Tribe got 4 hitless innings from the bullpen. 2B Jason Kipnis hit his 6th homer with 2 RBI (30) and 8th error. Montero ended up with 3 assists in the game. The Rocks are 23-30. A 4-game home set with the Potomac Nationals (24-29) starts Thursday with Chris Dwyer taking the hill in the opener.

A - Burlington: Bees 4, West Michigan 0 (5-hitter)

2B D. Batista 3-5, 2B (7), 2 RS -- .229
DH Myers 1-2, 2 BB, HR (7), 2 RBI (35), RS -- .278
1B Lewis 1-4, RBI (26) -- .257
LF Frost 0-3, SF, RBI (12), K -- .253
CF-LF Testa 0-4, 2 K -- .264, OF assist at first
C Graterol 1-3, BB, 2B (4) -- .306

Paukovits 6 IP, 3 H, 7 K -- W, 3-2, 3.17 ERA, only thing that stopped him was the rain
Kelley 3 IP, 2 H, BB, 3 K -- SV, 1, 6.46 ERA

* Bryan Paukovits stood out again as the Bees got a shutout win. Wil Myers got the Bees all they needed as he jacked a 2-run homer in the 1st for his 7th of the season. Joey Lewis singled home a run in the 3rd and Paukovits stranded 2 that inning before an Adam Frost sac fly in the 4th finished the scoring. Paukovits finished strong by striking out the side in the 6th before a short rain delay finished his night. Scott Kelley stranded 2 in the 9th. West Michigan starter Jade Todd allowed 4 ER over 6 IP to fall to 0-6. Five Whitecaps had a hit each. The Bees are 19-34.

The news emerged Wednesday that Dan Duffy is back in the fold after taking a leave of absence this spring from baseball. He'll start out in extended spring training. Better than missing a whole year, I guess. I wonder if he might tune up a bit in the Carolina League and then end up in NW Arkansas.