Royals on the Farm 6/20 -- Rookie league preview

AAA - Omaha: Round Rock 8, O-Royals 3

C Clark 2-3, RBI (15) -- .219
CF Miller 1-3, HR (7), RBI (28), RS -- .238
LF Lough 0-4, RBI (28), K, CS (4) -- .274
DH Ka'aihue 0-4 -- .323, a rare day when Kila doesn't reach base
2B Lucas 1-4, K -- .341
RF Parraz 1-3, 2B (16), K, RS -- .259

Bullington 6 IP, 4 R (2 ER), 3 H, 2 BB, 4 K, 2 HRA -- L, 3-1, 2.23 ERA
Hayes IP, ER, H, HRA -- 4.35 ERA
Bowden IP, 3 ER, 2 H, BB, 2 HRA -- 27.00 ERA, welcome to AAA

* Round Rock banged 5 HR in the win over Omaha Sunday. One runner had reached base and both teams had faced the minimum over 3 1/2 innings. The Express finally got to Bryan Bullington in the 4th for 4 runs on two 2-run homers. Jai Miller got Omaha on the board with his 7th homer in the 5th but Chris Hayes gave the run back on a solo homer in the 7th. Cody Clark singled in a run in the 8th and David Lough plated a run with a forceout to cut it to 5-3. Barry Bowden made his AAA debut and gave up 2 homers for 3 runs in the 8th as the Express got some insurance. Starter Josh Banks worked 8 IP of 3 runs (2 ER) allowed to improve to 8-5. RF Andrew Locke was the big bat for Round Rock with 2 HR (9) and 4 RBI (32). Omaha is 37-31 and tied with Iowa for first. The series wraps Monday as Luis Mendoza takes the hill.

AA - NWA: Springfield 7, Naturals 6

RF Van Stratten 2-4, BB, 2B (12), RBI (26), RS -- .292
DH Moustakas 2-5, RBI (63), RS -- .348
SS McConnell 2-4, RBI (20), RS, E (10) -- .253
1B Mejia 1-4, BB, 2B (11), 2 RBI (36), RS -- .262
3B Seratelli 1-3, BB, RBI (18), K, RS -- .292
2B Giavotella 1-5, 2B (15) -- .279

Teaford 3 1/3 IP, 6 ER, 10 H, BB, 6 K, HRA, WP -- L, 6-3, 5.19 ERA, AAA hangover?
R. Hardy 5 2/3 IP, ER, 3 H, K -- 5.51 ERA, an old school Rowdy outing

* The Naturals made it interesting in the 8th but couldn't get all the way back Sunday. Everett Teaford gave up 1 run in the 2nd, 2 in the 3rd and 3 in the 4th before getting pulled for Rowdy Hardy. Hardy gave up another run in the 5th to make it 7-0 Cards. The Naturals' offense finally shifted out of neutral in the 8th as a run-scoring error was followed by a Nick Van Stratten RBI double, 2-run Ernesto Mejia double, Anthony Seratelli RBI single and a Chris McConnell RBI single before NWA stranded 2. The Naturals stranded 1 in the 9th to fall just short of the remarkable comeback. Starter Ryan Kulik worked 7 1/3 IP of 3 runs (2 ER) to move to 5-1. SS Pete Kozma was 3-5 and socked his 8th homer with 2 other Cards getting 2 hits. NWA is 40-28. Clint Robinson pinch-hit in the 8th and got hit in the hand with a pitch. He's set for X-rays tomorrow. A 4-game home set with the Tulsa Drillers (29-38, AA Rockies) starts Monday. Aaron Crow starts for the Nats.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Blue Rocks 7, Winston-Salem 4

RF Francis 2-5, 2 RBI (12) -- .289
1B Hosmer 1-3, 2 BB, RBI (42), picked off -- .356
LF Ortiz 2-3, BB, S, RBI (17), RS -- .297
DH Walton 2-4, 3B (3), RBI (15), RS -- .185
CF Norris 1-2, 2 BB, RBI (22), 2 RS, SB (13) -- .229
C S. Perez 1-3, BB, RS -- .260

Hodgson 7 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 7 K, HRA, WP -- W, 3-6, 5.27 ERA, nice start
Mozingo 1 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, BB, K -- SV, 1, 4.87 ERA

* A 4-run 8th was the difference as the Rocks ended the first half on a good note with a series win over the class of the Carolina League. Ivor Hodgson gave up a leadoff homer in the 1st but Eric Hosmer tied it with an RBI single in the 3rd. Jamar Walton tripled in a run in the 4th and scored on an Adrian Ortiz single to make it 3-1 Rocks. Winston-Salem got a run back in the 5th but that was all Hodgson would allow. The Rocks put together a big rally with 2 out in the 8th as Patrick Norris singled in a run, Nick Francis hit a 2-run single and an error scored a run to make it 7-2 Wilmington. Harold Mozingo allowed 2 runs in the 9th before shutting the door. Dash SP Terry Doyle took the loss with 3 runs (2 ER) over 6 IP to drop to 2-3. RF Brandon Short was 3-4 with his 9th homer and 2 RBI (49) and C Luis Sierra had 2 hits for Winston-Salem. The Blue Rocks finished the first half 32-38. The all-star break starts tomorrow and the Rocks get back to action Thursday.

A - Burlington: Cedar Rapids 15, Bees 5

2B Hall 3-5, 2B (18), K, RS -- .238
SS Alfaro 1-5, HR, 2 RBI (6), RS -- .138
LF Testa 1-4, HR (6), 2 RBI (22), K, RS -- .262
C Bonilla 1-4, RBI (10), K -- .210
DH Myers 1-2, 2 BB, RS -- .287
RF Rene Oriental had an OF assist at third.

Marimon 2/3 IP, 10 ER, 9 H -- L, 1-1, 13.50 ERA, good times lasted 1 start for Sugar Ray
Wooley 3 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 3 K, WP -- 7.62 ERA
Kelley 2 1/3 IP, 2 H, 2 BB -- 4.54 ERA
Runion 2 IP, 3 H, K -- 9.33 ERA, nice scoreless outing from Sam

* Sunday's 1st inning made Saturday's bad 1st inning look tame as the Kernels scored 10 runs in the opening frame en route to the easy win. Sugar Ray Marimon was the victim as he gave up 2 triples and 4 doubles along with 3 singles before getting pulled with 2 out in the 1st. Nick Wooley allowed 2 inherited runners to score before stranding the bases loaded. Jose Bonilla hit an RBI single in the 2nd and Carlo Testa hit a 2-run homer in the 3rd for his 6th of the season to cut it to 10-3. Wooley and Scott Kelley allowed Cedar Rapids' other 5 runs in the 4th. J.D. Alfaro hit a 2-run homer in the 7th for his 1st at Burlington this season but that was all the Bees could do. Starter Ariel Pena allowed 3 ER over 5 IP to move to 2-2. LF Mike Trout and SS Jon Karcich had 3 hits while six other Kernels had 2 hits. DH Casey Haerther had 4 RBI (47) and Trout stole his 34th base. He's also hitting .370. The Bees ended the first half 22-47. The all-star break starts Monday and ends Friday. Tyler Sample, Bryan Paukovits and Wil Myers will take part in all-star festivities.

Rookie - Idaho Falls: season prevue

* The Chukars get into action Monday with the first of 3 against the Orem Owlz (Rookie Angels). IF's roster features backstops 19th rounder Kevin David (out of Okie State), 40th rounder Dale Cornstubble (out of Cent. Mich.) and Travis Jones, who played a couple games in Wilmington; infielders Malcom Culver, Yowill Espinal (youngest player on team at 19), NDFA Correy Figueroa (out of Tampa U), Jacob Kuebler (yet to crack a .220 BA in two pro seasons), Justin Trapp (didn't show any pop but had some good games at AZL in 2009, only 19), and 45th rounder SS Tom Zebroski (out of GWU); and OFs Julio Aparicio, 10th rounder Tim Ferguson (out of Ole Miss), 36-year-old Damon Hollins (?), Anthony Howard, 21-year-old Padres castoff Cameron Monger (hit for .785 OPS in AZL in '09), and Jovan Pickett. The pitching staff features P Greg Billo, who I hope doesn't make me look stupid for putting him 20th on my 2009 top prospects list for the organization. He was top 5 last year in the Appy League in ERA and WHIP. New guys to the organization in IF are 6th round lefty Scott Alexander, 7th round righty Eric Cantrell, 8th round righty Michael Mariot, 22nd round righty Tyler Graham, 30th round righty Chad Blauer, 38th round righty Nick Graffeo, and 39th round righty Alex Rivers. They're joined by Billo, converted OF Brian Anderson, converted C Matt Morizio, lefty Starling De La Rosa (who I guess got demoted a little farther than A ball), righty Carlos Fortuna, righty Santiago Garrido and righty Leondy Perez. The team site also reports 2010 28th rounder 1B Murray Watts is part of the team.

Rookie - Burlington: season prevue

* The B-Royals will try to regroup from a dismal 2009 season when Appy League play starts Tuesday. The roster includes 17th rounder C Ryan Jenkins (out of Auburn U) and 46th round pick C Drew Robertson (out of Mid Tenn St.); infielders Geoff Baldwin ('09 draftee 1B, had some flashes in AZL last year), Yunior Figueroa, Seth Furmanek (NDFA out of Oral Roberts), Adrian Martinez, 11th rd SS Alex McClure (out of Mid Tenn St., but never played there after transferring from Vandy), Luis Piterson (showed some tools in AZL last year), and Ryan Stovall (already struggled some in full-season ball this year, but can hit some); OF Alex Llanos ('08 6th rounder, did well in AZL but struggled in IF last season), Gabe MacDougall ('09 draftee only got 8 games in before injury ended season last year), Derek Rodriguez, and Reggie Taylor. In my estimation, the most intriguing player on the roster and pitching staff is P Crawford Simmons, who just turned 19 and was KC's 2009 14th rounder out of a Georgia HS. As of now, the highest '10 pitching draftee on the roster is 12th round righty Daniel Hernandez out of a Florida JuCo. 14th round righty Michael Giovenco, 16th round righty Chas Byrne, 26th round righty Gates Dooley, 33rd round righty Cole Lohden, 37th rounder righty Robbie Penny, and NDFA righty Justin Mazur are the other newbies on the pitching staff. They're joined by righty Willian Avinazar, lefty Claudio Bavera (pitched well out of pen in AZL in '09), lefty Jonathon Keck, righty Leonel Santiago and righty Josh Worrell. Simmons will be the opening-day starter Tuesday. The Burlington (NC) Times-News reports draftees OF Whit Merrifield and P Jordan Propst will join the squad when South Carolina is done in the College World Series.

Rookie - AZL: season prevue

* The AZL Royals get into action Monday versus the Padres. I don't think their roster is up to date as of this writing, so we'll have to wait and see who's playing in Arizona. BA now has 26 of the Royals' 50 draftees marked as signed (see here), so I assume a few of them will be on the squad. I'll try to do a better breakdown on it Monday.