Royals on the Farm 7/16 -- Merrifield debuts for Bees

AAA - Omaha: Nashville 5, O-Royals 4 (10)

CF Ankiel 3-4, 2B (6) -- .280
C Pina 2-5, HR (2), RBI (3), 2 RS -- .304
2B-SS Lucas 2-4, BB, S, 2 K, E (8) -- .322
LF Gordon 1-4, BB, RBI (42), 2 K -- .323
CF Lough 0-0, BB, RBI (34) -- .262
1B Ka'aihue 0-4, HBP -- .300
3B Moustakas 0-4, BB, K -- .000, still in search of first AAA hit
RF Parraz 1-5, 2B (20), K -- .275
Omaha stranded 12.

Mendoza 5 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 4 K, HRA, WP -- 4.70 ERA
Holland 1 1/3 IP, BB, 2 K -- 4.17 ERA
B. Hardy 2 IP, ER, 2 H, 2 K, HRA -- L, 2-2, 1.86 ERA

* Omaha fought back to tie it in the 9th but lost in 10. A run-scoring error made it 1-0 Omaha in the 3rd but the Royals missed a chance to inflict more damage. Luis Mendoza gave up a 2-run homer in the 4th and then a 2-run triple in the 6th before getting pulled. Manny Pina hit his 2nd homer at AAA in the 7th and Omaha stranded 2 in the 8th. David Lough took a bases-loaded walk in the 9th and Alex Gordon tied it with an RBI single but the Royals would leave the bases loaded. The game ended abruptly in the 10th as Blaine Hardy gave up a leadoff walkoff homer to 1B Joe Koshansky for his 2nd of the game and 15th of the season. RP Donovan Hand pitched a scoreless inning for the win to move to 1-0. Starter Chase Wright pitched 7 innings of 2 runs (1 ER) allowed. Four Sounds had 2 hits led by Koshansky, who drove in 3 (53). Omaha is 49-42. Phil Humber pitches game 3 Saturday. Chris Hayes was put on the DL with a calf strain.

AA - NW Arkansas: rainout

* The doubleheader was rained out and the teams will instead play 2 Saturday. They will make up the other game with a doubleheader next Saturday. Lefty Edgar Osuna was activated from the DL and Chris Chavez was placed on the DL to make room.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Blue Rocks 11, Frederick 5

SS Colon 3-5, 3B, 2 RBI (6), 3 RS -- .237, things are starting to click
2B Navarro 3-5, K, RS -- .241
RF Francis 2-5, 2B (12), 2 RBI (23), 2 RS -- .260
1B Hosmer 2-5, RS -- .354
CF Norris 2-5, 2B (11), RBI (31), K, 2 RS, SB (17) -- .229
LF Oriental 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI, K, RS -- .500, solid Rocks debut
DH Myers 1-4, HBP, 2 RBI (13), K -- .400
C S. Perez 1-5, 2 RBI (32) -- .243
3B Frost 1-4, RBI (7), K, RS, SB (6) -- .270

Cuevas 3 2/3 IP, ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 3 K -- 5.98 ERA
Mozingo 3 1/3 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, BB, 6 K, 3 HRA -- W, 2-1, 4.59 ERA, not a good outing, per se, but got the W
Basurto IP, H, 2 BB, 2 K, WP -- 2.11 ERA
Lafferty IP, K -- 3.96 ERA

* Eight early runs were a big help in getting the Rocks another win. Wil Myers stroked a 2-run single in the 1st and the Rocks blew up for 6 in the 2nd on RBI singles by Adam Frost and Patrick Norris, a 2-run Christian Colon triple, Nick Francis RBI double and Rene Oriental RBI single that made it 8-0 Wilmington. The Keys finally got a run off Jairo Cuevas in the 3rd and then got 2 homers off Harold Mozingo for 3 runs in the 5th. Francis singled home a run in the 6th and Salvador Perez hit a 2-run single to get the runs back to make it 11-4. Mozingo gave up one more homer in the 7th but Eric Basurto and Brendan Lafferty got it finished. Starter Oliver Drake allowed 8 runs (7 ER) over 5 IP to fall to 2-5. Four Keys had 2 hits as 1B Jacob Julius hammered 2 HR (12) with 3 RBI (50).

A - Burlington: Bees 6, Bowling Green 3

DH Bonilla 3-4, 2 2B (5), 5 RBI (21), K -- .224, needs to make good nights a little more common
LF-CF Merrifield 2-4, K, 2 RS, SB -- .500, a fine pro debut for Whit
RF Testa 2-3, BB, K, RS, SB (14), picked off -- .269
1B Lewis 2-4, 2B (21), 2 K, RS -- .243
C Robertson 0-4, K -- .158
2B Liberto 0-4, 2 K -- .000, getting shot at A-ball

Odenbach 5 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 4 BB, 6 K, HRA -- W, 5-6, 4.37 ERA
Runion 1 1/3 IP, 3 BB, 2 K, pickoff -- 7.11 ERA, I'll take it
Hodge 2/3 IP, nothing -- 5.02 ERA
Dennick 2 IP, 2 BB, K -- SV, 5, 3.86 ERA

* Like their big brethren in Wilmington, the Bees used some early runs to take the series from the Hot Rods. Dusty Odenbach stumbled through the 1st as Bowling Green scored a run but the Bees answered with 3 in their half on a 2-out, 3-run Jose Bonilla double, although Jose pulled a Berroa and was thrown out at third to end the inning on the play. Bonilla came up with a 2-run single in the 3rd to make it 5-1 Bees. Odenbach gave up a solo homer in the 4th and another run in the 5th as the Rods trimmed the lead to 2. Sam Runion left 2 in scoring position in the 6th and Mitch Hodge came in with 1 on and 1 out in the 7th and induced an inning-ending double play. A run-scoring error made it 6-3 Bees in the 7th and Ryan Dennick stranded 2 in the 9th for his 5th save. Starter Alex Colome allowed 5 ER over 5 IP to take the loss for the Rods to drop to 6-6. 2B Tyler Bortnick and 1B Ryan Wiegand had 2 hits for Bowling Green. Wiegand drove in 2 runs (43). The Bees are 10-10. A 3-game home set with the Dayton Dragons (7-14, A Reds) starts Saturday. As shown, Mike Liberto and Whit Merrifield joined the team.

Rookie - Idaho Falls: Billings 7, Chukars 6

SS Trapp 3-5, 2B (2), K, RS, picked off -- .261
2B C. Figueroa 2-2, BB, HBP, RBI (2), CS (2) -- .400
DH Kuebler 2-5, RBI (18), RS -- .330
RF Monger 1-4, 2 RBI (8), K, RS -- .288
CF Beltre 0-3, 2 BB, RBI (10), 2 K, RS -- .219
C David 0-2, BB, SF, RBI (3), K, E (3) -- .325
LF Ferguson 1-4, BB, 2B (4), K, RS -- .323
1B Watts 1-5, 2 K, RS, E -- .278
IF stranded 10. RF Reggie Taylor had an assist at the plate.

Garrido 4 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 4 K, 2 WP -- 7.00 ERA
S. De La Rosa 4 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, BB, 6 K -- L, 0-3, 6.10 ERA
Graham 1/3 IP, 2 H -- BS, 3, 4.50 ERA

* Billings took the series with a 9th inning comeback. The Mustangs scored 2 runs on 3 hits off Santiago Garrido in the 1st and added a run in the 5th to take a 3-0 lead into the late innings. IF stranded 2 in the 6th but finally broke thru in the 8th with a big rally. Jake Kuebler hit an RBI single, Geulin Beltre took a bases-loaded walk, Cameron Monger hit a 2-run single to give IF the lead, Correy Figueroa singled in a run and Kevin David hit a sac fly to make it 6-3 Chukars when the dust settled on the inning. Unfortunately, there was still an inning to play as Starling De La Rosa was pulled with 2 runs in, 2 on and 2 out with a 1-run lead. Tyler Graham allowed a back breaking 2-run double before Reggie Taylor put the inning to rest with an assist at the plate. IF got 2 on with 1 out but stranded both runners. RP Porfirio Martinez allowed an ER over 1 1/3 IP but got the win to move to 2-1. Starter Clayton Shunick pitched 6 scoreless with 6 K. Five Mustangs had 2 hits and DH Donald Lutz had 3 hits. Idaho Falls is 12-13. A 4-game home set with the Great Falls Voyagers (14-11, Rookie White Sox) starts Saturday.

Rookie - Burlington: B-Royals 6, Greeneville 2

3B Ad. Martinez 2-4, 2B (3), 2 RBI (3), 2 RS -- .180
C Escobar 3-4, 2B (3), RBI (3), PB (4) -- .250
RF Howard 2-4, 2 K, RS, SB (3), CS -- .333
SS McClure 1-2, 2 BB, RBI (10), K, RS -- .260
LF MacDougall 1-4, 2B (4), RBI (12), K, RS -- .197
DH D. Rodriguez 0-2, BB, S, RBI (5), K -- .220
CF Llanos 0-4, BB, 2 K -- .247
2B Piterson 0-5 -- .310

Avinazar 5 IP, ER, 5 H, BB, 4 K, E -- W, 3-0, 0.96 ERA
Lohden 2 IP, H, 2 BB, 2 K, WP -- 1.69 ERA
Byrne 2 IP, ER, H, 2 BB, 5 K -- 1.20 ERA

* The Royals salvaged the series finale with the Astros. Willian Avinazar stranded 2 in the 2nd and Derek Rodriguez squeezed home a run in the 3rd to make it 1-0 Royals. Gabe MacDougall hit an RBI double and Alex McClure singled in a run in the 4th to extend the lead. Adrian Martinez hit an RBI double and Edul Escobar had an RBI single to make it 5-0 in the 6th as Avinazar continued to keep the Astros scoreless. Avinazar gave up an RBI triple before getting pulled in the 6th and Cole Lohden loaded the bases before pulling the Houdini to escape unscathed. Martinez hit an RBI groundout in the 8th and Chas Byrne allowed a run in the Greeneville 8th before stranding 2. He settled down to pitch an easy 9th. Greeneville SP Angel Gonzalez allowed 5 runs (4 ER) over 5 2/3 IP to fall to 1-3. Seven Astros had a hit each. The B-Royals are 13-11 and tied for first. A 3-game set at the Princeton Rays (11-13) starts Saturday.

Rookie - AZL: Angels 4, Royals 2

C Shin 3-4, RBI (8), K -- .288
RF Alcantara 3-4, K, CS, E (3) -- .333
CF J. Blanco 2-4 -- .213
DH Antonio 1-4, RBI (3), K -- .333
3B Cuthbert 1-4, K, RS -- .265
LF Costa 0-3, BB, RS -- .313

R. Wood IP, nothing -- 0.00 ERA, another position player switching to the mound
Diaz 2 IP, BB, K, pickoff -- 9.00 ERA
Caldwell 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 2 H, BB, K -- L, 0-1, 40.50 ERA, and another
Jon. Rodriguez 5 1/3 IP, UER, 4 H, BB, 3 K -- 5.19 ERA

* Ryan Wood and Allen Caldwell made their mound debuts with differing results as the Royals bowed to the Angels. Wood pitched a 1-2-3 1st and Caldwell came on in a scoreless game in the 4th. He was pulled with 2 out, 2 runs in and 1 on and Jon Rodriguez allowed 2 runs to score to make it 4-0 Angels. Jin-Ho Shin and Michael Antonio hit RBI singles to cut the lead in half in the bottom of the inning. The Royals stranded 2 in the 5th and Daniel Mateo was thrown out at the plate to end the 6th. The Royals stranded 2 in the 7th and then did the same in the 9th as they couldn't cash in on their chances. The Royals have Saturday off. They are 11-11.