Royals on the Farm 7/27

Another one bites the dust as Gil Meche gets season-ending surgery. Guess Monday's bad day for Omaha wasn't just a rehab misstep. In a programming note, I'm taking a mini RotF vacation, so this is the last report until Sunday or Monday. Probably Sunday. Feel free to check your friendly Royals affiliate websites or possibly Royals Review in the meantime, as there are shorter-type reports on that site too. Not of the Pipeline ilk, mind you, but hey, not everybody can produce this kind of witty repartee. You get what you pay for here. Also, tonight's report is powered by The Hurt Locker, which I'm watching simultaneously. I don't know how anyone can expect somebody to go from defusing IEDs in Iraq (or taking any kind of action in Iraq or Afghanistan) to bagging groceries in Tahlequah or working on cars in Bloomington and not provide that person some heavy-duty mental support. I'm stressed out just watching a fictional story about it.

AAA - Omaha: Nashville 16, O-Royals 2

1B Ka'aihue 2-3, BB, HR (23), 2 RBI (76), RS -- .318
SS Lucas 2-4, 2 K, E (10) -- .327
CF Dyson 1-4, K, RS, E -- .259
3B Moustakas 1-4, K -- .220
LF Lough 0-4, 3 K -- .255

Mendoza 6 IP, 5 R (3 ER), 6 H, 5 BB, 2 K, HRA -- L, 5-8, 4.94 ERA
Baez 1/3 IP, 4 ER, 3 H, BB -- 7.09 ERA, the pitching cupboard is looking very bare at the upper levels for KC
Herges 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, BB -- 4.34 ERA
Thorman IP, 5 ER, 5 H, 2 BB -- 45.00, that's why he plays 1B

* Nashville handed Omaha almost as bad a loss as KC took Monday with 13 late runs making it a laugher. Luis Mendoza gave up a 2-run homer in the 1st and the Sounds plated another run to take a 3-0 lead. Omaha stranded 2 in the 4th and the game stayed 3-0 into the 6th, when Mendoza allowed 2 more runs before leaving the bases full. Manauris Baez took over in the 7th and combined with Matt Herges to allow 6 runs in the inning. With the game out of hand, Kila Ka'aihue jacked his 23rd homer for a 2-run shot to break up the goose egg. Nashville answered the challenge with 5 runs in the 8th off Scott Thorman. Omaha went down in order in the 9th. Starter Marty McLeary hurled 6 1/3 scoreless IP with 9 Ks to improve to 5-6. Four Sounds had 3 hits and another had 2. DH Erick Almonte and 3B Mat Gamel had 4 RBI. Omaha is 53-51. Blaine Hardy starts Wednesday's game 2.

AA - NW Arkansas: Tulsa 7, Naturals 6

1B Hosmer 2-4, BB, HR (6), 3 RBI (14), RS -- .348, think he's found his power stroke
CF D. Robinson 2-5, RS, SB (43) -- .296
DH T. Smith 2-3, BB, RS, CS (4) -- .296
2B Giavotella 2-5, 2B (23), 2 RS -- .299
LF Seratelli 1-2, 2 BB, HR (3), 2 RBI (30), RS, E (7) -- .278
RF Orlando 1-4, BB, 2B (15), RBI (47), picked off -- .324
3B Romak 1-3, BB -- .400

Osuna 6 2/3 IP, 5 ER, 8 H, 3 K, 2 HRA -- 2.95 ERA
Barrera 2 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 3 H, BB, 2 K -- L, 1-1, 1.13 ERA
Keating 0 IP, BB -- 3.04 ERA

* The Nats fell behind, 3-1, and finally dug out of it in the 8th but lost in the 9th. Paulo Orlando hit a 2-out RBI double in the 1st but pulled a Berroa and was thrown out at third to end the inning. Rockies C prospect Wilin Rosario tied it with an RBI in the 1st and a 2-run homer off Edgar Osuna made it 3-1 Tulsa. Tulsa got a solo homer from Naturals killer CF Charles Blackmon in the 3rd, but Anthony Seratelli smacked a 2-run homer in the 5th for his 3rd of the season to cut it to 4-3. Tulsa added an insurance run off Osuna before Henry Barrera left the bases full in the 7th. Eric Hosmer stepped up and cranked a 3-run homer for his 6th at AA to give NWA a 6-5 lead. The Nats left the bases full in the inning. Seratelli made an error in the 9th and the Drillers loaded the bases before Rosario tied it with an RBI single and Patrick Keating came in to walk in the winning run. RP Chris Malone pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings to improve to 3-3. Starter Brandon Durden allowed 4 ER over 7 1/3 IP. Four Drillers had 2 hits. NWA is 19-11. Game 2 is Wednesday.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Blue Rocks 8, Potomac 2

C S. Perez 4-5, 2B (14), RS, PB (10) -- .255
RF Francis 2-5, 2B (14), HR (7), 2 RBI (35), K, 2 RS -- .279
SS Colon 2-5, 2 RBI (14), K, RS -- .277
1B Mejia 1-5, HR (2), 2 RBI (6), 3 K, RS -- .357
3B Rivera 1-3, S, RBI (3), K, RS -- .152
The Rocks stranded 10.

Duffy 5 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 2 H, 3 BB, 7 K -- 2.57 ERA
Lafferty 3 IP, 3 H, BB, 3 K, pickoff -- W, 2-1, 3.66 ERA
Worrell IP, 2 H, K, WP -- 0.00 ERA, Rocks debut

* Eight late runs helped the Rocks tie the series. The Rocks left 2 in scoring position in the 2nd and a run-scoring passed ball on Salvador Perez gave the Nationals a 1-0 lead. An RBI single made it 2-0 P-Nats in the 4th and the Rocks offense continued to put up zeroes. Christian Colon finally broke the ice for Wilmington with a 2-run single in the 7th before Nick Francis hit an RBI double, Ernesto Mejia slammed a 2-run homer (his 2nd for Wilmington), an error scored a run and Juan Rivera singled in a run to make it 7-2. Francis clubbed a solo homer in the 8th for his 7th of the season to pile on another run. RP Jimmy Barthmaier allowed 5 runs (4 ER) over 1 1/3 IP to drop to 0-1. Starter Trevor Holder threw 5 scoreless innings. LF Robert Jacobsen had 3 hits and 2B Daniel Lyons had 2 hits. The Rocks are 19-13. Ivor Hodgson starts Wednesday's series finale. Eric Basurto hit the DL to make room for Worrell on the roster.

A - Burlington: off day

* The Bees start a 3-game home set with the Beloit Snappers (13-15, A Twins) Wednesday.

Rookie - Idaho Falls: Great Falls 10, Chukars 1

LF Ferguson 2-3, picked off -- .320
1B Culver 1-3, RBI (10), 2 K -- .219
3B Cuthbert 0-4, K, E -- .275
DH Watts 0-4, K -- .311
C Cornstubble 0-3 -- .333

Peacock 2 1/3 IP, 7 R (1 ER), 6 H, 3 BB, HRA -- L, 0-1, 3.29 ERA
Billo 1 2/3 IP, 3 K -- 5.14 ERA
J. Mitchell IP, ER, 3 H, 2 K -- 4.26 ERA
Blauer 2 IP, 2 H, 2 K -- 5.85 ERA
Rivers IP, 2 ER, 4 H, RP -- 4.72 ERA

* Great Falls hit for 7 early runs and never looked back. Brian Peacock had 2 walks come back to bite him for a run in the 1st and then gave up a 3-run homer to fuel a 5-run 2nd for the Voyagers. Yowill Espinal made a run-scoring error in the 3rd and Greg Billo came in to induce a double play to end the rally. Jason Mitchell allowed a run in the 5th and Malcom Culver singled in a run in the 7th. Great Falls scored 2 in the 8th off Alex Rivers to finish off the game. Starter Charles Delk pitched 5 scoreless to improve to 3-2. Four Voyagers had multiple hits. IF is 14-22. NDFA pitcher Edwin Carl has joined the IF roster. He's out of New Mexico.

Rookie - Burlington: B-Royals 6, Johnson City 4

3B-1B Stovall 2-4, 2B (10), RBI (16), CS (3), E (5) -- .331
2B Piterson 1-4, 2 RBI (20), RS, picked off -- .294
SS McClure 1-4, 2B (4), 2 RBI (14), 2 K, RS -- .270
C Escobar 1-3, RBI (7), 2 E (3) -- .250

Dooley 5 IP, UER, 5 H, BB, 7 K -- W, 3-4, 4.70 ERA
Keck 1 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 2 K -- 4.32 ERA
Leaper 2 1/3 IP, 3 H, 2 K -- SV, 1, 0.00 ERA

* A 5-run rally got the Royals the win. Both teams scored a run in the 3rd as Anthony Howard tripled and scored on an Edul Escobar groundout. With 2 out and the bases loaded in the 5th, Luis Piterson hit a 2-run single, Alex McClure hit a 2-run double and Ryan Stovall hit an RBI double to make it 6-1 Royals. Jonathon Keck gave up 3 runs in the 7th but J.J. Leaper finished it. Starter Boone Whiting took the loss for JC with 5 ER over 4 2/3 IP to fall to 2-2. Three Cards had 2 hits. The B-Royals are 18-17. The series ends Wednesday with Crawford Simmons getting the start.

Rookie - AZL: off day