Royals on the Farm 8/2 -- Hello Crawford Simmons

Appears I picked a busy time to drop the reports for a few days for a little break. Scott Podsednik goes to the Dodgers for two prospects, Rick Ankiel and Kyle Farnsworth are dealt for a couple fringe-type guys and a 20-year-old AA reliever putting up some pretty good numbers in the minors, Jeff Howell gets shipped to the Twins, Aaron Crow gets demoted, John Lamb gets promoted, Chris Dwyer gets put on the DL with a back injury....what else did I miss? I'm gonna have to figure out how to work in a July-end/early-August wrapup this week. Plans to restart the reports yesterday dissipated, and I almost didn't have time to get them done tonight. Anyway, they're gonna be kinda truncated tonite.

AAA - Omaha: O-Royals 11, Memphis 3

LF Lucas 3-4, 2 BB, 2 HR (11), 4 RBI (39), K, 2 RS -- .342
2B Maddox 2-4, HBP, 2B (13), 2 RBI (28), 2 RS -- .258
3B Moustakas 2-6, K -- .250, moving in the right direction
CF Dyson 1-5, BB, 2B (3), 2 RBI (5), RS -- .283
C May 1-5, HR (13), RBI (47), 2 RS -- .294, one of the fruits of the Pods deal already chipping in
SS Falu 0-5, BB, RBI (28), K, RS -- .267
DH Parraz 0-1, 3 BB, HBP, RS -- .266
Omaha stranded 11.

Mendoza 6 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 3 K -- W, 6-8, 4.81 ERA
T. Collins IP, H, BB -- 0.00 ERA, AAA debut for key piece of Ankiel/Farnsworth deal
Lowery IP, 2 H -- 2.19 ERA
Rupe IP, ER, 2 H, BB, K -- 2.52 ERA

* Omaha turned it on in the middle innings. Ed Lucas and Lucas May homered in the 5th to give the Royals a 3-1 lead and Omaha scored 2 more in the 6th before putting together a 4-run 7th thanks to 2-run doubles by Marc Maddox and Jarrod Dyson. Lucas slammed a 2-run homer in the 9th for his 11th of the season and 2nd of the game to put it on ice. Tim Collins made his organizational debut in the 7th and pitched a scoreless inning. Omaha is 57-53. Edgar Osuna got called up to Omaha while I was gone and got blistered Sunday. Phil Humber was named PCL Pitcher of the Week today after a 4-hit shutout Friday. Kila Ka'aihue also got recalled to KC to chill on the bench until they can find somebody to take Jose Guillen. Blaine Hardy starts Tuesday's series finale.

AA - NW Arkansas: Springfield 8, Naturals 2

DH C. Robinson 2-3, BB, 2B (32), RBI (67), RS -- .306
2B Giavotella 2-4, K, RS -- .301
SS McConnell 2-4 -- .223
CF D. Robinson 1-4, 2 K, SB (44) -- .285
1B Hosmer 0-4, K -- .319
RF Van Stratten 0-4 -- .291, but 3 OF assists! (2 at home, one at 2B)
C Pina 0-4, K -- .242
3B Romak 0-4, K -- .323

Duffy 5 IP, 4 ER, 10 H, BB, 6 K, 2 HRA -- L, 0-1, 7.20 ERA, oh yeah, Duffy is in AA now too, not the best of starts tho
Paulino 2 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, K, HRA -- 4.52 ERA
Barrera IP, ER, 3 H, HRA -- 1.64 ERA

* Danny Duffy was thrown into the AA fire Monday and it looked like a first AA start as the Cardinals got the win. Both Nats runs came in the 1st on a Clint Robinson RBI double and run-scoring error. Back-to-back homers in the 4th gave the Cards a 4-2 lead. They scored in the 6th, 7th and 8th to put it away. NWA is 22-15. A 3-game home set with the Tulsa Drillers (22-15, AA Rockies) starts Tuesday.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Winston-Salem 8, Blue Rocks 3

C Myers 2-4, 2B (7) -- .341, just keeps hitting
DH Lewis 2-4, K -- .276
RF Francis 1-4, HR (8), RBI (37), K, RS -- .264
SS Colon 1-4, RBI (15) -- .248
LF Ortiz 0-5, RBI (28) -- .301

Baez 6 2/3 IP, 7 R (5 ER), 7 H, 2 BB, K, WP -- L, 1-4, 4.99 ERA, back from Omaha
Cuevas 1 1/3 IP, ER, H, HRA -- 5.51 ERA

* A 4-run 5th helped the Dash to the win. Manauris Baez gave up 2 runs in the 1st but the Rocks tied it in the 5th on RBI groundouts by Adrian Ortiz and Christian Colon. The Dash answered with 4 in the 5th to surge ahead. Nick Francis led off the 6th with his 8th homer of the season but Jairo Cuevas served up a 2-run homer in the 7th to finish off the scoring. The Rocks are 20-17. Aaron Crow makes his Rocks debut Tuesday night. I bet he was hoping he'd be moving up, to Omaha, this season. Too bad it hasn't worked out that way. Maybe he can get some mojo back in Frawley. Will Smith made his organizational debut for the Rocks while I was off and took a hard loss. He pitches Wednesday.

A - Burlington: Bees 6, Kane County 3

C Bonilla 3-3, BB, 2 RBI (23), 2 RS, SB (2), picked off, E (3) -- .220
2B Liberto 2-4, RBI (3), K -- .143
SS Hall 2-4, SF, RBI (37), 2 RS, SB (16) -- .238
CF Merrifield 1-5, HR, RBI (4), 2 K, RS -- .182, first pro longball
3B D. Batista 1-2, 2 BB, 3B (4), RBI (20), K, SB (14) -- .230
DH Testa 0-4, HBP, K, SB (22) -- .271

Odenbach 5 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 5 K -- W, 6-8, 4.33 ERA
Mitchell 3 IP, ER, 3 H, BB, 4 K -- 5.66 ERA
Kelley IP, H, 2 K -- SV, 3, 4.21 ERA

* The Bees got started right and hung tough for the win. Whit Merrifield led off the game with his 1st pro homer and Jose Bonilla and Michael Liberto added RBI singles in the 1st to spot the Bees a 3-0 lead. Hilton Richardson tripled and scored on a Gerard Hall sac fly in the 2nd and Bonilla hit an RBI single before Deivy Batista tripled him home in the 7th to make it 6-2. The Bees are 15-19 and after a good start to the second half have gradually sunk back to last place. A 4-game set at the Beloit Snappers (16-18, A Twins) starts Tuesday.

Rookie - Idaho Falls: Ogden 9, Chukars 5

1B Culver 3-4, 2B (3), 2 RBI (12) -- .217
CF Beltre 2-5, RBI (19), K, E (4) -- .244
LF Ferguson 2-4, 2 RS -- .315
C David 1-4, 2B (7), RBI (7), K, RS, picked off runner at first -- .299
2B Espinal 0-3, BB, 2 K -- .307
DH Watts 0-1, 3 BB, HBP, RS -- .320
3B Zebroski 0-4, SB (3), E (3) -- .204

Peacock 5 IP, ER, 4 H, BB, 2 K, WP -- 2.89 ERA
J. Mitchell IP, 4 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, K, 3 WP -- BS, 2, L, 0-1, 6.59 ERA
Graffeo 1/3 IP, 3 R (2 ER), H, BB -- 2.66 ERA
Roualdes 1 2/3 IP, UER, 2 H, BB, 3 K -- 5.68 ERA

* Two late 4-run innings gave the Raptors the win over IF. Kevin David hit a 2-run double and scored on a Malcom Culver groundout in the 4th and a Geulin Beltre RBI single in the 5th had the Chukars up, 4-1. Jason Mitchell took over after a solid Brian Peacock start in the 6th and things fell apart quickly as Ogden scored 4 runs and then added 4 more off Nick Graffeo and Jordan Roualdes in the 7th. Culver hit an RBI double in the 8th but it was too late. IF is 17-24. Game 2 is Tuesday night. Juan Polonia has joined the Chukars.

Rookie - Burlington: B-Royals 1, Bristol 0 (2-hitter)

DH Ad. Martinez 2-3, K -- .193
2B Piterson 1-4, 2B (11), RBI (22), 2 K -- .276
SS McClure 0-4, K -- .241
1B Stovall 1-4 -- .326
C Jenkins 0-4, 2 K -- .248
CF Llanos 0-4, K -- .248

Simmons 7 2/3 IP, 2 H, BB, 11 K, pickoff -- W, 3-1, 3.19 ERA, yessir
Byrne 1 1/3 IP, 3 K -- SV, 3, 1.07 ERA

* Crawford Simmons was dominant Monday in leading the Royals to the 2-hit shutout win. Bristol didn't have a hit after the 4th. Simmons retired 21 of the final 23 he faced. The only run came on a Luis Piterson RBI double in the 3rd. Simmons finished strong as he and Chas Byrne struck out the side in the 8th and Byrne K'd 2 more in the 8th. The B-Royals are 20-21 and 3 games back. The series wraps Tuesday. OF Brian Fletcher has joined the Royals. Ryan Wood has also rejoined the team as a P.

Rookie - AZL: The Royals and Rangers are tied at 4 late

SS Antonio 3-5, 2B (5), SB (4), E (12) -- .284
1B Moreno 2-4, 2B (14), RBI (20), RS -- .363
RF Alcantara 1-4, 2B (3), RBI (13), 2 K -- .244
CF Conner 0-5, RBI (10), K -- .200
3B Prasch 0-1, BB, SF, RBI -- .000
DH Shin 0-4, BB, 4 K, RS -- .202
LF J. Blanco 0-3, BB, 2 K -- .200
C Marquez 0-2, BB, HBP, K, RS -- .182

B. Anderson IP, K -- 0.00 ERA
Yambati 5 IP, 4 R (3 ER), 7 H, 2 K, 3 WP, pickoff -- 3.38 ERA
Caldwell 2 IP, H, 4 K -- 3.12 ERA
Rogers IP, 3 K -- 1.26 ERA

* The Royals blew a 4-1 lead as the game has gone to extras. Ysmelin Alcantara hit an RBI double in the 4th and Cameron Conner drove in a run with a 5th inning groundout before Eddie Prasch hit a sac fly to make it 3-0. Henry Moreno doubled in a run in the 6th to make it 4-1 but Robinson Yambati lost the lead in the bottom of the inning. The Royals stranded 2 in the 7th and turned the trick again in the 9th. The Royals are 18-14 and still 2 games up.