Royals on the Farm 8/4 -- Montgomery returns

Gonna do an updated stat wrap for the 4 top teams today, then try to hit the other 3 either tomorrow or some time soon. All stats are thru yesterday on those parts.

AAA - Omaha: O-Royals 8, Portland 7

DH Miller 2-4, 2 HR (14), 2 RBI (46), K, 3 RS -- .237
CF Dyson 2-5, 2B (4), K, RS -- .286
SS Falu 1-3, 2 BB, 3 RBI (32), K -- .272
3B Moustakas 1-5, RBI (14), E (4) -- .265
C May 1-3, BB, HR (14), RBI (48), K, RS -- .294
2B Maddox 1-2, 2 BB, RBI (29), 2 RS -- .263
LF Lucas 1-4, 2B (13) -- .335
RF Parraz 0-3, HBP -- .263

Lerew 5 2/3 IP, 5 ER, 8 H, 6 BB, 3 K, HRA, WP -- 3.48 ERA
Marte 3 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 3 K, 2 WP -- W, 4-1, 3.90 ERA

* Omaha fought back from 4-0 and 7-3 deficits to beat the Beavers. Anthony Lerew hit trouble in the 2nd as a 2-run homer gave Portland the lead before he left the bases full. The Beav added runs in the 3rd and 4th to make it 4-0 but Omaha scored 3 in the 5th on a Jai Miller solo homer (his 13th) and a 2-run Irving Falu single. The Beavers got all 3 runs back in the 6th off Victor Marte. Lucas May popped his 14th homer of the season and 3rd as an O-Royal to cut it to 7-4 in the 6th and Miller led off the 7th with his 14th homer and 2nd of the game. Mike Moustakas hit a 2-out RBI single to cut the lead to 1 and after Marc Maddox tied it on an 8th inning single, Falu gave the Royals the lead with a bases-loaded walk. Marte stranded 1 in the 9th for his 4th win. Omaha is 59-53. Phil Humber starts game 2 Thursday. Omaha's active top 5 in OPS: Ed Lucas .957 (.336/.413/.554, 12 2B, 11 HR, 30 BB/40 K, 10 E in 66 G/226 ABs, has had a breakout year in third (I think?) try at AAA, will he get a September call? hit .326 with .898 OPS in July); Lucas May .855 (.293/.351/.504, 13 2B, 13 HR, 24 BB/63 K, 0 E in 77 G/276 ABs, amassed with Albuquerque but some solid stats); Scott Thorman .806 (.270/.335/.471, 23 2B, 15 HR, 33 BB/54 K, 5 E in 92 G/348 ABs, one of hottest June hitters dropped to .265 BA, .731 OPS in July); Jordan Parraz .767 (.266/.352/.415, 23 2B, 9 HR, 33 BB/58 K, 5 E in 96 G/335 ABs, poor July for Jordan, .267 BA/.668 OPS (only .284 OBP)); and Mike Moustakas .758 (.269/.274 (hope that goes way up)/.484, 5 2B, 5 HR, 1 BB/12 K, 3 E in 22 G/93 ABs, .938 OPS in small sample size of 3 August games thus far). Others of note...David Lough .737 (only hit .200 with .694 OPS in July, OBP was best of season at .336 but only slugged .358 in month), Jarrod Dyson .685 (actually hit .302 with .720 OPS in July, last 3 games dragged down #s). Omaha's active top 5 in WHIP: Louis Coleman 0.98 (3-1, 2.66 ERA, 1 SV, 2 HRA, 4 BB/24 K in 20 1/3 IP, that's nice); Blaine Hardy 1.09 (2-3, 2.09, 3 SV, 5 HRA, 11 BB/35 K in 38 2/3 IP); Federico Castaneda 1.21 (4-2, 3.73, 9 HRA, 24 BB/39 K in 60 1/3 IP); Josh Rupe 1.26 (1-3, 2.45, 6 SV, 4 HRA, 16 BB/41 K in 40 1/3 IP); Phil Humber 1.27 (5-6, 4.47, 1 CG, 1 SHO, 17 HRA, 20 BB/80 K, has cut down walks in 4th AAA season but K rate has dropped some too, getting more groundouts this season); and Gaby Hernandez 1.36 (8-6, 5.50, 29 HRA, 46 BB/96 K, cut down HRA to only 3 in July, which is good, 3.26 ERA in July was also best yet, as was .185 OAV). Others of note...Luis Mendoza 1.51.

AA - NW Arkansas: Naturals 3, Tulsa 2

2B Giavotella 3-3, BB, 3B (5), RBI (42) -- .306
CF D. Robinson 2-4, 2 K, RS, CS (14) -- .292
LF Orlando 2-4, RS, OF assist at third -- .317
1B Hosmer 0-4, K -- .321
RF Van Stratten 0-3, HBP, picked off, OF assist at third -- .286
DH Romak 0-3, S -- .306

Montgomery 3 2/3 IP, ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 5 K, WP, pickoff -- 2.76 ERA
Swaggerty 3 1/3 IP, ER, 3 H, BB, 3 K -- 4.30 ERA
Barrera 2 IP, 2 H, BB, K -- W, 2-1, 1.38 ERA

* A walkoff error helped the Naturals to another win over the Drillers. The Naturals got their first run on an error in the 1st but a Mike Montgomery wild pitch allowed the tying run to score in the 2nd. Johnny Giavotella tripled in the go-ahead run in the 5th but Tulsa tied it off Ben Swaggerty in the 7th. Nick Van Stratten and Giavotella teamed up to throw out a runner at third in the 8th as the game stayed tied at 2. Paulo Orlando led off the 9th with a single, advanced on a Jamie Romak sac bunt and scored the walkoff run on an error by 1B Jeff Kindel. NWA is 23-15. As Montgomery was activated, Mario Santiago went back on the DL with a calf strain. NWA's tops in OPS: Eric Hosmer 1.107 (.338/.393/.714, 5 2B, 8 HR, 17 RBI, 6 BB/9 K, 2/2 SB in 20 G/77 ABs, outslugging Moustakas in AA terms thus far, can't complain); Jamie Romak 1.019 (.319/.453/.565, 5 2B, 4 HR, 12 BB/15 K in 23 G/69 ABs, first time in 3 career tries he's hit at AA, Texas League agrees with him); Clint Robinson .946 (.305/.387/.559, 32 2B, 4 3B, 18 HR, 67 RBI, 45 BB/68 K, 4/7 SB, 13 E in 99 G/370 ABs, hottest June hitter dropped to .296 BA/.958 OPS in July, still not shabby); Paulo Orlando .852 (.315/.379/.473, 62 RS, 18 2B, 5 3B, 7 HR, 48 RBI, 20 BB/50 K, 21/30 SB, 10 E in 93 G/311 ABs, hit .333 with .940 OPS in July); and Tim Smith .824 (.299/.376/.448, 42 RS, 15 2B, 7 HR, 40 RBI, 30 BB/32 K, 12/16 SB, 5 E in 75 G/241 ABs, hit .301 with .776 OPS in July). Others of note...Johnny Giavotella .786 (hit .361 with .947 OPS in July, so he's improving, hitting .301 overall), Nick Van Stratten .753 (injuries limited to 1 game in July), C Manny Pina .747 (struggled some in Omaha, but back in NWA for August), Derrick Robinson .738 (44/57 SB, had lowest monthly BA at .263, only .660 OPS in July, only .301 OBP in month). Tops in WHIP: Mike Montgomery is still at 1.17 but is working way back from injury; Chris Dwyer 1.19 (2-1, 3.06, 2 HRA, 10 BB/20 K in 17 2/3 IP, hope back injury is nothing chronic, only .175 OAV in AA thus far); Patrick Keating 1.27 (1-1, 2.60, 6 SV, 12 BB/33 K in 27 2/3 IP, AA caught up with him some in July but still doing well); Alex Caldera 1.29 (3-1, 3.97, 5 HRA, 15 BB/28 K in 34 IP, holding his own in the TL); and Mario Santiago 1.30 (6-6, 3.56, 6 HRA, 25 BB/60 K in 93 2/3 IP, only 11 IP in July because of injury). Others of note...John Lamb 1.50 (only 5 IP, I bet it gets better), Brandon Sisk 1.46, Aaron Crow 1.58 (to Carolina League he goes) and Danny Duffy 2.20 (only 5 IP, like Lamb, bet it gets better).

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Blue Rocks 9, Winston-Salem 5

DH Myers 3-5, RBI (17), 2 K, RS -- .381
C S. Perez 3-4, SF, 2 2B (16), RBI (36), K, RS -- .256
RF Francis 2-5, 3B (2), HR (9), 3 RBI (42), K, 2 RS -- .271
CF Ortiz 2-4, S, 3B (8) -- .298
SS Colon 1-3, BB, HBP, HR (2), 2 RBI (17), K, RS, CS -- .242
1B Mejia 1-5, 2B (3), RBI (9), 2 K, 2 RS -- .304

W. Smith 6 IP, 5 ER, 9 H, 5 K -- W, 1-1, 4.15 ERA
Hodgson IP, H, K -- 4.41 ERA
Chapman IP, K -- 6.75 ERA
Bowden IP, H, K -- 1.66 ERA

* Will Smith's second Wilmington start wasn't great but the offense did enough to get him his 1st organizational win. Christian Colon got the Rocks started with a solo homer in the 1st for his 2nd as a pro and Nick Francis socked a 2-run homer later in the inning for his 9th of the season. Smith gave up 2 runs on 4 hits in the 1st and then 3 runs in the 3rd on 3 hits and a hit batsman. Colon hit an RBI groundout in the 4th and Wil Myers singled in the tying run. Salvador Perez doubled and scored on a passed ball in the 7th and the Rocks put it away in the 9th on an Ernesto Mejia RBI double, Francis RBI triple and Perez sac fly. The Rocks are 21-18. A 4-game set at the Salem Red Sox (20-17) starts Thursday as Bryan Paukovits takes the mound. Rocks' tops in OPS: Wil Myers .976 (.370/.487/.489, 10 RS, 9 2B, 1 3B, 0 HR, 16 RBI, 19 BB/15 K in 28 G/92 ABs, out OPSing Hosmer in Wilmington, nice Carolina League debut thus far, Frawley isn't an easy place to flex the power); Ernesto Mejia .831 (.313/.362/.469, 5 XBH, 5 BB/18 K in 16 G/64 ABs, did OK at AA, showing he can handle the league); Nick Francis .762 (.268/.312/.450, 29 RS, 14 2B, 1 3B, 8 HR, 39 RBI, 12 BB/56 K, 5/8 SB in 55 G/220 ABs, defying the Frawley power outage, K'ing a lot tho, hit .278 with .835 OPS in July); Adrian Ortiz .715 (.296/.325/.389, 46 RS, 13 2B, 7 3B, HR, 28 RBI, 15 BB/51 K, 22/34 SB in 79 G/321 ABs, only 8 G in July, didn't hit well); and Adam Frost .677 (.235/.284/.392, need I list more? did hit for .727 OPS in July). Others of note...Joey Lewis .624 (only 9 games so far), Salvador Perez .619 (hitting .249, only .279 OBP, time is on his side), Christian Colon .614 (.240/.294/.320, 19 RS, 5 2B, 3B, HR, 15 RBI, 6 BB/20 K, 7 E in 31 G/125 ABs, still finding his sea legs as a pro). Tops in WHIP: Barry Bowden 1.11 (2-5, 1.70, 9 SV, 2 HRA, 11 BB/37 K in 37 IP); Buddy Baumann 1.12 (3-2, 2.49, 4 SV, HRA, 28 BB/88 K in 72 1/3 IP, great K rate and K/BB, has had several good starts too); Brendan Lafferty 1.19 (2-1, 3.40, 4 HRA, 16 BB/42 K in 50 1/3 IP, has been solid out of pen); Will Smith 1.29 (only 7 IP); and Harold Mozingo 1.39 (3-1, 4.50, 3 SV, 8 HRA, 14 BB/44 K in 44 IP, decent considering still working way back from major injury). Others of note...Tim Melville 1.46 (7 HRA, 45 BB/74 K in 89 1/3 IP, 5.54 ERA, tough introduction to the level), Bryan Paukovits 1.51 (2 HRA, 10 BB/27 K in 36 1/3 IP, also just getting feet wet in league), Manauris Baez 1.68 (for some reason got extended look at AAA, was probably the spot they were hoping to move Crow into at Omaha), Kevin Chapman 1.86 (tough pro debut), Aaron Crow 1.89 (only 1 start tho).

A - Burlington: Beloit 7, Bees 2

CF Merrifield 1-4, RBI (5), K -- .206
SS Hall 1-4, RBI (38) -- .236
RF Testa 0-4, 2 K -- .265
1B Kuebler 1-4, 2B -- .278

Hayenga 6 IP, 3 R (2 ER), 5 H, 2 BB, 2 K, HRA -- L, 1-9, 6.59 ERA
Kelley IP, 4 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 2 K -- 4.82 ERA
Dennick IP, BB, 3 K -- 3.77 ERA

* The Bees tied it in the 5th but it was all Snappers thereafter. Keaton Hayenga gave up a leadoff homer in the 2nd and Beloit scored again in the 3rd to make it 2-0. Whit Merrifield and Gerard Hall singled home runs in the 5th to tie it but a 2-out RBI triple in the 6th gave Beloit the lead. Scott Kelley gave up 4 runs in the 7th and the Bees didn't threaten again. The Bees are 15-21. Game 3 is Thursday. In a funny twist, Brian Anderson got tossed from the game from the bench in the 6th so he got ejected before actually appearing in a game for the Bees. The Bees' tops in OPS: Carlo Testa .824 (.268/.351/.473, 59 RS, 17 2B, 12 3B, 10 HR, 38 RBI, 41 BB/95 K, 22/28 SB, 3 E in 97 G/347 ABs, has been one of organization's best power/speed combos, only 1 I've seen thus far with double-digit doubles, triples, HR, hit .311 with .950 OPS in July, let's get him to Wilmington, it's been a nice full season debut); Jake Kuebler .757 (only 14 G, .280/.357/.400, 2 HR, 5 BB/12 K in 50 ABs); Gerard Hall .653 (hitting .236 with .314 OBP, 23 2B, 16/23 SB, 27 E in 98 G/369 ABs); Jose Bonilla .620 (not good when that's in your top 5 active OPS); and Deivy Batista .603. Others...Whit Merrifield .565 (not much shown in first taste of pro ball). Tops in WHIP: Brandon Barrow 1.16 (1-0, 4.35, 2 HRA, 5 BB/4 K in 10 1/3 IP); Elisaul Pimentel 1.23 (9-3, 3.53, 6 HRA, 38 BB/102 K in 94 1/3 IP, man, nice K rate, Bees debut wasn't great but he's got the stuff apparently); Ryan Dennick 1.29 (3-3, 3.86, 6 SV, 2 HRA, 13 BB/37 K in 42 IP); Scott Kelley 1.34 (0-2, 4.21, 3 SV, 6 HRA, 26 BB/34 K in 51 1/3 IP); and Sugar Ray Marimon 1.39 (2-4, 7.75, 2 HRA, 14 BB/29 K in 36 IP, yowza). Others...Tyler Sample 1.46 (102 IP, 4.15 ERA, 8 HRA, 69 BB/93 K, solid K rate but walking way too many), Dusty Odenbach 1.51 (4.33 ERA, 5 HRA, 37 BB/72 K in 72 2/3 IP, has had some good outings), Matt Mitchell 1.67, Sam Runion 1.73 (improvement over where it was), Keaton Hayenga 1.82.

Rookie - Idaho Falls: Ogden 3, Chukars 2

RF Adams 2-4, 2B (4), K, RS -- .295
2B Zebroski 1-3, 2B (2), RBI (9) -- .211
CF Beltre 0-3, BB, RBI (21), 2 K -- .238
1B Watts 0-4, K -- .314
DH Ferguson 0-4, K -- .304

Billo 6 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 4 K, 2 HRA -- L, 3-4, 4.40 ERA
Martin 2 IP, H -- 3.48 ERA

* The Chukars couldn't keep it tied Wednesday. Ogden got a homer off Greg Billo in the 2nd before Billo stranded 2. Tom Zebroski doubled home a run in the 5th but Ogden moved back ahead in the 5th. Geulin Beltre drove in a run with a fielder's choice in the 6th but Ogden got a solo homer in the 6th off Billo to take the lead for good. Travis Jones was thrown out at the plate in the 7th and IF stranded 2 in the 9th. The Chukars are 1-4. A 3-game set at the Orem Owlz (1-3, Rookie Angels) starts Thursday.

Rookie - Burlington: off day

* The Royals are 20-22. A 3-game home set with the Pulaski Mariners (23-18) starts Thursday. Jonathon Keck starts for Burlington.

Rookie - AZL: The Reds won in the 9th Wednesday, 5-4

The Angels are up, 6-1, on the Royals in the 7th

1B Moreno 0-1, SF, RBI (21), E (7) -- .340
DH Antonio 1-3 -- .268
C Shin 0-2, PB (4) -- .191
CF J. Blanco 0-2 -- .192
LF Sandford 1-2, picked off -- .299

G. Cuevas 2 IP, 2 K -- 12.27 ERA
An. Baez 2 1/3 IP, 4 R (3 ER), 2 H, 2 BB, 2 K, HRA -- 8.31 ERA
Jon. Rodriguez 2 2/3 IP, 2 UER, 3 H, 3 K -- 4.29 ERA

* The Royals are being held down on 3 hits in the late innings. Henry Moreno hit a sac fly in the 2nd but the Angels scored 3 in the 4th off Angel Baez. Jonathan Rodriguez allowed 2 runs in the 5th and another in the 7th. The Royals entered play at 18-16.