Royals on the Farm 4/8 -- another nice night for Colon

So far, not so good for the Omaha pitching staff...2-2 overall tonight for the affiliates though.

AAA - Omaha: Albuquerque 10, Storm Chasers 6

2B Giavotella 3-4, RBI, RS -- .444
1B Hosmer 3-5, 2B, RBI, K, RS, E -- .500
DH C. Robinson 1-5, 2B, 2 RBI (4), K, RS -- .333
CF Orlando 1-3, S, RBI -- .286
3B Moustakas 1-4, BB, 2 K, RS, 2 E (3, both throwing) -- .222, arm's been a little erratic thus far
C Pina 0-0, 3 BB, S, RS -- .250, OBPy night

Suppan 4 IP, 7 ER, 7 H, 3 BB, 2 K, 2 HRA -- L, 0-1, looks like he may be pitching with big fork sticking out of his back
Mendoza 2 IP, 3 R (1 ER), 3 BB, K -- 4.50 ERA, he's still got it
J. Chavez IP, 2 K -- 0.00 ERA
Coleman IP, 3 K -- 0.00 ERA, nice IP, anyway

* Jeff Suppan helped the Chasers into an early hole they couldn't get out of as Albuquerque plated 10 runs once again. Lance Zawadzki tripled and scored on an Eric Hosmer single in the 1st but Suppan fed the Isotopes 4 runs in the bottom of the inning on 4 hits and 2 walks. A 2-run homer off Suppan in the 2nd made it 6-1 Albuquerque. Omaha crept back into it in the 3rd as Clint Robinson hit a 2-run double and scored on a Johnny Giavotella single to cut it to 6-4. Manny Pina scored on an error in the 4th as the Chasers trimmed the lead to 1 but Suppan served up a solo homer in the bottom of the inning to make it 7-5. Paulo Orlando singled in a run in the 5th but Gregor Blanco was thrown out at third on the play and the rally died shortly thereafter. Luis Mendoza let Albuquerque salt it away in the 6th as his inning went walk, Hosmer error, groundout, IBB, HBP (scoring run), walk (scoring run), RBI forceout, groundout. RP Roman Colon got a measure of revenge against his old team in pitching a 1-2-3 9th for Albuquerque. 2B Justin Sellers was 2-3 with 2 HR and 3 RBI with 3 RS. Omaha is 0-2. Game 3 is Saturday night. Danny Duffy starts for Omaha.

AA - NW Arkansas: Naturals 5, San Antonio 4 (11)

SS Colon 2-3, HBP, BB, 2B, 2 RBI (4), RS, 2 SB -- .571, like to see this starting fresh this season, pro debut followed full college baseball season in 2010
CF D. Robinson 2-4, BB, K, RS, 2 SB (3), picked off -- .250
3B Lisson 2-5, 2B, K, RS -- .400
LF Van Stratten 2-5, 3B, GW RBI, K -- .375
RF Myers 1-4, BB, 2 K, RS, SB -- .250
1B Romak 1-5, RBI, 2 K -- .111
2B Bianchi 0-4, SF, RBI, 2 K -- .167
C S. Perez 0-4, BB, K -- .000

Lamb 3 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 2 K, pickoff -- 6.00 ERA, 63 pitches
M. Santiago 4 IP, 2 H, 5 K -- 0.00 ERA
Keating IP, 2 ER, 3 H, K, HRA, WP -- BS, 1, 18.00 ERA
Baumann 2 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, K, WP -- 0.00 ERA
Basurto IP, H, BB, K -- W, 1-0, 0.00 ERA

* The Naturals saw a 2-run lead slip away late but pulled it together to win in 11. NWA jumped on Pads pitching prospect Casey Kelly in the 1st as Jamie Romak singled in a run and Jeff Bianchi lifted a sac fly to make it 2-0. John Lamb ran into trouble in the 3rd as the Missions rapped out 4 singles and saw Lamb walk in the tying run before stranding the bases loaded. The pitching stud of the game for NW Arkansas was Mario Santiago, who threw 4 scoreless after taking over for Lamb in the 4th. Meanwhile, the Nats regained the lead with 2 in the 5th on a Christian Colon 2-run double. The Naturals loaded the bases with 0 out in the 7th but Wil Myers hit into a 5-2 double play and Romak struck out swinging to squander the chance to pad the lead. Santiago handed the ball to Patrick Keating in the 8th and he got 2 outs without incident, but the Missions got a 2-run homer from 1B Cody Decker to tie the game. Buddy Baumann worked out of trouble in the 9th and then saw a runner thrown out at the plate to keep it tied at 4 in the 10th. Eric Basurto stranded 2 in the 11th and, with 2 on and 1 out in the Nats 11th, Nick Van Stratten came through with a walkoff single to even the Nats' record at 1-1. Four Missions had 2 hits but they stranded 12 on the game. C Ryan Eigsti and P Harold Mozingo are on the early season DL. The series wraps Saturday night with Will Smith pitching for NWA.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Myrtle Beach 3, Blue Rocks 1

SS McClure 0-3, SF, RBI, K
DH Lewis 1-3, 2 K, RS
3B Batista 1-3, 2B, 2 K
LF Merrifield 0-4, 3 K
2B Navarro 1-3, BB
RF Francis 0-4, 3 K, OF assist at second

Melville 4 IP, 3 ER, 8 H, 3 BB, 0 K -- L, 0-1, 6.75 ERA, not a good WHIP night
Baez 3 IP, 5 H, BB, 2 K -- 0.00 ERA
Dennick IP, nothing -- 0.00 ERA

* The Pelicans pounded out 13 hits, including 8 off starter Tim Melville, and made 3 1st inning runs hold true. The Pelicans had 2 runs before they made an out as Melville did a Luke Hochevar impersonation, then allowed one more run before getting out of the inning thanks to a bases-loaded DP. Pelicans SP Neil Ramirez retired 11 in a row at one point but was pulled before completing the requisite 5 IP for the win. Two more double plays helped the Rocks out of some tight spots defensively but they stranded 2 in the 5th. In the 8th the Rocks had 2 in scoring position with 0 out but managed only 1 run on an Alex McClure sac fly. They stranded 1 more in the 9th. Four Pelicans had multiple hits. The Rocks are 0-1. Tyler Sample and Justin Marks (one of the fruits of the DeJesus trade) will piggyback Saturday's game 2.

A - Kane County: Cougars 7, Wisconsin 6

RF-CF Llanos 2-5, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI, RS -- .222
DH G. Beltre 2-4, RBI, K, RS, picked off -- .500
LF-RF Fletcher 1-5, 2B, 2 RBI, K, RS -- .222
CF Eibner 1-3, BB, RBI (2), K, RS -- .333, pulled in 8th
1B Watts 0-2, 2 BB, K -- .000
2B Espinal 1-2, 2 BB, K, CS -- .167

Marimon 4 IP, 5 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 2 K, HRA, pickoff -- 11.25 ERA
M. Mitchell 2 IP, 3 H, BB, 3 K, pickoff -- W, 1-0, 0.00 ERA
Boruff 2 IP, ER, 3 H, 4 K -- 4.50 ERA
Byrne IP, 2 K -- SV, 1, 0.00 ERA

* The Cougars came close to blowing a 5-run lead but held on for a 7-6 win to even their record at 1-1. The first KC run scored in the 2nd on an error and then Alex Llanos stroked a 2-run double to make it 3-0. A Sugar Ray Marimon pickoff ended up being big in the 3rd as he gave up a 2-run homer later in the inning to cut the lead to 1. Llanos led off the Cougs 5th with a triple and scored on a Brett Eibner single before Brian Fletcher ripped a 2-run double and scored on a Geulin Beltre single to make it 7-2. Marimon loaded the bases with 0 out before getting pulled for Matt Mitchell in the Rattlers 5th. Mitchell allowed 3 to score before stranding the bases loaded. Chase Boruff allowed a run thanks in part to a throwing error by C Travis Jones in the 7th but stranded 1 at second in the 8th. Chaz Byrne threw a perfect 9th for his 1st 2011 save. CF Reggie Keen had 3 hits, including a homer, and 3 SB for Wisconsin. Three others had 2 hits. The Cougars are 1-1. Leondy Perez starts Saturday's matinee game 3.