Royals on the Farm 5/18 -- No-hitter for Kane County

Thoughts on Danny Duffy's first start.....he showed good stuff, showed good location on the fastball at times, couple wicked curveballs, but he pitched to Endy Chavez and Andres Blanco like they were Rod Carew. I'm sure first-start jitters were part of it, and it gave him something to build on....nice 9th inning blast from Hosmer, too. Great job pinch running by Aviles and Dyson. Top notch.

AAA - Omaha: off day

* A 4-game home set with the Las Vegas 51s (22-18, AAA Blue Jays) starts Thursday. There's no announced starter on the team site, but the World-Herald has Mike Montgomery (2-1, 4.25) climbing the hill. RP Kanekoa Texeira was DFA'd to make room for Duffy.

AA - NW Arkansas: Tulsa 4, Naturals 3

RF Francis 2-3, BB, RBI (3), K -- .188
DH T. Smith 1-4, HR (3), RBI (10), RS -- .237
SS Colon 0-4, RBI (21), K -- .248

Dwyer 6 IP, ER, 2 H, 4 BB, 2 K -- 5.82 ERA, overall a good start, but can't be happy with the BB/K
Rollins 2 IP, H, BB, K -- 4.33 ERA
Keating 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, K, HRA, WP -- BS, 3, L, 1-2, 5.19 ERA

* The Drillers struck oil in the 9th off Patrick Keating to get another walkoff win. Anthony Seratelli led off the game with a double and scored on a Christian Colon groundout to get NW Arkansas on the board in the 1st. Tulsa tied it in the 3rd but Chris Dwyer left the bases full in the 4th. Nick Francis hit the go-ahead single in the 7th and Tim Smith hit a solo shot in the 9th for his 3rd of the season to make it 3-1. Keating had a runner at second with 2 out in the 9th and, after a single put runners at the corners, a wild pitch scored a run and 2B Thomas Field took Keating out for his 4th homer of the season. The 2-run walkoff shot ended it. Field and CF Tim Wheeler had 2 hits for Tulsa. Wheeler also stole his 8th base. NWA is 19-16. The series wraps up Thursday with John Lamb (1-2, 3.15) starting.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Blue Rocks 7, Salem 1 (7/G1)

CF Merrifield 2-5, 2 RBI (13), RS -- .324, becoming a Pipeline favorite
3B Batista 2-4, 2 RS, SB (2) -- .220
LF Ferguson 1-4, HR (3), 2 RBI (18), 2 K, RS -- .176
2B Navarro 1-3, BB, 2B (10), RBI (19) -- .324
1B Whittleman 1-2, 2 BB, RBI (24), RS -- .256
The Rocks stranded 10.

E. Pimentel 6 IP, ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 2 K -- W, 3-1, 4.23 ERA, has been more impressive this season thus far
Paukovits IP, K -- 3.45 ERA

* A 6-run 6th helped the Rocks take game 1 from Salem on Wednesday. Elisaul Pimentel stranded 2 in the 2nd and John Whittleman took a 2-out bases-loaded walk in the 3rd. Pimentel gave up the tying run on 3 hits in the bottom of the inning. The Rocks stranded 2 in the 5th, but they loaded the bases with 0 out in the 6th. A Whit Merrifield single cleared the bases thanks to a Sox error and Merrifield would score on a Rey Navarro groundout. Tim Ferguson followed with a 2-run homer (his 3rd) to make it 7-1. Pimentel and Bryan Paukovits retired the last 8 Sox. 3B Kolbrin Vitek had 2 hits for Salem.

Blue Rocks 5, Salem 1 (7/G2)

DH Navarro 1-3, HR (2), 3 RBI (22), 2 K, RS -- .324
2B Merrifield 1-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI (15), 2 RS, SB (8) -- .324
RF Testa 1-2, BB, K, RS, picked off -- .286
LF Adrian Ortiz had an assist at the plate.

Melville 5 IP, ER, 4 H, 2 BB, K -- W, 4-4, 4.57 ERA
Chapman 2 IP, 3 K -- 3.86 ERA

* The Rocks used the power of the longball to sweep the twinbill. Tim Melville stranded 2 in the 2nd and Whit Merrifield hammered a 2-run homer in the 3rd for his 1st of the season. Salem got a run back in the 3rd, but Adrian Ortiz kept the Rocks in the lead with an assist at the plate to end the 5th. Rey Navarro put it away with a 3-run homer in the 6th for his 2nd of the season. Kevin Chapman pitched 2 perfect innings of relief to finish the win for Melville. Wilmington is 22-16. They go for the sweep on Thursday as Justin Marks and Tyler Sample team up.

A - Kane County: Cougars 2, Cedar Rapids 0 (no-hitter)

3B Franco 2-4, 3B, RBI (5), K, RS, E (3) -- .244
1B Caseres 2-4 -- .250
RF Adams 2-4, 2 K, OF assist at second -- .207
CF Llanos 0-4, RBI (25) -- .252
SS Hall 0-4, K -- .311

Marimon 7 2/3 IP, 2 BB, 7 K, WP -- W, 3-2, 2.75 ERA
Byrne 1 1/3 IP, K -- SV, 2, 4.58 ERA

* I would have been pretty confident in a bet a couple years ago that Sugar Ray Marimon wouldn't be a part of a no-hitter, especially as a 7 2/3 inning starter. Tonight I stand corrected. He and Chas Byrne teamed up to whitewash the Kernels as 2 walks and an error were between the Cougars and perfection. Angel Franco led off the game with a triple and scored on an Alex Llanos groundout to get KC the only run needed. Marimon issued walks in the 2nd and 3rd but worked around them. Franco hit an RBI single in the 5th to make it 2-0. Marimon retired 17 in a row before getting pulled after an error in the 8th. Byrne then retired the next 4 to end it. Kane County is 15-25. The feat marked the 7th no-hitter in Kane County Cougar history. The series ends Thursday as Leondy Perez (1-4, 2.79) starts.