Royals on the Farm 6/16

The Royals have fallen on some hard times of late. Jeff Francis has had an up and down year after I had such good vibes about him to start the season. And I said earlier to come back when Aaron Crow is still pitching well in June, and he is. He sure had a good shot at the closer's job (didn't he?) when Soria struggled, since he got 0 save chances and Soria got the job back after a couple good non-save outings. It was also nice to see Danny Duffy get his first MLB win this week. Now let's find a way to get Johnny Giavotella and Lorenzo Cain to KC.

AAA - Omaha: Storm Chasers 6, Iowa 2

DH C. Robinson 2-4, 2B (16), K, RS -- .350
SS Aviles 2-4, 2B (2), K, RS, SB -- .318
RF Cain 1-4, 2 RBI (32), K -- .301
2B Giavotella 1-3, BB, RBI (48), 2 SB (7) -- .309
1B Ka'aihue 1-2, 2 BB, RBI (21), RS -- .283
3B Falu 1-4, RBI (17) -- .306
C Clark 1-3, S, HR (2), RBI (3), RS -- .250
CF Dyson 0-2, 2 BB, RS, SB (13) -- .303
LF Lough 1-3, BB, K, RS, SB (6) -- .309

Suppan 7 IP, ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 7 K -- W, 5-4, 5.70 ERA
Tejeda IP, K -- 0.71 ERA
Chavez IP, ER, 2 H, WP -- 4.60 ERA

* Iowa bookended runs but it was all Storm Chasers in between as Omaha got a solid start from Jeff Suppan. Iowa scored on 2 hits and a walk in the 1st but David Lough scored on a Kila Ka'aihue groundout in the 2nd and Cody Clark hit his 2nd homer of the season to make it 2-1 Chasers. Irving Falu singled in a run in the 5th and Lorenzo Cain hit a 2-run single in the 6th to make it 5-1. Johnny Giavotella hit an RBI single in the 7th. Suppan didn't allow more than 1 baserunner in any inning after the 1st. Jesse Chavez surrendered a run in the 9th but the Chasers emerged on top. 1B Bryan LaHair and C Welington Castillo had 2 hits for Iowa. Omaha is 37-30. A 4-game set at the Round Rock Express (37-29, AAA Rangers) starts Friday as the long College World Series roadtrip begins. P Kevin Pucetas cleared waivers and is back with Omaha after getting DFA'd to put Mike Moustakas on the 40-man. I'm wondering if he may start Friday's opener.

AA - NW Arkansas: Naturals 7, Springfield 1

2B Bianchi 3-4, 2B (14), RBI (27), RS -- .285
3B Mertins 2-3, BB, 2B (11), 4 RBI (24), K -- .253
RF Myers 2-5, 2 2B (8), K, RS -- .296
C S. Perez 1-3, BB, RBI (11), K, 2 RS -- .260, all of a sudden driving in runs
DH Romak 0-1, 2 BB, S, RBI (37) -- .245
CF D. Robinson 0-5, K -- .256
SS Colon 0-5, 2 K -- .251
1B Seratelli 0-2, 2 BB, HBP, 2 RS -- .317

Baumann 7 IP, 4 H, 7 K -- W, 2-2, 3.86 ERA, excellent start
Baez 2 IP, ER, 2 H, BB, 2 K, WP -- 6.19 ERA

* Buddy Baumann flashed some brilliance on Thursday as the Naturals rolled past the Cardinals. Baumann stranded 2 in the 1st then scattered 2 more hits over the next 6 innings. NWA scored 2 in the 2nd on a Kurt Mertins 2-run double then put it away for Baumann starting in the 6th. Salvador Perez singled in a run and Mertins hit an RBI single in the 6th, then Jeff Bianchi hit an RBI single and Jamie Romak and Mertins drew bases-loaded walks in the 7th to make it 7-0. Manauris Baez allowed a run in the 8th but finished off the win without too much trouble. SS Ryan Jackson had 2 hits for Springfield. NWA is 32-30. Game 2 is Friday. Will Smith is set to start.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Blue Rocks 9, Winston-Salem 0 (susp./4)

* I'll recap this one tomorrow, as they're finishing it before the regular Friday game. RF Nick Francis already has 3 hits and the Rocks have 3 HR thus far. I'm assuming Tyler Sample will pick up where Noel Arguelles left off with a 2-hit shutout. Jake Odorizzi is the regularly scheduled starter.

A - Kane County: Burlington 6, Cougars 2

DH Franco 2-4, RS -- .224
1B Kuebler 1-4, RBI (4), K -- .184
CF Eibner 0-4, K -- .138
3B Cuthbert 0-4, K -- .289

L. Perez 6 IP, 4 R (2 ER), 8 H, 5 K, WP -- L, 1-7, 3.13 ERA
Hodge 2 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, K -- 4.91 ERA

* Leondy Perez's hard luck continued as he lost a 2-0 lead in the 6th and the Bees came back to earn the 3-game sweep. Perez worked around baserunners in the first 2 innings and a wild pitch scored Kane County's first run in the 3rd. Perez stranded 2 more in the 5th and the Cougars added a run in the 6th on a Jake Kuebler RBI single. Two hits gave the Bees two in scoring position with 1 out in the 6th when an RBI single and 2 errors on the same play scored the tying runs. A 2-run double then made it 4-2 Bees. Mitch Hodge gave up a 2-run triple in the 7th and the last 10 Cougars went down in order after Kuebler's RBI single in the 6th. DH A.J. Kirby-Jones had 3 hits and SS Yordy Cabrera had 2 hits and 3 RBI (29). KC is 27-39. The final series before the all-star break starts Friday with the first of 3 versus the Clinton LumberKings (21-45, A Mariners). Leonel Santiago starts.