Royals on the Farm 6/7

Day 2 of the draft was the usual by Royals standards -- some tall lefty pitchers, a couple speedy slap-hitting CF types (you'd think the stadium still had Astroturf) and the gamble....3rd round RH Bryan Brickhouse, who is a North Carolina commit supposedly commanding a 7-figure bonus in the tradition of Tim Melville and Jason Adam. I've also heard he's mighty mighty (little Commodores joke there). Let's see if the Royals can get him signed. I do like that, after my plea for a C and SS, the first 2 position players drafted by KC on Tuesday were 2nd round C Cameron Gallagher out of a PA high school and 5th round SS Patrick Thomas out of a TX high school. They added 2 more at both positions later in the day as part of today's 29 picks.

AAA - Omaha: Storm Chasers 8, Iowa 6

2B Giavotella 2-5, 2 RBI (43), RS -- .308
3B Moustakas 2-4, BB, 2B (15), RBI (44), K, 2 RS -- .287
LF Lough 2-4, BB, 2B (14), RBI (29), K -- .318
CF Dyson 2-4, BB, 2B (2), 3 RS, SB (12) -- .316
DH C. Robinson 1-3, 2 BB, HR (13), 2 RBI (43), K, RS -- .351, machine
1B Ka'aihue 0-4, BB, RBI (20), K -- .280
SS Arias 0-4, BB, RBI (8) -- .229
Omaha stranded 10.

Pucetas 5 2/3 IP, 6 ER, 11 H, 2 BB, 5 K, 4 HRA -- 5.07 ERA
Tejeda 1 1/3 IP, 2 H, 2 K -- 0.00 ERA
B. Johnson 2 IP, 3 H, K -- W, 3-1, 6.45 ERA

* Omaha finished strong by scoring the final 5 runs. David Lough hit an RBI double in the 1st and Clint Robinson clubbed his 13th homer of the season for a 2-run shot to make it 3-0 Chasers. Kevin Pucetas got dinged in the 1st as well as a 3-run homer and solo homer made it 4-3 Iowa. Another solo homer in the 2nd and yet another in the 3rd made it 6-3. Omaha stranded 2 in the 3rd and 4th and Pucetas left the bases full in the 4th. Robinson Tejeda came on to strand 2 in the 6th. Johnny Giavotella hit a 2-run single in the 7th to pull Omaha within 1 as the Chasers left the bases full. The first 2 Chasers reached in the 9th and Mike Moustakas came through with a 1-out RBI double to tie it. Kila Ka'aihue and Joaquin Arias then took bases-loaded walks to push Omaha into the lead. Blake Johnson stranded 2 in the 9th for his 3rd win. 3B Marquez Smith was 5-5 with his 6th homer and 2B Bobby Scales had 4 hits with his 6th homer as well. 1B Bryan LaHair had 2 hits, including his 16th homer, and 3 RBI (49). Omaha is 33-26. They have Wednesday off.

AA - NW Arkansas: off day

* A 4-day, 6-game battle royale with the Arkansas Travelers (25-26, AA Angels) starts with a Wednesday doubleheader as the Naturals continue to fight with Tulsa for the first-half title. Bruce Chen and Kyle Davies will rehab by starting the games. RP Kevin Chapman has been moved up to the Naturals.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Blue Rocks 8, Kinston 2

DH Testa 3-4, 2B (13), RBI (18), 2 RS -- .292
RF Francis 2-4, 2B (13), HR (5), 4 RBI (25), 2 K, RS, E (4) -- .271, back to work in the Carolina League
2B Merrifield 2-4, HR (2), 2 RBI (21), K, 2 RS -- .269, game at 2B broke him out of slump? whatever works...
3B Batista 0-3, RBI (12), RS -- .217
SS Navarro 0-3, HBP, K, RS -- .293
LF Tim Ferguson had an assist at second.

Odorizzi 5 IP, ER, 8 H, 5 K, WP, pickoff -- W, 5-0, 2.03 ERA
Mariot 2 IP, H, 2 K, WP -- 2.23 ERA
Barrera 2 IP, ER, 3 H, 3 K -- 4.50 ERA, season debut

* Wilmington scored its runs in bunches to overcome the Tribe in support of Jake Odorizzi. Odorizzi stranded 2 in the 1st and the Rocks wasted little time in scoring 3 runs in their half on a leadoff homer by Whit Merrifield (his 2nd) and a 2-run Nick Francis double. Odorizzi faltered slightly in allowing a run on 3 hits in the 2nd, but settled down from there to hand it off to Mike Mariot in the 6th. Wilmington put it away with a 5-run 7th on a run-scoring error, a Merrifield RBI single, a Carlo Testa RBI single and a 2-run Francis homer for his 5th of the season. Henry Barrera made his 2011 debut and allowed a run in the 8th but finished the win. DH Adam Abraham and CF Tyler Holt had 3 hits for the Tribe. Abraham had 2 doubles (15). Wilmington is 30-27. Game 3 is Wednesday with Justin Marks starting. 1B Steven Caseres was released after a short, relatively nondescript organizational stint.

A - Kane County: Cougars 3, Bowling Green 0 (4-hitter)

DH Stovall 2-3, 2B (13), RBI (19), RS -- .289
2B Franco 2-4, K -- .186
LF Aparicio 1-3, HR (3), RBI (11), K, RS -- .165
3B Cuthbert 1-3, BB, K -- .327

Ventura 5 IP, H, BB, 4 K -- W, 1-1, 5.31 ERA
Billo 4 IP, 3 H, 3 K, WP -- SV, 1, 1.38 ERA

* Yordano Ventura and Greg Billo combined on a 4-hit shutout as Kane County took down the Hot Rods. Ryan Stovall hit an RBI double in the 1st as the Cougars stranded 2. Julio Aparicio went deep for his 3rd homer in the 2nd as KC made it 2-0. Ventura lost the no-hitter in the 5th and Stovall scored on a wild pitch in the 6th to stretch it to 3-0. Billo took care of the rest and stranded 1 in the 9th for his 1st save. Rods SP Enny Romero K'd 11 over 6 IP but took the loss to drop to 2-3 with a 5.76 ERA. SS Derek Dietrich had 2 hits for Bowling Green. Kane County is 26-32. Game 2 is Wednesday with Jason Adam gunning for his 3rd win.