Royals on the Farm 7/29 -- Melville throws a gem, Salvador slams another granny

AAA - Omaha: Storm Chasers 10, Albuquerque 1

C S. Perez 2-4, GS, 5 RBI, K, RS -- .250, that's 3 grand slams in a week
DH Robinson 2-4, RBI (68), 2 RS -- .311
3B Falu 2-4, RBI (28), K -- .296
LF Lough 1-5, HR (6), RBI (48), K, RS -- .314
2B Giavotella 1-4, SF, 2B (31), RBI (67), RS -- .334
CF Dyson 1-3, S, 2B (7), RBI (13), K -- .286
RF Cain 0-3, BB, 2 K, RS -- .319
1B Ka'aihue 0-1, 3 BB, K, 2 RS -- .278

O'Sullivan 6 IP, ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 5 K, HRA -- W, 3-2, 3.86 ERA
Herrera IP, H, K -- 0.00 ERA
Teaford IP, nothing -- 3.34 ERA
Tejeda IP, 2 H, BB, 2 K -- 3.52 ERA

* The Chasers turned on the jets late to leave the Isotopes in the dust. David Lough hit his 6th homer for a solo shot in the 1st. After the Isotopes tied it in the 3rd, Johnny Giavotella regained the lead in the bottom of that inning on a sac fly. Jarrod Dyson doubled in a run in the 5th and Salvador Perez made his 1st AAA homer a big one with a grand slam in the 6th to blow the game open. Clint Robinson, Perez and Irving Falu added RBI singles in the 7th to make it 10-1. Robinson Tejeda stranded the bases full in the 9th. Omaha is 57-49. Vin Mazzaro starts the first of 4 at the Oklahoma City RedHawks (47-59, AAA Astros) on Saturday.

AA - NW Arkansas: Springfield 11, Naturals 4

C Pina 2-3, BB, 2B, 3 RBI -- .333
SS Colon 2-4, HR (8), RBI (54), RS -- .257
1B Seratelli 2-4, 2B (8), K, 2 RS, SB (29) -- .291
CF Robinson 0-5 -- .275
RF Myers 1-2, 2 BB -- .253
2B Bianchi 0-4, 2 K -- .277

W. Smith 4 IP, 9 ER, 10 H, 2 BB, K -- L, 9-8, 4.54 ERA, long way from a no-no
M. Santiago 3 IP, 2 H, BB, 2 K -- 1.21 ERA
Lebron IP, 2 ER, H, BB, K, HRA -- 3.97 ERA

* A 7-run inning was a killer for the Naturals Friday. Christian Colon hit his 8th homer of the season in the 1st but Springfield got 2 off Will Smith in the 2nd. Manny Pina hit a 2-run single in the 4th and the Nats snatched back a 3-2 lead. NW Arkansas stranded 2 in the 5th and the Cards went to work on Smith, as 6 hits and 2 walks scored 7 runs off Smith and Mario Santiago. Pina hit an RBI double in the 8th but the damage was done. The Cards added a 2-run homer off Willy Lebron for good measure in the 8th. NWA is 18-16. Game 2 is Saturday as Jeremy Jeffress starts.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Blue Rocks 4, Kinston 0 (2-hitter)

SS Mertins 2-4, K, RS -- .267
3B Whittleman 1-2, 2 BB, HR (17), 3 RBI (54), RS -- .236
CF Merrifield 1-4, RS -- .262, 11-game hit streak
DH Jul. Rodriguez 0-3 -- .294

Melville 7 IP, 2 H, BB, 5 K -- W, 8-6, 3.90 ERA
Caldwell 2 IP, 3 K -- 0.00 ERA

* Tim Melville had a great start and the Rocks took the opener from the Tribe. John Whittleman smacked a 3-run homer in the 1st for his 17th of the season to hand Melville the lead, and that was all he needed. He took a no-hitter into the 5th and a run-scoring error made it 4-0 in the bottom of the 5th. Melville and Allen Caldwell retired the last 14 Indians after Melville allowed back-to-back singles to start the 5th. Wilmington is 12-22. Mike Mariot pitches game 2 Saturday.

A - Kane County: Cougars 5, Cedar Rapids 1

2B Franco 3-4, 2B (10), 3B (4), RBI (14), RS -- .246
RF Beltre 2-4, RBI (28), RS, CS (8) -- .248
DH Aparicio 2-4, RBI (14), CS (4) -- .179
CF Eibner 2-4, RS -- .200, back to the Mendoza line
SS Calixte 1-3, SF, RBI (20) -- .218
3B Cuthbert 1-4 -- .325

L. Perez 7 IP, UER, 5 H, BB, 4 K -- W, 3-11, 3.73 ERA
Boruff 2 IP, 2 H, K -- 1.99 ERA

* A 3-run rally helped Leondy Perez bring home his 3rd win of the season. Julio Aparicio hit an RBI single in the 2nd but the Kernels tied it off Perez in the 4th. Orlando Calixte hit a sac fly in the 4th and the Cougars pieced together a rally in the 5th on an Angel Franco RBI triple, Geulin Beltre RBI single and run-scoring passed ball that made it 5-1. Perez and Chase Boruff nailed it down from there. The Cougars are 20-13. A key 3-game set at the Quad Cities River Bandits (19-13, A Cards, 1/2 game back of KC) starts Saturday.

Rookie - Idaho Falls: off day Thursday

* A 3-game home set with the Ogden Raptors (22-14, Rookie Dodgers) starts tonight.

Rookie - Burlington: Bluefield 7, B-Royals 1 (11)

SS Trapp 2-3, BB, HBP, 2B (10), RBI (28), K, SB (16) -- .302
3B Bringas 1-3, HBP, K, RS -- .208
LF Brooks 1-4, K -- .235

Ridings 6 IP, ER, 5 H, 5 K -- 3.10 ERA
Pizziconi 4 IP, 2 H, BB, 4 K -- 5.91 ERA
Ferguson 2/3 IP, 6 R (3 ER), 5 H, 2 BB -- L, 0-1, 5.30 ERA
Gonzalez 1/3 IP, nothing -- 9.82 ERA

* Bluefield ran away and hid with it in the 11th. Both teams got their only run in the first 9 innings in the 3rd, as the Jays scored off Matt Ridings and the Royals got a 2-out Justin Trapp RBI single. Ridings and Andrea Pizziconi held the Jays in check thereafter, but the Royals couldn't generate any offense either off Tyler Ybarra and Mitchell Taylor. The Royals left Trapp at third in the 9th, and then stranded 2 in the 10th. Andrew Ferguson gave up a leadoff double in the 11th and it was downhill from there as a 2-run Derek Hamblen error at third aided a 6-run Jays rally. The Royals stranded 1 in the 11th. Burlington is 14-24. A 3-run set at the Pulaski Mariners (18-20) starts Saturday.

Rookie - AZL: Brewers 6, Royals 4

1B Gaylord 3-4, SF, 2B (5), 2 RBI (16) -- .236
3B Morales 2-4, BB, HR, RBI (6), RS, E (5) -- .306
2B DelGuidice 2-4, HBP, RS, SB (2) -- .420
LF Allen 1-4, BB, 2B (3), RBI (6) -- .198
DH Cuckovich 1-4, BB, 2B (5), K, 2 RS, SB (16) -- .361
The Royals stranded 13.

Stueve 4 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, BB, 3 K, WP -- L, 1-1, 1.44 ERA
Edelen 2 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K, HRA -- 8.44 ERA
F. Cruz 2 IP, UER, BB, 2 K, WP -- 13.50 ERA
Bangs IP, BB, 2 K -- 6.00 ERA

* The Royals doubled up the Brewers in the hits department, 12-6, but the runs department was another story. Nick Cuckovich and Brian Gaylord hit back-to-back doubles in the 1st to give the Royals a 1-0 lead. The Brewers tied it in the 2nd but the Royals regained the lead on a Gaylord sac fly in the 3rd. The Brewers scored 2 in the 4th off Andrew Stueve to take the lead, and the Royals made a habit of stranding runners. Two in the 4th, 2 in the 5th, 2 in the 6th. The Brewers got 2 more runs in the 6th and 1 in the 7th to make it 6-2. Jerrell Allen hit an RBI double in the 7th and Adrian Morales hit a solo homer in the 8th (his 1st) before the Royals stranded 2. They didn't generate any more runs. The Royals are 12-19.