Royals on the Farm 8/20

AAA - Omaha: O-Royals 7, Memphis 6

C B. Pena 2-2, 3 BB, 2B (13), RBI (23), 2 RS, SB (6) -- .290, on BB tear lately, for him
RF-CF Hollins 2-4, HR (15), RBI (52), K, 2 RS -- .226
3B Spann 1-5, 2 RBI (6), E (3) -- .333
1B Ka'aihue 1-5, RBI (15), E (2) -- .329
RF Bigler 1-4, RBI, OF assist at home -- .286, wonder why it was he they brought up....
DH Shealy 0-1, 3 BB, SF, RBI (57) -- .280
CF Gathright 0-1 -- .152, pulled after 1st, rehab not going well?
2B Callaspo 0-5, 2 K, 2 RS -- .154, also struggling in rehab thus far
LF Lubanski 1-3, BB, 2B (18), K -- .227
* Omaha stranded 11.

Colon 6 IP, 6 ER, 9 H, BB, 4 K, 2 HRA, WP -- 4.75 ERA
Yabuta 3 IP, BB, 4 K, WP -- W, 3-3, 4.05 ERA, nice outing

*** Omaha came back from deficits of 4-2 and 6-3 to take the opener from Memphis. With 2 out and the bases loaded in the 1st, Omaha rallied for 2 runs on a Chad Spann 2-run single but stranded 2. Roman Colon allowed a run on a walk and double in the 2nd and then gave up a 3-run homer in the 3rd to make it 4-2 Redbirds. Omaha stranded 2 in the 3rd but crept closer in the 4th with a run on a Brett Bigler RBI groundout to trim the lead to 1. Colon served up a 2-run homer in the Memphis 5th to make it 6-3. Ryan Shealy hit a sac fly in the 5th to cut the lead back to 2 and, after Bigler threw out a runner at the plate to end the Memphis 6th, Omaha cut the lead to 1 as Brayan Pena took a bases-loaded walk but Kila Ka'aihue popped out to strand the bases full. Yaz Yabuta stranded 2 in the 7th and Damon Hollins tagged his 15th homer of the season for a solo shot to tie the game in the bottom of the inning. Alberto Callaspo reached on an error with 2 out in the 8th and Pena and Ka'aihue hit back-to-back singles to bring Callaspo home and give Omaha the lead. The Royals would leave the bases loaded again but Yabuta pitched a perfect 9th to finish the victory. RP Randy Flores took the loss with an UER allowed over 2/3 IP to drop to 0-1 with a 1.80 ERA. Starter P.J. Walters worked 5 1/3 innings of 5 runs (3 ER) allowed to move his ERA to 4.67. Three Redbirds had 2 hits as Nick Stavinoha hit his 16th homer and had 2 RBI and 2 RS and 1B Josh Phelps clubbed his 30th HR and had 3 RBI to get within 4 of the century mark in that stat.

Omaha is 57-75. Game 2 of the set is tonight. Probable starters: 'Birds RH Mitchell Boggs (7-3, 3.59) vs. LH Tyler Lumsden (3-11, 6.92). P Josh Newman is headed back to KC without an appearance at Omaha as Luke Hochevar hit the DL with a rib contusion. Gathright isn't on the roster anymore so either was activated or his rehab assignment was cut short. He may be the person taking Mitch Maier's place on the 25-man after Maier's facial fractures Wednesday.

AA -- NW Arkansas: Naturals 6, Springfield 5

DH Aldridge 3-4, 2B (4), HR (5), 3 RBI (22), K, RS -- .244, homer was big
RF McFall 2-4, HR (16), RBI (53), K, 2 RS, OF assist at home -- .235, homer was also big, if not bigger
SS Lisson 2-4, RBI (55), K -- .219
LF Falu 2-4, RS -- .294
C Donachie 2-3, BB -- .218
CF Duarte 0-4, BB -- .251
1B Richardson 1-4, 2B (32), RS, E (7) -- .292
3B Lucas 0-4 -- .297

B. Wood 4 1/3 IP, 5 R (3 ER), 8 H, BB, 4 K, HRA -- 5.91 ERA
de la Vara 3 2/3 IP, 3 H, 3 K -- W, 2-0, 2.33 ERA, nice
M. Peterson IP, 2 H, BB -- SV, 2, 4.32 ERA, didn't make it easy

*** Springfield established an early 5-0 lead and the Naturals spent the rest of the game chipping away until a homer in the 8th helped NWA get another key win over the Cardinals. Blake Wood allowed a leadoff homer and another run on 2 hits before getting an out in the 1st as the Cardinals took a 2-0 lead. Two NWA errors helped lead to 3 Cardinal runs in the 2nd as Wood struggled again. The Nats were hitless through 3 but broke through with 2 runs in the 4th on a 2-run Cory Aldridge double. Wood was pulled with 2 on and 1 out in the 5th and Gilbert de la Vara pitched well through 8. The Nats loaded the bases with none out in the 5th but got only a single run on a Marc Maddox double play ball to cut the lead to 5-3. Mario Lisson hit an RBI single in the 6th to cut it to 5-4 but NWA stranded 2. Brian McFall and Maddox teamed up to nail a Cardinal at the plate in the 8th and Aldridge led off the bottom of the inning with his 5th homer of the season for NW Arkansas to tie the game. Two outs later, McFall cranked his 16th homer of the season and NWA had a 6-5 lead. Matt Peterson loaded the bases with 2 out in the 9th but got a game-ending forceout for his 2nd save. Cards RP Luis Perdomo took the loss with 2 ER allowed in 1 IP to blow his 1st save and drop to 2-2 with a 4.85 ERA. Starter Adam Ottavino allowed 4 ER over 5 IP to move his ERA to 5.44. 2B Jose Martinez was 3-4 with 3 doubles, a K and RS, and two others had 2 hits for Springfield.

NWA is now 34-24 and 2 games up on first, so is assured at least a tie coming out of the series. Game 3 is tonight as Rowdy Hardy (6-10, 4.73) takes the hill vs. Cards SP Kyle Mura (3-3, 2.38).

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Blue Rocks 7, Myrtle Beach 3

2B Bianchi 3-4, 2B (31), 2 RBI (56), K, RS, SB (13) -- .258
SS McConnell 2-4, BB, RBI (30), K, RS, SB (23) -- .258
RF Strait 1-2, 2 BB, HR (11), RBI (31), 2 RS, SB (8) -- .300, noticing a trend in SBs here?
3B J. Johnson 1-4, RBI (35), SB (14) -- .263
1B Seratelli 0-3, SF, RBI (50), K -- .230
CF D. Robinson 1-4, BB, 2 RS, 3 SB (60) -- .246, Rocks were 7/7 in SB
DH Correll 0-4, BB, 2 K -- .291
LF Ortiz 0-3, S, 2 K -- .292

Kniginyzky 6 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 8 H, BB, 2 K, 4 WP -- W, 9-7, 3.56 ERA, had troubles hitting catcher's glove, plus hit 2 batters
Hartsock 2 1/3 IP, H, K -- 3.72 ERA

*** The Rocks gave Matt Kniginyzky some run support and took the finale from the Pelicans. The Rocks scored 3 in the 1st thanks in part to 5 SBs in the inning. With 1 out and the bases full, Jeff Bianchi stroked a 2-run single and Josh Johnson hit an RBI groundout to make it 3-0. Kniginyzky allowed a run in the 2nd on 2 hits and a hit batsman but Chris McConnell hit an RBI single in the bottom of the inning to preserve a 3-run lead. McConnell hit a 2-out run-scoring single in the 4th that was aided by a Pelicans error and the Rocks added 2 runs in the 5th on Cody Strait's 11th homer for Wilmington and an Anthony Seratelli sac fly to make it 7-1. Kniginyzky allowed 2 runs on 3 hits and was pulled in the 7th but Aaron Hartsock finished off the game for the 4-run win. Starter Scott Diamond took the loss for the Pelicans with 5 runs (4 ER) allowed over 3 2/3 IP to fall to 11-2 with a 3.00 ERA. C Phillip Britton and RF Jon Owings had 2 hits for Myrtle Beach.

Wilmington is 28-31 and 5 games back but still in command in the race for a wild-card playoff spot. A 3-game set at the Kinston Indians (33-25) starts tonight as lefty Ray Liotta (0-0, 6.75) takes on Kinston righty Jeanmar Gomez (4-8, 4.81). The Rocks are 11-6 versus the K-Tribe.

A - Burlington: off day

*** The Bees are 36-21 and 4.5 games up on first. A 4-game home set with the Beloit Snappers (29-29, A Twins) starts tonight. The Bees are 1-7 versus Beloit but play the Snappers 8 times over this last couple weeks, so need to turn around their fortunes. Alex Caldera (10-6, 3.09) is set to start tonight for the Bees.

Rookie - Idaho Falls: Chukars 11, Billings 1

RF-LF Testa 3-4, HR (4), 3 RBI (26), 2 RS -- .289
SS Alfaro 3-4, BB, 2B (18), HR (8), 3 RBI (45), 2 RS -- .286
C Graterol 3-4, 2 RBI (13), K, 2 RS, picked off runner -- .278
DH Jimenez 2-5, RBI (26), RS -- .298
CF Norris 1-3, 2 BB, 2B (10), 2 RBI (15), K, 2 RS -- .255
1B Espinosa 1-3, BB, 2B (8), K, RS -- .201
* RF Neder Severino had an OF assist at home and LF Shawn Griffin was ejected in the 1st.

Casey 5 1/3 IP, 5 H, BB, 4 K, WP -- W, 3-3, 2.34 ERA
Carver 1 2/3 IP, ER, 2 H, 2 K -- 7.88 ERA
Rada 2 IP, 5 K -- 3.24 ERA

*** The Chukars avenged getting rolled by the Mustangs last week with the completion of a three-game sweep of their own Wednesday. Bryan Casey stranded 2 Mustangs in the 1st and the Chukars got started with a 3-run 1st on an Antonio Jimenez RBI single and a 2-out, 2-run single by Juan Graterol. J.D. Alfaro was thrown out at the plate to end the IF 2nd but Casey held the line as he got a double play to escape a bases-loaded jam in the 4th. Idaho Falls answered with a 3-run rally in the bottom of the inning on a Patrick Norris RBI double and 2-run Alfaro single, although he was thrown out on the basepaths again. The Chukars added 2 runs in the 5th on a Carlo Testa RBI single and bases-loaded walk by Norris to make it 8-0. Casey was pulled for Jesse Carver with 2 on and 1 out in the 6th and the Chukars picked up the third out at the plate as RF Neder Severino chipped in an assist. Carver allowed a run in the 7th but Testa hammered a 2-run homer in the inning for his 4th as a pro and it was 10-1 IF. Alfaro led off the 8th with his 8th pro homer and that polished off the scoring. Billings SP Jamie Arneson took the loss with 4 innings of 6 ER allowed to fall to 5-3 with a 4.95 ERA. 1B Mike Konstanty was 2-4 with 2 Ks.

IF is 12-11 and 5.5 games back. They have today off to head out on a road trip.

Rookie - Burlington: Kingsport 3, B-Royals 0

LF D. Wood 2-4, K, CS (5) -- .297
DH Vittek 1-3, BB, K -- .293
RF McFadden 1-2, BB -- .240, team had 4 hits
3B F. Cruz 0-3, K -- .233
C Moctezuma 0-3, K -- .154

Lehmann 5 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 7 K, HRA -- L, 4-4, 3.42 ERA
Hudnall 2 1/3 IP, UER, H, 2 K -- 4.15 ERA

*** The B-Royals had 2 hits after the 2nd and Mike Lehmann took the loss despite an OK start. The Royals got 2 hits in the 2nd and made nothing of them but Lehmann had a shutout going as well into the 6th when Kingsport got 2 runs on a 2-run homer. Mets SP Mike Olmsted retired 13 of the last 15 he faced, former Royal blowtorch Ambiorix Burgos pitched a scoreless inning and the Mets added an insurance run in the 8th. RP Guillaume Leduc pitched the last 2 innings for his 1st save. Olmsted got the win with 6 IP of only 2 hits and 2 walks allowed with 3 Ks to move to 1-1 with a 1.83 ERA. 3B Stefan Welch was 2-4 with a triple, his 4th homer and 3 RBI to carry the Mets offense.

The Royals are 22-38. A 3-game set at the Pulaski Mariners (37-24) starts tonight. No announced starters on the team site. The Royals are 3-3 versus the division-leading M's. This is the last road series for the B-Royals.

Rookie - AZL: off day

*** The Royals are 7-13 and take on the 12-8 Rangers tonight. There are 8 games left in the AZL schedule, and the Royals have been eliminated from the playoff picture.