Royals on the Farm 6/2

AAA - Omaha: Round Rock 3, O-Royals 2 (10)

1B Ka'aihue 3-4, 2B (15), K, RS -- .287
LF Thorman 1-4, RBI (15), 2 K, OF assist at home -- .228
3B Metcalf 1-3, BB, 2B (11), RBI (27), CS -- .242
C House 0-4, K -- .299
CF Raines Jr. 0-5, K -- .000, organizational debut
SS Lisson 1-3, S, K -- .200

Hochevar 2 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, BB -- 1.50 ERA, not exactly the tune-up outing the Royals were looking for before getting him back to KC, 33 pitches
Chen 7 IP, 3 H, BB, 8 K -- 3.64 ERA, he's looking sharp and healthy
Atencio IP, ER, 2 H, BB, K -- L, 2-3, 5.11 ERA

*** Bruce Chen was great again but the Royals couldn't get a win as Greg Atencio allowed a run in the 10th and Round Rock came away with the series opener. Scott Thorman put the Royals up early with an RBI single in the 1st but Luke Hochevar got smacked around in the 2nd with 2 runs allowed on 4 hits and a walk before Thorman ended the Express rally abruptly with an assist at the plate. Chen took over in the 3rd and Omaha evened the score in the 6th on a Travis Metcalf RBI double. Chen stranded 2 in the 6th and sat down 10 of the last 11 he faced before Atencio took over in the 10th. With 2 out and 1 on, Atencio walked a batter intentionally and then gave up the go-ahead single to 1B Mark Saccomanno to make it 3-2 Round Rock. The Royals left a man at second in the bottom of the 10th as RP Chad Paronto pitched 2 scoreless frames for the win to move to 1-1 with a 2.22 ERA. Starter Jeremy Johnson worked 5 2/3 IP of 2 ER allowed on 6 hits and a walk with 3 Ks to move his ERA to 3.11. Three Express batters had 2 hits and Saccomanno's eventual game-winning RBI was his 31st. 3B Chris Johnson was 2-4 with his 2nd error, 1st triple and 7th RBI along with a K and RS to move to .275.

The O-Royals are 23-29 and 5 1/2 games back. Game 2 is tonight as Brandon Duckworth (2-2, 5.55) faces Express lefty Josh Muecke (1-4, 7.84). As seen above, the Royals have added Tim Raines Jr. to the roster after he played the '08 season for the Diamondbacks in AAA and was cut by the ChiSox in spring training. He signed a minor-league deal and turns 30 in August. I always liked his dad. I'm rooting for him to make the Hall.

AA - NW Arkansas: off day

The Naturals are 24-25 and 4 games back. They start a 3-game set at the Midland RockHounds (28-22, AA A's) tonight with Matt Kniginyzky (1-5, 5.31) facing Midland lefty Carlos Hernandez (2-0, 4.09). The Nats are 0-3 versus the 'Hounds in '09.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Blue Rocks 5, Kinston 1

SS Bianchi 3-4, BB, 3B (2), 2 RBI (22) -- .320, will they move him up before end of '09?
RF Walton 2-5, HR (3), 3 RBI (10), 2 K, RS -- .278
1B Seratelli 2-4, BB, CS (3) -- .301
3B Moustakas 0-4, BB, 2 K, 2 RS -- .263, 2-26 slump
LF Lough 0-3, BB, S -- .331
CF D. Robinson 0-4, BB, RS, SB (28) -- .230
2B Giavotella 1-4, BB, K -- .220
DH Ortiz 1-4 -- .261
* The Rocks stranded 11.

Santiago 6 IP, ER, 4 H, BB, 7 K, WP -- W, 2-5, 4.61 ERA, niiiiice
Sisk 2 IP, 2 H, 5 K -- 3.32 ERA
Abreu IP, H, K, WP -- 4.26 ERA

*** Mario Santiago had a good start followed by 3 innings of good relief and the Rocks rolled past Kinston to even the series at a game each. Santiago allowed the only Kinston run on 2 hits and a wild pitch in the 1st but would only allow 2 hits and a walk over the next 5 innings. Jamar Walton would give the Rocks the lead on a 2-run shot in the 2nd for his 3rd longball of the season but the Rocks would strand 2. They stranded 2 more in the 4th and left the bases full in the 6th as Kinston held the deficit to 1 run. Santiago was equal to the task, tho, and the Rocks picked up a run on a Jeff Bianchi RBI triple in the 7th. Bianchi and Walton had RBI singles in the 9th and Juan Abreu finished it off. Kinston SP Bryce Stowell had an unsuccessful K-Tribe debut with the loss on 3 1/3 IP of 2 ER allowed on 4 hits, 2 walks and 4 Ks to start out 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA. LF Lucas Montero was 2-4 with his 12th SB, a K and RS to move to .271. 3B Lonnie Chisenhall was 1-4 with his 12th double and a K to drop to .304.

The Rocks are 27-25 and 7 1/2 games out after winning the finale with the Tribe today behind another good outing from Everett Teaford.

A - Burlington: Quad Cities 9, Bees 3

CF Dyson 3-5, 2B, K, RS, CS -- .600, hope his drug trouble is behind him
LF Van Stratten 2-3, BB, RS -- .344
RF Francis 1-4, RBI (33), 2 K, RS -- .309
DH S. Perez 0-3, SF, RBI (5) -- .170
1B Hosmer 0-4, K -- .268
C Bonilla 1-4, K, 2 E (5) -- .241

Montgomery 4 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 4 H, BB, 5 K, WP -- 3.00 ERA
Saito IP, UER, H, K -- L, 1-4, 4.01 ERA
Barrera 1/3 IP, 4 ER, 3 BB, K -- 108.00 ERA, not good when your ERA is over 100, rough season debut
Baez 3 2/3 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 3 H, BB, 2 K -- 3.00 ERA

*** The Bees had more errors (4) than runs as a 6-run Quad Cities 6th was the difference in the game. The River Bandits scored 2 runs in the 1st on 3 hits and 2 Angel Franco errors at short to put Mike Montgomery and the Bees behind the 8-ball. Burlington equalized it in the 4th on a Nick Francis RBI single and Salvador Perez sac fly. Derrick Saito took over in the 5th and allowed an unearned run on a 2-out double and Jose Bonilla throwing error on a steal of third. The Bees stranded 2 in the 5th and Henry Barrera took over for Saito to make his 2009 debut in the 6th. Three walks loaded the bases with 1 out and a hit batsman forced in a run before Manauris Baez came in and allowed 5 more runs to come in on 2 hits and another Bonilla throwing error. Jarrod Dyson doubled in the 7th and scored on a wild pitch to cut it to 9-3 but the Bees would get no closer. RP Ramon Delgado got the win with 1 2/3 scoreless IP to move to 4-1 with a 2.05 ERA. Starter Kevin Thomas allowed 2 ER on 2 hits and 2 walks over 3 1/3 IP to move his ERA to 2.70. Three Bandits had 2 hits as 3B Brett Lilley and 2B Alex Castellanos drove in 2 runs each and scored twice. Castellanos also stole his 7th base.

The Bees are 21-30. They have today off before resuming another 2-game set with Quad Cities at home. As noted, RP Henry Barrera has been added to the Bees roster as RP Justin Garcia was placed on the DL, making it 7 Bees pitchers currently listed as on the shelf.