Royals on the Farm 7/3

Happy 4th of July, everybody....hope you're having a good one.

AAA - Omaha: O-Royals 2, New Orleans 2 (10/susp., rain)

LF Thorman 2-5, HR (15), RBI (33), K, RS -- .296, HR kept game alive
SS Lisson 1-5, RBI (15), 3 K -- .242
DH Gordon 1-3, 2 BB, RS -- .333, one and only Omaha game in rehab
C Buck 1-4 -- .259
1B Ka'aihue 1-5, K -- .263
* Omaha stranded 10.

Phillips 5 IP, 2 H, BB, 4 K -- 6.54 ERA, left with apparent ankle injury
Atencio 1/3 IP, ER, H, BB, WP -- BS, 4, 6.29 ERA, bullpen back to old tricks again
Hamulack 2 2/3 IP, 4 H, K, WP -- 6.29 ERA
Yabuta 1 1/3 IP, UER, H, BB, 2 K -- 3.81 ERA
Hughes 2/3 IP, K -- 4.21 ERA

*** The game was suspended in a 2-all tie going into the 11th as Scott Thorman gave the Royals' offense some CPR. With 2 out and 2 on in the Omaha 4th, Mario Lisson hit an RBI single to give Omaha a 1-0 lead. Omaha left the bases loaded in the 5th and Greg Atencio came on for the 6th after Heath Phillips left with an ankle injury. He was in long enough to give up a walk, steal, wild pitch and RBI double before getting pulled for Tim Hamulack, who pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings but didn't exactly cruise as he stranded 2 in both the 7th and 8th. The O-Royals left 2 in scoring position in the 8th and Dusty Hughes was brought in with 2 on and 1 out in the 10th. A sac fly made it 2-1 Zephyrs but, with old Royal RP Nate Field on the mound, he did what Nate Field used to do and gave up a leadoff homer to Thorman (his 15th) in the bottom of the 10th to tie the game at 2. After the inning, a rain delay ensued and then play was suspended. The Zephyrs finally started Rick VandenHurk, who worked 6 innings of an ER allowed on 3 hits and 2 walks with 2 Ks to move his ERA to 3.03. 3B Gaby Sanchez is 3-4 with a walk, his 8th double and 29th RBI along with a K to improve to .306, and CF Cameron Maybin is 1-4 with a walk, 2 RS and his 6th SB to move to .320.

The O-Royals are 32-48. The game with New Orleans will be finished in August, which is funny (peculiar). A 4-game set at the Oklahoma City RedHawks (39-41, AAA Rangers) starts tonight as Lenny DiNardo (5-3, 3.46) faces OKC righty Willie Eyre (0-0, 1.04). Omaha is 4-3 versus the RedHawks. The Royals made a trade with the Dodgers for lefty Stephen Randolph and assigned him to Omaha. He had a 4-2 record and 5.10 ERA with 2 HRA and 29 BB/46 K in 42 1/3 IP with Albuquerque. Only a .203 OAV, so that's solid. He's 35. RP Doug Waechter has also started a rehab assignment with Omaha.

AA - NW Arkansas: San Antonio 4, Naturals 3

CF Dyson 3-5, SB (5) -- .355
3B Lucas 3-4, 2B (9), 2 RS, SB (10) -- .297
1B C. Smith 2-4 -- .254
DH Strait 1-3, S, RBI (26), K -- .289
LF Duarte 0-3, S, RBI (19), K, SB (12) -- .240
C Clark 1-2, BB, SF, RBI (13) -- .340
SS Bianchi 0-5, K -- .429
RF Lough 0-4, K, RS -- .250

Kniginyzky 6 IP, ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 5 K, WP -- 5.79 ERA, can't buy a win
Swaggerty 1 1/3 IP, ER, H, 2 BB, K -- 2.45 ERA
Orvella IP, 2 ER, 2 H, HRA -- BS, 1, L, 0-1, 4.50 ERA, fitting right in

*** The Naturals took a lead in the 9th but Chad Orvella coughed it up for his 1st blown save for the organization. Matt Kniginyzky worked around a 1st inning triple and the Naturals scored 2 in the 2nd on a Cody Strait RBI single and Cody Clark sac fly to take the lead. Kniginyzky had one of his best starts of the season and finally gave up a run on a hit and wild pitch in the 5th to cut the lead to 2-1. NWA stranded 2 in the 6th and Orvella came in with 2 on and 1 out in the 8th. Missions 2B Eric Sogard stole home to tie the game but Jose Duarte hit a successful squeeze bunt in the 9th to make it 3-2 Nats. The Naturals would leave the bases loaded and could have used a couple more runs as Orvella served up a 1-out, 2-run homer to DH Seth Johnston (his 6th) to end it. RP Evan Scribner allowed a run in an inning of work to win and move to 5-1 with a 2.21 ERA. Starter Nathan Culp worked 6 frames of 2 ER allowed on 8 hits with 4 Ks to move his ERA to 4.20. Sogard and starting DH Anthony Contreras had 2 hits for SA. Sogard also walked twice, hit his 3rd triple, scored a run, stole his 5th base and was caught stealing for the 2nd time as his 2-2 night moved his BA to .298. Johnston's 2 RBI gave him 38 on the season.

The Naturals are 4-3 and 1/2 a game up on first. They won tonight's series finale as Dan Cortes had a solid night.

A-Adv. - Wilmington: Kinston 7, Blue Rocks 0

SS Seratelli 2-4, K -- .285
3B Moustakas 0-4, 2 K -- .259
2B Giavotella 1-4 -- .230

Santiago 5 2/3 IP, 4 R (3 ER), 6 H, 2 BB, 6 K -- L, 3-9, 4.20 ERA
Godin 2 1/3 IP, ER, H, BB, HRA -- 2.28 ERA
Sisk IP, 2 ER, H, 2 BB, 3 K, HRA -- 3.09 ERA

*** The K-Tribe dealt Wilmington another blowout loss. The Blue Rocks squandered 2 hits in the 1st and only had 3 thereafter. The Indians got to Mario Santiago for 3 runs in the 4th and the Rocks squandered 2 more hits that inning. The Tribe added single runs in the 6th and 7th and 2 runs off Brandon Sisk in the 9th. C Doug Pickens hit his 1st homer for the Tribe and CF Adam Davis hit a 2-run shot off Sisk for his 4th homer of the season. Starter Eric Berger got the win with 4 hits and a walk allowed with 4 Ks over 6 IP to move to 7-5 with a 2.13 ERA. Davis was 2-4 with the homer and 2 RBI (19) to move to .220 and 3B Lonnie Chisenhall was 1-2 with 2 walks, his first 2 SBs, his 56th RBI, a K and RS to move to .285.

The Rocks are 4-5 and 1 1/2 games back after winning today as RP Chris Chavez picked up the win. More on that in the next report. 1B Clint Robinson is working his way back from a groin strain.

A - Burlington: Quad Cities 4, Bees 1

SS Rivera 1-3, RBI (6), SB (5), E (4) -- .247
DH Maddox 1-4, K, SB (2) -- .250
LF Van Stratten 0-4, 2 K -- .315
1B Hosmer 0-4 -- .251
RF Francis 1-3, 2B (17), 2 K -- .283
C Bonilla 0-3, PB (6) -- .239
2B F. Garcia 1-3, 2B (7), RS -- .286

Baez 5 1/3 IP, 4 R (3 ER), 6 H, BB, 4 K -- L, 3-3, 4.06 ERA
R. Pena 1 2/3 IP, 2 K -- 3.86 ERA
Thompson IP, H, K -- 2.45 ERA

*** The Bandits paired 2-run innings to get the win in the series finale. Fernando Garcia hit a 2-out double and Juan Rivera followed with an RBI single in the 2nd to give the Bees their only run. Nick Francis and Jason Taylor ran into outs on the basepaths on the same play in the 4th and Quad Cities took the lead on a 2-run double in the 5th and 2 more RBI doubles in the 6th made it 4-1 off Manauris Baez. The last 10 Bees went down consecutively. RP David Carpenter pitched a perfect 9th for his 5th save. Starter Hector Cardenas allowed an ER on 5 hits with 4 Ks over 7 IP to move to 6-4 with a 4.02 ERA. C Charles Cutler and 3B Matt Carpenter had 2 hits for the Bandits. Cutler bumped his BA to .364 while Carpenter is hitting .625. RF Jon Edwards also drove in 2 runs (21).

The Bees are 4-4 and 2 1/2 games back. A 4-game home set with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (5-3, A Brewers) started tonight with Mike Montgomery (1-1, 1.93) facing T-Rats righty Trey Watten (3-6, 3.91). The Bees are 4-3 versus the Rattlers. SP Bryan Casey stayed on the DL rather than make Friday's start.

Rookie - Idaho Falls: double rainout

The doubleheader with Casper was rained out. The Chukars are 7-2 and 2 games up on first. A 2-game home set with the Orem Owlz (6-5, Rookie Angels) starts tonight with Nick Wooley (0-0, 9.00) facing Orem lefty Tyler Kehrer (0-1, 2.45). The Chukars are 2-1 versus the Owlz. No makeup dates were announced on the team site for the rainouts with Casper. The teams don't play again until September.

Rookie - Burlington: B-Royals 4, Kingsport 3

LF Del Rosario 3-4, BB, RBI (8), SB (3) -- .409
2B R. Wood 2-3, 2 BB, RBI (2), RS, CS (2) -- .179
C T. Jones 1-5, HR (2), RBI (7), 2 K, RS, PB (2) -- .303
CF G. Beltre 1-5, RBI (3), 2 K -- .179
SS Espinal 1-3, 2 BB, K, 2 RS, SB (6) -- .357
DH F. Cruz 0-3, S -- .233
* The B-Royals stranded 11.

Lamb 5 IP, 3 R (2 ER), 5 H, 9 K, 2 HRA -- 3.86 ERA, pretty good outing
Sample 2/3 IP, BB, K -- 0.00 ERA, B-Royal debut
Odenbach 3 1/3 IP, BB, K -- W, 1-0, 0.00 ERA, first pro W

*** Geulin Beltre was the hero as the Royals got the win over Kingsport. John Lamb gave up a leadoff homer to 2B Alonzo Harris (his 1st) in the 1st but Luis Del Rosario singled home a run to tie it in Burlington's half. Lamb struck out 4 in a row early on, struck out the side in the 2nd and 4th, and the Royals took the lead in the 3rd on a Ryan Wood RBI single. Travis Jones went long to lead off the Royals 4th for his 2nd of the season but Lamb gave up another leadoff homer, this time to 1B Jeff Flagg (his 1st) in the 5th to cut it to 3-2. The Mets rallied to tie the game with 2 outs before Lamb stranded 2. The Royals left the bases full in the 5th and 6th but loaded the bases again with 0 outs in the 9th and Beltre hit a 1-out walkoff single. RP Julio Bello took the loss with an ER allowed in 2 IP to fall to 0-1 with a 3.12 ERA. Starter Angel Cuan worked 4 2/3 IP of 3 ER allowed on 6 hits and 3 walks with 5 Ks to set a 5.79 ERA. Harris was 2-4 for the Mets with his homer and 2 RBI (7) to move to .300.

The B-Royals are 5-7 and 2 games back after dropping today's finale with the Mets. Deybi De La Cruz took the loss.

Rookie - AZL: Angels 5, Royals 1

CF A. Howard 1-4, RBI, K, SB -- .143, first pro RBI
RF Llanos 1-3, BB, 2 K, 2 SB (5) -- .300
2B Stovall 0-4, 4 K, 3 E (5) -- .310, that's a horrible night
1B G. Baldwin 1-3, BB, 2 K, 3 E (4) -- .265, not much better
C M. Matos 0-4, 2 K -- .182

L. Ortega 6 IP, ER, 6 H, 6 K -- 5.74 ERA, nice night
G. Batista 2 IP, 2 UER, H, 3 K, WP -- L, 0-1, 5.40 ERA
Adams IP, 2 UER, H -- 0.00 ERA

*** Seven Royal errors led to 4 unearned runs in the Angels' victory. The Angels scored a run in the 1st off Luis Ortega but he blanked them through 6 thereafter. Anthony Howard hit a 2-out RBI single in the 2nd to tie the game and Ortega left the bases full in the 4th. The Royals stranded 2 in the 4th and the game was tied at 1 going into the 7th. Geronimo Batista gave up 2 runs on a 2-out 2-run triple after 2 Ryan Stovall errors in the inning to make it 3-1 Angels. The Royals stranded 2 in the 7th and RP Jack Adams allowed 2 more runs in the 9th thanks in part to 2 more errors to finish the scoring. RP C.J. Bressoud pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings to win and move to 1-0 with a perfect ERA. Starter Fabio Martinez Mesa worked 5 innings of an ER allowed on 5 hits and 3 walks with 9 Ks to move his ERA to 2.25. LF Randal Grichuk was 2-4 with his first 2 triples and 3 RBI (4) with 2 K and a RS to move to .226. 3B Ricky Alvarez drove in 2 runs (5).

The Royals are 4-8 and in last place after losing to the Giants today.