June 9, 2012; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Kansas City Royals first baseman Clint Robinson (25) looks into the crowd from the dugout against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the fourth inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-US PRESSWIRE

In Game 1, Omaha won 8-0. They scored in just two innings: a three-run 4th inning and a five-run 7th inning. Irving Falu accounted for the runs in the 4th inning with a homerun. Clint Robinson hit a two-run homer in the 7th inning. Salvador Perez (who caught all seven innings) and Wil Myers were the only Storm Chasers to not have a hit. Johnny Giavotella returned and went 2-for-3 with a stolen base.

Everett Teaford got the start and allowed three hits and a walk over five shutout innings.

A seven-run bottom of the 6th inning propelled Nashville over Omaha in Game 2, 10-3. The Sounds sent eleven men to the plate and Omaha used three pitchers in that big inning. If you happen to be clamoring for Jeremy Jeffress‘ promotion, check out his line for Saturday: 0.1IP, 2H, 5R, 3BB, OK. He took the loss, threw a wild pitch, and threw just ten of his 24 pitches for strikes.

Myers hit his 11th homerun as a Storm Chaser, a solo shot in the 3rd inning. CRob in his first games since his demotion from the big leagues went 2-for-3 with an RBI in the second game.

NW Arkansas is NOT having a good week, as they lost again on Saturday, 7-2 to Springfield. They are just 1-6 since last Sunday. A five-run 2nd inning did in the Naturals.

The Naturals scored two runs in the top of the first inning, but couldn’t muster anything else. They went just 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position. John Whittleman hit his 11th homerun of the season.

Wilmington lost the slugfest to Winston-Salem 9-5, while watching them celebrate the first half title at Frawley Stadium. The game was tied at 5-5 after four innings (the Dash led 5-0 after the top of the 3rd inning). The Dash scored two runs each in the 6th and 8th innings off Blue Rocks reliever Cole White, which was the difference in the game.

Well Tyler Sample didn’t lose, but he didn’t pitch that well either. His command was off, as he walked four and hit two (Cyle Hankerd twice). All four walks came around to score. At least he gave the Blue Rocks five innings.

The Blue Rocks had seven hits, but three players had two hits each.

Kane County is also just 1-6 since Sunday, as they lost to Cedar Rapids, 7-5. The Cougars have now lost four in a row.

Leadoff man Justin Trapp went 2-for-4 with three stolen bases. Outfield All-Stars Jorge Bonifacio and Lane Adams went 4-for-8 with three runs scored and two RBIs.

The Blue Rocks begin their final homestand of the first half (a seven-game homestand), as they welcome Salem into town for three games. The Red Sox also struggled a bit this weekend and fell to three games back of the Dash in the Southern Division.

The Blue Rocks have the chance to be spoilers for both Salem and the Dash (who they play in their final four games of the first half). The Red Sox are a tired bunch, with playing five games in three days (they played two days of doubleheaders this past weekend).

The Carolina League finally announced their All-Star team for next Tuesday’s game versus the California League All-Stars in Winston-Salem. The Blue Rocks have two honorees: pitchers Sugar Ray Marimon (4-1 with a 2.05 ERA) and Yordano Ventura (3-5 with a 3.21 ERA in 12 starts). Marimon’s ERA is second in the league. Ventura is second in the league in strikeouts with 70. For Salem, they garnered three starters: outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr, shortstop Xander Bogaerts, and first baseman Travis Shaw. Pitcher Mike Olmstead also was named to the team (he leads the league in saves with 12). Bradley leads the league in hitting at .377. Shaw is fourth in the league in hitting at .322 and is second in RBIs at 44.

Starting tonight for Wilmington is Tyler Sample, who has struggled much of his return trip to the CL (1-6 with a 5.04 ERA). He was solid in his last start, but picked up a no-decision. He lost 2-0 to Salem back on May 2nd.

The Red Sox are sending Miguel Celestino to the mound. He is 4-2 with a 2.84 ERA. He beat the Blue Rocks back on April 26th (4-1).

Lineups:

Red Sox: Jackie Bradley Jr (CF), Shannon Wilkerson (RF), Travis Shaw (1B), Brandon Jacobs (LF), Xander Bogaerts (SS), Michael Almanzar (3B), Christian Vazquez (C), Heiker Meneses (2B), and Adalberto Ibarra (DH).

Blue Rocks: Whit Merrifield (DH), Angel Franco (2B), Brian Fletcher (LF), Brett Eibner (CF), Cheslor Cuthbert (3B), Geulin Beltre (RF), Kevin David (C), Jake Kuebler (1B), and Luis Piterson (SS).

It is overcast and a bit windy here at the ballpark and with about a half hour to game time, the crowd is very thin. I’ll keep you posted throughout of the goings on here in Wilmington.

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A solo homerun from Eric Duncan (who went 3-for-4) in the bottom of the 8th inning broke the 1-1 tie, as Northwest Arkansas beat Arkansas, 2-1. Jon Keck picked up his first Double-A victory, as he pitched two hitless innings of relief.

Elisaul Pimentel got the start and allowed one run on five hits and four walks over six innings. He struck out five.

The Naturals made a few roster moves prior to the game. Tim Sexton was added from extended spring training. He took the place of reliever Kendal Volz, who was placed on the DL.

The Wilmington Blue Rocks lost to Carolina, 5-2. Tyler Sample was solid on Wednesday night (despite the four walks), but left with the game tied at 2-2 after six innings. Lynchburg finally ended their losing streak, as they beat Myrtle Beach to increase their lead in the Northern Division of the Carolina League to 1.5 games over the Blue Rocks.

The Blue Rocks went just 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Roman Hernandez is starting to figure out Carolina League pitching, as his 3-for-4 raised his average to .229.

A four-run 3rd inning held up, as Kane County beat Quad Cities, 4-3. Daniel Mateo hit a three-run homerun in that inning. Kenny Swab was the only Cougar with a multi-hit game (2-for-3).

That one inning burst of offense made a winner of Aaron Brooks, who allowed three runs on six hits over seven innings. Matt Ridings picked up his first save for the Cougars, as he allowed just one hit over two scoreless innings of work.

royalsblog.com

Here it is, your weekly update on how the Royals minor league affiliates are doing.  It was a decent week for the affiliates as Burlington and Northwest Arkansas continue to be top teams in their leagues and Kane County and Omaha have been righting the ship, Omaha especially as their bats are starting to wake up and they are now 8-7.  They have lost a couple of key relievers this week with the promotions of Blake Wood and Louis Coleman but make no mistake, this team still has a lot of pitching talent and will be fine.  Here is where the affiliates stand as of today:

Kane County Cougars – 6-9 (7th place)

Wilmington Blue Rocks – 9-4 (1st place)

Northwest Arkansas Naturals – 7-5 (1st place)

Omaha Storm Chasers – 8-7  (2nd place)

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