Pine Tar Press

Diamonds in the Rough 05.24.13

ShawnRebman — Sat, 25 May 2013 04:32:35 +0000

A bad day for the Affiliates. The 3 teams playing lost all 3 game. HR Call: None Pine Tar Press Hitter of the Day: Christian Colon 2-4 R 2B 2 RBI Pine Tar Press Pitcher of the Day: 7.0 IP 5 H 1 R 1 BB 5 K [caption id="attachment_12994" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Jason Adam[/caption] Omaha Storm Chasers 5 New Orleans Zephyrs 6 The Chasers held a 1-run lead going into the bottom of the 8th where Michael Mariot gave up the kead and lost. Chasers' starter Ryan Verdugo struggled early, but settled in and pitched into the 7th. Verdugo finished the game pitching 6.2 innings giving up 4 runs on 8 hits with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts. Christian Colon continued his hot hitting with 2 more hits and 2 RBI.

Omaha (23-23)	0	0	0	0	2	1	2	0	0			5	8	1
New Orleans (21-25)	1	0	1	2	0	0	0	2	X			6	10	0

W: Jennings, D (3-2, 1.80)
L: Mariot (1-2, 3.43)
SV: Hatcher (14)

Omaha Storm Chasers
Player	Pos	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
Irving Falu	SS	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.270
Christian Colon	2B	4	1	2	1	0	0	2	0	0	.269
Johnny Giavotella	3B	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.264
Max Ramirez	DH	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.267
Anthony Seratelli	RF	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.325
Chad Tracy	1B	3	1	1	0	0	0	1	1	1	.263
Adam Moore	C	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	.190
Willy Taveras	LF	3	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	.250
Paulo Orlando	CF	4	1	2	1	0	0	1	0	1	.241
Totals		33	5	8	2	0	0	5	3	7	.278

BATTING 2B: Orlando (1, Turner, J), Colon, C (3, Turner, J). TB: Falu; Seratelli; Giavotella; Colon, C 3; Orlando 3; Tracy. RBI: Taveras, W (13), Orlando (8), Tracy (13), Colon, C 2 (20). 2-out RBI: Orlando; Tracy; Colon, C 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Falu. GIDP: Giavotella. Team RISP: 4-for-9. Team LOB: 4. BASERUNNING SB: Giavotella (4, 2nd base off Turner, J/Hill, K). FIELDING E: Giavotella (8, fielding).

New Orleans Zephyrs
Player	Pos	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
Gorkys Hernandez	CF	4	1	2	1	0	0	2	0	1	.251
Gil Velazquez	2B	5	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	.333
Ed Lucas	SS	5	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	.306
Kevin Kouzmanoff	DH	4	0	2	1	0	0	1	0	0	.200
Bryan Petersen	RF	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.281
Matt Downs	3B	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.197
Jake Smolinski	LF	3	2	1	0	0	1	2	1	0	.266
Ben Lasater	1B	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.216
Koyie Hill	C	3	2	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	.216
Totals		34	6	10	2	0	1	6	4	7	.249

BATTING 2B: Kouzmanoff (2, Verdugo, R), Hernandez, Go (7, Mariot). HR: Smolinski (2, 4th inning off Verdugo, R, 1 on, 1 out). TB: Velazquez, G; Lucas; Kouzmanoff 3; Smolinski 4; Hernandez, Go 3; Hill, K 2; Petersen. RBI: Kouzmanoff (2), Velazquez, G (5), Smolinski 2 (5), Hernandez, Go 2 (7). 2-out RBI: Kouzmanoff. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Petersen; Velazquez, G; Smolinski; Downs; Lucas. SAC: Hernandez, Go. Team RISP: 3-for-12. Team LOB: 9. BASERUNNING SB: Hernandez, Go (12, 2nd base off Verdugo, R/Moore, A). FIELDING Outfield assists: Smolinski (Giavotella at home). DP: (Downs-Velazquez, G-Lasater).

Omaha Storm Chasers
Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Ryan Verdugo	6.2	8	4	3	2	4	1	4.44
Everett Teaford (H, 1)	0.2	1	1	1	1	1	0	2.08
Michael Mariot (BS, 2)(L, 1-2)	0.2	1	1	1	1	2	0	3.43
Totals	8.0	10	6	5	4	7	1	4.08

New Orleans Zephyrs
Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Jacob Turner	6.0	6	3	3	2	4	0	4.47
Jordan Smith (BS, 3)	0.2	2	2	2	1	0	0	5.11
Dan Jennings (W, 3-2)	1.1	0	0	0	0	3	0	1.80
Chris Hatcher (S, 14)	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3.55
Totals	9.0	8	5	5	3	7	0	3.83

NW Arkansas Naturals 0 Corpus Christi Hooks 2 Jason Adam pitched his best game of the season, but the Naturals only mustered 1 hit and he remained winless. Adam pitched 7.0 innings giving up 1 run on 5 hits with 1 walk and 5 strikeouts. Adam is slowly lowering his ERA as it now sits at 7.15. The offense was silent as Roman Hernandez had the lone hit.

NW Arkansas (14-31)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			0	1	0
Corpus Christi (28-19)	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	X			2	6	1

W: Martinez, D (8-0, 1.84)
L: Adam (0-6, 7.15)

Northwest Arkansas Naturals
Player	Pos	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
Angel Franco	3B	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.277
Orlando Calixte	SS	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.220
Carlo Testa	LF	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	.286
Yem Prades	CF	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	.182
Mitch Canham	C	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.269
Matt Fields	1B	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	.227
Rey Navarro	DH	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.270
Roman Hernandez	RF	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.305
Alex McClure	2B	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.193
Totals		24	0	1	0	0	0	0	4	4	.231

BATTING TB: Hernandez, R. GIDP: Franco 2, Navarro, R. Team LOB: 1. BASERUNNING CS: Prades (2, 2nd base by Foltynewicz/Stassi). PO: Calixte (1st base by Foltynewicz). FIELDING Outfield assists: Hernandez, R (Stassi at 3rd base). DP: (Calixte-Fields, M).

Corpus Christi Hooks
Player	Pos	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
Ben Orloff	2B	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.282
Rene Garcia	DH	4	0	2	1	0	0	1	0	0	.315
George Springer	CF	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	.292
Domingo Santana	RF	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.250
Erik Castro	1B	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.299
Jonathan Meyer	3B	4	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	.244
Michael Burgess	LF	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.213
Max Stassi	C	3	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	.308
Jiovanni Mier	SS	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.192
Totals		27	2	6	2	0	0	2	4	5	.252

BATTING 2B: Stassi (6, Adam), Garcia, R (8, Ridings). TB: Castro, E; Meyer, J; Stassi 2; Orloff; Garcia, R 3. RBI: Meyer, J (24), Garcia, R (13). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Santana, D; Meyer, J 3. SAC: Orloff. GIDP: Stassi. Team RISP: 2-for-11. Team LOB: 7. FIELDING E: Meyer, J (8, fielding). DP: 3 (Mier-Castro, E, Mier-Orloff-Castro, E, Orloff-Castro, E). Pickoffs: Foltynewicz (Calixte at 1st base).

Northwest Arkansas Naturals
Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Jason Adam (L, 0-6)	7.0	5	1	1	1	5	0	7.15
Matt Ridings	1.0	1	1	1	3	0	0	2.19
Totals	8.0	6	2	2	4	5	0	4.83

Corpus Christi Hooks
Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Michael Foltynewicz	5.0	0	0	0	3	2	0	0.86
David Martinez (W, 8-0)	4.0	1	0	0	1	2	0	1.84
Totals	9.0	1	0	0	4	4	0	3.32

Lexington Legends 0 Hagerstown Suns 6 The Legends like the Naturals struggled to get hits, only mustering 3 singles. Aroni Nina started and pitched 4.2 innings giving up 5 runs on 4 hits with 4 walks and 3 strikeouts. Bubba Starling went 0-3 with a walk. He is 1-14 with 2 walks in his past 4 games.

Lexington (24-24)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			0	3	1
Hagerstown (28-16)	0	0	1	0	5	0	0	0	X			6	9	0

W: Encarnacion (4-3, 2.18)
L: Nina (1-3, 5.24)

Lexington Legends
Player	Pos	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
Terrance Gore	LF	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	.242
Raul Mondesi	DH	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	.225
Bubba Starling	CF	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	.207
Fred Ford	RF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.184
Michael Antonio	3B	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.227
Kenny Diekroeger	2B	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.143
Humberto Arteaga	SS	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.176
Mark Donato	1B	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.250
Alex Marquez	C	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.207
Ethan Chapman	RF-CF	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.253
Totals		29	0	3	0	0	0	0	5	10	.211

BATTING TB: Diekroeger; Mondesi; Donato. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Antonio 2; Marquez 2. GIDP: Starling. Team RISP: 1-for-6. Team LOB: 8. FIELDING E: Diekroeger (1, fielding). PB: Marquez (3). Outfield assists: Starling (Piwnica-Worms at 3rd base).

Hagerstown Suns
Player	Pos	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
Tony Renda	2B	4	2	1	0	1	0	0	1	1	.273
Wes Schill	3B	5	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	1	.204
Shawn Pleffner	1B	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	.291
Brandon Miller	RF	5	1	2	0	0	0	1	0	1	.256
Estarlin Martinez	LF	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	.171
Will Piwnica-Worms	CF	4	0	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	.294
Stephen Perez	SS	3	0	2	0	0	0	1	1	0	.261
Pedro Severino	C	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.239
Wilmer Difo	DH	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	.125
Totals		33	6	9	0	1	0	6	7	5	.249

BATTING 3B: Renda (2, Nina). TB: Renda 3; Piwnica-Worms 2; Difo; Perez, S 2; Pleffner; Miller, B 2. RBI: Schill 2 (19), Miller, B (29), Piwnica-Worms 2 (11), Perez, S (15). 2-out RBI: Miller, B; Piwnica-Worms 2; Perez, S. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Difo; Pleffner; Severino; Miller, B. Team RISP: 3-for-13. Team LOB: 10. BASERUNNING SB: Difo (1, 2nd base off Nina/Marquez). FIELDING DP: (Perez, S-Renda-Pleffner).

Lexington Legends
Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Aroni Nina (L, 1-3)	4.2	4	5	5	4	3	0	5.24
Alec Mills	2.1	4	1	1	3	0	0	1.93
Matthew Murray	1.0	1	0	0	0	2	0	0.00
Totals	8.0	9	6	6	7	5	0	2.77

Hagerstown Suns
Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Pedro Encarnacion (W, 4-3)	5.0	2	0	0	5	5	0	2.18
Jason Smith (H, 1)	3.0	1	0	0	0	4	0	0.00
Bryan Harper	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2.63
Totals	9.0	3	0	0	5	10	0	3.03

This Day In Royals History–May 24, 1992

Darin Watson — Fri, 24 May 2013 23:00:38 +0000

1992: A late Kansas City rally tied the game, but Texas scored in the 13^th inning for a 4-3 win over the Royals at Arlington Stadium. The Royals were battling uphill all day after starter Kevin Appier allowed three runs in the first inning. After a John Cangelosi single and Rafael Palmeiro walk, Ruben Sierra swatted a three-run home run to stake the Rangers to an early lead. Appier would settle in, however, as he pitched eight innings and did not allow any more runs. The Rangers would only get two more hits off the Royals’ ace the rest of the day. But the Royals offense could do little against Rangers starter Mike Jeffcoat. While they had plenty of chances, they could not get the key hit. The Royals had two on in the first, two on in the third, and a leadoff single in the fourth but scored no runs. That changed in the sixth when Gregg Jefferies led off with a double, followed by a two-out home run from Kevin McReynolds, bringing the Royals to within 3-2. The Royals pulled even in the eighth against reliever Jeff Robinson, as Wally Joyner blasted a solo home run to tie the score at 3-3. Kansas City had a chance for the win in the ninth inning, with runners at first and third and one out, but Rangers pitcher Kenny Rogers struck out Brian McRae and then retired Jefferies on a fly ball. The Rangers scored the winning run in the 13^th, as Royals pitcher Tom Gordon, in his second inning of work, allowed a one-out double to Kevin Reimer and then a bloop single to Ivan Rodriguez. The loss was the Royals’ third in a row and left them at 14-28 on the season, last place in the AL West and already 11.5 games behind Oakland. Box score and play-by-play: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/TEX/TEX199205240.shtml

Friday Notes

David Lesky — Fri, 24 May 2013 13:15:36 +0000

Before spring training and into the early part of the season, I made it pretty clear with how I was trying to enjoy the season a little more and even try to be a little more positive. I was pretty proud of myself, but then I realized how easy it was. The team went 25-7 in spring training and then roared out to a 17-10 start. How hard is it to stay positive when that's the kind of team you're working with? I mean a 42-17 record is pretty impressive. So now that the team appears to be in free fall, I can safely say that I just can't be positive about this team. Yes, the starting pitching has been good, though it has had some more hiccups recently. But the offense is just so atrocious that I can't look past that. I can't remember ever being more frustrated about a Royals team than I am about this one.

I think the reason I'm so frustrated is because I actually do see potential in this team. I see a lineup that looks like it should have ability to make some noise, but instead we're taking away positives from the Opening Day cleanup hitter hustling to avoid a double play so he could drive in a run. I don't even know where to start about where it went wrong because there's just so many leaks in the boat right now that it's hard to say what came first. The saying is offense is contagious, both ways, so you have to hope that maybe a couple guys will get going and it will start to catch on. Barring moves outside the organization, that's about all we can hope for at this point because there just aren't too many options on this roster.
It looked like Billy Butler was starting to break out of his season long slump, but he appears to have fallen back into it. I've never seen Butler look this bad for this long at any point in his career since 2008 when the Royals felt it was necessary to send him back to AAA for a few reasons. There are players hurting the offense far more than Butler. It's a testament to how good of a hitter he is that he's still putting up above average numbers (relative to the league) even while hitting as poorly as he is, but until he gets going, it's hard to see the offense really putting together a big game. If Gordon is going to hit third (and you know how I feel about that), then Butler hitting fourth needs to hit, too. Yes, Moustakas and Escobar and Francoeur are all hurting the team more than Butler, but Butler is doing his fair share of damage and it's getting very frustrating because we just don't know how to react to this.
I found it interesting that the Royals chose to send Herrera down. The homers he's allowed have been alarming and they've done a lot of damage to the team, so I don't necessarily think it was a bad decision to demote him. What's curious is that the Royals chose to hold Herrera accountable for his performance but have let others slide now for quite awhile. One thing to point out in fairness is that there is an option to replace Herrera in Louis Coleman where there really isn't someone to replace Moustakas, Francoeur or anyone else struggling other than maybe Chris Getz, but I'm not interested in getting into that debate. Still, if you look at all the players struggling, the only one with a track record of at least a season of excellence is Kelvin Herrera. I feel like he would be the person who could most easily work out his issues at the big league level, maybe taking J.C. Gutierrez's role and pitching in low leverage situations. Yost said the reason is that Herrera lost his confidence, but if body language is any indication, other players have as well and Yost adamantly denies they have. Now, I'm not there, so I could be dead wrong on this, but it's something to keep an eye on.
I have one more thought that I'll get to in a second that might cause you some nightmares, but first I want to talk about the good news through all of this bad baseball. The Royals sit at 21-23 and are still within spitting distance of the division lead. The Indians look way better than I expected and the Tigers are way better than the Royals, but even through a stretch of 4-13 baseball, they are still not THAT far out of it. Moves have to be made and players have to step up, but if they can somehow right the ship and right it quickly, this season does not become a lost cause like so many seem to think it is now. Of course, another week of this, and it's going to be even more difficult to crawl out of the hole they've created for themselves. Let's hope they can find a way out in the next day or two.
When I first started writing about the Royals I got a piece of advice that I haven't forgotten. Sometimes I've ignored it, but I haven't forgotten it. The advice was to never say someone or something sucks or is terrible. The numbers and the facts often speak for themselves. So without further ado:
- Mike Moustakas: .174/.244/.299
- Jeff Francoeur: .221/.259/.321
- Chris Getz: .213/.267/.319 (yep, 20 points higher than Moustakas)
- Alcides Escobar: .250/.276/.337
- Wade Davis: 1.949 WHIP
- Royals offense as a whole: 24 games with three or less runs

Follow me on Twitter @DBLesky

Diamonds in the Rough 05.23.13

ShawnRebman — Fri, 24 May 2013 05:15:30 +0000

Two great pitching performances in Omaha and Wilmington highlighted the Affiliates' record of 2-2 HR Call: Matt Fields (11), Rey Navarro (3) Pine Tar Press Hitter of the Day: Rey Navarro 3-4 R HR RBI [caption id="attachment_18107" align="aligncenter" width="288"] (Photo Minda Haas)[/caption] Pine Tar Press Pitcher of the Day: John Lamb 7.0 IP 3 H 0 R o BB 8 K [caption id="attachment_18116" align="aligncenter" width="225"] (Photo James Lamb)[/caption] Omaha Storm Chasers 5 Tuscon Padres 1 In the past 2 starts Chris Dwyer had been at his worst, but tonight he turned in one of his best performances of the season. Dwyer pitched a season high 8 innings giving up a single run on 6 hits while walking 3 and striking out 6. This was the 7th time this season Dwyer has allowed 2 runs or less. Meanwhile the offense faced former Royal and former Chaser Sean O'Sullivan. They scored 4 runs off O'Sullivan including 3 in the 3rd. Christian Colon lead the offense with 3 hits and 3 RBI. Anthony Seratelli added 2 doubles.

Tucson (25-22)	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0			1	6	0
Omaha (23-22)	0	0	3	0	0	1	1	0	X			5	12	1

W: Dwyer (4-2, 2.83)
L: O'Sullivan (3-3, 4.18)

Tucson Padres
Player	Pos	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
Dean Anna	SS	3	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	.327
Dan Robertson	RF	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.317
Gregorio Petit	3B	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	.327
Yasmani Grandal	C	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.261
Rene Rivera	1B	4	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	2	.376
Travis Buck	DH	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.264
Jonathan Galvez	2B	4	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	.286
Mike Wilson	LF	4	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	2	.263
Jaff Decker	CF	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.239
Totals		31	1	6	3	0	0	1	3	7	.287

BATTING 2B: Wilson, M (2, Dwyer), Rivera, R (11, Dwyer), Anna (17, Dwyer). TB: Galvez; Rivera, R 2; Wilson, M 2; Anna 2; Robertson; Grandal. RBI: Galvez (21). 2-out RBI: Galvez. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Petit, G. GIDP: Petit, G. Team RISP: 2-for-6. Team LOB: 7. FIELDING DP: 3 (Galvez-Anna-Rivera, R, Anna-Galvez-Rivera, R, Petit, G-Galvez-Rivera, R).

Omaha Storm Chasers
Player	Pos	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
Irving Falu	SS	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.271
Christian Colon	2B	4	1	3	1	0	0	3	0	0	.263
Johnny Giavotella	3B	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.264
Max Ramirez	DH	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	.275
Xavier Nady	1B	4	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	.340
Anthony Seratelli	RF	3	1	2	2	0	0	0	1	1	.328
Brett Hayes	C	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.253
Willy Taveras	LF	4	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	.257
Paulo Orlando	CF	3	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.228
Totals		31	5	12	3	0	0	4	2	5	.279

BATTING 2B: Seratelli 2 (7, O'Sullivan, Bonine), Colon, C (2, Hynes). TB: Taveras, W 2; Hayes; Colon, C 4; Orlando 2; Seratelli 4; Ramirez, M; Nady. RBI: Colon, C 3 (18), Nady (27). 2-out RBI: Nady. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Seratelli; Falu; Ramirez, M. SAC: Falu 2. GIDP: Giavotella, Nady, Taveras, W. Team RISP: 4-for-11. Team LOB: 6. FIELDING E: Giavotella (7, throw). Outfield assists: Orlando (Wilson, M at home), Taveras, W (Grandal at home). DP: 2 (Taveras, W-Hayes, Dwyer-Colon, C-Falu-Nady).

Tucson Padres
Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Sean O'Sullivan (L, 3-3)	6.0	8	4	4	2	4	0	4.18
Colt Hynes	1.0	2	1	1	0	1	0	0.84
Eddie Bonine	1.0	2	0	0	0	0	0	7.04
Totals	8.0	12	5	5	2	5	0	4.47

Omaha Storm Chasers
Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Chris Dwyer (W, 4-2)	8.0	6	1	1	3	6	0	2.83
Michael Mariot	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	3.10
Totals	9.0	6	1	1	3	7	0	4.05

NW Arkansas Naturals 4 Corpus Christi Hooks 10 Matt Fields and Rey Navarro each hit a home run, but that was not enough to overcome some big innings form the Hooks. Brooks Pounders started and struggled as the Hooks scored 3 in the 2nd and 4 in the 4th to pull away. Pounders pitched 4.0 innings giving up 6 runs on 8 hits while walking 3 and striking out 2. On offense Matt Fields extended his hitting streak with his team leading 11th home run. Rey Navarro and Roman Hernandez each had 3 hits. For Navarro one of those hits was his 3rd home run of the year.

NW Arkansas (14-30)	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	1			4	9	0
Corpus Christi (27-19)	0	3	0	1	4	0	0	2	X			10	13	0

W: Doran (6-1, 3.89)
L: Pounders (1-2, 3.44)
SV: Tropeano (5)

Northwest Arkansas Naturals
Player	Pos	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
Brett Eibner	CF	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.208
Orlando Calixte	3B	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.224
Carlo Testa	LF	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	.333
Yem Prades	RF	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.185
Manny Pina	C	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.221
Matt Fields	1B	2	2	1	0	0	1	1	2	1	.231
Rey Navarro	2B	4	1	3	0	0	1	1	0	0	.275
Roman Hernandez	DH	4	1	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	.301
Alex McClure	SS	4	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	2	.198
Totals		33	4	9	0	1	2	3	3	10	.234

BATTING 3B: Hernandez, R (1, Doran). HR: Fields, M (11, 2nd inning off Doran, 0 on, 2 out), Navarro, R (3, 9th inning off Tropeano, 0 on, 2 out). TB: McClure; Hernandez, R 5; Calixte; Navarro, R 6; Fields, M 4. RBI: Fields, M (30), McClure (9), Navarro, R (18). 2-out RBI: Fields, M; Navarro, R. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Hernandez, R; Eibner; McClure. GIDP: McClure, Prades. Team RISP: 3-for-7. Team LOB: 5. BASERUNNING SB: Fields, M (1, 2nd base off Doran/Garcia, R). CS: McClure (3, 2nd base by Doran/Garcia, R). FIELDING Outfield assists: Eibner (Burgess at 2nd base). Pickoffs: Pina (Springer at 3rd base).

Corpus Christi Hooks
Player	Pos	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
Jiovanni Mier	SS	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.195
Rene Garcia	C	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	.308
George Springer	CF	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	2	1	.296
Domingo Santana	RF	4	1	2	1	0	0	1	1	2	.254
Erik Castro	1B	4	1	1	0	0	0	1	1	2	.301
Jonathan Meyer	3B	5	3	3	1	0	1	4	0	0	.244
Michael Burgess	LF	4	1	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	.217
Max Stassi	DH	4	1	3	2	0	0	3	0	0	.306
Enrique Hernandez	2B	4	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	2	.216
Totals		35	10	13	5	0	1	10	7	9	.252

BATTING 2B: Santana, D (13, Pounders), Burgess (12, Pounders), Meyer, J (7, Pounders), Stassi 2 (5, Pounders, Sulbaran). HR: Meyer, J (4, 2nd inning off Pounders, 1 on, 1 out). TB: Springer; Hernandez, E; Castro, E; Meyer, J 7; Stassi 5; Burgess 3; Santana, D 3. RBI: Meyer, J 4 (23), Hernandez, E (15), Stassi 3 (9), Santana, D (23), Castro, E (18). 2-out RBI: Hernandez, E; Stassi 2; Santana, D; Castro, E. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Castro, E; Mier; Hernandez, E; Meyer, J 2. Team RISP: 8-for-18. Team LOB: 8. BASERUNNING SB: Springer (15, 2nd base off Pounders/Pina). CS: Springer (4, home by Pounders/Pina). PO: Springer (3rd base by Pina). FIELDING DP: 2 (Hernandez, E-Mier-Castro, E, Mier-Castro, E).

Northwest Arkansas Naturals
Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Brooks Pounders (L, 1-2)	4.0	8	6	6	3	2	1	3.44
J.C. Sulbaran	1.0	2	2	2	1	3	0	8.87
Sam Runion	2.0	1	0	0	0	2	0	6.16
Nick Rogers	0.2	2	2	2	3	2	0	5.28
Jon Keck	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	4.67
Totals	8.0	13	10	10	7	9	1	4.88

Corpus Christi Hooks
Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Bobby Doran (W, 6-1)	5.0	5	2	2	1	5	1	3.89
Nick Tropeano (S, 5)	4.0	4	2	2	2	5	1	3.59
Totals	9.0	9	4	4	3	10	2	3.39

Wilmington Blue Rocks 5 Lynchburg Hillcats 1 John Lamb continued to pitch well at home. Lamb pitched 7.0 innings giving up no runs on just 3 hits while walking none and striking out 8. Lamb now is 3-1 with a 3.38 ERA at home, but is 0-3 with a 7.94 ERA on the road. Cheslor Cuthbert lead the offense with 2 hits and 2 RBI. Also Daniel Mateo scored 2 runs and Alex Hudak drove in 2.

Lynchburg (24-20)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0			1	4	1
Wilmington (22-24)	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	1	X			5	6	0

W: Lamb, J (3-4, 5.27)
L: Ross, G (1-1, 3.27)

Lynchburg Hillcats
Player	Pos	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
Matt Weaver	1B	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.218
Ross Heffley	2B	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.219
Shawn McGill	C	3	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	1	.400
Robby Hefflinger	LF	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.285
David Rohm	RF	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.316
Kyle Kubitza	3B	3	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	.241
Will Skinner	CF	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	.173
Elmer Reyes	SS	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.275
Fernando De Los Santos	DH	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.171
Totals		29	1	4	2	0	0	1	1	9	.257

BATTING 2B: McGill (2, Lamb, J), Kubitza (11, Culver). TB: McGill 2; Rohm; Kubitza 2; Heffley. RBI: Skinner (16). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Hefflinger. Team RISP: 0-for-2. Team LOB: 2. BASERUNNING PO: Heffley (1st base by Lamb, J). FIELDING E: Kubitza (10, throw).

Wilmington Blue Rocks
Player	Pos	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
Justin Trapp	2B	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.273
Daniel Mateo	1B	4	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.254
Lane Adams	CF	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.257
Cheslor Cuthbert	3B	4	1	2	1	0	0	2	0	1	.259
Kenny Swab	C	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	.200
Jack Lopez	SS	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	.194
Alex Hudak	RF	3	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	2	.282
Alex Llanos	LF	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.125
Tyler Chism	DH	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.130
Totals		30	5	6	1	0	0	5	1	9	.247

BATTING 2B: Cuthbert (13, Chaffee). TB: Chism; Mateo 2; Cuthbert 3; Hudak. RBI: Cuthbert 2 (21), Lopez (16), Hudak 2 (7). 2-out RBI: Hudak 2; Cuthbert. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Adams, L; Swab. SF: Lopez. Team RISP: 2-for-5. Team LOB: 3. FIELDING PB: Swab (5). Outfield assists: Llanos (Rohm at 2nd base). Pickoffs: Lamb, J (Heffley at 1st base).

Lynchburg Hillcats
Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Greg Ross (L, 1-1)	6.0	4	4	0	1	7	0	3.27
Matt Chaffee	2.0	2	1	1	0	2	0	4.87
Totals	8.0	6	5	1	1	9	0	4.26

Wilmington Blue Rocks
Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
John Lamb (W, 3-4)	7.0	3	0	0	1	8	0	5.27
Malcom Culver	1.0	1	1	1	0	0	0	3.38
Cody Fassold	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	3.38
Totals	9.0	4	1	1	1	9	0	3.72

Lexington Legends 0 Hagerstown Suns 7 The Legends' offense struggled only mustering 4 hits. Terrance Gore had 2 hits and stole his 25th base to lead the offense. Bubba Starling added a double, but that was all for the offense. Daniel Stumpf started and pitched 5.o innings giving up 4 runs (3 earned) on 6 hits while walking 2 and striking out 4.

Lexington (24-23)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			0	4	3
Hagerstown (27-16)	1	0	1	1	1	0	0	3	X			7	12	2

W: Pineyro (4-2, 3.32)
L: Stumpf (3-2, 1.96)

Lexington Legends
Player	Pos	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
Terrance Gore	LF	4	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.245
Raul Mondesi	DH	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.223
Bubba Starling	CF	4	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	.211
Fred Ford	1B	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	.184
Michael Antonio	3B	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	.233
Kenny Diekroeger	2B	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.000
Humberto Arteaga	SS	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.179
Jin-Ho Shin	C	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.221
Ethan Chapman	RF	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.259
Totals		30	0	4	1	0	0	0	3	8	.213

BATTING 2B: Starling (8, Benincasa). TB: Gore 2; Mondesi; Starling 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Mondesi 2; Diekroeger. GIDP: Starling. Team RISP: 0-for-10. Team LOB: 6. BASERUNNING SB: Gore (25, 2nd base off Pineyro/Severino). CS: Gore (4, 3rd base by Pineyro/Severino). FIELDING E: Ford (7, throw), Arteaga (6, throw), Chapman (2, fielding). Outfield assists: Gore (Ramos at home), Chapman 2 (Renda at 1st base, Perez, S at 3rd base). DP: 2 (Arteaga, Chapman-Ford). Pickoffs: Stumpf (Perez, S at 1st base).

Hagerstown Suns
Player	Pos	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
Tony Renda	2B	5	1	3	1	0	0	1	0	1	.274
Khayyan Norfork	3B	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.263
Shawn Pleffner	1B	4	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	.290
Wander Ramos	LF	1	0	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	.258
Wes Schill	LF	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.215
Brandon Miller	RF	4	1	2	1	0	0	1	0	1	.252
Estarlin Martinez	DH	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	.178
Will Piwnica-Worms	CF	4	1	2	0	0	0	1	0	1	.281
Pedro Severino	C	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.247
Stephen Perez	SS	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.252
Totals		32	7	12	3	0	0	6	3	5	.249

BATTING 2B: Renda (13, Stumpf), Ramos (7, Stumpf), Miller, B (14, Stumpf). TB: Renda 4; Norfork; Piwnica-Worms 2; Schill; Perez, S; Pleffner; Miller, B 3; Ramos 2. RBI: Ramos (23), Pleffner (17), Martinez, E (6), Miller, B (28), Piwnica-Worms (9), Renda (22). 2-out RBI: Ramos; Pleffner; Renda. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Renda; Martinez, E. SF: Martinez, E. Team RISP: 6-for-15. Team LOB: 6. BASERUNNING SB: Norfork (2, 3rd base off Stumpf/Shin), Schill 2 (7, 2nd base off Stumpf/Shin, 2nd base off Byrne/Shin), Piwnica-Worms (3, 2nd base off Byrne/Shin). CS: Perez, S (5, 2nd base by Stumpf/Shin). PO: Perez, S (1st base by Stumpf). FIELDING E: Perez, S (9, fielding), Norfork (2, fielding). DP: (Perez, S-Renda-Pleffner).

Lexington Legends
Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Daniel Stumpf (L, 3-2)	5.0	6	4	3	2	4	0	1.96
Chas Byrne	3.0	6	3	2	1	1	0	3.60
Totals	8.0	12	7	5	3	5	0	2.69

Hagerstown Suns
Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Ivan Pineyro (W, 4-2)	7.0	3	0	0	2	6	0	3.32
Cody Davis	1.0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1.13
Robert Benincasa	1.0	1	0	0	0	2	0	3.29
Totals	9.0	4	0	0	3	8	0	3.10

This Day In Royals History–May 23, 1998

Darin Watson — Thu, 23 May 2013 23:00:11 +0000

1998: A back-and-forth battle with Texas was blown open by the Rangers with four runs in the eighth inning, and the Royals lost 7-3 at The Ballpark In Arlington. The Royals did score first, with one run in the first off Rangers starter Aaron Sele. Johnny Damon led off the game with a single, and after two Rangers errors, eventually ended up on third. Dean Palmer’s fly ball brought him home. Royals starter Glendon Rusch held the lead until the third, when he gave up a home run to Rangers catcher Bill Haselman. The Rangers then scored twice in the fourth. Mark McLemore started the inning with a single, followed by a Rusty Greer walk and Juan Gonzalez single to load the bases. Rusch got a double play ball from Ivan Rodriguez, but McLemore scored on the play. After a walk to Mike Simms, Kevin Elster singled to score Greer and the Rangers led 3-1. Kansas City tied the score in the sixth, with a Damon triple, followed by singles from Jose Offerman, Hal Morris, and Palmer. Jeff King grounded into a double play, but Morris scored to make it a 3-3 game. The Rangers promptly retook the lead, with two-out doubles from Elster and Haselman. That was the winning run, but Texas blew the game open with four runs off reliever Hipolito Pichardo in the eighth. With one out, Rodriguez hit a solo homer, and then Lee Stevens doubled and Elster and Haselman walked. A Fernando Tatis groundout scored Stevens, and a Tom Goodwin single scored Elster. Sele finished off the complete game victory by working around a one-out double from Jeff Conine in the ninth. The loss was the Royals’ eighth in a row and dropped their record to 16-31. That put them in last place in the AL Central, 11 games behind Cleveland. Box score and play-by-play: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/TEX/TEX199805230.shtml

Batter Up and Fry: Tailgating Treats. “Scallop Ceviche”

Sarah Bode-Clark — Thu, 23 May 2013 21:00:47 +0000

Today begins our series with the Los Angeles Angels. LA is known for many things but the one that excites me the most in culinary terms about this city is its influence from Central and South America. Though tacos seem to be our number one focus in Latin cuisine, today I’m bringing you something a little different with ceviche. During the hot summer months ceviche turns up often on my dinner table. Anything I can do to not turn on the stove at all and heat up the house, but still feel like I’m having a hearty, filling meal. The basic concept behind the dish is to allow some type of seafood to marinate and “cook” in citrus juices. My favorite go-to is a white fish like snapper with lots of lime, cilantro and tomatoes. The version I’m bringing to you now, though, has a bit more sweetness with its perfectly fresh bay scallops and just barely ripe mango. If you can still find meyer lemons they have a more mellow tartness than the regular ones, and I love how they blend with the scallop’s buttery depth, but regular lemons will do in a pinch. Jalapenos can be added for a spicy kick. Keep this one cool by serving it in a bowl placed into a larger bowl of ice on your tailgating table and serve it up with tortilla chips or fried plantains for scooping. Scallop Ceviche 4-6 servings 1 lb. bay scallops, fresh as you can find them Juice of 2 meyer lemons 1 avocado, just ripe (not too soft) chopped 1 mango, just ripe (not too soft), peeled and chopped 2 TB cilantro, chopped 2 cloves of garlic, minced 1/2-1 jalapeno, finely minced (optional) 1/2 t. salt 1/4 t. pepper When you chop the mango and avocado, keep them in chunks about the size of your scallops. This will help with the visual appeal of the dish. Mix together all of the ingredients in a medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve cold with tortilla chips for scooping. To see what else is cooking, visit Chomping the Big Apple Follow me @SarahBodeClark

Obstructed reView: Eliminating Expectation

Erik Gratton — Thu, 23 May 2013 18:59:11 +0000

"Okay, I wanna see what happens, next week. Go 'La La La', please." Then this happens while I sing the last minute of this with my eyes closed, fingers in ears. It's a little ritual that keeps our family running smoothly. A similar tradition (in tone if not practice) happens at movie theaters. After the Jodeci retreads have played and we've answered the trivia cards, the lights come down, the green rating screen comes up and I head for the exits to pick up popcorn and Sour Patch Kids. I hope for a line long enough to keep me busy through the coming attractions but not so long that I miss the lion's roar. If I have to choose, I'd rather miss a few moments of the movie than be subjected to this or this or (jeebus help me) this travesty. Not every opening scene is Django or Touch of Evil, but all trailers are awful. It is known. It wasn't always this way. Like the films they promote, there was a golden age of coming attractions. Voice-over authority plays over Batman exclamation-frames, spooky/bouncy/sad music and one or two lines of dialogue. Boom! 30 seconds and we know the set-up, actors, genre and have gained some idea of whether the movie appeals to us. And nothing else!! We don't see the best explosion, we don't know who lives or dies. We don't see those scenes where space-Maximus puts a baby in a space-taxi, Superbrat lifts a bus out of a raging river (a river in Kansas?!), and Tin Cup Macavoy goes all Uncle Ben on old Hope-Chest thereby making the first 45 minutes of the movie totally unnecessary. When we see an action movie or series, today, we spend the whole time putting together the pieces of a jig-saw puzzle we've been studying for months. "All right, he still has his hair and the shirt is intact, so we know he's not a bad-ass yet." "Oh, they're in the tunnel! The bit from the preview where he drives a car into the helicopter must be coming soon!" It's not only action movies. Comedy trailers show the best jokes and sight gags. Mysteries don't always show the big reveal, but it's a guarantee they show you the final set-up so you can figure out the rest well before the mouth-breathers gasp. Sci-fi flicks will absolutely tell you before you buy a ticket that those sand-people down on the planet are actually human and they're the good guys so don't worry! These trends in genre flicks are bad enough but romantic or epic dramas are just the worst. My favorite trailer of all time was a teaser. All the best previews reveal next to nothing. They're 15 seconds, they hit three points and you're left wanting to know everything! A black screen announces HoFer Tom Hanks. The name changes to HoFer Robert Zemeckis. Then we see one single shot: the sound of ocean, half-deflated life-boat with Hanks waking up on deserted beach, camera pulls impossibly back to show how empty this island is. "Helllllooooo!" Boom. Cast Away. I'll take all the tickets. The thing is, I waited 6 years to see that movie. They had me, cold. Then they released this follow-up preview. You jerks, I'm not buying a ticket now, are you kidding?! You just showed me footage from after he gets off the island!!! Trailers have become Cliff's Notes. I could speak intelligently about a hundred movies I haven't seen, just based on the 5-minute mini-versions playing before their tonal brethren out at Southcenter AMC. For End of Watch or The Place Beyond the Pines, I'm waiting a few years in hopes that I forget most of what I've been force-fed. It's possible that I'm being too artsy and need more fartsy in my life. I understand that people love this stuff. You aren't going to see Dexter for a week, so you'll take this 30 seconds (or 3 minutes) that Showtime offers you like it’s a Capri-Sun in Death Valley. I get it. You're just so freaking wrong that I feel bad for you. You're like a little kid who constantly asks what is going to happen to the main character. You are cutting yourself off from the main joy of story-hearing: not knowing what happens. Kids have adults around to refuse to answer questions like that, to crush that kind of lazy curiosity in favor of active wonder. "Is Westley really dead?" -- "I don't know, let's watch the movie." "Do they ever find out she's lying?" -- "I bet we'll see pretty soon." "Does he eventually destroy the One Ring?" -- "Yes. He does. You're welcome, I just saved you 12 hours of slo-mo Liv Tyler and over-wrought Hobbit-whining. Read the books." (In five years, I'll update that to a full 24 hours.) The current method probably sells more tickets, so it's certainly here to stay. Put everything funny, exciting, surprising or weird in the trailer. Take the best five minutes or the most quotable piece of dialogue and play it at every commercial break on Disney, Nickelodean and The Playboy Channel. If there's nothing in the movie that appeals to kids, make it PG-13 anyway and put some weird awful scene in there that may go viral; something like this, that'll take care of the kids (I can't imagine how much money that movie would have made from this household…it's terrifying, the number of times I've heard that through the study door). Pixar used to fight this trend. They would do previews using the film's main characters in scenes that aren't in the film. Woody and Buzz or Mike and Sully talking right to us, making us quickly laugh and getting the hell off the screen. Either our cynical familiarity with their technology (which was inevitable) or their late takeover by Disney (which was more inevitable) beat that piece of creativity out of them as they've turned their considerable budgets to churning out sequels and carbon copies (inevitablest). Money is the point to Hollywood. Never forget that. It's the answer to every question and the ultimate reason for every choice. Fx can do more creative programming not only because they've got leadership that identifies interesting stories and inspires loyalty from quality artists, but also because they need less commercial revenue than CBS. Their promos for the upcoming series The Bridge also proves that they can afford to be creative with the very subject of this rant (that said, the previews have recently gotten all spoiler-heavy). HBO has even more freedom in this arena (and still more when they partner with That BBC Juggernaut). I won't pretend that some sort of grass-roots movement would have any effect on this situation. We could all arrive 20 minutes after the previews or have group sing-a-longs in the theatre to drown out the longer, more egregious offenders. It wouldn't work. Too many of you like this stuff. Also, the studios wouldn't notice. I'll just keep doing what I'm doing, collect my strange looks and stranger-shushes like the tiny shiny moral victories they are, hard-fought and valuable. I'll cling to my satisfaction in knowing that I will soon sit in a theater for Pacific Rim or Mud with absolutely no idea what will happen from moment to moment. I wish you all knew the joy of that knowledge. I can't tell you what it's like. I can only tell you why I chose this week to write about it. I'm a Kansas City Royals fan. This is a big part of who I am. Summer nights in Kansas, The Dennys and Fred on the radio as Splitty stymied the Indians or Amos Otis took a big lead at second base while Frank White swung two bats on-deck. When I was a kid, the Royals were relevant. Hell, they were good. This hasn't been true in nearly three decades. Still, every offseason I read and watch while people (good, normal, intelligent people) tell me why this year will be better. This year we have pitching (forget that last year pitching was only half the problem)! This year the young players will take a step forward (forget that after last year, that's a huge leap of faith)! We still have that bullpen (though if ever there was a stat-group ready to regress from amazing to really good…)! Ned Yost (Ned Freaking Yost)! I've seen this trailer before. This Royals team isn't The Sixth Sense, a really good movie nearly ruined by poorly produced trailers. I don't think it's Drag Me to Hell, either. That was a terrible movie briefly masked by expectation of personnel and a kick-ass PR blitz. My worry is that this Royals team is Live Free or Die Hard, another effort from a once-proud franchise banking on fan expectation and a few big additions, a higher budget and a slow summer for the competition. The preview touts familiar faces and exciting newcomers and you still see the cracks in the foundation but convince yourself that Bruce Willis and Timothy Olyphant can recover some of what made it all such a success in the 80s. The beginning is pretty impressive, really. Fast, fun, surprising. Then after we've seen about a quarter of the movie, we start to see all the familiar tropes. The narrative begins to fall apart, and we enter the big dark tunnel just ahead of the explosions. Since I've seen this preview many times before, I'm afraid that somewhere around mid-summer, the Police Car will hit the helicopter and we'll be stuck laughing at the implausibility of it all. We knew what we were getting into: a barely-mediocre effort masked by good PR and our own willing cooperation as optimistic fans pining for a better time. Still, Live Free or Die Hard wasn't an awful movie, and I don't expect this to be an awful season in the mold of '04-'06. I'm just angry with myself for watching the previews so closely. They told me exactly what this team could be: good pitching, improved offense, squint and you can see baseball in October. I should have stuck with what the team is: good pitching, young developing offense (and Getz and Frenchy), young and developing defense (and Getz and Frenchy), and Ned Yost. That's an exciting team, but we're at least one sequel away from the dream of a good one. Today might be a good day to see A Good Day to Die Hard. I didn't watch a single preview so I have no expectation of quality. No expectations at all, really, and that's the best way to see a movie. It's a lesson I'm still learning as a Royals fan.

A Radical Idea: Trade for Mike Scioscia by Derek Johannsen

David Lesky — Thu, 23 May 2013 16:45:59 +0000

Follow Derek on Twitter @derekjohannsen The Royals have officially hit the slide. The offense isn’t hitting, the pitching isn’t quite what it had been and since “the pull” of James Shields against Chicago on May 6 the Royals are 4-12 and have dropped to 21-22 on the year. I was at the game on May 6. Then and there we were discussing the asinine decision to pull Shields. Lo and behold, two weeks later the slide is in full swing. This team has numerous problems. One move isn’t going to fix everything. However, there is one move that can be made which I believe would be a step in the right direction to actually putting this team in a position to compete now and in the future. The Royals would be a better team without Ned Yost at the helm. I firmly place 3-4 losses at his feet throughout the first 43 games this year. I’ve searched for an analysis of the value of managers. There is some, but not much, quantitative valuing of managers and what they mean to their respective teams. However, one specific analysis is particularly relevant to the Royals and brings me to a trade proposal that is outside the box, but I believe would be in the best interest of the team if the Royals are truly trying to win this year and beyond. In May 2012 Adam Darowski wrote an article at www.beyondtheboxscore.com that tried, in part, to quantify the value of a manager. (http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2012/3/28/2908044/manager-wins-above-expectancy) In Darowski’s article he tried to quantify the relative value of managers using Wins Above Expectancy when analyzing it against the Pythagorean record and WAR from Baseball Reference. Highly simplified, he looked at what a team’s record was projected to be under the Pythagorean record and WAR and then looked at what it actually was and then made a plus/minus calculation. As he noted in his article: “Wins and championships simply tell us that a manager had a lot of talent on his team. If he has a lot of talent, he is supposed to win. But how about when a talented team doesn't win? What about when a team wins more than it should, based on its runs scored and runs allowed? How much is actually luck? If it is all luck, wouldn't it even out over thousands of games? Is there more than luck involved? Is the manager responsible for some of this over- or under-performance?” His findings are of particular interest to the Royals considering the landscape of MLB at this time. According to multiple media reports, Don Mattingly is on his way out in Los Angeles. The Dodgers are under-performing and the vultures are circling. As an aside, the Dodgers bench coach is Trey Hillman, so you can insert your own joke here about them naming Hillman as the interim manager. The fact that Mattingly is on the hot seat directly affects the Royals in a way that will become clearer in a moment. Just a little further south of Los Angeles, in Anaheim, the Angels are struggling. In reality the Angels are brutal, but what can you expect with that rotation. Multiple reports indicate that Arte Moreno isn’t happy with the direction things are headed and that a parting of the ways with Mike Scioscia could be on the horizon. As you probably know, Scioscia was a long time Dodgers catcher and the rumors are already flying that if the Angels part ways with Scioscia that Magic Johnson and the Dodgers will be backing up the Brinks truck (again) into Chavez Ravine. With that as a distinct possibility, here is my idea. Trade for Mike Scioscia. And don’t offer some low level D prospect. If it takes it, trade Yordano Ventura or another prospect whom the Angels want. The Angels need pitching. Ventura is a stud prospect. But he is just that, a young flame throwing prospect who could turn out to be Pedro Martinez, Pedro Strop, Pedro Cerrano or Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite. Until Ventura makes an impact at the major league level he isn’t helping the major league club win any games. According to an AP article from January 2009, Scioscia’s contract with the Angels runs through 2018 but has a manager opt-out clause after 2015. Estimates put the contract at roughly $2 million per year. (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3828616) I know that trading a great pitching prospect sounds insane. The point isn’t to have the best prospects, it is to win games. And, even though they are having a terrible year, Scioscia’s teams win games at a better rate compared to the expected win totals than any other manager’s teams… ever. On the cumulative list prepared by Darowski Scioscia’s numbers are as follows (http://darowski.com/hall-of-wwar/expectancy/) :

Manager	G	W	L	T	ExpW/pyth	WAE/pyth	ExpW/war	WAE/war	TotalWAE
Mike Scioscia	1944	1066	878	0	1040.5	25.5	985.3	80.7	106.2

Simply put, over the course of 1944 games managed (through May 2012) Scioscia’s clubs out-performed their expected wins according to WAR by 80.7 games. 1944 games is the equivalent of 12 seasons. Thus, when looking at wins expected according to WAR vs. actual wins, Scioscia’s teams averaged 6.725 more wins per year than expected. Let’s compare that to the numbers of Ned Yost.

Manager	G	W	L	T	ExpW/pyth	WAE/pyth	ExpW/war	WAE/war	TotalWAE
Ned Yost	971	445	526	0	450.3	-5.3	454.2	-9.2	-14.5

Through 971 games managed (one game short of 6 seasons) Yost’s teams were 9.2 games worse than they were expected to perform according to WAR. Over 6 seasons that averages out to about 1.5 more losses per year than expected. When you put the two numbers together the averages indicate that swapping out Yost for Scioscia would produce an average differential of 8.225 wins per season. Think about that. 8.225 wins sounds astronomic, and it is. The highest WAR totals in MLB for the 2012 season were the following:

Trout 10.9
Cano 8.5
Verlander 7.7
Posey 7.4
Cabrera 7.3
McCutchen 7.2
Beltre 7.0
Braun 7.0
Price 6.9
Molina 6.9

Thus, if the numbers are correct, and swapping out Yost for Scioscia would provide an average of 8.225 more wins per season, it is the equivalent of picking up Robinson Cano and his 8.5 WAR every… single… year. There is no a single move the Royals can make, outside of shelling out $25 million a year, to add a legitimate 8.0 WAR player to the everyday lineup. By possibly trading Ventura or another prospect for Scioscia (and obviously agreeing to an extension past the 2015 opt out date) the Royals could make a move that, according to the numbers, would drastically increase their win totals and playoff chances at 1/10^th the cost of signing someone like Cano. With that in mind, isn’t the question simply whether or not Ventura or whatever prospect you trade away is the equivalent of an 8 WAR player? Is it outside the box, yes. Likely to get panned, yes. Something to consider, I think so.

Series Preview: Royals vs. Los Angeles Angels, May 23-26

David Lesky — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:15:39 +0000

We just saw the Angels recently, but I wonder if we're seeing a slightly different team after the way they've played the last few days offensively. The numbers show they are a pretty middle of the road offense, but the personnel says that is incorrect. Now, obviously players can struggle to live up to expectations, but a guy like Josh Hamilton has looked a lot better over the last few games, of course starting when the Royals got to town last week. So it's tough to say for sure what this offense is, but I do know they have potential to be the best offense in baseball. Mike Trout getting going is scary. What might be scarier is him struggling earlier would have still made him one of the two or three best hitters on the Royals by far. This offense has dangerous potential. While the offense has started to get going, the pitching staff is still a big question for the Angels with Jered Weaver still out. C.J. Wilson is solid and Jason Vargas is fine, but a team with World Series aspirations probably doesn't count on those two as their two and three starters. And now with those two as the top two in the rotation, they're in big trouble. The bullpen isn't much better than the rotation. Their closer, Ernesto Frieri walks far too many for my tastes, and he can be hit. He's got wicked stuff, but he can be hit. There's just not really a whole lot out there that concerns me as a Royals fan. I think we'll see some slugfests in this series, and I hope the Angels pitching helps the Royals offense close the gap between the two units a little bit. Thursday - Joe Blanton vs. Ervin Santana Blanton had his changeup working against the Royals in Anaheim, but not much else, and it cost him as he got knocked around a little bit. Three things to watch for against Blanton:

He's given up more than 15 hits per nine innings. That's ridiculous. He doesn't walk a ton of batter so he's around the plate a lot. I know taking pitches is often preached and is usually the way to go, but if Blanton gives something on the first pitch, I say let it fly. It's not going to be tough to hit and it's going to be around the zone. You'll get to the bullpen with him because he won't be effective enough to stick around.
The Royals tattooed Blanton around pretty good last week with the best bats coming from Butler, Escobar, Cain and Perez. They all have a pretty small sample size, but still it'll be interesting to see if they find a way to knock him around again.
In his last start against the Royals, Blanton threw 34 changeups. That's an insane amount. He also got 12 swings and misses. The Royals absolutely have to identify that pitch better and simply lay off it. Easier said than done sure, but it's a must.

Ervin Santana gets the opportunity to face is former team, the only team he's known, for the first time in his career. Alberto Callaspo and Josh Hamilton are the only two Angels with any real plate appearances against Santana, and they've both hit him well. The key for Santana seems obvious, but keep the ball down and things should be just fine. Friday - Jason Vargas vs. Luis Mendoza Vargas had the lone good pitching performance in the three-game set in Anaheim, predictably shutting down the Royals. Three things to watch for against Vargas:

He has basically three pitches, fastball, changeup and curve, but even the curve is reserved for special occasions. That changeup, though, boy is it good against righties, and he throws it A LOT with two strikes. In fact, he throws it more than half the time. He got a fair amount of swings and misses against it against the Royals, so look for it again a fair amount.
His home run rate is a little lower than you'd expect, so that might be in line for some regression, but I don't see that happening in this one.
Billy Butler has had 19 plate appearances against Vargas and has a gentleman's 1.829 OPS. No, that's not a typo.

Luis Mendoza gets his second crack at the Angels after throwing a very fifth starterish game against them last week. The big positive is that he didn't walk anybody while striking out six. He did give up three runs and the Angels have a smart offense. Because of this, he needs to pitch backwards a little to keep them off balance or else he'll struggle. Saturday - TBA vs. Jeremy Guthrie We'll update this with Angels starter information as it becomes available. Jeremy Guthrie had his first of two straight rough starts against the Angels, and here is again to face them at home, where he's been better than on the road. The home run ball has really bitten him in his last two starts. He's just been catching too much of the plate, and his stuff simply isn't enough to do that. I'm not looking forward to this start because I think his woes could continue. Sunday - C.J. Wilson vs. Wade Davis I have a feeling the Angels don't feel like they're getting their money's worth out of Wilson even though he hasn't been terrible for them in the last year plus. Three things to watch for against Wilson:

While Wilson is capable of getting the strikeout, he also walks more than his fair share, so a big key against him is patience with the understanding that a strikeout may come. The Royals don't specialize in patience, but he'll put runners on far more than the Angels would like.
He uses his slider as his putaway pitch, and it works a lot of the time. The scary thing about it is that it sometimes is actually a strike, as opposed to many pitchers' sliders. It can be identified, though, as it's a little slower than a lot of sliders.
Of players with more than just 5 or 6 plate appearances against Wilson, only Alex Gordon and Alcides Escobar has really struggled. On the flip side, nobody has done great against him either, so this one is really a toss up.

Wade Davis struggled against the Angels last week, and he struggled against the Astros in his last start. We're starting to get a pretty good idea of what he is, and his stuff is too pedestrian to really fool the best lineups. Our hope here is that the Angels aren't on their A game, I fear. The Angels might be finding their way having won some games lately and scoring a bunch in the process. Add in that Mike Trout is getting hot, and I think this is going to be a tough series for the Royals in spite of the Angels poor record. I see a split, but that might even be hopeful the way the Royals are playing right now. Follow me on Twitter @DBLesky

Diamonds in the Rough 05.22.13

ShawnRebman — Thu, 23 May 2013 05:58:53 +0000

Three of the Affiliates' best pitchers were on the hill and despite that they combined for a 0-4 record HR Call: Xavier Nady (7) Pine Tar Press Hitter of the Day: Xavier Nady: 2-3 R HR 2 RBI Pine Tar Press Pitcher of the Day: Will Smith 6.0 IP 8 H 4 R 2 BB 8 K [caption id="attachment_14539" align="aligncenter" width="300"] (Photo Minda Haas)[/caption] Omaha Storm Chasers 5 Tuscon Padres 7 Omaha scored early but the Padres won it late. The Chaser had a 5-3 lead after 5 innings, but in the next 3 innings the Padres would score 4 runs. Will Smith started and 6.0 innings giving up 4 runs on 8 hits while walking 2 and striking out 8. He left the game with the lead and a chance to win his first game at home, but Francisley Bueno gave up 3 runs in his 2.0 innings to lose the game. Xavier Nady had 2 hits including his 7th home run. Irving Falu extended his hitting to 10 games and Johnny Giavotella drove in his team leading 31st RBI.

Tucson (25-21)	0	1	2	0	0	1	2	1	0			7	14	0
Omaha (22-22)	2	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	0			5	7	1

W: Vincent (4-3, 4.74)
L: Bueno (1-1, 3.71)
SV: Mikolas (8)

Tucson Padres
Player	Pos	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
Dan Robertson	CF	4	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	1	.317
Mike Wilson	RF	5	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	.267
Gregorio Petit	SS	5	1	2	1	0	0	1	0	1	.333
Yasmani Grandal	DH	5	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	2	.263
Rene Rivera	C	4	1	2	1	0	0	2	1	0	.380
Jonathan Galvez	2B	5	2	2	1	1	0	0	0	3	.287
Cody Decker	1B	4	1	2	2	0	0	2	1	1	.275
Jesus Merchan	3B	5	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	.221
Justin Miller	LF	4	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	2	.467
Totals		41	7	14	7	1	0	7	3	12	.289

BATTING 2B: Robertson (13, Smith, W), Galvez (11, Smith, W), Decker, C 2 (10, Smith, W, Smith, W), Grandal (2, Bueno), Petit, G (10, Bueno), Rivera, R (10, Sherrill). 3B: Galvez (1, Smith, W). TB: Merchan; Galvez 5; Rivera, R 3; Petit, G 3; Wilson, M 2; Robertson 2; Miller, J; Decker, C 4; Grandal 2. RBI: Merchan (8), Decker, C 2 (17), Miller, J (1), Rivera, R 2 (18), Petit, G (22). 2-out RBI: Merchan; Decker, C 2; Petit, G. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Grandal 2; Wilson, M 2; Merchan 3; Petit, G. Team RISP: 3-for-17. Team LOB: 10. BASERUNNING SB: Wilson, M (1, 2nd base off Smith, W/Hayes). FIELDING DP: (Petit, G-Galvez-Decker, C).

Omaha Storm Chasers
Player	Pos	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
Irving Falu	RF	5	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.275
Christian Colon	SS	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.250
Johnny Giavotella	2B	3	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	.271
Max Ramirez	DH	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	.273
Xavier Nady	LF	3	1	2	0	0	1	2	0	1	.342
Anthony Seratelli	3B	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	1	.319
Chad Tracy	1B	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.260
Brett Hayes	C	4	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	3	.253
Willy Taveras	CF	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.248
Totals		29	5	7	0	0	1	5	5	10	.277

BATTING HR: Nady (7, 4th inning off Erlin, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Taveras, W; Falu; Giavotella; Hayes; Colon, C; Nady 5. RBI: Ramirez, M (26), Nady 2 (26), Hayes (16), Giavotella (31). 2-out RBI: Giavotella. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Taveras, W 2. SAC: Tracy. SF: Ramirez, M; Nady. GIDP: Giavotella. Team RISP: 2-for-7. Team LOB: 5. BASERUNNING SB: Seratelli (9, 2nd base off Erlin/Rivera, R), Taveras, W (7, 2nd base off Erlin/Rivera, R). CS: Giavotella (1, 2nd base by Erlin/Rivera, R). FIELDING E: Hayes (4, throw).

Tucson Padres
Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Robbie Erlin	4.2	5	5	5	2	5	1	4.59
Nick Vincent (W, 4-3)	1.1	2	0	0	1	1	0	4.74
Daniel Stange (H, 1)	2.0	0	0	0	2	3	0	4.73
Miles Mikolas (S, 8)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	4.12
Totals	9.0	7	5	5	5	10	1	4.44

Omaha Storm Chasers
Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Will Smith	6.0	8	4	4	2	8	0	2.93
Francisley Bueno (BS, 2)(L, 1-1)	2.0	5	3	3	1	3	0	3.71
George Sherrill	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	9.00
Totals	9.0	14	7	7	3	12	0	4.12

NW Arkansas 2 Corpus Christi Hooks 8 Yordano Ventura had by far his worst start of the year. Before tonight Ventura had not given up more than 3 runs in any start, tonight he gave up 7. Ventura pitched 4.1 innings giving up those 7 runs (6 earned) on 9 hits with 3 walks and 4 strikeouts. Manny Pina lead the offense with 3 hits while both Orlando Calixte and Angel Franco each had 2. The Naturals had 12 hits as a team, but struggled to turn those hits into runs.

NW Arkansas (14-29)	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0			2	12	0
Corpus Christi (26-19)	0	1	1	1	4	0	1	0	X			8	10	0

W: Buchanan, J (5-0, 0.84)
L: Ventura (3-2, 2.82)

Northwest Arkansas Naturals
Player	Pos	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
Brett Eibner	CF	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	.216
Orlando Calixte	3B	4	1	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	.224
Carlo Testa	LF	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	.444
Mitch Canham	1B	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	.276
Yem Prades	RF	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.190
Matt Fields	DH	4	0	1	1	0	0	1	0	2	.227
Manny Pina	C	4	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.229
Angel Franco	2B	4	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.285
Alex McClure	SS	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.196
Totals		35	2	12	2	0	0	2	1	7	.233

BATTING 2B: Calixte (9, Buchanan, J), Fields, M (6, Fields). TB: McClure; Calixte 3; Testa 2; Prades; Pina 3; Fields, M 2; Franco 2. RBI: Canham (15), Fields, M (29). 2-out RBI: Fields, M. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Prades 2; Eibner 2; Pina. GIDP: Canham, Franco, McClure. Team RISP: 1-for-7. Team LOB: 7. BASERUNNING SB: Testa (1, 2nd base off Buchanan, J/Garcia, R). FIELDING PB: Pina (3). DP: (Franco-McClure-Canham).

Corpus Christi Hooks
Player	Pos	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
Ben Orloff	SS	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.280
Rene Garcia	C	5	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.317
George Springer	CF	3	2	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	.295
Domingo Santana	RF	3	3	1	1	0	0	2	2	1	.246
Erik Castro	1B	4	1	3	1	0	0	2	0	0	.303
Jonathan Meyer	3B	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	.233
Max Stassi	DH	3	0	2	1	0	0	1	1	1	.267
Michael Burgess	LF	3	1	2	0	0	1	2	0	0	.209
Enrique Hernandez	2B	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.215
Totals		32	8	10	3	0	1	8	5	5	.249

BATTING 2B: Santana, D (12, Ventura), Castro, E (9, Ventura), Stassi (3, Garrido). HR: Burgess (4, 4th inning off Ventura, 0 on, 1 out). TB: Garcia, R; Springer; Castro, E 4; Stassi 3; Burgess 5; Santana, D 2. RBI: Burgess 2 (21), Castro, E 2 (17), Santana, D 2 (22), Stassi (6), Meyer, J (19). 2-out RBI: Castro, E. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Orloff 2; Burgess; Santana, D. SF: Meyer, J. GIDP: Hernandez, E. Team RISP: 5-for-14. Team LOB: 8. BASERUNNING SB: Santana, D (5, 2nd base off Garrido/Pina). FIELDING PB: Garcia, R (1). Outfield assists: Santana, D (Pina at home). DP: 3 (Hernandez, E-Orloff-Castro, E 2, Fields-Orloff-Castro, E).

Northwest Arkansas Naturals
Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Yordano Ventura (L, 3-2)	4.1	9	7	6	3	4	1	2.82
Santiago Garrido	2.2	1	1	1	1	0	0	3.57
Edwin Carl	1.0	0	0	0	1	1	0	5.71
Totals	8.0	10	8	7	5	5	1	4.75

Corpus Christi Hooks
Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Jake Buchanan (W, 5-0)	5.0	7	1	0	1	3	0	0.84
Josh Fields	2.0	3	1	1	0	2	0	1.80
Carlos Quevedo	2.0	2	0	0	0	2	0	4.20
Totals	9.0	12	2	1	1	7	0	3.38

Wilmington Blue Rocks 1 Lynchburg Hillcats 5 Kyle Zimmer pitched well for 6 innings, but a bad 7th and a lack of offense kept him winless. Zimmer pitched 6.0 innings giving up 5 runs(2 earned) on 6 hits with 2 walks and 7 strikeouts. Entering the 7th inning the Rocks were trailing 2-1, Zimmer gave up a opening single and 2 errors later the bases were loaded. All of those runners scored and the offense couldn't make it up. The offense could only muster 3 hits. Daniel Mateo drove in the single run with a triple.

Lynchburg (24-19)	0	0	1	0	0	1	3	0	0			5	8	2
Wilmington (21-24)	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0			1	3	4

W: Hoyt (3-1, 3.68)
L: Zimmer (0-4, 4.60)

Lynchburg Hillcats
Player	Pos	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
Matt Lipka	CF	5	1	1	0	0	0	2	0	1	.263
Emerson Landoni	2B	5	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	.306
Shawn McGill	DH	5	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	.412
Robby Hefflinger	LF	3	1	1	0	0	1	1	1	1	.290
David Rohm	RF	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	.316
Kyle Kubitza	3B	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.238
Luis De La Cruz	C	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	.216
Elmer Reyes	SS	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.281
Matt Weaver	1B	3	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.227
Totals		34	5	8	0	1	1	4	3	10	.259

BATTING 3B: Weaver (2, Zimmer). HR: Hefflinger (11, 6th inning off Zimmer, 0 on, 2 out). TB: Weaver 3; Landoni; De La Cruz, L; Hefflinger 4; Lipka; McGill 2; Rohm. RBI: Lipka 2 (25), Hefflinger (30), McGill (2). 2-out RBI: Hefflinger; McGill. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Lipka; Rohm. SAC: Reyes; Weaver. Team RISP: 2-for-7. Team LOB: 7. BASERUNNING CS: Lipka (4, 2nd base by Zimmer/Morin, P). FIELDING E: Reyes (10, fielding), Landoni (1, fielding).

Wilmington Blue Rocks
Player	Pos	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
Justin Trapp	2B	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.280
Daniel Mateo	1B	4	0	1	0	1	0	1	0	1	.248
Lane Adams	CF	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.264
Cheslor Cuthbert	3B	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.253
Kenny Diekroeger	SS	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.207
Jack Lopez	DH	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.196
Parker Morin	C	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.237
Tyler Chism	LF	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.100
Alex Llanos	RF	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.154
Totals		32	1	3	0	1	0	1	1	10	.248

BATTING 3B: Mateo (2, Weber). TB: Diekroeger; Mateo 3; Trapp. RBI: Mateo (22). 2-out RBI: Mateo. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Cuthbert 2; Adams, L. Team RISP: 0-for-4. Team LOB: 6. FIELDING E: Diekroeger (6, throw), Trapp 2 (11, missed catch, throw), Chism (2, fielding). PB: Morin, P (6).

Lynchburg Hillcats
Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Ryan Weber	4.0	2	1	1	0	2	0	3.12
James Hoyt (W, 3-1)	3.0	1	0	0	0	5	0	3.68
John Cornely	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	4.15
Nate Hyatt	1.0	0	0	0	1	2	0	4.32
Totals	9.0	3	1	1	1	10	0	4.32

Wilmington Blue Rocks
Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Kyle Zimmer (L, 0-4)	6.0	6	5	2	2	7	1	4.60
Antonio Cruz	1.1	1	0	0	1	2	0	1.66
Kellen Moen	1.2	1	0	0	0	1	0	3.33
Totals	9.0	8	5	2	3	10	1	3.78

Lexington Legends 1 Asheville Tourists 3 The Legends offense struggled as they only mustered 3 hits. Bubba Starling was hitless for the 2nd straight game,but he did draw a walk. Fred Ford drove in the lone run with a double. Starter Colin Rodgers pitched 4.1 innings giving up 2 runs on 3 hits with 4 walks and 3 strikeouts.

Asheville (24-20)	0	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	0			3	6	1
Lexington (24-22)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			1	3	2

W: Hughes (4-4, 6.40)
L: Rodgers (3-2, 2.48)
SV: Fernandez, R (10)

Asheville Tourists
Player	Pos	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
Matt Wessinger	SS	3	1	2	1	0	0	2	0	0	.250
Jose Rivera	3B	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.268
Rosell Herrera	DH	4	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	.348
Tom Murphy	C	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.307
Derek Jones	RF	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.301
Francisco Sosa	CF	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.306
Dillon Thomas	LF	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	.147
Matt Argyropoulos	1B	3	2	2	1	0	0	0	1	0	.260
Juan Ciriaco	2B	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.248
Totals		30	3	6	2	0	0	3	4	6	.276

BATTING 2B: Wessinger (6, Rodgers), Argyropoulos (6, Hall, C). TB: Wessinger 3; Sosa, F; Herrera, R; Argyropoulos 3. RBI: Wessinger 2 (19), Herrera, R (29). 2-out RBI: Wessinger; Herrera, R. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Murphy, T 2; Ciriaco. SAC: Rivera, J; Wessinger. GIDP: Rivera, J. Team RISP: 2-for-8. Team LOB: 6. BASERUNNING SB: Wessinger (14, 3rd base off Hall, C/Marquez). CS: Sosa, F (4, 2nd base by Rodgers/Marquez). FIELDING E: Rivera, J (7, fielding).

Lexington Legends
Player	Pos	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
Terrance Gore	LF	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.239
Raul Mondesi	DH	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.222
Bubba Starling	CF	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	.210
Fred Ford	1B	4	0	1	1	0	0	1	0	1	.187
Michael Antonio	3B	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.239
Humberto Arteaga	SS	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.182
Ethan Chapman	RF	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.262
Alex Marquez	C	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.240
Yowill Espinal	2B	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.209
Totals		29	1	3	1	0	0	1	2	6	.215

BATTING 2B: Ford (6, Hughes). TB: Arteaga; Gore; Ford 2. RBI: Ford (18). 2-out RBI: Ford. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Antonio; Espinal. SAC: Chapman. Team RISP: 0-for-3. Team LOB: 4. BASERUNNING CS: Gore (3, 2nd base by Hughes/Murphy, T). FIELDING E: Arteaga (5, throw), Antonio (11, missed catch). PB: Marquez (2). DP: (Espinal-Arteaga-Ford).

Asheville Tourists
Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Ben Hughes (W, 4-4)	7.0	3	1	1	1	2	0	6.40
Patrick Johnson (H, 1)	1.0	0	0	0	1	2	0	3.86
Raul Fernandez (S, 10)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	4.08
Totals	9.0	3	1	1	2	6	0	4.54

Lexington Legends
Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Colin Rodgers (L, 3-2)	4.0	3	2	2	4	3	0	2.48
Cory Hall	3.0	2	1	1	0	2	0	1.38
Daniel Hernandez	2.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	1.27
Totals	9.0	6	3	3	4	6	0	2.63