*** Kansas City Royals Minor League Report - May 17th *** From The Sports Network

OMAHA ROYALS - In the second of a four-game series against Fresno on May 16th, the Royals finally got back on the winning side of the ledger with a 5-2 victory, snapping a four-game slide for the club. Righthanded pitcher Jamey Wright picked up the win, his second of the week, by allowing just one run on four hits, striking out three, over six innings of work. Wright, who lowered his ERA to 2.51 in the process, moved to 6-2 in 2004 as the only pitcher on the staff to earn a win between May 10th-16th. While Wright has been holding up his end of the bargain as a starter, Kris Wilson has been horrific the last few weeks. On May 15th Wilson came out on the short end of a 9-4 performance versus Fresno, giving him three defeats in the last 10 days. He is now 2-5 on the year with an 8.36 ERA for Omaha, which is currently last in the Central Division of the Pacific Coast League with a record of 16-22. Wilson has been quite charitable when it comes to the long ball this season, giving up a total of 13 home runs, with the rest of the staff accounting for a combined 25. Infielder Wilton Guerrero, who picked up a pair of hits on May 15th to push his season average to .311, was promoted to the majors on May 16th.

WICHITA WRANGLERS - After snapping a two-game slide in the first of a double- header on May 16th, beating Frisco by a score of 9-5 at home, the Wranglers lost complete track of their offense and fell by a score of 10-0 on the back end. It was the second shutout loss in the last four games for Wichita, which had a total of three blowout setbacks during the week, losing them by a combined score of 31-2. On a positive note, righthanded pitcher Ryan Baerlocher picked up a pair of victories during the week, moving to 3-0 out of the pen despite carrying a hefty 6.35 ERA. Although it was his first home run in 15 games, Dee Brown's solo shot on May 12th gave him eight for the season, tying him for the league high. Brown, who is hitting .319, is second in the Texas League with 30 RBI for Wichita, which is now tied for the top spot in the East Division with a record of 20-16.

WILMINGTON BLUE ROCKS - On Sunday, May 16th, the Blue Rocks closed out a three-game set with Salem on the road with a 7-6 defeat. The loss meant that Wilmington had alternated wins and losses over the last six games. Infielder Darren Fenster posted three hits in four trips to the plate in the losing effort, lifting his season batting average to a Carolina League high .375. After the first 28 games of the season Fenster was hitting a stunning .431 in 14 games at home, but just .268 on the road. Also having a strong week for the Blue Rocks, who are now 21-17 and in first place in the Northern Division, was pitcher Trae McGill who picked up a pair of wins to move to a perfect 6-0 on the campaign. McGill has one of the lowest ERAs in the league at 1.39 and has struck out 21 batters while issuing just three walks. Except for lefty Eric Ackerman who is 3-3 and has a bloated ERA of 7.31, no one else on the roster has more than a pair of wins in 2004.

BURLINGTON BEES - After they gave up four runs in the top of the first, the Bees buckled down on defense on May 16th versus Beloit. Unfortunately, Burlington managed to score a total of just three runs in the bottom of the eighth, en route to the one-run loss (4-3). The defeat was the fourth in a row for the club and the seventh in its last nine outings overall. On May 14th the Bees, who are last in the Western Division of the Midwest League with a record of 13-24, lost to the Lansing Lugnuts by a lopsided 21-4 score. Burlington, which has now dropped 14 of the last 18 games against the Lugnuts over the last three seasons, was charged with a season-high five errors in the setback. Following that game the Bees sent Dusty Hughes to the hill against Beloit, but after he surrendered four runs on seven hits, he saw his ERA jump from 0.97 to 1.60.