Royals on the Farm 5/25

AAA: Omaha rallied for a 5-run 6th to get past Fresno, 7-1. Fresno took a 1-0 lead in the 3rd but the O-Royals came back with 2 in the 4th on LF Aaron Guiel's 11th HR and an RBI single by 2B Justin Gemoll. The lead blew open in the 6th with 5 runs on an RBI double by 3B Chris Truby, an RBI single by 1B Chad Santos, an RBI double by RF Jaime Jones and a 2-run single by SS Alejandro Prieto. SP Dennis Tankersley had his best start of the season with 5 IP of 1 ER on 4 hits and 3 BB along with 9 Ks to move to 2-4. His ERA dropped to 6.14. RP Jeremy Affeldt made his first rehab appearance and gave up 1 BB and K'd 1 in 1 IP. RP Wes Wilkerson pitched the final 3 innings for his 2nd save. He gave up 5 hits in the stint as his ERA sagged to 5.61. Guiel was 2-4 with a double, 2 RS, the HR and RBI to improve to .270. Jones was 2-4 with a double and RBI to improve to .245. Gemoll was 1-4 with the RBI to drop to .346.

Omaha is 22-25 and 4 games out. Fresno LH Patrick Misch (0-4, 5.68) and LH Chris George (3-2, 5.13) were set to face off in the series finale this afternoon.

AA: Wichita won its fourth consecutive series with a 6-3 victory over Corpus Christi. Corpus Christi took a 1-0 lead in the 1st but Wichita tied the game in the 3rd on a sac fly by DH Mel Stocker that scored CF Wilkin Ruan, who had tripled. The Hooks regained the lead with a run in the 4th but Wichita plated 3 in the bottom of that inning on an RBI single by RF Cory Aldridge, an RBI double by 3B Brennan King and an RBI groundout by Ruan. The Wranglers added some insurance in the 7th with 2 runs on sac flies by 2B Adam Keim and LF Shane Costa. SP Brian Bass picked up the win to move to 5-2. He went 7 IP and gave up 2 R (1 ER) on 6 hits and 2 BB while K'ing 3 to drop his ERA to 4.92. RP Nate Hoelscher pitched 1 inning and gave up 1 BB while K'ing 1 to drop his ERA to an even 7.00. RP Colt Griffin went 1 IP and gave up 1 ER on 1 hit and 1 BB while K'ing 1. His ERA is 3.58. 1B Justin Huber was 1-4 with a double to drop to .360. Keim was 0-3 with an RBI to drop to .311. Aldridge was 1-4 with an RBI to drop to .297. Ruan was 1-4 with the triple and 2 RS to improve to .204.

Wichita is 23-23 and 5 games back of Tulsa. A four-game set at San Antonio starts tonight with LHP Mike Stodolka (1-3, 5.57) squaring off against Missions' LHP Bobby Livingston (4-2, 3.38).

High-A: A 9th-inning rally fell short as High Desert dropped a game to Stockton, 7-6. The Mavs took a 2-0 lead in the 2nd on a bases-loaded walk by DH Brandon Powell and a sac fly by 2B Walter Sevilla only to see the Ports tie the game in the bottom of the frame. Stockton led, 5-2, entering the top of the 6th when a wild pitch allowed 1B Kila Kaaihue to score after another WP advanced him to third. C Adam Donachie followed with an RBI single to make it a 5-4 game. Stockton inched the lead back to 6-4 in the bottom of the 6th and added a run in the 8th to take a 3-run lead into the top of the 9th. LF Bernard Stephens led off with a single and advanced to second on a passed ball. With 2 out, a dropped pop foul by Stockton 3B Benjamin Winslow gave Kaaihue another chance and he cashed in with a 2-run HR to CF (his 7th). The momentum was short lived as CF Chris Lubanski grounded out to end the game. SP Dusty Hughes dropped to 3-4 as he went 5 1/3 IP and gave up 6 R (5 ER) on 7 hits and a BB with 6 Ks as his ERA grew to 5.32. RP Nate Moore went 1 2/3 IP and gave up only 2 hits and K'd 2 as his ERA shrunk to 3.45. RP Chris Demaria pitched an inning and gave up 1 ER on 2 hits while K'ing 2. His ERA is 3.04. Lubanski was 2-5 to improve to .213 while 3B Billy Butler was 0-5 to drop to .356. RF Mitch Maier was 1-2 to improve to .345 but left the game after the 3rd inning for an unknown reason (to me, anyway). Kaaihue was 1-3 with a HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB and 3 RS to drop to .365. Powell was 0-2 with 2 BB and an RBI to drop to .325. Butler's bad day also included his 16th error in the field.

High Desert is 23-22 and 1 1/2 games back of Lake Elsinore. Anyone know a good site to get the California League daily pitching matchups? The Mavs' site and the MiLB website are less than adequate when it comes to those pitching probables. Anyway, the Mavs and Stockton face off in the rubber match of the series tonight.

Low-A: Burlington got shut down by South Bend's A.J. Shappi in a 4-1 loss. The Bees' only run came in the 5th on an RBI groundout by DH Eddie Solis to make the score 2-1 SB. The Silver Hawks scored 2 in the bottom of the inning and Shappi took care of the rest with a CG 6-hitter. Bees SP Patrick Green dropped to 2-3 as he gave up 4 R (2 ER) on 9 hits and 0 BB over 6 IP while K'ing 1 to move his ERA to 3.63. RP Yovany Damico pitched 1 scoreless inning to drop his ERA to 2.62. RP Rusty Begnaud also pitched an inning and gave up 2 hits as his ERA dropped to 8.22. SS Edward Lucas was 1-3 to drop to .321 on the season. RF Geraldo Valentin was 0-2 with a walk and HBP to drop to .291.

Burlington is 20-25 and 7 1/2 games out of first. RH Patrick Hicklen (2–1, 2.38) and South Bend RH Ross Ohlendorf (2–4, 3.91) square off tonight. RHP Kyle Crist was also recently activated from the DL and will work out of the bullpen for now. He last pitched 4/21.