Royals on the Farm 6/14

AAA: The Omaha Royals lost their 5th in a row as Oklahoma 2B Ian Kinsler hit a 2-run walkoff homer in the 12th to give the RedHawks a 5-3 win. Omaha spoiled a decent start from Danny Tamayo as relievers allowed Oklahoma to score its first 3 runs in the 8th (on a 3-run shot by Rangers hot prospect Kinsler) and left the O-Royals to try to tie it in the 9th. Omaha scored first in the 3rd on a solo homer by SS Luis Ugueto (his 2nd) and again in the 5th on an RBI ground out by CF Adrian Brown that scored Ugueto for a second time. Kinsler hit his first homer off RP Wes Wilkerson in the 8th but C Paul Phillips led off the Omaha 9th with a double and was driven home on a 1-out single by Brown to tie the game. Omaha went down quietly in the 10th and 11th but got Brown to third base in the 12th before DH Cal Pickering grounded out to end the threat. Kinsler hit his game-winner with 1 out in the 12th off recent relief workhorse Santiago Ramirez. Tamayo went 7 IP and allowed 2 ER on 6 hits and 2 BB with 4 Ks to bump his ERA to 5.38 and Wilkerson picked up his 3rd blown save in giving up Kinsler's first homer of the game. He went 2 IP and allowed 1 ER on 2 hits with 2 Ks to move his ERA to 4.97. Ramirez dropped to 3-5 as he went 2 1/3 IP and gave up 2 ER on 2 hits and 2 BB with 3 Ks to bump his ERA to 7.22. Brown was 2-5 with a BB and RBI to improve to .268, 2B Justin Gemoll was 0-6 with 4 Ks to drop to .307, 3B Chris Truby was 2-5 to improve to .269, Phillips was 2-5 with a double to move his BA to .254 and Ugueto was 2-5 with the HR, RBI and 2 RS to improve to .223. Omaha left 11 on base.

Omaha is 28-38 and 6 1/2 games out of first. Wasn't it about a week ago they had just swept Nashville and were within something like 3 games from the top? What a difference playing three good teams in a row makes. Ken Harvey has gone back to KC to get his back reevaluated, so he won't be taking away time from anyone in the Royals' camp soon. Tonight's pitching matchup in game 3 of the Oklahoma series is LH Jimmy Gobble (2-7, 6.75) vs. RedHawks RH R.A. Dickey (0-1, 7.07).

AA: Wichita carried a 4-0 lead at one point but tripped in the late innings to drop the game to Tulsa, 8-4. The Wranglers scored 1 in the 1st on an RBI ground out by DH Josh Pressley that plated CF Mitch Maier, who led off the bottom of the frame with a double. Wichita added 3 in the 4th on a 3-run HR by LF Cory Aldridge (his 14th) and SP Ryan Baerlocher left the game after 6 innings with a great outing in hand and a 4-run lead for the bullpen. RP Colt Griffin, who had been pitching well lately, came in and got tagged for 3 runs and RP Nate Hoelscher gave up the other 5 as Tulsa scored 8 in the 7th and 8th innings combined. Baerlocher allowed 2 hits and 2 BB with 3 Ks over 6 IP to drop his ERA to 3.48 but got the ND. Griffin pitched 2/3 of an inning and allowed the 3 ER on 4 hits and 3 BB with 0 Ks to up his ERA to 3.63. Hoelscher blew his 1st save and got the loss to drop to 1-2. He pitched 1 inning and allowed 5 ER on 4 hits and 3 BB to bump his ERA to 6.83. RP Shawn Sonnier went 1 1/3 IP, giving up 1 BB and K'ing 1 to drop his ERA to 2.23. 1B Justin Huber was 1-4 to drop his BA to .331, Pressley was 2-3 with a BB and RBI to improve to .307 and Aldridge was 2-4 with the HR and 3 RBI to improve to .280. The win clinched the first-half division title for Tulsa. C Mathew Tupman picked off 2 Driller runners at first base in the game.

Wichita is 32-33 and 7 games back of Tulsa. LHP Derrin Ebert (3-1, 4.88) and Tulsa RHP Enmanuel Ulloa (1-0, 1.62) are squaring off in the final game of the series as you read this.

High-A: A 6-run 1st helped High Desert to a 9-6 win in the first game of a series with the Visalia Oaks. RF Alan Moye led off High Desert's first at-bats of the night with a triple and scored on a ground-rule double by SS Angel Sanchez. With 1 out, LF Bernard Stephens singled home Sanchez and CF Chris Lubanski followed with an RBI single to score 1B Kila Kaaihue. DH Brandon Powell then struck the big blow of the inning with a 3-run roundtripper (his 8th) to give the Mavs a 6-0 lead. Visalia scored 2 in the 4th but the Mavs pushed across a run in the bottom of that inning on an RBI single by 2B Adam Keim. Two more runs were scored by High Desert in the 5th on a 2-run shot by Powell (his 9th, and second of the game) and the bullpen held off the Oaks for a 9-6 win. SP Kahi Kaanoi improved to 4-6 as he went 7 IP and allowed 3 R (2 ER) on 9 hits and a BB with 2 Ks to move his ERA to 5.32. RP Stephen Chamberlain went 1/3 of an inning and allowed 3 ER on 3 hits and a BB to balloon his ERA to 5.53. RP Nate Moore got his 3rd hold as he went 2/3 of an inning without blemish to drop his ERA to 5.09. RP Chris Demaria picked up his 5th save as he went 1 IP and allowed 1 hit and K'd 1 to drop his ERA to 2.81. Sanchez was 3-5 with 2 doubles and an RBI to improve to .274 and Kaaihue was 0-3 with 2 BB to drop to .331. Stephens was 2-4 with an RBI and 2 RS to improve to .259 and Powell was 2-4 with 2 HR, 5 RBI and 2 RS to move to .331 on the season. C Jared Price was 1-4 to drop to .294.

High Desert is 32-32 and 4 games back of Lake Elsinore. LHP John Gragg III (4-2, 3.76) takes the mound against Visalia RHP Brett Wayne (4-1, 2.13) tonight.

Low-A: Burlington took a 3-0 lead but couldn't hold on as Cedar Rapids scored a run in the bottom of the 9th to win, 4-3. The Bees scored 2 in the 3rd on an RBI single by C Derek Norman and an RBI single by 1B Edward Lucas and added a run in the 4th on an RBI single by LF Kenard Springer. Cedar Rapids tied the game in the 5th and 6th as Bees bats fell relatively silent and the game remained scoreless until the Kernels won it in the 9th on a 2-out single. SP Luis Cota went 6 IP and gave up 3 R (2 ER) on 4 hits and a BB with 3 Ks to move his ERA to 2.48. RP Gabe DeHoyos dropped to 3-1 as he went 2 2/3 IP and allowed 1 ER on 3 hits and 2 BB with 3 Ks to move his ERA to 1.49. Lucas was 2-5 with an RBI to improve to .321, 2B Pete Maestrales was 2-4 to improve to .300 and RF Brian McFall was 2-3 with a BB and double to improve to .233.

Burlington is 32-33 and 4 games back of first. RH Patrick Green (3–4, 4.03) matches up with Kernels RH Karl Gelinas (2–5, 4.41) in tonight's series finale.