Royals on the Farm 6/15

AAA: The O-Royals snapped their five-game skid with an 8-7 win over Oklahoma. Omaha scored 1 in the 2nd on an RBI double by 1B Chad Santos and added 3 in the 4th on a 3-run double by Santos to grab a 4-0 lead. A run in the 5th made it 5-0 as C Paul Phillips hit an RBI single. Oklahoma made it 5-3 with a 3-run 5th but Omaha pushed across another run in the 6th on an RBI single by 2B Denny Hocking after a triple by CF Adrian Brown. Oklahoma tied the game in the 7th but Omaha again fought back with 2 in the 8th on an RBI force out by Brown and an RBI single by LF Aaron Guiel after Brown stole second and third for his 21st and 22nd swipes of the season. Oklahoma scored once in the bottom of the 8th but RP Justin Huisman took care of business in the 9th to give Omaha the 8-7 win. SP Jimmy Gobble went 5 IP and allowed 3 ER on 10 hits and a BB with 3 Ks to move his ERA to 6.63. Huisman got both his 2nd blown save and 3rd win to move to 3-0 as he went 4 IP and allowed 4 ER on 6 hits with 2 Ks (he also gave up 3 HRs) to bump his ERA to 3.80. 3B Justin Gemoll was 2-5 with a double to improve to .309, DH Cal Pickering was 2-4 with a BB, double and 2 RS to improve to .189, Phillips was 2-5 with a double and RBI to move his BA to .258, Santos was 3-5 with 2 doubles and 4 RBI to improve to .255 and RF Jaime Jones was 2-5 with a double to increase his average to .252. Oklahoma 2B Ian Kinsler, who single-handedly did in Omaha Tuesday with 2 HRs, went 2-5 but got picked off by Huisman at first and committed 2 errors in the loss.

Omaha is 29-38 and 6 1/2 games out of first. RH Kyle Snyder (0-0, 0.00) makes his first rehab start tonight vs. Oklahoma RH John Hudgins (2-3, 4.61) in the final game of the series.

AA: It wasn't a good day to be a Wichita Wrangler as Tulsa ran away with a 10-2 win Wednesday. Tulsa scored 5 in the 2nd and Wichita came back with 2 in the 3rd on an RBI ground out by 1B Josh Pressley and an RBI single by SS Mike Aviles. That was it for Wichita as Tulsa scored 3 in the 6th en route to the 8-run victory. SP Derrin Ebert dropped to 3-2 as he went 5 IP and allowed 7 ER on 10 hits and 2 BB with 5 Ks to jolt his ERA to 5.60. RP Colt Griffin had his second straight poor outing as he went 1/3 IP and allowed 3 ER on 2 hits and 4 BB to bump his ERA to 4.37. Looks like the control wasn't there, again, for Colt. RP Thad Markray went 2 IP and K'd 2 to lower his ERA to 4.93 and usual position player Rudy Gomez went 1 2/3 IP and allowed 1 hit with 2 Ks to keep his 0.00 ERA. No Wrangler had more than 1 hit. DH Justin Huber was 1-4 to move to .329 and Pressley was 1-4 with an RBI to drop to .306. Aviles committed his 17th error in the loss.

Wichita is 32-34 and 8 games out of first. The Wranglers start a 4-game home set with Arkansas (33-33) tonight. RH Brian Bass (5-4, 6.21) will go up against Travelers RH Steven Shell (3-4, 4.84).

High-A: High Desert pulled away in the middle innings for an 8-5 win over Visalia. The Oaks took a 1-0 lead in the 2nd but High Desert tied the game in their half with a solo HR by 1B Kila Kaaihue (his 11th). Visalia scored 2 in the 4th but was once again matched by the Mavs as CF Chris Lubanski hit an RBI double and scored on an RBI single by DH Brandon Powell. High Desert added a run in the 5th on a solo HR by RF Alan Moye (his 7th) and 2 in the 6th on a 2-run single by Powell. Visalia cut the lead to 6-4 with a run in the 7th but High Desert scored 2 that inning on a 2-run shot by Lubanski (his 13th) to get some insurance. SP John Gragg III improved to 5-2 as he went 6 2/3 IP and allowed 4 ER on 10 hits and a BB with 7 Ks to move his ERA to 3.91. RP Drew Endicott got his 2nd hold as he went 2 IP and allowed 1 UER on 2 hits with 2 Ks to drop his ERA to 4.71. RP Chris Demaria got his 6th save with 1/3 IP of 1 hit. His ERA dipped to 2.78. Moye was 2-4 with a BB, HR and RBI to improve to .275, Kaaihue was 2-4 with a HR, RBI and 2 RS to up his BA to .333, LF Bernard Stephens was 2-4 with a double and 2 RS to improve to .263 and Lubanski had a great game with a 3-3 effort that included 2 doubles, a BB, a HR and 3 RBI to improve to .250. His bat is coming around and he's been good defensively all season. Powell was 2-4 with 3 RBI to improve to .335.

High Desert is 33-32 and 4 games out of first. High Desert sends SP Dusty Hughes (4-6, 5.92) to the mound for tonight's series finale with Visalia as the Mavs go for the sweep.

Low-A: A 3-run 9th propelled Burlington to a 5-3 win and series win over Cedar Rapids. Burlington scored first in the 2nd on a sac fly by 1B Rusty Brown and added a run in the 5th on a solo homer by RF Brian McFall (his 4th) to take a 2-0 lead. The Kernels scored 3 that inning to grab a 3-2 lead and the score remained as such until the 9th. CF Geraldo Valentin led off the inning with a single and scored on a 1-out triple by 2B Pete Maestrales to tie the game. Maestrales scored on a wild pitch as pitcher Francisco Cordova had 3 in the inning and McFall drove in C Damaso Espino with a single for the final Bees run. RP Chad Blackwell came in with 2 on and 0 out in the 9th and set the Kernels down quickly to end the game. SP Patrick Green went 7 IP and allowed 3 ER on 8 hits and 2 BB with 5 Ks to move his ERA to 4.01. RP Greg Atencio got the win to move to 3-2 as he pitched 1 inning, gave up 1 hit and a BB and K'd 3 to drop his ERA to 3.24. Blackwell got his 2nd save with 2 Ks in his inning pitched to drop his ERA to 2.30. 3B Edward Lucas was 1-4 to drop to .319 while McFall was 2-4 with a HR and 2 RBI to improve to .240. Maestrales' average dipped to .299 with a 1-4 day that included the triple and RBI.

Burlington is 33-33 and 4 games back of first. RH Patrick Hicklen (4–1, 2.70) takes the mound for the Bees tonight in the first of a 4-game set at Kane County (28-37), who will send LH Ryan Ford (5–4, 4.98) to the hill.