Royals on the Farm 6/16

AAA: Omaha won its second in a row as the pitching staff chipped in with a 3-hitter and the O-Royals came away with a 5-0 win. Omaha notched 3 in the 1st on an RBI single by 3B Justin Gemoll and 2-run homer by DH Cal Pickering (his 6th). The 4th run was scored in the 5th inning on an RBI single by LF Aaron Guiel and the final run was scored in the 8th on an RBI triple by SS Luis Ugueto. SP Kyle Snyder went 2 2/3 IP and allowed only 1 hit and a BB with 2 Ks to make his ERA 0.87. RP Dennis Tankersley had another strong outing as he went 4 1/3 IP to get the W to move to 4-5. He allowed 1 hit with 3 Ks to drop his ERA to 4.78. RP Jaime Cerda wasn't a gas can for a change from recent outings as he K'd 1 in 1 IP to drop his ERA to 14.40. RP Wes Wilkerson pitched the 9th and allowed 1 hit to drop his ERA to 4.85. Gemoll was 1-5 with an RBI to drop his BA to .306. Seven O-Royals each had 1 hit in the game.

Omaha is 30-38 and 5 1/2 games back of first. The O-Royals start a 4-game set at Round Rock (34-34) tonight as LH Chris George (4-4, 5.30) goes up against RH Brandon Duckworth (1-2, 5.40).

AA: Wichita withstood a 6-run inning from Arkansas to pull out a 7-6 win in the series opener. The Wranglers scored 4 in the 1st on an RBI double by 1B Justin Huber and a 3-run shot by SS Mike Aviles (his 9th) before adding a run in the 2nd on an RBI fielder's choice by Huber. The Travelers scored 6 in the 3rd, including 3 on a double by 1B and big-time Angels prospect Kendry Morales, who torched High Desert pitching recently for Rancho Cucamonga and was called up to AA earlier this week. Wichita responded with a run in the 4th on an RBI double by C Mathew Tupman to tie the game and took the lead for good in the 5th on an RBI single by RF Wilkin Ruan. After that, RP Jonah Bayliss held Arkansas in check. SP Brian Bass (6-4) got the win despite giving up 6 ER on 5 hits and 3 BB over 5 IP with 4 Ks to bump his ERA to 6.50. Bayliss got his 5th save with 4 IP of 2 hits and 0 BB with 3 Ks to lower his ERA to 2.72. Tupman went 4-5 in the game with a double and RBI to improve to .294; Huber was 3-5 with a double and 2 RBI to improve to .335; DH Josh Pressley was 0-3 with a BB to drop to .301; 3B Brennan King was 3-4 with 2 doubles to move to .268; and Ruan was 2-4 with an RBI to move to .208. He also stole his 10th base of the season. Aviles was 1-4 with the 3-run homer to move his BA to .291.

Wichita is 33-34 and 8 games back of first. The Travelers send RHP Kasey Olenberger (2-3, 3.19 ERA) to the mound tonight against Wichita LHP Mike Stodolka (1-6, 5.66 ERA).

High-A: High Desert IF Adam Keim lived the dream Thursday night with a 2-out grand slam to tie the game in the bottom of the 9th and the Mavs went on to defeat Visalia, 9-8, in 10 innings to sweep the series. Visalia was cruising with an 8-0 lead entering the bottom of the 6th when Mavs DH Brandon Powell cranked a 3-run line-drive homer (his 10th) to cut the lead to 8-3. The Mavs struck for 1 in the 8th on a solo shot by Keim (his 13th) to make it a 4-run game and entered the 9th down by the 8-4 tally. C Adam Donachie and 2B Walter Sevilla walked to start the inning and RF Alan Moye later walked to load the bases with 1 out. LF Bernard Stephens struck out to bring up Keim, who fouled off 6 pitches on a 1-2 count before creaming one (his 14th)from Oaks' RP Juan Salas over the LF fence to tie the game. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases for High Desert again but Donachie flew out to end the inning. 2B Walter Sevilla walked to lead off the 10th and was sac bunted over to second and moved to third on two walks before 1B Kila Kaaihue singled with two out to drive Sevilla home and give the Mavs the win. SP Dusty Hughes went 4 2/3 IP and allowed 4 ER on 9 hits and 3 BB with 6 Ks to bump his ERA to 6.05. RP Stephen Chamberlain went 2 1/3 IP and allowed 4 R (3 ER) on 6 hits and a BB with a K to move his ERA to 5.86. RP Eric Ackerman pitched 2 2/3 innings and gave up 1 hit with 4 Ks before leaving in the 10th with an arm injury. His ERA dropped to 4.81. RP Nate Moore got the win to move to 1-2 with 1/3 IP with 1 K to drop his ERA to 5.05. Keim was 3-5 with a BB, 2 HR and 5 RBI along with 3 RS to improve his average to .297; Kaaihue was 1-2 with 3 BB and an RBI to move to .335; and Powell was 3-5 with a HR and 3 RBI to improve to .343. High Desert drew 13 walks in the game and left 11 on base.

High Desert is 34-32 and 4 games back of Lake Elsinore. The Mavs start a 4-game home set with Bakersfield (33-33) tonight. No starters were announced at the time I wrote this.

Low-A: Burlington was eliminated from the first-half playoff race as they matched Kane County in hits (4) but couldn't in runs as the Cougars took Burlington down, 4-1. The Bees' lone run came in the 6th on a sac fly by 3B Mario Lisson. SP Patrick Hicklen pitched relatively well but gave up a 3-run homer that made the difference. Over 6 1/3 IP, he allowed 4 ER on 3 hits and 3 BB with 4 Ks to drop to 4-2 with a 3.00 ERA. RP Adam Rowe went 1 2/3 IP and allowed 1 hit with 1 K to lower his ERA to 6.30. SS Edward Lucas was 3-4 to make up almost the entire Bee offense Thursday with a double to improve to .327. He also had 2 steals to get to 17 on the season. Is it just me or does he play a different position almost each game? OF, 2B, SS, 3B.

Burlington is 33-34 and 5 games out. The Bees send RH Kyle Crist (4–0, 3.61) up against Cougars RH Michael Rogers (3–3, 4.41) in tonight's tilt.