Royals on the Farm 6/18

AAA: Omaha turned the offense on in the 4th and didn't look back in a 12-5 win over Round Rock. After entering the inning down 3-0, LF Aaron Guiel homered (his 12th) to lead off the 4th and the O-Royals tacked on 4 more on an RBI double by DH Cal Pickering, a double-play ball by 1B Chad Santos that scored Pickering and a 2-run homer by RF Jaime Jones (his 3rd). Omaha added 2 in the 6th on a 2-run shot by Santos (his 11th) and 5 in the 9th on an RBI double by C Paul Phillips, a sac fly by 2B Justin Gemoll, an RBI single by SS Luis Ugueto and a 2-run double by Jones. Relievers gave up 2 in the 9th but it wasn't enough for Round Rock to escape the 12-5 loss. SP Shawn Camp improved to 2-4 with 5 IP of 3 R (2 ER) on 4 hits with 6 Ks to move his ERA to 4.46. RP Jaime Cerda went 2 innings and allowed 1 hit and 1 BB with 3 Ks to drop his ERA to 12.00. RP Justin Huisman went an inning and allowed 2 R (1 ER) on 3 hits to bump his ERA to 3.91. RP Wes Wilkerson went an inning and K'd 1 to drop his ERA to 4.74. Gemoll was 1-2 with 2 BB and an RBI to increase his BA to .306; Pickering was 2-4 with a BB, double, RBI and 2 RS to improve to .212; 3B Chris Truby was 2-4 with a BB and 2 RS to improve to .283; Ugueto was 2-3 with 2 BB and an RBI to move to .235; and Jones was 2-5 with a double, HR and 4 RBI to improve to .252. Ugueto stole 2 bases to get to 6 on the season. He also committed to 2 errors to move to 7 on the season.

Omaha was 32-38 entering today. RH Danny Tamayo (3-4, 5.38) took on Express RH Taylor Buchholz (5-0, 4.13) in today's game.

AA: Wichita was down, 3-0, entering the bottom of the 5th but put together 5 runs in the next two innings to take a 5-4 win over Arkansas. The Wranglers scored 3 in the 5th to tie the game as DH Rudy Gomez hit an RBI single and CF Mel Stocker followed with a 2-run triple. A 2-run homer by 3B Brennan King in the 6th (his 5th of the season) gave Wichita the lead after Arkansas scored 1 in the top of the 6th and three relievers finished the game for the win. SP Kyle Middleton got a no-decision as he went 5 2/3 IP and allowed 4 ER on 10 hits and a BB with 3 Ks to move his ERA to 3.59. RP Thad Markray got the win to move to 3-2 as he went 2 1/3 IP and K'd 1 but gave up 0 hits and 0 BB to drop his ERA to 4.65. RP Nate Hoelscher got his 5th hold with 1/3 IP of scoreless baseball to drop his ERA to 6.52. RP Shawn Sonnier got his 5th save with 2/3 IP that included 1 K to drop his ERA to 2.18. RF Wilkin Ruan was 2-4 to improve to .224; C Mathew Tupman was 0-2 with a BB to drop to .303; and 1B Josh Pressley was 0-3 to drop to .294. Justin Huber didn't play in that game or today's game. Hmmm, called up to Omaha or KC?

Wichita entered today 34-35. RHP Ryan Baerlocher (0-0, 3.48) took the mound against Arkansas LHP Tim Bittner (1-6, 7.19).

High-A: High Desert split a doubleheader with Bakersfield Saturday. In game 1, Bakersfield pitchers held the Mavs in check as High Desert lost, 4-1. The Mavs' lone run came in the 4th on a homer by DH Brandon Powell (his 11th). SP Chris Coughlin dropped to 0-7 as he went 4 1/3 IP and allowed 4 ER on 4 hits and 3 BB with 1 K to bump his ERA to 6.00. RP Nate Moore went 1 2/3 IP and gave up 1 hit and 1 BB with 1 K to drop his ERA to 4.85. 3B Adam Keim was 0-2 with a BB in the 7-inning game to drop to .304; 1B Kila Kaaihue was 0-3 to drop to .337; Powell was 1-3 with a HR and RBI to move to .341. Kaaihue committed his 10th error in the loss.

In game 2, High Desert pitchers Cesar Herrera and Ryan Braun combined for a 4-hitter to shut out Bakersfield, 5-0. CF Chris Lubanski was a wrecking crew with a 2-run homer in the 4th and a solo homer in the 6th for his 15th and 16th of the season. LF Bernard Stephens hit a solo homer to move to 9 on the season and C Adam Donachie hit an RBI double in the win. Herrera improved to 3-3 with 6 2/3 IP of 4 hits and 3 BB with 5 Ks to drop his ERA to 6.16. Braun pitched the final 1/3 of an inning with 1 K to drop his ERA to 4.15. Keim was 2-3 to improve to .304; Kaaihue was 1-1 with 2 BB to stay at .337; Powell was 0-3 to drop to .341; Lubanski was 2-3 with 2 HR and 3 RBI and 2 RS to improve to .256; Stephens was 2-3 with a double, HR, RBI and 2 RS to move to .266. Lubanski upped his RBI total to 52.

High Desert was 36-33 entering today's finale with Bakersfield.

Low-A: Burlington was shut down by Kane County once more in a 2-1 loss. The Bees scored their only run in the 9th on a bases-loaded walk to CF Kenard Springer but PH Damaso Espino struck out to end the game. SP Justin Sherman dropped to 0-1 with 7 IP of 1 ER on 5 hits and 1 BB with 2 Ks to drop his ERA to 1.65. RP Chad Blackwell went 1 inning and allowed 1 ER on 3 hits with 1 K to move his ERA to 2.51. Burlington only had 5 hits. 1B Edward Lucas was 0-3 with a BB to drop to .316. LF Pete Maestrales was 0-4 to drop to .297.

Burlington was 33-36 entering today. RH Greg Atencio (3–2, 3.24) took on Kane County RH Jared Trout (2–2, 3.38) in today's series finale to end the first half.