Royals on the Farm 6/2

AAA: Omaha and New Orleans split a twinbill of 7-inning contests as the Zephyrs ran away with the opener but Omaha bounced back to win game 2 in the bottom of the 7th.

In game 1, a 4-run 4th helped the Zephyrs to a 9-2 win. New Orleans took a 2-0 lead in the 1st but Omaha pushed a run across in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single by RF Aaron Guiel. The Zephyrs scored the rest of their 9 runs before the O-Royals got their final run in the 6th on a solo HR by 3B Chris Truby (his 2nd). SP Danny Tamayo dropped to 3-4 as he was racked up for 12 hits and 4 BB in 4 innings along with 7 ER and 2 Ks. His ERA grew to 5.40. RP Gabe DeHoyos had another forgettable outing in giving up 2 ER on a hit and 2 BB in 2 IP. His ERA is a whopper at 23.14. Maybe he wasn't ready for AAA coming from low-A Burlington. Another example of the organizational thinking that makes you wonder, "Why???" RP Jeremy Affeldt pitched an inning and walked 1 and K'd 1 to drop his ERA t0 5.40. Guiel was 3-4 with a double and RBI to improve to .277. 1B Ken Harvey played his first rehab game and was 0-3 with a BB to drop to .360. DH Justin Gemoll was also 0-3 with a BB to drop to .309. C Paul Phillips was 2-3 with a double to improve to .244.

In game 2, New Orleans rallied for 4 runs in the final 3 innings but Omaha salvaged a victory with a 2-run 7th to win, 6-5. Omaha was down, 1-0, in the 2nd when 3B Chris Truby cracked a 2-run HR for his 3rd of the season to give the O-Royals the lead. Omaha added 2 in the 4th on an RBI single by 1B Chad Santos and a sac fly by RF Jaime Jones before New Orleans scored 3 runs off Royal relievers and took a 5-4 lead. That was the score entering the bottom of the 7th when a throwing error allowed SS Luis Ugueto to reach second and pushed Jones to third. CF Adrian Brown followed with a single to drive Jones home and after an intentional walk to DH Denny Hocking and a pop out by Guiel, C Scott Walter drew a walk to bring the winning run home and snap Omaha's 7-game losing skid. SP Justin Huisman was tagged for 2 ER on 7 hits and a BB with 3 Ks over 4 2/3 IP. His ERA is 3.68. RP Wes Wilkerson went 1 1/3 IP and allowed 2 ER on 3 hits to increase his ERA to 5.46. RP Shawn Camp got the win to move to 1-3 despite allowing 1 ER on 3 hits with 1 K in 1 IP to raise his ERA to 5.85. Walter was 0-3 with a BB and RBI to snap a 16-game hitting streak and his BA to .333. Gemoll was 2-2 with a BB to improve to .318. Truby was 2-3 with the HR and 2 RBI to improve to .278.

Omaha is 23-32 and 6 games back of Nashville. Zephyrs RH and former Royal Chad Durbin (0-2, 7.71) squares off vs. RH Ryan Baerlocher (0-1, 3.86) in tonight's series finale. The O-Royals then travel to Nashville for a 4-game set.

AA: Wichita RP Brandon Perry gave up 2 runs in the 8th and 9th to help the Wranglers to a 5-4 loss to Corpus Christi in the series finale and spoil a chance for another win for SP Kyle Middleton. Wichita got on the board first with 2 runs in the 2nd on an RBI single by CF Mel Stocker and a steal of home by C John Draper. When was the last time you heard of a catcher stealing home? The Hooks closed the gap to 2-1 in the bottom of the frame and scored 2 in the 5th to take a 3-2 lead. Wichita came back with 2 in the 8th on an RBI double by 1B Justin Huber and an RBI ground out by 3B Brennan King. Perry came in for the bottom of the 8th and allowed a run on a wild pitch before making a fielding error in the 9th to set up the winning run, which scored on a single. Middleton went 7 IP and gave up 3 ER on 6 hits and a BB with 5 Ks to move his ERA to 2.70. Perry got a blown save and the loss to drop to 0-1 after giving up 2 R (1 ER) on 3 hits and 2 BB to make his ERA 5.40. Huber was 1-4 with a double and RBI to drop to .328 and DH Josh Pressley was 0-3 with a HBP to drop to .302. LF Cory Aldridge was 1-3 with a BB to improve to .294.

Wichita is 27-27 and 6 games back of Tulsa. San Antonio (28-26) comes to Wichita for a 3-game set beginning tonight -- I couldn't find tonight's pitching matchup anywhere as the Missions' site was down and it wasn't anywhere on the Wranglers' site. In other news, after the game, OF Mitch Maier was promoted to Wichita from High Desert. Perry was sent back to extended Spring Training, C Jared Price was taken off the DL and sent to High Desert, LHP Justin Nelson was called up from extended Spring Training and RHP Colt Griffin was placed on the Temporary Inactive List. Maier was hitting .336 in 51 games with High Desert. He hit eight home runs and 26 doubles while collecting 32 RBI.

High-A: High Desert scored 8 runs in the final 3 innings to run away for an 11-2 win over Lancaster in the series finale. Lancaster took a 1-0 lead into the 4th when the Mavs pushed 2 runs across on an RBI double by CF Chris Lubanski and a passed ball that allowed LF Bernard Stephens to score. High Desert added a 3rd run in the 5th on a solo HR by 3B Adam Keim (his 10th) but Lancaster sent the game into the 7th with the Mavs ahead by 1 at 3-2. The Mavs got 2 in the 7th on an RBI triple by RF Mitch Maier and an RBI double by SS Angel Sanchez and added another run in the 8th on a wild pitch that allowed Stephens to score. High Desert broke out for 5 in the 9th on a solo shot by Maier (his 8th), an RBI double by Stephens, an RBI single by Lubanski, a wild pitch that scored Stephens for the third time and a sac fly by 2B Walter Sevilla. SP Kahi Kaanoi got the win to improve to 3-6. He gave up 2 R (1 ER) on 6 hits and 5 BB with 1 K to move his ERA to 6.02. RP Stephen Chamberlain was credited with his 5th hold as he went 3 IP and allowed 1 hit with 3 Ks to drop his ERA to 5.30. RP Stephen Bray pitched a perfect inning with 1 K to drop his ERA to 4.88. Maier earned his promotion in style in going 2-6 with a triple, HR, 2 RBI and 2 RS to improve to .336. Keim was 2-5 with a HR, RBI and 2 RS to improve to .286 and 1B Kila Kaaihue was 2-4 with a BB and 2 RS to improve to .364. Stephens was 2-3 with a double, RBI, 2 BB and 3 RS to improve to .280 and Lubanski was 3-4 with a double, BB and 2 RBI to improve to .218. DH Michael Gaffney was 1-3 to improve to .294. Billy Butler was MIA again.

High Desert is 26-27 and 3 games back of Lancaster. There was no Stephen Drew sighting so the Mavs will have to wait to see the D-Backs' new signee. The Mavs host a 3-game set with 29-25 Modesto beginning tonight. The Nuts send SP Steven Register (3-5, 4.89) to the mound against the Mavs SP John Gragg III (3-1, 3.61).

Low-A: Burlington lost to Beloit, 4-2. The Bees scored first in the 4th on an RBI single by CF Alan Moye but Beloit took the lead with 2 in the 5th. Burlington tied the game in the 5th on a solo homer by 3B Eddie Solis (his 3rd) but the Snappers took the lead for good in the 6th and tacked on a run in the 8th for the 4-2 victory. SP Billy Buckner was tagged with the loss to drop to 3-7 as he allowed 4 R (3 ER) on 9 hits and 2 BB with 6 Ks over 7 2/3 IP. His ERA is 3.88 and he gave up 3 HRs. RP Chad Blackwell allowed a hit with a K in 1 1/3 IP to drop his ERA to 2.66. LF Edward Lucas was 0-4 in the loss to drop to .321. DH Rusty Brown was 1-4 to drop to .297. SS Mario Lisson was 0-1 with 3 BB to drop to .244 and Solis was 2-2 with 2 BB, a HR and RBI to improve to .209. Lisson also stole 2 bases to get to 15 on the season.

Burlington is 25-28 and 5 1/2 games back of Wisconsin. The Bees and Beloit wrap up their set tonight as Snappers RH Josh Hill (0–2, 4.36) matches up with RH Luis Cota (2–2, 1.91). Burlington then travels to Dayton for a series. In other news, Buckner and Moye were promoted to High Desert and C Damaso Espino was demoted to Burlington from High Desert. RHP Justin Sherman and OF Jared Ellis also joined the Bees from extended spring training. Moye was batting .259 with a team–high 4 home runs and 32 RBI. Espino was batting .213 with 1 homer and 12 RBI in 25 games with the Mavericks this year. Sherman was the Idaho Falls pitcher of the year in 2004 but injury problems kept him in Arizona to start the season.