Royals on the Farm 6/20

AAA: Omaha and Round Rock traded offensive innings late but the O-Royals came out on top, 5-4, in the final game of the series. Omaha scored 3 in the 6th on a solo HR by SS Luis Ugueto (#4 on the season) and RBI singles by C Paul Phillips and DH Calvin Pickering. Round Rock scored twice in the 7th to make it close but Omaha added 2 runs in the 8th on a 2-run shot by Pickering (his 7th). He's actually been hitting decently lately. That's his 7th HR of the season. RP Santiago Ramirez gave up 2 in the 9th but finished the game for the 5-4 victory. SP Dennis Tankersley had another good outing to move to 5-5. He went 5 IP and allowed 6 hits and 2 BB with 2 Ks to drop his ERA to 4.41. RP Jaime Cerda got his 1st hold at AAA with 1 1/3 IP of 2 ER on 3 hits to move his ERA to 12.15. RP Wes Wilkerson got his 2nd hold with 1 2/3 IP of 4 hits to drop his ERA to 4.57. Ramirez picked up his 2nd save with 1 IP of 2 UER (errors by 1B Chad Santos and 2B Justin Gemoll helped that cause) on 1 hit and a BB to move his ERA to 6.87. Phillips was 2-4 with an RBI to move to .265; Gemoll was 1-3 with a BB to move to .306; Pickering was 2-4 with a HR and 3 RBI to improve to .214; and Santos made 2 errors to move to 6 on the season.

Omaha is 33-39 and 5 games back of first. Omaha starts a 4-game set at New Orleans tonight as RH Kyle Snyder (0-0, 0.87) goes for his second rehab start, this time against Zephyrs LH Matt White (1-2, 3.86).

AA: Wichita is on the all-star break until Thursday. I'll report on the TL All-Star game tomorrow.

High-A: High Desert piled it on early and the pitchers took it from there for an 8-5 win over Modesto Monday. Billy Butler made his return to the lineup, now in LF as expected, and hit a 2-run double in the 1st. CF Chris Lubanski drove him home with a single for a 3-0 Mavs lead. SS Angel Sanchez singled home a run in the 2nd and 2B Adam Keim hit a 2-run double to increase the lead to 6-2. C Adam Donachie added the final 2 runs on a homer in the 3rd (his 3rd) and the Mavs' pitchers spread out 3 more runs allowed for an 8-5 win. SP John Gragg III got the win to move to 6-2. He went 6 IP and gave up 3 R (1 ER) on 6 hits and 3 BB with 2 Ks to drop his ERA to 3.73. RP Stephen Chamberlain went 2 innings and gave up 2 ER on 4 hits with 3 Ks to move his ERA to 6.00. RP Stephen Bray got his 9th save with 1 IP that included 0 hits, 0 BB and 2 Ks to drop his ERA to 4.93. Sanchez was 3-6 with an RBI and 2 RS to up his BA to .277; Butler was 3-5 with a BB, double, 2 RBI and 2 RS to come off the DL in style and move to .361; 1B Kila Kaaihue was 0-4 with a BB to drop to .328; Keim was 2-5 with a double and 2 RBI to move to .302; Lubanski was 3-5 with an RBI to move to .260 (I think his average has gone from something like .210 to .260 in the last two weeks); 3B Brandon Powell was 0-4 with a BB to move to .328; and Donachie was 2-4 with a BB, HR and 2 RBI to move to .265. High Desert left 13 on base in the win.

High Desert is 1-0 for the second half. Modesto LHP Aaron Marsden (3-5, 5.11 ERA) goes against LHP Dusty Hughes (4-6, 6.05 ERA) tonight.

Low-A: Burlington is on its all-star break. I'll report on the MWL All-Star game tomorrow.

Rookie: Idaho Falls starts its season tonight against Casper. The ASL Royals start their season tomorrow.