Royals on the Farm 6/21

AAA: Four Omaha relievers no-hit New Orleans over 5 1/3 IP and the O-Royals got a 3-2 win over the Zephyrs. Omaha scored once in the 1st on an RBI double by C Paul Phillips after a leadoff triple by CF Adrian Brown. The Zephyrs scored 2 in the second to take the lead but Omaha fought back with 2 in the 4th on an RBI double by 3B Chris Truby and a sac fly by SS Luis Ugueto. From then on it was the bullpen's game as Omaha held on to win. SP Kyle Snyder in his second rehab start went 3 2/3 IP and allowed 2 ER on 5 hits to move his ERA to 1.93. RP Shane Nance got the win to move to 1-2. He went 2 1/3 IP and walked 3 with 1 K to drop his ERA to 3.12. RP Danny Tamayo, usually a starter, got his 1st hold with 1 IP that included 1 BB. His ERA is 5.15. RP Matt Ford got his 2nd hold with 1/3 IP and walked 2. His ERA is 3.86. RP Santiago Ramirez got his 3rd save with 1 2/3 IP that included 2 Ks. His ERA sagged to 6.57. Phillips was 2-4 with the double and RBI to move to .269 on the season. 2B Justin Gemoll was 0-4 to drop to .300.

Omaha is 34-39 and 5 games back of Nashville. RH Denny Bautista (0-0, 0.00) makes his first rehab start tonight vs. LH Joey Eischen (0-0, 0.00). In other O-Royals news, OF Cory Aldridge was called up to Omaha from Wichita. Aldridge was a Texas League All-Star. In 67 games for Wichita, he hit .279 with a league-leading 15 home runs and 50 RBI, which was tied for third most in AA. (Hey, we're using AAA!)

AA: In the Texas League All-Star Game, Wichita's representative team, the East, fell to the West, 5-0, as Midland's Andre Ethier (A's hot prospect) was MVP after robbing a homer. He also won the home run derby. As for Wichita's representatives, SS Mike Aviles was 1-2 with a K, LF Cory Aldridge was 1-4 with 2 Ks, 1B Josh Pressley was 0-1, and P Kyle Middleton pitched a hitless inning, as did P Shawn Sonnier. The game featured 15 singles and 0 XBH.

High-A: High Desert SP Dusty Hughes gave up 3 runs in the 5th and the Mavs went on to a 5-2 loss to Modesto. CF Chris Lubanski drove in the first run of the game on a sac fly in the 2nd but Modesto tied it in the bottom of the inning. High Desert scored its second run in the 5th on an RBI single by C Adam Donachie but the 3 runs allowed by Hughes that inning sealed the Mavs' fate. Hughes went 6 innings and allowed 4 R (2 ER) on 7 hits and 1 BB with 8 Ks to move his ERA to 5.79. RP Drew Endicott went 1 1/3 IP and allowed 1 ER on 3 hits and 2 BB with 2 Ks to move his ERA to 4.44. RP Chris Demaria went 2/3 IP and allowed nothing to get his ERA to 3.03. LF Billy Butler was 1-4 to drop to .358; 1B Kila Kaaihue was 1-3 with a BB and double to move to .328; and 3B Brandon Powell was 0-3 to drop to .323. SS Angel Sanchez committed his 15th error. Colorado 1st-rounder SS Troy Tulowitzki made his pro debut in the game for the Nuts and went 0-4.

High Desert is 1-1. Modesto's Ubaldo Jimenez (4-3, 4.27) goes to the mound against the Mavs’ Billy Buckner (2-1, 5.40) in tonight's series finale.

Low-A: In the Midwest League All-Star Game, Burlington's players on the West team were on the losing side of a 4-2 game as Burlington SP Luis Cota got the loss. In his 1 inning of work in the 2nd, Cota gave up 3 ER on 4 hits and a BB with 1 K. 1B Rusty Brown was 1-2 in the game. South Bend CF Jereme Milons was the MVP with 3 RBI for the East. OF Geraldo Valentin and RP Yovany Damico didn't play in the game.

Rookie: Idaho Falls started the season off right with an 18-4 win over Casper in the season opener. The Chukars scored 1 in the 1st on an RBI single by 1B Blake Adkison and added 2 in the 3rd on a 2-run homer by Adkison. Casper scored twice that inning to close the gap to 3-2 but Idaho Falls scored 7 in the 4th on an RBI single by SS Christopher McConnell, a fielding error on a ball hit by Adkison, another fielding error on a ball hit by 3B Shawn Hayes, a 2-run double by 2B Gary Perez, an RBI ground out by DH Jase Turner and an RBI single by CF Andrew Larsen. The onslaught continued with 5 in the 6th on an RBI single by LF Antonio Sabatini and a grand slam by RF Felix Peguero. The Chukars tacked on 2 in the 7th on solo homers by Adkison (second of the game) and Turner. The final run came in the 8th on an RBI single by McConnell. SP Rusty Begnaud got the win to start 1-0. He went 5 2/3 IP and allowed 4 ER on 7 hits with 3 Ks to establish a 6.35 ERA. RP David Henninger got his 1st save with 3 1/3 IP of 3 BB and 3 Ks to start off with a 0.00 ERA. Peguero was 2-5 with the HR and 4 RBI; McConnell was 3-5 with a BB and 2 RBI; Adkison was 3-6 with 2 HR and 5 RBI; Perez was 4-5 with 3 doubles and 2 RBI; Larsen was 3-5 with an RBI; and Sabatini was 3-4 with an RBI.

Idaho Falls is 1-0. The 4-game set with Casper continues tonight.

The ASL Royals start the season today against the ASL Rangers before taking on the Cubs tomorrow and the A's Friday.