Royals on the Farm 6/22

AAA: Omaha won its third one-run game in a row Wednesday with a 4-3 win over New Orleans. All 4 Omaha runs came in the 7th after the Zephyrs had built a 2-0 lead. The big blow was a 2-run shot by DH Calvin Pickering (his 8th) but LF Cory Aldridge, in his first AAA game of the season, added a 2-run double to make the difference. RPs Wes Wilkerson and Jaime Cerda finished the game. SP Denny Bautista only went 1 inning (don't know if he was supposed to go longer or not) and gave up 1 ER on 1 hit with 2 BB and 1 K. SP/RP Chris George came in and got the win with a good outing -- 6 2/3 IP, 1 ER, 8 hits, 1 BB, 5 Ks. His ERA is now 4.82. Wilkerson got his 3rd hold with 1/3 IP of 1 ER on 2 hits to bump his ERA to 4.73. Cerda got his 1st save with a hitless 9th to drop his ERA to 11.30. 2B Justin Gemoll was 1-4 to drop to .300; SS Luis Ugueto was 1-2 with 2 BB to improve to .236 and stole his 7th base. Six O-Royals each had a hit in the game.

Omaha is 35-39 and 4 1/2 games back of Nashville. Tonight's probable starters are RH Shawn Camp (2-4, 4.46) and Zephyrs LH Ed Yarnall (4-5, 6.44).

AA: Wichita (35-35 and 8 games back of Tulsa) wrapped up its all-star break Wednesday and starts a 4-game set at Frisco (29-41) tonight. RHP Nick Masset (3-6, 6.16) goes for Frisco tonight against whoever Wichita sends out. The website doesn't specify.

High-A: High Desert gave up 4 runs in the 7th and scraped together only 3 hits in a 4-2 loss to Modesto Wednesday. The Mavs took a 1-0 lead in the 4th on an RBI single by 2B Adam Keim and held on to it into the 7th when the Nuts broke free for 4 runs. CF Chris Lubanski hit an RBI double in the 9th to make it a 2-run game but no other Mav could reach base. SP Billy Buckner picked up the loss to drop to 5-9 despite a good start. He went 6 1/3 IP and allowed 3 ER on 4 hits and a BB with 3 Ks to move his ERA to 4.21. RP Nate Moore pitched the final 1 2/3 innings and allowed 1 ER on a HR (a 3-run shot of which 2 were credited to Buckner). His ERA is now 4.87. LF Billy Butler was 1-3 with a BB and 2 RS to drop his BA to .358. 1B Kila Kaaihue was 0-2 with 2 BB to drop his BA to .326; DH Brandon Powell was 0-4 to drop to .316; and Lubanski was 1-4 with the double, RBI and 3 Ks to drop to .257.

High Desert is 1-2 on the second half. The Mavs start a 3-game home set (the last series before the all-star break) with Bakersfield (3-0) tonight. No announced starters on the website.

Low-A: Burlington (34-36 and 5 games back) also wrapped up its all-star break Wednesday and is set for a 4-game home series against Beloit (33-37). RH Patrick Green (3–4, 4.01) will start for the Bees in tonight's series opener.

Rookie: Idaho Falls scored 3 in the 7th to tie the game with Casper at 6 before rain intervened, causing the remaining 2 1/2 innings to be played before tonight's game. The Chukars scored in the 1st on an RBI double by 3B (and 5th-round pick) Shawn Hayes and added a run in the 2nd on an RBI single by RF Felix Peguero. Casper scored 3 in the 3rd (all unearned after a two-out error by SS Christopher McConnell) to grab the lead but Idaho Falls tied it in the 4th on an RBI single by C Brady Everett. Casper again scored 3 in the 5th but the Chukars tied it in the 7th on a solo homer by CF (and 13th-rounder) Andrew Larsen (his 1st pro homer) and a 2-run shot by Peguero (a 28th-rounder -- his 2nd after hitting a granny in the season opener). The bottom of the 7th didn't happen so that's where the game resumes tonight. Sixth-round pick SP Ryan Dipietro went 2 2/3 IP and allowed the 3 UER on 4 hits and a BB with 3 Ks to keep a 0.00 ERA. RP Mitch Goins went 2 1/3 IP and allowed 3 ER on 6 hits to establish an 11.57 ERA. 25th-rounder RP Kevin Bulger had gone 1 inning and allowed 1 hit with 2 Ks before the rain came. Peguero is 2-4 with a HR and 3 RBI in the game thus far to get to 7 ribbies in 1 2/3 games this season. Six other Chukars have 1 hit each in the game, led by Larsen, who is 1-1 with a BB, HR and RBI along with 2 RS. Peguero also has an outfield assist at second in the game.

Idaho Falls is still 1-0 entering tonight.

In their season opener, the ASL Royals dropped a slugfest to the Rangers, 11-10, despite a 4-run 9th. The Royals struck first in the 4th on an RBI single by CF Oscar Gonzalez and tacked on 2 in the 5th on a 2-run triple by RF Alvi Morel. The Rangers scored 2 that inning to make it a 3-2 game but the Royals came back with 2 of their own in the 6th on an RBI triple by PH-RF Joseph Dickerson (the 4th-rounder in his first pro AB) and a sac fly by 1B Willie Matos to score Dickerson and make it a 5-2 game. The lead was short-lived as the Rangers scored 4 in the 6th and 2 in the 7th to take an 8-5 advantage. The Royals scored once in the 8th on an RBI ground out by Gonzalez but the Rangers scored 3 that inning to take an 11-6 lead. Gonzalez hit a 2-run single with 1 out in the 9th to make it 11-8 and, with 2 out, Matos added a 2-run single to make it a 1-run game. Second-round pick SS Jeff Bianchi singled to keep the inning alive but 2B Joshua Johnson struck out to end the game. The game was not kind to pitchers' ERAs. Royals SP Angelo Morales did well as he went 4 IP and gave up 2 hits with 1 K to start off with a 0.00 ERA after 1 appearance. RP Drew Coffey went 2/3 IP and allowed 2 R (1 ER) on a hit and 3 BB to make his ERA 13.50 before giving way to RP Gilbert De la vara, who went 2/3 IP and allowed 4 ER on 2 hits and 2 BB to make his ERA 54.00. RP Nelson Trifolio got the loss to start 0-1. He went 1 2/3 IP and allowed 2 ER on 2 hits and 3 BB with 2 Ks to make his ERA 10.80. RP Enrique Barrera went an inning and gave up 3 ER on 3 hits to make his ERA 27.00. 3B Valentino Arce was 2-4 in the game; DH Felix Peralta went 3-4 with a BB and 3 RS; Gonzalez was 3-5 with 4 RBI and 2 RS; Dickerson was 1-2 with a BB, triple and RBI; and Bianchi was 2-2 with a BB in his debut.

The Royals are 0-1 entering today's game with the Cubs. KC has signed all but two of its first 15 draft picks -- 3B Alex Gordon and RHP (and third-rounder) Chris Nicoll still have yet to sign from that group. So far 24 of the 50 are signed.