Royals on the Farm 6/23

AAA: Omaha turned it on in the 7th and scored 8 runs from then on in an 8-4 win over New Orleans. The Zephyrs took a 2-0 lead into the 7th as Omaha had managed only 6 hits but the O-Royals tied the game on a 2-run shot by RF Aaron Guiel (his 13th). The O-Royals added 3 in the 8th on an RBI triple by SS Luis Ugueto, an RBI double by CF Adrian Brown and an RBI single by 2B Justin Gemoll. The last 3 runs came in the 9th on a 3-run homer by 1B Chad Santos (his 12th). SP Shawn Camp went 4 IP and allowed 3 R (2 ER) on 8 hits and 3 BB with 1 K to move his ERA to 4.46. RP Shawn Sonnier (promoted back to Omaha) went 2 IP and allowed only 2 hits and a BB with 3 Ks to move his AAA ERA to 6.39. RP Scott Sullivan, making his first rehab appearance, went an inning and K'd 1 to get the win and move to 1-0. RP Matt Ford got his 3rd hold with 1 IP of 1 hit with 2 Ks to drop his ERA to 2.70. RP Santiago Ramirez went an inning and allowed 1 ER on 1 hit and 1 BB with 2 Ks to move his ERA to 6.64. Brown was 2-5 with a BB, double and RBI to move to .271; Guiel was 3-6 with a HR and 2 RBI to move to .259; C Scott Walter was 2-5 to move to .289; DH Calvin Pickering was 2-4 with a BB to improve to .219; and LF Cory Aldridge was 3-5 to improve to .444 at AAA. Omaha left 12 on base. Brown also stole his 24th base. The Royals are doing well so far on their College World Series road trip -- they're 8-3.

Omaha is 36-39 and 4 games back. RHP Danny Tamayo (3-5, 5.15) squares off against Zephyr RHP Chad Durbin (0-2, 6.40) in tonight's series ender. In other Omaha news, CF Adrian Brown will represent Omaha on the PCL’s All-Star Team against the International League team at the Triple-A All-Star Game on July 13th at Sacramento. Brown is the only Royal on the team. He leads Omaha with six triples and 52 runs scored. Sonnier rejoined the O-Royals after going 3-0 with a 2.18 ERA and five saves in 18 appearances for the Wranglers. The Royals have the best road record (22-20) and worst home mark (13-19) in the PCL.

AA: Three Wichita pitchers combined for a 7-hit shutout as Wichita cruised past Frisco, 13-0, in the first game of the second half. The Wranglers scored 3 in the 1st on an RBI single by 3B Mike Aviles, a passed ball and an RBI single by DH Josh Pressley. They added 4 in the 2nd on a 2-run homer by Pressley (his 7th) and a 2-run homer by SS Donnie Murphy (his 3rd) in his first game back off the DL. Wichita added 4 more in the 5th on a grand slam by CF Mitch Maier for his 1st AA homer. The final 2 runs came in the 6th on a sac fly by 2B Brett Groves and an RBI single by LF Mel Stocker. SP Mike Stodolka got the win to move to 2-7. He went 7 IP and allowed only 5 hits and 2 BB with 5 Ks to drop his ERA to 5.64. RP Colt Griffin pitched an inning and walked 1 and K'd 1 to drop his ERA to 4.14. RP Trae McGill also came back from the DL to pitch an inning and allow 2 hits. His ERA is now 4.58. Maier was 3-6 with 2 doubles, a HR, 4 RBI and 2 RS to improve to .266; C Mathew Tupman was 4-6 with 2 RS to improve to .320; Aviles was 2-5 with an RBI to move to .292; Pressley was 3-5 with a HR, 3 RBI and 2 RS to move to .297; 1B Brennan King was 3-5 with a double and 2 RS to move to .267; Murphy was 1-5 with the HR and 2 RBI to move to .300; RF Wilkin Ruan was 2-4 with a BB to improve to .225; and Stocker was 2-5 with an RBI to move to .219.

Wichita is 1-0 for the second half. RH Brian Bass (6-4, 6.50) will take the mound for the Wranglers tonight. In other Wichita news, RHP Stephen Bray has been promoted from High Desert. He went 3-1 with nine saves and a 4.93 ERA out of the bullpen for the Mavericks and allowed just one earned run in 18.1 innings on the road.

High-A: LF Billy Butler took center stage for High Desert once more as he cracked two homers, including a grand slam in the 8th to help the Mavs to an 11-7 win over Bakersfield. The Mavs tied the game at 1 in the bottom of the 1st on Butler's first homer, a solo shot for his 16th of the season. After Bakersfield scored 4 in the 3rd, High Desert scored 2 that inning on a 2-run double by 2B Adam Keim. The Blaze tacked on 2 more in the 4th but High Desert came back with 4 in the frame on a solo homer by RF Alan Moye (his 8th), an RBI single by SS Angel Sanchez, an RBI single by Butler and a sac fly by 1B Kila Kaaihue. The game remained tied at 7 into the bottom of the 8th, when C Adam Donachie started off the Mavs' half by being HBP and replaced at first by PR Walter Sevilla. A fielding error and single by DH Bernard Stephens loaded the bases with 1 out and Butler hit a 1-2 pitch the opposite way for a grand slam. RP Chris Demaria put the Blaze out fairly quick in the 9th to secure the win. SP Chris Coughlin went 3 innings and allowed 5 ER on 6 hits and a BB with 2 Ks to move his ERA to 6.75. RP Cesar Herrera got the win to improve to 4-3. He went 5 IP and allowed 2 ER on 3 hits and a BB with 3 Ks to bump his ERA to 5.95. Demaria gave up 1 hit and K'd 1 in his IP to drop his ERA to 2.95. Stephens was 3-5 with 3 RS to move to .265; Butler was 3-5 with 2 HR, 6 RBI and 2 RS to improve to .364; Kaaihue was 0-2 with a BB, HBP and RBI to drop to .323; Keim was 3-5 with a double and 2 RBI to move to .302; Moye was 3-5 with a HR and RBI to get to .257; and 3B Michael Gaffney was 2-2 with a BB, double and 3 RS to improve to .291. Butler is up to 17 HRs and 56 RBI on the year.

High Desert is 2-2 and 1 game back of Rancho Cucamonga in the early going of the second half. RHP Kahi Kaanoi (4-7, 5.59) starts against Blaze LHP Brian Mattoon (2-3, 3.70) tonight.

Low-A: Burlington stumbled out of the gate in the second half as Beloit scored 5 in the 1st en route to an 8-3 win over the Bees. Burlington was down, 7-0, in the 6th before the Bees scored 1 on a solo HR by SS Irving Falu (his 1st). Burlington scored its final 2 runs in the 9th on a 2-run single by LF Kenard Springer. SP Patrick Green took the loss to drop to 3-5. He allowed 8 ER on 12 hits and 2 BB with 3 Ks over 6 2/3 IP to bump his ERA to 4.71. RP Yovany Damico went 1 1/3 IP and allowed 2 hits with 1 K to drop his ERA to 4.46. RP Adam Rowe went 1 inning and K'd 1 to make his ERA sag to 5.85. 1B Edward Lucas was 1-4 to drop to .315 and Falu was 2-4 with the HR and RBI to improve to .233. He's on an 11-game hitting streak.

Burlington is 0-1 as records re-set with the break. Tonight's game features Snappers RH David Shinskie (0–5, 7.84) vs. RH Patrick Hicklen (4–2, 3.00). In other Bees news, C Derek Norman has been re–assigned to the ASL Royals in the Arizona Rookie League and OF Jared Ellis has been released. The Bees have added C Felipe Del Rosario from the roster of the Idaho Falls Chukars and OF Cody Cure, just signed as a non–drafted free agent out of Abilene Christian University.

Rookie: The night didn't go well for Idaho Falls as they dropped the continuation of their rain-suspended 6-6 tie with Casper, 8-6, and then lost to the Rockies in the regularly scheduled game, 12-11, in a seesaw affair. In the continuation of the game stopped in the 7th, P Adam Kalkhof got the loss to start 0-1. He went 2 innings and allowed 2 ER on 4 hits and a BB with 2 Ks to start with a 9.00 ERA. The only offense added by Idaho Falls was a double by C Brady Everett, who ended up 2-4 on the game with an RBI.

In the regularly scheduled game, Idaho Falls came out swinging with a run in the 1st on an RBI single by 1B Blake Adkison and 3 in the 2nd on a solo homer by C Jeffery Howell (KC's 10th-rounder) and a 2-run single by Adkison. The Chukars scored again in the 3rd on a sac fly by 2B Jeremy Jirschele (30th-rounder) after a Howell triple but were scoreless until the 6th when they scored 3 on a wild pitch and a fielding error by Casper. Those runs gave them a 8-2 lead but Casper scored 3 in the 6th to close the gap to 8-5. Idaho Falls scored 1 in the 7th on a bases-loaded walk by LF Bryan Barber but Casper scored 5 that inning to take a 10-9 lead. The Chukars scored 2 in the 8th on an RBI double by 3B Gary Perez and an RBI single by Howell entered the bottom of the 9th with an 11-10 lead. Two throwing errors, one by Perez and another by Adkison, helped the Rockies score two runs for the win. SP (and 11th-rounder) Michael Penn went 4 1/3 IP in his first pro start and allowed 2 ER on 4 hits and a BB with 4 Ks to establish a 4.15 ERA. RP Eliszer Garcia went 1 2/3 IP and allowed 3 ER on 5 hits to make his ERA 16.20. RP Bruce McCleland went 2/3 IP and gave up 5 ER on 5 hits with 1 K to make an ugly 67.50 ERA. RP Kraig Schambough blew a save with 1/3 IP of 2 hits and 1 K. RP Jacob Eckley got the loss to drop to 0-1 and a blown save despite not giving up an earned run. He went 1 IP and allowed 2 UER on 1 hit and 1 BB. SS Christopher McConnell was 2-4 with a double and 2 RS to move to .429; Adkison was 2-5 with 3 RBI and 3 Ks to move to .400; Howell was 4-5 with a triple, HR, 2 RBI and 3 RS to move to .800 -- only a double short of the cycle in his pro debut. Barber had 2 SBs to lead the charge of 6 with no CS for Idaho Falls in the game.

Idaho Falls is 1-2 and 1 game back of Casper. The teams finish their 4-game set tonight.

The ASL Royals' game with the Cubs must not have happened. Otherwise, it's not posted on the MiLB site. If it happened, I'll report on it later or tomorrow. The Royals are set to face the A's today and then the Padres tomorrow.