Royals on the Farm 6/5

AAA: Pitchers Dennis Tankersley and Shawn Camp (?!) combined for a 3-hit shutout as Omaha took down Nashville, 4-0. Omaha scored 3 in the 1st as the O-Royals capitalized on 4 Sounds errors in the win. DH Calvin Pickering, just back in the lineup after a short injury layoff, had an RBI double in the 1st and 2B Justin Gemoll followed with a 2-run single. Omaha's last run came in the 9th on another RBI single by Gemoll. Tankersley improved to 3-5 with 5 1/3 IP of 2 hits and 5 BB with 5 Ks to drop his ERA to 5.66. Camp had his second straight decent outing to get his 1st save with 3 2/3 IP of 1 hit and 4 Ks. His ERA is high but closer to normal at 4.74. 1B Ken Harvey was 4-5 to improve to .371 and Gemoll was 2-5 with 3 RBI to improve to .327. Omaha left 12 on base.

Omaha is 25-33 and 5 games back of Nashville. As you may have already heard, J.P. Howell makes his AAA debut tonight for Omaha after less than five starts at Wichita. He'll go up against the Sounds' RHP Rick Helling (4-2, 4.50). Howell is climbing the ladder fast. At least they're letting him pitch at AAA before sticking him in the KC rotation.

AA: Wichita scored 2 in the 8th to tie Sunday's game before San Antonio won it in 11 innings, 7-6. The Missions scored in the 1st to start the game but Wichita tied the score in the bottom of the inning on a sac fly by 1B Justin Huber. San Antonio scored 4 in the 5th to take a healthy lead. Wichita scored 1 in the bottom of the 5th on a sac fly by 3B Rudy Gomez but the Missions got the run back in the 6th to take a 6-2 lead. Wichita pushed across a run in the 6th on an RBI ground out by CF Mitch Maier and tallied another in the 7th on an RBI single by SS Mike Aviles. Wichita tied the game in the 8th with 2 runs on another RBI ground out by Maier and a sac fly by 2B Brett Groves. The score remained tied until the 11th when Missions DH Nathan Espy led off with a homer off RP Barry Armitage. The Wranglers went down in order in the bottom of the 11th to end the game. SP Mike Stodolka went 5 2/3 IP and allowed 6 R (5 ER) on 8 hits and 2 BB with 4 Ks to up his ERA to 5.95. Armitage went 5 1/3 IP and gave up 1 ER on 2 hits with 2 Ks to lower his ERA to 4.76. Huber was 0-3 with a BB and RBI to drop his BA to .321. Maier was 0-5 with 2 RBI to fall to .308. RF Cory Aldridge dropped to .291 with a 1-5 day that included a triple. Aviles was 2-5 with a double and RBI to improve to .281. DH Josh Pressley was 2-4 to improve to .302. Wichita is 28-29 and 7 games back of Tulsa.

The Wranglers have today off before starting a 4-game set at Springfield (29-28) Tuesday. In other news, LHP Justin Nelson was sent back to extended spring training and RHP Colt Griffin was activated from the temporary inactive list.

High-A: Two 4-run innings propelled High Desert to a 10-4 win over Modesto in the series finale. Modesto took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the 2nd before the Mavs' bats awoke for 4 runs on a solo homer by CF Alan Moye (his 5th), an RBI double by C Jared Price and a 2-run double by 2B Andres Blanco, who was making his first appearance. High Desert tacked on 2 in the 5th on a 2-run homer by RF Bernard Stephens (his 8th) and 4 in the 6th on an RBI single by 3B Adam Keim, an RBI single by Stephens and a 2-run single by Moye. SP Cesar
Herrera improved to 2-3 with 6 2/3 IP of 3 ER on 6 hits and 1 BB with 3 Ks to move his ERA to 7.17. RP Stephen Chamberlain went 1 1/3 IP and allowed 1 ER on 3 hits with 2 Ks to bump his ERA to 5.35. RP Nate Moore pitched the final inning and K'd 1 to drop his ERA to 5.21. Blanco was 2-5 with a double and 2 RBI to establish a .400 BA. Keim was 1-4 with an RBI to drop to .302, 1B Kila Kaaihue was 0-3 with 2 BB and 2 RS to drop to .357, Stephens was 2-5 with a HR, 3 RBI and 2 RS to improve to .276, Moye was 3-5 with the HR and 3 RBI to improve to .271, LF Darwinson Salazar was 2-3 with 2 walks to move his BA to .185. DH Brandon Powell was 0-5 to drop to .311 and Price was 2-4 with 2 doubles, an RBI and 2 RS to improve to .500.

High Desert is 28-28 and 3 1/2 games back of Lake Elsinore. The Mavs had today off and will play their next 7 games against the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (22-34) with a 3-game home set starting Tuesday.

Low-A: A 4-run 6th kept Burlington in the game and the Bees forced extra innings before pulling out a 6-5 win in 11 over Dayton. Dayton took a 4-0 lead into the 6th when the Bees got 4 runs on a bases-loaded walk to DH Kenard Springer, a fielding error on a ball hit by LF Derek Norman, a bases-loaded walk to 2B Irving Falu and an RBI ground out by CF Edward Lucas. 4 runs on 0 hits. Dayton grabbed a 1-run lead in the 7th and took it into the 9th when RF Brian McFall drove Lucas home with an RBI single to tie the game. The game was tied at 5 into the 11th when SS Mario Lisson led off the inning with a home run for his 4th of the season. RP Rusty Begnaud set the Dragons down in order in the bottom of the frame to secure the win. SP Patrick Hicklen went 5 innings and allowed 4 ER on 7 hits and a BB with 4 Ks to move his ERA to 3.12. RP Justin Sherman went 2 2/3 IP and allowed 1 ER on 3 hits and a BB with 3 Ks to make his ERA 3.38. RP Chad Blackwell got the win to move to 4-1 as he went 2 1/3 innings and allowed only 2 hits and a BB with 2 Ks to move his ERA to 2.42. Begnaud picked up his 1st save with 1 IP in which he K'd 1. His ERA fell to 6.75. Lucas was 0-5 with a BB and RBI to drop to .318 and Lisson was 2-5 with a HR and RBI to improve to .239. 1B Rusty Brown was 1-4 to drop to .298. The Bees won despite leaving 12 runners stranded. Lucas also committed his 14th error.

Burlington is 26-30 and 6 games back of Wisconsin. The series with Dayton continues tonight as RH Kyle Crist (4–0, 2.08) takes on Dragons LH Joe Wilson (2–0, 5.12). By the way, Burlington's website at www.gobees.com earns the mantle of best organizational website from MLB all the way to the bottom. Check them all out and decide for yourself.