Royals on the Farm 6/9

AAA: Omaha kept its winning streak rolling as a wild 12th inning ended up with the O-Royals on top of Memphis, 6-5. Memphis took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the 4th but Omaha scored 4 on a 2-out rally that included an RBI single by LF Chad Santos, an RBI double by 2B Justin Gemoll and a 2-run homer by 3B Chris Truby (his 5th). Memphis tied the score with runs in the 5th and 8th innings and the game went to extras. In the top of the 12th, Memphis CF Raul Gonzalez walked with 1 out and the next batter, LF John Gall, hit a foul pop-up that 1B Ken Harvey dropped. In normal fashion, Gall singled to take advantage of the miscue and Gonzalez scored on a sac fly later in the inning. In the bottom of the inning, SS Luis Ugueto singled to lead off for Omaha but CF Adrian Brown screwed up a sac bunt and Ugueto was forced at second, although Brown reached first. DH Denny Hocking walked and RF Aaron Guiel flew out to bring Harvey to the plate. He made up for his blunder by doubling in 2 runs to give Omaha the come-from-behind 6-5 win. It took 6 Omaha pitchers to get the job done. SP Danny Tamayo allowed 3 ER on 8 hits and 4 BB in 5 innings with 2 Ks to move his ERA to 5.40. RP Wes Wilkerson went 2 innings and K'd 1 to drop his ERA to 4.86 and RP Justin Huisman went 2 IP and was charged with 1 ER on 1 hit and 1 BB with 2 Ks to move his ERA to 3.48. RP Shawn Camp went 2 1/3 IP and allowed 1 UER on 3 hits and a BB with 2 Ks to drop his ERA to 4.33. RP Jaime Cerda pitched to 1 batter and walked him so his ERA stayed at 17.47 and RP Santiago Ramirez ended up getting the win to improve to 3-3 with 2/3 IP that included 1 K. His ERA slipped to 5.28. Hocking was 0-5 with a BB to drop to .290, Harvey was 1-6 with the double and 2 RBI to drop to .346, C Scott Walter was 0-5 to drop to .301, Gemoll was 2-4 with a BB, double and RBI to improve to .322 and Truby was 2-5 with a HR and 2 RBI to improve to .257. Brown stole his 18th base in the victory and Guiel had another outfield assist in nailing a runner at home.

Omaha is 28-33 and 3 games behind Nashville. The O-Royals will try to keep the hot streak going tonight as Redbirds RH Chris Gissell (4-5, 2.78) goes up against LH Jimmy Gobble (2-6, 6.75).

AA: The scoring ended rather early but Wichita found itself on the right end of the total as the Wranglers defeated Springfield, 4-2, to gain an edge in the series. Wichita scored in the 1st on an RBI single by 3B Brennan King but the Cardinals tied the game in the 1st and took a 1-run lead into the 3rd. DH Justin Huber led off the Wichita half of the 3rd with a single and stole second for his 6th of the year. With 2 out, LF Cory Aldridge drove Huber home with a single and, after Aldridge stole second (his 8th) and advanced to third on a throwing error by the Springfield catcher, SS Mike Aviles homered to give the Wranglers the 4-2 lead. It was Aviles' 7th homer. After that, both teams' pitchers dug in and 4-2 ended up being the final. SP Derrin Ebert got the W to move to 3-1 as he allowed 2 ER on 6 hits and 2 BB with 5 Ks over 6 2/3 to drop his ERA to 4.88. RP Barry Armitage got his 3rd hold with 1 2/3 IP of 0 ER on 2 hits and a BB to drop his ERA to 4.57. RP Nate Hoelscher got his 4th hold with 1/3 IP of 1 hit and 1 K as his ERA slipped to 5.40. RP Jonah Bayliss got his 3rd save with 1/3 IP to drop his ERA to 2.52. C John Draper was 2-5 with a double to improve to .283, Huber was 2-5 to improve to .324, King was 2-4 with a double and RBI to improve to .240 and Aviles was 2-4 with a HR and 2 RBI to increase his BA to .278. 2B Rudy Gomez was 2-3 with a BB to improve to .189.

Wichita is 30-30 and 6 games back of Tulsa. The Wranglers send SP Brian Bass (5-4, 5.80) against the Cards' Stuart Pomeranz (0-0, 7.36) tonight.

High-A: High Desert withstood a comeback from Rancho Cucamonga to take a 7-6 win in 11 innings. The Quakes took a 1-0 lead in the 2nd but the Mavs scored 3 that inning on a 3-run homer by CF Chris Lubanski (his 10th). High Desert added 2 in the 4th on another Lubanski home run, this one a 2-run shot to make the score 5-1. Rancho Cucamonga closed the gap to 5-4 in the 6th but High Desert scored a run on an RBI single by RF Alan Moye to stretch the lead back to 2. The Quakes made short work of that in tying the game in the 7th. The score remained knotted at 6 into the bottom of the 11th when Moye singled to lead off and was bunted to second. 2B Adam Keim then hit the ball to Quakes third baseman Ivan Reyes, who threw the ball away to allow Moye to score and the Mavs to win the game. SP Kahi Kaanoi went 5 2/3 IP and allowed 4 R (1 ER) on 8 hits and 2 BB with 3 Ks to lower his ERA to 5.62. RP Nate Moore gave up a hit and BB without getting an out so his ERA remained 5.21. RP Eric Ackerman blew his 2nd save with 1 IP of 2 ER on 3 hits with 1 K to bump his ERA to 5.26. RP Stephen Chamberlain went 3 1/3 IP and allowed only 1 hit and 1 BB with 2 Ks to knock his ERA down to 4.91. RP Chris Demaria got the win to improve to 4-2 as he went 1 IP and allowed 1 BB with 1 K. His ERA is great for the Cal League at 2.93. Moye was 2-6 with an RBI to improve to .274. Keim was 1-6 with a double to drop to .298, 1B Kila Kaaihue was 1-3 with 2 BB to drop to .352, Lubanski was a wrecking crew as he went 2-5 with 2 HR and 5 RBI to improve his BA to .232 and DH Brandon Powell was 1-4 with a BB and double to drop his BA to .315. Moye stole his 11th base and had an outfield assist at second in the win.

High Desert is 30-29 and 3 games back of Lake Elsinore. The teams shift to the Quakes' place tonight as Mavs LHP John Gragg III (3-2, 4.04) goes up against RHP James Holcomb (3-3, 4.63). The Mavs' new site is up and running at http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/app/index.jsp?sid=t504. It's a nice improvement.

Low-A: Burlington also had to fend off a comeback as Fort Wayne scored 3 in the 9th but the Bees somehow pulled out an 8-7 win. The Bees scored 1 in the 1st thanks to 2 Fort Wayne errors that eventually allowed CF Geraldo Valentin to score. Burlington added 2 in the 2nd on a solo HR by 1B Rusty Brown (his 3rd) and an RBI single by SS Edward Lucas. The Wizards tied the game in the 3rd and took a 1-run lead in the 5th but Burlington came back with 3 in the 6th on an RBI single by 2B Eddie Solis and a 2-run double by Valentin. The Bees added a run in the 8th on an RBI single by C Damaso Espino and took a 7-4 lead into the 9th. The Wizards rallied to tie the game with 3 UER off RP Justin Sherman thanks to a Brown error but, with 2 out in the bottom of the 9th, DH Kenard Springer singled, LF Jared Ellis walked and Valentin came through with an RBI single (along with a boot by the FW 1B) to win the game. SP Luis Cota had a rough start as he gave up 4 ER on 8 hits and 5 BB in 5 innings with only 3 Ks. His ERA grew to 2.43. Sherman went 3 2/3 IP and allowed the 3 UER on 2 hits with 4 Ks to lower his ERA to 1.42. RP Chad Blackwell got the win to improve to 5-1 as he pitched 1/3 of an inning and K'd 1 to drop his ERA to 2.39. Valentin broke out of a funk to go 4-5 with a double, BB and 2 RBI to improve to .276 and Lucas was 2-5 with an RBI to improve to .311. Espino was 2-4 with a double, BB and RBI to improve to .257, Brown was 2-5 with a HR and RBI to improve to .294 and Springer was 2-5 with 2 RS to improve to .201. The Bees left 12 on base and 3B Mario Lisson picked up his 16th steal. Lucas also committed his 15th error.

Burlington is 28-31 and 5 1/2 games out of first. They square off in a doubleheader with Fort Wayne today. Game 1 pits RH Luke Steidlmayer (6–2, 1.90) vs. Bees RH Patrick Green (3–4, 4.01) and game 2 matches up RH Vern Sterry (2–2, 5.35) and Burlington RH Greg Atencio (2–2, 4.26). In other news, four Bees were named to the Western Division all-star team: 1B Rusty Brown, OF Geraldo Valentin, and RHP's Luis Cota and Yovany Damico. Four is the most players the Bees have had selected to the All–Star team in the last seven seasons. I can't believe Edward Lucas wasn't picked. He's the best contact hitter on the team. Maybe it's his defense. The Midwest League All–Star Game will be played at Peoria on Tuesday, June 21.