Royals on the Farm 7/1

AAA: Omaha's offense sputtered again in a 3-1 loss to Albuquerque Friday to make it 4 Ls in a row. Albuquerque took a 1-0 lead in the 4th but Omaha tied it that inning on an RBI single by 3B Chris Truby but the O-Royals could get no more off Isotopes pitchers as Albuquerque took advantage of 2 errors to score runs in the 5th and 7th to win. SP Kyle Snyder went 5 innings in his fourth rehab start and allowed 2 R (1 ER) on 6 hits and a walk with 2 Ks to make his ERA 1.61. RP Matt Ford pitched 2/3 of an inning and allowed 1 hit and 2 BB to drop his ERA to 1.59. RP Dennis Tankersley went 1 1/3 IP and allowed 1 ER on 2 hits and a BB with a K to make his ERA 4.87. RP Shane Nance pitched an inning and K'd 2 to drop his ERA to 3.72. RP Santiago Ramirez also pitched an inning and walked 1 to drop his ERA to 6.26. C Paul Phillips was 3-4 with 2 doubles to up his BA to .284; Truby was 2-4 with a double and RBI to improve to .272; LF Cory Aldridge was 0-3 to drop to .355.

Omaha is 38-44 and 7 games back of first. Tonight's starters are Isotopes RH Ariel Prieto (4-4, 5.53) and LH Chris George (6-4, 4.76).

AA: Wichita overcame a 5-run Springfield 2nd to pull out a 7-6 win in the series opener. SP Derrin Ebert got shelled in the 2nd as the Cardinals took a 5-0 lead but Wichita came back with 2 in the 2nd on a 2-run single by LF Mel Stocker. Springfield scored again in the 3rd to take a 6-2 lead but wouldn't get a hit after the 4th. Wichita scored 1 in the 4th on an RBI ground out by 2B Brett Groves and tied it in the 6th with 3 runs on a 2-run double by CF Mitch Maier and an RBI single by SS Donnie Murphy. The Wranglers took the lead in the 8th on a sac fly by 3B Mike Aviles and RP Thad Markray pitched a perfect 9th to secure the win. Ebert gave up 6 R (5 ER) on 8 hits and 3 BB over 3 2/3 IP to up his ERA to 6.05. RP Stephen Bray went 3 1/3 innings of hitless relief and walked 1 with 2 Ks to keep his ERA at 0.00. Markray got the win to move to 4-3. He went 2 IP and K'd 1 to drop his ERA to 4.21. Murphy was 2-5 with an RBI to move to .281; C Mathew Tupman was 1-2 with a BB, triple and 2 RS to improve to .310; and Stocker was 2-3 with a BB and 2 RBI to improve to .229. DH Josh Pressley was also 0-1 with 4 BB to drop to .279.

Wichita is 5-3 and still a game up on first place. Cardinals SP Randy Leek (7-4, 3.50) takes on SP Kyle Middleton (7-5, 3.86) on Saturday night. The Wranglers are honoring the '85 Royals tonight and wearing powder-blue throwbacks.

High-A: High Desert let the game slip away late in an 8-6 loss to Lake Elsinore Friday. High Desert tied the game at 1 in the 2nd on an RBI double by C Adam Donachie and, after Lake Elsinore scored 4 in the 4th, scored once that inning on an RBI force out by DH Chris Lubanski. The Mavs took the lead with 4 in the 6th on a 3-run homer by CF Alan Moye (his 11th) and an RBI single by 2B Walter Sevilla. The Storm scored 3 in the 8th and 9th, tho, to take the win. SP Billy Buckner went 5 innings and allowed 5 R (3 ER) on 10 hits and a BB with 5 Ks to make his ERA 4.28. RP Devon Lowery went 2 innings and allowed 1 hit and 2 BB with a K to keep a 0.00 ERA. RP Nate Moore blew his 3rd save and got the loss to drop to 1-3. He went 2 innings and allowed 3 R (2 ER) on 2 hits and 3 BB to make his ERA 4.99. LF Billy Butler was 1-4 to drop to .359; 1B Kila Kaaihue was 1-4 to drop to .319; Lubanski was 2-3 with a BB, double, RBI and 2 RS to improve to .259; and PH Brandon Powell was 0-1 to drop to .300. SS Angel Sanchez made his 17th error. Butler had an outfield assist at home. He hasn't made an error in LF yet, which is good to see.

High Desert is 4-4 and a game behind Rancho Cucamonga. RHP Chris Coughlin (0-7, 6.75) takes the mound against Storm RH knuckleballer Eddie Bonine (2-1, 5.25) tonight.

Low-A: Burlington pitchers Kyle Crist and Yovany Damico held Peoria to 6 hits in an 8-0 Bees shutout win. The Bees scored 1 in the 1st on an RBI single by RF Geraldo Valentin and added 4 in the 3rd on an RBI ground out by Valentin, an RBI single by DH Brian McFall, a Peoria error and an RBI single by LF Kenard Springer. The last 3 runs came in the 6th on a 3-run shot by CF Cody Cure (his 1st pro homer). Crist gave up 6 hits and a BB with 3 Ks over 7 IP to improve to 6-1 with a 3.89 ERA. Damico pitched 2 hitless innings and K'd 4 to drop his ERA to 4.12. SS Irving Falu was 2-5 to up his BA to .255; 3B Mario Lisson was 2-3 with 2 BB and 2 RS to improve to .244; Valentin was 2-5 with 2 RBI to improve to .253; McFall was 2-5 with a double and RBI to improve to .244; and Springer was 2-3 with an HBP to improve to .209. Lisson stole his 20th base and made his 19th error in the field.

Burlington is 4-5 and 3 games back of first-place Quad Cities. SP Matt Campbell (1-5, 3.94) goes for Burlington tonight against Chiefs RH Sean Gallagher (8-2, 1.43).

Rookie: Idaho Falls was shut down by Ogden in a 13-0 loss Friday. The Chukars managed only 5 hits in the loss. SP Rusty Begnaud went 5 IP and allowed 5 R (3 ER) on 8 hits and a BB with 5 Ks to get the loss and drop to 2-1 with a 4.32 ERA. RP Bennett Cromer went 2 IP and gave up 3 ER on 4 hits with 2 Ks to move his ERA to 7.36. RP Kevin Bulger didn't record an out as he allowed 4 ER on 2 hits and a BB to make his ERA 14.73. RP Kraig Schambough pitched the final 2 innings and allowed 1 ER on 3 hits with a K to make his ERA 4.15. SS Christopher McConnell was 2-4 to improve to .310; CF Ethien Santana was 1-4 to drop to .393; and C Jeffery Howell was 1-3 to drop to .381. The Chukars made 3 errors in the loss.

Idaho Falls is 4-7 and 5 games back of Ogden. Orem (5-6) comes to town for 3 starting today.

The ASL Royals had the day off Friday. They are 5-3 and were set to take on the Giants today and the A's tomorrow.