11 July 2005

Royals on the Farm 7/10

AAA: Two Omaha errors contributed to a 5-4 loss Sunday to Oklahoma as Omaha ended up winning the series but stumbled into the all-star break. Omaha scored in the 3rd on an RBI single by DH Denny Hocking to take a 1-0 lead but Oklahoma tied it in the 5th as Omaha made its first error that led to the UER. Omaha took the lead again with 2 in the 6th on RBI singles by C Scott Walter and DH Calvin Pickering only to see Oklahoma knot it up again on a 2-run homer off RP Shawn Sonnier in the 7th. Oklahoma scored 2 in the 9th when SS Luis Ugueto made a throwing error on a ball hit by RedHawks 2B Ian Kinsler that allowed both runs to come in. Omaha 1B Chad Santos homered (his 13th) to lead off the bottom of the 9th and make it a 5-4 game but, with 2 out, CF Adrian Brown walked and then was picked off at first to end the game. SP Danny Tamayo allowed 1 UER on 8 hits and 1 BB over 6 IP with 6 Ks to lower his ERA to 5.44. Sonnier blew his 2nd save with 2 IP of 2 ER on 1 hit and 2 BB with 2 Ks to bump his ERA to 5.59. RP Justin Huisman got the loss with 1 IP of 2 R (1 ER) on 1 hit and 1 BB to drop to 3-1 with a 3.86 ERA. Brown was 2-4 with a BB to improve to .280 (he's leading the active Omaha players in BA) and Santos was 2-4 with a HR and RBI to improve to .253. Ugueto's error was his 12th and Brown made an outfield assist at home.

Omaha is 41-50 and 10 games back of first at the break. The AAA All-Star Game is Wednesday in Sacramento and CF Adrian Brown is the only Omaha player taking part. It was certainly an all-star move he made in the 9th Sunday. The ASG will be on ESPN2.

AA: Wichita had the day off Sunday and gets back into action today against 9-7 Midland as a 4-game series begins. Wichita is 8-8 and tied with Springfield atop the division. The pitching matchup is currently unknown -- by me, anyway, and apparently neither team website guru.

High-A: High Desert cranked up the offense late to take a 7-6 win over Lancaster Sunday. Lancaster scored 2 in the 2nd to take an early lead and the Mavs cut it to 1 in the 3rd on a solo homer by C Adam Donachie (his 7th). Lancaster scored again in the 6th on an RBI by SS Stephen Drew but High Desert tied it at 3 in the 7th on a 2-run homer by Donachie (his 8th). The Mavs scored 4 in the 8th on a solo homer by LF Billy Butler (his 22nd) and a 3-run homer by RF Alan Moye (his 14th) to take a 7-3 lead but Lancaster scored 3 that inning to close the lead to 1. RP Chris Demaria gave up a double in the 9th but that was it as High Desert took the win. SP Dusty Hughes went 7 IP and allowed 3 R (2 ER) on 2 hits and 3 BB with 7 Ks and got the win to move to 5-7 with a 5.62 ERA. RP Stephen Chamberlain went 1/3 of an inning and allowed 3 R (1 ER) on 1 hit and 2 BB to move his ERA to 7.07. RP Greg Atencio got his 1st High Desert hold with 1/3 IP that included a K as his ERA dipped to 3.99. Demaria picked up his 12th save with 1 1/3 IP of 1 hit and 1 K to drop his ERA to 2.54. 2B Pete Maestrales was 2-4 with a BB to improve to .322; Butler was 2-5 with a HR and RBI to move to .361; 1B Kila Kaaihue was 2-5 to improve to .319; CF Chris Lubanski was 2-5 to improve to .271; 3B Brandon Powell was 1-3 with a BB and double to move to .311; and Donachie was the offensive standout in going 4-4 with 2 HR, a double, 3 RBI and 2 RS to up his BA to .289. Lubanski stole his 10th base and SS Angel Sanchez made his 18th error.

High Desert is 10-7 and a game up on Lake Elsinore. 8-8 Rancho Cucamonga comes to town today for a 3-game set. Tonight's pitching matchup is a good one. Quakes RHP Jered Weaver (1-1, 6.28) vs. RHP Billy Buckner (3-2, 4.37). Butler gets to see what Weaver's got, and vice versa.

Low-A: Burlington pitchers had their third great game in a row as the Bees held Beloit to 3 hits in a 1-0 shutout win Sunday. The Bees' only run came in the 4th on a solo homer by 1B Rusty Brown (his 10th) as Burlington only had 5 hits but made 1 count. SP Luis Cota got back on track after a stretch of rough outings with 7 IP of 3 hits and 1 BB with 6 Ks to improve to 3-4 with a 3.65 ERA. RP Adam Rowe got his 6th save with 2 IP of no-hit ball to drop his ERA to 5.06. Five hitters had the hits for Burlington led by Brown, who was 1-2 with 2 BB, a HR and RBI to improve to .286.

Burlington is 9-9 and 3 games back of first. The final game of the series with Beloit is tonight as Bees SP Kyle Crist (7-1, 3.96) tries to keep his good season going against Snappers SP Anthony Swarzak (8-5, 3.86).

Rookie: Idaho Falls had the day off Sunday and is trying to regroup from a 4-game losing streak. 11-7 Billings comes to town for a 4-game set starting today. Idaho Falls is 8-11 and 4 games out of first.

The ASL Royals rebounded from their recent 2-game losing skid to beat the Angels, 7-4. The Angels had one good inning but the Royals came back with 6 in the 6th and 7th to win. The Royals took a 1-0 lead in the 1st on a wild pitch that allowed 3B Pedro Lopez to score. The Angels got 4 runs in the 2nd on 3 hits and 2 BB off SP Paul Raglione before the Royals came back with 2 in the 6th on a 2-run single by CF Joseph Dickerson and 4 in the 7th on a 2-run single by Lopez, an RBI triple by SS Jeff Bianchi and an RBI double by RF Matt Diaz. Raglione went 4 IP and allowed 4 ER on 6 hits and 3 BB with 1 K to make his ERA 7.71. RP Brent Fisher got the win with 5 IP of 2 hits and a BB with 6 Ks to move to 3-1 with a 5.65 ERA. Lopez was 2-3 with 2 BB, 2 RBI and 3 RS to improve to .390; Bianchi was 2-4 with a BB, triple, RBI and 2 RS to improve to .483; Diaz was 1-4 with a double and RBI to drop to .462; and Dickerson was 1-4 with an RBI to drop to .355.

The ASL Royals are 11-5 and 1 game back of the Giants. They have today off before playing the Rangers tomorrow.

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