Royals on the Farm 7/13

AAA: The IL/PCL All-Star Game was played Wednesday night and the PCL won handily, 11-5, thanks to 7 runs in the first 2 innings that included a grand slam by Oklahoma C Gerald Laird, the first ever in the AAA All-Star Game. Omaha CF Adrian Brown came in as a defensive replacement in the middle innings and flew out to the warning track in the 7th, so he didn't contribute to the offensive charge, but he did catch the final out of the game. Omaha is 41-50 and 10 games out of first. They start a 4-game set at the Iowa Cubs' place tonight. Iowa is 41-47.

AA: Wichita made a go of it late but couldn't overcome a 6-run Midland lead in a 6-4 loss Wednesday. The Wranglers were down, 6-0, entering the bottom of the 7th after a 4-run Midland rally that inning. Wichita scored 1 in the 7th on a solo homer by DH Josh Pressley (his 11th) before pushing across 3 more in the 8th on an RBI single by rehabbing RF Matt Diaz and a 2-run homer by 2B Mike Aviles (his 10th). Pressley followed that up with a single but he was the last Wichita base runner as 3B Brennan King popped out to end the inning and the Wranglers went down quietly in the 9th. SP Ryan Baerlocher fell victim to poor run support to get the loss. He allowed 2 ER on 6 hits and 2 BB with a K over 6 IP to drop to 2-2 with a 2.67 ERA. RP Stephen Bray pitched 1/3 of an inning and allowed 2 ER on 2 hits with a K to move his ERA to 4.50. RP Nate Hoelscher went 2/3 IP and allowed 2 ER on 2 hits to bump his ERA to 5.75. RP Colt Griffin pitched a hitless inning with 1 BB to drop his ERA to 3.64 and RP Jonah Bayliss also pitched a hitless inning as he struck out the side in the 9th to drop his ERA to 2.45. 1B Justin Huber was back in the lineup, so no shakeup there, and went 1-4 to drop to .338; Diaz was 2-4 with an RBI to improve to .273; Pressley was 3-4 with a HR and RBI to bump his average to .292; SS Donnie Murphy was 1-5 to drop to .293; and C Mathew Tupman was 0-3 with a BB to drop to .300.

Wichita is 10-9 and in a 3-way tie for first. Tonight's pitching matchup: RHP Kyle Middleton (8-6, 3.97) v. Midland LHP Drew Dickinson (3-7, 5.96).

High-A: A 6-run 7th helped High Desert to a 12-7 win Wednesday over Rancho Cucamonga in the series finale. The Mavs started the scoring with 4 in the 2nd on a RC throwing error, a sac fly by 2B Pete Maestrales, an RBI single by SS Angel Sanchez and a bases loaded walk by LF Billy Butler. The Quakes tied it with 4 in the 3rd and 4th innings before High Desert regained the lead with 1 in the 4th on a solo homer by Maestrales (his 11th). Rancho Cucamonga scored 3 in the 6th to take a 7-5 lead but High Desert got 1 back later that inning on a Butler RBI double. The Mavs then rallied for 6 in the 7th on an RBI fielder's choice by 3B Brandon Powell, an RBI single by Sanchez, a 2-run single by DH Chris Lubanski, a sac fly by Butler and an RBI double by RF Bernard Stephens. The Quakes couldn't scrape together a rally and the Mavs won. SP Cesar Herrera went 3 IP and allowed 3 ER on 6 hits and 2 BB with 2 Ks to move his ERA to 6.03. RP Kahi Kaanoi went an inning and allowed 1 ER on 3 hits and a BB to move his ERA to 6.12. RP Stephen Chamberlain went 2 innings and allowed 3 ER on 5 hits to bump his ERA to 7.49. RP Greg Atencio got the win with 2 hitless IP of 1 BB and 3 Ks to drop his ERA to 3.83 with a 7-2 record. RP Chris Demaria pitched the 9th and allowed 1 hit and 1 BB with 1 K to drop his ERA to 2.49. Maestrales was 2-3 with a BB, HR, 2 RBI and 2 RS to improve to .325; Sanchez was 2-4 with a BB and 2 RBI to up his BA to .286; Lubanski was 2-3 with 2 BB, 2 RBI and 2 RS to improve to .277; Butler was 1-3 with a BB, double and 3 RBI to drop to .358; CF Alan Moye was 2-5 with a triple to improve to .267; Powell was 0-4 with a BB and 2 RS to drop to .301; and 1B Michael Gaffney was 1-5 to drop to .311.

High Desert is 11-9 and tied with Lake Elsinore atop the Cal League South division. A 4-game home set with 11-9 San Jose starts tonight. Pitching matchup: San Jose SP Jesse Floyd (7-4, 4.07 ERA) v. LHP John Gragg III (8-2, 3.84 ERA).

Low-A: Three Burlington errors led to 3 Peoria unearned runs by the 4th inning and Burlington couldn't get its offense going in a 6-2 series opening loss to the Chiefs. The Bees scored both their runs in the 3rd on an RBI single by 2B Geraldo Valentin and a sac fly by 1B Rusty Brown to tie the game at 2 at that point but Peoria took the lead for good the next inning and the Bees only had 4 more base runners in the game. SP Daniel Christensen got the loss with 3 2/3 IP of 4 R (1 ER) on 5 hits and 3 BB with 3 Ks to move to 1-4 with a 3.63 ERA. RP Gabe DeHoyos went 3 1/3 IP and allowed 1 hit and 1 BB with 5 Ks to drop his ERA to 1.46. RP Adam Rowe pitched a scoreless inning and allowed 1 hit to drop his ERA to 4.95. RP Chad Blackwell gave up 2 ER in the 9th on 3 hits and a BB to move his ERA to 2.61. The Bees only had 4 hits in the game, so no one really stood out. There was no word why batting leader Edward Lucas wasn't in the lineup. He's off the DL and his suspension should be over.

Burlington is 9-11 and 5 games back of first. Tonight's pitching matchup with Peoria: RH Patrick Green (4-7, 4.32) v. Chiefs RH Matt Weber (4-8, 3.38).

Rookie: Idaho Falls pitchers gave up 6 runs to Billings in the 5th as the Mustangs poured it on in a 12-7 win. Billings took an early 2-0 lead but Idaho Falls tied it in the bottom of the 2nd on a 2-run homer by C Brady Everett (his 2nd). Billings scored 3 in the 3rd to again take the lead but Idaho Falls, or, better said, Everett, tied it again in the 4th on a 3-run shot (his 3rd). Billings 5th inning surge chased the second Chukars pitcher and the Chukars could only muster 2 more runs in the game -- on a 5th-inning RBI single by 1B Jase Turner and an 8th-inning RBI double by RF Felix Peguero. SP Ryan Dipietro was tagged for 5 ER on 6 hits and a BB with 2 Ks over 3 IP to bump his ERA to 8.47. RP Eliszer Garcia went 1 1/3 IP and allowed 6 ER on 6 hits and 2 BB with a K to bump his ERA to 6.28. RP Matt Kniginyzky went 3 IP and allowed 2 hits with 4 Ks to keep his ERA at 0.00. RP Zane Carlson gave up his first ER of the season on 1 hit with 2 Ks over 1 2/3 IP to move his ERA to 1.35. SS Chris McConnell was 1-3 with 2 BB to drop to .373; Turner was 2-5 with an RBI to improve to .250; DH Kiel Thibault was 2-4 with a HBP and 2 RS to improve to .364; and Everett was 3-4 with 2 HR, 5 RBI and 3 RS to move to .406.

Idaho Falls is 10-12 and 3 games back of first. The series with Billings ends tonight.

The ASL Royals pulled off some 9th inning magic to take a 7-6 win over the Cubs Wednesday. The Cubs took a 4-0 lead into the bottom of the 4th when the Royals broke loose for 5 on an RBI double by SS Jeff Bianchi, a 2-run single by RF Oscar Gonzalez and a 2-run triple by LF Jose Duarte. The Cubs regained the lead with 2 in the 5th and held a 6-5 lead into the 9th having set down 14 Royals in a row. DH Felix Peralta led off the 9th with a single to snap that streak and, with one out, Duarte reached on a fielding error by Cubs SS Sammy Baez. PH Jonathan Saavedra walked to load the bases and PH Alvi Morel hit what was ruled an infield single to Baez, who made a throwing error that allowed the winning run to score. SP Juan Abreu went 4 1/3 IP and allowed 6 ER on 11 hits and a BB with 2 Ks to move his ERA to 7.23. RP Henry Barrera went 2 1/3 IP and allowed only 3 hits and a BB with 2 Ks to drop his ERA to 10.61 and RP Nelson Trifolio got the win with 2 1/3 IP of 4 hits with 1 K to move to 1-1 with a 6.23 ERA. 3B Pedro Lopez was 1-4 with a double to drop to .380 and Bianchi was 1-4 with a double and RBI to drop to .484; CF Joseph Dickerson was 0-4 to drop to .333; Peralta was 2-3 with a BB and 2 RS to improve to .358; and Morel was 1-1 with an RBI to move to .405. Bianchi made his 4th error in the field and the Royals had 3 outfield assists in the game, including 2 at home.

The ASL Royals are 13-5 and a game back of the Giants. They take on the A's today and the Padres tomorrow.