Royals on the Farm 7/16

AAA: Omaha put an end to an 8-game road losing streak Saturday with a 5-4 win over Iowa. The O-Royals tied the game at 1 in the 2nd on an RBI double by DH Cal Pickering and took the lead in the 4th on a solo homer by 2B Justin Gemoll (his 7th). Another run in the 6th on another Pickering RBI double gave Omaha a 3-1 lead before Iowa scored to close the gap in the bottom of the frame. Omaha added runs in the 7th and 8th on a solo homer by 3B Chris Truby (his 11th) and a Gemoll RBI single before RP Jaime Cerda gave up 2 runs in the bottom of the 8th to make it close. RP Santiago Ramirez sat Iowa down quietly to close it out. SP Dennis Tankersley got the win with 5 IP of 1 ER on 6 hits and a BB with 1 K to move to 7-6 with a 4.65 ERA. RP Shane Nance got his 3rd hold with 2 IP of 1 ER on 1 hit with 3 Ks to move his ERA to 4.11. Cerda got his 5th hold despite giving up 2 R (1 ER) on 4 hits over 1/3 IP to move his ERA to 7.77 and Ramirez got his 6th save with 1 2/3 IP of 1 hit and 1 K to drop his ERA to 5.70. Gemoll was 3-3 with a BB, double, HR, 2 RBI and 3 RS to improve to .291 and Pickering was 2-4 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI to improve to .253. Truby made 2 errors to get to 7 on the season.

Omaha is 42-52 and 10 games out of first. Today's pitching matchup: RH Danny Tamayo (4-6, 5.44) vs. Cubs RH Jon Leicester (1-3, 6.38).

AA: Wichita extended Frisco's losing streak to 13 games with a 9-4 win Saturday. The Wranglers scored 1 in the 1st on an RBI ground out by 1B Justin Huber and added 3 in the 3rd on RBI doubles by 2B Mike Aviles and RF Brett Groves and an RBI single by 3B Brennan King. Wichita tacked on 4 in the 5th on a 3-run triple by Aviles that he scored on after a Frisco throwing error and an RBI single by LF Mel Stocker. The final run came in the 7th on an RBI double by SS Donnie Murphy. SP Mike Stodolka had a good start with 7 IP of 3 ER on 4 hits and 2 BB with 5 Ks to move to 4-8 with a 5.75 ERA. RP Barry Armitage went 2 innings and allowed 1 ER on 3 hits and a BB with 2 Ks to move his ERA to 4.15. Murphy was 2-4 with 2 doubles and an RBI to improve to .301; Huber was 1-5 with a double and RBI to drop to .345; Aviles was 2-4 with a BB, double, triple, 3 RBI and 2 RS to move to .292; Groves was 2-5 with a double, RBI and 2 RS to move to .236; King was 3-4 with an RBI to improve to .271; and Stocker was 2-4 with a double and RBI to move to .240.

Wichita is 13-9 and 2 games up on first. Today's matchup: RH Brian Bass (8-4, 5.35) vs. Frisco RH Nick Masset (3-9, 6.24).

High-A: High Desert jumped out in front early and held on for a 9-4 win over San Jose Saturday. The Mavs scored 2 in the 1st on an RBI single by CF Chris Lubanski and an RBI force out by LF Billy Butler. Another run scored in the 2nd on an RBI single by DH Bernard Stephens and a 4th run scored in the 3rd on a Butler RBI single. A 4-run 5th blew it open on RBI singles by C Adam Donachie, 2B Walter Sevilla and SS Angel Sanchez and an RBI double play hit into by Stephens. The Mavs' final run came in the 6th on an RBI force out by RF Alan Moye. SP Billy Buckner got the win with 6 IP of 1 ER on 4 hits and 2 BB with 7 Ks over 6 IP to move to 7-10 with a 4.11 ERA. RP Greg Atencio allowed 3 UER on 3 hits and a BB with 2 Ks over 2 IP to move his ERA to 3.69 and RP Stephen Chamberlain went an inning, allowing 1 hit with 1 K to drop his ERA to 7.35. Stephens was 3-5 to improve to .282; Sanchez was 2-5 with an RBI to move to .286; Lubanski was 3-4 with a BB, double, triple and RBI to improve to .282; Butler was 2-5 with an RBI to up his BA to .356; 1B Kila Kaaihue was 2-4 with a BB to improve to .316; and 3B Brandon Powell was 4-5 with a double to improve to .311. Moye had 2 errors to move to 7 on the season.

High Desert is 13-10 and 1/2 a game back of Rancho Cucamonga. No announced starters on either team site.

Low-A: A run in the 8th made the difference for Burlington in a 5-4 win to open the series with Clinton. Burlington tied the game at 1 in the 4th on an RBI single by 1B Rusty Brown and scored 3 in the 5th on a 2-run single by DH Damaso Espino and an RBI single by Brown. Clinton came back to tie the game in the 7th but Burlington manufactured a run in the 8th on two singles, a sac bunt and then an RBI single by PH Geraldo Valentin to take a 5-4 lead before RP Chad Blackwell finished the game. SP Patrick Hicklen went 5 innings and allowed 3 R (2 ER) on 9 hits and a BB with a K to move his ERA to 4.04. RP Gabe DeHoyos blew his 1st save but got the win with 1 ER on 3 hits with 2 Ks over 3 IP to move to 4-1 with a 1.54 ERA. Blackwell got his 7th save with 1 hitless IP to drop his ERA to 2.55. 3B Edward Lucas was 1-5 to drop to .319; Brown was 2-4 with 2 RBI to improve to .286; RF Brian McFall was 2-4 to improve to .242; and 2B Eddie Solis was 2-4 to improve to .195. SS Irving Falu stole his 13th base and made his 12th error in the win.

Burlington is 12-11 and 4 games back of first. The series with Clinton continued today as the game is in progress.

Rookie: A huge 8th propelled Idaho Falls to a 9-8 win over Great Falls Saturday. Idaho Falls fell behind, 2-0, early but scored 1 in the 2nd on an RBI double by C Jeff Howell. The White Sox scored 3 in the 3rd to take a 5-1 lead before the Chukars scored 1 on an RBI single by DH Felix Peguero. A run in the 6th on an RBI force out by LF Byron Barber made it a 7-3 game and the Chukars kept the deficit at 4 with a run in the 7th on an RBI single by 2B Gary Perez. With 2 out in the bottom of the 8th, Barber singled and then moved to third on a double by 3B Joshua Colafemina. CF Ethien Santana drove both of them home with an RBI triple and then the bases were loaded on two walks. 1B Blake Adkison followed with a 3-run single that was aided by a Great Falls throwing error and gave the Chukars a 9-8 lead. RP Matt Kniginyzky set the White Sox down in the 9th to end it. SP Brandon Brantley went 2 2/3 IP and allowed 5 ER on 9 hits and a BB with 1 K to move his ERA to 6.19. RP Mitch Goins went 3 1/3 IP and allowed 2 ER on 5 hits and a BB with 3 Ks to make his ERA 7.84. RP Adam Kalkhof went 2 innings to get the win as he allowed 1 ER on a hit with 3 Ks to move to 3-1 with a 3.38 ERA. Kniginyzky got his 2nd save with 1 IP of 1 hit and a BB with 2 Ks to keep his ERA at 0.00. Santana was 1-4 with a triple and 2 RBI to drop to .378; SS Chris McConnell was 2-4 with a BB, double and 3 RS to improve to .385; RF Andrew Larsen was 2-4 with a triple and 2 RS to improve to .300; Howell was 1-3 with a BB, double and RBI to drop to .341; Barber was 2-4 with an RBI to improve to .241; and Colafemina was 3-4 with a double to improve to .258.

Idaho Falls is 13-12 and 2 games back of Ogden. The series concludes tonight.

The ASL Royals had Saturday off. They are 15-5 and tied atop the league standings with the Giants. They play the Mariners today and the Rangers tomorrow.