Royals on the Farm 7/19

AAA: The Omaha Royals had their second 11-10 game in three days Tuesday but, this time, came out on top in a win over Round Rock. The O-Royals' bullpen tried hard to give it away but the offense wouldn't let them. Round Rock had a 4-0 lead in the 4th before Omaha's bats came around. The O-Royals scored 1 in the 4th on an RBI single by 2B Justin Gemoll and 3 in the 5th to tie it on an RBI double by SS Denny Hocking and a 2-run homer by RF Aaron Guiel (his 19th). Round Rock took a 6-4 lead before Omaha scored 4 in the 7th on a sac fly by LF Matt Diaz, who according to the KC site has been taken off the DL, so he must have been stationed at Omaha. The acquisition of Ambres may have cost Diaz his major league spot. Anyway, going on with the 7th-inning scoring, DH Cal Pickering hit a 3-run home run (his 12th) to give Omaha an 8-6 lead. RP Santiago Ramirez served up a grand slam to the first batter he faced in the 8th and Omaha was quickly back down, 10-8. Guiel saved the day, tho, with a 3-run homer in the 8th (his 20th) to help Omaha regain the edge and Ramirez got the Express in order in the 9th. SP Chris George went 6 IP and allowed 5 R (4 ER) on 10 hits with 4 Ks to move his ERA to 5.25. RP Justin Huisman went 1 2/3 IP and allowed 2 R (1 ER) on a hit and BB with 2 Ks to make his ERA 4.00. RP Jaime Cerda gave up 2 UER without an out on 1 BB (and a Gemoll error) to keep his ERA at 7.77. Ramirez blew his 2nd save but got the win with 1 1/3 IP of 1 ER on 2 hits and a BB with 2 Ks to move to 4-5 with a 5.73 ERA. CF Adrian Brown was 3-5 with 2 RS to improve to .278; Guiel was 2-4 with 2 HR, 5 RBI, a BB and 3 RS to improve to .261; Diaz was 1-4 with an RBI to drop to .341; Gemoll was 2-4 with an RBI to up his BA to .295; and Hocking was 3-4 with a double, RBI and 3 RS to improve to .262.

Omaha is 44-53 and 10 games out of first. Tonight's pitching matchup: Express RH Fernando Nieve (2-2, 3.38) vs. RH Shawn Camp (3-6, 4.01).

AA: Wichita SP Ryan Baerlocher had another good start and the offense gave him ample support in an 8-2 series-opener win over Springfield. SS Mike Aviles started off the scoring with a solo homer in the 1st (his 11th), and the Wranglers added 1 in the 2nd on a solo shot by C John Draper (his 1st) before scoring 3 in the 3rd on an Aviles RBI double and 2-run homer by 1B Justin Huber (his 12th). The last 3 Wrangler runs came in the 6th on a solo homer by 3B Brennan King (his 7th) and sac flies by RF Brett Groves and CF Mitch Maier. Baerlocher took a no-hitter into the 6th before giving up 2 runs in the 7th and getting pulled. He went 6 1/3 IP and allowed 2 ER on 3 hits and 2 BB to move to 3-2 with a 2.70 ERA. RP Stephen Bray went 1 2/3 hitless IP with 2 Ks to drop his ERA to 2.53 and RP Colt Griffin went an inning and allowed 2 hits with 2 Ks to drop his ERA to 4.07. Aviles was 2-5 with a double, HR, RBI and 2 RS to improve to .292; Huber was 3-5 with a double, HR and 2 RBI to improve to .347; King was 2-4 with a BB, double, HR and RBI to improve to .277; and Draper was 2-3 with a HR, RBI and 2 RS to improve to .278. Huber made his 12th error in the field.

Wichita is 14-10 and 2 1/2 games up on first. Tonight's pitching matchup: RH Kyle Middleton (8-6, 4.09) vs. Cardinals RH Chris Lambert (1-2, 4.43). In other Wranglers news, SS Donnie Murphy (who didn't play Tuesday night) was named the Texas League Player of the Week for July 11-17. Over the week, Murphy went 12-28 (.429) with 4 home runs, 4 doubles, and 7 RBI, with 10 runs scored. He hit in all seven games as part of a current 13-game hit streak. Murphy, who has been the center of some "call up to KC" rumors lately, is hitting .394 in July, hitting in 15 of 16 games. He’s hit 7 of his 10 home runs this month and driven in 14 runs.

High-A: High Desert lost its second straight to Visalia in a 16-6 loss Tuesday. The Mavs jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the 2nd on a 3-run homer by C Jared Price (his 7th) but then watched Visalia score 8 unanswered runs over the next 3 innings. The Mavs got back on the board in the 6th on an RBI single by CF Alan Moye but the Oaks came back with 5 more to take a 13-4 lead. High Desert scored in the 7th and 9th on an RBI double by DH Chris Lubanski and a solo homer by 2B Pete Maestrales (his 12th) but it was Visalia's night. SP John Gragg III got the loss with 5 IP of 8 ER on 9 hits and 3 BB with 4 Ks to drop to 8-3 with a 4.24 ERA. RP Stephen Chamberlain went an inning and allowed 5 ER on 6 hits and a BB to bump his ERA to 8.05. RP Drew Endicott went 2 IP and allowed 3 ER on 5 hits with a K to move his ERA to 5.78. Maestrales was 1-5 with the HR and RBI to drop to .319; Lubanski was 1-5 with a double and RBI to drop to .280; LF Billy Butler was 1-5 with a double to drop to .346; 1B Kila Kaaihue was 1-4 to drop to .313; Moye was 3-4 with a double and RBI to improve to .282; RF Bernard Stephens was 2-4 to move to .287; Price was 2-4 with a HR and 3 RBI to improve to .328; and 3B Brandon Powell was 1-4 to drop to .303.

High Desert is 14-12 and 1/2 a game back of first. No starters announced as of this writing on either team site for the series finale.

Low-A: Burlington won its 6th straight with an 11-5 win over Clinton Tuesday to complete a sweep. Clinton took a 3-0 lead in the 3rd but then the Bees took over. Burlington scored 6 in the 4th on RBI singles by 1B Eddie Solis and C Damaso Espino, a 2-run single by 3B Edward Lucas, an RBI double by DH Rusty Brown and a wild pitch. The Bees went on to score 1 in each the 5th and 6th on an RBI triple by CF Cody Cure and an RBI single by 2B Geraldo Valentin before scoring 3 in the 7th on an RBI ground out by SS Irving Falu and a 2-run single by Espino. SP Patrick Green went 6 IP for the win, giving up 3 ER on 7 hits with 2 Ks to move to 5-7 with a 4.30 ERA. RP Gabe DeHoyos pitched a hitless inning with 1 K to drop his ERA to 1.52. RP Kraig Schambough allowed 1 hit and 1 BB with 1 K in 1 IP to drop his ERA to 8.10 and RP Chad Blackwell gave up 2 UER on 1 IP with 1 hit with 1 BB to drop his ERA to 2.44. Lucas was 2-5 with 2 RBI and 2 RS to improve to .318; Espino was 4-5 with 3 RBI to improve to .265; Brown was 2-5 with 2 doubles and an RBI to improve to .290; and Cure was 2-4 with a BB, triple, RBI and 2 RS to improve to .324. LF Kenard Springer stole his 13th base and Espino and Valentin both made their 11th error.

Burlington is 15-11 and 2 games back of first. The Bees have today off before starting a 4-game set with Kane County (15-11). Justin Sherman (2-3, 2.43) will start for Burlington.

Rookie: Idaho Falls was in position for a win Tuesday but a 3-run Billings 8th spoiled that idea as the Mustangs won, 6-5, on only 4 hits. SS Chris McConnell homered (his 3rd) as the second batter of the game to give the Chukars a 1-0 lead and Idaho Falls made it a 2-1 game in the 4th on a McConnell RBI ground out. Billings scored 2 that inning to grab a narrow lead but the Chukars tied it in the 5th on an RBI single by DH Brady Everett and took the lead with 2 in the 6th on a wild pitch as well as an RBI single by 1B Jase Turner. In the 8th, RP Zane Carlson walked in a run on his first batter faced and gave up another run on a wild pitch as part of Billings' 3-run 8th to take the lead. The Chukars went down in order in the 9th. SP Bennett Cromer went 3 IP and allowed 1 ER on 2 hits and 2 BB with 2 Ks to make his ERA 4.58. RP David Henninger went 2 IP and allowed 2 ER on a hit and 4 BB with 3 Ks to move his ERA to 2.92. RP Matt Kniginyzky got his 1st hold but also the loss with 2 IP of 3 R (2 ER) on a hit and BB with 5 Ks to drop to 0-1 with a 1.86 ERA. Carlson blew his 1st save with a hitless IP that included a BB to make his ERA 1.00. McConnell was 1-4 with a BB, HR and 2 RBI to drop to .382; Turner was 3-5 with an RBI to improve to .288; Everett was 3-4 with a BB and RBI to improve to .429; and LF Byron Barber was 2-3 to improve to .281.

Idaho Falls is 14-14 and 2 games back of first. The series continues tonight.

The ASL Royals got back on track with a 5-0 win over the Cubs Tuesday as pitchers Rayner Oliveros and Henry Barrera combined on a 4-hitter. The Royals scored in the 4th on a double play ball hit by DH Felix Peralta and added 3 in the 8th on a Peralta sac fly and 2-run double by RF Oscar Gonzalez. The final run scored in the 9th on an RBI single by 2B Valentino Arce. Oliveros allowed only 3 hits and 1 BB with a K over 7 IP to improve to 4-0 with a 1.50 ERA. Barrera pitched the final 2 innings and allowed 1 hit with 1 K to drop his ERA to 8.03. Arce was 2-4 with an RBI to improve to .390; CF Joseph Dickerson was 1-4 with a BB to drop to .295; LF Alvi Morel was 1-4 to drop to .388; and 3B Pedro Lopez was 2-4 to improve to .355. Jeff Bianchi didn't play.

The ASL Royals are 16-7 and tied with the Giants atop the league. They play the Brewers today and have a day off tomorrow.