Royals on the Farm 7/25

AAA: Omaha finished the series with Nashville....poorly as Ryan Jensen got beaten around in a 7-1 loss Monday. Nashville scored 5 in the 1st 2 innings although 3 of the runs were unearned because of a 2-out passed ball third strike that allowed the Sounds batter to reach in the 2nd. Omaha's only run came in the 7th on an RBI double by C Paul Phillips. Jensen went 3 IP and allowed 5 R (2 ER) on 4 hits and 3 BB with 2 Ks to drop to 1-4 with a 5.13 ERA. RP Shawn Sonnier allowed 2 ER on 4 hits with 5 Ks over 4 IP to move his ERA to 4.45; IF Luis Ugueto pitched an inning for some reason and walked 1 with 1 K to establish a 0.00 ERA; and RP Santiago Ramirez went an inning and allowed 1 hit with 2 Ks to drop his ERA to 5.51. RF Aaron Guiel was 2-4 to improve to .273 and LF Matt Diaz was 2-4 with a double to move to .359.

Omaha is 45-58 and 13 games out of first. The O-Royals start a 4-game set at Portland (50-52) tonight. Omaha sends LHP J.P. Howell (1-0, 5.06) to the mound for a start to open the series with the Beavers.

AA: Wichita split a twinbill with Tulsa Monday as the Wranglers took the first game, 10-6, on a dramatic ending, but lost the nightcap to Tulsa, 5-3 in 8 innings. In game 1, Wichita started the scoring in the 4th on a solo shot by 1B Justin Huber (his 15th) and Tulsa tied it in the 5th. The Wranglers got 2 in the 5th on a 2-run double by RF Mel Stocker and added a run in the 6th on an RBI triple by SS Mike Aviles. A 4-run 6th helped Tulsa get to a 6-4 lead entering the bottom of the 7th in the truncated game but the first three Wranglers of the inning reached base. LF Shane Costa came through with a 2-run double to tie it and Huber was intentionally walked to load the bases again. DH Josh Pressley grounded into a force out to bring up CF Mitch Maier, who lived the dream with a walkoff grand slam (his 4th HR) to end it. SP Kyle Middleton went 6 1/3 IP and allowed 6 R (2 ER thanks to his own fielding error) on 10 hits (yikes, 3 HRs) and 2 BB with 5 Ks to move his ERA to 3.98; and RP Derrin Ebert got the win with 2/3 IP of 0 hits and 0 BB with 1 K to move to 4-3 with a 5.79 ERA. Stocker was 2-4 with a double and 2 RBI to improve to .250; Costa was 1-4 with a double and 2 RBI to drop to .280; Huber was 2-3 with a BB, HR, RBI and 2 RS to improve to .350; and Maier was 1-4 with the GS and 4 RBI to improve to .247.

In game 2, an 8-inning game was actually an extra-inning affair in a 5-3 Drillers win. The Drillers scored 1 in the 3rd to take a 1-0 lead but Wichita scored 2 that inning on an RBI ground out by 2B Rudy Gomez and a Stocker RBI single. Tulsa took the lead with 2 in the 4th but Wichita tied it with the equalizer later that inning on a solo homer by Pressley (his 16th). The game remained tied into the 8th when Tulsa rallied for 2 runs off RP Juan Cedeno. Wichita got a leadoff double from Gomez in the bottom of the inning but couldn't make the magic happen twice in one night to take the L. SP Wes Wilkerson, down from Omaha, went 3 1/3 IP and allowed 3 ER on 5 hits with 4 Ks to make his ERA 8.10; RP Colt Griffin went 1 2/3 IP and allowed 1 hit with 4 Ks as his stuff was working to drop his ERA to 3.96; RP Nate Hoelscher went 2 1/3 hitless IP with 2 BB and 4 Ks to drop his ERA to 5.22; and Cedeno got his first AA loss of the season with 2/3 IP of 2 ER on 2 hits and 2 BB to make his ERA 6.75. Costa was 0-4 to drop to .274; Huber was 0-3 with a BB to drop to .347; Pressley was 2-3 with a HR and RBI to improve to .297; Maier was 0-2 with a BB to drop to .245; and 3B Brennan King was 2-2 with a BB and double to up his BA to .278.

Wichita is 18-13 and 2 games up on first. The series with Tulsa continues tonight with no starters announced. In other Wrangler news, Justin Huber was named the Texas League Player of the Week for July 18-24, following Donnie Murphy's selection for the prior week. Huber went 10-25 (.400) in six games against Springfield and Tulsa and hit 3 home runs, a triple and a double while driving in 8 runs and scoring 5. The 23-year-old currently leads the Texas League and ranks 7th among all minor leaguers with his .347 batting average. He leads the league in runs batted in (71) and slugging (.568), while ranking second in on-base percentage (.434) and 4th in runs scored (67) and hits (114).

High-A: High Desert had Monday off and starts a three-game home set with Visalia (10-20) tonight. High Desert is 15-15 and 1 1/2 games back of first. Tonight's starters: Oaks RHP T.A. Fulmer (1-4, 6.64) vs. LHP John Gragg III (8-3, 4.24).

Low-A: Burlington rode the arm of Patrick Green to the team's 11th straight win in a 5-1 victory over West Michigan Monday. The Bees scored 2 in the 2nd on a 2-run shot by 2B Eddie Solis (his 6th) and added runs in the 3rd and 4th on an RBI single by 1B Rusty Brown and an RBI force out by LF Darwinson Salazar. The Bees scored their final run in the 8th on an RBI single by RF Brian McFall. Green shut the Whitecaps down as he went 7 IP and allowed 1 ER on 6 hits and a BB wtih 5 Ks to move to 6-7 with a 4.09 ERA. RP Kraig Schambough went 1 IP and allowed only 1 hit to drop his ERA to 6.00; and RP Chad Blackwell went an inning and allowed 1 hit with 1 K to drop his ERA to 2.27. 3B Edward Lucas was 2-3 with a BB and 2 RS to improve to .311; Brown was 2-4 with an RBI to move to .294; Solis was 2-4 with the HR and 2 RBI to improve to .206; and CF Cody Cure was 0-4 to drop to .310. McFall stole 2 bases to get to 12 on the season and DH Kenard Springer swiped his 15th base. SS Geraldo Valentin made his 12th error.

Burlington is 20-11 and now has both the best second-half record in the league and a 1 game lead in the division over Quad Cities. Tonight's starters: RH Justin Sherman (3-3, 2.30) vs. Whitecaps RH Dallas Trahen (5-8, 3.27). In other Bees news, Green was promoted to High Desert after the game to fill in for an injured Dusty Hughes; C Robert Grana has been placed on the disabled list retroactive to Friday, July 21st, with a broken bone in his right wrist and will be lost for the season; and RHP Patrick Hicklen was loaned to Double-A Wichita in the Texas League, where he is scheduled to make one spot start and return to the Bees on Friday.

Rookie: Idaho Falls lost to Ogden, 8-3, Monday to drop the 7th of their last 8 games. Idaho Falls tied the game at 2 in the 3rd with a 2-run triple by 2B Gary Perez. The Chukars' final run came in the 8th with Ogden up, 8-2, on a Perez sac fly. SP Cody Harkcom went 3 1/3 IP and allowed 5 ER on 7 hits and 3 BB with 3 Ks to drop to 1-4 with a 9.39 ERA. RP Eliszer Garcia went 3 2/3 IP and gave up 0 ER on 3 hits and a BB with 4 Ks to drop his ERA to 4.57; and RP Kevin Bulger gave up 3 ER on 3 hits and 2 BB with 1 K over 2 IP to move his ERA to 12.96. SS Chris McConnell was 1-4 to drop to .346; Perez was 2-3 with a double, triple and 3 RBI to up his BA to .349; and C Kiel Thibault was 1-4 with a double to drop to .328.

Idaho Falls is 15-19 and 4 games back of Ogden. The series with the Raptors continues tonight.

The ASL Royals took down the Brewers, 7-3, Monday. The Royals scored 3 in the 3rd on an RBI triple by CF Joseph Dickerson, a wild pitch and an RBI single by 1B Willie Matos and tacked on 2 in the 4th on an RBI single by RF Oscar Gonzalez and a Brewer throwing error on a ball hit by LF Alvi Morel. The Royals scored again in the 6th on a Morel RBI single and again in the 9th on an RBI single by DH Jose Duarte. Starting DH Andres Blanco left the game in the 6th with a leg injury, so he's on the shelf....again. SP Brent Fisher got the win with 5 IP of 2 ER on 6 hits with 5 Ks to move to 4-1 with a 3.86 ERA. RP Paul Raglione got his 1st save with 4 IP of 1 ER on 3 hits and 2 BB with 3 Ks to make his ERA 6.38. 2B Valentino Arce was 4-6 with a double and 2 RS to improve to .377; Blanco was 1-3 before leaving to lower his BA to .444; Dickerson was 3-5 with a BB, double, triple and RBI to improve to .330; Gonzalez was 2-4 with a BB and RBI to improve to .299; Morel was 2-5 with an RBI to improve to .387; and Matos was 2-5 with an RBI to up his BA to .205. The Royals left 15 on base. Gonzalez stole 2 bases to get to 10 on the season.

The ASL Royals are 19-9 and 2 games back of the Giants. They have the day off today before facing the Angels tomorrow.