Royals on the Farm 7/26

AAA: Omaha's woes continued in a 9-4 loss to Portland Tuesday. The O-Royals got on the board first in the 1st on an RBI single by DH Cal Pickering but the Beavers got to SP J.P. Howell in the 4th for 6 runs on 7 straight hits, including a homer. They notched 3 more in the 5th off RP Justin Huisman to increase their stranglehold. Omaha scored 3 in the 7th on RBI singles by CF Adrian Brown, RF Aaron Guiel and Pickering but didn't threaten any further. Howell got the loss with 4 IP of 6 ER on 9 hits and a BB with 3 Ks to drop to 1-1 with an 8.68 ERA at Omaha. Huisman went 3 IP and allowed 3 ER on 6 hits and a BB with 3 Ks to bump his ERA to 4.47 and RP Jaime Cerda gave up 1 hit and a BB with 2 Ks in 1 IP to drop his ERA to 6.82. Guiel was 2-4 with a BB, double and RBI to improve to .276; LF Matt Diaz was 1-4 with a double to drop to .355; Pickering was 2-4 with 2 RBI to up his BA to .243; and SS Denny Hocking was 2-4 with a double to move to .273.

Omaha is 45-59 and 14 games out of first in the cellar of the division. Tonight's game 2 starters: RH Danny Tamayo (4-7, 5.92) vs. Beavers RH Chris Oxspring (7-5. 4.25).

AA: Wichita's game with Tulsa was rained out Tuesday. It'll be made up as part of a doubleheader tonight starting at 5:05 pm. This will be the third doubleheader in five days for the Wranglers.

Wichita is 18-13 and 1 1/2 games up on first. No starters for either game listed on either team site. In other Wrangler news, SS Mike Aviles was named Topps Player of the Month for June in the Texas League. Aviles hit .348 with 20 RBIs and three home runs in the month. It was his second Topps award. He also won for August 2003 in the Arizona League. Through Monday night, Aviles was hitting .294 for Wichita with 66 RBIs, 11 homers and 27 doubles.

High-A: High Desert snapped a skid with a 15-6 win over Visalia Tuesday in the series opener. The Mavs scored in all but the 8th and 9th -- and they didn't bat in the 9th. Visalia took a 1-0 lead in the 1st but it was all High Desert from then until the 6th. The Mavs tied the game in the bottom of the 1st on a solo shot by LF Billy Butler (his 23rd); added another run in both the 2nd and 3rd on an RBI ground out by DH Bernard Stephens and RBI single by CF Chris Lubanski; scored 3 in the 4th on RBI singles by SS Angel Sanchez, Butler and 1B Kila Kaaihue; piled on 4 in the 5th on a fielding error on a ball hit by 3B Brandon Powell, an RBI single by 2B Pete Maestrales, a Sanchez RBI double and Butler sac fly; added 1 more in the 6th on a Stephens RBI single; and finished their prolific night off with 4 in the 7th on a Kaaihue bases-loaded walk, Lubanski RBI single, and a 2-run single by Powell. SP John Gragg III had a quality start with 7 IP of 3 ER on 8 hits and a BB with a K to move to 9-3 with a 4.21 ERA. RP Stephen Chamberlain went the final 2 IP and allowed 3 ER on 2 hits and 2 BB to move his ERA to 8.13. Four Mavs had at least a 3-hit night, led by Butler, who broke out of his recent funk with a 4-5 night that included a HR and 3 RBI to move his BA to .339. Maestrales was 3-5 with a BB, RBI and 3 RS to improve to .319; Sanchez was 3-6 with a double, 2 RBI and 3 RS to improve to .286; Kaaihue was 1-4 with 2 BB and 2 RBI to drop to .316; Lubanski was 3-5 with 2 RBI and 2 RS to improve to .277; RF Alan Moye was 2-4 with a BB and 2 doubles and 2 RS to improve to .282; and Powell was 2-5 with 2 RBI and 2 RS to improve to .308. Butler's RBI moved him to 81 on the season with Lubanski not far behind at 76. Moye stole his 18th base in the win.

High Desert is 16-15 and 1 1/2 games back of Lake Elsinore. Tonight's starters: RHP Billy Buckner (4-4, 5.54 at High Desert) vs. Visalia RHP Andrew Sonnanstine (1-0, 3.21).

Low-A: Burlington's 11-game winning streak hit a major speedbump Tuesday as West Michigan blanked the Bees, 8-0. The Bees only mustered 5 hits and made 2 errors in the game. SP Justin Sherman took the loss with 6 IP of 4 ER on 6 hits with 6 Ks to drop to 3-4 with a 2.76 ERA; RP Adam Rowe allowed 2 ER on 2 hits over 1 IP to move his ERA to 5.48; and RP Zane Carlson allowed 2 R (1 ER) on a hit and BB over 1 IP to move his ERA to 10.80. 3B Edward Lucas was 0-4 to drop to .306; RF Brian McFall was 2-3 with a BB to improve to .232; and CF Cody Cure was 0-3 to drop to .300.

Burlington is 20-12 and 1/2 a game up on first. Tonight's pitchers: RH Gabe DeHoyos (4-1, 1.48) makes his second career start for the Bees vs. Whitecaps RH Jari Jurrjens (7-5, 3.33).

Rookie: Idaho Falls got knocked down early and didn't get up in an 8-5 loss to Ogden Tuesday. Ogden jumped out to a 5-0 lead after 3 innings before Idaho Falls finally got on the scoreboard in the 5th on an RBI triple by 2B Joshua Johnson (just moved up from the ASL) and an RBI ground out by CF Ethien Santana. After Ogden expanded its lead to 8-2, the Chukars scored 2 in the 8th on a 2-run single by LF Felix Peguero (also just up from the ASL) and added a run in the 9th on a fielding error on a ball hit by Johnson. SP Brandon Brantley got the loss with 2 IP of 4 ER on 4 hits with 2 BB and a K to drop to 0-2 with a 6.26 ERA. RP Mario Santiago went 3 IP and allowed 1 UER on 1 hit and 2 BB to lower his ERA to 6.43; RP David Henninger went 3 innings and gave up 3 ER on 7 hits and 2 BB with 1 K to make his ERA 3.38; and RP Travis Trammell went a perfect inning to keep his ERA at 0.00. SS Chris McConnell was 1-4 with a HBP to drop to .343; 3B Gary Perez was 1-3 with a double and HBP to drop to .348; and C Jeff Howell was 1-3 with 2 RS and a walk to make his BA .333.

Idaho Falls is 15-20 and 5 games back of Ogden. The series wraps up tonight.

The Arizona Summer League Royals had Tuesday off as the ASL first half ended. The Royals are back to 0-0 as the Giants took the first half crown. The second half starts today as the Royals take on the Angels and then face the Giants Thursday.