Royals on the Farm 7/27

AAA: Omaha put on a hitting display led by ringmaster-and-LF Matt Diaz's 6-for-6 night in a 16-8 win over Portland Wednesday. The O-Royals scored 4 in the 1st on a 2-run shot by RF Aaron Guiel (his 24th) and two wild pitches by Beavers SP Chris Oxspring but Portland tied it in the 3rd. Omaha scored 2 in the 4th on a solo shot by C Paul Phillips (his 6th) and an RBI double by CF Adrian Brown. They added 4 in the 5th on an RBI double by 2B Justin Gemoll, another Portland wild pitch and a 2-run double by SS Luis Ugueto. A 5-run 7th on a Diaz 2-run double and a 3-run homer by DH Cal Pickering (his 14th) gave Omaha command and the O-Royals finished it in the 9th on a Diaz RBI single. SP Danny Tamayo won despite a mediocre start as he went 5 2/3 IP and allowed 6 R (5 ER) on 9 hits and 2 BB with 2 Ks to move to 5-7 with a 6.02 ERA. RP Shane Nance got his 4th hold with 1 1/3 IP of 1 hit and 2 BB to drop his ERA to 4.28; and RP Nate Field went 2 IP and allowed 2 ER on 3 hits with a K to move his ERA to 5.40. Omaha notched 20 hits in the game so everybody got their shot. Brown was 3-5 with a walk, 2 doubles, an RBI and 3 RS to improve to .281; Guiel was 2-6 with a HR and 2 RBI to improve to .277; Diaz was 6-6 with 2 doubles, a triple, 3 RBI and 2 RS to improve to .386; Phillips was 3-6 with a HR, RBI and 3 RS to improve to .264; and 3B Chris Truby was 2-4 with a BB and 2 RS to improve to .259. Diaz also threw in an outfield assist. His performance was the Royals' first six-hit game since Les Norman went 6-for-6 on June 8, 1999.

Omaha is 46-59 and 13 games out of first. Tonight's matchup: RH Mike Wood (0-0, 0.00) vs. Portland RH Mike Thompson (1-0, 0.00). 1B Justin Huber has been promoted to Omaha from Wichita, where he was leading the Texas League in batting (.343) and RBI (74) and was tied for fourth in home runs (16). He also ranked first in slugging (.570) and second in on-base percentage (.432). To make room on the roster, OF Cory Aldridge was sent back to the Wranglers.

AA: Wichita dropped both ends of a twinbill with Tulsa, 6-1 and 6-4. In game 1, LF Shane Costa hit a solo shot in the 1st (his 7th) and the Wranglers could only muster 3 more hits and threw in 2 errors. SP Thad Markray got the loss with 4 2/3 IP of 6 R (5 ER) on 5 hits and a BB with 3 Ks to drop to 4-6 with a 5.29 ERA; and RP Derrin Ebert went 2 1/3 IP and allowed 2 hits and a BB to drop his ERA to 5.62. Costa was 2-3 with a double, HR and RBI to improve to .280 and Huber was 0-3 to drop to .343. SS Mike Aviles made his 28th error.

In game 2, events repeated themselves as Costa hit an RBI double in the 1st but Tulsa took a 6-1 lead into the 7th and final inning. Huber nailed a pitch for a 3-run homer for his 16th of the season to close the gap and Wichita brought the tying run to the plate but couldn't get it done. If he doesn't return to Wichita, he left in style. SP Patrick Hicklen's AA spot start didn't go well as he went 3 2/3 IP and allowed 6 ER on 5 hits and 5 BB with 4 Ks to drop to 0-1 with a 14.73 ERA. RP Barry Armitage went 2 1/3 IP and allowed 1 hit and 2 BB with 2 Ks to drop his ERA to 3.82; and RP Juan Cedeno pitched a near perfect inning to drop his ERA to 4.91. Huber was 1-3 with a BB, HR and 3 RBI to drop to .343; seven other Wranglers had 1 hit each. Costa was 1-2 with a BB, HBP, double and RBI to improve to .283.

Wichita is 18-15 and tied with Arkansas atop the division. A 5-game showdown in Wichita starts tonight with the Travs.

High-A: High Desert took Visalia's best shot Wednesday and came away with a 7-6 win. The Mavs tied it at 2 in the 2nd on RBI singles by C Adam Donachie and 2B Pete Maestrales and took the lead in the 4th on a sac fly by SS Angel Sanchez. Visalia took a 6-3 lead in the 7th but High Desert tied it that inning on an RBI double by DH Billy Butler and 2-run triple by CF Chris Lubanski. They took the lead for good in the 8th on an RBI force out by Sanchez and RP Chris Demaria closed the door. SP Billy Buckner went 6 1/3 IP and allowed 5 ER on 8 hits and 3 BB with 4 Ks to move his ERA to 4.77; RP Greg Atencio got the win with 1 2/3 IP of 1 ER on 3 hits and a BB with a K to move to 8-2 with a 4.40 ERA; and Demaria picked up his 15th save with 1 IP of 1 hit and 2 Ks to drop his ERA to 2.30. Maestrales was 4-4 with a BB, double, triple, RBI and 2 RS to improve to .327; Butler was 2-5 with 2 doubles and an RBI to improve to .340; 1B Kila Kaaihue was 0-3 with a BB to drop to .313; Lubanski was 2-4 with a triple and 2 RBI to improve to .280; LF Bernard Stephens was 2-4 to improve to .281; and 3B Brandon Powell was 1-4 with a double and 2 RS to drop to .307. RF Alan Moye stole his 19th base.

High Desert is 17-15 and a 1/2 game back of Lake Elsinore. The series with Visalia wrapped up tonight.

Low-A: Burlington held a tenuous lead into the 9th but couldn't finish it off in a 2-1 loss to West Michigan Wednesday. The Bees scored 1 in the 1st on an RBI single by C Damaso Espino but both teams' pitchers locked down to hold the score at 1-0 into the 9th. RP Chad Blackwell came on for Burlington and got 2 outs before giving up the tying and winning runs on consecutive hits. SP Gabe DeHoyos went 5 great innings in his 2nd start as he allowed only 2 hits and 2 BB with 7 Ks to drop his ERA to 1.37. RP Yovany Damico got his 2nd hold with 2 IP of 2 hits and a BB to drop his ERA to 4.72; RP Adam Rowe got his 1st hold with 1/3 IP of 1 BB to drop his ERA to 5.44; and Blackwell got his 2nd blown save along with the loss with 1 1/3 IP of 2 ER on 2 hits and a BB with 2 Ks to drop to 7-2 with a 2.57 ERA. SS Irving Falu was 2-4 to move to .250 and 3B Edward Lucas was 2-4 to improve to .309. Lucas also stole his 21st base.

Burlington is 20-12 and tied with Quad Cities atop the division. They ended the West Michigan series tonight.

Rookie: Idaho Falls took a 6-3 win over Ogden to salvage the series finale Wednesday. The Chukars tied the game at 1 in the 2nd on a solo homer by 1B Brady Everett (his 4th) and later tied it at 2 in the 6th on an RBI double by DH Felix Peguero. They took the lead with 3 in the 7th on a 3-run triple by 3B Gary Perez and added an 8th-inning run on an Ogden wild pitch. SP Rusty Begnaud went 6 2/3 IP and allowed 2 UER on 7 hits and 3 BB with 2 Ks to drop his ERA to 5.72; and RP Jacob Eckley got the win with 2 1/3 IP of 1 ER on 2 hits with a K to move to 3-1 with a 3.71 ERA. SS Chris McConnell was 0-3 with a BB to drop to .336; Perez was 2-4 with a triple and 3 RBI to improve to .353; Peguero was 2-4 with a double and RBI to improve to .243; Everett was 2-4 with a double, HR, RBI and 2 RS to improve to .396; and LF Antonio Sabatini was 3-4 with a double to move to .298. Perez made 2 errors to get to 12 on the season.

Idaho Falls is 16-20 and 4 1/2 games back of first. A home series with Casper (19-17) started tonight.

The ASL Royals came back from an early deficit to take a 13-12 win over the Angels. The Angels led, 4-0, into the 5th before the Royals scored 3 on a 3-run homer by LF Jose Duarte (his 1st). The Angels took an 11-3 lead into the bottom of the 6th and the Royals tied it on an RBI single by DH Felix Peralta, a 2-run single by C Ross Boudreaux, an RBI single by 2B Valentino Arce, a HBP by SS Andres Blanco and 3-run single by CF Joseph Dickerson. They took the lead for good with 2 in the 8th on RBI singles by Arce and PH Alvi Morel. SP Angelo Morales went 4 2/3 IP and allowed 4 R (3 ER) on 5 hits and a BB with 4 Ks to move his ERA to 4.34; RP John Sokoll pitched 1/3 of an inning and allowed 7 ER on 5 hits and 2 BB with a K to move his ERA to 12.27; RP Nelson Trifolio got the win with 3 1/3 IP of 1 ER on 2 hits and a BB with 2 Ks to improve to 2-1 with a 5.25 ERA; and RP Phillip Davidson got his 1st save with 2/3 IP that included 2 Ks to drop his ERA to 2.00. Duarte was 4-5 with a HR, 3 RBI and 2 RS to improve to .394; Arce was 2-5 with 2 RBI and 2 RS to improve to .379; Blanco was 0-3 with a HBP and an RBI to drop to .333 (not on the shelf after all); Peralta was 2-5 with a triple and RBI to improve to .319; and Boudreaux was 2-4 with 2 RBI and 2 RS to improve to .296. Dickerson was 1-2 with 2 BB, a HBP and 3 RBI to improve to .333.

The ASL Royals are 1-0 on the second half. They played the Giants today.