Royals on the Farm 7/4

AAA: Omaha dropped the series opener to Memphis, 6-1, in a rain-shortened 4th of July game. Omaha started the scoring in the 2nd on a solo homer by DH Calvin Pickering (his 9th) but that ended the scoring for the O-Royals as Memphis had two 3-run innings to win after rain shut things down after 7. SP Shawn Camp went 5 innings and allowed 3 ER on 5 hits and a BB with 4 Ks to get the L and move to 2-6 with a 4.78 ERA. RP Wes Wilkerson pitched an inning and allowed 3 R (2 ER) on 4 hits to move his ERA to 4.73. RP Jeremy Affeldt pitched an inning and walked 1 to drop his ERA to 6.14. CF Adrian Brown was 2-4 with a double to improve to .269; SS Alejandro Prieto was 2-3 with a double to up his BA to .281; Pickering was 2-3 with a BB, the HR and RBI to improve to .214; and LF Cory Aldridge was 0-3 to drop to .325.

Omaha is 39-46 and 8 games back of first. Tonight's pitching matchup: RH Danny Tamayo (4-5, 5.12) vs. Memphis LH Bill Pulsipher (2-3, 4.41).

AA: Two big innings and some handy relief work combined to help Wichita to a 7-6 win over Springfield Monday. Wichita scored 3 in the 1st on a 2-run single by CF Mitch Maier and an RBI single by 3B Brennan King but Springfield came back to take a 4-3 lead. The Wranglers broke out for 4 in the 5th on an RBI double by King, a 2-run single by LF Mel Stocker and a fielder's choice on a ball hit by RF Wilkin Ruan. Springfield came back with 2 in the 6th to make it a 1-run game and got a 2-out triple in the 9th before RP Thad Markray struck out C Robinson Cancel to end the game. SP Brian Anderson made his first rehab start and went 1 1/3 IP as he gave up 3 R (2 ER) on 5 hits with 2 Ks to make his ERA 13.50. RP Mike Stodolka made a rare bullpen appearance to get the win. He went 4 1/3 IP and allowed 3 R (2 ER) on 4 hits and a BB with 1 K to move to 3-7 with a 5.65 ERA. RP Barry Armitage got his 5th hold with 1 1/3 IP of 1 hit and 1 K to drop his ERA to 3.67. RP Ambiorix Burgos also made a rehab appearance and got his 1st hold at AA with 1 IP of 1 hit to drop his ERA to
4.82. Markray got his 1st save with 1 IP of 1 hit and 1 K to drop his ERA to 4.12. DH Mathew Tupman was 1-5 to drop to .307 on the season; 1B Justin Huber was 2-4 with 2 RS to improve to .337; and King was 2-4 with a double and 2 RBI to move to .267. Ruan stole his 13th base and 2B Mike Aviles made his 22nd and 23rd errors.

Wichita is 6-4 and in first in the TL East. The Springfield series ends tonight with RHP Brian Bass (6-4, 5.79) up against Cards SP Jeremy Cummings (2-2, 3.78).

High-A: A 5-run 4th helped High Desert to a 9-7 win over Inland Empire Monday despite a late charge by the 66ers. Inland Empire took an early 3-0 lead but High Desert scored 2 in the 3rd on a wild pitch and an RBI single by SS Angel Sanchez and had the big 4th on the 4th with RBI singles from CF Chris Lubanski, 3B Michael Gaffney and DH Billy Butler and a 2-run single from Sanchez. The Mavs tacked on 2 in the 5th on a 2-run single by Gaffney to take a 9-4 lead. Inland Empire scored 1 in each of the 7th, 8th and 9th innings to make it close but RP Chris Demaria ended it for the save. SP John Gragg III went 3 2/3 IP and allowed 4 R (1 ER) on 7 hits with 4 BB and 1 K to move his ERA to 3.94. RP Greg Atencio made his first appearance after the call-up from Burlington and got the win to improve to 6-2. He went 4 innings and allowed 2 ER on 3 hits with 5 Ks to move his ERA to 4.18. Demaria picked up his 9th save with 1 1/3 IP of 1 ER on 1 hit with 1 K to make his ERA 2.74. Sanchez was 3-5 with 2 RBI to improve to .282; Butler was 2-4 with an HBP and an RBI to improve to .357; 1B Kila Kaaihue was 1-4 with an HBP and 2 RS to drop to .313; Lubanski was 3-5 with a double and RBI to improve to .262; C Adam Donachie was 3-4 with a BB, double and 3 RS to improve to .291; and Gaffney was 4-5 with 3 RBI to improve to .308. Donachie had 2 errors in the game to get to 7 on the season and Kaaihue made his 12th error. High Desert is now 4-10 against Inland Empire on the season.

High Desert is 6-5 and a game back of Rancho Cucamonga. Tonight's pitching matchup with IE: 66ers RHP Brandon Moorhead (3-6, 4.56) vs. SP Dusty Hughes (4-7, 5.92).

Low-A: Burlington pitchers gave up 4 homers to South Bend hitters and the Bees dropped the game, 8-5. South Bend took an 8-0 lead into the bottom of the 7th before Burlington woke up to score 4 that inning on a 2-run single by DH Felipe Del Rosario and RBI singles by SS Irving Falu and 2B Geraldo Valentin. The Bees added another run in the 8th on a bases-loaded wild pitch but that was it. SP Patrick Hicklen allowed 8 R (7 ER) on 11 hits (including the 4 longballs) and 3 BB with 4 Ks over 5 2/3 IP to get the loss and drop to 4-4 with a 4.25 ERA. RP Gabe DeHoyos pitched 3 1/3 innings of hitless relief but allowed 3 BB with 6 Ks to drop his ERA to 1.65. Falu was 3-5 with an RBI to improve to .264 and move his hitting streak to 22 games; seven other Bees had a hit each in the win. Falu also made his 11th error in the field.

Burlington is 4-8 and 5 games out of first. Tonight's pitching matchup: RH Chris Kinsey (0-1, 16.62) will start for South Bend against RH Luis Cota (2-4, 3.53).

Rookie: Idaho Falls overcame an early deficit with a 4-run 7th to win, 6-4, over Orem and sweep the series. The Chukars scored once in the 1st on an RBI double by RF Andrew Larsen to make the score 3-1 Orem and, after Orem scored to make the count 4-2 Owlz, Idaho Falls scored again in the 6th on an RBI single by C Kiel Thibault. The Chukars took command with 4 in the 7th on a solo shot by SS Christopher McConnell and RBI singles by 3B Jeremy Jirschele and Thibault. Thibault's hit drove in 2 to make the score 6-4 and RP Matthew Kniginyzky (23rd rounder) made his pro debut to get the save. SP Cody Harkcom went 4 innings and allowed 3 ER on 3 hits and 3 BB with 4 Ks to move his ERA to 9.35. RP Adam Kalkhof got the win to move to 1-1. He went 3 IP and allowed 1 UER on 2 hits with 1 K to make his ERA 3.68. Kniginyzky picked up his 1st save with 2 IP of 1 hit and 5 Ks to make his ERA 0.00. CF Ethien Santana was 0-4 to drop to .350; 2B Gary Perez was 2-4 with a BB and 2 RS to improve to .255; 1B Blake Adkison was 2-4 with a BB to move to .302; Jirschele was 2-3 with 2 RS and an RBI to improve to .226; DH Antonio Sabatini was 2-4 with a double to improve to .395; and Thibault was 2-4 with 3 RBI to improve to .348.

Idaho Falls is 7-7 and 3 games back of Ogden. The Chukars head to Ogden for three against the Raptors (10-4) starting tonight.

The ASL Royals won their 7th straight in a 7-5 win over the Padres Monday. The Royals scored 3 in the 1st on a wild pitch, an RBI ground out by DH Felix Peralta and an RBI single by C Ross Boudreaux. The Padres came back to take a 4-3 lead but the Royals scored 3 in the 4th on an RBI double by 1B Willie Matos and a 2-run double by 2B Joshua Johnson. The Royals' final run came in the 6th on an RBI triple by SS Jeff Bianchi. SP Rayner Oliveros went 6 innings and allowed 5 R (2 ER) on 9 hits with 4 Ks to get the win and move to 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA. RP Matt Pena picked up his 2nd save with 3 IP of 3 hits and a BB to keep his ERA at 0.00. Johnson was 2-3 with a BB, double and 2 RBI to improve to .318; Bianchi was 1-3 with a BB, triple and RBI to drop to .500; CF Joseph Dickerson was 1-4 to drop to .400; and 3B Valentino Arce was 1-1 with a BB and 2 HBP to improve to .393.

The ASL Royals are 8-3 and atop the league. They were set to take on the 2-8 Brewers today before a day off Wednesday.