Royals on the Farm 7/6

AAA: Omaha's ship keeps sinking as the O-Royals dropped the 8th of its last 9 games in a 5-1 loss to Memphis Wednesday. Memphis' SP Chris Gissell went the distance and held Omaha to 7 hits, which was actually 1 more than the Redbirds had. Omaha's only run came on an RBI single by LF Cory Aldridge in the 9th. SP Kyle Snyder dropped to 0-2 in his rehab stint with 4 2/3 IP of 5 ER on 6 hits and a BB with 6 Ks to make his ERA 3.00. RP Justin Huisman went 1 1/3 IP and allowed only a BB with 1 K to drop his ERA to 3.75. RP Jaime Cerda pitched an inning and K'd 1 to drop his ERA to 7.89. RP Santiago Ramirez also went an inning and K'd 1 to drop his ERA to 5.98. RF Aaron Guiel was 2-4 with 2 doubles and scored Omaha's only run as he improved to .263; and Aldridge was 2-4 with a double and RBI to improve to .333.

Omaha is 39-48 and 10 games out of first. Tonight's series finale matchup: LH Chris George (6-5, 4.65) vs. Memphis RH Adam Wainwright (6-6, 3.40).

AA: Wichita got blown out in Arkansas to the tune of a 9-1 loss Wednesday. The Travelers scored 3 off SP Ryan Baerlocher in the 1st and didn't look back. Wichita's only run came in the 2nd on an error that allowed CF Mitch Maier to cross the plate. The Wranglers got only 3 hits off a bevy of 5 Arkansas pitchers in the game. Baerlocher went only 2 innings and gave up 4 R (3 ER) on 4 hits and 3 BB with 2 Ks to bump his ERA to 2.59. RP (and usual starter) Derrin Ebert went 2 2/3 IP and allowed 3 R (1 ER) on 3 hits and 2 BB with 2 Ks to move his ERA to 5.94. Two wild pitches didn't help. RP Colt Griffin came in and went 2 1/3 innings and allowed only 1 hit and 2 BB with a K to drop his ERA to 3.77. (The Pipeline is taking up Colt's cause -- he's the Wichita pick. He's the butt of the joke from time to time on KC sports radio but he's pitched well most of the time this season. He has gotten the job done decently, anyway. It's pretty good when he's brought in, though, to replace a pitcher who has been wild, like this time in Ebert's case. Colt's achilles heel, as anyone who follows the Royals and the minors knows, is his control.). RP Ambiorix Burgos (who needs to stay in Wichita) went 1/3 of an inning and allowed 2 ER on 2 hits and a BB to move his ERA to 6.52. RP Trae McGill pitched 2/3 of an inning and walked 1 but lowered his ERA to 4.54. C Mathew Tupman was 0-1 in a PH situation to drop his BA to .307; 1B Justin Huber was 0-2 with a BB and HBP to drop his BA to .337; RF Wilkin Ruan, Maier and SS Donnie Murphy had the Wranglers' 3 hits. Ruan stole his 16th base (and threw in an outfield assist at second) and LF Mel Stocker stole his 13th bag of the season.

Wichita is 7-5 and a game up on Tulsa in the division. Tonight's mound matchup: Arkansas RHP Mark O’Sullivan (1-1, 6.12 ERA) vs. RHP Kyle Middleton (7-6, 4.06 ERA).

High-A: High Desert appears to have broken Inland Empire's spell this season as the Mavs took out the 66ers by a 9-1 count Wednesday. Inland Empire took a 1-0 lead in the 1st but it didn't last long as the Mavs tied the game in the 2nd on a solo homer by RF Alan Moye (his 13th) and scored 2 in the 3rd on RBI singles from SS Angel Sanchez and LF Billy Butler. High Desert scored 3 in the 5th on a bases-loaded walk to 1B Kila Kaaihue and a 2-run double by CF Chris Lubanski and added 2 in the 6th on a 2-run single by Butler. The final run scored in the 7th on a solo homer by Lubanski (his 18th). SP Billy Buckner had a great start, going 7 innings and allowing 1 ER on 7 hits and 2 BB with 9 Ks to improve to 6-9 with a 4.06 ERA. RP Stephen Chamberlain pitched a perfect inning to lower his ERA to 6.79 and RP Nate Moore pitched an inning and allowed 1 hit with 1 K to drop his ERA to 4.86. 2B Pete Maestrales was 2-4 in his first High Desert start with a BB and double to improve to .309; Sanchez was 4-5 with an RBI to improve to .292; Butler was 4-5 with a double and 3 RBI to improve to .360; Kaaihue was 0-4 with a BB and RBI to drop to .312; Lubanski was 3-4 with a double, HR and 3 RBI to improve to .270; and 3B Michael Gaffney was 1-4 to drop to .313. Lubanski also stole his 9th base.

High Desert is 8-5 and tied with Rancho Cucamonga now for first. No starters listed yet for tonight's game.

Low-A: Burlington took down South Bend again in a 7-5 win Wednesday to earn at least a split of the series against the Silver Hawks. Burlington jumped on top with 2 in the 1st on a 2-run single by RF Brian McFall but South Bend came back to take a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the 3rd. That's when Burlington scored 4 on RBI singles by C Damaso Espino, 1B Eddie Solis and LF Kenard Springer and a sac fly by DH Rusty Brown. Both teams scored 1 in the 7th -- Burlington on an Espino RBI single to make the score 7-4. RP Adam Rowe allowed a 9th-inning run but allowed no further damage to help the Bees to the win. SP Kyle Crist took advantage of the healthy run support to go 6 IP and allow 3 ER on 7 hits and 2 BB with 7 Ks to improve to 7-1 on the season with a 3.96 ERA. Rowe got his 5th save with 3 IP of 2 ER on 4 hits and 2 Ks to move his ERA to 5.40. SS Irving Falu singled to lead off the game to increase his hitting streak to 24 games -- he was 1-4 with a BB to drop to .262; 3B Mario Lisson was 2-4 with an HBP and 3 RS to improve to .249; Espino was 2-3 with a BB and 2 RBI to improve to .251; McFall was 2-4 with 2 RBI to improve to .239; Solis was 2-4 with an RBI to move to .187; and Springer was 2-4 with an RBI to improve to .219. Lisson stole his 22nd and 23rd bases of the season.

Burlington is 6-8 and 4 games back of first. Tonight's pitching matchup: LH Danny Christensen (1-3, 3.58) vs. SB RH Steven Jackson (6-2, 5.01).

Rookie: Idaho Falls had its win streak snapped at 4 as Ogden took a 6-3 win Wednesday. Ogden took a 4-0 lead midway through the game before Idaho Falls scored 3 in the 6th on a 3-run homer by RF Andrew Larsen (his 3rd). That was all the Chukars would get. SP Rusty Begnaud allowed 4 ER on 7 hits and a BB with 3 Ks over 5 IP to drop to 2-2 with a 4.98 ERA. RP Bennett Cromer went 2 1/3 IP and allowed 2 R (1 ER) on 2 hits with a K to make his ERA 6.52. RP Kraig Schambough allowed 1 hit with 2 Ks over 2/3 IP to drop his ERA to 3.60. CF Ethien Santana was 1-5 to drop to .333; SS Christopher McConnell was 3-5 with a double to improve to .350; 1B Blake Adkison was 1-3 with a BB to improve to .314; 2B Gary Perez was 2-2 with 2 BB to improve to .286; C Jeffery Howell was 1-4 to drop to .321; and LF Antonio Sabatini was 0-4 to drop to .348.

Idaho Falls is 8-8 and 3 games back of Ogden. The rubber match of the series is tonight.

The ASL Royals had Wednesday off and are 9-3 and in first. They face the Angels today and the Giants tomorrow.