Royals on the Farm 8/15

AAA: The Omaha Royals followed the example of their major league team and had double-digit Ks in a 9-3 loss to Iowa Monday. LH Rich Hill K'd 10 O-Royals over 6 IP and a 4-run 7th helped the Cubs put it out of reach. Iowa took a 2-0 lead in the 3rd but Omaha scored 1 that inning on an RBI single by RF Aaron Guiel. Iowa made the lead 4-1 before Omaha scored again in the 6th on an RBI single by 2B Justin Gemoll. Omaha scored its final run at 9-2 in the 8th with an RBI single by LF Matt Diaz but SP Ryan Jensen and RP Chris George had already let the damage be done. Jensen got the loss with 6 IP of 7 ER on 11 hits and a walk with 5 Ks to drop to 1-8 with a 6.39 ERA -- time to cut bait; and George went 3 IP and allowed 2 ER on 2 hits and a walk to move his ERA to 5.74. CF Adrian Brown was 2-3 with a walk and 2 RS to improve to .281; Diaz was 1-4 with an RBI to drop to .379; 1B Justin Huber was 1-4 to improve to .242; C Jared Price was 0-4 to drop to .120; and SS Andres Blanco returned to Omaha with a 1-3 game to improve to .204. This says it all about Jensen from the O-Royals website: "The Royals have won 15 of their past 19 games; Jensen was the losing pitcher in all four of the club’s defeats."

Omaha is 60-63 and 8 games back of first. The O-Royals start a 4-game set at New Orleans tonight. Pitchers: LH J.P. Howell (3-1, 3.67) vs. Zephyrs RH Kip Bouknight (2-0, 1.88). In other O-Royals news, to make room for Blanco, IF Luis Ugueto was released. Yawn.

AA: Wichita's game against San Antonio Monday was called because of "unplayable field conditions," so the series with the Missions (26-23) starts tonight and Monday's game will be made up as part of a Wednesday double dip.

Wichita is 24-24 and 2 games back of Arkansas. Ryan Baerlocher (7-2, 2.33) pitches for Wichita tonight against the Missions.

High-A: High Desert had Monday off and starts a 3-game home set with Stockton (32-18) tonight.

High Desert is 28-22 and up 1 1/2 games on Rancho Cucamonga. No announced pitchers for tonight's opener with the Ports.

Low-A: Burlington got its first grand slam of the season at a most opportune time in a 5-4 win over Wisconsin Monday. The Bees were being shut out on 2 hits by Wisconsin's Mark Lowe entering the 8th down, 4-0. A walk by 3B Edward Lucas loaded the bases with 2 outs and a wild pitch allowed the Bees' 1st run to score. C Damaso Espino was hit by a pitch to load the bases again and Lowe was pulled in favor of closer Eric O'Flaherty. On a 1-0 pitch to RF Brian McFall, McFall launched it out of the park (his 12th) to give the Bees a 5-4 lead. Bees closer Chad Blackwell came out for the 9th and set the Rattlers down in order to end it. SP Justin Sherman went 7 IP and allowed 4 ER on 4 hits and a walk with 2 Ks to make his ERA 4.19; RP Yovany Damico got the win with 1 IP of 1 hit and 2 walks with a K to move to 2-2 with a 4.61 ERA; and Blackwell's save was his 13th with a hitless IP that included a game-ending K. His ERA is 2.16. Lucas was 0-3 with a walk to drop to .303; McFall was 1-4 with the HR and 4 RBI to improve to .223; and DH Gary Perez was 1-3 to up his BA to .200.

Burlington is 27-24 and 3 games back of Quad Cities. The Bees' set with Wisconsin continues. Pitchers: RH Patrick Hicklen (6-5, 3.81) vs. Wisconsin RH Aaron Jensen (7-12, 5.59).

Rookie: Four Idaho Falls errors helped Helena to an 8-6 win over the Chukars Monday night. The Chukars led off the game with a 3-run 1st on an RBI ground out by 1B Jase Turner and a 2-run double by LF Antonio Sabatini. The Brewers scored 2 quickly off SP Bennett Cromer in the 1st and tacked on 2 more in the inning on a single aided by a throwing error by RF Andrew Larsen. SS Chris McConnell made errors on two straight batters in the 2nd to allow 2 runs to score and the Brewers added another run to take a 7-3 lead into the 3rd. The Chukars came back with 2 in the 5th on an RBI force out by McConnell and a Sabatini sac fly and added another run in the 6th on an RBI ground out by 2B Joshua Johnson to make the score 7-6. Helena got some insurance thanks to McConnell's 3rd error of the game in the 8th and Idaho Falls couldn't get any more offense going. Cromer got his 1st loss with 2 IP of 7 R (3 ER) on 5 hits and a walk with 3 Ks to drop to 5-1 with a 4.95 ERA; RP David Henninger went 4 hitless IP and walked 1 with 4 Ks to drop his ERA to 3.77; and RP Eliszer Garcia went 2 IP and allowed an UER on 3 hits and a walk with a K to drop his ERA to 3.45. CF Ethien Santana was 3-5 with a double and 2 RS to up his BA to .313; 3B Brenan Herrera was 2-3 with a walk and HBP to improve to .297; McConnell was 1-5 with an RBI and 2 RS to drop to .350 -- his errors upped his season total to 13; and C Kiel Thibault was 1-4 to drop to .340. Santana stole his 11th base.

Idaho Falls is 7-9 and 2 games out of first. The Chukars end the set with Helena tonight.

The ASL Royals had Monday off but their game with the Brewers Sunday was reported and didn't show a good result as the Royals lost, 4-3. The Brewers took an early 2-0 lead off SP Rayner Oliveros but the Royals tied it with runs in the 3rd and 5th on an RBI single and an RBI double by 2B Valentino Arce. Oliveros was touched up for 2 more ER in the 7th but the Royals got 1 back in the 8th on an RBI single by SS Pedro Lopez. They went down without a fight to end it in the 9th, though. Oliveros took his 1st loss with 6 2/3 IP of 4 R (3 ER) on 9 hits and a walk and 0 Ks to drop to 5-1 with a 2.30 ERA; RP Drew Coffey went 2/3 IP and allowed only 2 hits and a walk with a K to drop his ERA to 9.82; and RP Troy Garrett went 2/3 hitless IP to drop his ERA to 5.87. LF Jose Duarte was 1-5 to drop to .344; Arce was 2-5 with a double and 2 RBI to improve to .345; CF Joseph Dickerson was 0-4 with a walk to drop to .308; and RF Oscar Gonzalez was 2-2 with 2 walks to improve to .297. He also stole 2 bases to up his season total to 13.

The Royals are 6-7 and 3 1/2 games back of first with two games unreported on MiLB's site. They play 2 with the Angels tonight.