Royals on the Farm 8/16

AAA: Omaha pounded 4 homers and a 3-run 8th helped the O-Royals to an 8-6 win over New Orleans Tuesday. Omaha jumped on the board in the 1st on a solo homer by LF Matt Diaz (his 12th) but the Zephyrs came back to take a 3-1 lead into the 5th. Omaha scored 4 in the 5th on a 3-run jack by RF Aaron Guiel (his 27th) and a solo jobber by 1B Justin Huber (his 2nd). The lead was short-lived as New Orleans scored 3 off SP J.P. Howell in the bottom of the frame to chase him. The score was still 6-5 into the 8th when DH Chad Santos doubled home Huber with 1 out and C Jared Price hit his first AAA homer with 2 out as the 2-run shot gave Omaha the 8-6 lead. RP Jaime Cerda came in to shut the door in the 9th and got it done. Howell went 4 IP and allowed 6 ER on 8 hits and 3 walks with only 2 Ks to move his ERA to 4.94; RP Shane Nance pitched 2 hitless innings with 2 Ks to drop his ERA to 4.21; RP Dave Elder got his 1st win with 2 IP of 2 hits and a walk with a K to move to 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA; and Cerda got his 2nd save with a hitless IP that included 2 Ks to drop his ERA to 5.40. Diaz was 1-5 with the HR and RBI to drop to .374; Huber was 2-4 with a walk, HR, RBI and 2 RS to improve to .258; Santos was 2-4 with a double and RBI to improve to .261; Price was 2-4 with a HR and 2 RBI to improve to .172; and SS Andres Blanco was 1-3 with a HBP to improve to .211 -- heard on 810 last night that he was called up to save his knees from the Wichita turf. I was wondering since he wasn't hitting at AA. Also, Santos has been getting the time at DH as Calvin Pickering has been out with what was called a minor ankle injury. Blanco made his 5th error Tuesday.

Omaha is 61-63 and 8 games back of first. The O-Royals continue the New Orleans series tonight. Pitchers: RH Danny Tamayo (7-7, 5.49) vs. Zephyrs SP Chad Durbin (3-4, 5.94). As a side note for the Chris George watchers, George surrendered his PCL-leading 27th home run Monday. That’s the third highest season total for homers allowed in club history, trailing Mel Bunch (32, 1996) and Kris Wilson (39, 2004). Also, at some point after July 19, RP Matt Ford also must have been released, even though he had a 2.61 ERA through 9 games. I never saw anything on the team site about it, but he's not on the roster anymore.

AA: Wichita had doubleheader one of two Tuesday with San Antonio and dropped both games to the Missions, 4-2 and 4-3. In game 1, the Missions got to SP Ryan Baerlocher for 3 in the 3rd and Wichita had 1 hit into the 5th off Missions SP Thomas Oldham. San Antonio scored another run off Baerlocher in the 6th and Wichita went into the bottom of the 7th and final inning down, 4-0. A 2-out double by CF Mitch Maier scored DH Shane Costa and a fielding error allowed another run to score before SS Mike Aviles grounded out to end it. Baerlocher went 6 IP and allowed 4 ER on 8 hits and a walk with 6 Ks to drop to 7-3 with a 2.64 ERA; RP Wes Wilkerson went a hitless inning and walked 1 to drop his ERA to 5.91. Maier was 2-4 with a double and RBI to improve to .241; 2B Ruben Gotay was 0-4 to drop to .138 and flied out to end the 5th with the bases juiced; 1B Josh Pressley was 0-3 to drop to .294; LF Billy Butler was 0-3 to drop to .258; Costa was 1-3 to up his BA to .272; and C Mathew Tupman was 3-3 to improve to .280. Aviles made his 35th error in the field.

In game 2, the Missions wasted no time off SP Juan Cedeno, scoring 4 in the 1st and holding on for a 4-3 win. The Missions slapped together 3 walks, 3 hits and 2 SBs off Cedeno and Tupman to build the lead. Gotay hit a solo homer in the bottom of the 1st (his 2nd) to cut into the lead and the Wranglers scored in the 2nd and 4th on a solo shot by DH Cory Aldridge (his 20th) and RBI double by Butler. The Wranglers got runners to second and third in the 7th but Maier popped out to end the game. Cedeno went 2/3 IP and allowed 4 ER on 3 hits and 3 walks to drop to 0-2 with a 9.88 ERA -- he hasn't looked like that great of a prospect from the Sox in the Graffanino deal; RP Barry Armitage went 4 IP and allowed 3 hits and 2 walks with 4 Ks to drop his ERA to 3.87; RP Chris Demaria went 1 2/3 IP and allowed 1 hit with 2 Ks to keep his ERA at 0.00; and RP Leo Nunez went 2/3 IP and allowed only a walk to drop his ERA to 1.12. Maier was 0-4 to drop to .237; Gotay was 1-3 with the HR and RBI to improve to .156; Pressley was 0-2 with a walk to drop to .293; Butler was 1-3 with a double and RBI to improve to .265; and Costa was 2-3 to improve to .276.

Wichita is 24-26 and 2 games back of Arkansas. Tonight's doubleheader matchups -- Game 1: Kyle Middleton (9-8, 4.81) vs. Missions SP Jon Huber (6-6, 4.86). Game 2: Mike Stodolka (4-9, 5.33) vs. SA SP Jared Thomas (1-1, 5.25).

High-A: High Desert took down Stockton, 10-3, Tuesday thanks to an early attack. Stockton got 2 runs off SP John Gragg III in the 1st but High Desert came back with 4 in the 2nd on a 3-run homer by DH Brandon Powell (his 14th) and a sac fly by SS Angel Sanchez. The Mavs added 3 in the 3rd on a 3-run shot by RF Alan Moye (his 19th) to take a 7-2 lead. Some insurance came in each of the 5th, 6th and 7th on an RBI single by 2B Pete Maestrales, an RBI triple by LF Bernard Stephens and a Sanchez RBI ground out. Gragg got the win with 5 IP of 3 R (2 ER) on 8 hits and 3 walks with 2 Ks to move to 11-5 with a 4.11 ERA; RP Drew Endicott went 3 IP and allowed only 1 hit to drop his ERA to 5.65; and RP Nate Moore pitched a hitless inning with a K to drop his ERA to 4.85. Maestrales was 2-4 with a BB, triple and RBI to up his BA to .321; Sanchez was 1-4 with 2 RBI to drop to .297; CF Chris Lubanski was 2-5 to improve to .286; 1B Kila Kaaihue was 1-5 to drop to .309; Stephens was 3-4 with a walk, 2 doubles, a triple, RBI and 2 RS to improve to .286; Moye was 2-3 with a walk, HR, 3 RBI and 3 RS to improve to .287; and Powell was 1-4 with the HR and 3 RBI to drop to .298. Kaaihue made his 16th error.

High Desert is 29-22 and up 1 1/2 games on Rancho Cucamonga. No announced pitchers for tonight's game with the Ports.

Low-A: Burlington got blanked by Wisconsin in a 5-0 loss Wednesday. The Bees got only 3 hits in the game and had more errors than hits with 5 miscues in the game. SP Patrick Hicklen took the loss with 4 2/3 IP of 5 R (4 ER) on 8 hits and 3 walks with a K to drop to 6-6 with a 3.96 ERA and RP Rusty Begnaud made his return to A-ball with 4 1/3 IP of 2 hits and 4 walks with a K to drop his ERA to 6.19. SS Irving Falu was 2-3 with a BB to improve to .251 but also made 2 fielding errors to get to 18 on the season -- he did steal his 29th base; 3B Edward Lucas was 0-3 with a walk to drop to .300; and 2B Gary Perez was 0-3 to drop to .186. RF Brian McFall was hit by a pitch twice to set a new team season record at 16 and counting -- OF Mel Stocker, now at High Desert, had held the record set in 2003 at 15. Lucas made his 24th error and Hicklen also had 2 errors to get to 4 on the season.

Burlington is 27-25 and 3 games back of Quad Cities. The Bees' set with Wisconsin continues. Pitchers: Luis Cota (4-6, 3.96) vs. Rattlers SP Cibney Bello (4-2, 3.92).

Rookie: Idaho Falls' late rally was not to be Tuesday as the Chukars blew a 9th-inning lead to lose to Helena, 6-5. Idaho Falls tied the game at 1 in the 5th on a sac fly by OF Andrew Larsen and tied it at 2 in the 6th on an RBI single by DH Shawn Hayes. The Chukars took the lead in the 7th on a wild pitch that allowed a run but the Brewers tied it up in the 8th off RP Matt Kniginyzky. Idaho Falls regained the lead with 2 in the 9th on a 2-run single by 3B Brenan Herrera but Kniginyzky couldn't hold the lead. A throwing error by Kniginyzky on a sac bunt attempt helped the Brewers out and then Helena got two straight singles to end it. SP Mario Santiago went 4 IP and allowed an UER on 5 hits and 2 walks with 2 Ks to drop his ERA to 7.97; RP Brandon Brantley went 3 IP and allowed 1 ER on 5 hits and a walk with 3 Ks to move his ERA to 7.07; and Kniginyzky got his 4th blown save and the loss with 1 IP of 4 R (2 ER thanks to his first 2 errors) on 4 hits and a walk to drop to 1-4 with a 4.29 ERA. SS Chris McConnell was 2-4 with a HBP to improve to .353; 1B Brady Everett was 0-4 with a walk to drop to .365; and C Jeff Howell was 0-2 with 2 walks to drop to .354.

Idaho Falls is 7-10 and 2 games out of first. The Chukars have tonight off before starting a 3-game home set with Helena Thursday.

The ASL Royals split a twinbill with the Angels, taking the first game, 4-0, and losing the nightcap, 9-7. In game 1, three pitchers shut the Angels down on 5 hits and the Royals got help from 5 Angel errors to win. There was no game log so don't know how the runs scored. SP Brent Fisher got the win with 5 IP of 2 hits and 2 walks with 9 Ks to improve to 5-2 with a 2.60 ERA; RP Matt Pena got his 1st hold with 2/3 IP of 2 hits and a K to drop his ERA to 4.21; and RP Henry Barrera got his 3rd save with 1 1/3 IP of 1 hit with 2 Ks to drop his ERA to 4.98. LF Jose Duarte was 1-3 with a walk and 2 RS to drop to .344; 2B Valentino Arce was 0-2 with a walk and HBP to drop to .339; CF Joseph Dickerson was 1-4 to drop to .306; and RF Oscar Gonzalez was 1-2 with an RBI to improve to .299. Duarte stole 2 bases to get to 8 on the season.

In game 2, both teams made 3 errors and the Angels got the win. Again, there is no game log posted at the MiLB site. SP Paul Raglione got the loss with 3 IP of 7 R (3 ER) on 8 hits and a walk with a K to drop to 2-3 with a 6.10 ERA; RP John Sokoll went an inning and allowed 2 UER on a hit and walk with 2 Ks to drop his ERA to 7.42; and RP Nelson Trifolio pitched 3 hitless innings with a walk and 3 Ks to drop his ERA to 3.78. Duarte was 0-4 with a walk to drop to .333; Arce was 1-3 with a HBP to drop to .345; Dickerson was 1-4 with a double to drop to .306; RF Alvi Morel was 3-4 with a HR, 3 RBI and 2 RS to improve to .363; SS Pedro Lopez was 3-4 with an RBI and 2 RS to up his BA to .314; and 1B Oscar Marrero was 2-4 with an RBI to up his BA to .233. Marrero made 2 fielding errors to get to 5 on the season.

The Royals are 7-8 with two games unreported on MiLB's site. They play the Giants tonight and the M's tomorrow.