Royals on the Farm 8/17

AAA: Omaha used a 6th-inning rally to get a 6-2 win over New Orleans Wednesday. DH Calvin Pickering came back from his ankle tweak and got the O-Royals started in the 1st with an RBI double but the Zephyrs came back to tie the game going into the 5th. Omaha moved back ahead that inning on an RBI single by 1B Justin Huber and extended the lead in the 6th on an RBI fielder's choice by RF Aaron Guiel and a 2-run triple by LF Matt Diaz. The O-Royals got some insurance in the 8th on another RBI double from Pickering. SP Danny Tamayo got the win with 5 2/3 IP of 2 ER on 6 hits and a walk with 2 Ks to move to 8-7 with a 5.40 ERA; RP Justin Huisman got his 4th hold with 1 2/3 IP of 4 hits and a walk to drop his ERA to 4.09; RP Jaime Cerda got his 6th hold with 2/3 hitless IP to lower his ERA to 5.31; and RP Nate Field went an inning and allowed a hit with 2 Ks to drop his ERA to 6.75. Diaz was 2-4 with a walk, triple, 2 RBI and 2 RS to improve to .377; Pickering was 2-3 with a walk, HBP, 2 doubles and 2 RBI to up his BA to .260; Huber was 1-3 with a walk, HBP and RBI to improve to .261; C Jared Price was 2-5 with a double to improve to .206; and SS Andres Blanco was 1-4 with a HBP to improve to .213.

Omaha is 62-63 and 7 games back of first. The O-Royals continue the New Orleans series tonight. RH Kyle Snyder (1-2, 3.50) takes the mound tonight for Omaha.

AA: Wichita finished its run of 4 games in 2 days with San Antonio and returned Tuesday's twinbill sweep by the Missions with a Wednesday Wrangler double victory, 13-5 and 5-4. In game 1, Wichita broke up a late tie with their best inning of the season in a 13-5 win. The game was low-scoring at 1-0 Missions into the 5th when Wichita put up 3 on RBI doubles by CF Mitch Maier and 2B Ruben Gotay and an RBI single by 1B Josh Pressley to take a 3-1 lead. The Missions tied it in the 6th but, in the bottom of the inning, Wichita exploded. RF Shane Costa tripled home SS Brett Groves, 3B Brennan King singled home Costa, Maier singled home a run, Gotay doubled home a run, Pressley added an RBI single, and Groves, who led off the inning with a double, came back up and hit an RBI single and kept the bases loaded. After Costa popped out, LF Billy Butler cranked a grand slam for his 1st AA homer and Wichita took a 13-3 lead. SP Kyle Middleton gave up 2 runs in the 7th and RP Wes Wilkerson finished off the win for Wichita. Middleton got the win with 6 1/3 IP of 5 ER on 10 hits (3 HRs) and 4 Ks to move to 10-8 with a 4.90 ERA and Wilkerson went 2/3 IP and K'd 1 to drop his ERA to 5.56. Maier was 2-4 with a double, 2 RBI and 2 RS to improve to .241; Gotay was 2-3 with a walk, 2 doubles, 2 RBI and 2 RS to improve to .200; Pressley was 3-4 with 2 RBI to up his BA to .298; Costa was 2-4 with a double, triple and RBI to improve to .280; Butler was 1-3 with a walk, HR, 4 RBI and 2 RS to improve to .270; and King was 2-4 with an RBI to improve to .288.

In game 2, the Wranglers blew one lead and almost let a second one slip away in a 5-4 win to sweep the twinbill. Pressley singled home a run in the 1st to give Wichita an early lead and the Wranglers added a run in the 4th on a solo homer by LF Cory Aldridge (his 21st) to take a 2-0 lead. SP Mike Stodolka and RP Stephen Bray allowed the Missions to tie it in the 5th but Wichita came back in the bottom of the inning to regain the lead with 3 runs on a 2-run single by King and a balk that allowed Aldridge to score. Bray let San Antonio load the bases in the 6th before RP Leo Nunez came in and got out of the jam without trouble. Nunez gave up a 2-run homer in the 7th after a 2-out fielding error by, guess who, SS Mike Aviles, but got a pop out to end it. Stodolka went 4 2/3 IP and allowed 2 ER on 4 hits and 3 walks with 3 Ks to move his ERA to 5.27; Bray got the win with 2/3 IP of 2 hits and a walk with 2 Ks to move to 1-0 with a 3.63 ERA; and Nunez got his 3rd save with 1 2/3 IP of 2 UER on a hit and 3 Ks to drop his ERA to 0.93. Maier was 0-4 to drop to .237; Aviles was 3-4 to improve to .289 and added his 10th steal and 36th error; Pressley was 1-2 with 2 walks and an RBI to improve to .299; Butler DH'ed and was 1-4 to drop to .268; and Gotay was 0-1 with 2 walks to drop to .194.

Wichita is 26-26 and 1 1/2 games back of Arkansas. The Wranglers start a 3-game home set with Corpus Christi (28-25) tonight. Pitchers: Hooks’ SP Fernando Rijo (3-1, 4.10) vs. LH Derrin Ebert (5-3, 5.27).

High-A: High Desert also used a late surge to take another game from Stockton, 8-5. High Desert took a 3-1 lead in the 3rd on an RBI double by CF Chris Lubanski and a 2-run single by 1B Kila Kaaihue but Stockton tied it in the 5th. The Mavs reclaimed the lead with a run in the 5th on a Kaaihue RBI single but Stockton took the lead this time with a 2-run 6th. The Mavs knotted it up at 5 with a run in the 7th on a Lubanski RBI single and took the lead for good in the 8th with 3 runs on a fielding error, an RBI ground out by 2B Pete Maestrales and an RBI single by SS Angel Sanchez. SP Billy Buckner went 5 2/3 IP for the ND as he allowed 4 ER on 7 hits and 3 walks with 6 Ks to move his ERA to 4.84; RP Chris Coughlin, who hasn't had the best season, blew his 1st save with 1/3 IP of 1 ER on a HR and added a K to move his ERA to 7.81; RP Gabe DeHoyos made his first High Desert appearance and got the win with 2 hitless IP to move to 5-1 with a 1.51 ERA in A ball; and RP Brian Steffek got his 2nd save with 1 IP of 1 hit and 2 Ks to drop his ERA to 3.12. Maestrales was 2-5 with an RBI to improve to .322; Sanchez was 2-5 with a double, RBI and 2 RS to improve to .298; Lubanski was 2-5 with a double and 2 RBI to improve to .288; Kaaihue was 3-4 with 3 RBI to improve to .313; 3B Adam Keim was 2-4 with a double to improve to .286; and RF Alan Moye was 2-4 to improve to .289.

High Desert is 30-22 and up 2 1/2 games on Rancho Cucamonga. The Mavs officially have a "Magic Number" -- its' 18 for the second-half division title and 19 for the wild card. No announced pitchers for tonight's finale with the Ports.

Low-A: Burlington caught fire in the 2nd and ran away for a 10-2 win over Wisconsin Wednesday. The Bees scored 8 in the 2nd to shoot out to the lead on a 2-run homer by RF Brian McFall (his 13th), an RBI single by 2B Gary Perez, 2-run singles by CF Cody Cure and DH Rusty Brown, and a Wisconsin wild pitch. The Bees tacked on a run in the 4th on a Brown solo homer (his 16th) and scored their final run in the 6th on a McFall sac fly. SP Luis Cota had a great start, going 7 IP and allowing 1 ER on 2 hits and 2 walks with 5 Ks to improve to 5-6 with a 3.82 ERA and RP Adam Rowe went 2 IP and allowed 1 ER on 4 hits with 4 Ks to move his ERA to 5.23. SS Irving Falu was 3-5 to improve to .255; 3B Edward Lucas was 1-3 with 2 walks and 2 RS to improve to .301; Brown was 2-4 with a walk, HR, 3 RBI and 2 RS to improve to .273; McFall was 2-3 with a walk, double, HR and 3 RBI to improve to .226; and Perez was 2-4 with a double and RBI to improve to .213.

Burlington is 28-25 and 2 games back of Quad Cities. The Bees' set with Wisconsin concludes tonight. Pitchers: RH Dusty Dossett (0-0, 1.29) vs. Rattlers LH Julio Santiago (4-3, 5.13).

Rookie: Idaho Falls had Wednesday off. The Chukars are 7-10 and 2 games out of first. They start a 3-game home set with Helena (13-3) tonight.

The ASL Royals took a game from the Giants, 7-6, Wednesday. Like yesterday, there was no game log so don't know how the runs scored. SP Angelo Morales got the victory with 5 2/3 IP of 6 R (4 ER) on 8 hits and a walk with 4 Ks to move to 3-1 with a 3.67 ERA and RP Gilbert De la vara got his 3rd save with 3 1/3 IP of 2 hits and a walk with 2 Ks to drop his ERA to 2.61. 2B Valentino Arce was 1-4 with a HBP and an RBI to drop to .336; CF Joseph Dickerson hit his first pro grand slam in the 4th (his 3rd) and was 1-5 with the HR and 4 RBI to drop to .302; RF Oscar Gonzalez was 2-5 with a double to improve to .297; DH Alvi Morel was 1-3 with 2 walks and a triple to drop to .362; and 1B Willie Matos was 2-3 with a walk, double and 2 RS to improve to .230. Gonzalez also swiped 3 bases to get to 16 on the season. SS Pedro Lopez made his 14th error.

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