Royals on the Farm 8/18

AAA: Omaha moved ahead in the 5th and got some 8th-inning insurance to get a 7-4 win over New Orleans Thursday. LF Matt Diaz socked a 2-run homer in the 1st (his 13th) to give Omaha a 2-0 lead but the Zephyrs scored 4 in the 2nd and 3rd off SP Kyle Snyder to take the lead. Omaha got 3 in the 5th on a 3-run shot by RF Aaron Guiel to take a 5-4 lead and tacked on 2 in the 8th on a 2-run double by Diaz. RPs Dave Elder and Santiago Ramirez polished off the 8th and 9th to secure the win. Snyder got the win with 6 1/3 IP of 4 R (2 ER) on 7 hits and 2 walks with 5 Ks to move to 2-2 with a 3.42 ERA; RP Chris George got his 2nd hold with 1/3 IP to drop his ERA to 5.72; Elder got his 2nd hold with 1 1/3 hitless IP but had 2 walks and a K to keep his ERA at 0.00; and Ramirez got his 13th save with a perfect 9th to drop his ERA to 5.49. Guiel was 2-3 with a walk, HR, 3 RBI and 3 RS to improve to .274; Diaz was 2-4 with a double, HR and 3 RBI to improve to .379; 1B Justin Huber was 1-3 with a walk to improve to .264; and SS Andres Blanco was 0-3 with a walk to drop to .203. Huber swiped his 3rd base at AAA.

Omaha is 63-63 and 6 games back of first. I can't believe they're back at .500 after starting the second half so badly. They're also back in second place. The O-Royals go for the sweep tonight over New Orleans. Pitchers: RH Dennis Tankersley (8-6, 4.42) vs. Zephyrs RH Brian Powell (7-9, 5.59).

AA: Wichita poured it on Thursday for a 10-3 win over Corpus Christi. The Wranglers tied it at 3 in the 3rd on an RBI double by 2B Ruben Gotay and an RBI single by 1B Josh Pressley and took the lead in the 4th on an RBI double by LF Billy Butler and an RBI triple by RF Wilkin Ruan. It was all Wranglers from there as Wichita scored 1 in the 5th on a Butler RBI single; 2 in the 6th on RBI singles by CF Mitch Maier and Pressley; and 3 in the 8th on a 2-run double by Gotay and an RBI single by DH Cory Aldridge. SP Derrin Ebert got the victory with 6 IP of 3 ER on 9 hits and 2 walks with 2 Ks to move to 6-3 with a 5.22 ERA and RP Nate Hoelscher got his 4th save with 3 IP of 1 hit and 2 walks with 4 Ks to drop his ERA to 5.62. Maier was 2-4 with a walk, RBI and 3 RS to improve to .241; Gotay finally came around and was 3-5 with 2 doubles, 3 RBI and 3 RS to improve to .244; Pressley was 4-5 with 2 RBI to improve to .306; Butler was 3-5 with a double and 2 RBI to improve to .304; and Ruan was 2-4 with a triple and RBI to improve to .243.

Wichita is 27-26 and 1 1/2 games back of Arkansas. The Wranglers continue the Corpus Christi series tonight. Pitchers: Brian Bass (10-7, 5.55) vs. Hooks' SP Tim McClaskey (6-9, 3.11).

High-A: High Desert got a great game from CF Chris Lubanski to pick up a sweep of North division leader Stockton with a 6-5 10-inning win Thursday. The Mavs took a 2-0 lead on runs in the 1st and 2nd on solo shots by Lubanski (his 21st) and DH Brandon Powell (his 15th) but Stockton tied it up in the 3rd. High Desert pulled back ahead with 3 in the 3rd on a 2-run homer by Lubanski (#22 for him) and a Powell RBI single and the score held at 5-2 into the 8th when Stockton got 1 off RP Drew Endicott and tied it in the 9th off closer Brian Steffek. RP Stephen Chamberlain got past a 1-out double in the 10th to get out of the inning unscathed before C Adam Donachie led off the bottom of the 10th with a single. He was sacrificed to second and, with 2 out, Lubanski came through with a single to bring Donachie in with the game winner. SP Devon Lowery went 5 IP and allowed 2 ER on 7 hits and a walk with 6 Ks to move his ERA to 2.85; RP Greg Atencio got his 3rd hold with 2 IP of 2 hits and 2 Ks to drop his ERA to 4.50; Endicott got his 5th hold with 1 IP of 1 ER on a hit to make his ERA 5.70; Steffek blew his 1st save with 1 IP of 2 ER on 4 hits with 2 Ks to move his ERA to 4.66; and Chamberlain got the win with 1 IP of 1 hit and 1 walk to move to 3-0 with a 7.56 ERA. 2B Pete Maestrales was 0-3 with 3 BB to drop to .320; Lubanski was 4-6 with 2 HR, 4 RBI and 2 RS to improve to .293; 1B Kila Kaaihue was 0-1 with a HBP and 3 walks to drop to .312; Powell was 2-4 with a walk, HR and 2 RBI to improve to .297; and SS Angel Sanchez was 0-6 to drop to .294. Lubanski is nearing the .300 echelon and has 92 RBI.

High Desert is 31-22 and up 3 1/2 games on Rancho Cucamonga. The Mavs' "Magic Number" -- 15 for both the second-half division title and the wild card (yesterday's must not have been adjusted). They start a colossal 4-game home set with Cucamonga tonight. Pitchers (courtesy rcquakes.com) : Quakes LHP Micah Posey (0-1, 10.13) vs. RHP Cesar Herrera (6-6, 6.58).

Low-A: Burlington settled for a split of the 4-gamer with Wisconsin after the Timber Rattlers swatted the Bees, 10-2, Thursday. Burlington scored first in the 2nd on a sac fly by 1B Eddie Solis but Wisconsin rattled off 8 unanswered runs before the Bees scored their 2nd run in the 7th on an RBI ground out by SS Irving Falu. SP Dustin Dossett had a rough go with 4 1/3 IP of 6 ER on 11 hits and a walk with 0 Ks to drop to 0-1 with a 5.56 ERA; RP Zane Carlson went 2 2/3 IP and allowed 2 ER on 3 hits and a walk with a K to move his ERA to 5.52; and RP Yovany Damico went 2 IP and gave up 2 ER on 3 hits and a walk with 2 Ks to make his ERA 4.74. 3B Edward Lucas was 0-4 to drop to .297; C Damaso Espino was 3-4 to improve to .279; and RF Brian McFall was 3-3 with a walk and double to improve to .233.

Burlington is 28-26 and 2 games back of Quad Cities and Wisconsin. The Bees start 4 games at Southwest Michigan (28-26) tonight. LH Danny Christensen (3-6, 3.93) goes for Burlington.

Rookie: Idaho Falls got good pitching in a 10-2 win over Helena Thursday. The Chukars got runs in the 1st, 2nd and 4th on a solo homer by CF Ethien Santana (his 2nd), an RBI single by DH Kiel Thibault and a solo shot by LF Felix Peguero (his 3rd) to take a 3-0 lead. Helena scored twice to make it a 3-2 game before Idaho Falls put it away with 7 in the 5th on RBI singles by 1B Jase Turner, RF Andrew Larsen and Peguero and a wild pitch before 2B Joshua Johnson cranked a 3-run homer (his 2nd) to finish it off. SP Phillip Davidson got the win with 6 IP of 2 ER on 5 hits and a walk with 9 Ks to move to 5-2 with a 3.31 ERA and RP Adam Kalkhof got his 1st save with 3 hitless IP in which he walked 1 and K'd 6 to drop his ERA to 3.31. Santana was 2-5 with a HR and RBI to improve to .320; SS Chris McConnell was 2-5 to up his BA to .354; Larsen was 3-5 with an RBI and 2 RS to improve to .261; Peguero was 3-3 with a walk, HBP, HR, 2 RBI and 2 RS to improve to .232; Thibault was 3-5 with an RBI to improve to .353; and C Jeff Howell was 1-4 to drop to .350. Johnson made his 11th error.

Idaho Falls is 8-10 and 1 1/2 games out of first. They continue their set with Helena tonight.

The ASL Royals' game with the Mariners was close until the 8th when the Royals rallied for 8 runs to get a 12-4 win. The M's jumped out to a 1-0 lead off SP Juan Abreu in the 1st but the Royals scored 2 in the opening inning on a 2-run homer by CF Joseph Dickerson (his 4th). The Royals added a run in the 4th on an RBI single by 1B Willie Matos but the Mariners tied it up in the 6th. The Royals went back ahead with a run in the 6th on an RBI triple by LF Jose Duarte (his 6th 3-bagger) but RP John Sokoll threw two consecutive wild pitches in the 8th to allow the tying run to score. DH Alvi Morel reached on an error to start the bottom of the 8th and the rally was underway. C John Lowen doubled home a run, 2B Valentino Arce hit a 2-run single, Dickerson singled home a run and Morel finished it off in grand style with a grand slam (his 2nd HR). Abreu went 4 IP and allowed an UER on 2 hits and 4 walks with 9 Ks to drop his ERA to 6.26; RP Drew Coffey went 1 1/3 IP and allowed 2 ER on 2 hits and 3 walks with a K to move his ERA to 10.22; RP Troy Garrett blew his 4th save with 2 IP of 1 ER on 2 hits and a walk with a K to move his ERA to 5.71; and Sokoll blew his 1st save but got the win with 1 2/3 IP of 1 hit to move to 1-0 with a 6.60 ERA. Duarte was 2-4 with a walk, triple and RBI to improve to .333; Arce was 5-5 with a double, 2 RBI and 2 RS to improve to .362; Dickerson was 2-5 with a HR, 3 RBI and 2 RS to improve to .305; Morel was 1-4 with a walk, HR, 4 RBI and 2 RS to drop to .357; and Matos was 2-4 with an RBI to improve to .238.

The Royals are 9-8 and 3 games out of first with two games unreported on MiLB's site. They play the Angels tonight and have tomorrow off. Nine games remain in the ASL schedule.