Royals on the Farm 8/2

AAA: Omaha 1B Justin Huber broke out in a big way Tuesday and the O-Royals took the series with Tacoma with a 7-1 win. Tacoma got on the board first in the 3rd with a run on 2 hits off SP Mike Wood and the 1-0 score held until the 7th, when Omaha loaded the bases and, with one out, Huber hit a 3-run double to center to clear the bases. DH Chad Santos followed two batters later with a sac fly to score Huber and Omaha had a 4-1 lead. Huber padded it in the 8th as Omaha loaded the bases again, and again Huber hit a bases-clearing double to make the final 7-1. Wood went 5 2/3 IP and allowed 1 ER on 4 hits with 6 Ks to make his ERA 2.00. RP Shawn Sonnier got the win with 1 1/3 IP of 1 hit with 1 K to move to 3-0 with a 4.68 ERA; RP Shane Nance finished it with 2 IP of 1 hit and 1 K to drop his ERA to 4.43. C Paul Phillips was 2-4 with a HBP to improve to .271; LF Matt Diaz was 1-3 with a BB and double to drop to .401; Huber was 2-4 with 2 doubles and 6 RBI to improve to .176; and 2B Justin Gemoll was 2-4 to improve to .283. Huber's 6 RBI were a team season high.

Omaha is 51-60 and 9 games out of first. Omaha has today off before starting a homestand with a set against Las Vegas tomorrow.

AA: Wichita had its second off-day in a row Tuesday. Wichita is 20-18 and a game back of Arkansas. A 4-game set at Tulsa (18-21) starts tonight.

High-A: High Desert kept the pressure on in the second half of Tuesday's tilt with Rancho Cucamonga to take a 4-3 win over the Quakes and pad the division lead. The Quakes took an early 1-0 lead but the Mavs flipped it to a 2-1 advantage in their favor in the 4th on a 2-run homer by DH Jared Price (his 11th) after a leadoff double by LF Billy Butler. Price has been raking the last couple weeks. Rancho Cucamonga tied the game in the 5th before High Desert regained the lead in the 6th on an RBI force out by 3B Brandon Powell. The Quakes again tied the game before High Desert scored again in the 8th on an RBI double by 2B Pete Maestrales. SP Devon Lowery got through the 8th and RP Chris Demaria closed it out in the 9th. Lowery went 8 IP and allowed 3 ER on 7 hits with 7 Ks to move to 4-1 with a 3.00 ERA. Demaria's save was his 18th as he pitched a hitless 9th, including a K, to drop his ERA to 2.18. Maestrales was 1-2 with 3 BB, a double and RBI to improve to .323; Butler was 1-5 with a double to drop to .353; Price was 1-4 with a BB, HR and 2 RBI to drop to .333; 1B Kila Kaaihue was 1-2 with 3 BB and a double to move to .313; and Powell was 1-4 with an RBI to drop to .309.

High Desert is 22-16 and up 2 games on Rancho Cucamonga for the division lead. The series with the Quakes continues tonight as the Mavs go for three in a row over RC. Pitchers (courtesy rcquakes.com -- nice site): RHP Cesar Herrera (4-6, 6.93) vs Quakes RHP Rafael Rodriguez (3-2, 7.46).

Low-A: Burlington forced free baseball with a big contribution from the new guy and won it in 10, 5-4, over Lansing. The Lugnuts scored 2 off Bees SP Gabe DeHoyos in the 1st and DeHoyos didn't come back out for the 2nd (no reported reason). The Bees cut the Lansing lead to 2-1 in the 4th on an RBI single by 1B Eddie Solis but Lansing came right back with 2 that inning to make it a 4-1 game. Burlington scored again in the 5th on an RBI single by C Damaso Espino and remained behind by 2 entering the 9th. After Solis led off the inning with a single, SS Gary Perez, in his first game up from Idaho Falls, homered to left (his 1st) and the game was tied. RP Zane Carlson put Lansing down quietly in the 9th and the Bees got 2 on with 2 out in the 10th when a passed ball allowed Espino to score. RP Chad Blackwell shut the door in the 10th to end it. DeHoyos moved his ERA to 1.62 with the IP of 2 ER on 2 hits and 2 BB; RP Yovany Damico went 5 IP and allowed 2 ER on 5 hits and 2 BB with 4 Ks to move his ERA to 5.04; Carlson got the win with 3 IP of 0 hits and 0 BB with 1 K to move to 1-0 with a 2.84 ERA; and Blackwell got his 11th save with a hitless IP with 1 BB and 1 K to drop his ERA to 2.47. 2B Irving Falu was 4-5 to improve to .255; 3B Edward Lucas was 3-4 to improve to .306; Espino was 2-4 with a BB and RBI to improve to .273; Solis was 2-4 with a BB and RBI to improve to .214; Perez was 2-4 with a BB, HR and 2 RBI to establish a .500 BA; and CF Cody Cure was 0-5 to drop to .283.

Burlington is 22-17 and a game behind Quad Cities. The series with the Lugnuts continues tonight. Pitchers: SP Daniel Christensen (2-5, 3.63) vs. Lansing SP Russell Savickas (6-4, 5.21).

Rookie: Idaho Falls dropped a rain-shortened game to Ogden, 6-1, as the Chukars could only piece together 3 hits in the loss. Ogden took a 1-0 lead in the 1st before Idaho Falls tied it in the 5th on a wild pitch and throwing error by the Raptors. Ogden bounced back to take the lead that inning and had 4 more on the board in the 6th before the rains washed it out to give Ogden the 6-inning win. SP Rusty Begnaud took the loss with 2 ER on 8 hits with 5 Ks over 4 1/3 IP to drop to 2-3 with a 5.56 ERA. RP David Henninger went 2/3 of an inning and allowed 4 ER on 5 hits with a K to bump his ERA to 3.86. CF Ethien Santana was 2-2 with a HBP to move to .301; SS Chris McConnell was 1-2 to move to .331; and DH Brady Everett was 0-3 to drop to .388.

The Chukars are 0-3 and 3 games out of first. The series with Ogden concludes tonight.

The ASL Royals were supposed to play the Cubs Tuesday but no score was reported in any of the league games at the MiLB site. I'll check back later.

The ASL Royals were 2-2 entering Tuesday. They play the A's tonight and the Padres tomorrow.