Royals on the Farm 8/22

AAA: Omaha couldn't get a big inning off New Orleans starter and former Royal Chad Durbin Monday and lost to the Zephyrs, 9-2. Omaha tied the game at 2 in the 4th on a 2-run homer by DH Calvin Pickering (his 19th) but it was all Zephyrs from there as Omaha only had 6 hits in the game. SP Danny Tamayo got the loss with 5 IP of 6 ER on 12 hits and a walk with 2 Ks to drop to 8-8 with a 5.58 ERA; RP Jaime Cerda went 2 IP and allowed 3 ER on 5 hits with a K to make his ERA 5.70; RP Dave Elder went a hitless inning with a walk to keep his ERA at 0.00; and RP Nate Field pitched an inning and allowed a hit and walk with a K to drop his ERA to 6.23. CF Adrian Brown was 2-3 with a walk to improve to .278; LF Matt Diaz was 0-3 with a walk to drop to .372; 1B Justin Huber was 0-4 to drop to .271; SS Andres Blanco was 1-3 to up his BA to .221; and Pickering was 1-4 with the HR and 2 RBI to drop to .256. Brown threw in his 28th stolen base.

Omaha was 65-65 with 16 games left in the season coming into today. The home series with New Orleans continued today with the Royals getting a 9th-inning comeback win. Report coming on that one tomorrow.

AA: Wichita had Monday off to prepare for a 4-game set with division leader Arkansas in the Wranglers' biggest series of the season.

Wichita is 28-28 and 2 1/2 games back of Arkansas. Pitchers for today's opener: Kyle Middleton (10-8, 4.90) vs. Travs LH Daniel Davidson (12-5, 4.19). Fourteen games remain on Wichita's schedule.

High-A: High Desert took another big game from Rancho Cucamonga Monday thanks to an 8th-inning rally. Rancho Cucamonga scored 3 in the 1st off SP Billy Buckner and High Desert drew blood in the 2nd on a solo homer by 3B Adam Keim (his 22nd). The Mavs kept the Quake lead at 2 with a run in the 3rd on an RBI single by 1B Kila Kaaihue and another in the 4th on an RBI single by DH Brandon Powell to make the score 5-3 RC. High Desert took the lead in the 5th with 4 runs on a Keim RBI single and a 3-run longball by RF Alan Moye (his 20th) but the Quakes came back to tie it up at 7 in the top of the 8th. The Mavs loaded the bases with 2 out in the bottom of the 8th when Kaaihue came through with a 2-run single to put High Desert ahead, 9-7. RP Gabe DeHoyos shut the door in the 9th. Buckner went 4 IP and allowed 5 ER on 8 hits and 3 walks with 8 Ks to bump his ERA to 5.02; RP Chris Coughlin went 3 IP and allowed 1 ER on 2 hits with 3 Ks to make his ERA 7.22; RP Nate Moore blew his 4th save with 2/3 IP of 1 ER on 2 hits and 2 walks with a K to move his ERA to 4.79; and DeHoyos got the win with 1 1/3 IP of 1 hit with 1 K to move to 6-1 with a 1.45 ERA. 2B Pete Maestrales went 1-4 with a walk to drop to .321; SS Angel Sanchez was 1-5 to drop to .301; CF Chris Lubanski was 0-2 with 2 walks and a HBP to drop to .293; Kaaihue was 2-4 with a walk and 3 RBI to improve to .313; Keim was 2-5 with a HR, 2 RBI and 2 RS to improve to .293; Moye was 2-4 with a double, HR, 3 RBI and 2 RS to improve to .291; and C Adam Donachie was 2-3 with a walk to improve to .286.

High Desert is 34-23 and up 5 games on Lancaster. The Mavs' "Magic Number" is 9 for both the second-half division title and the wild card with 13 games to play. They head to Rancho Cucamonga to commence another 3-game set tonight. Pitchers (from rcquakes.com): RHP Devon Lowery (6-1, 2.85) vs. Quakes RHP James Holcomb (8-7, 5.44).

Low-A: Burlington dropped yet another game to Southwest Michigan Monday in a 6-2 loss to the D-Rays to fall farther from the playoff picture. The D-Rays rapped out 6 runs off SP Luis Cota in the first 3 innings to take a comfortable lead and the Bees got a runner to third only once before scoring 2 in the 8th on a D-Ray wild pitch and an RBI ground out by RF Brian McFall. Cota went 5 IP and allowed 6 ER on 10 hits and 3 walks with 4 Ks to drop to 5-7 with a 4.07 ERA -- he hasn't pitched like a top organizational pitching prospect since getting shelled at the Midwest League All-Star Game. RP Zane Carlson went 2 IP and allowed 2 hits and a walk with 2 Ks to drop his ERA to 4.86; and RP Chad Blackwell went a hitless inning with 2 Ks to drop his ERA to 2.19. The Bees' offensive attack again had little sting as they only had 5 hits. DH Rusty Brown was 2-4 to improve to .271; 2B Gary Perez was 1-4 to improve to .238; and 3B Edward Lucas was 0-4 to drop to .287.

Burlington is 28-30 and 4 1/2 games back of Quad Cities. The Bees have today and Wednesday off and have 12 games left on the schedule.

Rookie: Idaho Falls staved off a Missoula comeback to win on a walkoff longball, 10-8 in 10 innings Monday. Missoula rallied for 2 in the 1st off SP Mario Santiago but the Chukars matched that with RBI singles by 1B Jase Turner and DH Shawn Hayes. Missoula regained the lead in the 3rd but Idaho Falls tied it up in the 5th on a bases-loaded HBP by LF Felix Peguero. Missoula took a 4-3 lead in the 6th but Idaho Falls came back with 2 in the bottom of the inning on RBI doubles by 3B Joshua Colafemina and CF Ethien Santana and followed that with 2 in the 7th on a Peguero RBI double and an RBI single by PH Andrew Larsen for a 7-4 lead. The Osprey scored twice in the 8th to close the gap to 1 but Idaho Falls expanded the lead back to 2 with an RBI double by SS Chris McConnell in the bottom of the frame. RP Adam Kalkhof gave up a 2-run homer with 2 out in the 9th to allow Missoula to tie it up and the game went into extras. McConnell drew a 2-out walk in the 10th and Peguero followed with a 2-run walkoff shot (his 4th) to end it. Santiago went 4 2/3 IP and allowed 3 R (1 ER thanks to errors by Colafemina and C Jeff Howell) on 4 hits and 2 walks with 6 Ks to drop his ERA to 6.84; RP Cody Harkcom went 3 IP and allowed 3 ER on 7 hits and a walk with 4 Ks to move his ERA to 8.76; Kalkhof blew his 2nd save with 1 1/3 IP of 2 ER on a hit and walk with a K to make his ERA 3.71; and RP Matt Kniginyzky went an inning for the win and allowed 1 hit with 1 K to move to 2-4 with a 5.73 ERA. Santana was 1-4 with a double and RBI to drop to .313; McConnell was 3-4 with a walk, HBP, double, RBI and 3 RS to improve to .347; Peguero was 3-5 with a HBP, 2 doubles, a HR, 4 RBI and 3 RS to improve to .246; Howell was 1-4 with a walk to drop to .346; and RF Byron Barber was 1-4 with a walk, double and 2 RS to drop to .310. McConnell made his 12th error and Colafemina's was his 12th.

Idaho Falls is 9-13 and 3 games out of first with 16 games left on the schedule. The home set with Missoula continues tonight.

The ASL Royals dropped a 7-inning game to the Cubs, 5-2, Monday. The Royals scored 2 out of the gate in the 1st on an RBI ground out by CF Joseph Dickerson and an RBI double by RF Alvi Morel but only had 2 hits the rest of the way. The Cubs tied it up in the 2nd and took the lead for good in the 4th. SP Angelo Morales took the loss with 5 IP of 4 ER on 9 hits and a walk with 3 Ks to drop to 3-2 with a 4.12 ERA and RP Nelson Trifolio went 2 IP and allowed 1 ER on 2 hits with a K to move his ERA to 3.66. LF Jose Duarte was 1-3 with a walk to move to .331; 2B Valentino Arce was 0-4 to drop to .340; Dickerson was 1-3 with an RBI to improve to .301; DH Oscar Gonzalez was 2-3 to improve to .308; and Morel was 1-3 with a double and RBI to drop to .352. Gonzalez stole his 17th base.

The Royals are 11-9 and 3 games back of first with two games unreported on MiLB's site. They play the A's tonight and the Pads tomorrow. Six games remain in the ASL schedule.