Royals on the Farm 8/24

AAA: Omaha made 4 errors to help Oklahoma to some unearned runs in a 7-2 loss to the RedHawks Wednesday. The RedHawks scored in each of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th innings to take an early 3-0 lead thanks in part to an error by RF Aaron Guiel in the 2nd that helped lead to the first run. Omaha cut the lead to 3-1 in the 4th on an RBI triple by SS Andres Blanco and an O-Royal run in the 6th on a Blanco RBI single made it a 3-2 ball game. The RedHawks rallied for 3 runs in the 7th on a smattering of hits, walks and a Blanco error to extend the lead to 6-2 and Omaha couldn't recover. Errors by CF Adrian Brown and C Jared Price on the same play helped Oklahoma to its final run in the 9th. SP Dennis Tankersley took the loss to drop to 9-7. He went 6 IP and allowed 3 R (2 ER) on 8 hits and 3 walks with 6 Ks to move his ERA to 4.24; RP Jaime Cerda went 2 IP and allowed 3 R (2 ER) on 3 hits and a walk with 2 Ks to make his ERA 5.84; RP Dave Elder went a hitless IP and allowed an unearned run on a walk with 2 Ks to keep his ERA at 0.00. LF Matt Diaz was 2-4 with a walk to improve to .372; 1B Justin Huber was 2-3 with a walk, double and 2 RS to improve to .283; and Blanco was 2-4 with a triple and 2 RBI to go along with his 8th error to improve to .238. Omaha left 10 on base.

Omaha is 66-66 and 4 games out of first behind Nashville with 15 games left in the season. The home set with Oklahoma continues tonight. Pitchers: RedHawks RH R.A. Dickey (7-6, 6.18) vs. RH Ryan Jensen (1-9, 6.60). Now isn't the time for Jensen to be starting after he's lost 9 in a row. At least Dickey has almost as bad an ERA.

AA: Wichita got taken to the woodshed by Arkansas batters Wednesday night as the Travs scored in each of the 2nd through 7th innings in a 15-7 win over the Wranglers. Five Wrangler errors helped the Travs to 2 unearned runs and, meanwhile, Arkansas SP Jered Weaver lived up to the hype with 6 shutout innings -- including 7 pop outs and 6 Ks. SP Mike Stodolka and RP Wes Wilkerson were torched for 9 of the runs while RP Stephen Bray gave up another 5 ER in his inning of work. The Wranglers finally got on the scoreboard in the 7th off RP Jason Olson with 3 runs on a solo homer by LF Billy Butler (his 2nd) and RBI singles by RF Wilkin Ruan and CF Mitch Maier. The Wranglers added 4 junk runs in the 9th on 2-run shots by 2B Ruben Gotay (his 3rd) and DH Cory Aldridge (his 22nd) to make the final 15-7. Arkansas had 24 hits in the game. Stodolka got tagged with the loss with 2 2/3 IP of 5 ER on 9 hits with 3 Ks to drop to 4-10 with a 5.54 ERA; Wilkerson went 2 1/3 IP and allowed 4 R (3 ER) on 7 hits with a K to move his ERA to 8.04; RP Derrin Ebert went an inning and allowed an unearned run on 2 hits and a walk to drop his ERA to 5.17; Bray went an inning and gave up 5 ER on 5 hits and a walk with 2 Ks to bump his ERA to 4.78; and RP Nate Hoelscher pitched an inning and allowed a hit with a K to drop his ERA to 5.47. Maier was 2-5 with an RBI to improve to .245; Gotay was 1-5 with the HR and 2 RBI to drop to .246; 1B Josh Pressley was 2-5 to improve to .315; SS Mike Aviles was 2-5 with a double to improve to .289; Butler was 1-5 with a HR and RBI to drop to .284 -- he had a pop out and K against Weaver; C Mathew Tupman was 3-4 with a double to improve to .279; and Ruan was 2-4 with an RBI and 2 RS to improve to .248. Butler made his 1st AA error but also made an outfield assist in the loss, Aviles made his 39th error and Pressley made his 13th error.

Wichita is 29-29 and 2 1/2 games back of Arkansas. Pitchers for game 3 with Arkansas: Travs RHP Steven Shell (9-7, 4.42 ERA) vs. RHP Brian Bass (11-7, 5.41 ERA). Twelve games remain on Wichita's schedule.

High-A: High Desert's pitchers made a runaway a tight game as the Mavs took another one from Rancho Cucamonga in a 13-12 win Wednesday. The Mavs stormed out of the dugout with 6 runs in the top of the 1st on a 1-out RBI double by 1B Kila Kaaihue, RBI single by CF Chris Lubanski, 2-run single by LF Bernard Stephens, a Quakes wild pitch and a sac fly by 3B Pete Maestrales. The Mavs scored 2 more in the 2nd on a solo homer by DH Adam Keim (his 23rd) and a Stephens RBI triple before adding 5 in the 4th on a solo homer by RF Alan Moye (his 21st), an RBI double by C Adam Donachie, 2-run double by SS Angel Sanchez and a Kaaihue RBI single to make the score 13-2. SP Cesar Herrera gave up 2 runs in the 4th and left after 7 with a 13-4 lead. The lead held into the 8th when Rancho Cucamonga scored 5 off RPs Drew Endicott and Brian Steffek. Steffek gave up a 3-run homer with 0 out in the bottom of the 9th to make it a 13-12 game and allowed a 1-out single before being pulled in favor of RP Gabe DeHoyos. DeHoyos allowed a double to put runners at second and third with 1 out but the drama ended abruptly when CF Cody Fuller lined out to Maestrales at third and Pete doubled the runner off third to end it. Herrera got the win with 7 IP of 4 ER on 6 hits and 2 walks with 5 Ks to improve to 7-6 with a 6.87 ERA; Endicott went 1/3 IP and allowed 5 ER on 5 hits and a walk to bump his ERA to 6.53; Steffek pitched an inning and gave up 3 ER on 3 hits and a walk to move his ERA to 6.17; and DeHoyos got his 4th save with 2/3 IP of 1 hit to drop his ERA to 1.43. Maestrales was 1-3 with 2 walks and an RBI to improve to .319; Sanchez was 3-5 with a walk, double, 2 RBI and 2 RS to improve to .304; Kaaihue was 2-4 with a walk, HBP, double and 2 RBI to improve to .312; Lubanski was 2-6 with a double and RBI to improve to .293; Stephens was 4-6 with a double, triple, 3 RBI and 2 RS to improve to .292; and Donachie was 3-6 with a double and RBI to improve to .296. Sanchez made his 25th error and the Mavs left 14 on base.

High Desert is 35-24 and up 4 games on Lancaster. The Mavs' "Magic Number" is 8 for both the second-half division title and the wild card with 11 games to play. They finish the road Rancho Cucamonga series tonight. Pitchers (from rcquakes.com): RHP Patrick Green (3-2, 3.15) vs RHP Rafael Rodriguez (3-3, 7.66).

Low-A: Burlington had Wednesday off.

Burlington is 28-30 and 4 1/2 games back of Quad Cities. The Bees start a 4-game home set with Cedar Rapids (27-31) tonight and have 12 games left on the schedule. Pitchers: Cedar Rapids SP Fernando Rodriguez (6-9, 4.34) vs. Daniel Christensen (3-6, 3.64).

Rookie: Idaho Falls got 2-hit by three Missoula pitchers in a 7-0 loss to the Osprey Wednesday. The Chukars didn't get a hit after the 3rd inning. SP Ryan DiPietro went 4 IP and allowed 3 hits and a walk with 7 Ks to drop his ERA to 5.53; RP Eliszer Garcia took the loss with 3 IP of 2 ER on 4 hits with a K to drop to 2-2 with a 3.62 ERA; RP Jacob Eckley went an inning and allowed 5 ER on 5 hits with a K to move his ERA to 7.07; and RP Matt Kniginyzky went an inning and allowed 1 hit and a walk with a K to drop his ERA to 5.48. C Kiel Thibault was 1-3 with a walk and double to drop to .342 and SS Joshua Colafemina was 1-2 with a walk and triple to improve to .233. 2B Joshua Johnson made his 12th error.

Idaho Falls is 10-14 and 2 games out of first with 14 games left on the schedule. The Chukars have tonight off.

The ASL Royals dropped a game, 6-5, in 11 innings to the Padres Wednesday. It was another game with no game log. SP Rayner Oliveros went 2 IP and allowed 4 ER on 6 hits with 3 Ks to make his ERA 2.60; RP Matt Pena went 3 IP and allowed 1 ER on 3 hits and a walk with a K to move his ERA to 4.85; RP John Sokoll went 2 hitless IP with a walk and 4 Ks to drop his ERA to 5.21; RP Troy Garrett went 3 IP and allowed 2 hits with 2 Ks to drop his ERA to 4.64; RP Henry Barrera took the loss with 2/3 IP of 1 ER on 3 hits and a walk to drop to 1-1 with a 4.88 ERA; and RP Gilbert De la vara went 1/3 IP to lower his ERA to 2.48. LF Jose Duarte was 2-6 with a HR, RBI and 2 RS to improve to .325; IF Valentino Arce was 2-5 with a double to improve to .342; CF Joseph Dickerson was 2-5 with 2 RBI to improve to .302; and RF Oscar Gonzalez was 0-4 with a walk to drop to .305. For Jeff Bianchi's back problems being minor, he hasn't played a whole lot lately.

The Royals are 11-11 and 4 1/2 games back of first with two games unreported on MiLB's site. They have tonight off and play the Giants tomorrow. Four games remain in the ASL schedule so the Royals are eliminated from the second-half title chase.