Royals on the Farm 8/30

AAA: Omaha took care of business Tuesday night with a late surge in an 11-5 win over Iowa as SP Ryan Jensen snapped his losing streak. Iowa took a 4-0 lead off Jensen before the O-Royals broke through with 3 in the 4th on a solo homer by DH Calvin Pickering (his 22nd) and a 2-run homer by 1B Justin Huber (his 6th). After Iowa scored in the 5th to regain a 2-run lead, the O-Royals scored once that inning on an RBI single by 3B Chris Truby and took the lead for good with 3 in the 6th on a 3-run bomb by C Jared Price (his 3rd). Omaha padded the lead with 4 in the 7th on an RBI single by Pickering and a 3-run shot by Huber (his 7th). Jensen went 6 IP and allowed 5 R (3 ER) on 8 hits and 3 walks with 5 Ks to move to 2-10 with a 7.20 ERA; RP Shane Nance went 1 1/3 IP of 1 hit with 1 K for his 8th hold and dropped his ERA to 4.55; and RP Dave Elder kept his scoreless inning streak with Omaha going with 1 2/3 IP of a hit with 2 Ks to keep his ERA at 0.00 over 14 1/3 IP. Truby was 2-5 with an RBI to improve to .244; Pickering was 3-4 with a HR, RBI and 2 RS to improve to .259; LF Chad Santos was 2-4 with 2 RS to improve to .263; Huber was 2-4 with 2 HR, 5 RBI and 2 RS to improve to .273; and Price was 2-4 with a HR and 3 RBI to improve to .211. Huber made 2 errors in the game to get to 3 at Omaha.

Omaha is 69-69 and 3 games out of first behind Nashville with 6 games left in the season. Omaha continues the final home set of the season tonight. Pitchers: Cubs RH Sergio Mitre (5-5, 4.32) vs. RH Denny Bautista (0-1, 4.91) in his second rehab start. In other O-Royals news, OF Matt Diaz did get the call to KC and wasn't replaced on the Omaha roster.

AA: Wichita got a good start from Brian Bass and took a 7-2 win over Springfield in the home finale Tuesday. The Wranglers got a run in the 1st on an RBI double by DH Josh Pressley and added 3 runs in both the 3rd and 4th on a 2-run single by SS Mike Aviles, an RBI single by LF Billy Butler, a sac fly by RF Shane Costa and a 2-run Aviles homer (his 14th). Bass went 8 1/3 IP for the win and gave up 2 ER on 7 hits and 3 walks with 4 Ks to improve to 12-8 with a 5.24 ERA. RP Wes Wilkerson got the final 2 outs with 1 K included to drop his ERA to 6.52. 2B Ruben Gotay was 1-4 to improve to .207; Costa was 1-2 with a walk, RBI and 2 RS to improve to .276; Pressley was 2-4 with a double and RBI to improve to .308; Aviles was 2-4 with a HR, RBI and 2 RS to improve to .289; Butler was 1-4 with an RBI to drop to .337; and CF Mitch Maier was 2-4 to improve to .251.

Wichita is 31-34 and out of the playoff hunt with 5 games to play. A final 5-game series at Tulsa (29-36) starts tonight. Pitchers: RH Yovany Damico (NR) will make his double-A debut after being a reliever at Burlington. In other Wichita news, RP Jonah Bayliss is back for a few days after being sent down to make room for Diaz at KC and SS Irving Falu was sent back to Burlington.

High-A: High Desert stumbled again Tuesday in a Cal League classic as a valiant comeback attempt fell short in a 13-12 loss to Lake Elsinore. The Mavs started the scoring with 3 in the 2nd on RBI singles by 2B Pete Maestrales and SS Angel Sanchez and an RBI double by CF Chris Lubanski. The Storm came to bat in the 3rd and pounded SP Patrick Green for 6 runs that inning and then came up in the 4th and scored another 6 off Green and RP Eric Ackerman for a 12-3 lead. Errors by 1B Kila Kaaihue (his 19th) and Sanchez (his 26th) helped in the rallies. The Mavs crept closer with a run in each of the 4th, 5th and 6th on a Sanchez RBI double, solo homer by 3B Adam Keim (his 24th) and a Storm wild pitch that allowed Lubanski to score. Lake Elsinore got a solo homer in the 7th to make the score 13-6 and it ended up meaning something as the Mavs scored 5 in the 7th on a Sanchez RBI single, Lubanski RBI single, Kaaihue bases-loaded walk, Keim RBI single and an RBI ground out by LF Bernard Stephens to make the score 13-11. Lubanski hit a leadoff single in the 9th and stole second with 2 out before being driven home by Stephens to close the gap to 1. RF Alan Moye then flew out to end the game. Green took the loss with 3 1/3 IP of 10 R (7 ER) on 9 hits and a walk with 2 Ks to fall to 9-11 with a 4.16 ERA; Ackerman went 2 2/3 IP and allowed 2 ER on 4 hits and 2 walks with 2 Ks to move his ERA to 5.24; RP Nate Moore went 1 2/3 IP and gave up 1 ER on a hit and 2 walks with 2 Ks to move his ERA to 4.76; and RP Brian Steffek pitched 1 1/3 hitless innings to drop his ERA to 5.40. Maestrales was 3-4 with 2 walks, a double, RBI and 3 RS to improve to .321; Sanchez was 3-6 with a double and 3 RBI to improve to .305; Lubanski was 4-5 with a double, walk, 2 RBI and 3 RS to improve to .294; Kaaihue was 0-4 with 2 walks and an RBI to drop to .313; Keim was 2-6 with a HR and 2 RBI to improve to .286; Stephens was 3-6 with 2 RBI to improve to .299; and Moye was 2-6 to up his BA to .289. Maestrales also made his 17th error.

High Desert is 37-28 and up 2 1/2 games on Lancaster. The Mavs' "Magic Number" is 3 for the second-half division title and 2 for the wild card with 5 games to play. They continue the set with Lake Elsinore tonight. No announced starters.

Low-A: Burlington got held to 2 hits in a 7-0 shutout loss to Clinton Tuesday as the season is ending hard for the Bees. Burlington didn't get a hit until the 6th and never got a runner past second. SP Daniel Christensen took the loss with 2 ER on 4 hits and 2 walks with 9 Ks over 5 IP to drop to 3-7 with a 3.55 ERA; RP Zane Carlson went 2/3 IP and allowed 5 R (3 ER) on 4 hits and 2 walks with a K to bump his ERA to 5.82; and RP Rusty Begnaud went 3 1/3 IP and allowed a hit and walk with 3 Ks to drop his ERA to 4.63. SS Irving Falu, back from Wichita, was 1-3 with a walk to improve to .247; 3B Edward Lucas was 0-3 with a walk to drop to .292; LF Kenard Springer was 1-3 to improve to .291; and 2B Gary Perez was 0-3 to drop to .241.

Burlington is 29-35 and out of the playoff hunt. The Bees continue the set with Clinton tonight and have 6 games left on the schedule. Pitchers: RH Justin Sherman (3-8, 4.55) vs. Clinton RH Kyle Rogers (6-10, 6.26). In other Bees news, RHP Yovany Damico headed to Wichita, OF Brian McFall was placed on the disabled list with a hairline fracture in his right wrist after getting hit by a pitch on Friday night and RH Rayner Oliveros joined the team from the ASL.

Rookie: Idaho Falls stopped its 5-game skid with a 14-6 pounding of Ogden. The Chukars scored 1 in the 1st on an Ogden throwing error and added 5 in the 4th on a grand slam by CF Ethien Santana (his 3rd homer) and an RBI single by LF Felix Peguero for a 6-0 lead. The benches cleared twice in that inning as two Ogden pitchers were ejected. The Chukars tacked on 4 in the 5th on 2-run singles by 1B Brenan Herrera and Peguero and 2 in the 7th on a Herrera RBI double and sac fly by Peguero for a 12-1 lead. The final 2 runs came in the 9th on a 2-run triple by Santana, who was a double short of the cycle in the game of his life. All that run support meant the first pro win for SP Ryan DiPietro, who went 6 IP and allowed an ER on 4 hits and a walk with 5 Ks to improve to 1-5 with a 5.13 ERA. RP Jacob Eckley went 1 1/3 IP and allowed 3 ER on 5 hits and a walk with a K to up his ERA to 7.67; and RP Travis Trammell went 1 2/3 IP and gave up 2 ER on 4 hits with 2 Ks to make his ERA 8.36. Santana was 5-5 with a HBP, triple, HR, 5 RBI and 5 RS to improve to .310; Herrera was 2-4 with 2 walks, a double, 3 RBI and 3 RS to improve to .250; SS Chris McConnell was 0-3 with 2 walks and a HBP to drop to .333; Peguero was 2-4 with a walk and 4 RBI to improve to .249; C Kiel Thibault was 0-5 with a walk to drop to .341; RF Andrew Larsen was 3-6 to improve to .281; and DH Jeff Howell was 2-3 with 3 walks and 2 RS to improve to .336. 3B Joshua Colafemina made his 14th error.

Idaho Falls is 11-18 and 4 games out of first with 9 games left on the schedule. The Chukars start a 3-game home series with Casper (13-16) tonight.

The ASL Royals finished the second half at 15-13 and 3 games back of first. Overall the Royals finished 34-22.