Royals on the Farm 8/8

AAA: Omaha lost a lead three times but persevered to take out a 10-8 win in 10 over Tucson Monday. The O-Royals scored in the 1st on a fielding error on a ball hit by LF Matt Diaz but Tucson came back to take a 2-1 lead in the 3rd. Omaha scored 4 that inning on a 3-run longball by Diaz (his 11th) and, immediately after, a solo shot by DH Calvin Pickering (his 16th) to take a 5-2 lead. Tucson took a 6-5 lead in the 6th but Omaha surged back ahead with 2 that frame on a 2-run homer by 3B Chris Truby. The O-Royals added a run in the 7th on an RBI single by RF Aaron Guiel but RP Chris George coughed up a 2-run double in the 8th to tie it. 1B Justin Huber tripled in the 8th with 1 out but was stranded and the game remained tied at 8 into the bottom of the 10th when Pickering untied it with a walkoff 2-run homer (his 17th). He's bounced back well from his horrible first half. SP Kyle Snyder allowed 4 ER on 5 hits and 4 BB with 3 Ks over 4 2/3 IP to move his ERA to 3.11; RP Nate Field went 1 1/3 IP and allowed 2 ER on 3 hits and 2 BB with a K to bump his ERA to 7.71 (yeesh); George got his 1st blown save with 1 IP of 2 ER on 4 hits with a K to drop his ERA to 5.74; newest O-Royal RP Dave Elder went 2 hitless innings with 3 Ks to keep his ERA at 0.00; and RP Justin Huisman got the win with 1 IP of 1 hit and 2 BB with a K to move to 4-1 with a 4.60 ERA. Guiel was 2-5 with an RBI to move to .269; Diaz was 1-5 with a HR, 3 RBI and 2 RS to drop to .408; Pickering was 2-5 with 2 HR, 3 RBI and 2 RS to improve to .256; Huber was 2-4 with a double and triple to move to .243; and Truby was 2-4 with a HR and 2 RBI to move to .263. All of a sudden Omaha has won 10 of 12 over the recent Pacific Conference foes.

Omaha is 55-61 and 9 games back of first. The Tucson series continues tonight. Pitchers: Sidewinders LH Mark Freed (7-4, 4.86) vs. RH Dennis Tankersley (7-6, 4.80). In other Omaha notes, check out Diaz's stats from the last 16 games -- .529, 37-70, 5 HR, 20 RBI.

AA: Wichita got taken down by San Antonio, 8-5, Monday. The Wranglers started the scoring in the 2nd on an RBI single by LF Billy Butler but the Missions came back to take a 5-1 lead. Wichita scored again in the 6th on a sac fly by DH Cory Aldridge but San Antonio scored 3 that inning to make it 8-2. Wichita scored 3 in the 8th on an RBI single by 3B Mike Aviles and a 2-run double by Butler to make it closer but it wasn't that close. SP Brian Bass got the loss with 4 1/3 IP of 4 R (3 ER) on 3 hits and 2 BB with 5 Ks to drop to 10-6 with a 5.52 ERA -- he left the game with an undisclosed injury; RP Wes Wilkerson went 2/3 IP and allowed an UER on 2 hits to drop his ERA to 6.00; RP Juan Cedeno continued his struggles with 2 IP of 3 R (2 ER) on a hit and walk with 2 Ks to move his ERA to 9.00; and RP Leo Nunez was welcomed back with a hitless inning that included a K to drop his ERA to 1.50. CF Mitch Maier was 0-5 to drop to .239; RF Shane Costa was 0-4 with a HBP to drop to .267; 2B Ruben Gotay was 1-3 with 2 walks, a double and 2 RS to set a .333 BA; 1B Josh Pressley was 2-3 with 2 walks and 2 RS to move to .292; Butler was 3-4 with a double and 3 RBI to improve to .500; and SS Andres Blanco was 0-3 with a walk to drop to .214.

Wichita is 22-21 and 2 1/2 games back of Arkansas. The set with the Missions continues tonight. Pitchers: SP Ryan Baerlocher (6-2, 2.41) goes for his third straight complete game and his 5th straight win vs. Missions LHP Thomas Oldham (10-6, 3.52).

High-A: High Desert pounded out 7 runs in the 1st to get started in a 14-7 win over Inland Empire Monday. 1B Kila Kaaihue started it off with a 2-run double followed by a 2-run triple two batters later by RF Bernard Stephens. A wild pitch scored Stephens before 3B Brandon Powell hit a solo longball (his 13th) and 2B Pete Maestrales, batting for the 2nd time in the inning, hit an RBI single to make it a 7-0 lead. The Mavs added 2 in the 2nd on an RBI double by C Luis Gonzalez and an RBI ground out by Powell and poured on 4 more in the 4th on an RBI single by SS Angel Sanchez and a 3-run double by Kaaihue. The Mavs scored their final run in the 6th on a bases-loaded walk by Kaaihue. SP Cesar Herrera got the win with 5 IP of 4 R (3 ER) on 8 hits and a walk with 3 Ks to move to 5-6 with a 6.96 ERA; RP Chris Coughlin allowed 2 ER on 3 hits and 2 BB with 2 Ks over 2 IP to move his ERA to 7.83; and RP Stephen Chamberlain went 2 IP and allowed 1 ER on 2 hits to move his ERA to 8.03. Almost every Mav had 2 hits. Maestrales was 2-4 with 2 walks, a double, an RBI and 3 RS to improve to .318; Sanchez was 3-4 with 2 walks and an RBI to improve to .299; CF Chris Lubanski was 2-5 with a walk and 2 RS to improve to .285; Kaaihue was 4-5 with a walk, 3 doubles, 6 RBI and 2 RS to improve to .319 -- he's raking again; and 3B Brandon Powell was 2-5 with a HR and 2 RBI to improve to .302. Powell also had 2 errors to get to 11 on the season.

High Desert is 25-19 and up 2 1/2 games on Rancho Cucamonga. The set with Inland Empire continues. Pitchers: SP Patrick Green (1-1, 0.60) vs. 66ers SP Ryan Feierabend (6-6, 3.93).

Low-A: Burlington had Monday off and starts a 2-game set at Quad Cities (26-18) tonight. Burlington is 23-21 and 3 games back of Quad Cities. The Bees will try to snap a 4-game losing streak.

Rookie: Idaho Falls took advantage of Ogden pitching blunders to win, 3-2 Monday. The game was scoreless into the 6th before the Chukars scored 2 on a 2-run double by C Kiel Thibault. RP Phillip Davidson gave up a run in both the 8th and 9th to tie it but Thibault singled with 1 out in the 9th, moved to second on a passed ball, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on another wild pitch by Ogden RP Nathan Hochgesang with 2 out to end it. SP Ryan DiPietro went 4 IP and allowed only 1 hit and 3 BB with 3 Ks to drop his ERA to 5.98; RP David Henninger went 3 IP and allowed 1 ER on a hit with 4 Ks to move his ERA to 3.79; and Davidson blew his 1st save but got the win with 2 IP of 2 ER on 3 hits and a walk with a K to move to 4-1 with a 2.68 ERA. SS Chris McConnell was 1-4 to drop to .354; 1B Brady Everett was 1-4 to drop to .369; and Thibault was 2-3 with a walk, double and 2 RBI to improve to .299. 3B Joshua Colafemina made 2 errors to get to 11 on the season.

Idaho Falls is 3-6 and 3 games out of first. The Chukars go for the sweep over Ogden tonight. SP Chris Nicoll (0-0, 0.00) makes his second pro start for Idaho Falls.

The ASL Royals went into extras with the Cubs Monday before dispatching them, 6-3, in 13. The Royals scored in the 2nd and 4th to take a 2-0 lead (no game log so I'm not sure how they scored) and took a 3-1 lead into the 7th before the bullpen allowed the Cubs to tie it. The game remained scoreless into the 13th when the Royals rallied for 3 runs and RP Henry Barrera pitched a perfect inning to end it. SP Juan Abreu went 5 IP and allowed 1 ER on 5 hits with 6 Ks to drop his ERA to 7.11; RP Drew Coffey got his 1st hold with 1 2/3 IP of 2 ER on 3 hits with 2 walks and a K to move his ERA to 10.45; RP Nelson Trifolio blew his 1st save with 2/3 IP of 2 hits to drop his ERA to 4.61; RP Troy Garrett got the win with 4 2/3 IP of 2 hits and a walk with 6 Ks to move to 2-2 with a 6.14 ERA; and Barrera got his 1st save with 2 Ks in his IP to drop his ERA to 5.59. 3B Valentino Arce was 1-4 with a HBP to drop to .357; CF Joseph Dickerson was 2-4 with 2 walks to improve to .315; RF Alvi Morel was 0-5 with a walk and 2 RS to drop to .354; and SS Pedro Lopez was 2-6 with a triple and 2 RBI to improve to .303. Jeff Bianchi didn't play.

The ASL Royals are 4-5 and 3 1/2 games back of first. They play the Brewers tonight and have tomorrow off.