Royals on the Farm 8/31

AAA: Omaha got another win in a 6-2 victory over Iowa and, combined with a Memphis sweep of Nashville in a doubleheader, that put the O-Royals a game and a half closer to the division lead. Omaha scored 2 in the 1st on RBI singles by 1B Calvin Pickering and LF Chad Santos but Iowa cut the lead to 1 in the 3rd. A 3-run Omaha 6th put it away as a single by RF Jaime Jones was aided by an error to score DH Justin Huber and C Jared Price cracked a 2-run homer (his 4th). Omaha added its final run in the 8th on an RBI double by CF Adrian Brown. SP Denny Bautista went 2 2/3 hitless IP with 2 Ks in a decent rehab start to drop his ERA to 3.60; RP Chris George got his first home win with 4 1/3 IP of 1 ER on 4 hits and 2 walks with 4 Ks to improve to 8-7 with a 5.45 ERA; and RP Justin Huisman went 2 IP and allowed an ER on 2 hits and a walk with 3 Ks to move his ERA to 3.87. Brown was 2-5 with a double and RBI to improve to .274; Pickering was 3-4 with an RBI to improve to .265; Santos was 2-4 with an RBI to improve to .265; Huber was 1-3 with a walk to improve to .274; Jones was 2-3 with a walk and 2 RS to improve to .260; and Price was 2-4 with a HR and 2 RBI to improve to .227. SS Andres Blanco didn't play again after fouling a ball off his right knee over the weekend.

Omaha is 70-69 and 1 1/2 games out of first behind Nashville with 5 games left in the season. Omaha concludes the final home set of the season tonight. Pitchers: Cubs RH Bobby Brownlie (6-6, 4.70) vs. RH Danny Tamayo (8-8, 5.41).

AA: Wichita got a bad introduction to SP Yovany Damico, just up from Burlington, as he gave up 7 ER over 3 2/3 IP to take the L in an 8-3 Wrangler loss to Tulsa Wednesday. Wichita scored in the 1st on an RBI single by DH Cory Aldridge but the Drillers got 3 off Damico in the bottom of the inning on a 3-run shot to take the lead. Wichita scored runs in the 2nd and 3rd on an RBI ground out by 2B Ruben Gotay and a solo homer by Aldridge (his 26th) to tie the game at 3 but Damico gave up 2 runs in both the 3rd and 4th to allow Tulsa to pull away. Wichita didn't get another runner past second. Damico had a line of 3 2/3 IP, 7 ER on 7 hits and 3 walks with 3 Ks to start out 0-1 at Wichita with a 17.18 ERA; RP Stephen Bray went 2 1/3 IP and allowed 1 ER on 4 hits with 4 Ks to make his ERA 4.71; and RP Chris Demaria pitched 2 innings and gave up a hit to drop his ERA to 2.02. Gotay was 1-5 with an RBI to drop to .207; RF Shane Costa was 1-5 to drop to .275; 1B Josh Pressley was 2-4 to improve to .310; Aldridge was 2-4 with a HR and 2 RBI to improve to .274; LF Billy Butler was 0-3 with a walk to drop to .326; CF Mitch Maier was 2-4 to improve to .254; and 3B Brennan King was 2-4 to up his BA to .286. Butler made his 2nd AA error in the loss.

Wichita is 31-35 and out of the playoff hunt with 4 games to play. The final series at Tulsa continues tonight. Pitchers: LH Derrin Ebert (6-3, 4.94) vs. Tulsa RH Jon Asahina (12-9, 4.04).

High-A: High Desert clinched at least a wildcard playoff spot with a 10-2 win over Lake Elsinore Wednesday. There's no game log at MiLB's site. SP John Gragg III took the win with 5 IP of 0 ER on 6 hits and 2 walks with 3 Ks to improve to 13-5 with a 4.36 ERA; RP Chris Coughlin went an inning and allowed an ER on 2 hits with 2 Ks to make his ERA 7.13; and RP Greg Atencio went 2 IP and allowed an ER on 3 hits and a walk with a K to move his ERA to 1.51. LF Pete Maestrales was 2-5 with 2 RS to improve to .325; SS Angel Sanchez was 3-5 with a HR, 2 RBI and 3 RS to improve to .308; CF Chris Lubanski was the offensive star of the game with a 4-4 night with a walk, double, 2 HR (#s 26 and 27), 7 RBI (to get his season total to 112) and 2 RS to get over the .300 mark at .302; 1B Kila Kaaihue was 0-5 with an RBI to drop to .311; RF Bernard Stephens was 1-4 to make his BA .299; and 2B Walter Sevilla was 2-4 to improve to .242.

High Desert is 38-28 and has clinched a playoff berth with 4 games to play and are up 3 1/2 games on Lancaster with a shot to take the second-half division title with another win. They end the set with Lake Elsinore tonight. No announced starters.

Low-A: Burlington dug itself out of an early 4-run hole to take a 6-4 win over Clinton Wednesday. The LumberKings jumped on SP Justin Sherman for 4 in the 2nd to chase him from the game and take the 4-0 lead. It held into the 4th when the Bees scored 2 on a 2-run homer by C Felipe Del Rosario (his 2nd). Burlington added a run in the 5th on an RBI single by 2B Gary Perez and took the lead with 2 in the 6th on an RBI single by RF Darwinson Salazar and a Perez RBI double. They got some insurance in the 8th on a Perez RBI single. Sherman went 1 2/3 IP and allowed 4 ER on 5 hits and 2 walks with a K to move his ERA to 4.89; RP Kraig Schambough got the win with 5 1/3 IP of 3 hits and a walk with 4 Ks to improve to 2-1 with a 4.11 ERA; and RP Chad Blackwell got his 14th save with 2 IP of 1 hit and a BB with 3 Ks to drop his ERA to 2.33. SS Irving Falu was 2-5 with a double, triple and 2 RS to improve to .249; Perez was 4-5 with a double and 3 RBI to improve to .272; 3B Edward Lucas was 0-4 to drop to .289; and Del Rosario was 2-3 with a walk, HR, 2 RBI and 2 RS to improve to .258.

Burlington is 30-35 and out of the playoff hunt. The Bees conclude the final home set with Clinton tonight and have 5 games left on the schedule. Pitchers: RH Patrick Hicklen (6-7, 4.07) vs. Clinton RH Eric Hurley (11-6, 3.85). In other Bees news, 1B Miguel Vega was activated from the DL after June thumb surgery.

Rookie: Idaho Falls tried to come back from an early 4-run deficit but couldn't as SP Chris Nicoll went another game in search of his first pro win in a 5-4 loss to Casper. Nicoll was tagged for 4 runs in the 1st by the Rockies but 2 were unearned thanks to an error by SS Chris McConnell. McConnell tried to right his wrong with an RBI single in the 1st to cut into the lead but Casper scored again in the 4th to make the lead 4 again at 5-1. It held until the 7th when the Chukars scored 3 on a 2-run triple by 2B Joshua Johnson and an RBI single by CF Ethien Santana. Johnson hit a 2-out double in the 9th to give Idaho Falls one last chance but 3B Brenan Herrera grounded out to end it. Nicoll went 4 IP and allowed 5 R (3 ER) on 5 hits and 2 walks with 5 Ks to drop to 0-3 with a 3.47 ERA; RP David Henninger went 3 IP and allowed only 3 hits and 2 walks with 2 Ks to drop his ERA to 3.71; and RP Brandon Brantley went 2 hitless IP with a walk and 3 Ks to drop his ERA to 8.18. Santana was 1-4 with a walk and RBI to drop to .308; McConnell was 1-2 with 2 walks and an RBI to drop to .335 -- his error was his 20th; LF Felix Peguero was 2-4 with a double to improve to .253; DH Kiel Thibault was 0-4 to drop to .331; C Jeff Howell was 0-2 with 2 walks to drop to .331; and Johnson was 2-4 with a double, triple and 2 RBI to improve to .224.

Idaho Falls is 11-19 and 5 games out of first with 8 games left on the schedule. The Chukars continue the series with Casper tonight.

The ASL Royals finished the second half at 15-13 and 3 games back of first. Overall the Royals finished 34-22. The Giants won both halves of the season so there won't be any playoffs. The Royals would have won the wild card if there was one.