Royals on the Farm 4/12

AAA - Omaha: Albuquerque 10, O-Royals 1

Guiel 1-4, HR (2), RBI (6) -- .238
Allen 1-4 -- .370
Gotay 0-3, BB -- .240
Huber 0-2, BB -- .200
Ambres 0-3, 2 K -- .120
Blanco 0-3, K -- .250
Aviles 0-3 -- .059

Keppel 5 2/3 IP, 6 R (5 ER), 10 H, 2 BB, 2 K -- L, 0-1
Huisman 2 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 5 K!

*** Guiel's solo homer in the 4th off Isotopes SP Yusmeiro Petit tied the game at 1 but Albuquerque rallied for 8 in the 6th and 7th to blow open a lead and put the game away. The O-Royals were 4-3 after the loss but still tied with Iowa, which lost to Nashville. Petit allowed the 1 run over 6 IP and the Isotopes got 3 IP of no-hit relief. RF Matt Cepicky and DH Mike Kincade were 3-4 while 1B Jason Wood was 1-4 with a homer for the Isotopes.

Today's game has already been played as J.P. Howell took the hill for Omaha and got the win in an 11-5 O-Royals victory. A report on that will be posted later tonight or tomorrow. The Royals start a 4-game set at Memphis Friday. Matchup: Omaha RH Runelvys Hernandez (0-1, 24.00) vs. (ol' friend) Memphis RH Dennis Tankersley (0-0, 10.80 -- big surprise on the ERA, but it's better than Elvys').

AA - Wichita: Arkansas 5, Wichita 4

Gordon 1-4, K -- .286
Butler 2-4, 2 2B, RBI, RS -- .300
Lubanski 0-2, BB, K -- .150, outfield assist
Tupman 1-2, 2B, 2 BB, RS -- .333
Sanchez 1-4, 2 RBI -- .333

SP Seung Song 6 1/3 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 4 H, 2 BB, 4 K -- no decision
RP John Gragg III 1 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, BB, K, HRA -- blown save
Hoelscher 1 IP, 1 ER, 2 H -- L, 0-1

*** The Wranglers wasted a good start from Song and the futility continues as they are 0-6. Gordon's BA continues to slide as the 1-4 day knocks him down to .286 but Butler had a good day at the plate with 2 doubles. Arkansas scored first but Wichita tied the game in the 3rd on an RBI ground out by Butler. Wichita took the lead with 3 in the 5th on a 2-run single by SS Angel Sanchez and an RBI single by DH Randy Ruiz that drove Butler home after a double. The hit also ended the inning as Ruiz was thrown out at second trying to stretch it after the throw home to try and get Butler was late. Arkansas got a run off Song and Gragg in the 7th to cut the lead to 4-2 and tied it in the 8th on a 2-run blast off Gragg by 3B Matthew Brown. In the meantime the Wrangler offense sputtered. RP Nate Hoelscher gave up a double and RBI single with 2 outs in the top of the 9th to give Arkansas the lead and Wichita couldn't tie it in the bottom of the frame off RP Bob Zimmermann. The loss has the Wranglers 5 back in the division. Brown was 3-4 and is hitting .400. Travs SS Brandon Wood was 0-3 with a walk and is down to .381.

The series continued today with an 11 a.m. start. And the Wranglers have won. Go crazy, Wichita! Wranglers win, 7-6, and are now 1-6. A report will be made on that game tonight or tomorrow. Ryan Snare made the start for Wichita. The 5-game set continues Friday.

High-A - High Desert: Rancho Cucamonga 12, Mavs 3

SS Irving Falu 2-5, RS, E -- .304
LF Michael Galloway 0-4 -- .421
1B Rusty Brown 1-3, BB, RBI, RS, E -- .222
RF Brian McFall 1-4, HR (1), 2 RBI -- .167

SP Jarod Plummer 2 IP, 8 R (5 ER), 8 H, 0 BB, 1 K -- L, 0-1, 22.50 ERA, uuuuuugly
RP C.J. Woodrow 5 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 6 K -- 7.71 ERA

*** The Quakes handed High Desert - mainly Plummer - an old fashioned Cal League woodshed beatin' Wednesday in a 12-3 victory. Plummer got 2 out in the 1st before giving up 3 of 4 runs, although 2 were unearned because of an error by 2B Wilver Perez. Plummer gave up 4 more runs in the 2nd as he and Falu committed errors in the frame. Woodrow came on for the 3rd and gave up a run in both the 3rd and 4th to make the score 10-0 RC. Woodrow piled on 2 more runs for the Quakes in the 6th before the Mavs finally got on the board in the 7th on McFall's 2-run homer - his first at High Desert. Brown had an RBI groundout in the 8th but the game never got close to close, if that makes sense. The Mavs are 4-2 and in a 4-way tie atop the CL South. Quakes SP Nick Green got the win with 2 ER allowed over 6 2/3 IP with 7 Ks. SS Sean Rodriguez was 3-5 and a double short of the cycle and is hitting .458 but also made his 5th error. Three other Quakes had 2-hit games and the team had 8 XBH out of 14 hits overall.

The series concludes tonight as Quakes SP Rafael Rodriguez (1-0, 0.00 ERA) starts opposite HD's Luis Cota (0-1, 9.00 ERA). Hey, guess what the Quakes call their home stadium? That's right - the Epicenter. That's kinda clever, or at least a good marketing ploy. Also in the Mavs' news department, P Ryan Rafferty got slapped with a 50-game suspension for performance enhancers. The Royals just picked him up from the indy leagues this last off-season. We barely knew ya, Rafferty.

Low-A - Burlington: Kane County 8, Bees 6

McConnell 1-5 -- .091
Thibault 0-4, 2 K, HBP -- .286
1B John Lowen 1-4, HR, 2 RBI, K -- .231
CF Ethien Santana 2-3, BB, K, RS, SB -- .462

Kniginyzky 5 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, 3 BB, 2 K, WP -- 4.91 ERA
RP Gilbert de la Vara 2 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, BB, 3 K -- L, 0-1, 3.00 ERA

*** For a few minutes the Bees had a 5-4 lead but it didn't last as the Cougars finished the series with an 8-6 win. The Bees scored 2 in the 3rd on a sac fly by 2B Joshua Johnson and an RBI single by 3B Mario Lisson but Kane County scored 4 off Kniginyzky in the bottom of the inning on a 5-hit rally. Johnson had an RBI ground out in the 4th and the Bees regained the lead with 2 in the 5th on Lowen's homer but Kniginyzky gave up the tying run that inning on a wild pitch with 2 out. Kane County scored 2 off de la Vara on a homer in the 7th after Bees RF Carlos Arroyo threw out the would-be lead runner at the plate to end the 6th. The Bees got back within a run in the 8th as McConnell reached on a fielding error that scored C Jeff Howell. Johnson committed the cardinal sin of making the third out at third on a caught-stealing play to end the inning. Absolutely Berroa-esque there. Kane County tacked on some insurance in the bottom of the 8th and the Bees went down quietly in the 9th to end it and drop to 3-4 and 1 game out of the division lead. Cougars RP Robert Madej pitched 2 1/3 innings of no-hit relief for the win. Kane County SS Frank Martinez was 2-3 with a HR and 4 RBI to improve to .364. 3B Wes Long was 2-4 (.400 BA) and 1B Steve "Mister" Kleen was 3-4 with a double and is hitting .300. I doubt they call him "Mister" but it's the obvious nickname.

A 3-game home set with co-division leaders Beloit (low-A Twins) starts tonight. Bees LH Ryan DiPietro (0-0, 0.00) hurls against, or should I say versus, Snappers RH Adam Hawes (0-0, 0.00).