Royals on the Farm 4/13

AAA - Omaha: O-Royals 11, Albuquerque 5

Huber 3-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 3 RS, K -- .316
K. Robinson 4-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI, RS -- .333
3B Rick Bell 2-3, BB, RBI, 2 RS -- .333
Blanco 2-4, 3 RBI, 2 RS -- .292
Allen 2-5, HR, RBI -- .375
Gotay 0-5 -- .200
Guiel 0-5, 2 K -- .192
Ambres 1-4, 2B -- .138

SP J.P. Howell 6 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, BB, 6 K -- W, 2-0, 2.25 ERA
RP Stephen Andrade IP, 2 K -- official organizational debut

*** Huber had his first great game of the season and the O-Royals rolled to the series finale win over Albuquerque. Omaha started it off with 4 in the 2nd on Huber's 2-run homer following Ambres' double and RBI singles by Blanco and Robinson. Omaha added 2 in the 3rd on a solo shot by Allen (his 1st) and an RBI single by Bell following a Huber double. Another run came in the 4th on a wild pitch by Isotopes RP -- prepare yourself -- Chris George. He gave up 4 ER over 2 2/3 IP -- that's classic George. Albuquerque cut into the lead with 3 in the 5th but Omaha matched it that inning on a 2-run Blanco single and a Robinson RBI double. The final Royals run came in the 8th on a missed catch error by RP Jimmy Anderson that allowed Blanco to score. Omaha is 5-3 and still tied with Iowa atop the division. Isotopes CF James Shanks was 2-4 to improve to .316.

Omaha moves on to a home series with Memphis starting Friday. As noted earlier Thursday, Elvys pitches for Omaha vs. Tankersley. The Redbirds (AAA Cardinals) are 0-8.

AA - Wichita: Wranglers 7, Arkansas 6

Gordon 3-3, BB, 2B, RBI, 2 RS, 2 SB (5) -- .355
Butler 0-4 -- .265
Lubanski 0-4 -- .125
Maier 2-4, HR (3), 4 RBI, 2 RS, K, SB -- .206
Tupman 2-4, RBI -- .364

SP Ryan Snare 5 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 4 K, WP -- W, 1-0, 8.22 ERA
RP Ryan Braun 2 IP, 0 ER, H, BB, 4 K, WP -- SV (1), 8.10 ERA

*** Gordon stepped up and he and Maier helped the Wranglers to their first win of the season. Wichita had two fruitful innings but it was enough to get the W. Arkansas scored 3 in the 1st off Snare to come out of the gate running but Wichita fought back with 4 in the bottom of the 1st on RBI singles from Gordon, Maier and Tupman and an RBI double by 2B Adam Keim. The Travs tied it in the 4th but Wichita scored 3 in the 5th on Maier's 3-run shot to right for his 3rd homer of the season. Arkansas scored runs in the 6th and 7th to get within a run and threatened in the 8th but Braun pitched out of a 2-on, 2-out situation and set the Travs down in the 9th. Wichita is 1-6 and 4 1/2 games back. SS Brandon Wood was 0-4 and is down to .320 for the Travs. 1B Mike Eylward was 2-4 with 2 doubles and is up to .393.

The series with Arkansas continues Friday as Travs RHP James Holcomb (0-1, 0.00 ERA) goes against Wichita RHP Kyle Middleton (0-1, 4.50 ERA). In other Wichita news, IF Brett Groves went to the disabled list, and Walter Sevilla was called up from High Desert to replace him.

High-A - High Desert: Rancho Cucamonga 10, Mavericks 1

2B Michael Gaffney 3-4, 2B -- also IP, 0 H, BB, 0 ER
Stodolka 2-3, BB -- .353
DH Rusty Brown 2-4, K -- .273
Melgarejo 1-5, 2 K -- .364
Galloway 0-3, BB, 2 K -- .364
3B Ed Lucas 0-4 -- .304

SP Luis Cota 3 1/3 IP, 8 ER, 7 H, 3 BB, 4 K -- L, 0-2, 14.73 ERA (this is the top organization pitching prospect? Bring on Andrew Miller.)
RP Brandon Weeden 3 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, BB, 5 K -- 6.14 ERA

*** Another rough game for the Mavs and Cota. The Quakes started off slowly with 2 in the 2nd but chased Cota with 6 in the 4th off 4 hits and 2 walks credited to Cota and a hit given up by Weeden. Weeden gave up a 2-run homer in the 6th to make it 10-0 and High Desert could only manage an 8th-inning run on an error on a ball hit by SS Irving Falu that scored Gaffney. The Mavs left 9 on base in the game. Gaffney pitched a hitless inning of relief, too, in the blowout. At least *he* came to play. The Mavs are 4-3 and a game out of first now. Five players had 2-hit games for the Quakes. RC RF Cody Fuller was 1-2 and is hitting .417. LF Drew Toussaint hit 2 dingers in raising his BA to .292. SP Rafael Rodriguez pitched 6 innings of 5 hit, 1 walk, 7 K ball to move to 2-0.

A 4-game set at Inland Empire (high-A Mariners) begins Friday. I think it's SP Daniel Christensen's turn to take the mound for the Mavs.

Low-A - Burlington: Bees 5, Beloit 2

Thibault 2-3, 2 RBI, RS, HBP, SB -- .333
Santana 1-3, SB -- .438
Lisson 1-2, 2B, 2 BB, K, RBI, 2 RS -- .261
Arce 1-4, E -- .294

SP Ryan DiPietro 7 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, BB, 3 K -- W, 1-0, 1.32 ERA
RP Kraig Schambough 2 IP, H, K -- SV (2)

*** Burlington scored 5 runs in the first 2 innings and that was all Ryan DiPietro needed as he held the Snappers in check for 7 IP and Schambough finished the job. The Bees scored 3 in the 1st on RBI singles by Thibault, DH John Lowen and RF Carlos Arroyo to take a 3-1 lead after DiPietro gave up a solo shot to the third batter he faced. The Bees added 2 more in the 2nd on a Lisson RBI double and Thibault RBI single. They had 3 base runners the rest of the game. DiPietro worked out of a jam in the 5th, coming away with just one run given up. Beloit didn't threaten again. The Bees are 4-4 and a game back of first. Beloit DH Caleb Moore was 0-4 to drop to .409. Snappers RPs Jose Lugo and David Shinskie pitched 4 innings of no-hit relief. SP Adam Hawes was who took the beating.

The Bees and Snappers continue the series Friday as Bees RH David Henninger (1-0, 3.38) starts against Beloit LH Ryan Mullins (0-0, 3.00).