Royals on the Farm 4/17

AAA - Omaha: O-Royals 5, Memphis 1

Huber 0-4, BB, 3 K -- .343
1B Rick Bell 3-4, 2B, K -- .429
Guiel 2-4, BB, 2B, RS -- .250
Blanco 2-4, 2 RBI, CS -- .359
Allen 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI -- .320
Gotay 1-4, BB, RS -- .333
Aviles 1-4, HR (1), RBI, 2 K -- .111

Keppel 6 1/3 IP, ER, 4 H, BB, 4 K -- W, 1-1, 4.67 ERA
Nelson and Yarnall 2 2/3 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 4 K

*** Three Omaha pitchers held the Redbirds to 4 hits and the Royals got a good offensive effort from several players in holding on to a 1-game division lead. Aviles started the scoring with his first AAA homer to lead off the 5th and give Omaha a 1-0 lead. An error by Redbirds 2B Junior Spivey loaded the bases with 1 out in the 6th and Blanco came through with a 2-run single to extend the lead to 3-0. Memphis scraped out a run in the 7th but Omaha bought some insurance with a 2-run double by Allen in the 9th after Memphis RP Franklin Perez issued 2-out walks to Gotay and Guiel. Omaha RP Ed Yarnall got out of the 9th with little problem and the O-Royals improved to 8-4. Redbirds RF John Gall was 2-4 to improve to .377 and C Michel Hernandez was 1-2 to improve to .404.

Omaha moves on to a 4-game set at Nashville (7-5, AAA Brewers) tonight. The Sounds are on a 4-game win streak. Starters: O-Royals LH J.P. Howell (2-0, 2.25) vs. RH Brett Evert (0-0, 1.80).

AA - Wichita: Springfield 3, Wranglers 1

Gordon 0-2, SF, BB, K, RBI (6) -- .348
Butler 0-3, BB, K -- .240
Lubanski 1-3, CS -- .100
Espino 2-3 -- .222
Sanchez 1-4, 2B, K, RS -- .375
Tupman 0-3, BB -- .340
Maier 0-3 -- .188

Song 5 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, BB, 9 K!! -- L, 0-1, 6.14 ERA
Braun and Gragg III 3 IP, 0 ER

*** Song got little run support as Wichita managed only 4 hits off Cards SP Jordan Pals and 3 relievers. Wichita's lone run came in the 1st as Sanchez led off with a double, was moved to third by Tupman and came home on Gordon's sac fly. The Wranglers didn't get a hit after the 5th. Song gave up a run in the 3rd and 2 in the 5th before being lifted but actually had an all right start with 9 Ks. Manager Frank White was ejected after arguing a call in the 6th. The Wranglers are 2-9 and 5 games back of first. OF Reid Gorecki went 2-4 for Springfield to up his BA to .396 and 3B Rico Washington was 1-3 with a triple in dropping to .372. Pals moved to 1-0 and lowered his ERA to 3.38.

The series continues tonight in Springfield. Starters: Wichita SP Ryan Snare (1-0, 8.22 ERA) vs. Cards SP Chris Lambert (1-0, 5.40).

High-A - High Desert: Mavs 7, Inland Empire 5 (12)

1B Stodolka 4-5, 2 2B, BB, K, RS, SB! -- .407!!! (great game....maybe the Royals will get something good out of that 2000 1st rounder yet.)
OF Geraldo Valentin 3-6, K, 2 RS -- .318
SS Irving Falu 2-4, BB, SB, CS, picked off, E, HBP -- .268
2B Michael Gaffney 1-4, 2 BB, 2B, K, RS -- .500
Melgarejo 1-2, K -- .321
3B Ed Lucas 0-6, RBI, 3 K, RS -- .231
McFall 1-4, HR (2), 2 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K, E -- .194

Buckner 5 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 3 K -- 2.76 ERA
DeHoyos 1 2/3 IP, 0 H, K -- 0.00 ERA
RP Brandon Weeden 3 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 2 K, balk -- W, 2-0, 4.35 ERA

*** McFall provided the winning margin in the 12th after High Desert forced extras with a run in the 8th. IE got to Buckner for a run in the 1st but the Mavs scored 3 in the 2nd on RBI ground outs by Lucas and Valentin (aided by a Tuiasosopo throwing error) and a Falu RBI single. The Mavs added a run in the 5th on a ground out by C Adam Donachie that brought Gaffney home. The 66ers scored 1 in the 5th and 2 in the 6th to take the lead as RP Nate Moore blew a save on a 2-run double. Valentin scored on a wild pitch in the 8th to tie the game off IE RP Stephen Kahn. DeHoyos helped High Desert get the game into extras and Falu stole second with 2 out in the 10th but got caught stealing third to end the threat. The whole third-out-at-third problem seems to be organization-wide. Weeden came in for the 10th and got into slight jams in both the 10th and 11th but worked out of them. Stodolka singled with 1 out in the 12th and, after Lucas struck out swinging, McFall hit a 2-run homer to left off IE RP Mumba Rivera to give the Mavs a 7-5 lead. Weeden set the 66ers down in order in the 12th to end it. The Mavs are 6-5 and 1 1/2 games back of first. Tuiasosopo was 1-5 to drop to .333 and IE 2B Erick Monzon was 3-6 to improve to .325. 66ers LF Josh Womack was 1-5 to drop to .435.

A 3-game home set with San Jose starts tonight. Starters: Giants LH Jesus Reina (1-0, 1.80) v. RHP Luis Cota (0-2, 14.73).

Low-A - Burlington: Bees 13, Fort Wayne 2

1B Miguel Vega 2-5, 2B, HR (2), 5 RBI!, K -- .161
2B Joshua Johnson 3-4, BB, 2 RS -- .346
McConnell 1-3, 2 BB, RS, HBP -- .097
Arce 2-4, 2 RBI, 2 RS, SF -- .308
Thibault 1-4, BB, 3 RBI -- .281
LF Antonio Sabatini 0-1, 3 BB, HBP, 3 RS -- .200

Kniginyzky 6 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 5 K -- W, 2-0, 3.18 ERA

*** The Bees offense exploded for 13 runs and Kniginyzky shut the Wizards down to get Burlington the win. Burlington started the scoring with 3 in the 3rd on an Arce RBI single and 2-run double by Vega. They added a 4th inning run on an RBI ground out by 3B Mario Lisson and 5 in the 5th on a 3-run dinger by Vega (his 2nd) and a 2-run single by Thibault to make the score 9-0. The final 4 runs came in the 7th on a passed ball that allowed Sabatini to score, a fielding error on a ball hit by Thibault that allowed 2 runs to score and an Arce sac fly. After Kniginyzky got out of a 2-out, bases loaded situation in the 1st, he allowed only 3 other baserunners and 3 other pitchers helped finish the game. The Bees are 6-5 and a game back of first. Wizards 1B Daryl Jones was 1-3 to drop to .368.He's the only Fort Wayne player batting over .300.

The series continues this evening. Starters: Bees LH Ryan DiPietro (1-0, 1.32) v. FW RH Stevie Delabar (0-0, 2.25).