Royals on the Farm 4/24

AAA - Omaha: O-Royals 3, Memphis 1

Huber 1-2, K -- .333, pulled in 5th after getting picked off -- reported injured hand/wrist -- ungood
Phillips 3-3, BB, 2B, RS -- .259
Blanco 1-4, E (8) -- .354, so much for the glove
Robinson 1-2, RS -- .351
Gotay 1-2, 2 BB, K, RS -- .253
Guiel 0-3, BB, RBI -- .206 but OBP around .350
Allen 0-3, BB, 2 K -- .301
Ambres 0-3, outfield assist -- .159

Bernero 4 2/3 IP, ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 2 K -- ND, 3.86 ERA
Tamayo 4 1/3 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, BB, 3 K -- W, 2-1, 1.69 ERA

*** Bernero and Tamayo got the job done on the mound and the Royals scraped out enough offense to get the win but Huber's injury could cast a shadow on the victory. Guiel hit an RBI ground out in the 1st after Robinson and Gotay led off the frame with singles. Huber led off the 4th with a single but was picked off at first and left the game after the half-inning. Aviles singled home the team's second run that inning but Memphis got on the board in the 5th on an RBI double by 1B Brian Daubach. Huber's replacement, Jared Price, doubled home the team's final run in the 7th. Tamayo gave up the RBI double on his first batter faced but settled down after that and didn't allow a runner until the 7th. Memphis never seriously threatened after the 5th. Omaha is 11-8 and awaiting the Nashville result to determine their status in the divisional race. Former O-Royal Dennis Tankersley took the loss to drop to 0-3 but got his ERA under 10 in the process. Memphis RF John Gall was 2-3 to improve to .397 and C Michel Hernandez was 1-4 to drop to .342.

The series concludes Tuesday. Pitchers: Memphis RH Brad Voyles (1-0, 1.50) vs. Omaha RH Brian Bass (0-2, 6.92). More news on Huber to come, I'm sure.

AA - Wichita: Wranglers 5, Arkansas 4 (10)

Gordon 2-5, HR (4), RBI (8), K -- .329
Butler 1-4, HR (4), 2 RBI (10), HBP -- .316
Lubanski 1-5, 2B (4), K -- .221
Maier 4-5, CS -- .267
Tupman 2-3, HR (1), RBI (10), BB -- .367
Murphy 1-5, HR (3), RBI (9), E (2) -- .229
Sanchez 0-4, BB, RS -- .305

Middleton 7 IP, ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 4 K -- ND, 3.97 ERA
Nunez 2 IP, ER, H, 0 BB, 2 K -- BS (2), W, 1-1, 5.00 ERA

*** The Wranglers did all their work by longball Monday night as Murphy hit the eventual game-winning dinger in the 10th after Wichita wasted a good start by Middleton. Gordon homered in his first AB for his 4th of the season to start Wichita with a 1-0 lead. Arkansas tied the game in the 5th but Wichita surged back ahead in the 6th as Tupman led off the inning with his first 2006 homer and Butler blasted a 2-run shot to center that also scored Sanchez to give the Wranglers a 4-1 lead. Middleton cruised through the 7th before giving way to RP Thad Markray for the 8th and the move proved a bad one for manager Frank White. Markray gave up a 2-run homer to DH Mike Eylward to cut Wichita's lead to 4-3 but got out of the inning without further damage. Nunez came in for the 9th and gave up a leadoff homer to RF Jason Aspito to tie the game. It was Leo's 2nd blown save. Murphy came through with a leadoff jack in the 10th to put Wichita back ahead and Nunez set the Travs down quietly in the 10th to end the game. The Wranglers are 5-13 and 7 games back of first. SS Brandon Wood was 0-5 for Arkansas to drop to .311. Eylward was 2-4 to improve to .379 and 2B Eric Rodland was 2-3 to move to .320.

Series finale is Tuesday night. Pitchers: Wranglers LH Juan Cedeno vs. Travelers RH Chris Hunter.

High-A - High Desert: Mavs 3, Lancaster 2

Galloway 1-3, 2B, RBI, K, HBP -- .321
Valentin 0-2 -- .310
Donachie 1-1, BB, 2 RS, HBP -- .237
McFall 0-2, RBI, K, SF -- .217
Gaffney 0-3, 2 K -- .346
Stodolka DNP

Christensen 6 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, BB, 9 K, HRA -- ND, 3.91 ERA
Plummer 1 2/3 IP, 0 ER, H, 0 BB, 2 K -- W, 3-1, 6.30 ERA
DeHoyos IP, 0 ER, 0 H, BB -- SV (3), 1.04 ERA

*** High Desert got the sweep with a late rally and won with only 4 hits. Christensen gave up a homer to the first batter of the game -- Lancaster CF Chris Rahl -- but didn't give up anything else over 6 1/3 innings. McFall tied the game with a sac fly in the 5th. Christensen gave up back-to-back singles and left with 2 on and 1 out in the 7th. Plummer gave up a fielder's choice run to the first batter he faced and Lancaster took a 2-1 lead. Donachie walked with 2 out in the bottom of the inning and Valentin and McFall reached on consecutive errors by JetHawks 3B Rusty Ryal, who had 3 errors in the game. The other happened two batters before McFall's 5th inning sac fly. Donachie scored on the second error and the game was tied at 2. Galloway came through with a 2-out double in the 8th that scored SS Irving Falu and High Desert took the 3-2 lead. Lancaster got a runner to third with 2 out in the 9th but Ryal grounded out to end the game. Tough game for him -- he was like the Mavs' 10th player. High Desert is now 11-7 and awaiting Rancho Cucamonga's Monday result. Lancaster SP Gregory Smith went 6 2/3 innings and gave up only 2 unearned runs to drop his ERA to 2.84. Rahl was 3-5 with a double and homer to improve to .324.

High Desert moves on to a 3-game set at the Stockton Ports (8-9, High-A A's) Tuesday. It's SP Patrick Hicklen's turn again, I think. He's 0-2 with a 9.77 ERA.

Low-A - Burlington: Peoria 3, Bees 2

Thibault 2-4, K -- .291
McConnell 1-4, RS, K, 2 E (5) -- .091, yet to adjust to low-A
Lowen 1-3, 2B, RS -- .300

Henninger 5 2/3 IP, 3 UER, 5 H, 3 BB, 7 K -- L, 1-1, 3.20 ERA

*** A 3-run inning was all Peoria needed to keep Burlington's woes alive with a 5th straight loss and a sweep at the hands of the Chiefs. Burlington didn't get a runner to first through the first 4 innings and Henninger walked in a run after a fielding error by 1B Miguel Vega loaded the bases in the bottom of the 4th. He then gave up a 2-run single to Peoria CF Davy Gregg to make the score 3-0 Chiefs. Lowen doubled to break up the perfecto to lead off the 5th and CF Jose Duarte drove him home with a single to make the score 3-1. That was the score entering the 9th when McConnell and Thibault led off the inning with singles. PH Mario Lisson drove McConnell home with a ground out but 3B Jeremy Jirschele grounded out to end the game with the tying run in scoring position. The Bees are 7-11 and now 4 games back of first. Chiefs 1B Ryan Norwood was 2-3 with a double to move to .333.

The Bees try to start over as they start a 4-game series at the Southwest Michigan D-Rays (8-10, Low-A guess who) Tuesday evening. Starters: Bees RH Carlos Rosa (1-2, 3.46) vs. SWM RH Greg Rheinhard (0-2, 10.57).