Royals on the Farm 4/25

AAA - Omaha: rainout

Tuesday's game with Memphis will be made up as part of a May 27 doubleheader. Omaha has Wednesday off and starts a 4-game home set with Round Rock (9-9, AAA Astros) Thursday. Pitchers: Express RH Jason Hirsh (1-1, 5.75) vs. Omaha RH Kyle Snyder (0-1, 4.24). The O-Royals are 11-8 and a game back of Nashville. The extra day means maybe Huber will be back during the Round Rock series.

AA - Wichita: Wranglers 12, Arkansas 3

Gordon 1-5, 2 RS -- .321
Butler 2-4, BB, HR (5), 4 RBI (14), 2 RS -- .325
Lubanski 2-3, 2 BB, K, 2B, RS -- .239
Senreiso 2-5, HR (1), 3 RBI, K -- .267
Tupman 1-4, BB, 2 RS -- .358
Maier 1-3, 2 BB, RBI (18), RS -- .269
Sanchez 0-5, HBP -- .281
Murphy 0-4, K, RS, HBP -- .212, not hitting well thus far at AA

Cedeno 4 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 3 K, WP -- ND, 5.40 ERA
Braun 2 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 4 K -- W, 1-3, 4.50 ERA
Gragg III 2 1/3 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, BB, 3 K -- 6.00 ERA

*** The Wranglers strung together their first winning streak, now at 2, with the win over the Travs that also got them their first series win of the season. Things didn't start well as Cedeno gave up a 2-run homer to Travs SS Brandon Wood in the 1st but Wichita bounced back to take the lead in the 2nd on a 3-run homer by Senreiso -- his first AA shot of the year -- after 1-out walks to Maier and 1B Kila Kaaihue. The Wranglers all but put the game away with a 5-run 4th as Gordon reached on a 2-out, bases loaded throwing error by Travs 2B Eric Rodland that allowed 2 runs to score. The extra out hurt Arkansas as Butler blasted a 3-run shot to center for his 5th homer and 11th, 12th and 13th RBI. Cedeno gave up a run in the bottom of the 4th but relievers Braun and Gragg III went the remaining 5 innings without giving up anything. Wichita added 3 in the 6th in another 2-out rally as Butler hit an RBI single, Gordon scored on a wild pitch and Maier drove Butler home with a single to make the score 11-3. Wichita tacked on a run in the 9th on a Tupman double play ball that scored Kaaihue. The Wranglers are now 6-13 -- 6-7 after an 0-6 start -- and still 7 games back of first. I'd point to pitching and defense as the early problem as the Wranglers have allowed 5.52 runs a game compared to scoring 5.26 runs a game through 19 games. 5-plus runs should be enough to win most games. Arkansas SP Chris Hunter walked 5 over 3 1/3 IP and took the loss. Wood was 2-4 (the homer was his 5th) to improve to .321 and DH Mike Eylward was 3-4 to move his BA to .400. 3B Matt Brown was 1-4 to drop to .321.

The Wranglers also have Wednesday off and start a 4-game home set with Midland (11-8, AA A's) Thursday. No announced pitchers on either team's site.

High-A - High Desert: Stockton 5, Mavs 2

Valentin 2-3, HR (2), RBI (9) -- .333
Galloway 2-4, RBI (8), 2 K, E (1) -- .333
Stodolka 0-4 -- .404
Lucas 0-3 -- .227

Hicklen 4 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 3 K, 2 HRA, WP -- L, 0-3, 10.07 ERA, not handling Cal League pitching well
Barnes 3 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 2 K -- 5.68 ERA

*** Hicklen struggled again and Stockton used two innings of offense to get the series-opening win. Valentin homered in the 2nd to start the scoring and Galloway hit an RBI single in the 3rd to put High Desert up, 2-0. Hicklen made it through the first 2 innings without substantial trouble but Stockton got 2 singles and then a 3-run homer by RF Luke Appert to take the lead in the 3rd. Ports C Landon Powell hit a 2-run dinger in the 4th to account for Stockton's other 2 runs and the Mavs had 2 baserunners on 2 singles from the 4th inning on. High Desert dropped to 11-8 and is a 1/2 game back in the division. Ports reliever Marcus McBeth (good name) shut the Mavs down with 2 K in the 9th for his league-leading 7th save. He has a 0.00 ERA. SP Michael Rogers went 7 IP for his first '06 win. A's 2005 first-rounder SS Cliff Pennington was 1-4 for the Ports and is only hitting .111 thus far. DH Nathan Espy was 2-4 to bump his BA to .364 and Powell was 2-4 to move his BA to .327. A's OF prospect Richie Robnett was 0-4 to drop to .224.

The Mavs and Ports play again Wednesday night. Pitchers: Mavs RH Kyle Crist vs. Ports RH Ryan Webb.

Low-A - Burlington: Bees 2, Southwest Michigan 0 (10)

Lisson 2-4, BB, 2B (5), 2 RBI (15), SB (4) -- .237
McConnell 1-4, BB, 2 K, picked off -- .107
Sabatini 1-3, BB, RS -- .184
Thibault 0-3, BB -- .276

Rosa 8 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 4 K -- ND, 2.14 ERA, great start
De la vara 2 IP, 0 ER, H, 3 K -- W, 1-1, 4.80 ERA

*** Rosa looks to be recovered after taking 2005 off after arm surgery as he went 8 shutout innings only to get a no-decision as the Bees' offense struggled but pulled out a win in 10. The game was fairly cut-and-dry as both teams got baserunners throughout the early and middle innings but couldn't get a runner home. The Bees finally broke through in the 10th as CF Jose Duarte reached on a throwing error and, with 2 out, McConnell drew a walk to load the bases. Lisson came through again for Burlington with a 2-run single for the Bees' 4th hit of the game and a 2-0 lead. De la vara struck out 3 in the 9th but the first reached on a wild pitch on strike three so he had to coax another batter into a ground out to end the game. It was an all-around great pitching game for Burlington. No walks, 7 Ks, only 6 hits allowed over 10 IP. Burlington moved to 8-11 and snapped a 5-game skid. Four D-Rays pitchers held the Bees in check as the 2 runs were both unearned. SWM RF Garrett Groce was 1-4 to drop to .345 and DH Matt Spring was 1-4 to drop to .306.

The Bees and D-Rays played an early game today with Chris Nicoll pitching Burlington to an 8-1 win. That game will be recapped in the next report. In other Bees news, LHP Eliszer Garcia was placed on the DL retroactive to April 17th to make room for Nicoll but then Garcia was activated Monday and RP Adam Kalkhof was released. Kalkhof wasn't pitching poorly -- he hadn't allowed an earned run in a few IP.