Royals on the Farm 4/27

AAA - Omaha: O-Royals 10, Round Rock 1

1B Huber 0-3, 2 BB, K -- .317, didn't miss a game from dislocated pinky
SS Blanco 0-0, 3 HBP!, BB, RS -- .354, only 5th time in league history a player hit 3 times
CF Robinson 3-5, 3B, RBI (12), 3 RS -- .367
DH Allen 3-5, 2B, 3B, 5 RBI! (17), RS -- .321, having a fine season thus far
RF Guiel 0-2, 2 HBP, BB, K, 2 RS -- .200 but still getting on base well
2B Gotay 1-5, RS, 2 RBI, K, E (1) -- .250
LF Ambres 0-3, 2 BB, RS -- .152

Bass 7 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 4 K -- W, 1-2, 4.50 ERA
RP Joe Nelson IP, H, 2 K -- 0.93 ERA, back from KC

*** Blanco and Guiel matched a league record with 5 combined HBPs, but there was no brawl involved, and the Royals rolled past Round Rock. Omaha jumped on Express SP Jason Hirsh for 3 in the 1st on a Gotay RBI ground out after a leadoff triple by Robinson and a 2-run single by C Paul Phillips. Omaha tacked on 2 in the 4th on a 2-run single by Allen to take a 5-0 lead and poured on 5 more runs in the 5th off former Omaha pitcher Justin Huisman, who was picked up by Houston after being cut by KC just a week or two ago. Robinson hit an RBI ground out, Gotay hit an RBI single and Allen cleared the bases with a bases-loaded triple to give Omaha a 10-0 lead. Huisman accounted for one of the HBPs for both Blanco and Guiel. Bass cruised through 7 IP before giving way to RP Ed Yarnall, who promptly blew the shutout by giving up a run in the 8th. Nelson came in for the 9th and gave up a leadoff single but set the next three batters down quietly to end the game. Omaha is 12-8 and still a game back of Nashville. Huisman's ERA ballooned to 10.38 with the outing for Round Rock. He can't be happy about Omaha doing that to him. Another old Royals buddy, 3B Joe McEwing, was 0-3 with the lone RBI for the Express. He's hitting .244 and also made his 5th error in the field. Astros CF prospect Charlton Jimerson was 0-4 to drop to .292 and DH Alan Zinter was 1-4 to drop to .348.

The teams are set to square off again tonight. Pitchers: Express RH Chris Sampson (2-1, 2.57) vs. Omaha RH Bobby Keppel (2-1, 3.55). In other Omaha news, RH Ryan Baerlocher was added to the roster from extended spring training. He's a returnee from the '05 O-Royals.

AA - Wichita: Wranglers 5, Midland 4

3B Gordon 3-4, HR (5), 2 RBI (10), 2 RS, K, E (1) -- .341, he's been consistent
LF Butler 2-4, RBI (15) -- .333
CF Lubanski 1-4, 3B, RS, 2 K -- .240
C Tupman 0-3, K -- .339
RF Maier 1-4, RBI (19), CS, picked off -- .268, keeping up the RBI production
SS Sanchez 2-4, K, 2 RS -- .294
2B Murphy 0-4 -- .196

Herndon 5 IP, 4 R (3 ER), 7 H, 2 BB, 3 K -- W, 2-1, 5.59 ERA
Markray 2 1/3 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K -- 3.07 ERA
Nunez 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 0 H -- SV, 2, 4.66 ERA

*** Wichita won its third straight as the Wranglers were fueled by Gordon's bat and some handy relief work from Thad Markray, Nate Hoelscher and Leo Nunez. Sanchez, Gordon and Butler hit consecutive singles in the 1st with Butler's driving Sanchez home and Maier following with an RBI ground out to give Wichita the early 2-0 lead. Midland manufactured a run in the 2nd but Gordon hit a 2-run homer in the 3rd, his 5th, to extend the lead to 4-1 Wichita. Midland matched that output in the 4th to cut the lead to 4-3 but the Wranglers got another run in the 4th on a 1-out sac fly by 1B Kila Kaaihue after a leadoff triple by Lubanski. Midland again got the run back in the 5th to cut the Wrangler lead to 1 but Markray and Hoelscher allowed only 3 hits and 2 walks thereafter into the 9th when Nunez came in and got the final two outs via pop out to end it. The Wranglers are 7-13 and 6 1/2 games back of first. Midland 2B Kevin Melillo was 2-5 to improve to .321, RF Jason Perry was 3-5 to improve to .424, and C Kurt Suzuki was 1-3 with 2 BB to drop to .365.

The series continues tonight in Wichita. Pitchers: Wichita's Seung Song (1-1, 4.71) vs. Midland's Jason Windsor (2-1, 4.03).

High-A - High Desert: Mavs 5, Stockton 3

3B Lucas 3-4, HR (1), 2 RBI (10), 2 RS, K -- .243
LF Valentin 2-4, RBI (10) -- .352
C Duenas 2-4, PB (6) -- .233
DH Stodolka 1-4, BB, 2B (12!), RS, 2 K -- .392
CF Melgarejo 1-5, 2B, 3 K -- .295
1B Brown 1-4, BB, 2B, RBI, RS -- .293

Buckner 5 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, K -- ND, 3.25 ERA, so-so start
Plummer 3 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, BB, 5 K, WP -- W, 4-1, 4.85 ERA
DeHoyos IP, nothing -- SV, 4, 0.93 ERA

*** The Royals organization trumped the A's for one day as both Wichita and High Desert took down the Oakland affiliates. It was a comeback victory for the Mavericks as Stockton scored 2 in the 2nd and 1 in the 3rd off Buckner to give the Ports a 3-0 lead that stuck into the 5th. Lucas finally broke the Mavs' scoreless spell off Ports SP Scot Drucker with a leadoff homer in the 5th for his 1st at HD and the Mavs tied the game with 2 in the 6th on RBI singles by Valentin and Lucas. Plummer kept Stockton in check into the 9th when the Mavs pushed 2 runs across on a 2-out RBI single by SS Irving Falu and an RBI double by Rusty Brown to take a 5-3 lead. DeHoyos got through the 9th in short order to pick up his 4th save. The Mavs are 13-8 and still atop the division by 1/2 a game. Both Buckner and Drucker took a no-decision in the game as it was decided by bullpens. SS Cliff Pennington was 0-4 for Midland to drop to .113, CF Richie Robnett was 1-5 to drop to .247, 1B Nathan Espy was 1-3 to drop to .421 and C Landon Powell was 1-3 to improve to .321.

The Mavs move on to San Jose for 3 with the defending champ Giants (12-7, High-A guess who) starting tonight. Pitchers: Giants LH Noah Lowry rehabbing vs. Mavericks SP Luis Cota (1-2, 7.17). Stodolka is leading the team in both BA and OPS as well as doubles and is tied for the team lead in walks with 9. He has K'd 12 times. Geraldo Valentin is also playing well -- second in BA and tied for 2nd in RBI with 10. OF Brian McFall leads the team in HR and RBI with 4 and 12 but is only batting .193.

Low-A - Burlington: Southwest Michigan 4, Bees 2

C Thibault 1-4, RS -- .288
3B Lisson 0-3, 2 K, SB (5) -- .231
SS McConnell 1-4 -- .138
CF Duarte 1-3, 3B, RBI -- .211

Kniginyzky 6 IP, 4 R (3 ER), 6 H, 0 BB, 6 K, WP -- L, 2-1, 2.90 ERA
Garcia 2 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, BB, K -- 0.87 ERA

*** The Bees offense was again anemic as the D-Rays pulled out a win. Burlington got on the board first in the 2nd on a sac fly by 1B Miguel Vega and Kniginyzky was perfect through 3 before Southwest Michigan broke the ice in the 4th to tie the game. Burlington regained the lead in the 5th on a Duarte RBI triple but the outfielder was thrown out at home while attempting to score on a pitch that got away from D-Rays C Matt Spring. Spring homered to lead off the 5th for SWM and tie the game once more and Southwest Michigan moved ahead in the 6th with 2 runs to take a 4-2 lead. Burlington made a little noise in the late innings but made no serious threats to score. The Bees are 9-12 and 3 games back of first. SWM SP Michael Wlodarczyk went 7 strong innings to improve to 1-1 with a 1.98 ERA as he and Kniginyzky dueled. Both Spring and OF James Hall were 1-3 to improve to .308 and .307, respectively. The D-Rays survived a 4-error night.

The teams finish up the series tonight, so yesterday's mention of a possible Burlington sweep was premature in more ways than one. Pitchers: Bees LH Ryan DiPietro (1-0, 3.27) vs. D-Rays LH Jake McGee (1-3, 2.84).