Royals on the Farm 6/12

AAA - Omaha: Nashville 7, O-Royals 2

CF Robinson 2-4, RBI (17), RS -- .297
LF Huber 1-4, 3 K -- .256
DH Aviles 2-3, picked off -- .242
SS Blanco 2-3, 2B, RS, SB (2) -- .279
2B Gotay 1-4, 2B (11), K -- .256
RF Guiel 1-4, K -- .250

Etherton 4 2/3 IP, 7 ER, 9 H, 4 BB, 2 K, 2 HRA -- L, 2-3, 5.17 ERA
Nunez 3 1/3 IP, 2 BB, 7 K! -- 1.69 ERA, nice hitless outing

*** Two swings of the bat did much of the damage for Nashville as Omaha dropped its fifth straight. With 2 out in the 3rd, Etherton gave up an RBI single and then a grand slam to Sounds 3B Vinny Rottino to spot Nashville a 5-0 lead. A 1-out 2-run homer in the 5th accounted for the Sounds' other runs. Omaha's 2 runs were scored in the 6th on a Robinson RBI single and RBI ground out by 3B Chris Clapinski, who has yet to get a hit this season. My guess is he'll be the one to go if and when Gordon gets called to Omaha. Omaha is 25-39. Nashville CF Tony Gwynn Jr. was 1-5 to drop to .317, 1B Brent Abernathy was 2-4 to move to .315, SS Chris Barnwell was 0-3 to drop to .332 and Rottino was 2-4 with his 5th homer in the slam to move to .281.

Game 2 of the set is tonight. Pitchers: RH Runelyvs Hernandez (2-3, 6.99) vs. Sounds LH Dana Eveland (3-1, 1.33). In other news, RP Frank Brooks was released to make room for Etherton. No big loss.

AA - Wichita: Wranglers 9, Tulsa 6

3B Gordon 0-3, 2 BB, RBI (28), 2 RS -- .311
RF Butler 2-4, BB, HR (9), 3 RBI (44), 2 K, 2 RS -- .312
CF Maier 4-5, RBI (42), K, RS, CS -- .302
LF Lubanski 0-4, BB, K -- .243
2B Murphy 2-5, K -- .213
C Tupman 1-5, 2 K, RS -- .325

Greinke 5 1/3 IP, 4 ER, 8 H, BB, 2 K, 2 HRA -- W, 2-0, 4.41 ERA
Markray 1/3 IP, K -- SV, 1, 2.06 ERA

*** Two big innings helped the Wranglers inch closer to .500 with the win over the division-leading Drillers. Butler hit his 9th homer to lead off the 2nd and the scoring for the game but Tulsa took the lead in the bottom of the inning on a 2-run homer off Greinke by 1B Joe Koshansky. The Drillers had runners at second and third with 1 out but Greinke got a K and fly out to get out of the jam. The Wranglers picked Zack up in the 3rd as Maier hit an RBI single, Gordon drew a bases-loaded walk, Butler hit a 2-run single and DH Dee Brown hit a sac fly to make the score 6-2 Wichita. Tulsa got a run back in the 3rd but Wichita added its final 3 runs in the 5th on a Brown RBI single, bases loaded walk by SS Walter Sevilla and sac fly by 1B Kila Kaaihue. Koshansky touched up Greinke for another homer to lead off the Tulsa 6th and the Drillers rallied for 2 in the 9th but it wasn't enough as Markray got the final out for his 1st save of 2006. Wichita is 31-33 and 7 games back of first. Tulsa got 5 IP of 2-hit relief from Jason Burch and Alberto Arias, Koshansky was 4-4 with his 16th and 17th homers and 4 RBI to get to 54 on the season as he improved to .323, LF Joe Gaetti was 2-5 with 2 doubles to move to .287 and SS Troy Tulowitzki was 2-5 to move to .288.

The teams continue the set tonight. No announced pitchers. In other news, Maier was named the Texas League Player of the Week after batting .458 with 2 home runs, 9 RBI and 9 runs from June 5-11. Mike MacDougal has also joined the Wrangler 'pen to begin a rehab stint.

High-A - High Desert: Mavericks 6, Rancho Cucamonga 5

1B Stodolka 0-4, K, 2 E (9) -- .300, one of the best stories in the organization continues as he was named an all-star Monday
2B Perez 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI (14), picked off -- .279
LF Valentin 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI (26), K -- .278
DH R. Brown 1-4, HR (7), RBI (28), K -- .269
C Donachie 0-2, BB, K -- .278
SS Falu 1-4, BB, RBI (18), SB (14) -- .258

Buckner 5 IP, 4 R (3 ER), 7 H, BB, 9 K!, 2 HRA, WP -- ND, 3.65 ERA, also named an all-star
DeHoyos IP, BB, 2 K -- W, 3-1, 1.46 ERA

*** High Desert worked some late inning magic for a win to stay in the division race with 6 games left in the first half. After the Quakes scored once in the 1st, Valentin hit an RBI double in the 2nd to tie the game. Rancho Cucamonga scored once in each of the 3rd, 4th and 5th innings, including 2 solo homers, to take a 4-1 lead but it wouldn't last as a Falu RBI ground out and Perez RBI double in the 5th cut the lead to 1 and the Mavs tied it in the 6th on a Valentin RBI single. HD RP Brandon Weeden gave up a run in the 7th to allow the Quakes to move back ahead but Brown hit his 7th homer to lead off the 8th and, with 2 out and a runner on first in the 9th, the Quakes walked the bases loaded before a wild pitch by RC RP Kevin Lynch allowed the winning run to score. High Desert is 33-31 and 2 1/2 games out of first. Quakes 3B Freddy Sandoval was 2-3 with his 3rd homer to improve to .294, SS Sean Rodriguez was 2-5 to move to .284 and OF Drew Toussaint was 2-5 with his 10th homer to move to .238.

Game 2 is tonight. Pitchers: RH Kyle Crist vs. Rancho Cucamonga LH Micah Posey. Buckner and Stodolka were the Mavs' only 2 all-stars and they will travel to Virginia with the other Cal Leaguers to play against the Carolina League all-stars in a June 27 game.

Low-A - Burlington: Bees 2, Kane County 1 (14)

2B Johnson 3-5, BB, K, RBI (19), 2 SB (10) -- .275
DH Everett 0-4, BB, HBP, 4 K! -- .304, LF Antonio Sabatini also had 4 Ks
C Howell 2-5, K -- .221
CF Duarte 0-6, 2 K -- .287
SS McConnell 0-4 -- .160

Nicoll 7 IP, ER, 4 H, BB, 4 K -- ND, 2.45 ERA, nice start
Schambough 4 IP, BB, 5 K -- ND, 1.38 ERA, great season continues
Hayes 3 IP, H, BB, 4 K -- W, 1-2, 1.55 ERA

*** There were more innings (14) than hits (11) as Nicoll and Cougars SP Jason Ray dueled for half of the game and the bullpens took turns putting up goose eggs until the Bees finally won in the 14th. Johnson hit a 2-out RBI single in the 3rd to put the Bees up, 1-0, and Nicoll was perfect through 4 IP. The Cougars finally knotted it in the 6th as a throwing error by Bees 1B Miguel Vega helped. Burlington got a runner to third with 1 out in the 6th but could do nothing with it and, with 1 out in the 9th, 3B Mario Lisson was thrown out at home by KC LF Wes Long on a Howell single. From there, the game went into extras and, in the 14th, Lisson singled, was sacrificed to second, stole third for his 18th SB of '06 and scored on a wild pitch to end the game. Kinda weird that two organizational teams won on a walk-off wild pitch in the same day. The Bees are 31-31. Ray allowed 3 hits and 3 walks over 6 IP in dropping his ERA to 3.02. Five separate Cougars had 1 hit each. 3B Jeff Baisley was 1-5 to drop to .320 and C Anthony Recker was 0-4 to drop to .303.

The series wraps up tonight. Pitchers: RH Michael Penn (4-2, 2.91) vs. Cougars RH Trey Shields (6-5, 5.22).