Royals on the Farm 6/17 and 18

AAA - Omaha: O-Royals 1, Memphis 0 (Sat.)

CF Guiel 2-4, 2B (12), HR (8), RBI (26), K -- .244
LF Huber 0-4, 4 K! -- .247, not a good day
RF Allen 1-4, 2 K -- .337
SS Blanco 0-2, BB, K, E (13) -- .269

Etherton 5 1/3 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, BB, 7 K -- W, 3-3, 4.70 ERA
Yarnall 2 IP, 2 H, BB, 3 K -- 3.60 ERA
Nelson 1 2/3 IP, H, BB, K -- SV, 5, 2.42 ERA

*** A 1-0 Omaha lead survived over 2 hours of rain delays. Guiel hit his 8th homer in the 3rd AB of the game and Omaha had a very early 1-0 lead. Memphis loaded the bases with 0 out in the 5th thanks in part to a throwing error by Omaha 1B Rick Bell but Etherton got a line out and double play to escape the jam. The Redbirds loaded the bases again with 2 out in the 8th but Joe Nelson got a ground out to again salvage the lead for the Royals. A 2-out hit in the 9th was meaningless as Nelson finished the job for his 5th save. Memphis had 7 hits to Omaha's 5 and the Royals survived 2 errors. Omaha moved to 27-42. Former KC farmhand Dennis Tankersley allowed only 1 ER on 4 H with 9 K over 6 IP but took the loss to drop to 2-8 with a 4.15 ERA. CF Skip Schumaker was 1-4 to drop to .286 and 2B Derek Wathan was 1-5 to drop to .286.

Sunday's game was rained out. It'll be made up as part of a Monday doubleheader. Runelvys and Luke Hudson will likely be Omaha's two starters.

AA - Wichita: Saturday's game was rained out and put into a 7-inning doubleheader Sunday.

Sunday G1: Arkansas 17, Wranglers 2

3B Gordon 0-3 -- .301
RF Butler 0-3, E (5) -- .315
SS Sanchez 2-4 -- .292
CF Maier 0-2, BB -- .296
C Tupman 1-2, BB, 2B, K, RS -- .315
DH D. Brown 1-3, HR (2), RBI (18) -- .223
LF Lubanski 0-2, BB -- .237
2B Murphy 1-3 -- .224

MacDougal IP, K -- rehab start
Greinke 2/3 IP, 8 ER, 4 H, 4 BB -- L, 2-1, 8.47 ERA, uuuuuuuuuugly
Three other pitchers got shelled, too

*** Arkansas crushed the Wranglers starting with Greinke and rolling until the end of the 7th. Greinke's nightmare 2nd went like this -- single, RBI double, walk, fly out, walk, 3-run double (w/ Butler error), sac fly, double, walk, walk, pulled. RP Devon Lowery came in and hit his first batter to bring home a run, gave up a 2-run single and then a 3-run homer to cap an 11-run Travs inning. The Travs touched Lowery and Cedeno up for 4 more in the 4th and 2 more off Cedeno in the 5th for a 17-0 lead. Dee Brown homered to lead off Wichita's 7th and Tupman scored on a wild pitch later in the inning to account for the Wrangler runs. Wichita dropped to 33-35. Travs C Bobby Wilson was 1-2 with 2 RBI and 3 RS to move to .307, SS Brandon Wood was 1-3 with his 15th HR and 46th and 47th RBI to move to .288 and 3B Matt Brown was 2-2 with 3 RS to move to .284.

Sunday G2: Wranglers 8, Arkansas 5

Gordon DNP
RF Butler 2-3, 2B (19), BB, 2 RS, E (6) -- .322
2B Murphy 4-4, 2 2B (13), RBI (21), 3 RS -- .242
CF Lubanski 2-4, 3B, K, 2 RBI (27), RS, OF assist at third -- .243
DH Maier 0-4 -- .294
SS Sanchez 0-3, SF, RBI (28) -- .285
1B Groves 2-4, 4 RBI, RS -- .197

Middleton 3 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 4 K, HRA, 2 WP -- ND, 4.20 ERA
Markray 3 IP, ER, 3 H, 2 K, HRA -- W, 4-0, 2.28 ERA
Braun IP, H, K -- SV, 10, 1.93 ERA

*** A 5-run 3rd helped the Wranglers split the twinbill. Brett Groves started a nice day with an RBI ground out in the 2nd to give Wichita a 1-0 lead but Middleton gave up a 2-run homer in the bottom of the inning. Murphy doubled home a run before Lubanski hit a 2-run triple to give Wichita the lead. Groves singled Lubanski home and Sanchez added a sac fly later in the inning to make the score 6-2 Wichita. Middleton allowed 2 runs in the 3rd to cut the lead in half but Groves singled 2 runs home in the 4th to get the runs back. Markray allowed a homer in the 6th but he and Braun kept the Travs silent otherwise. Wichita is 34-35. Wood was 1-3 with his 26th double to stay at .288 but also made his 16th error, Brown was 2-4 to move to .282 and DH Greg Porter was 1-3 with his 8th homer and 30th RBI to improve to .283.

So ends the first half for Wichita. The all-star break ends Wednesday and the second half begins Thursday.

High-A - High Desert: Mavs 9, Rancho Cucamonga 4 (Sat.)

1B Stodolka 0-3, 2 BB, RBI (34), RS, K -- .298
LF Valentin 3-5, K, RBI (32), RS -- .295
DH R. Brown 3-4, HBP, RBI (31), RS -- .278
C Duenas 2-5, 2B, HR (5), 3 RBI -- .241
3B Lucas 2-4, K, RS -- .244
2B Perez 0-3, 2 BB, RS -- .291

Buckner 2 IP, 3 ER, H, 4 BB, 3 K -- ND, 3.89 ERA
Atencio 2 1/3 IP, H, 2 K -- W, 2-0, 4.76 ERA

*** The Mavs kept a great winning streak rolling with 9 unanswered runs from the 6th on to stay in the race for the first-half division title. Buckner walked in a run in the 2nd and gave up a 2-run double to allow the Quakes to take a 3-0 lead. RP Brandon Weeden came in to pitch the 3rd and gave up a solo homer to make the score 4-0 RC. Quakes SP Fernando Rodriguez Jr. kept the Mavs in check through 5 innings but, in the 6th, 2 errors, including 1 by Rodriguez, helped the Mavs score 2 runs on a force out by Stodolka. RP Joseph Torres came in for RC to pitch the 8th and the Mavericks got to him quickly. Wilver Perez scored on a wild pitch, an error helped Valentin score on a sac bunt by Juan Senreiso, Rusty Brown singled a run home, Tomas Duenas hit a 3-run homer for his 5th of '06 to put the Mavs ahead and Valentin later hit his second single of the inning to bring the 9th run home for HD. High Desert improved to 38-31 and stayed a half-game back of Inland Empire with 1 game left in the first half. Rodriguez allowed only the 2 unearned runs over 7 IP to drop his ERA to 4.20. SS Sean Rodriguez was 2-4 to move to .301 and made his 20th error, C Michael Collins was 0-3 to drop to .296 and 3B Freddy Sandoval was 0-4 with 4 Ks to drop to .297.

Mavs 7, Rancho Cucamonga 6 (Sun.)

1B Stodolka 0-3, HBP -- .294
LF Valentin 2-4, 2B, RBI (33), RS -- .299
SS Falu 2-4, BB, K, RBI (26), RS -- .273
DH R. Brown 2-4, HR (8), RBI (32) -- .281
3B Lucas 2-4, 2 K, RS -- .249
C Donachie 1-4, HR (4), RBI (17) -- .280
RF McFall 1-2, BB, HR (10), RBI (36), HBP, 2 RS, OF assist at home -- .242

Crist 5 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, BB, 4 K, HRA -- W, 3-1, 4.02 ERA
DeHoyos IP, 4 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 3 K -- 2.70 ERA
Barnes 1/3 IP, H, K -- SV, 3, 3.63 ERA

*** High Desert held off a late Quake surge to win their 7th consecutive game over RC and their 9th in a row overall. Crist gave up a homer to the first batter he faced but McFall matched it with his 10th to lead off the 3rd. The Mavs added 3 more that inning on a Valentin RBI double and 2 runs on a throwing error by RC catcher Tim Duff on a pickoff attempt. Donachie cracked a solo shot in the 4th for his 4th of the year to make the score 5-1 but the Quakes got the run back off Crist in the 5th. The score remained 5-2 into the 9th when Rusty Brown led off the Mavs' half with his 8th homer and Falu singled a run home to give HD insurance at 7-2. DeHoyos loaded the bases with 0 out in the bottom of the inning before striking out 2. He then walked in a run and gave up a 2-run single to Sandoval. Barnes took over on the mound and gave up an RBI single but then got Sean Rodriguez to strike out to end the game. The Mavs improved to 39-31 and a 6-3 win by Visalia over Inland Empire gave the Mavs a half game lead on the first-half division title and a playoff berth. CF Josh Leblanc was 3-5 with his 2nd homer to move to .262, Rodriguez was 0-5 with 4 K to drop to .295 and Sandoval was 1-3 with 2 RBI to move to .297.

The Mavs and the Inland Empire 66ers (38-31, High-A Mariners) start a 3-game home set on Monday. I guess the first game ends Inland Empire's first half so if they win tomorrow the teams end up tied for the division lead as the Mavs' first half is already done. Not sure how that works but that's what the team site said. Daniel Christensen gets the start for High Desert.

Low-A - Burlington: Bees 5, Clinton 4 (Sat.)

2B Johnson 0-2, 2 BB, SB (11), CS -- .265
1B Everett 1-3, BB, RS -- .304
C Thibault 1-3, BB, 2 RS -- .241
SS McConnell 1-3, BB, CS -- .168

Nicoll 6 IP, ER, 3 H, 4 K, HRA -- ND, 2.38 ERA, looking good in first half
Oliveros 1 2/3 IP, 2 UER, H -- 2.66 ERA
Hayes 1 1/3 IP, ER, H, K -- BS, 2, W, 2-2, 1.78 ERA

*** The Bees survived blowing a 3-run lead late to win in the 9th. DH Jeff Howell singled home 2 runs in the 2nd thanks in part to a LumberKing error and OF Ethien Santana singled another run home in the inning to make the score 3-0. Brady Everett singled in the 3rd to bring home another run with the aid of another Clinton error. Nicoll gave up a homer in the 3rd to get Clinton on the scoreboard but had another great start before leaving after the 6th. With 2 out in the Clinton 8th, Bees OF Antonio Sabatini made an error to keep the inning alive and the LumberKings cashed in. Rayner Oliveros allowed an RBI single before Chris Hayes came in and hit a batter and gave up a game-tying 2-run single before getting out of the inning. PH John Lowen singled home Thibault in the 9th and Hayes set Clinton down in order in the bottom of the inning to end it. The Bees moved to 34-32. Clinton CF Truan Mehl was 2-3 with his 3rd homer to move to .232.

Bees 8, Clinton 3 (Sun.)

DH Howell 3-4, 2B, K, 2 RS -- .238
1B Vega 1-3, HR (7), 3 RBI (30), K -- .229
LF Everett 1-5, 3 K, RBI (9), OF assist at third -- .298
2B Arce 2-4, RBI, RS, SB (3) -- .229
SS McConnell 1-4, RS -- .170
C Thibault 0-1, K, HBP -- .239

Kniginyzky 5 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 2 K, WP -- W, 7-3, 3.24 ERA
Penn 3 IP, ER, 3 H, K -- 2.87 ERA

*** A 5-run 6th made the difference for the Bees. Kniginyzky allowed a run in the 3rd and another in the 5th to spot Clinton a 2-0 lead but Burlington broke through in the 6th as a throwing error allowed Howell to score the first run, OF Jeremy Jirschele hit a sac fly and Vega hit a 3-run homer for his 7th of the year to give the Bees a 5-2 lead. Another LumberKing error allowed the Bees a run in the 7th before Arce and Everett singled home runs to make the score 8-2. Clinton scored again in the 7th but that was it. The Bees end the first half at 35-32. It's the team's first time ending a half with a winning record since 1999 and the first time ending the first half with a winning record since '97, both of which are remarkable. Clinton C Brian Valichka was 3-4 with 2 doubles to move to .233 and RF Joseph Kemp was 2-3 with his 6th triple to move to .241.

The Bees start their all-star break Monday.