Royals on the Farm 6/28

AAA - Omaha: Albuquerque 6, O-Royals 5 (conclusion of Tuesday's game)

2B Gotay 3-4, 2 RBI (29), RS, E (8) -- .254
LF/CF Guiel 2-4, HR (10), RBI (30), K, picked off -- .231
1B/LF Huber 1-3, BB, K, RS -- .255
RF Costa 1-3, HBP -- .378
DH Allen 1-3, BB, CS -- .339
CF K. Robinson 0-3, 2 K -- .312, ejected in 7th
C Phillips 1-4, HR (8), 2 RBI (31), PB (5) -- .258
SS Blanco 0-3 -- .257

Bautista 5 IP, 3 R (1 ER), 4 H, 2 BB, 3 K, WP, E (1) -- ND, 6.88 ERA
Loux 2 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, BB, 2 K -- BS, 2, 7.99 ERA
Nunez IP, ER, 2 H, BB, 2 K, HRA -- L, 0-2, 1.69 ERA

*** The drama created when Guiel homered in the 8th Tuesday before the rains came and suspended play until Wednesday ended with a walkoff homer in the 9th for the Isotopes as they got the win. Mistakes played a part as the Isotopes scored a run on a Bautista throwing error in the 1st and then added 2 in the 2nd thanks in part to a wild pitch and a passed ball on Paul Phillips for a 3-0 Albuquerque lead. A 4-run 5th gave Omaha the lead as Huber singled and Aviles doubled to start the inning and Gotay drove both home to score with a single. With 2 out and Gotay at second, Phillips hit his 8th homer of the season and Omaha had a 4-3 lead. RP Shane Loux came in for the 6th and loaded the bases with 2 out before giving up a 2-run single to 'Topes LF Mark Little to hand the lead back to Albuquerque. Guiel came up with 2 out in the top of the 8th and clubbed his 10th homer, this one to right, to tie the game before Huber popped out to end the inning and the rain shut play down. The bottom of the 8th resumed Wednesday night and Leo Nunez came on to pitch. He got through the 8th but gave up a leadoff walkoff homer to 'Topes C Paul Hoover (his 4th) in the 9th to end it. In what looks like an odd deal, Kerry Robinson was pinch-hit for with Rick Bell in the 7th and I assume must have been jawing from the dugout at the home plate ump after getting rung up twice, so he got ejected. Omaha dropped to 30-48. Former Royal gas can Chris George went 6 1/3 IP and allowed 4 ER on 8 hits and 2 walks to leave with a no-decision and an ERA of 5.59. Ah, the memories. Little was 2-4 with 3 RBI to move to .287, 1B Jason Stokes was 2-4 with 2 RS to move to .273 and RF Chris Aguila was 1-4 with a double to drop to .358.

Albuquerque 6, O-Royals 5 (Wednesday's regular game)

RF Costa 1-4, 3B (3), RS -- .366
LF Huber 0-3, HBP -- .251
DH Allen 0-4, 2 K -- .333
1B Cortez 1-4 -- .320
CF Guiel 1-3, BB, HR (11), 2 RBI (32), OF assist at third -- .233
3B Aviles 1-4, HR (5), RBI (25) -- .252
C Price 1-3, HR (4), RBI (9), PB (7) -- .169
2B Gotay 0-3, HBP, RBI (30), RS -- .251
SS Blanco 0-3 -- .253

Baerlocher 5 IP, 4 ER, 9 H, BB, 5 K, WP -- ND, 3.78 ERA
Elder 2 IP, 3 K -- 3.06 ERA, back from DL
Yarnall IP, 2 ER, 3 H, BB -- BS, 1, L, 2-2, 3.74 ERA

*** Omaha fought back from a 4-1 deficit to take a lead in the 8th but Yarnall got touched up for the loss. Aviles hit his 5th homer in the 2nd to give Omaha a 1-0 lead but Baerlocher gave up a leadoff triple and then a wild pitch to allow the tying run to score in the bottom of the inning. Three straight Isotopes singles opened the 4th and scored a run, but Guiel salvaged an out in nailing a runner at third base via both Cortez and Blanco. A single two batters later scored 2 runs and gave Albuquerque a 4-1 lead. Jared Price hit his 4th homer of '06 in the top of the 5th and Costa tripled and scored on a Gotay ground out in the 6th to cut the lead to 1. Isotopes RP J.B. Miadich came in to pitch the 8th and, with 2 out, hit Gotay with a pitch before giving up Guiel's 11th homer for a 2-run shot to put Omaha up, 5-4. Ed Yarnall got the first 2 outs in the bottom of the 8th but then gave up a walk, single, and then 2 RBI singles to blow the lead. Long-ago Braves reliever Brad Clontz came in and had a perfect 9th for his 13th save for the 'Topes. Omaha is 30-49. Albuquerque SP Yusmeiro Petit went 6 IP and allowed 3 ER on 3 hits and a walk to move his ERA to 4.21. Little was 3-4 with his 13th double and an RBI to move to .297, DH Matt Cepicky was 3-4 with an RBI and 2 RS to move to .259, Aguila and 3B Mike Kinkade were both 0-4 to drop to .338 and .327, respectively, SS Scott Seabol was 2-3 with a triple to move to .314 and C Chris Ashby was 2-4 with 3 RBI to move to .274.

The teams finish the series tonight. Mike MacDougal starts for the O-Royals in another rehab outing. I assume Runelvys will pitch starting in the 2nd. The PCL all-star team was announced this morning and manager Mike Jirschele will helm the PCL squad with O-Royals C Paul Phillips and DH Chad Allen earning spots on the team. The team will take on the International League all-stars July 12 in Toledo. The game starts at 6 p.m. CT and will be shown on ESPN2. The ownership of the O-Royals has also officially changed hands. This is quoted from the team site: "The agreement between Spikes LLC, under the direction of its Managing Member Matt Minker, and Power Alley LLC, under the direction of its Manager Bill Shea, has been approved by the Pacific Coast League, Minor League Baseball and the Office of the Commissioner of Major League Baseball. This process has been in the works since February, when the pending transaction was submitted for approval. Power Alley LLC will now hold the general partnership interest and certain limited partnership interests in the Omaha Royals, with Warren Buffett and Walter Scott remaining as limited partners. Terms of the transaction were not publicly disclosed."

AA - Wichita: Midland 12, Wranglers 7

3B Gordon 1-4, BB, RS -- .300
RF Butler 2-5, RS -- .326
DH D. Brown 3-5, 2 RBI (22), RS -- .257
LF Lubanski 2-4, 2 RBI (34), K -- .258, Mr. Second Half showing signs of coming around
CF Maier 1-5, K, RS -- .278
C Tupman 1-4, 3B, RBI (28), 2 K, RS -- .290
SS Sanchez 1-5 -- .285
2B Murphy 1-4, BB, RBI (24), 2 RS, E (4) -- .234

Greinke 4 1/3 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 7 K!, HRA -- ND, 7.62 ERA
Cedeno 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, HRA -- 5.34 ERA
Hoelscher 2 IP, ER, 2 H, BB, HRA -- L, 0-5, 3.64 ERA
Booker 1 1/3 IP, 4 R (2 ER), 5 H, K -- 4.15 ERA
Markray 2/3 IP, H -- 2.68 ERA
*not a good night for Wichita pitchers

*** Five late runs gave Midland the sweep of the series versus the Wranglers. Wichita struck first with an RBI single by Dee Brown in the 1st but Midland got a solo homer in the 2nd and an RBI double in the 3rd to take the lead. The lead swung back Wichita's way in the 4th as Matt Tupman tripled a run home and 1B Kila Kaaihue hit a sac fly to make the score 3-2 Wranglers. Midland scored 5 in the 5th, including a 3-run homer off RP Juan Cedeno after Greinke left with 1 out, and took a 7-3 lead. The Wranglers fought back to tie the game in the bottom of the 5th as 4 straight singles started the inning, including RBI knocks by Brown and Donnie Murphy. With 1 out and the bases loaded, Lubanski tied the game with a 2-run single but the Wranglers couldn't grab the lead. Tupman struck out with 2 on to end the Wichita 6th and Midland got another solo homer to lead off the 7th and take a 1-run lead. RP Chris Booker came in for the 8th and gave up a 2-run double and 2-run single with a Murphy error thrown in. The Wranglers didn't get a base runner after the 6th. Wichita is 4-3 and still tied with Tulsa for the division lead. Midland 1B Brant Colamarino was 4-6 with 2 doubles (up to 19) and 2 RBI (up to 44) to improve to .300, 3B Vasili Spanos was 2-5 with 2 RS to move to .316, DH Brian Stavisky was 2-6 to move to .316, C Kurt Suzuki was 2-5 with 2 RS to move to .309 and CF Matt Allegra was 2-4 with his 7th homer and 3 RBI (32) to move to .296. 2B Kevin Melillo also hit his 7th homer as Midland unleashed a 17-hit assault.

The Wranglers have Thursday off to regroup before starting a 5-gamer Friday at Springfield. In other news, according to the Eagle, RP Ryan Braun was put on the DL retroactive to Saturday, Booker is headed to Omaha and RP Gabe DeHoyos was called up from High Desert.

High-A - High Desert: all-star break concluded

*** The Mavs get back into action Thursday night to start a 4-game set at the Lake Elsinore Storm (3-2, High-A Padres).

Low-A - Burlington: Bees 3, Cedar Rapids 2

1B Vega 2-3, BB, RBI (35), RS, E (11) -- .246
SS McConnell 1-4, 2 RBI (18) -- .174
CF Duarte 0-3, K, OF assist at third -- .260
2B Johnson 1-3, BB, K, RS -- .254

Penn 3 IP, H, BB, K -- ND, 2.43 ERA, left with "arm tenderness", precautionary
Damico 4 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 6 H, 4 K -- 2.56 ERA
Harkcom IP, H, BB -- W, 2-1, 4.50 ERA
Schambough IP, H, 2 K -- SV, 7, 1.45 ERA

*** A 3-run 8th and a big hit by Chris McConnell helped the Bees get the win. The Bees loaded the bases with 2 out in the 1st but stranded all 3 runners and Michael Penn was pitching well before leaving with arm trouble after the 3rd. According to the team site he is to be reevaluated Thursday. At one point there were 14 straight outs as Penn and Yovany Damico battled Kernels SP Stephen Marek. The Bees loaded the bases again with 1 out in the 5th but Marek wriggled out of the jam with two force outs. Cedar Rapids broke through in the 7th with an RBI single and another run on a Vega error on a rundown that allowed a runner to score from third. Cody Harkcom gave up a 1-out triple in the 8th but got the runner trying to steal home during the next AB and then a pop out to end the threat. Back-to-back singles and a Kernels error helped Burlington load the bases with no outs in the bottom of the 8th before Miguel Vega singled a run home and McConnell came through with a 2-run single to give the Bees a 3-2 lead. Kraig Schambough gave up a leadoff single in the 9th but nothing else in picking up his 7th save, which ties him for the team lead with Gilbert de la Vara. Burlington is 2-5 and 2 games back of a 5-team dogpile in first. Marek allowed only the ER on 5 hits and 3 walks over 7 IP to drop his ERA to 2.08 and C Flint Wipke was 2-4 with his 6th triple to move to .263.

The Bees move on to a 4-game split home-and-home series with the Peoria Chiefs (4-3, Low-A Cubs) starting Thursday. Pitchers: RH Rayner Oliveros (3-2, 2.45) will start in place of the injured Matt Kniginyzky (he's not on the DL, tho, as far as I've seen) vs. Chiefs RH Mitch Atkins (6-1, 2.58).

Rookie - Idaho Falls: Chukars 11, Casper 2

CF Dickerson 1-5, 2B, RBI, K -- .333
DH Castillo 1-3, BB, 2 RBI (9), RS -- .448
LF Morel 3-5, 2B, RBI (11), 2 RS, SB (1) -- .361
1B Turner 3-4, BB, 2B, RBI, 2 RS -- .185
SS Gil 2-4, 2B, RBI (4), RS, SB (2) -- .316
2B Maddox 1-3, 2 BB, 3 RS -- .273
3B Herrera 1-5, HR (1), 3 RBI, 2 K, E (3) -- .217

Hardy 5 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 5 K -- W, 1-0, 0.00 ERA, another nice outing
Abreu 4 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 5 K, 2 WP -- SV, 1, 7.59 ERA

*** The Chukars wrapped out 11 runs on 13 hits in destroying the Rockies behind good pitching from Rowdy Hardy. Luis Castillo hit a 2-run single in the 1st to get the Chukars going and 2 more scored in the 3rd on a Jase Turner RBI double and a passed ball. The big inning was the 7-run 4th when Morel hit a 1-out RBI double to start the scoring and then scored on a throwing error on his steal of third. Joe Dickerson hit an RBI ground out and the other 4 runs came on a 2-out rally as Brenan Herrera hit a 3-run homer for his 1st of '06 and Gilbert Gil doubled a run home to make the score 11-0 Chukars. Juan Abreu pitched the final 4 innings and gave up single runs in the 8th and 9th but it wasn't near enough to scare Idaho Falls. Idaho Falls is 6-3. Casper 3B Hector Gomez was 2-4 with his 5th error to move to .357, LF Michael Milliron was 1-3 with a double and RBI to drop to .467 and 1B Logan Wiens was 1-3 with his 6th RBI to drop to .389. A power outage delayed the game for half an hour before the 6th started, which led in part to Hardy getting pulled.

Game 3 of the set is Thursday night. Harold Mozingo tries to rebound from an ugly first start for Idaho Falls. New draft pick signees P Josh Cribb (8th rounder out of Clemson) and IF Kurt Mertins (13th rounder out of College of the Desert) are set to join the Chukars soon. I'm anxious to see what Cribb can do as he was 9-0 with a 3.09 ERA at Clemson and K'd 83 while walking 26 in 87 IP this season. He didn't pitch for the Tigers in the College World Series but was first-team All-ACC. Mertins was first-team All-Foothill Conference this season after hitting .387 with 4 HR, 9 triples and 42 RBI in 43 games. He was also 37-42 in stolen base attempts, so he's got some speed.

Rookie - AZL: Royals 10, Rangers 3

SS Bianchi 2-5, HR (2), RBI (4), 2 RS, K -- .444
DH Peralta 2-3, 2 RBI (13), RS -- .409
2B T. Wilson 2-3, RBI, 2 RS, 2 SB (2) -- .500
C Doscher 2-4, RBI, RS -- .353
3B Coolbaugh 2-3, 2 BB, K, 2 RS, SB (2) -- .333
1B S. Lucas 0-2, SF, HBP, RBI (8), K, SB (3) -- .417
RF Van Stratten 0-3, BB, HBP, RBI (5), RS -- .120
PH J. Taylor 0-1 -- .000
CF Francis 1-4, RBI, RS -- .188
LF Dyson 1-1 -- .444

Raglione 6 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 6 K, 2 WP -- W, 1-0, 3.27 ERA
Arias 3 IP, H, 2 K -- SV, 1, 0.00 ERA

*** A 7-run 3rd did the trick for the Royals. Paul Raglione gave up a 1st inning run but the Royals came back with 2 of their own in the 1st on a throwing error on a pickoff that scored Tyrone Wilson from third after he singled and stole 2 bases, and a Nick Van Stratten RBI ground out. Scott Lucas started the big 3rd with a sac fly RBI before Felix Peralta hit a bases-loaded 2-run single, Nick Francis hit an RBI single, Nick Doscher singled a run home, Jose Mojica walked to bring home a run and Wilson hit an RBI ground out for a 9-0 Royal lead. Raglione gave up a 2-run single in the 6th but that was it for the Rangers as the Royals added a run that inning on a Jeff Bianchi solo homer for his 2nd in two days. The Royals moved to 4-2. Rangers DH Carlos Dominguez was 2-4 with 3 RBI to move to .263, 1B Mauro Gomez was 1-4 with a double to drop to .400 and 2B Joe Hooft was 0-3 to drop to .400.

The Royals squared off with the Cubs this morning and came away with another win, so they're a game back of the Giants for first in the league. More on the win over the Cubs in the next report.