Royals on the Farm 7/12

AAA - Omaha: Int'l League 6, PCL 0

*** The Pacific Coast League got absolutely shut down by International League pitchers in a 2-hit shutout. Chad Allen didn't play and Andres Blanco ended up being the Royals' only representative as a late addition to the PCL roster. He was 0-1 and was notable in that he was the final out in a game-ending double play. There's no explanation on the team site why Allen didn't play. He's had some injury problems this season, so maybe they're being cautious.

The O-Royals start the official second half Thursday night with a 4-game home set against the Oklahoma RedHawks (43-46, AAA Rangers). Kyle Middleton takes the mound for Omaha. At 34-56, Omaha has the worst record in the PCL. There was a flurry of roster activity over the ASB, as Mike MacDougal's rehabbing is finally over and he is back in KC, hopefully for good as far as this season goes. Joe Nelson got sent back to Omaha to make room for Mac. P Brian Boehringer had an out in his contract and asked for and got his release. He went 2-4 with a 2.75 ERA in 8 games (5 starts) for Omaha. RP Ryan Braun and C Matt Tupman (finally) have both been promoted to Omaha. The 25-year old Braun was 1-6 with a 2.21 ERA and 10 saves in 26 appearances for Wichita. The 26-year old Tupman was hitting .305 with 1 homer, 31 RBI and 48 walks to just 27 strikeouts in 73 games with the Wranglers.

AA - Wichita: Midland 11, Wranglers 10 (15)

3B Gordon 2-4, 3 BB, HR (12), 4 RBI (44), K, 2 RS, picked off -- .297
RF Butler 2-7, HR (11), 4 RBI (63), K, RS -- .321
C Espino 2-6, BB, RBI (8), K, 2 RS -- .245, picked off runner
DH D. Brown 2-7, K -- .262
LF Lubanski 1-5, K, RS -- .269
CF Maier 1-7, 3B (5), 4 K!, RS -- .275
SS Sanchez 0-7, 2 K, E (18) -- .273
2B Murphy 1-5, 2 BB, 2 K, RS -- .226

Song 5 IP, 6 R (3 ER), 6 H, 4 BB, 2 K, HRA, E (1) -- ND, 5.38 ERA
DeHoyos 2 2/3 IP, ER, H, 3 BB, 2 K, HRA -- BS, 1, 0.87 ERA
Sevilla 2 1/3 IP, ER, 3 H, 2 BB -- L, 0-1, 3.86 ERA, position player took the loss

*** Grand slams by Alex Gordon and Billy Butler and Gabe DeHoyos' first AA blown save were some of the highlights of the 5 1/2 hour marathon game with the RockHounds Wednesday. Seung Song gave up a 2-out, 2-run double for 2 unearned runs in the 1st as he contributed a throwing error to the rally. Damaso Espino started the Wranglers' scoring with an RBI single in the 3rd and, with 1 out and the bases loaded, Gordon homered to right for his 12th homer and a grand slam for a 5-2 Wichita lead. Three singles loaded the bases with 2 out in the 4th and Butler made them count with a grand slam to left for his 11th roundtripper to give the Wranglers a 9-2 lead. Instead of cruising to the finish with the big lead, Song and four relievers ran into trouble. Midland pushed across a run in the 4th and 3 in the 5th off Song to cut the lead to 9-6 and RP Juan Cedeno gave up 3 runs in the 6th to tie the game at 9. The Wranglers scored a run on a wild pitch in the 7th to regain a 1-run lead and closer DeHoyos came on with 1 out in the bottom of the 9th. He gave up a homer to the first batter he faced but got out of the inning with the score tied at 10. He walked the bases loaded with 2 out in the 11th but got a ground out to end the threat and Thad Markray came on for the 12th. He only pitched an inning, however, and IF Walter Sevilla was brought in to pitch by manager Frank White. As the Wranglers grounded into three double plays in extra innings, Sevilla pitched 2 scoreless innings only to put runners at the corners with 1 out in the 15th. He walked the bases loaded and Midland got the win on a bunt single by C David Castillo that squeezed the gamebreaking run home. My question is, why only 1 inning from Markray? He started last season. Wichita is 11-9 and clinging to a 1-game lead in the division. Midland DH Brant Colamarino was 3-7 with his 26th double, 9th homer and 5 RBI (56) to move to .296, RF Brian Stavisky was 1-5 with 2 RS to drop to .329, 1B Vasili Spanos was 3-8 with his 25th double and 2 RBI (53) to move to .313 and C Kurt Suzuki was 2-7 with his 21st double to move to .296.

The teams match up again Thursday night. Zack Greinke gets the start. No report on the team site or the Eagle site of any replacement moves for Braun and Tupman. In other news, Springdale, Ark., approved a tax increase for a new stadium by 17 votes and Wichita has been hotly rumored lately to be the team to move into that stadium. More news to come on that as it happens.

High-A - High Desert: Stockton 2, Mavs 0

1B Stodolka 0-2, HBP, BB -- .295
RF Valentin 1-3, BB, 3B (3) -- .290
DH R. Brown 1-2, BB, 2B (14), CS -- .272
LF Tomlin 0-3, K -- .304

Crist 8 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, BB, 7 K -- L, 5-2, 3.91 ERA, solid start

*** The Mavs got 2-hit by 4 Ports hurlers, including rehabbing former Royal Jay Witasick, and Stockton took another game from High Desert. Geraldo Valentin tripled with 2 out in the 4th and Mike Stodolka followed with a HBP but Juan Senreiso struck out swinging to spoil the turn of events. Kyle Crist gave up 2 RBI singles in the bottom of the inning and that was all the Ports needed. The Mavs used walks to get 2 on with 2 out in the 6th but Stodolka grounded out and Rusty Brown hit a 2-out double in the 7th only to see James Tomlin fly out to end another threat. High Desert is 11-8 and in a first-place tie with Lake Elsinore. Ports P Jason Ray, who took over for Witasick to start the 2nd, pitched 6 scoreless innings of 2 hits and 3 walks with 6 Ks to move to 3-1 with a 3.00 ERA. RP Michael Mitchell picked up his 18th save to drop his ERA to 2.85. DH Milton Bradley was 1-4 to drop to .143, 2B Eduardo Cornejo was 2-4 with a double to move to .325 and C Landon Powell was 1-3 with his 37th RBI to move to .267.

The Mavs and Ports wrap up the set Thursday night. No announced starters.

Low-A - Burlington: Bees 6, Kane County 1

CF Duarte 2-4, BB, 2B (12), RBI (24), 2 RS, CS -- .269
2B Johnson 2-4, 3B, 2 RBI (26), 2 RS -- .261
3B Lisson 2-4, BB, 2 RBI (45), 2 K -- .241
1B Vega 1-5, RBI (44), 3 K -- .241
C Howell 2-3, BB -- .260
DH Everett 0-4, K -- .246
SS McConnell 0-4, RS -- .172, I DEMAND BIANCHI! (only half-joking there)

Cordier 5 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 4 BB, 2 K, WP -- W, 1-1, 1.64 ERA, like what I've seen so far, other than WALKS

*** A 4-run 7th put the juice in the Bees' 5th straight win. The Bees carried over the offensive mojo from a 9-run outburst Monday with 4 straight hits to start the game, including RBI singles by Mario Lisson and Miguel Vega. Erik Cordier walked the bases loaded (at least they were almost all in one inning) in the 1st with 2 out but got out of the jam and got out of a 2-on, 0 out jam in the 2nd. His first smooth inning was a 1-2-3 5th before he gave way to RP Chris Hayes. A fielding error helped the Bees score their first run of the inning in the 7th and Josh Johnson tripled home 2 more runs before being singled home by Lisson for a 6-0 lead. Two 2-out doubles netted the Cougars a run off Hayes in the bottom of the 7th but he and Cody Harkcom shut the door on the win. Burlington is 9-11 and 3 games back of first. KC 1B Steve Kleen was 2-3 with his 18th double to move to .282, RF Chad Boyd was 1-4 to drop to .338 and 3B Jeff Baisley was 1-4 with his 24th double and 72nd RBI to drop to .314.

The teams continue the set Thursday night. Mario Santiago starts for Burlington.

Rookie - Idaho Falls: power outage

*** Idaho Falls is 13-8 and 1 1/2 games up on first. A 4-game set at the Great Falls White Sox (10-12) starts Thursday night. Josh Cribb starts for Idaho Falls.

Rookie - AZL: Royals 8, Rangers 4

LF Francis 3-3, 2B, RBI, RS, SB (2) -- .242
3B Taylor 2-5, 3B, 2 RBI (10), 2 RS, E (3) -- .405, like what I've seen thus far
CF D. Robinson 2-4, BB, 2 K, RS, SB (3), CS -- .196
DH Peralta 1-5, K, CS -- .321
1B S. Lucas 0-3, 2 HBP, 2 RS -- .339
PH-LF Dyson 2-2, 2 RBI -- .524, 50th rounder hitting well
SS Juan 2-4, 2B, SB (1) -- .250
RF Van Stratten 1-4, BB, RBI (11), 2 RS, 2 SB (4), OF assist at second -- .208

A. Morales 6 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, BB, 3 K -- W, 3-2, 5.84 ERA
McLintock 1 2/3 IP, UER, H, BB, 2 WP -- SV, 1, 5.40 ERA, not as lock-down as at start of season

*** The Royals scored 4 in the 1st and padded the lead to beat the Rangers. With Derrick Robinson at second and 2 out in the 1st, Scott Lucas was hit by a pitch before Jason Taylor kept his bat hot by tripling home 2 runs and Nick Van Stratten singled him home for a 3-0 lead. Nick Francis followed with a single and he and Van Stratten pulled off a double steal of second and home to make the score 4-0. Francis doubled home a run in the 3rd to make it 5-0 but the Rangers scratched out 2 in the 4th to cut into the lead. Alwin Perez drew a bases-loaded walk in the 6th and Jarrod Dyson singled home runs in the 7th and 9th to finish the scoring. The Rangers pushed single runs across in the 8th and 9th but didn't truly threaten the lead. The Royals moved to 12-4. 1B Brian Nelson was 2-4 with an RBI for the Rangers in setting a .500 BA, DH Matt Jaimes was 1-4 with a double and 2 RBI to drop to .450 and 2B Johan Yan was 0-3 to drop to .312.

The Royals played the Cubs Thursday and lost. More on that in the next RoF.