Royals on the Farm 7/14

AAA - Omaha: Oklahoma 3, O-Royals 2 (10/Thu. completed game)

2B Gotay 2-4, RBI (40), K, E (11) -- .253
RF Costa 1-4, K -- .402
DH Allen 0-4, K -- .321
CF K. Robinson 0-5, RS -- .300
LF Huber 1-3, BB -- .265
C Tupman 1-4, RS, K -- .250, AAA debut
SS Blanco 0-3, 2 K -- .243

Middleton 2 IP, ER, H, 2 K, HRA -- ND, 3.45 ERA
Yarnall 4 IP, 2 H, BB, K -- 3.48 ERA
Keppel 3 IP, ER, H, BB, K, HRA -- BS, 1, 4.57 ERA
Braun IP, UER, H, E (1) -- L, 0-1, 0.00 ERA

*** An 8th inning run kept the RedHawks alive and two Omaha errors in the 10th cost the Royals the game. Kyle Middleton, as reported yesterday, gave up a solo homer in the 2nd before play was suspended by rain until finished Friday night. Oklahoma P R.A. Dickey took a no-hitter into the 6th after Derek Lee pitched a perfect 1st Thursday. Matt Tupman got his first AAA hit to lead off the 6th and break up the no-no and the Royals went on to score twice in the inning on a fielding error on a ball hit by Kerry Robinson and an RBI single by Ruben Gotay. Bobby Keppel came in for the 7th and gave up a leadoff homer in the 8th to allow Oklahoma to tie it. Two Omaha singles with 2 out in the 8th were for naught and the game went into extras with Ryan Braun coming in for the 10th. A leadoff single and a Gotay missed catch error on a sac bunt put 2 on with 0 out and Braun made a fielding error on another sac bunt to load the bases. A sac fly scored a run but Braun got a double play to end the inning. The damage was done, tho, and the Royals went down 1-2-3 to end it. Omaha moved to 34-56. Oklahoma LF Jason Botts was 1-4 with his 13th double to drop to .316 and DH Anthony Webster was 1-3 with his 1st AAA homer of '06 and an RBI to move to .273.

O-Royals 3, Oklahoma 2 (7/Fri. regular game)

2B Gotay 3-4, 2 2B (16), RBI (41), K, RS -- .259
RF Costa 1-4 -- .396
DH Allen 1-3, 2B (20), RBI (58) -- .321
LF Huber 2-3 -- .271
CF K. Robinson 2-4, 2B (13), RBI (21), K, RS -- .304
SS Blanco 2-3, 2B -- .249
3B Cortez 0-3, K, E (2) -- .212

Baerlocher 5 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, BB, 3 K, WP -- W, 4-3, 4.16 ERA
Nunez 2 IP, 2 K -- SV, 2, 0.98 ERA

*** Omaha was consistent early with runs in the first 3 innings and held on for the win. Ruben Gotay doubled home Robinson in the 1st but Ryan Baerlocher gave up 3 hits in the 2nd to allow the RedHawks to tie it. Kerry Robinson doubled home the Royals' run in the 2nd but Andres Blanco was thrown out at home for the final out of the inning on the play. Chad Allen hit the team's third RBI double of the game in the 3rd and the Royals took a 3-1 lead. A sac fly off Baerlocher in the 5th cut the lead to 1 but Oklahoma would have only 1 more base runner as Leo Nunez closed the game out. Omaha is 35-56. SS Drew Meyer was 2-4 with a double, triple and RS to move to .261 and Botts was 0-2 with a walk to drop to .312.

The series continues Saturday night. Pitchers: Oklahoma LH John Danks (2-2, 4.50) vs. RH Denny Bautista (1-3, 6.23). Manager Mike Jirschele was on vacation and missed the games. Terry Bradshaw (the baseball version) was interim in his place. I assume that's normal in the minors -- the manager just taking vacation during the season? Weird.

AA - Wichita: Frisco 9, Wranglers 8

3B Gordon 1-5, 2 K, RS -- .299
RF Butler 2-4, BB, HR (12), 4 RBI (67), K -- .319
SS Sanchez 4-5, 2B (17), RBI (34), 2 RS -- .279
CF Maier 2-4, BB, 2B (18), K, 2 RS -- .277
C Donachie 2-5, RS, E (1), PB (1) -- .286
1B Espino 2-4, BB, RBI, RS -- .248
LF D. Brown 2-5, 2B (12), K -- .266
DH Kaaihue 2-5, RBI (23), K -- .189
2B Murphy 1-6, RBI (30) -- .229
*Wichita left 11 on base.

Musser 6 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 5 BB, 6 K, HRA -- ND, 3.47 ERA
Atencio 1 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 2 K, HRA -- 21.60 ERA, AA debut
Cedeno 2/3 IP, 2 ER, H, 4 BB, HRA, WP -- BS, 2, L, 2-6, 5.62 ERA, no control

*** Wichita was cruising with an 8-2 lead in the middle of the 7th but the bullpen exploded, figuratively, and the Wranglers lost. Billy Butler gave the Wranglers an early lead with an RBI single in the 1st but Neal Musser gave up 2 runs in the 3rd to give the RoughRiders the lead. The Wranglers loaded the bases with 1 out in the 4th but Donnie Murphy lifted a fly to center and Adam Donachie was thrown out trying to tag and go from second to third to squander a run. Angel Sanchez doubled and advanced to third on a wild pitch to start the 5th but strike outs by Alex Gordon and Butler and a Dee Brown fly out squandered another scoring chance. The Wranglers finally cashed in as Kila Kaaihue singled home a run to tie the game in the 6th. The breakthrough came in the 7th as the Wranglers scored 6 runs on a Butler 3-run homer (his 12th), and RBI singles by Damaso Espino, Murphy and Sanchez for an 8-2 lead. New callup from High Desert RP Greg Atencio took over for Musser with 1 out and 1 on in the bottom of the 7th and things got bad. He walked the bases loaded and gave up a 2-run single before a run scored on a Donachie throwing error on a steal and a 2-run homer cut the lead to 8-7. Atencio put 2 in scoring position with 1 out in the 8th but got out of the jam and Wichita took its 1-run lead into the Frisco 9th. Juan Cedeno came on to pitch and gave up a leadoff homer to blow the save and put 2 in scoring position with 1 out thanks to 2 walks and a wild pitch. After intentionally walking a batter to load the bases, Cedeno got the second out on a line out before walking the winning run home. Wichita is 11-11 and tied for first now. 1B Nate Gold was 1-4 with his 17th homer and 3 RBI (55) to move to .291 and RF Kevin Mahar was 2-5 with the game-tying homer (12) and 3 RBI (44) to move to .255.

The Wranglers and Frisco play again Saturday night. Junior Herndon gets the start.

High-A - High Desert: Modesto 8, Mavs 6

1B Stodolka 2-4, K, 2 RS -- .309
CF Senreiso 2-4, 2 2B (12), RBI (45), K -- .256
C Duenas 1-4, HR (6), 2 RBI (23), E (3) -- .254
LF Valentin 1-4, RS -- .289
2B W. Perez 1-3, HBP, RBI (26), SB (9) -- .277
3B Gaffney 1-4, 2B, RBI (22), K, RS -- .281
DH E. Lucas 1-4, RBI (38), K -- .272

Plummer 6 IP, 6 ER, 6 H, BB, 11 K! -- L, 10-5, 5.32 ERA, despite ER numbers, nice to see a power pitcher in organization

*** A 5-run Nuts 4th did in High Desert. Juan Senreiso doubled Mike Stodolka home in the 1st but Jarod Plummer gave up a 2-out RBI single in the Nuts' half to tie it. SS Irving Falu hit a 1-out triple in the 3rd and scored on a Wilver Perez single to give the Mavs another lead before Modesto started rolling in the 4th. The Nuts loaded the bases with 0 outs before a sac fly and 2 doubles brought 5 runs home for a 6-2 lead. The Mavs rallied with 2 in both the 7th and 8th as Mike Gaffney hit an RBI double and Ed Lucas singled home a run in the 7th and Tomas Duenas hit a 2-run homer in the 8th for his 6th of the season. The only problem was Modesto also scored twice in the 7th off RP Justin Barnes and the Mavs didn't get another base runner after Duenas' homer. High Desert is 12-9. Nuts RF Matt Miller was 1-2 with 2 RBI (75) to move to .319 and 3B Jose Valdez was 2-4 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI to move to .199.

The teams play again Saturday night. John Gragg III pitches for HD.

Low-A - Burlington: Kane County 4, Bees 1

RF Jirschele 3-4, 2B -- .188
CF Duarte 1-5 -- .266
2B Johnson 1-4, 2 K, picked off -- .263
DH Vega 1-4, RBI (46), K -- .248
1B Everett 1-4 -- .243
SS Pena 0-3, BB, 2 K -- .000, organizational debut

Rosa 5 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 3 H, 4 BB, 3 K, 2 WP -- L, 6-6, 2.96 ERA

*** The Bees had 10 hits but could generate little scoring as Kane County took the series finale. The Bees got 2 in scoring position with 1 out in the 3rd but the lead runner got thrown out at home on a fielder's choice and Miguel Vega flew out to end the inning. An error by LF Valentino Arce helped the Cougars score 2 runs in the 4th but the Bees got 1 back in the 5th on a Vega RBI single. RP Cody Harkcom gave up 2 runs in the 8th to extend Kane County's lead to 3 and the Bees couldn't rally. The Bees are 9-13. Cougars SP Joe Piekarz went 6 IP and allowed the ER on 9 hits and a walk to move to 4-3 with a 2.82 ERA. RF Chad Boyd was 1-3 with a double to move to .338 and 3B Jeff Baisley was 1-4 with his 15th homer and 73rd RBI to move to .309.

The Bees start a 4-game set at the Fort Wayne Wizards (9-12, Low-A Padres) Saturday. Matt Kniginyzky makes the start coming off an injury layoff.

Rookie - Idaho Falls: Great Falls 10, Chukars 3

2B Mertins 2-4, 3B, 2 RS -- .435
DH B. Herrera 2-4, 2B (8), RBI (15), 2 K, RS, CS -- .317
LF Morel 1-5, K -- .321
3B Hayes 1-3, BB, RBI, SB (1) -- .233
C Morizio 1-4, K, E (1) -- .346
CF Bigler 0-3, BB, K -- .273

Cribb 2 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, BB, WP -- L, 1-1, 1.80 ERA
Best 2 IP, 3 UER, 2 H, E (1) -- 2.16 ERA

*** Great Falls struck for 10 runs on 15 hits and took down the Chukars. Shawn Hayes singled home Kurt Mertins in the 1st to give the Chukars a short-lived lead as Josh Cribb gave up single runs in the 1st and 2nd. RP Dan Best gave up 3 unearned runs in the 4th thanks to 3 errors and RP Dan Gutierrez gave up 2 more runs in the 5th as the White Sox took command. Jase Turner doubled home a run in the 6th and Brenan Herrera singled home Mertins, who had tripled, in the 7th to trim into the lead but Gutierrez gave up a 3-run homer in the 8th to ice it. The Chukars are 14-9. GF SP Ramon Sanchez went 5 1/3 IP and allowed 2 runs on 6 hits and a walk to move to 4-0 with a 2.67 ERA. CF Archie Gilbert was 3-4 with a double, 2 RBI, 2 SB (6) and 3 RS to move to .400 and DH Vernon Carter was 3-3 with a double and 2 RBI (25) to move to .329.

The series continues Saturday night. No announced pitchers.

Rookie - AZL: Athletics 5, Royals 4 (10)

3B Taylor 0-3, 2 BB, K -- .367
LF Dyson 1-2, 3B, RBI, RS -- .520, still not starting for some reason
1B S. Lucas 1-5, 2B, 3 K -- .323
CF D. Robinson 0-2, 2 BB, RBI, CS -- .211
RF Van Stratten 0-5, 2 RS -- .210
LF Francis 1-2, BB, K, RS -- .250
C Doscher 1-2, BB, K -- .312
SS Juan 1-3, BB, RBI, 2 E (3) -- .255
*Still no Bianchi.

Fisher 3 2/3 IP, 3 R (2 ER), 5 H, BB, 5 K, HRA -- ND, 2.52 ERA
Hauff 2 1/3 IP, BB, 4 K -- 0.00 ERA
Barrera 1 2/3 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 3 H, BB, 2 K -- BS, 1, L, 0-1, 0.84 ERA

*** The Royals took a late lead, blew it in the 9th and lost in 10 to the A's. SP Brent Fisher gave up 1 run in the 1st and a 2-run homer in the 2nd and the A's took a 3-0 lead. The Royals finally broke through with 2 in the 7th on bases-loaded walks drawn by Manny Juan and Derrick Robinson to cut the lead to 1. Jarrod Dyson hit a pinch-hit RBI triple in the 9th to tie the game and C Oscar Marrero singled him home to give the Royals a 4-3 lead. Henry Barrera came in to pitch the 9th for the Royals and allowed a 1-out RBI single to tie the game. The Royals got runners on the corners in the 10th but couldn't push a run across. The A's came up in the 10th and got 2 on with 2 out. A passed ball on Marrero moved runners to second and third and Barrera struck out C Julio Rivera, but the ball got away from Marrero and he threw the ball away to allow the winning run to score. The Royals are 13-6 and a game back of the first-place Giants. A's SP Dallas Braden pitched 4 innings of 1-hit ball to keep his ERA at 0.00 and RF Ramiro Mendez was 2-3 with 2 walks and a triple to move to .314.

The Royals were slated to play the Padres Saturday.