Royals on the Farm 7/17

AAA - Omaha: O-Royals 5, Nashville 4

LF Huber 2-4, 2B (13), HR (12), 2 RBI (27), 2 RS -- .282, rolling
RF Costa 2-4, HR (7), RBI (16) -- .392
DH Allen 2-4, 2B (22), RS -- .328
C Tupman 1-3, RBI, E (1, catcher interference) -- .333, doing all right thus far in AAA
CF K. Robinson 1-4, 2 K -- .304
3B Cortez 1-4, 2B, RBI, RS, E (3) -- .205
SS Blanco 1-2, BB, CS -- .244

Bernero 4 IP, ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 5 K, HRA -- 3.20 ERA, pitch count?
Loux 3 IP, H -- W, 1-4, 6.75 ERA
Keppel 2 IP, 3 R (1 ER), 4 H, BB -- SV, 1, 4.57 ERA

*** RP Bobby Keppel and the Omaha D probably gave the home fans heart problems Monday but pulled out a 5-4 win over Nashville. After Justin Huber led off the Omaha 2nd with a double, Fernando Cortez hit a 1-out RBI double to bring him home and Matt Tupman followed with an RBI single for his first AAA ribbie. The Royals loaded the bases with 1 out but Chris Clapinski and Shane Costa both popped out to end the threat. Adam Bernero gave up a solo homer in the 4th to get the Sounds on the board but was pulled for Shane Loux to start the 5th. Shane Costa hit his 7th homer -- a solo shot -- in the 5th and Omaha had a 3-1 lead. Keppel came in to pitch the 8th and, after a dropped pop foul error by Cortez, gave up a walk, single and RBI force out to close the Omaha lead to 1. Justin Huber got it back and more with a 2-run shot in the 8th for his 12th of the season to give the Royals a 5-2 lead. A single and catcher interference call to start the 9th put 2 on with 0 out and Keppel gave up an RBI single and RBI force out to leave the tying run in scoring position with 2 out. He got Sounds SS Ozzie Chavez to line out to end the game. Omaha is 38-57 and now only the second worst team in the PCL, although Memphis is close so the Royals could soon have the third-worst record. Sounds SP Ben Hendrickson went 7 1/3 IP and allowed 5 ER on 11 hits and a walk to drop to 7-4 with a 2.18 ERA, former Royals farmhand RP Steve Bray went 2/3 hitless IP to keep his ERA at 0.00, RF Nelson Cruz was 3-4 with his 18th homer and 64th RBI and 2 RS to move to .293 and C Chad Moeller was 0-4 to drop to .357.

The teams play again Tuesday. Pitchers: Sounds RH Jared Fernandez (5-2, 2.28) vs. RH Kyle Middleton (0-2, 3.45). In other news, Ed Yarnall was put on the DL with back soreness and P Joe Nelson was shuttled back to KC yet again. Seth Etherton was activated from the DL.

AA - Wichita: off day

*** Wichita is 12-12 and tied for first. A 5-game home set with the Springfield Cardinals (11-13) starts Tuesday night. Seung Song takes the mound.

High-A - High Desert: Lancaster 12, Mavs 8

RF Valentin 3-5, K, 2 RS -- .292
CF Senreiso 3-4, BB, K, RS, SB (14) -- .260
LF Tomlin 3-5, 3 2B (13), RBI (18), RS -- .308
2B W. Perez 2-5, K, RS, CS -- .276
SS Gaffney 1-5, 3B, 2 RBI (25) -- .277
C Duenas 2-5, 2B, RS -- .259
1B R. Brown 1-4, SF, 2 RBI (42), RS -- .274
DH McFall 1-4, BB, RBI (48) -- .249
3B E. Lucas 1-5, HR (6), RBI (39), 2 K -- .272

Crist 2 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 3 K -- ND, 4.15 ERA, left with suspected dehydration
Weeden 3 IP, 6 ER, 9 H, BB, 3 K, HRA -- L, 5-4, 5.80 ERA

*** Just as the Mavs had come back from a 5-0 deficit and nearly came back from a 9-5 deficit, they couldn't get it done as Lancaster took the series opener. Kyle Crist gave up 3 runs in the 2nd but got dehydrated and had to leave the 95-degree heat. RP Brandon Weeden gave up a 2-run homer in the 3rd to make it 5-0 but the Mavs scored 4 in the 4th on a sac fly by Rusty Brown that scored 2 runs after a JetHawks error, an RBI single by Brian McFall and an RBI double by James Tomlin. Brown singled home a run in the 5th to tie the game but Weeden gave up 3 RBI hits in the Lancaster 5th to give the JetHawks a 9-5 lead. A Michael Gaffney RBI force out in the 6th cut into the lead and Ed Lucas homered to lead off the 8th for his 6th of the season to cut the lead to 2. Gaffney followed with an RBI triple to cut the lead to 9-8 but two strike outs and a ground out kept the Mavs from tying the game. RP Justin Barnes gave up 3 runs on 4 hits, a walk and a hit batsman in the bottom of the 8th to help Lancaster ice the game as the Mavs got only a 2-out double from Tomlin in the 9th. High Desert is 14-10 and 1/2 a game back of first. JetHawks CF Chris Rahl was 2-6 with 2 doubles (33) and 3 RBI (60) to move to .335, C Josh Ford was 3-5 with 2 RBI (32) to move to .297 and 1B Cesar Nicolas was 1-2 with 2 RBI (45) to move to .294. Five other Lancaster players had multi-hit games. The teams combined for 34 hits.

Game 2 of the series is Tuesday night. Danny Christensen starts.

Low-A - Burlington: Bees 5, Fort Wayne 3

3B Lisson 2-3, BB, RS -- .250
C Everett 2-4 -- .248
LF Arce 2-3, BB -- .223
DH Vega 1-4, 2B (12), 2 RBI (48), K, RS -- .245
CF Duarte 1-4, BB, 2B (13), K -- .262
2B Johnson 0-4, 2 K, RS -- .263
RF Arroyo 1-3, BB, 3B, RBI (23), RS, SB (7) -- .252
* The Bees hit into 5 DPs.

Penn 2 1/3 IP, ER, 4 H, BB, 2 K -- ND, 2.48 ERA
Henninger 3 2/3 IP, ER, 5 H, K, HRA -- W, 2-5, 5.93 ERA
Schambough 2 1/3 IP, H, 2 K -- SV, 9, 2.25 ERA, another old school save

*** A 5-run inning did the trick for the Bees in the win over Fort Wayne. Michael Penn made his first start after a nearly month-long injury layoff and was limited to a 50-pitch count. He gave up a run in the 2nd but the Bees had their big inning in the 4th with 5 runs on a 2-run double by Miguel Vega, an RBI force out by 1B Jeremy Jirschele and a 2-run triple by Carlos Arroyo that was aided by a Wizards error. RP David Henninger gave up a solo homer in the 6th but pitched a clean 3 2/3 innings other than that and Kraig Schambough gave up an RBI single to the first batter he faced but no other hits over 2 1/3 IP to pick up his 9th save. The Bees moved to 10-15. FW LF William Venable was 1-5 to drop to .321 and 2B Seth Johnston was 2-4 with his 28th double, 10th homer and 51st RBI to move to .273.

The series wrapped up Tuesday afternoon with Burlington getting the win. Mario Santiago got the start. More on that in the next RoF.

Rookie - Idaho Falls: Chukars 12, Billings 7

DH Mertins 4-5, 3B (3), 2 RBI (8), RS, SB (5) -- .446
1B Castillo 3-5, 2B (6), K, RS -- .410
SS McConnell 2-5, 3 RBI, RS -- .400, '06 IF debut, not quite ready for A, I guess
CF Dickerson 1-4, BB, HR (2), 2 RBI (11), 2 RS -- .312
1B Turner 2-4, SF, 2 RBI (11), 2 K, RS -- .177
LF Bigler 0-3, 3 BB, RBI (9), K, 2 RS, SB (6) -- .250
2B Maddox 1-4, SF, RBI (14), K -- .250

B. Wood 2 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, BB, 3 K, WP -- ND, 5.87 ERA, no smooth starts yet
Hartsock 2 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, K, HRA, WP -- 1.86 ERA
Baldwin 4 IP, ER, 2 H, BB, 4 K, HRA -- BS, 2, W, 1-2, 5.19 ERA

*** A 5-run 7th finally put the game away for Idaho Falls. Blake Wood gave up 3 straight 1-out hits and a sac fly to spot Billings a 2-0 lead in the 1st but the Chukars got 1 back on a Joe Dickerson solo homer -- his 2nd -- in their half to cut the lead to 2-1. Wood got out of a bases-loaded jam in the 2nd and Idaho Falls took the lead with 2 that inning on a 2-run single by Chris McConnell as he had a good game in his first contest back in the Pioneer League. Wood gave up a game-tying single before getting pulled in the 3rd and the Chukars took the lead again with 3 that inning on a Jase Turner RBI single, a Marc Maddox sac fly and a wild pitch and Mustangs throwing error. RP Aaron Hartsock gave up a 2-run homer in the 5th to cut the lead back to 1 at 6-5 but Brett Bigler drew a bases-loaded walk in the Chukar 5th to make the lead 2 once more. Runs in the 6th and 7th off Hartsock and RP Burke Baldwin helped Billings tie the game. The Chukars loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the 7th and cashed in with a McConnell RBI single, Dickerson RBI walk, Turner sac fly and 2-run triple by Kurt Mertins to make it 12-7. Baldwin finished it for the win. Idaho Falls is 15-11 and 1/2 a game back of first. Mustangs RF Chris Heisey was 3-4 with 2 HR (3) and 4 RBI (17) to move to .395 and CF Drew Stubbs was 1-4 with 2 SB (13) and a RS to move to .247.

The teams match up for a double dip Tuesday. Everett Teaford and Jason Godin start the games for IF.

Rookie - AZL: Mariners 4, Royals 2

2B/3B A. Perez 3-4, RS, 2 SB (6) -- .281
3B Taylor 0-1, BB -- .370
CF D. Robinson 1-5, 2 K -- .200
DH Van Stratten 0-3, BB, K, RS -- .232
1B S. Lucas 1-4 -- .324
PH/LF/RF Dyson 0-2 -- .452, OF assist at second
C Doscher 1-2, HBP, SB (2) -- .315

A. Morales 5 IP, 3 ER, 8 H, BB, 5 K, HRA, WP -- L, 3-3, 5.76 ERA

*** The Mariners stifled the Royals in the win. SP Angelo Morales gave up a run in the 2nd and 2 more in the 5th to spot the M's a 3-0 lead and RP Tyler Cummings gave up a run in the 6th. The Royals didn't get on the board until the 8th on a Mariners error and an RBI ground out by PH Eric Dickson and could do no more damage. The Royals moved to 13-7. Four Mariner pitchers chipped in to pitch 7 innings of shutout ball. Nomar's brother Mariners 3B Michael Garciaparra was 3-4 with a double, homer and 2 RBI to set a .750 BA. He must be rehabbing. 3B Alex Liddi was 3-4 with a double to move to .293 and DH Stan Posluzny was 2-4 with a double and RBI to move to .338.

The Royals beat the Rangers Tuesday. More on that in the next RoF.