Royals on the Farm 7/20

AAA - Omaha: O-Royals 4, Nashville 2

LF Costa 2-4, 2 RBI (19) -- .377
RF Allen 1-4, RBI (62) -- .328
1B Bell 3-4, K, RS, SB (1) -- .207, Buddy's boy cracks the Mendoza line
CF K. Robinson 1-4, 2B (14), RBI (22), 2 RS, SB (14) -- .297
2B Cortez 0-2, BB -- .205
SS Blanco 1-2, BB, RS -- .241

Bautista 7 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 2 K -- W, 2-3, 5.35 ERA, another flash of what could be
Braun IP, 2 K -- SV, 2, 0.00 ERA, grooming the future closer?

*** Denny Bautista stifled the Sounds over 7 IP and Omaha took the series finale. Kerry Robinson led off the Omaha 1st with a double, stole third with 1 out and scored on a Shane Costa single to give Omaha a 1-0 lead. Costa had another RBI single in the 3rd and Chad Allen added an RBI force out to make it 3-0. Bautista took a 1-hitter into the 6th as Nashville could get singles or nothing. Robinson added an RBI ground out in the 7th but Nashville scored 2 off RP Shane Loux in the 8th. One was unearned as 3B Mike Aviles made a throwing error (#13 on the season) when the Royals had Brent Abernathy picked off at third. Ryan Braun came in for the 9th and had a 1-2-3 inning to earn his 2nd save at AAA. Omaha is 39-59. Abernathy was 2-4 with his 33rd RBI to move to .286 and DH Nelson Cruz was 0-4 to drop to .292.

The Royals start a 4-day, 5-game set with the Round Rock Express (61-37, AAA 'Stros) Friday night. Bobby Keppel takes the mound for Omaha.

AA - Wichita: Wranglers 8, Springfield 7

3B Gordon 1-4, BB, K, 2 RS -- .298
RF Butler 1-5, 2B (27), 2 RBI (72), 2 K -- .317
CF Maier 1-3, BB, 2B (20), K, 2 RS -- .276
LF Lubanski 1-2, 2 BB, RBI (40), 2 RS -- .269
SS Sanchez 1-5, 2 RBI (42) -- .286
2B Murphy 1-5, RBI (31), RS -- .236
C Donachie 1-3, BB, RBI -- .200

Musser 6 IP, 7 ER, 8 H, 4 BB, 5 K, 2 HRA -- ND, 4.23 ERA, second straight mediocre-to-poor start
C. Smith 2 2/3 IP, 4 H, 5 K -- W, 8-0, 1.95 ERA, doesn't get much better out of the 'pen
DeHoyos 1/3 IP, K -- SV, 5, 1.29 ERA

*** Five unanswered runs from the 6th on and some handy relief work from Cody Smith got the Wranglers the win. Alex Gordon scored on a Springfield throwing error in the 1st but the Cardinals rallied for 2 runs off Neal Musser in the 2nd to take the lead. Wichita couldn't take advantage of 2 Cards errors in the 3rd and Springfield scored twice more in the 4th to take a 4-1 lead. Billy Butler came through with a 2-out, 2-run double in the 5th to make it 4-3 but the Cardinals scored 3 in the top of the 6th on a pair of homers to make it 7-3. Adam Donachie hit an RBI ground out for his first AA RBI in the bottom of the 6th and Angel Sanchez followed with an RBI single to close the gap to 7-5. The Wranglers made their move in the 8th as Mitch Maier led off with a double and advanced to third on a wild pitch before scoring on a Chris Lubanski single. Sanchez followed 2 batters later with an RBI ground out to tie the game and Donnie Murphy pushed the go-ahead run across with an RBI force out. With 2 in scoring position and 2 out in the top of the 9th, Smith was pulled for Gabe DeHoyos after 2 2/3 IP of scoreless relief and DeHoyos got a strikeout to end the game. Wichita is 14-13 and tied with Arkansas for first. Cards CF Shaun Boyd was 2-4 with his 2nd AA homer and 2 RBI to move to .310 and 2B Jarrett Hoffpauir was 2-4 with his 4th homer, 2 RBI (33) and 2 RS to move to .273.

The teams match up for game 4 tonight. Junior Herndon starts for Wichita. The Wichita Eagle story on the game is interesting regarding Smith. He's the son of former MLB P Bryn Smith, who pitched with the Expos, Cardinals and Rockies and Cody was cut by the Rangers in ST before signing with the Royals the same day. He's a converted starter who is doing well at AA in middle relief. What I liked about his line Thursday was 0 BB, 5 K.

High-A - High Desert: rainout

*** No makeup date set yet, but the Mavs and Lancaster hook up for two more series so I'm sure they'll get it made up. The Mavs are 14-12 and 2 games back of first. A 3-game home set vs. the Stockton Ports (13-13, High-A Athletics) starts Friday night. No announced starters.

Low-A - Burlington: Bees 1, Wisconsin 0

2B Johnson 2-4, K -- .268
CF Duarte 1-4, K, OF assist at second -- .265
C Everett 1-2, BB, HR (4), RBI (15) -- .252

Rosa CG, 0 ER, 6 H, 6 K -- W, 7-6, 2.71 ERA, great outing

*** Carlos Rosa hurled a 6-hit gem and the Bees took the series opener. The game was actually a pitchers' duel between Rosa and Wisconsin SP Marwin Vega as the Rattlers never had more than 1 runner on in any inning and the Bees had 2 innings where 2 runners reached base. The only break came when Brady Everett led off the Bees 7th with a homer to left center for his 4th of the season. Rosa finished strong with a 1-2-3 9th to pick up his 7th win with the complete-game shutout. He only faced 3 more than the minimum thanks to 3 DPs. The Bees are 12-15. Vega allowed an ER on 4 hits and 2 walks with 4 K in dropping to 3-7 with a 5.09 ERA. Wisconsin LF Kuo-Hui Lo was 0-4 to drop to .316 and 1B Johan Limonta was 2-3 to move to .235.

The teams match up again Friday night. Matt Kniginyzky starts for the Bees.

Rookie - Idaho Falls: Billings 6, Chukars 4

1B Castillo 0-2, K, RBI (23), picked off -- .383, maybe first game of season he hasn't reached base through walk or hit, left game after getting picked off in 3rd, no injury reported in game log
SS McConnell 2-3, BB, RS, SB (1) -- .533
CF Dickerson 1-4, RS -- .315
2B Maddox 2-4, RS -- .295
3B B. Herrera 2-4, RBI (17), K -- .284
RF Gonzalez 2-4, 2B, RBI, K -- .222
LF Bigler 1-4, K, RS, SB (7) -- .241

Hardy 5 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 8 H, K, HRA -- ND, 3.19 ERA, rough start
Eckley 1 1/3 IP, ER, 2 H, 2 K -- BS, 1, L, 1-1, 6.55 ERA
Hartsock IP, 2 H, K -- 1.77 ERA
*On the bright side, 0 walks issued by Chukar pitchers Thursday

*** The Chukars took a 4-2 lead into the 6th but the pitching staff couldn't get the job done. Rowdy Hardy gave up a 2-run homer in the 1st to put the Chukars down early but IF was able to get 1 back with a sac fly by DH Shawn Hayes in the 1st. O.D. Gonzalez (known as Oscar in '05) doubled home a run in the 2nd to tie the game and the Chukars moved ahead with 2 in the 3rd on a Luis Castillo RBI force out and Brenan Herrera RBI single. As noted above, Castillo left the game after getting picked off and was replaced by Jase Turner to start the 4th. The Chukars stranded 2 in scoring position that inning and would need those runs. Hardy settled down after the 1st inning homer and got into the 6th before giving up an RBI single and getting pulled for Jacob Eckley with runners on the corners and 2 out. The Mustangs pulled off a successful double steal of home and second to tie the game during Eckley's first AB against and got a 2-out RBI single in the 7th to move ahead. RP Bryan Casey allowed an insurance run on a wild pitch in the 8th and the Chukars got 2 in scoring position with 1 out in the 9th before Hayes and Turner (in what would have been Castillo's spot) struck out to end it. Idaho Falls is 18-12 and a game up on first. Billings RP Travis Webb pitched 4 innings of scoreless, 3-hit relief to move to 3-0 with a 4.40 ERA, CF Drew Stubbs was 3-5 with a double to move to .272, 2B Billy Rojo was 3-5 with his 13th RBI to move to .351 and SS Chris Valaika was 2-5 with his 4th homer and 2 RBI (22) to move to .303.

The Chukars get a 3-game home rematch with the Great Falls White Sox (15-15) starting Friday night. The White Sox took 3 of 4 from IF last week and scored 29 runs combined in the 3 wins. The Chukars just need to hold on one more week as the first half of the Pioneer League season ends July 28.

Rookie - AZL: Brewers 10, Royals 8

3B Taylor 1-4, RBI (13), SB (3) -- .339
DH Peralta 3-3, BB, HBP, 2 2B, 2 RBI (17), RS -- .310
1B S. Lucas 3-4, BB, 2 2B (6), RBI (29), 3 RS, SB (8) -- .354
CF D. Robinson 0-3, 2 BB, K, RS, 3 SB! (9) -- .221
RF Van Stratten 1-4, BB, 2B, RBI (13), 2 RS, SB (8) -- .250

Arias 4 IP, 6 R (2 ER), 6 H, 2 BB, 4 K -- L, 1-2, 1.99 ERA, 2 errors behind him hurt

*** The Royals dug an early 6-run hole and couldn't get out in a 10-8 loss. Two errors led to 4 runs for the Brew Crew in the 1st and the Brewers scored twice more in the 2nd off Henry Arias to get a 6-0 lead. Felix Peralta doubled home Scott Lucas in the 2nd to get the Royals off a goose egg and the Royals added 2 in the 4th on a Jason Taylor RBI single and a Brewer error on a steal attempt. A Brewers homer off Yensi Lopez in the 5th made it 7-3 but the Royals closed the lead to 1 with a 3-run 5th in which Lucas singled home a run and Eric Dickson and Nick Doscher took bases-loaded walks. The Brewers added 2 more to the lead in the 6th off Lopez but the Royals again trimmed the lead to 1 with 2 in their half on a Nick Van Stratten RBI ground-rule double and a Peralta RBI single. A third Royal fielding error helped the Brewers get an insurance run in the 9th and the Royals got the would-be winning run to the plate with 1 out in the 9th but 2 strike outs killed the rally. The Royals are 14-9 and a game back of the Giants and Padres. Brewers RP Craig Langille went 3 2/3 IP with 2 hits and 3 walks allowed to get the win and move to 1-0 with a 1.02 ERA, RF Andrew Lefave was 2-5 with a triple, 3 RBI and 2 RS to move to .462 and 1B John Alonso was 3-5 and a single short of the cycle with a double, triple and his 4th HR to go along with 2 RBI (13) and 2 RS to move to .333.

The Royals had a scheduled off-day Friday.