Royals on the Farm 7/26

AAA - Omaha: O-Royals 7, Las Vegas 3

3B Keppinger 3-4, BB, 2 HR!, 2 RBI, 4 RS! -- .391, I'm hoping the Blanco call-up means Berroa is gone and Keppinger gets the call
RF Allen 2-4, BB, 2B (23), RBI (66), K, RS -- .329
2B Cortez 2-5, K, RS, picked off, E (4) -- .241
1B Coolbaugh 2-4, BB, HR (5), 2 RBI (10), K -- .228
CF K. Robinson 2-4, K, CS -- .296

Bernero 6 IP, ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 2 K, HRA -- W, 3-3, 3.17 ERA
Braun IP, 2 ER, 3 H, BB, 2 K -- 2.70 ERA
Peralta 2 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, K -- SV, 2, 2.35 ERA, giving him a shot as closer in Omaha???

*** The O-Royals dug the longball Wednesday as newest member Jeff Keppinger cranked 2 long balls and Mike Coolbaugh added another as the Royals took down the 51s. Fernando Cortez and Keppinger led off the 3rd with singles before Chad Allen doubled one home and DH Mike Aviles hit an RBI ground out to bring the other home. Keppinger hit his 1st Omaha homer to lead off the 5th and LF Rick Bell hit a sac fly later in the inning to make it 4-0. Adam Bernero allowed his only damage on a solo homer to lead off the Vegas 5th but the Royals got it back in the 7th on Keppinger's second homer of the game with 1 out that made it 5-1. Ryan Braun came in to pitch the 7th for Omaha and gave up 2 runs on a 2-out rally. Coolbaugh put the game on ice for the Royals with a 2-run shot in the 9th for his 5th of '06. Joel Peralta struggled a little in the 9th but allowed no runs and got his 2nd save. Omaha is 42-63. 51s CF Matt Kemp was 0-4 with a walk to drop to .349, 1B James Loney was 0-5 to drop to .374 and 3B Eric Riggs was 1-4 with his 7th homer and 30th RBI to drop to .325.

Game 3 of the 4-game set is Thursday night. Pitchers: LH Andy Van Hekken (0-1, 5.06) vs. Vegas RH Harold Eckert (5-7, 7.19). In other news, P Ryan Baerlocher has been removed from the roster to pitch for a team in Korea and utility man Alejandro Prieto was activated from the DL. Justin Huber remains on the shelf with his tight hamstring.

AA - Wichita: Wranglers 5, Tulsa 2

3B Gordon 3-4, HR (17), 3 RBI (59) -- .303, leads team with .934 OPS
RF Butler 1-3, SF, RBI (75) -- .322, .857 OPS
LF Lubanski 2-4, 2B (27), 2 RS -- .273, .812 OPS
SS Sanchez 1-3, 2B (19), K, RS -- .285, back from HBP on elbow
CF Maier 1-3 -- .290, .798 OPS
2B Murphy 1-3, RS -- .230

Herndon 7 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 9 H, BB, K -- W, 8-4, 4.23 ERA
C. Smith 1 2/3 IP, 2 H, BB, 2 K -- SV, 2, 1.94 ERA in 65 IP

*** The Wranglers took the lead in the 6th and held on to beat the Drillers and split the 4-game set. Alex Gordon started his day with an RBI single in the 1st but Tulsa scored both of its runs in the 2nd on 3 hits off Junior Herndon. Tulsa held that lead until the 5th when 1B Kila Kaaihue doubled home a run to tie it and, after Angel Sanchez led off the 6th with a double, Gordon blasted his 17th homer for a 4-2 Wichita lead and his 3rd straight game with a longball. Herndon gave way to Cody Smith after 7 1/3 IP and Billy Butler added a sac fly in the 8th as the Wranglers nailed down the win. Wichita is 18-15 and back up 2 games on first. Tulsa 2B Doug Bernier was 2-4 with an RBI to move to .280, 1B Joe Koshansky was 1-4 with his 22nd double to drop to .302 and SS Troy Tulowitzki was 0-4 with his 51st RBI to drop to .292.

The Wranglers have Thursday off and start a 3-day, 4-game set with Arkansas Friday. Mike Sweeney is set to join the Wranglers Friday as his rehab progresses. C Paul Bako is also supposed to rehab at Wichita starting Friday.

High-A - High Desert: Mavs 5, Modesto 3

1B Stodolka 0-3, BB, 2 K, RS -- .302
LF Tomlin 3-4 -- .307
2B Falu 2-3, BB, 3B (5) -- .276
DH Valentin 0-4, SB (3) -- .295
CF Senreiso 2-3, 2 RS, SB (17) -- .273
C Duenas 2-4, 2B (9), HR (7), 2 RBI (29), 2 K, 2 RS -- .281
3B Lucas 2-3, SF, 2 RBI (46), K, CS -- .287

Weeden 5 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, BB, 7 K, WP -- ND, 5.62 ERA
Hicklen 3 IP, ER, 4 H, 2 BB, K, WP -- W, 3-6, 6.46 ERA
Plummer IP, nothing -- SV, 2, 4.80 ERA

*** Two late runs got the Mavs the win. Brandon Weeden got off to a tough start as he gave up a 2-out, 2-run single in the 1st but only allowed 3 more hits and a walk before leaving after the 5th. The Mavs tied the game in the 4th as Ed Lucas hit a sac fly and SS Michael Gaffney hit an RBI ground out. RP Patrick Hicklen walked in a run in the 6th but the Mavs retied it in the bottom of the frame on a Lucas RBI single. Irving Falu tripled with 1 out in the 7th but the Mavs were unable to bring him home. They capitalized in the 8th, tho, as Mike Stodolka led off with a walk and Tomas Duenas cranked a 2-run homer to left for his 7th of the season and a 5-3 lead. Jarod Plummer picked up his 2nd save with a quick 9th. High Desert is 16-15 and 1 1/2 games back of first. Nuts SS Jonathan Herrera was 3-5 with his 22nd steal to move to .301, DH Corey Wimberly was 2-5 with a double to move to .314 and 2B Jeff Dragicevich was 2-4 with 2 RBI (30) to improve to .277.

The series concludes Thursday. No announced starters.

Low-A - Burlington: Bees 6, Beloit 3

CF Duarte 3-5, 2B (14), 2 RBI (28), RS, SB (22), OF assist at second (MWL leader at 18) -- .271
DH Sweeney 1-4, HR, RBI -- .143
SS Johnson 0-1, 2 BB -- .251, 13th sac bunt of season ties team record set in '76
3B Lisson 1-4, RBI (50) -- .250
C Everett 1-4, RS -- .247

Kniginyzky 5 1/3 IP, ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 4 K -- W, 8-3, 3.22 ERA
Hayes 2 IP, ER, 2 H -- SV, 6, 2.21 ERA

*** Sweeney hit a homer for his one and only hit as a Bee before moving up to Wichita and the Bees held off the Snappers to win. Mario Lisson got the Bees started with an RBI single in the 1st but Beloit tied it off Matt Kniginyzky in the 3rd. The Bees got Sweeney's homer with 2 out in the 3rd to regain the lead and Jose Duarte padded it with a 2-run single in the 7th to make it 4-1. The Snappers got those runs back off RPs Eliszer Garcia and Chris Hayes in the 8th but Burlington put 2 runs right back up on the board in their half on an RBI single by 2B Valentino Arce and a passed ball that scored Brady Everett. Hayes had a 1-2-3 9th to end it. The Bees are 15-18. Snappers 3B Whitney Robbins was 2-2 with 2 walks, a double and his 23rd RBI to move to .337 and 1B Erik Lis was 1-4 with a RS to drop to .314.

The Bees and Snappers finish the set Thursday night. Chris Nicoll starts for the Bees.

Rookie - Idaho Falls: Chukars 5, Ogden 3

CF Dickerson 4-5, 2B (8), 2 RBI (18), 2 RS -- .340
2B Mertins 3-5, E (6) -- .425
C Boudreaux 2-4 -- .243
LF Morel 0-4, BB, K, SB (10) -- .287
SS McConnell 0-5 -- .370
1B Maddox 1-3, 2 BB, 2 RS, E (3) -- .301
RF Bigler 1-4, RBI (14), K -- .258

Chambliss 6 IP, 3 R (2 ER), 5 H, 5 K -- W, 1-2, 3.74 ERA
Mozingo 3 IP, H, BB, 4 K -- SV, 1, 7.71 ERA, best outing of season arguably

*** Idaho Falls scored its runs and then held on to beat the Raptors to take 2 of 3 in the series. Joe Dickerson started his great day at the plate with a 2-run double after 2 2-out walks in the 1st. Kurt Mertins drove Dickerson home with a single in the 3rd to make it 3-0 and RBI singles by Mertins and Brett Bigler in the 5th made it 5-0 as Tyler Chambliss had a 1-hitter through 4. He ran into trouble in the 5th as 2 hits and a Mertins error were good for 2 Ogden runs. Chambliss gave up another run on 2 hits in the 6th to cut the lead to 2 but Harold Mozingo took over in the 7th and allowed only a walk and a hit in separate innings to close it out for his 1st pro save. The Chukars are 22-14 and a game up on Orem with a crucial 3-game set with the Owlz looming. Ogden LF Ryan Rogowski was 2-4 with his 7th double to move to .294 and 3B Josh Bell was 2-4 to move to .259.

The Chukars and Orem Owlz (21-15, Rookie Angels) start their 3-game set Thursday night. Only the first 2 count for the first half, tho, I think, so the Chukars can clinch it with a win. No announced starters.

Rookie - AZL: off day

*** The Royals start the second half of the season Thursday night against the Angels.