Royals on the Farm 8/10

AAA - Omaha: off day

*** The 45-74 Royals open a 4-game set at the New Orleans Zephyrs (60-58, AAA Nats) Friday night. Adam Bernero was set to start but got called up and Shane Costa got sent back to AAA. Jason Bergmann (8-2, 3.28 ERA) starts for the Zephyrs.

AA - Wichita: Corpus Christi 3, Wranglers 2

3B Gordon 1-3, BB, RS -- .314
RF Butler 0-3, HBP, OF assist at home -- .326
SS Sanchez 2-5, RBI (48), K -- .287
LF Lubanski 1-3, BB, K -- .275
CF Maier 0-4, K -- .290
DH D. Brown 0-3, SF, RBI (57), 2 K -- .289
C Donachie 0-2, 2 BB, K -- .173

Lumsden 5 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 4 BB, 2 K, HRA, pickoff, WP -- L, 0-1, 2.84 ERA, outdone by Patton
C. Smith 2 1/3 IP, ER, 5 H, BB, K, HRA -- 2.82 ERA

*** Tyler Lumsden and the Hooks' Troy Patton locked horns with Patton coming out on top of a narrow Corpus Christi win. Two walks hurt Lumsden in the CC 1st as he gave up a sac fly to make it 1-0 Hooks. He stranded another potential run at third in the 2nd and gave up leadoff hits in two other innings but allowed nothing more until the 6th. Patton took a no-hitter into the 6th before Angel Sanchez hit a 1-out single. Billy Butler was up when a wild pitch put runners at second and third. He was hit by a pitch before Dee Brown struck out swinging to end the scoring chance. Lumsden gave up a solo homer in the 6th to make it 2-0 CC and RP Cody Smith was brought in with 2 outs and a runner at first. Smith gave up 2 singles but on the second one Butler threw out a runner at home to end the inning and keep the lead at 2 runs. Sanchez hit an RBI single off Patton in the 7th to get the Wranglers on the board but Brett Groves struck out to end the inning with the tying run 90 feet away from scoring. Cody Smith gave up a leadoff homer in the 7th to put the Hooks' lead back at 2 at 3-1 but Wichita got the run back in the 8th on a Dee Brown sac fly that scored Gordon. The Wranglers got 2 on with 1 out in the 9th but Sanchez lined into a double play as Adam Donachie was caught off first to end the game. Wichita is 27-20 and 5 games up on first. The Wranglers dropped to 2-6 against the Hooks in '06 with the loss. Patton allowed only an unearned run on 4 hits and 2 walks with 5 K over 6 2/3 IP to move to 2-2 with a 4.64 ERA at AA. 3B Mark Saccomanno was 3-4 to move to .212, 1B Josh Bonifay was 1-3 with his 15th homer and 2 RBI (60) to move to .266 and RF Hunter Pence was 1-3 to move to .295. Three Hooks regulars are hitting over .300.

Game 2 of the set is Friday night. Junior Herndon pitches for Wichita.

High-A - High Desert: Lancaster 11, Mavs 9

1B Stodolka 3-4, BB, 2B (30), RBI (62), K, 3 RS, SB (4) -- .313, .420 OBP, .926 OPS!
CF Senreiso 3-5, 3B (5), 2 RBI (54), 2 K, 2 RS -- .276
RF McFall 3-5, K -- .240
C Duenas 2-5, HR (10), 2 RBI (36), PB (10) -- .283, second on team in OPS (.828)
3B E. Lucas 2-3, 2 BB, 2 2B (25), RBI (52), RS -- .276
2B W. Perez 2-5, HR (4), RBI (30) -- .262
LF Valentin 0-4, HBP, K, RS -- .279
DH Thibault 1-4, 2 K -- .297

Green 2 2/3 IP, 8 ER, 10 H, 3 BB, 3 K, 2 HRA -- ND, 7.58 ERA, lucky to get no-decision
Rowe 3 1/3 IP, H, BB -- 4.47 ERA, deserved a W
Hicklen 3 IP, 3 R (1 ER), 4 H, BB, 4 K, HRA, WP, E (1) -- BS, 1, L, 3-8, 6.22 ERA

*** Patrick Green got lit up like a Christmas tree but the Mavericks' offense kept them in the game until some defensive lapses cost them a win. The JetHawks hit for the cycle off Green in the 1st as a 2-run homer, RBI triple, RBI double and RBI single helped them to a 5-0 lead. The Mavs staged a 2-out rally in their half of the 1st to almost keep pace with Lancaster. Mike Stodolka singled with 2 out and Tomas Duenas hit a 2-run homer for his 10th of the season before Ed Lucas followed a Juan Senreiso single with a run-scoring double that was aided by a fielding error. Lucas scored on another JetHawks error to make it 5-4. Green gave up a 2-run homer and RBI single before getting pulled in the 3rd to stretch the lead back to 8-4 but the Mavs scored 2 in their half on a Senreiso RBI triple after Stodolka led off with a double and Lucas doubled home Senreiso again to cut the lead to 8-6. HD tied it in the 4th as Wilver Perez led off the inning with his 4th homer and Senreiso singled home Stodolka to make it an 8-8 ballgame. Adam Rowe pitched a great 3 1/3 innings in relief and the Mavs took the lead in the 6th on a Stodolka RBI single. Patrick Hicklen came on to pitch the 7th and the inning didn't go well. A wild pitch and passed ball on Duenas helped lead to a game-tying ground out and a throwing error by Hicklen on a pickoff attempt allowed the go-ahead run to score for the JetHawks. Hicklen gave up an insurance 2-out solo homer in the 8th before the Mavs got the tying run to second with 1 out in the 9th but two line outs ended the threat and the game. The Mavs are 22-24 and 1 1/2 games out of first in a tight divisional race. Even with the slim deficit in the standings, the Mavs are in fourth. JetHawks LF Jereme Milons was 3-5 with his 4th triple, 10th homer and 2 RBI (47) to go along with 3 RS to move to .287, CF Chris Rahl was 2-6 with his 75th RBI to move to .340 and RF Carlos Gonzalez was 2-5 with his 34th double, 19th homer and 2 RBI (88) to move to .298.

The Mavs play host to the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (20-27, High-A Angels) for a 3-game set starting Friday. John Gragg starts the opener for HD as the Mavs try to extend an 11-game win streak over RC.

Low-A - Burlington: Peoria 12, Bees 9

C Howell 3-5, 2 2B (15), 2 RBI (33), 2 RS -- .264
SS O. Pena 3-5, 2 RBI (10), K, RS, SB (2) -- .237
2B Johnson 2-4, BB, RBI (35), K, 2 RS, SB (14), E (8) -- .252
CF Duarte 1-5, RBI (34), RS -- .271
1B Vega 1-4, SF, RBI (63), K -- .247

Rosa 5 IP, 6 R (4 ER), 9 H, BB, 4 K, 2 HRA -- ND, 2.65 ERA, ungood start
Schambough 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, BB -- BS, 5, L, 4-8, 3.32, rough patch lately

*** The Chiefs bookended 6-run innings and, in-between, the Bees were unable to recover in dropping the series opener. Carlos Rosa had his start go bad quickly as he gave up 2 2-run homers in the first, and, after a Josh Johnson fielding error, two RBI hits for unearned runs to make it 6-0 Peoria. A Jeremy Jirschele RBI double in the 2nd got the Bees off a zero and they added a run in the 3rd on a Jeff Howell RBI ground out to make it 6-2. The big inning for Burlington was a 7-run 4th as they loaded the bases with no outs and Jose Duarte and Johnson singled home runs, Miguel Vega hit a sac fly, a run scored on a passed ball, Howell doubled home a run and Omar Pena singled home 2 runs to make it 9-6 Bees. Rosa didn't settle down until the 4th but he didn't allow another run through 5 IP. David Henninger and Chris Hayes got the Bees into the 8th with the 3-run lead but the wheels came off in the Peoria 8th. The Chiefs loaded the bases with 1 out off Hayes and Eliezer Garcia and Kraig Schambough came in and allowed 6 runs on 3 hits and a walk to put Peoria up, 12-9. The Bees didn't put up a fight in the 9th. Burlington is 19-28. Chiefs RP Matt Avery picked up his 15th save to drop his ERA to 1.69, 2B Ryne Malone was 2-4 with his 2nd homer and 2 RBI (22) to move to .286 and LF Jesus Valdez was 2-5 with 2 RBI (55) to move to .305.

The series continues Friday night. Matt Kniginyzky starts for Burlington. The countdown to Luke Hochevar's organizational debut is at 5 days as he is slated to pitch in the middle of next week for the Bees.

Rookie - Idaho Falls: Chukars 6, Casper 1

DH Mertins 1-4, K, 2 RS, 2 SB (13) -- .373
CF Dickerson 0-3, SF, RBI (25) -- .318
SS McConnell 1-3, BB, RBI (17), 2 RS -- .272
2B Maddox 1-3, BB -- .318
LF Bigler 1-4, RBI (18), K, RS -- .223

Hardy 7 IP, 0 ER, 7 H, BB, 3 K, WP -- W, 4-2, 2.51 ERA, nice start

*** Rowdy Hardy again proved his worth in picking up his 4th win and the Chukars' 5th straight over the Rockies. The game was scoreless into the 4th when IF scored on a wild pitch and a sac fly by Jase Turner to make it 2-0. Hardy worked out of a minor jam in the 5th and the Chukars scored twice in the 6th as Chris McConnell hit an RBI single and Joe Dickerson hit a sac fly to make it 4-0. O.D. Gonzalez singled home a run in the 7th before the Rockies scored their lone run in the 8th off Jacob Eckley. Brett Bigler hit an insurance RBI force out in the 8th and Eckley struck out the side in the 9th to end the game. The Chukars are 6-6 and 2 games back of Orem. Rockies DH Hector Gomez was 2-4 to move to .337 and 3B Michael Milliron was 2-3 to move to .289.

A 4-game set at 8-4 Orem (Rookie Angels) starts Friday night. The Chukars have scores to settle with the Owlz after losing the first-half title to Orem and starting a second-half losing streak in a series with the Owlz. Harold Mozingo starts the series opener for IF.

Rookie - AZL: off day

*** The 9-3 Royals get back into action against the 9-3 Giants Friday.