Royals on the Farm 8/13

AAA - Omaha: New Orleans 4, O-Royals 3 (10)

2B Keppinger 1-5, 2 K, RS -- .372
RF Costa 2-4, HBP, 2B, RS -- .381
LF Huber 1-4, 2B (15), 2 RBI (33), RS -- .282
DH Allen 0-5, K -- .320
C Phillips 1-4, RBI (33) -- .250
CF Cortez 0-5 -- .236
SS Blanco 1-4, K -- .240

Middleton 6 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 5 K, HRA, pickoff -- ND, 5.69 ERA
Yan 3 IP, H, BB, 2 K -- 5.56 ERA
Loux 1/3 IP, ER, H, 2 BB, WP -- L, 1-5, 6.66 ERA

*** A 3-run rally helped Omaha get the game into extras but some control problems by Shane Loux in the 10th helped the Royals lose their 7th straight and set New Orleans up for a 4-game sweep. Kyle Middleton gave up a run on a hit and walk in the 2nd and a 2-run homer in the 3rd to spot the Zephyrs a 3-run lead. Omaha was being 1-hit by Zephyrs starter Steve Watkins entering the 6th but, with 2 on and 2 out, Justin Huber hit a 2-run double to cut the NO lead to 1. Paul Phillips followed with an RBI single to tie the game. Omaha got 2 on with 1 out in the 9th but ground outs by Andres Blanco and Fernando Cortez ended the threat. Loux walked the leadoff batter in the 10th and, after a sac bunt, threw a wild pitch to move the runner to third. After an intentional walk, Zephyrs DH Marlon Byrd singled home the winning run. Omaha is 45-77 and in the PCL cellar by 3 games. That gurgling sound you hear is the Royals' season going down the toilet. Watkins took a no-decision with 3 ER on 6 hits and a walk over 7 IP to move his ERA to 3.87, Byrd was 3-5 with his 3rd homer and 3 RBI (14) to move to .241 and RF George Lombard was 0-3 to drop to .302.

The series ends Monday night. Pitchers: RH Seth Etherton (3-5, 4.95) vs. NO RH Anastacio Martinez (4-7, 4.89).

AA - Wichita: Wranglers 8, Corpus Christi 6

3B Gordon 2-4, BB, 2 HR (24), 4 RBI (80), K -- .320
RF Butler 2-4, BB, RBI (93), RS -- .327
CF Maier 2-5, SB (12) -- .291
LF Lubanski 0-3, 2 BB, RS, SB (7) -- .273
1B Keim 3-5, 2B, RBI (23) -- .244
SS Sevilla 1-4, BB, HR (1), RBI (12), 2 K, 2 RS, E (3) -- .227

Bass 5 IP, ER, 5 H, 2 K, WP -- W, 4-0, 2.08 ERA
Song 2 IP, 5 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 2 K, HRA -- 5.65 ERA
C. Smith 2 IP, 2 H, BB, K -- SV, 3, 2.75 ERA

*** The Wranglers withstood a Hooks rally to earn a split of the 4-game set Sunday. Wichita got off to a hot start with 4 runs in the 1st on a 2-run shot by Alex Gordon for his 23rd of '06 and RBI singles by Damaso Espino and Adam Keim to make it 4-0. Brian Bass gave up a run on 2 hits and a wild pitch in the 1st but settled down to only allow 3 more hits over 5 IP. The Wranglers added 3 runs in the 6th on Walter Sevilla's 1st AA homer of the season and another 2-run shot by Gordon for his 24th and his 79th and 80th RBIs this campaign. The Royals would need the runs as Seung Song, who took over for Bass to start the 6th, ran into trouble in the 7th. He loaded the bases with 1 out and got a K before giving up a 2-run single and 3-run homer to make it 7-6 Wranglers. He gave up a triple after the homer but got a ground out to salvage the lead. Wichita loaded the bases with 1 out in the 8th and a Billy Butler RBI ground out got the Wranglers some insurance. Cody Smith worked the 8th and 9th and gave up leadoff hits in both frames. He had the tying run at 1st in the 9th before getting a game-ending DP. Wichita is 29-21 and 4 games up on first. Hooks CF Josh Anderson was 3-5 with his 39th SB and 2 RS to move to .320, 1B Josh Bonifay was 1-5 with his 16th homer and 3 RBI (63) to move to .265 and LF Jorge Cortes was 2-4 with 2 RBI (46) to move to .306. RF Hunter Pence was 1-5 with his 28th double and 85th RBI to move to .293.

A 4-game home set vs. the San Antonio Missions (24-25, AA Mariners) starts Monday night. Zack Greinke pitches for Wichita. In other news, SP Billy Buckner has been named the Texas League Pitcher of the Week from August 7 to August 13. Buckner won 2 games during the week vs. San Antonio and Corpus Christi when he went 13 combined IP and allowed 8 hits, 1 ER and 5 walks with 9 Ks. In some old news, Alex Gordon was named Texas League Player of the Month for July. and League Player of the Week for July 24 to 30. Gordon hit .355 (39-110) with 9 home runs, 31 RBI, 17 walks, 10 doubles and 4 stolen bases in July.

High-A - High Desert: Mavs 5, Rancho Cucamonga 2

CF Senreiso 2-4, RS -- .275
3B E. Lucas 2-4, 3B (3), 2 RBI (54), K -- .277
SS Falu 2-5, RBI (38), RS, SB (24) -- .277
DH Thibault 2-3, BB, 2B (7), RS -- .310, over .300 mark
1B R. Brown 1-4, HR (12), 2 RBI (50) -- .269
LF Tomlin 1-4 -- .286
RF Valentin 1-3, BB, OF assist at second -- .277

Christensen 7 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 5 K, HRA -- W, 4-6, 5.22 ERA
Plummer 2 IP, H, 5 K! -- SV, 5, 4.40 ERA

*** Each team got 1 inning worth of runs and the Mavs posted 5 to the Quakes' 2 to salvage the series finale. Dan Christensen got out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the 3rd and a 2-on, no-out jam in the 5th before the Mavs got him some runs with 5 in the 5th on an Irving Falu RBI single, 2-run homer by Rusty Brown for his 12th of the season and a 2-run triple by Ed Lucas. Christensen gave up a 2-run homer in the 6th but the Quakes only had 1 hit after that -- in the 9th off Jarod Plummer who closed out the game for his 5th save. The Mavs are 23-26 and 2 1/2 games back of first. Quakes starter Nick Adenhart only lasted 4 2/3 IP with 5 ER on 11 hits and 2 walks with only 1 K to drop to 5-2 with a 3.78 ERA, DH Ben Johnson was 1-4 with his 15th homer and 2 RBI (50) to move to .247 and SS Sean Rodriguez was 0-4 to drop to .302.

The Mavs have Monday off before starting a set with Visalia Tuesday.

Low-A - Burlington: Bees 8, Peoria 6

3B Lisson 2-5, 2B (27), RBI (63), K, 2 RS, SB (36) -- .258
RF Jirschele 2-4, 2B, K, RS -- .197
CF Duarte 1-3, 2 BB, HR (1), RBI (35) -- .270
2B Johnson 0-4, RS, E (9) -- .247
1B Vega 1-3, SF, 2B (16), 3 RBI (67) -- .247

Cordier 5 2/3 IP, 5 R (4 ER), 7 H, 3 BB, 4 K, 2 HRA, WP, balk -- W, 3-1, 2.70 ERA, not the best start
Penn 3 IP, ER, 3 H, BB, K, HRA -- 2.43 ERA
Hayes 1/3 IP, nothing -- SV, 7, 2.67 ERA

*** The Bees turned on the offense early and coasted home to split the set with the Chiefs. Jose Duarte led off the game with his 1st homer of the season and a Miguel Vega sac fly later in the inning made it 2-0 Bees. Erik Cordier allowed the Chiefs to tie it in the bottom of the 1st with the unfortunate aid of a Josh Johnson error. The Bees put up 5 in the 2nd as Omar Pena hit a double that scored a run after a Peoria error, Valentino Arce singled home Pena, Mario Lisson singled home Arce and Vega hit a 2-run double to make it 7-2. Cordier settled down somewhat and Burlington added a run in the 6th on a passed ball before Cordier gave up 3 runs on 2 homers in the Chief 6th and got pulled. Michael Penn got out of the inning and pitched into the 9th, when he gave up a leadoff homer and put runners at the corners with 2 outs before Chris Hayes came in and got a game-ending force out. Burlington is 21-29. Chiefs 1B Alberto Garcia was 3-4 with his 18th double to move to .263, SS Ryan Lilly was 2-4 with 2 HR (2) and 3 RBI (5) to move to .293 and LF Jesus Valdez was 1-5 to drop to .305.

A 4-game home set vs. the South Bend Silver Hawks (31-18, Low-A D'Backs) starts Monday night. Dan Cortes pitches for the Bees. South Bend's roster features 2005 first overall pick OF Justin Upton.

Rookie - Idaho Falls: Orem 4, Chukars 3

2B Mertins 2-5, 2B (5), RBI (15), K, SB (14) -- .367
CF Bigler 2-4, 2B (3), RBI (19), RS -- .226
LF Morel 2-4, RS, SB (16) -- .293
RF Gonzalez 2-4, BB, RBI (11), SB (16), CS (4) -- .273
DH Maddox 0-4 -- .315

Teaford 5 2/3 IP, ER, 3 H, BB, 6 K, HRA -- ND, 2.79 ERA
Casey IP, 2 R (1 ER), H, 2 BB -- BS, 4, L, 0-6, 4.95 ERA

*** Three late Orem runs got the Owlz a win over IF. Kurt Mertins doubled home a run in the 3rd and an O.D. Gonzalez RBI single in the 5th gave IF a 2-0 lead. Everett Teaford gave up a solo homer in the 5th for the only damage he allowed and he left in position for a win after a nice start. Brett Bigler singled home a run in the 7th and the Chukars loaded the bases with 1 out but could score no more. Dan Best gave up a run in the 8th and IF took a 3-2 lead into the 9th. Bryan Casey loaded the bases with 1 out and a sac fly tied the game before Chris McConnell, who entered the game as a defensive sub in the 9th, made a throwing error to allow the winning run to score. It was his 10th error at IF. Idaho Falls is 6-9 and 5 games back of first. Orem LF Chris Pettit was 2-4 with his 32nd RBI to move to .324 and SS P.J. Phillips was 1-4 with his 4th homer and 23rd RBI to move to .239.

The series with the Owlz wraps up Monday night. No announced pitchers.

Rookie - AZL: Padres 3, Royals 2 (10)

3B Taylor 1-3, BB, 2B (8), 2 K, E (8) -- .289
LF Dyson 2-5, K, 2 RS, SB (12), OF assist at second -- .302
1B S. Lucas 0-4, BB, E (6) -- .284
C Doscher 2-4 -- .265
RF Van Stratten 1-5, 2 RBI (28) -- .261
CF D. Robinson 1-3, HBP, 2 K, CS (12) -- .224

Fisher 5 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 6 K -- ND, 2.53 ERA
Cummings 2 IP, K -- 1.10 ERA
Hauff 2 1/3 IP, ER, 3 H, BB, 2 K -- L, 0-1, 1.23 ERA

*** The Padres pushed across a run in the 10th to deal the Royals their 5th loss of the half. Nick Van Stratten hit an RBI ground out in the 1st but the Padres matched it on a 2-out RBI single off Brent Fisher in their half of the inning. Van Stratten hit an RBI single in the 3rd to put the Royals up by a run once more but got thrown out at home later in the inning to end the rally. The Royals loaded the bases with no outs in the 4th but a Derrick Robinson K and line-out DP ball by Jarrod Dyson ended the inning. The Pads tied it in the 5th and the game stayed knotted at 2 into the 10th, when the Pads put 2 on with 0 out. A Scott Lucas error helped the Pads and a walkoff single ended the game with 1 out. The Royals are 10-5 and a game back of the Giants. The Padres got 6 innings of 3-hit relief from 4 pitchers in the win. Pads 3B Jarol Gonzalez was 2-3 with a double to set a .667 BA and CF Cedric Hunter was 1-3 with his 15th RBI and 10th SB to move to .377.

The Royals play the 3-11 Brewers Monday.