Royals on the Farm 8/14

AAA - Omaha: New Orleans 6, O-Royals 2

2B Keppinger 0-4 -- .357
LF Huber 0-3, 3 K -- .279
DH Allen 0-4, 3 K -- .316
RF Costa 0-4, K -- .369
CF K. Robinson 2-4, RBI (34), K -- .319
1B Coolbaugh 1-1, 2 BB, HR (6), RBI (16), CS -- .218
3B Cortez 1-3, K, RS, SB (4) -- .238

Etherton 4 IP, 5 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 2 K, 3 HRA -- L, 3-6, 5.25 ERA
Keppel 3 IP, ER, 3 H, 2 K, E (3), WP -- 6.06 ERA
Diaz IP, 3 K -- 4.25 ERA, no lead to blow

*** Four 3rd inning runs was all the Zephyrs needed to pick up the 4-game sweep over Omaha Monday. Fourteen of the first 15 batters of the game failed to reach base and one swing of the bat actually got New Orleans the needed runs as two walks to start the 3rd were followed by a 3-run homer by Zephyrs 2B Tim Raines Jr. off Seth Etherton. Another homer by RF Marlon Byrd later in the inning made it 4-0. Yet another homer to lead off the 4th gave the Zephyrs a 5-0 lead and Omaha was being 1-hit going into the 6th before Mike Coolbaugh led off that frame with his 6th homer to ruin the shutout. Kerry Robinson returned from back problems to hit an RBI single later in the inning. Raines Jr. scored on a Bobby Keppel wild pitch in the 7th to account for the final margin. The Royals had only 4 hits in the game. Omaha is 45-58 and on an 8-game skid. Zephyrs SP Anastacio Martinez went 6 IP and allowed 2 ER on 4 hits and a walk with 6 K to move to 5-8 with a 4.64 ERA. Raines was 2-3 with both his 1st double and 1st homer and 3 RBI (3) to move to .258. Byrd's homer was his 4th and marked his 3rd consecutive game with a longball.

A 4-game home set vs. the Albuquerque Isotopes (59-62, AAA Marlins) starts Tuesday night. Pitchers: Isotopes LH Josh Stewart (0-2, 6.62) vs. RH Pat Mahomes (0-0, 6.52). OF Chad Allen and C Matt Tupman are leaving the Royals Wednesday to play with Billy Butler on Team USA in a tourney in Cuba. The Royals have also announced plans to cover all but 2 outfield sections next season with removable tarps for advertising revenue.

AA - Wichita: Wranglers 11, San Antonio 3

3B Gordon 2-4, BB, RBI (81), 2 K, 2 RS -- .322
RF Butler 3-5, 3B (1), 2 RBI (95), 2 RS -- .330
DH D. Brown 3-4, BB, RBI (62), 3 RS -- .299
1B Keim 3-5, 2B (8), RBI (24), RS -- .254
LF Lubanski 1-4, BB, RBI (62), K -- .273
CF Maier 1-5, RBI (77), RS -- .290
SS Sanchez 1-5, RS -- .281

Greinke 7 IP, ER, 5 H, BB, 7 K -- W, 7-2, 4.36 ERA, looking good lately
DeHoyos IP, nothing -- 1.48 ERA

*** Wichita let the Missions hang around to make it a 2-run game late but the Wranglers turned on the jets in the 8th to win by 8. A leadoff triple and sac fly off Greinke in the 1st gave San Antonio a very quick lead but Greinke would only allow 4 more hits over 7 innings. The Wranglers tied the game in the 2nd when Dee Brown scored on an error on a pickoff attempt and took the lead in the 3rd on an Alex Gordon RBI single, Billy Butler RBI triple (his 1st of the year) and Brown RBI single to make it 4-1. Chris Lubanski singled home a run in the 5th to extend the lead to 4 and Greinke was pulled after 7 with the 5-1 lead. Devon Lowery came on for the 8th and loaded the bases with 2 outs before giving up a 2-run double to close the gap to 5-3. An Adam Keim RBI ground out put another Wrangler run on the board in the 8th and, with 2 outs, Butler singled home Angel Sanchez, Mitch Maier hit a bases loaded 2-run single and a throwing error on a ball hit by Brett Groves scored 2 runs to make it 11-3. Gabe DeHoyos pitched a perfect 9th to end it. The Wranglers are 30-21 and 5 games up on first. Missions 2B Yung Chi Chen was 2-3 with his 10th AA RBI to move to .309, DH Mike Wilson was 1-4 to drop to .302 and RF Wladimir Balentien was 1-4 with his 10th error, 21st double and 2 RBI (67) to move to .242.

The set continues Tuesday night. Tyler Lumsden starts for the Wranglers.

High-A - High Desert: off day

*** The Mavs are 23-26 and 2 games back of first. A 3-game home set with the Visalia Oaks (29-20, High-A D-Rays) starts Tuesday night. Brandon Weeden pitches for the Mavs in the opener.

Low-A - Burlington: South Bend 7, Bees 1

DH Vega 2-4, 2B (17), K, RS -- .249
CF Duarte 1-4, 2B (19), K -- .270
2B Johnson 1-4, SB (15) -- .247
C Everett 1-4, RBI (19) -- .240

Cortes 4 2/3 IP, 7 R (6 ER), 8 H, 2 BB, 2 K, HRA, WP, E (1) -- L, 1-1, 9.17 ERA, struggling
Henninger 3 1/3 IP, H, 2 K -- 5.55 ERA, nice outing

*** A big 5th put the game out of reach for South Bend. Dan Cortes walked the Silver Hawks' leadoff man in the 2nd and a throwing error on a pickoff attempt got the runner to third without any offensive help. A sac fly scored the runner to make it 1-0 SB. Cortes allowed a run on a 2-out wild pitch in the 4th and, in the 5th, three RBI hits were augmented by a 2-run homer that led to Cortes' departure and made it 7-0 South Bend. The Bees were being 3-hit into the 7th when Miguel Vega doubled with 1 out and scored on a Brady Everett RBI single. That was it for Bee scoring, tho. The Bees are 21-30. Silver Hawks starter Adam Howard allowed an ER on 7 hits with 3 K over 8 IP to move to 8-3 with a 3.72 ERA, 3B Ricardo Sosa was 2-2 with his 16th double and 29th RBI to move to .319, C Orlando Mercado was 1-3 with his 11th homer and 2 RBI (53) to move to .268 and CF Justin Upton was 1-5 with his 24th double and 59th RBI to move to .266.

The series continues Tuesday night. Carlos Rosa pitches for Burlington. Luke Hochevar has been assigned to the Bees' roster and will make his debut Wednesday in game 3 of the set. He'll be on a pretty low pitch count (I think I read 35).

Rookie - Idaho Falls: Orem 8, Chukars 6

2B Mertins 2-4, BB, 2B (6), RBI (16), 2 RS, SB (15) -- .371
CF Dickerson 0-4, SF, RBI (27) -- .300
SS McConnell 2-4, BB, HR (2), 2 RBI (19), K -- .267
RF Gonzalez 2-4, BB, HR (2), RBI (12), K, 3 RS, SB (17) -- .278
3B Maddox 0-3, 2 BB, E (5) -- .309
DH Morizio 1-3, 2 BB, K -- .259
LF Bigler 0-3, BB, K, SB (11) -- .221

Cribb 5 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 2 K, HRA -- ND, 3.68 ERA
Gutierrez 2 IP, 4 R (3 ER), 3 H, 5 BB, 4 K -- BS, 1, L, 0-3, 6.15 ERA

*** Orem came from behind late and got a 4-game sweep of the Chukars Monday. Idaho Falls put runs up quick in the 1st as Kurt Mertins doubled home O.D. Gonzalez and Chris McConnell cracked a 2-run homer for his 2nd of the season to make it 3-0. The Chukars loaded the bases in the 3rd with 1 out but didn't score and Gonzalez hit a solo longball in the 4th for his 2nd of the season to make it 4-0. IF SP Josh Cribb was perfect through 3 IP and had a 2-hitter through 5. The Chukars loaded the bases with no outs in the 6th and scored 2 runs on a Jase Turner RBI force out and Joe Dickerson sac fly to make it 6-0. The Owlz finally got to Cribb in their half of the 6th as a 2-out 2-run single and then a 2-run homer made it 6-4 and brought Dan Gutierrez in to relieve. A Marc Maddox error kept the Orem 8th going and a 2-run double and 2-run single off Gutierrez gave the Owlz an 8-6 lead. Idaho Falls went down in order in the 9th. The Chukars are 6-10 and 6 games out of first. Orem DH Chris Pettit was 2-4 with his 5th homer and 2 RBI (34) to move to .329 and 2B Tadd Brewer had the game breaking 2-run single in a 2-4 night that raised his BA to .276.

The Chukars have Tuesday off to regroup. They are thankfully done with Orem after going 1-9 against the Owlz this season.

Rookie - AZL: Royals 7, Brewers 2

DH Taylor 0-2, 2 BB, K -- .284, .400 OBP
3B Al. Perez 3-5, RS, SB (14), E (8) -- .276
SS Juan 2-4, 2 RBI (21), RS, SB (5) -- .254
1B S. Lucas 1-4, BB, 2B (9), RBI (44), 2 RS, SB (10) -- .283, also .383 OBP, .472 SLG
LF Dyson 1-4, RS, K, SB (13), CS (4) -- .300, .388 OBP
OF Van Stratten 1-4, BB -- .261
CF D. Robinson 1-1, BB, RBI (16), RS -- .230
*NOTE: C Nick Doscher has a .459 OBP in 36 games

Damico 5 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 5 H, BB, 6 K -- W, 2-0, 1.80 ERA
Barrera and M. Morales 4 IP hitless relief

*** The Royals got another good game out of Yovany Damico in his 2nd start and rolled past the Brewers to keep pace with the Giants. The Brewers took advantage of an Alwin Perez error in the 2nd as a 2-run double off Damico made it 2-0. The Royals tied it in the 4th on a Scott Lucas RBI force out and Felix Peralta sac fly. They then took the lead with 2 in the 5th on wild pitches that scored Manny Juan and Jarrod Dyson. After allowing 3 hits and a walk in the 1st and 2nd, Damico settled down to allow only 2 more hits through 5 IP. The Royals padded the lead in a 3-run 8th as Derrick Robinson hit an RBI single and Juan hit a 2-run single. Henry Barrera and Miguel Morales only allowed 1 baserunner from the 6th on to nail down the win. The Royals are 11-5 and tied for first. Brewers P Rolando Pascual dropped to 1-6 with a 10.69 ERA in 3 IP that featured 4 wild pitches. 1B Andrew Lefave was 1-3 to drop to .362 and LF Lenny Leclercq was 1-3 with a double and 2 RBI to move to .278.

The Royals have Tuesday off.