Royals on the Farm 8/26

AAA - Omaha: rainout

*** Omaha's game with Oklahoma was rained out and will be made up as part of a Sunday double dip. Game 1 pitchers: LH Donovan Osborne (0-6, 6.99) vs. RedHawks LH John Koronka (0-1, 2.57). Game 2 pitchers: LH Andy Van Hekken (3-3, 4.29) vs. Oklahoma LH John Danks (3-4, 4.40).

AA - Wichita: Springfield 8, Wranglers 6

3B Gordon 1-3, HBP, 2B (37), K, RS -- .322
CF Maier 1-4, 2B (32), RS, OF assist at third -- .300
LF Lubanski 0-4, 3 K -- .277
SS Sanchez 1-4, BB, 2B (22), K, 2 RS -- .281
2B Murphy 2-4, 2B (25), RBI (36), RS -- .239, first start back from DL
DH D. Brown 1-2, 2 SF, 3 RBI (72) -- .312
PH Kaaihue 1-1, HR (5), 2 RBI (41) -- .201

Lumsden 5 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 3 BB, 3 K -- ND, 3.38 ERA, lackluster start
DeHoyos 1 1/3 IP, ER, 3 H, BB, 2 K, WP -- 1.57 ERA
Cedeno IP, 4 ER, 2 H, 3 BB -- L, 2-9, 5.98 ERA

*** The Wranglers managed to get the game tied late but Juan Cedeno's control was lacking and Wichita let Tulsa creep closer in the divisional race. Tyler Lumsden gave up a 2-out RBI single in the 3rd to break a scoreless tie but Wichita evened the score in the 4th on a Dee Brown sac fly after an Alex Gordon double. Lumsden gave up an RBI single and walked in a run in the 4th to make it 3-1 Springfield. Brown singled home a run in the 6th to cut the lead to 1 but Gabe DeHoyos allowed a run in the 7th to make it 4-2 Cards. Donnie Murphy had an RBI single and Brown hit another sac fly in the 8th to tie the game but Cedeno came in for the 8th and walked the bases loaded before giving up an RBI single and 3-run double to blow the game open. Kila Kaaihue hit a pinch-hit 2-run homer in the 9th for his 5th of the season but the next 3 batters struck out to end the game. Wichita is 36-25 and 4 games up on Tulsa. Springfield RF Nick Stavinoha was 4-5 with his 24th double and 66th RBI to move to .286, 3B Juan Richardson was 3-5 with his 30th double and 4 RBI (73) to move to .318 and SS Brendan Ryan was 2-4 with his 3rd AA RBI to move to .257.

The teams continue the set Sunday afternoon. I think it's Junior Herndon's turn to start.

High-A - High Desert: Mavs 5, Lake Elsinore 2

DH Stodolka 0-4, BB, RS -- .293
LF Tomlin 3-3, BB, 2B (22), RBI (30), RS -- .287
SS Falu 2-5, RS -- .290
C Duenas 2-2, 2 BB, 2B (17), RBI (49), RS, SB (1) -- .304
1B R. Brown 1-2, BB, SF, 2 RBI (57), K -- .262
RF Valentin 0-4, K -- .288

de la Vara 4 IP, ER, 4 H, BB, 4 K -- ND, 5.65 ERA, spot start
Pimentel 3 IP, ER, 3 H, BB, 2 K -- W, 2-1, 4.50 ERA
Plummer 2 IP, 2 H, 2 K -- SV, 8, 4.05 ERA

*** High Desert scored 1 run in 5 separate innings to get the win and add some cushion back to the lead for the wild-card playoff spot. Tomas Duenas hit an RBI single in the 1st and James Tomlin did the same in the 2nd to make it 2-0 HD. Rusty Brown added an RBI single in the 3rd to make it 3-0 before Gilbert de la Vara gave up a run in the 4th and Julio Pimentel gave up a run in the 6th to cut the lead to 3-2. Brown hit a sac fly in the 7th and Mike Gaffney hit a sac fly in the 8th to stretch the lead back to 3. Jarod Plummer gave up a 2-out double in the 9th but slammed the door for his 8th save. The Mavs are 30-32 and 2 1/2 games up on Lake Elsinore for the wild-card playoff spot. Storm RF Nick Crosta was 2-4 to move to .264, 3B Chase Headley was 1-3 to move to .289 and CF Yordany Ramirez was 2-2 with his 14th double to move to .256.

The series wraps up Sunday afternoon as John Gragg pitches for HD. Eight games are left in the Cal League regular season.

Low-A - Burlington: Bees 5, Kane County 1

RF Arroyo 3-3, BB, RS, CS -- .266
SS Nunez 2-4, 2 K -- .222
CF Duarte 1-3, BB, RBI (37), K, RS, CS -- .269
2B Johnson 1-3, BB, 3B (5), RBI (40), K, RS -- .255
1B Vega 0-3, SF, RBI (73), K, 2 E (18) -- .248
3B Lisson 1-3, BB, SB (39) -- .260

Hochevar 3 1/3 IP, UER, 3 H, BB, 5 K -- ND, 0.00 ERA
Henninger 3 2/3 IP, H, 2 BB, 6 K -- W, 3-6, 5.20 ERA
Garcia 2 IP, H, 2 BB, 2 K -- 4.71 ERA

*** Luke Hochevar allowed his first run -- albeit unearned -- but the Bees took advantage of 13 Ks from 3 pitchers and turned on some offense to get the win. A Cougar error allowed the Bees to score their first run in the 2nd and they added 2 more runs on RBI singles by Ethien Santana and Jose Duarte to take a 3-0 lead. A Miguel Vega throwing error helped Kane County score with 2 out in the 3rd off Hochevar but that was KC's only run. Josh Johnson tripled home a run and scored on a Vega sac fly in the 5th to make it 5-1 and David Henninger and Eliezer Garcia locked it down from there to secure the win. The Bees are 25-36. The Cougars had only 5 hits in the game. CF Chad Boyd was 0-4 to drop to .356 and 3B Jeff Baisley was 0-3 to drop to .306.

Dan Cortes starts the series finale for Burlington Sunday afternoon.

Rookie - Idaho Falls: Helena 8, Chukars 1

2B Mertins 2-3, BB -- .352
CF Dickerson 2-3, BB, K -- .284
DH Maddox 1-4, K -- .328
1B Turner 1-4, HR (8), RBI (39), K -- .245
SS McConnell 0-4, K -- .245
LF Bigler 1-3 -- .225

Cribb 5 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, K, HRA, WP -- L, 2-4, 4.14 ERA
Gutierrez 3 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, BB, 3 K, HRA, E (3), WP -- 7.09 ERA

*** Josh Cribb and Dan Gutierrez got pounded and Helena finally beat the Chukars after 4 straight losses to them. Cribb gave up a 2-run homer in the 1st and the Brewers were off and running. The Brewers scored again in the 3rd before Jase Turner got the Chukars their only run with a solo homer in the 4th (his 8th) to make it 3-1. Cribb and Gutierrez gave up single runs in the 5th and 6th and Gutierrez gave up 3 more runs in the 8th as the Chukar offense sputtered. The last 7 Chukars went down in order. The Chukars are 11-15. Helena SP Chris Jean allowed an ER on 9 hits and a walk with 3 Ks over 6 2/3 IP to move to 4-4 with a 5.23 ERA, DH Chris Errecart was 2-4 with his 11th homer and 2 RBI (50) to move to .311 and LF Cole Gillespie was 1-4 with his 7th homer and 27th RBI to move to .338.

A 4-game set at the Missoula Osprey (16-10, Rookie D-Backs) starts Sunday. No announced starters.

Rookie - AZL: Royals 12, Giants 10 (10)

3B Taylor 2-5, RBI (22), 2 K, RS, E (10) -- .269
SS Juan 3-5, 2B (8), 3B (1), RBI (22), K, 2 RS, SB (6) -- .268, homer short of cycle
DH Francis 3-6, 3 RBI (25), K, RS, SB (3) -- .294
RF Van Stratten 2-4, 2 BB, 2 RBI (33), K, 2 RS, SB (14) -- .284
1B S. Lucas 2-4, BB, HBP, 2B (11), RBI (51), K, RS, CS -- .270
C Doscher 2-4, BB, 2B (4), K, 3 RS -- .265
LF Dyson 1-5, BB, RBI (16), K, 2 RS, SB (17), OF assist at third -- .272
CF D. Robinson 0-4, K, OF assist at home -- .238

A. Morales 5 IP, 3 R (1 ER), 10 H, 2 BB, 4 K -- ND, 4.50 ERA
M. Morales 1/3 IP, ER, H, K -- 4.00 ERA
Hauff 2 IP, 3 K -- BS, 1, W, 1-1, 1.35 ERA

*** The Royals dealt the Giants a blow in the AZL race and stayed in the hunt for the second-half title with the extra-inning win Saturday. The Royals got off to a great start with a 4-run 1st on a Scott Lucas RBI double, Nick Francis RBI single, Giant error and Jason Taylor RBI single. The Giants fought back with 2 in the 1st off Angelo Morales but the Royals got the runs back in the 2nd and 4th on another Giant error and a Manny Juan RBI single to make it 6-2. Morales gave up another run in the 5th but the Royals scored 3 in the 6th on a Jarrod Dyson RBI single and a 2-run single by Nick Van Stratten. The Giants scored twice off Henry Barrera in the 6th and the Royals scored on a wild pitch in the 7th to make it 10-5. Tyler Cummings came in with 2 on and 0 out in the 8th and gave up a 2-run triple and RBI single before allowing another run later in the frame to cut the lead to 10-9. Michael Hauff came in with a man on second with no outs in the 9th and allowed the tying run to score on a double play ball before getting out of the inning. Juan tripled with 2 out in the 10th and after the bases were loaded by walks, Francis came through with a 2-run single to make it 12-10. Hauff set the Giants down in order in the 10th. The Royals are 17-8 and still a half-game back of the Angels. Giants DH Rich Janeway was 3-4 with 2 2B (11) and 2 RBI (37) to move to .322, 3B Matt Downs was 3-6 with 2 RBI (29) and 2 RS to move to .311 and LF Emmanuel Cividanes was 2-3 with a double to move to .302.

The showdown is Sunday night as the Royals take on the 17-7 Angels with first place on the line. Only 3 games are left in the AZL season.