Royals on the Farm 8/28

AAA - Omaha: New Orleans 5, O-Royals 4

LF Huber 1-4, 2B (20), RBI (42), 2 K, RS -- .291
RF Costa 0-2, K -- .341, ejected in 4th
3B Aviles 2-3, BB, RBI (45), K, RS, 2 SB (12) -- .259
2B Cortez 2-4, RBI (12) -- .259
CF K. Robinson 1-2, 2 BB, 2B (22), RS, OF assist at second -- .310
DH Mahomes 0-2, BB, RBI (1), K -- .000, pulled a Stodolka after Coolbaugh also ejected in 4th

Middleton 5 IP, 5 R (4 ER), 9 H, BB, 3 K -- L, 0-7, 5.26 ERA
Yan and Yarnall 3 IP scoreless relief -- Ys Guys hold NO in check

*** Kyle Middleton continued his AAA struggles and Omaha dropped its 3rd in a row. A Paul Phillips error helped the Zephyrs to a 1st inning run and Middleton allowed another run in the 2nd to make it 2-0 Zephyrs. Three hits in the 3rd scored 2 more runs for a 4-0 New Orleans lead and a sac fly in the 5th made it 5-0. Meanwhile, Omaha had 1 hit going into the 4th when Shane Costa and Mike Coolbaugh were ejected after striking out swinging. The Royals loaded the bases with 1 out in the 6th but former Royal Chris Booker came in for NO and struck out Justin Huber and Mike Aviles to end the threat. The Royals finally broke the spell in the 8th with a 1-out RBI groundout by P Pat Mahomes, who came in for Coolbaugh because of the short-staffed Omaha bench. Huber doubled home a run and Aviles followed with an RBI single and was singled home by Fernando Cortez to make it 5-4. Alejandro Prieto struck out to end the inning and the Royals went down without much fight in the 9th. Omaha is 51-86 and firmly in the PCL cellar. Zephyrs SP Steve Watkins went 5 1/3 IP and allowed 4 hits and 3 walks with 5 Ks to move to 7-7 with a 3.93 ERA, 3B Mike Vento was 2-2 with his 14th double and 2 RBI (33) to move to .376 and RF Marlon Byrd was 2-4 with his 9th double to move to .291.

The series continues Tuesday night. Pitchers: RH Bobby Keppel (5-6, 5.54) vs. Zephyrs RH Anastacio Martinez (5-9, 4.62).

AA - Wichita: Wranglers 7, Springfield 4 (11)

3B Gordon 1-5, RBI (95), 2 K -- .325
2B Murphy 2-5, GW HR (11), 3 RBI (40), K, 2 RS -- .246
LF Lubanski 0-5, K -- .279
CF Maier 1-4, BB, K, RS, CS (11) -- .303
DH D. Brown 1-4, SF, RBI (73), RS -- .313
SS Sanchez 2-4, BB, 2B (23), K, 2 RS -- .281
1B Kaaihue 2-5, 2 K, RS -- .203, cracks Mendoza line

Buckner 7 IP, 0 ER, 7 H, 4 BB, 4 K -- ND, 5.09 ERA, good start wasted
Lowery 3 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 3 K, HRA -- vultured W, 5-1, 6.03 ERA
Musser IP, 2 K -- SV, 2, 5.13 ERA

*** Devon Lowery blew Billy Buckner's win but Donnie Murphy picked him up with a 3-run blast in the 11th to get Wichita the win. Alex Gordon hit an RBI ground out in the 1st to stake Buckner to a lead and he responded by holding the Cardinals scoreless. Brett Groves hit an RBI double and Adam Donachie hit a sac fly in the 5th to make it 3-0 and a Dee Brown sac fly in the 6th gave Wichita a 4-0 lead. Lowery took over in the 8th and gave up a 1-out 2-run homer that inning before giving up a game-tying 2-run double with 2 out in the 9th to force extra innings. Brown and Mitch Maier singled with 1 out in the 11th and Murphy stepped up to crank his 11th homer of the season to left to make it 7-4. Neal Musser pitched a 1-2-3 9th for his 2nd save. Wichita is 38-25 and now 5 games up on Tulsa, which makes the second-half title magic number 2. Springfield 3B Travis Hanson was 3-5 with his 2nd homer and 2 RBI (19) to move to .226, LF Cody Haerther was 1-5 with his 25th double and 2 RBI (47) to move to .274 and DH Juan Richardson was 1-6 with 4 K to drop to .314.

The series wraps up Tuesday night as Zack Greinke takes the mound. In other news, Alex Gordon is rumored to be named the Texas League MVP soon, perhaps Tuesday.

High-A - High Desert: Inland Empire 7, Mavs 5 (10)

1B Stodolka 2-6, 2B (33), 2 K -- .293
SS Falu 2-4, BB, HR (3), RBI (45), SB (28) -- .295
2B Gaffney 2-6, K -- .258
RF McFall 2-4, BB, 2B (25), HR (21), 2 RBI (73), 2 RS -- .248
C Duenas 0-2, 2 BB -- .301
DH Tomlin 1-3, BB -- .291
*14 left on base, 9 in scoring position

Nicoll 5 1/3 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 3 BB, 9 K, HRA, balk -- ND, 6.75 ERA
Pimentel 2 2/3 IP, 4 K -- 3.86 ERA
Plummer IP, ER, H, 2 BB, K -- BS, 4, 4.10 ERA
Hicklen IP, 2 ER, 2 H, HRA -- L, 3-10, 6.16 ERA

*** Despite going 1-16 with runners in scoring position, the Mavs were in place for the win in the 9th before the game fell apart on them and the 66ers got the win. The Mavs' troubles started early as they loaded the bases with 1 out in the 1st but got nothing out of it. A Brian McFall RBI double and Irving Falu solo homer for his 3rd of the season made it 2-0 Mavs in the 2nd but HD once again left the bases loaded. Chris Nicoll gave up a run in the 3rd, a solo homer in the 5th and 2 runs in the 6th to give IE a 4-2 lead but the Mavs came back. McFall hit a solo homer in the Mavs 6th for his 21st of the season and the Mavs stranded 2 before tying the game in the 7th on an RBI ground out by Geraldo Valentin. McFall scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch in the 8th and the Mavs took a 5-4 lead. Jarod Plummer had 1 on with 2 outs in the 9th but couldn't finish it off as a walk and single scored the tying run. Mike Stodolka led off the HD 9th with a double and moved to third on a Tomas Duenas bunt single. Ed Lucas was walked to load the bases with no outs but Stodolka was forced at home on a Valentin grounder, Juan Senreiso struck out and McFall grounded out to kill the rally. All they needed was a fly ball. Pat Hicklen gave up a 2-out 2-run homer in the 10th but the Mavs got runners to the corners with 2 out in the bottom of the frame before Kiel Thibault flew out to end the game. HD is 30-34 and 2 1/2 games out of first. The wild card lead is now 1/2 a game over Lake Elsinore. 66ers 3B Ronnie Prettyman was 3-5 with his 37th RBI to move to .285, SS Jeff Dominguez was 3-5 with his 14th RBI, 21st error and 2 RS to move to .239 and 1B Johan Limonta was 1-1 with the game-winning homer and 2 RBI in his 1st high-A AB.

The teams meet once more Tuesday night as Dan Christensen starts for HD.

Low-A - Burlington: Bees 4, Cedar Rapids 3

CF Duarte 2-5, K, OF assist at home -- .269, game-winning hit
2B Arce 2-4, RS, SB (7) -- .255
3B Nunez 1-3, 3B (1), 2 RBI (2), picked off -- .208
LF Santana 1-4, HR (1), RBI (16) -- .239
SS Johnson 0-3, 2 BB -- .251

Santiago 6 IP, 3 R (2 ER), 8 H, 2 BB, 3 K -- ND, 5.98 ERA
Garcia 3 IP, H, 2 K -- W, 3-3, 4.40 ERA

*** Two Kernels errors helped Burlington start the series on the right foot. Ethien Santana got the Bees started in the 3rd with his 1st homer of the season to make it 1-0. Mario Santiago got touched up for 2 runs in the Cedar Rapids 3rd, tho, on 2 hits, a walk and HBP. The Bees took the lead with 2 in the 4th on a 2-out, 2-run triple by Eduardo Nunez for his first Burlington RBI after a Kernel error kept the inning alive. The Kernels tied it off Santiago in the 4th and the score remained tied at 3 into the 9th when, with 2 out and a man on second, Jose Duarte singled and the run scored on SS Larry Infante's 2nd error of the game and 8th of the season. Eliezer Garcia shut the door in the 9th for his 3rd win. The Bees are 26-37. CR 2B "Captain" Marco Albano was 2-4 with his 32nd RBI to move to .226 and 1B Mark Trumbo was 1-4 with his 19th double and 58th RBI to move to .224. CF Brad Coon stole his 53rd base for the Kernels.

The series continues Tuesday as Mike Penn starts for the Bees.

Rookie - Idaho Falls: Chukars 7, Missoula 5

SS McConnell 3-5, K, 2 RS, 2 SB (6) -- .260
CF Dickerson 2-4, 2B (12), RS -- .291
2B Mertins 1-5, 2B (8), K, RS -- .339
DH Morizio 1-3, 2 BB, RBI (7), 2 K, RS -- .267
LF Bigler 2-4, 2B (4), 3 RBI (23), K, E (3) -- .232

Chambliss 6 IP, ER, 3 H, 4 K -- W, 3-3, 3.94 ERA
Mozingo 2 1/3 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, BB, 4 K, HRA, 2 WP -- 6.80 ERA, bad outing
Hartsock 2/3 IP, 3 K?, WP -- SV, 1, 3.40 ERA

*** Idaho Falls rallied late and held on Monday to beat the Osprey for the 2nd time in a row. Tyler Chambliss gave up an RBI triple in the 1st but allowed only 1 more hit through 6 IP as the Chukars took the lead in the 4th on RBI singles by Matt Morizio and Brett Bigler. Bigler added a 2-run double in the 6th to make it 4-1 but Harold Mozingo gave up a single and 2-run homer to the first 2 batters he faced in the 7th to cut the lead to 1. Chris McConnell got a run back by scoring from second on a steal of third and IF added 2 in the 9th on two Osprey errors and a sac fly by Brenan Herrera to make it 7-3. Mozingo gave up runs on a wild pitch and single in the 9th and Aaron Hartsock was brought in with runners at first and second and 1 out. He struck out the first two batters he faced but a wild pitch on the second K kept the inning alive before he struck out another batter for 3 K in 2/3 IP to pick up his 1st save. IF is 13-15 and 3 games back of first. They have a 2-game lead in the wild card race over Ogden. Missoula 3B Shea McFeely was 3-4 with his 5th triple and 35th RBI to move to .262, RF Gerardo Parra was 2-4 with his 16th double to move to .328 and DH Andy Fie was 1-4 with his 6th homer and 2 RBI (29) to move to .270.

Blake Wood starts game 3 of the set for IF Tuesday night.

Rookie - AZL: Royals 13, Brewers 0

RF Van Stratten 3-5, RBI (34) -- .294
SS Juan 2-4, 2 2B (10), 4 RBI (27), K, RS -- .271
DH Francis 2-5, 2B (8), 3B (4), 2 RBI (27), K, 2 RS -- .298
LF Dyson 2-4, 2B (4), RBI (17), 2 RS, SB (18) -- .269
3B Taylor 0-3, BB, HBP, 2 K, 2 RS -- .258
CF D. Robinson 0-3, 2 BB, K, RS -- .231
1B S. Lucas 1-3, HBP, 2 RS -- .279
C Doscher 1-3, HBP, 2B (5), RBI (13), K, RS, PB (6) -- .262

Fisher 5 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, BB, 8 K -- W, 3-1, 2.11 ERA, think he's mastered AZL now
Chavez and M. Morales 4 IP of 3-hit relief with 4 K

*** The Royals scored 11 runs in the first 4 innings en route to the rout of the Brew Crew. Nick Francis hit a 2-run triple and scored on an error in the 1st to make it 3-0 and a Manny Juan RBI ground out in the 2nd gave the Royals a 4-0 lead. With 2 out and the bases loaded in the 3rd, another Brewer error scored Francis and Juan hit a bases-clearing 3-run double to make it 8-0. Nick Doscher took a bases-loaded HBP in the 4th and a passed ball and Jarrod Dyson RBI single helped the Royals stretch the lead to 11. The final 2 runs scored in the 6th on an Eric Dickson RBI ground out and Nick Van Stratten RBI single. Brent Fisher had another great start and Chris Chavez and Miguel Morales mopped up for the 3-hit shutout. The Royals are 18-9 and a game out of first behind the Angels. Brewers LF Andrew Lefave was 0-3 to drop to .338.

The Royals finish the season vs. the 11-15 Mariners Tuesday night. The Angels finish vs. the Brewers.