Royals on the Farm 8/30

AAA - Omaha: New Orleans 5, Royals 4

LF Huber 0-3, BB, RS -- .285
RF Costa 2-4, HBP, RBI (26), K, SB (4) -- .342
1B R. Bell 3-4, 2B (12), 2 RBI (31) -- .212
CF K. Robinson 0-3, BB, E (2) -- .308
2B Cortez 0-4, RBI (13), K -- .255

M. Wood 5 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 2 K, E (2), WP -- ND, 5.91 ERA
Braun 2 IP, H, BB, K -- 2.16 ERA
Yarnall IP, UER, H, 2 K, E (1) -- L, 2-3, 3.26 ERA

*** A late run foiled a Royal comeback bid. The Royals stranded 2 in the 1st and Mike Wood gave up a sac fly in the 2nd to give the Zephyrs a 1-0 lead. Shane Costa tied it with an RBI single in the 3rd but was thrown out to end the inning on the basepaths after stealing third. New Orleans rallied with 2 out in the 5th and scored thrice on 4 hits and a wild pitch to make it 4-1. Omaha came back in the 6th to tie it as Rick Bell hit a 2-run double and Fernando Cortez hit an RBI ground out. Ed Yarnall came in for the 8th and gave up an unearned run with 2 out after making a 1-out fielding error. Costa struck out on a foul tip to end the game. The Royals are 52-87. Zephyrs CF Kenny Kelly was 2-4 with his 13th double and 2 RBI (33) to move to .254, RF George Lombard was 2-4 with his 24th RBI to move to .297 and 3B Melvin Dorta was 1-2 with an RBI to move to .433.

The final road series of the season wraps up Thursday night. Pitchers: RH Pat Mahomes (1-1, 5.08) vs. NO RH Andrew Good (9-9, 4.78).

AA - Wichita: Wranglers 3, Tulsa 0

DH Gordon 0-3, HBP, K -- .322
LF Lubanski 0-3, BB, SB (11) -- .279
CF Maier 1-3, BB, RBI (87), K -- .302
RF D. Brown 1-4, 2B (22), K -- .309
2B Murphy 1-4, 3B (1), RS -- .249
SS Sanchez 1-3, RS -- .281

Song 7 IP, 3 H, 4 BB, 4 K, E (2), WP -- W, 5-10, 5.37 ERA, very nice start other than BB
C. Smith 2 IP, 2 H -- SV, 4, 2.81 ERA

*** Seung Song and Cody Smith combined on a 5-hitter as Wichita locked down the second-half division title. Donnie Murphy tripled and scored in the 2nd on a Kila Kaaihue RBI ground out and Wichita added runs in the 3rd and 4th on a Mitch Maier RBI single and Adam Keim RBI double. Song and Smith only cruised in 3 innings but kept the Drillers off the board. The Wranglers are 39-26. Tulsa C Tino Sanchez was 0-3 to drop to .355, 1B Joe Koshansky was 0-4 to drop to .289 and RF Seth Smith was 1-3 with his 4th triple to move to .297.

The series continues Thursday night as Tyler Lumsden starts for Wichita.

High-A - High Desert: Mavs 5, Inland Empire 2 (10)

DH Stodolka 0-4, BB, 2 K, RS -- .290
SS Falu 2-4, BB, 2B (23), RBI (46), 2 RS, SB (30) -- .298
1B R. Brown 2-5, RBI (59), 2 K -- .266
C Duenas 0-3, BB, HBP, RBI (52) -- .303
LF Tomlin 1-4, K, RS -- .294

Rosa 6 IP, 2 ER, 8 H, BB, 7 K -- ND, 7.15 ERA, best outing at HD yet
Barnes 3 IP, H, 2 K -- W, 5-3, 4.19 ERA
Pimentel IP, 2 K -- SV, 1, 3.66 ERA

*** The Mavs scored 5 unanswered runs from the 7th on to take down the 66ers once more. Carlos Rosa gave up a run in the 1st and another in the 4th to make it 2-0 66ers. A fielding error ended an early perfect game bid for IE SP Justin Jordan in the 5th but he left the no-hitter in the hands of RP Mumba Rivera to start the 7th and the Mavs took advantage. The bench-clearing brawl from Tuesday's tilt involving Tomas Duenas impacted Wednesday's game as Rivera hit Duenas in the head with a pitch with 2 out and 1 on in the inning and Rivera and IE manager (and former Royal) Gary Thurman were ejected. Duenas stayed in and made the 66ers pay later. RP Joseph Woerman came in and Rusty Brown hit an RBI single to cut the lead in half before the rally ended. Irving Falu tied it with an RBI single in the 8th but the Mavs stranded 2 in the 8th and 9th to send the game into extras. Duenas gave the Mavs a lead with an RBI ground out in the 10th and a 2-run error by 66ers 3B Ronnie Prettyman made it 5-2 HD. Julio Pimentel had a 1-2-3 10th to earn his 1st HD save. The Mavs are 32-34 and still 1 1/2 games up on the wild card. Jordan K'd 6 over 6 IP to drop his ERA to 4.59. IE 1B Johan Limonta was 3-4 to move to .833 and has enjoyed HD pitching. LF Casey Craig was 1-4 to drop to .287 and DH Alex Meneses was 2-4 with his 3rd double to move to .276.

The series wraps up Thursday night. No announced starters.

Low-A - Burlington: Bees 7, Cedar Rapids 1 (final of Tues. resumed game)

CF Santana 3-5, RBI (17), 2 RS, SB (21) -- .245
2B Johnson 1-4, BB, K, 2 RS, SB (18) -- .251
3B Lisson 2-3, 2 BB, 2 RBI (70), SB (40) -- .262
1B Vega 2-4, SF, 2 RBI (75), K, RS -- .249
RF Arroyo 2-5, HR (1), 2 RBI (34) -- .266
C Howell 2-3, 2 BB, 2B (16), RS, 2 PB (16) -- .242

Penn IP, ER, H, 2 K -- ND, 2.72 ERA, truncated by rain
Oliveros 6 IP, 3 H, 4 K -- W, 7-4, 2.88 ERA, wish he could have started all season, but tough rotation to crack
Hayes 2 IP, H -- 2.77 ERA

*** Rayner Oliveros shut the Kernels down and the Bee offense slapped out 14 hits to finish off Tuesday's rain-suspended game strong. Miguel Vega singled home Josh Johnson in the 1st and the Bees were off. Mike Penn gave up a run with 2 outs in the 1st Tuesday before rain delayed the game until Wednesday night. Burlington picked up Wednesday where they left off as Ethien Santana singled home a run in the 2nd and Carlos Arroyo hit a 2-run homer for his 1st of the season in the 3rd to make it 4-1. A Vega sac fly in the 4th extended the lead and Oliveros retired 14 straight Kernels at one point. Mario Lisson hit a 2-run single in the 6th to make it 7-1 and Oliveros and Chris Hayes closed it out. The Bees improved to 27-37. CR SS Larry Infante was 2-3 with his 19th double to move to .256 and RF Jordan Renz was 2-4 with his 83rd RBI to move to .222.

Cedar Rapids 1, Bees 0 (7/reg. Wed. game)

CF Duarte 0-3, 2 K -- .268
3B Lisson 1-3, 2B (29), K, CS (11), E (25) -- .263

Henninger 5 IP, 0 ER, H, BB, 2 K -- ND, 4.92 ERA
Harkcom IP, UER, 0 H, BB, 2 K, E (2) -- L, 3-3, 3.61 ERA, duo combines on 1-hit loss

*** The regular Wednesday game, which was shortened to 7 innings, was a different story for Burlington as the Bees outhit the Kernels, 5-1, but lost a 1-0 pitchers' duel thanks to Burlington miscues. David Henninger got the spot start and pitched well as he stranded a runner at third in the 3rd but Burlington stranded 2 in the 5th off Kernels SP Tim Didjurgis and RP Darren O'Day. Cody Harkcom took over in the 6th and a throwing error by the pitcher put a runner in scoring position and a sac fly allowed CR to take the lead. Brady Everett doubled with 1 out in the Bee 7th but the Bees couldn't get the run home. The Bees are 27-38. Didjurgis allowed 4 hits with 5 K over 4 1/3 IP to drop his ERA to 4.36. Kernels 1B Josh Davies was 1-2 with a double (4, the team's only hit) to move to .233.

The series finale is Thursday night. Angelo Morales starts in his A-ball debut.

Rookie - Idaho Falls: Missoula 5, Chukars 3

LF Bigler 3-4, RS, SB (14) -- .245
SS McConnell 1-4, BB, 2 RBI (29), K, E (17) -- .259
2B Gil 1-4, RBI (13), 2 K, RS -- .221
CF Dickerson 0-3, BB -- .282
DH Maddox 0-4, 2 K -- .324

Teaford 4 IP, 4 R (3 ER), 6 H, 2 BB, 4 K, WP -- L, 4-1, 3.57 ERA

*** IF took an early 3-run lead but it didn't last long as the Osprey came back to earn a split of the 4-game set. With 2 outs in the 2nd, Gilbert Gil singled home a run and Chris McConnell hit a bases loaded 2-run single to put the Chukars up, 3-0. Three doubles off Everett Teaford in the 3rd scored 2 runs to cut the lead to 1 and a McConnell error and another double in the 4th scored 2 more to give Missoula a 4-3 lead. A wild pitch by RP Jacob Eckley scored another run for the Osprey in the 8th and the Chukars went down in order in the 9th to end it. Brett Bigler had 3 of the Chukars' 5 hits. The Chukars are 13-17 and maintain a 2-game lead over Ogden for a wildcard berth. Osprey RF Gerardo Parra was 2-4 with his 4th triple to move to .335 and CF Tyler Jones was 1-4 with his 9th double and 17th RBI to move to .293.

A 3-game home set with the archnemesis Orem Owlz (18-12, Rookie Halos) starts Thursday night. No announced starters.

Rookie - AZL: Season over at 36-20.

The Angels beat the Pads 1-0 Wednesday to take the second-half title and send them to the AZL championship game Thursday vs. the first-half champ Padres. I call collusion. The Royals' record of 19-9 left them 1/2 a game back.