Royals on the Farm 8/7

AAA - Omaha: Tacoma 5, O-Royals 3

3B Keppinger 2-4, K, RS, E (1) -- .417
DH Allen 2-4, 2 RBI (74), 2 K -- .317
LF Huber 0-2, 2 BB, K -- .273
C Tupman 2-3, BB -- .271
CF K. Robinson 1-4, K, RS -- .316
1B Cortez 0-3, 2 K, RS -- .241

Middleton 6 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 4 K -- ND, 5.86 ERA, wow, where did that come from?
Yan 2 IP, 3 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, K -- BS, 1, 3.68 ERA, first poor outing for Omaha
Diaz IP, 2 ER, H, BB, K, HRA -- BS, 1, L, 0-1, 3.89 ERA

*** Walks by Esteban Yan and Jose Diaz in the 9th haunted to the Royals as Tacoma staged a late comeback to win. Kyle Middleton started off a decent night personally by getting out of a bases-loaded 2-out jam in the 1st and 2-on, 0-out jams in the 2nd and 3rd. A Chad Allen RBI single started the scoring in the 4th and Middleton settled down to allow only 1 runner from the 4th to the 6th. Yan came in to start the 7th and immediately gave up the tying run on a single and double before getting out of the inning. With 2 out in the Omaha 8th, Jeff Keppinger singled home the go-ahead run but a Tacoma error kept him from getting scored with an RBI. Allen followed with another RBI single to make it 3-1 Royals. Yan walked the first 2 batters in the Tacoma 9th before Diaz came in and walked the bases loaded. A sac fly and K cut the lead to 3-2 and put the Rainiers down to their final out but 1B Bryan LaHair came through with a 3-run homer to make it 5-3 Tacoma. A Matt Tupman 2-out single in the 9th was all Omaha could muster from there. Omaha is 45-72. LaHair was 3-4 with his 4th homer and 3 RBI (32) to move to .299, LF Jon Nelson was 1-4 to drop to .305 and RF Chris Snelling was 0-5 to drop to .218. C Jeff Clement, who was chosen 1 pick after Alex Gordon in '05, was 0-3 to drop to .243.

Game 3 of the 4-game set is Tuesday night. Pitchers: Tacoma RH Francisco Cruceta (10-7, 4.23) vs. RH Seth Etherton (1-2, 5.61).

AA - Wichita: Wranglers 7, San Antonio 0

3B Gordon 0-3, 3 K -- .313, ejected in 6th after K
RF Butler 2-4, BB, 2 HR (14), 2 RBI (87), 2 K -- .324
LF Lubanski 1-4, BB, 2 K, picked off -- .274
CF Maier 1-5, 2B (27), 3 K, RS -- .293
DH D. Brown 2-4, BB, HR (14), RBI (55), 2 K, 2 RS -- .294
SS Sanchez 1-5, 2B (21), K -- .282
C Donachie 1-3, BB, 2 RBI (6), K, picked off -- .191
Espino and Groves also had 2-hit games

Buckner 7 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 5 K -- W, 3-2, 6.14 ERA, best start as Wrangler
C. Smith 2 IP, H, 2 K -- 2.79 ERA

*** Billy Buckner had a great start and the Wranglers won their 4th straight. Billy Butler led off the 2nd with his 13th homer to put Wichita up, 1-0, and, as Buckner took a 1-hitter into the 5th, the Wranglers scored 3 that inning on a Damaso Espino single that was aided by a Missions error and a 2-run single by Adam Donachie to make it 4-0. Gordon notched his 3rd K of the game to lead off the 6th and was ejected by the home plate ump after, I assume, not liking the call. Butler and Dee Brown followed with back-to-back homers for the 14th of the season for both batters and Wichita made it 6-0. Buckner loaded the bases with 2 walks and a single in the bottom of the 6th but got out of the 1-out jam. Brett Groves hit an RBI single in the 8th to give Wichita yet another insurance run and Cody Smith closed out the final 2 innings to secure the shutout. Wichita is 25-19 and 4 games up on first. San Antonio DH Scott Youngbauer was 1-3 with a double to move to .312, RF Wladimir Balentien was 0-4 to drop to .245 and 3B Matt Tuiasosopo was 0-3 with his 10th error to drop to .187.

Game 2 of the 3-game set is tonight. Tyler Lumsden was supposed to start but his name has been pulled from the team site's projected starters today so his leg injury looks to make him miss at least a start. Hopefully he's back for his next one.

High-A - High Desert: Mavs 10, Lancaster 6

C Thibault 3-4, 2B (6), 5 RBI (10), 2 RS -- .281
1B Stodolka 1-3, 2 BB, 2B (26), 2 RBI (60), RS -- .304, nice season continues
SS Falu 2-5, RBI (36) -- .273
CF Senreiso 1-5, RBI (51), K, RS, OF assist at home -- .272
RF Valentin 0-2, 2 BB, RS -- .284
LF Tomlin 0-2, BB, RS -- .293

Cota 6 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, BB, 9 K, 2 HRA, 2 WP, E (3) -- W, 5-10, 6.69 ERA, up and down start

*** Kiel Thibault had a great game and two innings of offense got High Desert the win. Luis Cota gave up a homer to the second batter he faced and Lancaster jumped out to a 1-0 lead. Mike Stodolka got HD started in the 4th with an RBI double and Juan Senreiso followed with an RBI single before Thibault hit a 2-out bases-loaded double to make it 5-1 and Irving Falu singled home a run to make the lead 5. Cota gave up a 2-run homer in the 5th but was lockdown otherwise. RP Gilbert de la Vara gave up a run in the 7th but the Mavs scored 4 in the bottom of the 8th on a Thibault 2-run single, a Lancaster error that scored Thibault and a Stodolka bases-loaded walk to make it 10-4. Patrick Hicklen gave up 2 runs in the 9th but got through the inning. The Mavs are 21-22 and 1/2 a game back of first. JetHawks 1B Javier Brito was 4-4 with his 14th double, 10th homer and 2 RBI (33) to move to .324, CF Chris Rahl was 1-5 with his 11th homer and 73rd RBI to move to .336 and RF Carlos Gonzalez was 0-4 to drop to .304.

The series continues Tuesday night. Danny Christensen starts for the Mavs.

Low-A - Burlington: Bees 9, Dayton 0

3B Lisson 4-6, 2B (26), 2 HR (9), 4 RBI (58) -- .258
RF Jirschele 3-4, BB, RBI (18), K, 2 RS -- .185
LF Arce 3-5, HR (1), 3 RBI (16), K -- .254, 12-game hit streak
SS O. Pena 2-5, 2 K, RS -- .209
CF Duarte 2-5, BB, 3B (5), K, RS, OF assist at first -- .273
2B Johnson 0-6, 2 K, RS, SB (13) -- .248, not a great day for his averages

Cordier 7 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 6 K -- W, 2-1, 2.03 ERA, awesome start
Penn 2 IP, 0 H, 2 BB, K -- 2.41 ERA

*** Erik Cordier stifled the Dragons and the Bees turned on some offense to snap a losing streak. Mario Lisson hit a 2-run homer in the 1st to put Burlington up and the Bees stranded the bases loaded in the 2nd before scoring again in the 3rd on Lisson's 2nd homer of the night and his 9th of the season. Burlington scored 4 in the 4th on a Jeremy Jirschele RBI single, a 2-run inside-the-park homer by Valentino Arce and a Dayton fielding error that allowed Josh Johnson to score. Lisson hit an RBI double in the 6th and Arce singled home a run in the 7th to make it 8-0 Bees. Lisson hit a 2-out RBI single in the 9th to cap the scoring for Burlington. The Bees are 18-27. Reds pitcher prospect Travis Wood took only his 3rd loss in giving up 6 runs (5 ER) on 8 hits (including 3 HR) and a walk over 3 2/3 IP to drop to 9-3 with a 4.19 ERA. SS Adam Rosales was 1-3 with his 8th error to move to .284.

The series concludes Tuesday night. Dan Cortes makes his 3rd Burlington start and goes for his 2nd win for the Bees.

Rookie - Idaho Falls: Chukars 3, Casper 2

2B Mertins 2-4, K, picked off -- .390
DH Maddox 2-2, BB, RS, SB (6) -- .308
CF Dickerson 0-4, K -- .309
RF Gonzalez 2-4, 2B, K, 2 RS -- .269
SS McConnell 1-4, 2B, RBI (15), E (6) -- .280
C Morizio 0-2, BB, PB (2) -- .269
LF Bigler 0-3 -- .234

B. Wood 5 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, BB, 7 K -- ND, 5.54 ERA, best start so far
Hartsock 1 1/3 IP, UER, H, K -- BS, 2, W, 4-2, 3.58 ERA
Casey IP, nothing -- SV, 4, 5.19 ERA

*** The bullpen squandered Blake Wood's best pro start to this point but the Chukars pulled out the 1-run win. 3B Gilbert Gil got the scoring started with an RBI single in the 5th as Wood took a 2-hitter into the 6th and was pulled after 2 outs in that frame. Chris McConnell doubled home another run in the 6th to make it 2-0 and Aaron Hartsock entered the game with 2 out and the bases loaded in the Casper 7th. He hit the first batter he faced to bring home a run but got out of the inning without further damage. A McConnell error and Matt Morizio passed ball helped the Rockies tie the game in the 8th but McConnell drove home the go-ahead run in the bottom of the 8th on a double play ball to make it 3-2 and Bryan Casey pitched a perfect 9th for his 4th save. The Chukars are 4-6. Casper SS Hector Gomez was 1-4 with his 3rd SB to drop to .338 and 1B Steven Suarez was 1-3 with his 19th RBI to move to .283.

Everett Teaford pitches for IF as the series continues Tuesday night.

Rookie- AZL: Royals 7, Rangers 4

RF Van Stratten 2-4, HBP, 2 3B (5), RBI (22), 2 RS, OF assist at home -- .271
3B Taylor 1-2, 2 BB, 2 RBI (17), RS, SB (6), E (7) -- .294
1B S. Lucas 1-4, BB, 3 K, RS -- .311
DH Dyson 1-3, BB, SF, 3B (5), RBI (8), K -- .287
LF Francis 1-5, 2B, 2 RBI (8), K, RS -- .225
CF D. Robinson 1-2, HBP, 2 SB (16) -- .208

Chavez 3 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, K, HRA -- ND, 3.97 ERA
M. Morales 1 2/3 IP, BB, K -- W, 3-1, 3.72 ERA
Cummings IP, H, 2 K -- SV, 3, 0.68 ERA

*** A 6-run 3rd got the Royals the win. The Royals loaded the bases with no outs in the 1st but didn't cash in as 2 Ks and a ground out ended the threat. Nick Van Stratten tripled home a run in the 3rd and Nick Francis doubled him home to make it 2-0 before Jason Taylor singled home 2 runs, Nick Doscher singled home a run and Jarrod Dyson hit a sac fly to make it 6-0. SP Chris Chavez gave up a 3-run homer in the 4th before getting pulled and RP Angel Martinez gave up a run in the 4th but a would-be second run was not to be as Van Stratten threw a runner out at the plate to end the inning. Van Stratten, who has been one of the Royals' most consistent players this season, tripled to lead off the 6th and scored on a Francis ground out to end the scoring for the Royals. Miguel Morales and Tyler Cummings took it from there to secure the win. The Royals are 7-3 and a game back of first. Rangers SS Marcus Lemon (son of former Tigers/CWS OF Chet Lemon) was 2-3 to move to .346 and LF Victor Barrios was 1-3 with his 1st homer and 3 RBI (17) to move to .314. C Kevin Gossage, nephew of Royals nemesis Goose, was 1-4 with his 3rd RBI to stay at .250.

The Royals take on the 3-7 Cubs Tuesday night.