Royals on the Farm 8/8

AAA - Omaha: Tacoma 5, O-Royals 2

3B Keppinger 0-4, K -- .395
LF Huber 1-4, HR (13), RBI (28), 2 K -- .272, first hit back from DL
RF Allen 1-4, 2B (25) -- .316
C Tupman 0-3, E (3) -- .258
CF Cortez 1-4, RBI -- .241, moving him everywhere
SS Aviles 2-4, RS, SB (8), E (18, actually seems better than last season) -- .253
2B Prieto 2-3 -- .219, why are we moving promising players to give time to has beens and never-will-bes? Keep Keppinger at 2B and Huber at one position and leave it.

Etherton 5 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 4 K -- L, 3-5, 4.95 ERA
Keppel 2 IP, 4 H, K -- 6.23 ERA
Braun 2 IP, UER, H, BB, 2 K -- 3.55 ERA

*** The Royals couldn't keep any offense going and Tacoma is set for a 4-game sweep after Tuesday's win. Seth Etherton allowed a run in the 1st and, as Omaha was only able to muster a 3rd-inning single going into the 4th, the Rainiers added 3 in their half of the 4th off Etherton. Fernando Cortez hit a 2-out RBI single in the 5th to get the Royals off the goose egg and Justin Huber hit a 2-out solo homer in the 6th for his 13th of the season and first hit and longball coming off his hammy injury. A Matt Tupman throwing error in the 8th allowed another Tacoma run and Jon Huber (no relation to Justin, I think) set the Royals down in order in the 9th for his 10th save. Omaha is 45-73 and on a 3-game skid. Tacoma CF T.J. Bohn was 3-5 with his 14th double, 12th SB and 34th RBI to move to .268, 2B Jose Morban was 3-5 with a double and 2 RBI to move to .243, DH Jeff Clement was 1-4 to move to .243 and 1B Bryan LaHair was 2-5 to move to .302.

The series ends Wednesday afternoon. Pitchers: Rainiers RH Cha-Seung Baek (11-4, 2.80) vs. RH Pat Mahomes (0-0, 6.35). Kerry Robinson's stiff back and Paul Phillips' sore abdomen kept them out of Tuesday's tilt and both are day-to-day.

AA - Wichita: Wranglers 6, San Antonio 0

3B Gordon 2-5, K -- .314
RF Butler 3-4, BB, HR (15), 2 RBI (89), 2 RS -- .327
LF Lubanski 1-4, BB, RBI (61), K, picked off -- .274
CF Maier 0-3, 2 BB, 2 RS -- .291
DH D. Brown 2-5, 2B (17), RBI (56), K -- .296
SS Sanchez 1-4, SF, RBI (47), RS -- .281

Bass 5 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, BB, 6 K -- W, 3-0, 2.14 ERA, very nice start in return to AA
DeHoyos, Cedeno, Lowery 4 IP scoreless relief, 2 H

*** Brian Bass' return to AA in place of Tyler Lumsden was a triumphant one after he made a couple tune-up starts in Arizona coming off his suspension of unknown origin. He and three relievers combined to 4-hit the Missions and get the Wranglers' 2nd straight shutout win. Billy Butler hit a 2-out, 2-run homer in the 1st for his 15th of the year to put Wichita up early before Chris Lubanski hit a 1-out bases loaded single and Angel Sanchez hit a sac fly in the 2nd to make it 4-0. Butler led off the 5th with a walk and scored on a Dee Brown double before Brown scored on a fielder's choice out by Adam Donachie to make it 6-0. The Missions loaded the bases in the 7th off Gabe DeHoyos but Juan Cedeno got a force out to end the inning and the Missions' best threat. Wichita is 26-19 and 5 games up on first. The Missions got 5 innings of nice relief from Jason Mackintosh and Stephen Kahn as starter Ryan Feierabend took the loss to drop to 9-8. SA SS Erick Monzon was 2-4 with his 15th double to move to .271, LF Michael Wilson was 1-4 to drop to .304 and 3B Matt Tuiasosopo was 0-3 to drop to .182.

The series ends Wednesday night as Zack Greinke pitches for Wichita and the Wranglers go for their sixth straight win.

High-A - High Desert: Lancaster 7, Mavs 6

DH Stodolka 2-5, 2B (27), RS -- .306
1B R. Brown 2-5, HR (11), 2 RBI (46), 2 K, 2 RS, E (9) -- .270
C Thibault 2-3, BB -- .300
SS Falu 2-5, K -- .275
RF McFall 1-4, HR (15), 3 RBI (60), 2 K -- .236
LF Valentin 0-2, BB, HBP, RS -- .282

Christensen 7 IP, 6 R (4 ER), 9 H, 2 BB, 4 K, 3 HRA -- ND, 5.24 ERA
Pimentel 2 IP, ER, 4 H, BB, 2 K -- L, 0-1, 5.06 ERA

*** What started as a slugfest with 12 runs in the first 4 innings ended with 1 run over the final 5 as the JetHawks scored late to win. Mavs starter Dan Christensen gave up back-to-back jacks in the 1st to spot Lancaster a 3-0 lead and another run scored in the 2nd thanks to an error by CF Juan Senreiso for a 4-0 JetHawks lead. Brian McFall closed the gap quickly in the Mavs 2nd with a 3-run homer to left for his 15th of the season. Senreiso singled home Mike Stodolka in the 3rd and Rusty Brown followed with a 2-run homer to left for his 11th of the season to give HD a 6-4 lead. Christensen gave up a 3rd Lancaster homer to lead off the 4th and a Brown error later in the inning tied the game at 6. Neither team could mount a rally as the game wore on and RP Julio Pimentel gave up 2 singles to start the 9th before giving up the go-ahead run on a 1-out RBI single. The Mavs got runners at the corners with 1 out in their half of the 9th but Senreiso and Brown both struck out looking to end the game. High Desert is 21-23 and 1 1/2 games back of first. Lancaster 1B Cesar Nicolas was 3-5 with his 10th homer and 3 RBI (59) to move to .304, CF Chris Rahl was 2-4 with 2 SB (16) to move to .338 and RF Carlos Gonzalez was 0-5 to drop to .300.

Game 3 of the 4-game set is Wednesday night. No announced starters.

Low-A - Burlington: Bees 10, Dayton 6

1B Vega 4-6, 2 RBI (62), 2 RS, K -- .247
C Everett 2-4, HBP, 2B, RS -- .244
RF Arroyo 2-3, 2 BB, RBI (29), RS -- .264
CF Duarte 1-6, 2B (18), RBI (33), K, RS -- .272
2B Johnson 1-3, 3 BB, 2 RS -- .248
3B Lisson 1-4, BB, HBP, HR (10), 2 RBI (60), K -- .258
LF Santana 2-5, RBI, K, RS, SB (18) -- .244

Cortes 4 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, 2 K -- ND, 8.31 ERA, not a pretty line
Schambough 1 1/3 IP, 2 K -- W, 4-7, 2.88 ERA

*** Burlington came from behind twice in earning a split of a 4-game set with the Dragons with Tuesday's victory. DH Jeff Howell doubled home a run in the 2nd to get the Bees a lead but SP Dan Cortes gave up 3 runs with 2 out in the Dayton 2nd to give the Dragons the lead. Jose Duarte hit a 2-out RBI double in the 5th to spark a Burlington rally and Miguel Vega singled home 2 more runs to give the Bees a 4-3 lead but Mario Lisson was thrown out to end the rally trying to get to third. Cortes was pulled after walking the leadoff batter in the 5th and reliever Cody Harkcom gave up a 2-out RBI double to tie the game. RP Mario Santiago gave up a 2-run homer in the 6th to put the Dragons back up, 6-4, but the Bees got a 2-run homer of their own from Lisson in the 7th for his 10th of the season to tie the game at 6. The game remained tied going into the 9th when Burlington rallied on a 1-out RBI single by Carlos Arroyo, an Ethien Santana RBI single and a 2-run Dayton error on a force attempt. Kraig Schambough had a 1-2-3 9th to end it for the Bees. The Bees are 19-27. Reds prospect and Dayton DH Jay Bruce was 2-5 with his 41st double, 15th homer and 4 RBI (76) to move to .308 and SS Adam Rosales was 1-3 to move to .285.

The Bees have Wednesday off before hitting a road swing.

Rookie - Idaho Falls: Chukars 5, Casper 4

CF Dickerson 2-3, BB, K, 2 RS, CS -- .317
1B Maddox 2-3, BB, 2B (11), K, 2 RS, SB (7) -- .315
2B Mertins 0-4, K -- .377
SS McConnell 1-4, HR (1), RBI (16), K, E (7) -- .279
LF Bigler 0-4 -- .227

Teaford 6 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 9 K, HRA -- ND, 2.95 ERA, one of team's more solid starters
Abreu 2 IP, ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 2 K, WP -- W, 3-1, 7.15 ERA
Best IP, nothing -- SV, 2, 3.10 ERA

*** Idaho Falls countered a late Casper run with 2 in getting a 3rd straight win. SP Everett Teaford gave up a 2-out RBI triple in the 2nd and a 2-run homer in the 5th as the Chukars offense sputtered. C Brandon Lance singled home Marc Maddox in the Chukar 5th to get IF on the board and a Chris McConnell solo homer (his 1st for IF in '06) and a Maddox single and error that scored Joe Dickerson tied the game in the 6th. Casper pushed across a run off Juan Abreu in the 8th thanks in part to an error by OF O.D. Gonzalez. 3B Brenan Herrera retied it on a 1-out RBI single in the 8th and a ground out by DH Ross Boudreaux scored the go-ahead run. Dan Best made it the winning run with a 1-2-3 9th for his 2nd save. The Chukars are 4-6 (think I had the incorrect record yesterday) and 3 games back of first. Casper CF Maruis Loupadiere was 2-4 with his 1st homer and 2 RBI to move to .268 and 3B Hector Gomez was 1-4 with his 14th error to drop to .335.

The teams knock heads again Wednesday night. Dan Gutierrez starts for the Chukars.

Rookie - AZL: Royals 12, Cubs 3

DH Francis 4-5, 2 RBI (10), K, RS, picked off -- .259
3B Taylor 0-2, BB, HBP, K, 2 RS -- .288
LF Dyson 1-3, HBP, 2B (3), RBI (9), K, RS, picked off -- .289
RF Van Stratten 0-3, SF, RBI (23), RS, SB (12) -- .266
1B S. Lucas 0-4, RS -- .302
CF D. Robinson 2-4, GS (1), 4 RBI (14), 2 K, CS -- .218
SS Juan 2-4, 2 RS, CS -- .243
* Royals turned 4 DPs

Fisher 3 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 5 K -- ND, 2.42 ERA
Lopez 2 IP, H, BB -- W, 4-0, 6.35 ERA

*** A Derrick Robinson inside-the-park grand slam sparked 2 big innings for the Royals as they took down the Cubs. SP Brent Fisher allowed 2 runs in the 2nd and the Royals' offense struggled into the 5th as a ground out, a Nick Francis single and pickoff left them with 0 on and 2 out in that inning. Walks by Jason Taylor and Nick Doscher and a Manny Juan single loaded the bases for Robinson, who lined the ball to left and turned the hit into an inside-the-park grand slam to make it 4-2. A Cub error scored the Royals' first run in the 6th, Francis hit a 2-run single, Doscher took a bases loaded walk, Jarrod Dyson was hit by a pitch with the bases juiced, Alwin Perez hit an RBI single, a wild pitch scored Doscher and Nick Van Stratten hit a sac fly to increase the lead to 12-2. Henry Arias gave up a run in the 7th but he and Jake McLintock closed out the game for the victory. The Royals are 8-3 and 1/2 a game back of first. Cubs C Cory Vanderhook was 1-2 to move to .303 and CF Andy Rundle was 2-3 with a double and triple to move to .243.

The Royals play the 1-9 Brewers Wednesday night.