Royals on the Farm 9/2

AAA - Omaha: Iowa 8, O-Royals 2

LF Huber 0-4, K, OF assist at third -- .276
RF Costa 1-4, 2B (12), RBI (29), RS -- .342
CF K. Robinson 1-2, 2 BB, RS -- .309
2B Cortez 0-3 -- .248

Middleton 6 IP, 4 ER, 10 H, BB, 2 K, 2 HRA, WP -- L, 0-8, 5.33 ERA, finished winless at AAA

*** Omaha only scraped together 5 hits as Iowa took game 2 of 4 with the Royals. Kyle Middleton gave up 2 solo homers in the 3rd as Iowa took a 2-0 lead. The I-Cubs added runs on a Middleton wild pitch in the 4th and a sac fly in the 5th to make it 4-0. The Royals rallied for 2 in the 6th on a Shane Costa RBI double and Mike Coolbaugh RBI single but Esteban Yan gave the runs right back in the 7th on back-to-back solo homers. The Royals had 1 base runner thereafter as Yan gave up another run in the 8th and Ed Yarnall gave up a solo homer in the 9th to polish off the scoring. The Royals dropped to 53-89. Cubs DH Mike Restovich was 3-5 with his 29th double, 27th homer and 84th RBI to move to .294, RF Buck Coats was 3-4 with his 7th homer, 9th error and 2 RBI (51) to move to .282 and CF Felix Pie was 1-6 with his 14th homer and 56th RBI to move to .278.

Iowa took game 3 of the set in a Sunday matinee. Bobby Keppel started for Omaha and took the loss.

AA - Wichita: Wranglers 12, Tulsa 1

3B Gordon 2-5, 2B (38), 2 RBI (99), K, RS -- .326
CF Maier 3-5, HR (14), 3 RBI (91), K, 2 RS -- .306
LF Lubanski 1-3, 2 BB, 2B (34), RBI (71), 2 RS -- .282
DH D. Brown 2-5, HR (16), 2 RBI (77), K -- .308
SS Sanchez 1-5, RS -- .282
2B Keim 2-5, K -- .237
RF Groves 2-4, BB, K, RS -- .209
C Donachie 2-3, BB, HR (2), RBI (10), 3 RS -- .191
1B Kaaihue 1-3, BB, HR (6), 3 RBI (45), K -- .198

Buckner 6 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 5 K -- W, 5-3, 4.64 ERA
DeHoyos 2 1/3 IP, ER, H, 2 BB, 2 K -- 1.64 ERA

*** Can I mention again that it seems like the Drillers are playing dead going into the playoffs Tuesday? The Wranglers won their 4th straight in the series Saturday with a combined 28-3 score. Mitch Maier began a barrage of 4 Wrangler homers with a 2-run shot in the 1st for his 14th of the season. Kila Kaaihue hit a 3-run homer in the 2nd for his 6th of '06 and Chris Lubanski and Alex Gordon sandwiched RBI doubles around a Maier RBI single to make it 8-0. Adam Donachie cracked a solo homer in the 3rd for his 2nd at AA and Dee Brown cranked a 2-run homer in the 4th for his 16th of the season. The Wrangler scoring attack ended in the 5th with a Gordon RBI ground out that made it 12-0. Gabe DeHoyos gave up a run in the 8th but he and Billy Buckner got it done. Wichita is 43-26. RF Seth Smith was 1-4 with his 46th double to move to .294, DH Joe Koshansky was 1-4 to drop to .285 and 3B Ian Stewart was 1-3 with his 71st RBI to move to .268.

The Wranglers finished a 5-game sweep Sunday with a 4-2 win. Cody Smith got a spot start in the regular season finale. The best-of-5 playoff set with the Drillers starts Tuesday at Tulsa. Corpus Christi and Midland square off in the other playoff semifinal. In other news, pitchers Brian Bass and Thad Markray were put on the DL and Jarod Plummer was called up from High Desert.

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

1B Stodolka 0-1 -- .285, ejected in 2nd along with manager Jeff Carter
2B Gaffney 2-5, 2B (9), RBI (36), K, CS -- .251
SS Falu 0-4, BB, RBI (48), 2 E (17) -- .297
CF Valentin 2-3, BB, RBI (51), RS -- .280
C Duenas 1-4, BB, K, RS -- .299
LF Tomlin 1-4, 2B (23), 2 RBI (36), 2 K, RS -- .297

Cota 3 2/3 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 4 BB, 3 K -- ND, 7.09 ERA
Rowe 2 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 2 K, HRA -- L, 3-2, 5.10 ERA
B. Johnson IP, nothing -- 5.73 ERA

*** The Mavs mounted a big comeback to take the lead in the 6th but gave it right back and fell out of the wild-card lead with one game left. Luis Cota continued his disappointing season by giving up 3 runs on 3 hits and 3 walks in the 1st and another run with 2 out in the 2nd as Mike Stodolka and HD manager Carter were ejected for arguing a call. The Mavs loaded the bases with 1 out in the 4th and didn't score and the Blaze added a run off Cota and Adam Rowe in their half to make it 5-0. Jeremy Jirschele hit a 2-out RBI double in the 5th to get the Mavs on the board but Irving Falu was nailed at home to end the inning. The Mavs surged ahead with the help of 2 Blaze errors in the 6th as the errors and a walk loaded the bases. James Tomlin hit a 2-run double before Geraldo Valentin hit an RBI single, Falu hit an RBI force out and Mike Gaffney singled home a run to make it 6-5 HD. Rowe gave up a single and 2-run homer to start the Blaze 6th and Bakersfield didn't trail again. HD is 33-36 and now a 1/2 game back of Lake Elsinore for the wild card. Blaze 1B Freddie Thon was 4-5 with 3 2B (15) and 3 RBI (31) to move to .324, RF Steve Murphy was 2-5 with his 38th double and 2 RBI (68) to move to .285 and 3B Micah Furtado was 2-5 with his 14th error to move to .247.

Chris Nicoll pitches the finale for HD Sunday night versus the Blaze. The Mavs need the help of Lake Elsinore or Lancaster to make the playoffs. More importantly, they need to win Sunday night.

Low-A - Burlington: Bees 7, Quad Cities 6 (11)

LF Arce 3-5, 2 RS -- .257
CF Duarte 2-5, BB, 2B (23), K, RS -- .265
2B Johnson 0-4, BB, 2 K -- .245
3B Lisson 2-6, RBI (72), 2 K, RS -- .260
RF Peralta 1-3, BB, SF, 2B (1), RBI (3), K -- .250

Cortes 4 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 3 K, HRA -- ND, 6.69 ERA
Garcia 3 IP, ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 3 K -- W, 4-3, 4.35 ERA

*** The Bees forced extras in the 9th before taking it with another comeback in the 11th. The Swing scored twice in the 2nd on 4 hits and a walk off Dan Cortes but the Bees tied it on two Swing errors and a Felix Peralta sac fly in their half of the frame. Cortes gave up a 2-run homer in the 4th and added a run off Yovany D'Amico (as his last name is now punctuated) in the 6th to make it 5-2. Another Swing error scored a run before Eduardo Nunez singled home a run in the 6th to cut it to 5-4. A passed ball saved the Bees as, with Mario Lisson at third and 2 out in the 9th, Jeff Howell struck out but the ball got past Swing C Henry Guerrero and Lisson scored while Howell reached base to tie the game. Quad Cities scratched out a run on 2 hits in the 11th off Eliezer Garcia to take a 6-5 lead. A throwing error by Guerrero in the bottom of the 11th allowed the tying run to score and Lisson came through with a walkoff single to end it. The Bees are 28-40. Swing OF Chad Gabriel was 3-4 with a triple, his 7th homer and 2 RBI (31) along with 3 RS to move to .272 and 3B Dan Nelson was 2-4 with his 25th double, 37th error and 48th RBI to move to .253.

The Bees and Swing continue the set in Quad Cities Sunday evening. Mario Santiago starts for the Bees.

Rookie - Idaho Falls: Chukars 12, Orem 6

2B Mertins 1-5, BB, 2 RS, SB (22) -- .337
1B Maddox 2-5, 2B (20), 3 RBI (36), K, RS -- .324
RF Gonzalez 2-3, BB, SF, 2 RBI (18), RS, 3 SB (21) -- .269
SS McConnell 1-3, 2 BB, 3B (4), 2 RBI (32), K, 2 RS, SB (7), CS (3) -- .256
DH Dickerson 0-2, 2 BB, HBP, K, RS -- .282
LF Bigler 1-3, 3 BB, RS, SB (17), OF assist at second -- .253
C Morizio 1-3, 2 BB, 2 RS -- .259
CF Van Stratten 0-3, 2 BB, K, 2 RS -- .455

Mozingo 3 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 3 K -- 6.94 ERA
Chambliss 3 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 K -- W, 4-3, 4.20 ERA

*** IF batters drew 14 walks en route to scoring 12 runs on only 8 hits and capitalizing on 3 Owlz errors to take down Orem. Harold Mozingo gave up 3 runs on 2 hits and a walk in the 1st but IF went off for 7 in the bottom of the frame on a bases loaded 2-run double by Marc Maddox, a 2-run triple by Chris McConnell, an O.D. Gonzalez sac fly, a 2-run Owlz error on a ball hit by Kurt Mertins. Both teams' pitchers settled down until Tyler Chambliss gave up 2 Orem runs in a 2-out double in the 5th and another run in the 7th to cut the lead to 7-6 IF. The Chukars regained some breathing room with 2 runs in their half of the 7th on an Owlz throwing error and Maddox RBI single. The Chukars drew walks to load the bases with 1 out in the 8th and scored 3 runs on a Gonzalez single aided by yet another Orem error. IF is 15-18 and 2 games up on the wild-card spot. Orem CF Chris Pettit was 2-5 with his 23rd double and 48th RBI to move to .333 and DH Ryan Mount was 2-5 with his 9th SB to move to .298.

A short 2-game set at the Casper Rockies starts Sunday afternoon. No announced starters. Five games remain on the IF schedule.