Royals on the Farm 9/4

AAA - Omaha: Iowa 4, O-Royals 3

LF Huber 2-4, K, RS -- .278
CF K. Robinson 1-3, 2 BB, 2B (24), K, RS -- .311
1B Phillips 0-4, 2 RBI (39) -- .243
2B Cortez 1-4, RS, SB (5) -- .244

M. Wood 5 IP, 4 ER, 10 H, 2 K, 2 HRA -- L, 0-2, 6.32 ERA, primed and ready for KC......
Yarnall and Mahomes 4 IP scoreless relief

*** Omaha attempted a late comeback but couldn't get it done as Iowa finished the season with a 4-game sweep of the Royals. The Cubs scored a run off Mike Wood in the 1st but Omaha tied it in the bottom of the frame on an RBI ground out by Paul Phillips after Kerry Robinson led off with a double. Wood gave up a 2-run homer in the 3rd and a solo blast in the 4th to make it 4-1 Iowa and that was the score entering the bottom of the 8th. Two walks and a Cubs error loaded the bases with 1 out and Phillips hit an RBI force out. A 2-out RBI double by Jared Price cut the lead to 1 and put the tying run in scoring position for Omaha but he couldn't score on a Fernando Cortez single and Alejandro Prieto struck out to end the season. Omaha finished the season 53-91 and 23 games back of Iowa and Nashville. They were the worst team in the PCL by 5 games over Memphis. Cubs CF Felix Pie was 3-5 with his 17th SB to move to .283, 2B Eric Patterson (brother of Corey) was 2-5 with a triple, his 2nd homer and 2 RBI (12) to move to .358 and RF Mike Restovich was 2-4 with his 85th RBI to move to .293.

In other news, RP Jose Diaz, P Mike Wood and C Paul Phillips have been called up to KC following the Royals season. No news on Huber or Chad Allen when he returns from Team USA duty. To sum up the season stats, Shane Costa led the way for those with more than 150 ABs at Omaha with a .342 BA and .991 OPS, Jeff Keppinger had a .354 BA and .872 OPS (.407 OBP) in 127 ABs, Allen hit .314 and led the team in RBI at 78 and doubles with 26 with an OPS of .861 in 417 ABs, Huber led the team in HR with 15, BB with 40 (also in Ks with 94) and hit .278 with an .838 OPS in 352 ABs, and Kerry Robinson hit .311 with an OPS of .771 and led the team with 17 SB and 14 CS. On the flip side, Mike Aviles led the team with 22 errors, Dee Brown had a .394 OPS in 16 games, Price's OPS was .496 in 139 ABs, Buddy's boy Rick had a .537 OPS in 364 ABs, and Adam Bernero was the only pitcher with a sub-3 ERA and more than 40 IP with a 2.84 ERA over 79 IP. The team was actually low-to-middle of the pack in most pitching categories and near the bottom in most hitting categories.

Here's a link to Omaha's stats:

http://tinyurl.com/j7k49

AA - Wichita: off day

*** The Wranglers start the TL playoffs Tuesday night in Tulsa for game 1 of a best-of-5. Zack Greinke pitches for Wichita.

The season-ending Wrangler stats look somewhat different than Omaha's. Alex Gordon led regulars in OPS at 1.016, which you've gotta like, 2B with 39, HR with 29, RBI with 101 (altho Billy Butler likely would have exceeded that if not for Team USA), SB with 22, RS with 111 and tied Butler for the lead in BB with 72 while hitting .325 with a .427 OBP. He K'd 113 times, also to lead the team, in 486 ABs. Butler hit .331 with an OPS of .887 in 477 ABs and hit 33 doubles and 15 HR with 96 RBI with 41 BB and 67 Ks. Chris Lubanski was next in OPS at .844 in 524 ABs with 34 doubles and a team-high 11 triples to go along with 15 HR and 71 RBI. He walked 72 times compared to 112 Ks. Dee Brown finished with a .307 BA and .836 OPS with 22 doubles and 16 HR to go with 78 RBI in 384 ABs. Mitch Maier hit .306 with an .830 OPS in 543 ABs and had 35 doubles, 7 triples, 14 HR and 92 RBI to go along with a team-leading 166 hits. Zack Greinke finished with a 4.34 ERA and 1.16 WHIP in 105 2/3 IP.

Here's a link to Wichita's stats:

http://tinyurl.com/kadla

High-A - High Desert: season stays alive with wild-card berth

*** The Mavs finished the second half at 34-36 and qualified with a playoff wild-card berth as Lake Elsinore took the second-half division title. The Mavs and the Lake Elsinore Storm (High-A Padres) will start a best-of-3 series on the Mavs' home field Wednesday night. The winner of the series will play Inland Empire.

Mike Stodolka's season-ending slump dropped him from tops on the team in some categories. He finished with a .284 BA, .396 OBP and .845 OPS in 423 ABs with a team-high 33 doubles, 2 triples and 11 HR with 67 RBI and 78 BB with 103 Ks. C Tomas Duenas had a good season at .297 with an OPS of .888 in 273 ABs and added 19 doubles and 14 HR. LF James Tomlin also finished a decent season by hitting .301 with a .762 OPS (not so good for Cal League) and 24 doubles in 276 ABs. IF Irving Falu's late hot streak helped him finish at .299 with a .737 OPS, 23 doubles, team-high 7 triples, and team-high 31 SBs in 531 ABs. He walked 40 times compared to only 46 Ks. Luis Cota's dismal season of a 7.09 ERA and 1.64 WHIP in 132 IP has been documented start-by-start here. He had 126 Ks and 63 BB. Billy Buckner led pitchers with more than 50 IP with an ERA of 3.90 before moving to Wichita to finish the season. Jarod Plummer, another more recent Wichita call-up, led those pitchers in WHIP with a mark of 1.17 over 95 2/3 IP.

Here's a link to the Mavs' season stats:

http://tinyurl.com/lbmd3

Low-A - Burlington: Quad Cities 10, Bees 4

C Howell 2-4, K, E (5) -- .249
CF Duarte 1-5, K, E (5) -- .266
LF Santana 1-4, 3B (5), 2 RBI (20), RS -- .244

Henninger 3 1/3 IP, 7 ER, 7 H, 3 BB, HRA -- L, 3-7, 5.40 ERA

*** The Bees' season ended with not much more than a whimper as the Swing roasted David Henninger. Quad Cities scored 8 runs over the first 4 innings off Henninger and RP Cody Harkcom to take command. A passed ball scored Burlington's first run in the 5th and the Bees rallied for 3 runs in the 7th on a 2-run triple by Ethien Santana and Valentino Arce RBI single. The Bees stranded 2 in the 8th before going down in order in the 9th. The Bees finished the second half at 29-41 and overall finished 64-73. QC SS Tyler Greene was 3-3 with his 15th homer, 11th SB and 3 RBI (47) to move to .287 and CF Jon Jay was 2-4 with his 45th RBI and 2 RS to move to .342.

In other news, 3B Mario Lisson will join Wichita for the playoffs and CF Jose Duarte and C Jeff Howell will join High Desert for the playoffs. Two Bee errors on the game kept them from breaking the MWL record for fewest team errors with 135 in 137 games. The record is 133 in only 116 games, so I consider the Bees' performance to be better but it wasn't the record. The '06 Bees are the only team in franchise history with less errors than games played.

To give an example of the Bees' dismal hitting, Lisson led the team with an OPS of .789, 30 doubles and 41 SB and tied with Miguel Vega for the HR lead with 13. IF Josh Johnson paced the team with an OBP of .391. Lisson's .421 SLG was the only Bee SLG over .400. Five Bee pitchers finished with ERAs under 3 in more than 50 IP -- Carlos Rosa (2.53 in 138 2/3 IP), Chris Nicoll (2.82 in 134 IP), Rayner Oliveros (2.84 in 98 1/3 IP), Mike Penn (2.62 in 82 1/3 IP) and Chris Hayes (2.79 in 62 2/3 IP). It was a promising season for the organization's pitching at Burlington.

Here's a link to the Bees' season stats:

http://tinyurl.com/jnrly

Rookie - Idaho Falls: Chukars 4, Casper 3

2B Mertins 1-5, K, RS, SB (24) -- .336
CF Dickerson 3-5, 2 2B (14), 2 RBI (38) -- .284
SS McConnell 2-4, 2B (8), K -- .256
LF Bigler 2-3, 2 BB, RBI (24), 2 RS, SB (19) -- .267
RF Van Stratten 0-3 -- .357

Teaford 5 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 6 K -- W, 5-1, 3.71 ERA
Hartsock 4 IP, 2 H, 3 K -- SV, 2, 2.91 ERA

*** The Chukars won their 4th straight game by taking out the Rockies. Joe Dickerson singled home a run in the 1st and the Chukars added 2 runs in the 5th on a Dickerson RBI double and steal of home by Brett Bigler on a double steal with Kurt Mertins. Everett Teaford took a 1-hitter into the 5th but gave up 3 runs to allow Casper to tie it. A Bigler RBI ground out in the 6th gave the Chukars back the lead and Aaron Hartsock pitched 4 scoreless innings of relief, including working out of a 2-on, 0-out jam in the 7th, to pick up his 2nd save. IF is 17-18 and, I think, has clinched a wild-card playoff spot in the Pioneer League since Orem will take both halves of the division title. Casper SS Helder Velazquez was 2-4 with 2 RBI (18) and his 9th error to move to .253.

A season-ending 3-game set at the Ogden Raptors (17-18, Rookie Dodgers) starts Tuesday night. No announced pitchers. The Chukars will face the Orem Owlz in the playoffs after the regular season ends Thursday. IF is 5-13 against Orem this season.