Royals on the Farm 6/12

AAA -- Omaha: Iowa 10, O-Royals 5

3B Cortez 5-5, 3 2B (12), 2 RBI (19), RS -- .299, game of his life
1B Butler 1-5, RBI (43), 2 K -- .277
CF Maier 2-4, 2B (12), K, RS, OF assist at second -- .279
2B Lewis 2-4, 2B (5), 2 RS -- .250
DH Brazell 1-3, BB, 2B (10), RBI (29), K -- .314
RF Padilla 0-4, RBI (14), K -- .269
C Tupman 1-3, BB, RS -- .319
LF Huber 0-4 -- .260
SS Berroa 0-5, K, E (6) -- .282

Hendrickson 5 IP, 9 ER, 10 H, 2 BB, K, 2 HRA -- L, 6-4, 5.48 ERA
Giron 3 IP, ER, H, BB, 4 K -- 5.20 ERA

Fernando Cortez's 5-for-5 night was all for naught as a 5-run first propelled Iowa to the win over SP Ben Hendrickson and the Royals. Omaha stranded 2 in the 1st, including Cortez, who had doubled to lead off the game, and Iowa rallied for 5 runs with 2 out in the bottom of the inning as an Angel Berroa error helped lead to a 3-run homer by 3B Scott Moore to make it 5-0 I-Cubs. Omaha rallied back with 3 in the 2nd on a Jorge Padilla RBI ground out and 2-run single by Cortez to cut the lead to 5-3. Iowa wasn't done, tho, as the Cubs scored 1 in the 2nd and 2 in the 3rd off Hendrickson to make it 8-3. A Billy Butler RBI ground out in the 5th and a Craig Brazell RBI double sliced the lead to 8-5 but Iowa got a run back in the bottom of the inning to once again regain some of its lead. RP Roberto Giron gave up a run in the 7th and Omaha couldn't mount a rally before stranding 2 in the 9th to end it. Omaha is 32-33 and 6 1/2 games back of first. Iowa RF Buck Coats was 3-3 with his 5th SB, 1st error, 11th double and 22nd RBI to move to .305, Moore was 1-4 with his 7th homer and 3 RBI (36) to move to .246 and DH Geovany Soto was 2-3 with his 14th double and 2 RBI (35) to move to .322. Former Royal farmhand (I think) SP Les Walrond picked up the win for the Cubs despite allowing 5 ER on 10 hits and a walk with 3 Ks over 6 IP to improve to 7-2 with a 4.66 ERA.

Game 3 of the set is tonight as Omaha tries to get back in the W column. Probable starters: Omaha LH Tyler Lumsden (5-4, 5.90) vs. Iowa LH Neal Cotts (0-1, 7.43).

AA -- Wichita: Wranglers 7, Tulsa 3

CF Greenberg 2-4, 2 2B (14), 2 K, 2 RS -- .254
DH Donachie 1-3, S, HR (4), 5 RBI (24), K, 2 RS -- .203
3B Gaffney 2-3, S, 2B (5), K, RS -- .284
2B Valentin 1-3, S, HR (1), RBI (19), RS -- .281
SS Falu 0-3, BB, RBI (13), 2 K -- .234
1B Stodolka 1-4, RS -- .270

Cedeno 4 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 2 K, HRA, pickoff -- ND, 4.13 ERA
Connolly 4 1/3 IP, 3 H, E (1) -- W, 3-2, 4.55 ERA

Wichita broke open a tie game midway through and got the win to split the series with Tulsa. Geraldo Valentin got the Wranglers out to a nice start with a solo homer in the 1st for his 1st of the season and, after Tulsa got a homer off SP Juan Cedeno in the 2nd to tie it, Wichita scored 2 in the 2nd on an Adam Donachie RBI force out and a bases-loaded walk by Irving Falu. The Wranglers left the bases loaded in the inning, however, and Tulsa wasn't done as the Drillers tied the game in the 3rd on 3 hits and a walk off Cedeno. Both teams had chances to score but neither got it done until Adam Greenberg doubled to lead off the 6th and Donachie squeezed him home to make it 4-3 Wranglers. With 2 out and 1 on in the Wichita 8th, Mike Gaffney doubled and Donachie came through again with a 3-run homer for his 4th of the season and 5th RBI of the game to make it 7-3. RP Mike Connolly set the Drillers down, 1-2-3, in the 9th to end it. Wichita is 25-39 and 8 1/2 games back. Tulsa RF Christian Colonel was 3-4 with his 32nd RBI to move to .293, 3B Matt Macri was 2-3 with his 5th homer and 13th RBI to move to .292 and SP Ryan Mattheus took the loss with 7 IP of 4 ER on 4 hits, 3 walks and 5 Ks to drop to 3-4 with a 4.58 ERA.

Wichita starts a 4-game home set with the new division leaders, the Springfield Cardinals (32-29, AA Redbirds), tonight. Probable starters: Cards lefty Eric Haberer (3-2, 4.60) vs. Wichita lefty Danny Christensen (1-5, 5.90). Wichita is 8-4 versus the Cards thus far. The Wranglers had 3 players selected to the Texas League North all-star team as announced Tuesday. LF Chris Lubanski was chosen as a starter while 1B Mike Stodolka qualified as a reserve (another nice step in his comeback as a hitter) and SP Luke Hochevar (league Ks leader at 72) was chosen for the team. The ASG is June 26 in Corpus Christi. Lubanski missed Tuesday's game with a sore back.

A-Adv. -- Wilmington: rainout

The game with Frederick was postponed and will be made up as part of a Wednesday twinbill. Probable starters -- game 1: Wilmington's Julio Pimentel (3-2, 2.86) vs. Keys' SP David Hernandez (4-4, 4.55). Game 2: Wilmington's Patrick Green (0-3, 5.66) against Frederick's Carlos Perez (4-5, 5.06).

A -- Burlington: Bees 3, Peoria 2

3B Thompson 3-3, HBP, 2 2B (12), RBI (34) -- .235, on tear lately
DH Everett 2-4, RBI (19), K, 2 RS -- .297, ditto
1B Turner 0-2, HBP, SF, RBI (16) -- .187
CF Robinson 0-4, BB, K -- .258
SS McConnell 1-4, 2B (12) -- .231
*Burlington left 10 on base.

Teaford 6 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, K, WP -- W, 2-6, 5.02 ERA, like to see a better K/BB ratio
Barrera IP, 2 H, K -- 4.09 ERA
Wladyka 2 IP, 2 BB, K -- SV, 1, 16.88 ERA

The Bees took an early lead and held off the Chiefs to win their second in a row. A Jase Turner sac fly in the 2nd gave the Bees a 1-0 lead and the Bees added 2 more runs in the 3rd on a Brady Everett RBI single and Mike Thompson RBI double to make it 3-0. Starter Everett Teaford held Peoria scoreless into the 7th but gave up a run and left a runner on with no outs that inning when manager Jim Gabella brought in Henry Barrera. Barrera gave up 2 more hits for another ER charged to Teaford but got out of the inning with the 3-2 lead. RP Jim Wladyka came in for the 8th and got in and out of trouble that inning before setting the Chiefs down in order in the 9th for his 1st save for the Bees. Burlington is 27-37. Peoria CF Matt Camp was 2-4 with 2 SB (20), his 7th double and 17th RBI to move to .218 and SP Jose Pina went 4 2/3 IP and allowed 3 ER on 5 hits, 5 walks and 3 Ks to take the loss and drop to 1-7 with a 5.46 ERA.

The series shifts to Peoria for 2 games starting tonight. Probable starters: Bees LH Matt Campbell (4-2, 3.47) vs. Chiefs RH Jake Renshaw (5-3, 4.61) . Despite the dismal record, the Bees finished the first half with a winning home record at 19-18. Five games remain in the first half, all on the road for Burlington. Campbell is back in town after making only 1 start in Wilmington. No word why he got sent back, as he had a nice start for the Rocks. Must have been a spot start deal, or maybe the return is. SS Chris McConnell was called up to Wilmington after the game, despite not really hitting all that well at Burlington. The same goes for IF Jeremy Jirschele, who also got called up to Wilmington. IF Jesus Soto was also signed and assigned to Burlington Tuesday. The switch-hitting Soto is from Venezuela and was recently released by the Dodgers. He hadn't played in the full-season minors this season and hit .309 last season at Ogden in the Pioneer League (Idaho Falls' league). He turns 21 in September.