Tigers 2,546, Royals 3: the Debacle

I wonder how many voters out there are reconsidering their "Yes" votes on proposition 1 from yesterday's ballot. Today's game goes beyond the word "embarrassment". I like the word "nausea" or "galling" to describe it. Joe Mays gets shelled, Luke Hudson actually comes in for 1 2/3 IP and keeps the Tigers in check, then gets inexplicably taken out by Bell for Stemle, who promptly gives up 4 ER on 6 hits. Gobble comes in for an inning and gives up a jack. Then Wood comes in and gives up 2 HRs without an out and hits Craig Monroe with a pitch to get ejected. Meanwhile, Berroa has his first "Berroa" game of 2006 with a fielding error and baserunning blunder. Is it possible for the wheels to completely come off a season in game 2 of 162????? 'Cause that feels like what's happening today. Could Mike Sweeney maybe get a hit or two -- can Grudz even make contact? Same goes for Teahen. Only a combined 0-fer-11 today for those three. There was nary a good day for any Royal in today's game.

I got an e-mail from royals.com today entitled "Upgrades on way for KC stadiums!" I'd prefer it to say "Upgrades on way for KC's players!" What good is hundreds of millions in stadium renovations for absolutely atrocious baseball? You can paint an outhouse any color you want, but it's still an outhouse. I guess on the flipside it's not a brand spankin' new stadium paid for to play host to atrocious baseball. I didn't think I'd get disillusioned so quickly this season. Hopefully there's nowhere to go but up. I'm seriously considering registering fireallardbaird.com. I brought up firetonypena.com on a Royals Yahoo e-mail group in 2005 and he was out not too long after. It can be the Pipeline jinx. Please let it be so.

Tigers 3, Royals 1

Ah, last place. I hope the stay is as temporary as possible. The Royals got a decent start out of Scott Elarton Monday on opening day but scraped together only 1 run on 4 hits to take the loss. The Tigers got 9 hits but only 3 counted -- 2 HRs by Chris Shelton off Elarton and a Carlos Guillen homer off Sisco. Meanwhile, Grudzielanek celebrated his first official Royals game with the triple sombrero -- 3 Ks and Teahen, Buck and Sweeney went a combined 0-9 with a walk. The Royals just didn't give themselves many chances today. Four hits and one run isn't gonna win you games unless this is 1968 and you've got Koufax and Drysdale. Elarton and Mays don't much resemble Koufax and Drysdale. Elarton threw 92 pitches thru 5 2/3 IP, which isn't good, but only gave up the 2 ER on Shelton's homers. He kept the team in the game -- they just couldn't get the job done at the plate. So after a spring in which the Royals offense looked good and the pitching staff was shaky (at least the starters), the two juxtapose on opening day. Today's game was there for the taking, but at least the defense held strong -- no errors. Rogers pitched a good game for Detroit and refrained from assaulting any cameramen. Rookie Joel Zumaya had 3 Ks over 2 IP in relief and Fernando Rodney shut the door. This is a good game to brush off and forget about. They need to generate some offense off Bonderman Wednesday.

For better or worse...

the Royals are headed into the 2006 season. Over the past week, the KC roster has been pared down to 25, somewhat controversially. Baird/Glass believers have had their arguments for the moves made while the numerous Royals detractors out there have had their fun at the team's expense.
First move -- Tony Graffanino in as utility infielder, Joe McEwing out. Yeah yeah, McEwing had a good spring but he has been and always will be roster filler. If he was gonna show anything in the majors, he would have by now. He's 32 and has a .303 lifetime OBP and .356 lifetime SLG when the games count. Plus he's an average fielder, so he's not bringing enough to the table there to make him a crucial part of the roster. Graffanino isn't a spectacular fielder but he's solid enough and gets on base better with a little more pop in the bat than McEwing. He's a little older but won't be around more than this season, most likely. And if the Royals can get anything out of the Astros in the trade for McEwing, that's fine with me. This one made the least amount of ripples in the news.
Second move -- Shane Costa in as 4th OF, Aaron Guiel to Omaha and Chip Ambres clears waivers to Omaha. This one is a little more open to debate. I don't understand why the organization keeps jerking Guiel around. Last year he had a great year in AAA and couldn't crack the majors for more than 109 ABs. This season he has a great spring and still gets sent down. He is 32 compared to Costa at 24 and Ambres at 26, so that counted against him but I can't think of another reason Baird and Bell would decide he needs to go. Actually, Costa was arguably the weakest option of the three (despite the fact he outhit Ambres in ST) but got picked for the opening day roster. This is the kind of fuel the detractors look for when they want to sling mud on the organization.
Third move -- Relievers Stephen Andrade and Joel Peralta out, Steve Stemle and Luke Hudson in. Stemle had a 5.00 ERA in 9 IP this spring so picking him over Andrade's 3 IP of 0.00 ERA (I'm betting he's the first Omaha call-up) or Peralta's 3.48 ERA in 10 1/3 IP (also a good candidate for an early call to KC) is puzzling to say the least. At least Hudson had a 1.50 ERA in 6 IP and some major league experience to back him up.
Every season you have those moments where you wonder if the powers-that-be in the organization know what they're doing. In 2005 a couple examples were bringing in Hocking and McEwing and letting Lima ring up roster bonuses despite one of the worst SP seasons ever. In 2006, beside the Guiel and Andrade/Peralta moves, the expansion of the weak payroll by signing three mediocre pitchers and the decision to let Matt Diaz go (he made the Braves' roster). The Elarton/Mays/Redman signings have been started off with ST ERAs of 6-plus for both Elarton and Mays and Redman on the DL already. On the flipside, the Mientkiewicz signing looked good in ST and I'm a believer that Esteban German will end up being a good pick-up. I gotta tell the truth on my opinion, though -- the questionable moves made by the front office and/or Bell make me wonder how much improvement can be made with the organization in its current state. My 2006 prediction for the Royals is 70-92.

Spring training stats link:
http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/stats/sortable_player_stats.jsp?c_id=kc

"One Lonely Beastie I Be"

A recent post on RoyalBoard interpolated a Beastie Boys lyric and got me thinking, "I bet I could make a decent '06 Royals preview out of Beastie quotes." There are common threads between the Beastie Boys and the KC Royals, although their paths seem to have diverged recently. The Beasties-owned record label is Grand Royal. They started what is now an over 20-year career (in the mainstream, not counting their early years as a punk band) at about the time the Royals hit their peak with the 1985 World Series. Even the early Beastie years began around the time the Royals were done in by George Brett's hemorrhoids and other factors in the 1980 World Series. The Beasties had an underground classic in Paul's Boutique and then another classic in Check Your Head in the late '80s-early '90s, while the Royals kept playing competitive baseball through that time. The Beasties' Ill Communication album in 1994 preceded a dry time for the group as the Royals went into a nearly permanent funk in the mid 1990s with 1994 as the last year over .500 for a while. Hello Nasty brought the Beasties back in the late 1990s, which roughly equates to the 2003 improbable run for the Royals. The Beasties also had a couple hits in '04 and '05 from their newest album, To the Five Boroughs, so maybe 2006 and the future will give the Royals some high spots to look forward to. Fans can only hope.

1 and 1a. Well, people how you doing there's a new day dawning
For the earth mother it's a brand new morning
For such a long while there's been such a longing
But now the sun is shining let's roll back the awning

and

We can't say enough about all you do
'Cause in the city we're ourselves and electric too

Those two quotes represent an early "D-Day" coming up for the Royals -- the April vote on the proposed stadium renovations at "The K" and the Truman Sports Complex. You have the side, promoted mainly by the team as well as the Chiefs, that wants these to be voted in by Jackson County residents/voters. They're getting promises for All-Star Games and Super Bowls to sweeten this deal up and make it go down easier for the sports-enthusiast voters. But if those people are split and you have the non-sports enthusiasts out there who vote against it, how's it gonna go through? I'm firmly in the camp that says if the taxpayers are gonna lay out that kind of cash, why not just build a new stadium with a retractable roof? Why fix up an older complex when better plans may be found elsewhere -- either downtown or in Kansas (Kansas likely won't happen, though, with all the school finance debate raging on)? Why do you need a 9,500-seat pavilion for concerts with other venues like Verizon Wireless and Starlight around and the Sprint Center soon to come? I don't live in Jackson County so I don't get a vote and my outlook isn't great for the issue. Glass' reaction will be interesting to see if the issue gets voted down. I also love that first lyric, which kicks off "Jimmy James" and therefore the Check Your Head album.

2. Well, Mike D's in the house, what you gonna do
I go A.W.O.L.
Adrock's in the house, what you gonna do
I go A.W.O.L.
Well, MCA's in the house, what you gonna do
I go A.W.O.L.
Well, Hurricane's in the house, what you gonna do
He goes A.W.O.L.

This lyric from "B-Boy Bouillabaise" goes out to Zack Greinke. The once and future staff "ace" left training camp for still unknown reasons and has yet to return. The fans have heard a great deal about Zack's potential but have seen little of it pan out on the mound. Meanwhile he spouts off stoner quotes and comes off as totally medicated in interviews. He is rumored to have been unresponsive to coaching and former pitching coach Guy "The Arm Whisperer" Hansen may have damaged the goods in 2005. The 2006 season could be a make-or-break year for Greinke and his future with the team. He is still young, though, only 22. Rushing him along looks like it may have been another crucial mistake for the Royals' front office.

3. Looking down the barrel of a gun
Son of a gun son of a b****
Getting paid getting rich

That one from Paul's Boutique goes out to two players for different reasons -- Mike Sweeney and David DeJesus. I'm not a Sweeney fan and have posted as such in the past. The $11 million/110 game DH can rest easy in that spot with Doug Mientkiewicz brought in with the glove at 1B. Of course he wants to play the field, which isn't his strong suit. You can also count on any time he starts to go great his body breaks down. He already has a bone bruise and is down for a while. It's only a matter of time until he's on the DL. I don't like thinking that way but he hasn't played more than 122 games since signing the big deal. With him getting older why should '06 be any different? GM Allard Baird did, on the flip side, pull off a good deal by inking DeJesus to a contract that gets the team through his arbitration years. It's nice to lock up a good younger player for a while, for a change. Maybe Baird is learning.

4 and 4a. Weighs in at two seventy five
*so take that and move back catch a heart attack*

and

First you want to battle then you start to whine
You're looking hungry, it must be snack time

So first, Runelvys Hernandez hires Scott Boras as his agent. That's already a step in the wrong direction if you're a Royals fan. Boras' reputation proceeds him. Then, Runelvys shows up to camp looking like a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon. Also not good. It's bad enough he was the team wins leader with *8* in 2005. He's rehabbing from TJ surgery, so you'd think he'd be interested in getting in good shape, not Bartolo Colon shape. Obviously not. Buddy Bell was pissed, reportedly, about Runelvys' gut coming into camp and he'll surely enter the regular season still quite a bit overweight. The team can only hope the weight problems don't make other more baseball-usable parts of his body break down.

5. Like pins and needles and words that sting
At the blink of an eye I will do my thing

This one goes out to Andy Sisco, who made it through his Rule V draft year in the majors with pretty good numbers -- a 3.11 ERA and 76 Ks in 75 IP. A 1.46 WHIP can be improved on, though. He enters this season at age 23 and will start in the bullpen. He may make an arguable option at closer while MacDougal is on the mend from shoulder problems. Burgos has that gig to start the season but Sisco's stuff will keep him in the running. Sisco needs to reprise his 2005 performance and improve on it to give the Royals the bullpen boost they're gonna need. It doesn't look like he has much shot at a starting job this season, but this looks like another good move by Baird.

6. I'm in the lab all day I Scrabble all night

The whole "Scrabble infield" joke about Mientkiewicz and Grudzielanek is already getting tired, but why not drive it into the ground? I was hoping the Royals would pick up A.J. Pierzynski at C, bring Mike Pagliarulo out of retirement at 3B and Buddy Biancalana out of minor league managing at SS to round it out. The duo was brought in as FA signings mainly for their gloves with whatever positive output produced from their bats as gravy. Spring training is fairly meaningless -- Gabe Gross went off for the Blue Jays last season in ST and how did he end up? -- but Mientkiewicz is tearing it up in Surprise (.487 BA, 1.297 OPS, 7 BB, 0 Ks thru 14 games) while Grudz isn't doing that great (.323 BA but only a .731 OPS and 1 walk in over 30 plate appearances -- he also committed 2 errors in one game I listened to on the radio) but hopefully will round into shape in the first couple months. If Minky can keep up with anything close to this, his signing will be a huge steal.

7. If you pick a rose, well you might just bleed

To the 2000 draft, which will be one of those "what might have been" years for the Royals. This is relevant by happenings within the Royals' top 5 picks that year. #4 overall pick Mike Stodolka is finished as a pitcher -- the organization is switching him to 1B at Wichita. We'll see how that pans out. Another top-five round pick -- 3rd-round C Scott Walter -- has retired after a mediocre '05 at Omaha. At least DeJesus was a fourth-rounder that year and has panned out. A quick glance at the draft that year shows the Royals could have had Rocco Baldelli, Chase Utley, Sean Burnett or Aaron Heilman in round 1; picked Mike Tonis (gone from the system) over players like Xavier Nady in rd 2; Grady Sizemore went one pick after Walter in round 3; Cliff Lee went one pick after DeJesus and Yadier Molina and Laynce Nix also went in round 4; and fifth round P Zach McClellan, also no longer in the system, went ahead of Garrett Atkins and Bobby Jenks. Sigh. I won't go any further.

8. I got supplies of beats so you don't have to wait
'Cause I'm the master blaster drinking up the Shasta

2006 may see the major league debut of born-to-be-a-DH Billy Butler, who will start the year at Wichita but will likely work his way to Omaha by mid-season, by my estimation, if he isn't called up directly to the pros from AA as the Royals love to do. Butler has absolutely raked wherever he has been stationed and has absolutely sucked in the field wherever he has played. He was moved to LF last year and did somewhat better there than at 3B but that was mainly because there was slightly less damage to be done in left. I just hope to God he starts figuring things out in the field so the team doesn't have another Sweeney on its hands. The Royals need to hire a special outfield coach just for Butler -- a private tutor -- and pound the fielding prowess into him somehow. It'll be an exciting moment to see him at the plate for KC, though. Also, Beastie fans are free to finish this lyric with the line "My voice sounds sweet 'cause it has ta". What's another word for Pirate treasure? I think its "booty."

9. I'm getting intense, not talking nonsese
I made up my mind, not sitting on the fence
I don't always know the right from the wrong
I do my best to figure it out and work it out in the long
I try to do a lot more than I can chew
I balance out my ambitions it's what I've got to do

We enter 2006 with Jeremy Affeldt's role on the team once again in question? Is he a starter or a reliever? Will he be traded before the all-star break or not? Will he be the closer again at some point? The team does need to stop jerking him around and go one route or another with him. All things considered, I'd like to see what the Royals could get in trade for him. I don't like that he whines to the media whenever he doesn't like what's going on. Like with Sweeney, Affeldt has problems with injuries every year. He gets injured or doesn't perform in the role he's given then bitches when the job goes to someone else. I can do without it. If he is on the team, he's gonna have to step up and do well in whatever role he is given. He may deserve a chance to be a starter but the front office and coaching staff need to make up their minds.

10. I've got more rhymes than I've got grey hairs
And that's alot because I've got my share

The Royals have two players on the squad that are children of the '60s. Matt Stairs is back for another year as 1B/DH/wherever Bell decides to put him. He produced all right in 2005 with an OPS over .800 and was third on the team in RBI. The only question is how he fits into the lineup with Sweeney and Mientkiewicz. I guess he gets Sweeney's ABs during the inevitable DL stint. The other "old man" on the team is Reggie Sanders, a FA signing that fans should hope doesn't hearken back to the many times the Royals have signed a player a year or two too late -- let's hope he's not another Juan Gone. He's had some back problems in recent years and, as Sweeney can attest, those are hard to deal with at times. When he was healthy in 2005 he raked for the Cardinals at a .546 clip in slugging % so hopefully he can cross Missouri on I-70 and repeat that for the Royals. His OPS has been better than park-adjusted league average for five years running and KC needs that streak to roll on. Unfortunately the team's abundance of DH-able players will most likely keep Sanders from taking advantage of that role in the lineup. On the bright side, his deal is for two years and not a ton of money, so Baird got that part right. As for the lines, "Sure Shot" was one of the hands-down best songs on Ill Communication.

11. It's not how you play the game it's how you win it

This will be Buddy Bell's first wire-to-wire (I'm expecting) season as Royals manager unless they go 0-162, in which case he may be gone, but I doubt it. Baird and Glass let Tony Pena screw around with the team long enough and I'm sure Buddy Bell will get plenty of rope. Needless to say, I wasn't a big fan of the Bell hire. I thought there were much better candidates out there -- I wanted Larry Dierker as skip -- and, if none of them were up to taking it on in mid-season, why not let Schaefer or somebody else finish out the season and move on? Buddy Bell has one winning season under his belt as manager and that was 82-80. Of course he had some sucky Rockies and Tigers teams but if we can't judge him by their lack of improvement, what can we judge him by? He seems to like coming into dire situations and trying to turn things around. That just hasn't happened for him yet. If the Royals get it turned around, it'll be the first time for Bell.

12 and 12a. Let me get some action from the back section
We need body rockin' not perfection

and

People always say my style is wild

The bullpen was a noted strength of the '05 Royals and will have to do its part again. Luckily, the same crew is back for KC and hopefully the weaker points (Nunez and Gobble, to name two) have improved to shore it up. Nunez needed much more minor league seasoning and hopefully will get a full season of that in 2006. Burgos has still had his wild points (the wild pitch late in the White Sox game the other day was horrible) but has the heat and the stuff to make a difference. At least Shawn Camp and Nate Field and Jaime Cerda are gone for good, from the way things look. Sisco, Burgos, MacDougal (if and when he gets healthy and can keep his head right and the ball where it needs to be), and whoever shakes out of the rotation fight in camp will hopefully be able along with Gobble to hold things down on the back end of the games. It'd be nice to have starters that can consistently keep you in the game for 6 or 7 innings, though. Also a great couple of lines from Body Movin' on Hello Nasty. Had to get a line in from Intergalactic, too, since that was a great song. That second lyric was meant especially for Burgos and MacDougal, who sometimes seem to have as little clue as the batter where the ball is going after it leaves their hands.

13. Sense the power in the air as it starts to move
You get a real good feeling that you just can't lose

2005 first rounder Alex Gordon has come into camp and proved his worth to the team and fans. Through 15 games he has hit .414/.528!!!/.483 and thrown in 3 SBs to boot. He may be able to put some pressure on Teahen at third to push Teahen to improve. Gordon will start the year at Wichita and you figure for promotional reasons, much less for talent reasons, he'll finish at Omaha since he's huge in Nebraska. He could very well be in KC's opening day lineup in 2007. As time passes, it becomes more obvious the #1 pick in 2006 has to be a pitcher for KC. Hopefully that player will also pay off as well as Gordon looks like he may.

14. Life comes in phases take the good with the bad
You bought those coins on the street and you got had

The much-debated (among fans) Carlos Beltran deal will continue to be a topic of dispute throughout 2006 as Mike Wood, Mark Teahen and John Buck will fill three of the team's 25 MLB spots. Buck hasn't hit his way out of a paper bag in any more than short-term spurts. Teahen hit well in the second half of '05 after struggling through the first half. Wood was the best of the three in 2005 and had a 4.46 ERA and 1.57 WHIP in 115 innings. Youth is on the side of all three players, though, and development is still to come. Of course, with Beltran's paltry performance in 2005, it made that deal closer to a wash but those three will have "the trade" hanging over their heads until they prove they belong in the majors.

15. You've been in the game, your career is long
But when you break it down you've only got 2 songs

The other three free-agent signings by Allard Baird -- Mark Redman, Scott Elarton and Joe Mays -- yielded three 30-something (close with Elarton) pitchers, one of whom is already on the shelf with leg problems and had a horrible second-half in 2005 (Redman), one of whom is the opening day starter despite a 4.61 ERA in 2005 and a 6.55 spring ERA in 3 games (Elarton) and the other, who is in his second year coming back from TJ surgery and has had one year with an ERA under 4.40 (Mays). None of the three has shown much in ST but pitchers get a little more time to round into shape. The WBC, if nothing else, showed that not all the major league pitchers (*cough-Dontrelle Willis-cough*) were ready for prime time. Of course, Dontrelle pitched a lot better than any of these guys last year. I just hope none of the three has an ERA over 5 and I doubt that's gonna happen.

16. Because mutiny on the bounty's what we're all about
I'm gonna board your ship and turn it on out

The first lines on the first song of the first Beastie Boys album, Licensed to Ill, go out to Allard Baird. You have to wonder if the Royals tank and lose 100 games for yet another season if Baird will be gone. I was calling for his ouster after 2004 but that didn't happen. He has his sympathizers that make excuses for some of the moves he's made. For every Bautista there's a Neifi Perez, though, and I haven't seen much improvement on the field for the Royals in recent times. There are good things going on in the organization, however, and Baird and Glass did make an effort to make some smart, cheap moves in the offseason to bolster weaker parts of the team. I'm not one of the low payroll whiners -- you can't win with a $37 million payroll and if you can't generate more revenue to spend more than that, get out of the game. The performance of the team along with the results of the stadium issue may have major effects on the franchise in 2006.

18. Until your back's up against the wall
You never know yourself that much at all

Denny Bautista had an injury-plagued 2005 after a great early start against the Angels and struggled to come back. He's back in camp and had a 3.50 ERA in 18 IP before spinning a gem today against the Padres with only 1 hit allowed through 5 IP. If he can get in good physical shape to withstand the wear and tear of 30 or more starts in a season and can get locked down consistently as in the Angels start last year and Padres game Thursday, he could do family member Pedro Martinez proud in KC. Hopefully he's just not another Royals pitching casualty. This lyric could also apply to SS Angel Berroa, who frustrated fans in 2005 with inconsistent pop in his bat and numerous gaffes in the field. Hopefully Bell will also be smart enough to not bat him high in the lineup since he CAN'T TAKE A WALK. He's like Joaquin Phoenix's character in "Signs" -- he must feel it's wrong not to swing at pitches. If Blanco can stay healthy and hit at Omaha or new acquisition Esteban German (a Pipeline favorite, by the way) hits like he did last year in AAA for Oklahoma City, either may push Berroa to step it up. If either does and Berroa keeps with his free-swinging, seldom-making-contact ways, Berroa could be playing for another organization soon. If German is at all adequate in the field and proves himself at the plate, I'm all for Berroa's shipment out.

19. Hate filled people wanna keep us in check
Tearin' down each other is what they expect

The Royals were a great organization to grow up with in the 1980s. You started the decade off with a World Series appearance and had Brett, White, Leonard, Quisenberry, Wilson as bedrock. Then you had great years in 1984 and 1985 -- a World Series ring speaks for itself. It makes it hard to be a fan when you see that team become the laughingstock it was in 2005. I hate Jay Leno's comedy enough without him shooting his mouth off about the Royals. ESPN isn't much better -- if the Royals can even crack the highlights. The only thing that will turn the situation around is wins. The AL Central has been there for the taking for years but the front office down to the players can't get the job done. 2006 will be either a step in the direction of improvement or another year at the bottom of the barrel. How many hits can the organization take before something changes?

20. One final set of lyrics to kick the season off:

Season's change when it comes their time
Falls brings the winter and on back to springtime

Here's hoping for a 2006 to remember for Royals fans.

Schematic updated

Dropping a note that the Schematic organizational depth chart is up to date as of tonight. Hopefully will have a couple more posts up by the end of the week.

http://www.freewebs.com/steelcurtain88/schematic.htm

On first glance I gotta say the organization looks improved top to bottom. It's probably not an A but it's not in the somewhat sorry shape it was last year. Some nice additions at the major league level to give the young guys time to develop; some actual young talent at Omaha along with the usual refried retreads; major upgrades at Wichita with Gordon, Butler, Angel Sanchez, and maybe Chris Lubanski? Haven't heard on Lubanski; also not locked in on rosters for High Desert or Burlington yet. Wichita signed a load of pitchers recently, including former Expo Seung Song, former Padre Junior Herndon and former somewhat known prospects (not the most ringing endorsement) Ryan Snare and Shane Loux. On the other side of the coin, Greinke has gone Colonel Kurtz on the team and is somewhere in the Everglades with an army of jungle natives slaughtering cattle and reading poetry with Dennis Hopper running around with a camera. I envision Buddy Bell getting drunk in a hotel room in his underwear breaking a mirror with his fist doing karate and weeping loudly while wrapped in a sheet. Maybe it's time for the Royals to eliminate Greinke "with extreme prejudice." Macdougal has also continued the team's "bad luck" run of pitching injuries with a bum shoulder that's putting him out for 6 weeks. Yeah, bad luck. Two or three times is bad luck. Umpteen is bad handling. Anyway, I'm looking forward to 2006. I hope that feeling lasts past May 1.

Royals in the Fall/organizational C assessment

EDITED TO ADD KC STATS

It's been nice to have a break....oddly I haven't been greatly inspired, or at least had the energy, to post in a while, especially since many other topics are interesting to me. Fantasy football, movies, music, books, etc. (God, I sound like an Overstock.com commercial) I wanted this to be not just a Royals blog but that sure looks like what it's pretty much ended up being. Anyway, with that said....

Royals position prospects LF Billy Butler, C Mathew Tupman and 1B Justin Huber joined organizational P prospects Brian Bass, Chris Demaria and Jonah Bayliss on the Arizona Fall League's Surprise Scorpions and it looks like they're on the team to beat:

Tuesday, Oct. 4 (opening day)
Surprise 14, Peoria 2
Bayliss 1 2/3 IP in relief, 1 hit, 1K
Butler 0-5
Tupman 1-3, RBI
Huber DNP

Wednesday
Surprise 11, Peoria 6
Butler DH'ed -- 4-5, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 3 RS
Tupman 0-1
Huber DNP
All 3 pitchers DNP

Angels top prospects 1B Kendry Morales, 2B Howie Kendrick, SS Brandon Wood and P Jered Weaver are also on the team, so it could be a juggernaut on offense. Just the pitching needs to hold up.

I also thought I'd start a position-by-position assessment of the Royals organization, starting with C:

stats -- games, AB, BA/OBP/SLG, HR, RBI, BB, K, E

KC

John Buck 118 G, 401 AB, .242/.287/.389, 12 HR, 47 RBI, 23 BB, 94 K, 3 E, 3 PB, 60/91 SB
Paul Phillips 23 G, 67 AB, .269/.269/.403, 1 HR, 9 RBI, 0 BB, 5 K, 1 E, 2 PB, 4/11 SB
Alberto Castillo -- bad, just trust me

*** Buck had his moments but overall was bad in '05. He can't even get on base at a .300 clip. Walk/K ratio is bad, runners had pretty good luck on his arm as only 31 were caught in 91 chances. Phillips was better at catching runners but also didn't take a walk at the major level. C is one position the Royals need to shore up at the higher levels.

Omaha

Phillips 87 G, 332 AB, .268/.317/.401, 7 HR, 42 RBI, 21 BB, 41 K, ? E
Jared Price 24 G, 88 AB, .239/.264/.455, 5 HR, 11 RBI,2 BB, 23 K, 4 E
Scott Walter 38 G, 145 AB, .269/.303/.497, 8, 30, 4 BB, 33 K, 4 E
Tomas Duenas 4 G, 12 AB, .250/.308/.250, 0, 0, 1 BB, 6 K, 1 E

*** Actually I didn't see Phillips as doing a whole lot throughout
the year in Omaha. Enough, anyway, to wonder why he's on the 40-man roster.
Price had good stats at High Desert (will be listed later) before
playing a whopping 4 games at AA to earn a trip to Omaha (typical
Royals move) and is 5 years younger at 23. Actually his OPS is a
point higher than Phillips although his OBP is bad. Looks like he
needs to figure out the strike zone. He had some great moments for
Omaha during the late run. Couldn't find Phillips' E stats at Omaha.
Duenas was a late season signing who didn't do much in limited
action.

Wichita

Mathew Tupman 109 G, 365 AB, .263/.355/.334, 2, 32, 46 BB, 62 K, 10E
John Draper 62 G, 182 AB, .247/.357/.330, 1, 14, 29 BB, 38 K, 2 E
Price 4 G, 10 AB, .300/.300/.700, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 4 K, ? E

*** Draper also played some OF. Both can get on base but neither had
much power. Tupman had a good early and middle part of the season but
didn't seem to do much (from memory) down the stretch as the
Wranglers faded. They're both 25, or will be by the end of the MLB
season. I wouldn't rate them as high prospects but they're decent.

High Desert

Adam Donachie 95 G, 347 AB, .294/.375/.467, 12, 48, 43 BB, 78 K, 10 E
Price 30 G, 107 AB,.318/.348/.720, 11 HR, 32 RBI, 4 BB, 31 K, ? E
Luis Gonzalez 6 G, 14 AB, .286/.474/.357, 0, 1, 5 BB, 5 K, 1 E
Brady Everett 6 G, 18 AB, .278/.318/.333, 0, 2, 2 BB, 2 K, 0 E
Damaso Espino 25 G, 91 AB, .231/.304/.275, 1, 12, 9 BB, 8 K, ? E

*** Damn, check out Price's SLG! Donachie also had a good season,
although you have to remember this is the Cal League where every game
is basically Coors Field conditions. The team is "High Desert," after
all. Donachie is only 21, tho, so I'd rate him and Price as the top 2
catching prospects in the organization, followed by some 2005
draftees including Everett. Everett did all right in a late call-up
after hitting well at Idaho Falls. He is 22. I'd bet Price starts at
Omaha in '06 and Donachie is at least at Wichita. Tupman also might
be up at Omaha. The bulk of Espino's work was done at Burlington.

Burlington

Damaso Espino 74 G, 278 AB, .263/.329/.284, 0, 41, 27 BB, 27 K, 9 E
Robert Grana 42 G, 113 AB, .168/.240/.177, 0, 8, 11 BB, 29 K, 3 E
F. Del Rosario 26 G, 78 AB, .256/.341/.410, 2, 9, 10 BB, 19 K, 6 E
Jorge Maduro 7 G, 17 AB, .118/.167/.176, 0, 1, 1 BB, 2 K, 2 E

*** Espino had his moments for the Bees, too, including some clutch
hits but he had little power with only 6 XBH -- all doubles. Del
Rosario did well after Grana went down with a season-ending elbow
injury midway through the season. Del Rosario showed some pop and
didn't do bad with plate discipline. Espino was also good in that
facet. Espino is 22, Del Rosario 23. I wouldn't be surprised to see
Espino at High Desert with Everett to start '06. Espino did have a HR
at HD, which shows the power of the Cal League.

Idaho Falls

Everett 29 G, 108 AB, .361/.457/.593, 5, 21, 13 BB, 16 K, ? E
Kiel Thibault 41 G, 145 AB, .310/.388/.593, 9, 34, 10 BB, 26 K, 7 E
Jeff Howell 39 G, 136 AB, .346/.455/.449, 1, 17, 29 BB, 36 K, 4 E

*** Thibault and Everett both DH'ed some at IF. All three impressed
at the plate with Howell and Everett looking especially good in terms
of plate discipline. All three are '05 draftees -- Thibault 21 and
Howell 22. Any could be the Royals' catcher of the future or could
end up being prospects to ship somewhere to plug a hole. It'd be cool
if the Royals could keep all three and put them to use by '07, '08 or
'09. Everett will likely move up to HD and I can see Thibault and
Howell at Burlington to start '06. The Pioneer League also inflates
hitters' ##s, tho, so keep that in mind.

ASL Royals

Ross Boudreaux 27 G, 81 AB, .259/.406/.420, 2, 13, 14 BB, 25 K, 6 E
Jefferson Infante 16 G, 28 AB, .286/.429/.607, 2, 7, 5 BB, 12 K, 0 E
Oscar Marrero 21 G, 57 AB, .246/.317/.246, 0, 5, 6 BB, 11 K, 5 E
Nicholas Doscher 17 G, 48 AB, .146/.349/.167, 0, 4, 15 BB, 10 K, 2 E

*** Quick rundown on ages, Boudreaux 23, Infante 23, Marrero 18,
Doscher 18. Doscher proved he can get on base but not much else.
Boudreaux's stats are better than I thought he did from just looking
at box scores so I'd expect him at IF next year. At this point in the
organization there's kind of a logjam at C. Infante did well but was
mainly used as a PH. Good stats for limited action. Marrero and
Doscher will likely get another year in Arizona or maybe IF.

By the way, a complete Royals' organizational depth chart can be
found at http://www.freewebs.com/steelcurtain88/schematic.htm

For 2006, I'd give the C position a C-, but for the farther-out future I'd give it a B/B-

Royals on the Farm 9/9 -- done for the summer

High-A: High Desert's batters, and more specifically OF Chris Lubanski, came to play in the 3-game series with Lancaster but the pitching staff couldn't get the job done as the Mavs' season ended Friday with a 9-8 11-inning loss to Lancaster after HD had an early 7-1 lead. SP Billy Buckner gave up a run in the top of the 1st but the Mavs scored 5 in the bottom of the inning on a 2-run triple by Lubanski, RBI single by 1B Kila Kaaihue and RBI singles by 3B Michael Gaffney and 2B Walter Sevilla for a 5-1 lead. The Mavs tacked on 2 in the 2nd on RBI doubles by Lubanski and RF Bernard Stephens for a 7-1 lead. Lancaster scored a run in both the 3rd and 6th to cut the lead to 4 but HD scored again in the 7th on a Lubanski solo homer (his 3rd of the series) for an 8-3 lead. RP Chad Blackwell gave up a run in the 8th and 2 in the 9th before getting pulled in favor of RP Gabe DeHoyos with the score 8-6. DeHoyos gave up a game-tying 2-run homer to the first batter he faced before getting the three outs in quick order. Lubanski singled to complete the cycle in the 9th but the Mavs couldn't get him home. Lancaster scored in the top of the 11th off RP Brian Steffek and, in the bottom of the inning, Lubanski walked and Kaaihue singled to put 2 runners on with 1 out. Stephens struck out before DH Alan Moye grounded into a season-ending force out. Buckner went 7 IP and allowed 3 R (2 ER) on 7 hits and 2 walks with 3 Ks to make his ERA 2.57; Blackwell went an inning and allowed 4 ER on 4 hits to make his playoff ERA 22.50 -- maybe they should have let him stay in Burlington....it was a weird time to give someone his first shot at pitching in the Cal League; DeHoyos blew his 1st save with an IP of 1 ER on a hit with a K to finish the series with a disappointing 6.75 ERA; RP Eric Ackerman pitched a hitless inning with 3 Ks to keep his ERA at 0.00; and Steffek took the loss with an IP of an ER on 3 hits with a K to finish with an ERA of 9.00. LF Pete Maestrales was 2-6 to finish at .267; SS Angel Sanchez was 2-6 with 2 RS to finish at .429; Lubanski was 4-5 with a walk, double, triple, HR, 4 RBI and 3 RS to finish at an amazing .867; Kaaihue was 3-6 with an RBI to finish at .357; Moye was 0-4 with 2 walks to finish at .154; C Adam Donachie was 0-5 to finish at .071; Sevilla was 3-5 with an RBI to finish at .556; and Gaffney was 2-4 with an RBI to finish at .444.

High Desert finished the second half at 39-31. Overall the Mavs finished 75-65. The Cal League is hard on pitchers, which the Mavs found out throughout the season and in the playoffs. It's too bad, because this team could have won the league.

Royals on the Farm 9/8

High-A: High Desert was against the wall late after blowing an early lead in Thursday's game 2 with Lancaster but rallied to stay alive with a 15-11 win that sets up a deciding game 3 tonight in Adelanto. Lancaster took a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the 3rd but High Desert had a big inning with 5 runs on RBI singles by 1B Kila Kaaihue and RF Bernard Stephens and a bases-clearing 3-run double by 3B Michael Gaffney. The Mavs added a run in the 4th on a Stephens RBI single for a 6-3 lead but SP John Gragg III and RP Greg Atencio gave up 6 runs (thanks in part to back-to-back triples) in the 6th for a 9-6 lead. High Desert trimmed the lead to 2 in the 7th with a Stephens solo homer but Lancaster got the run back in the top of the 8th to make the score 10-7. With 2 out and 1 on in the bottom of the 8th, Kaaihue hit a 2-run homer and, 2 batters later, Stephens cracked a 2-run shot for his second of the game. C Adam Donachie doubled and 2B Walter Sevilla singled him home. Later with the bases loaded, SS Angel Sanchez hit a 2-run single and CF Chris Lubanski hit an RBI single to give the Mavs a 15-10 lead. RP Gabe DeHoyos gave up a solo shot in the 9th but held on to secure the win. Gragg III went 5 1/3 IP and allowed 8 R (7 ER) on 5 hits and 2 walks with 5 Ks to make his playoff ERA 11.81; Atencio blew his 1st save with 1 IP of an ER on 3 hits and a walk with a K to make his ERA 9.00; RP Brian Steffek went an inning and allowed an ER on 2 hits with a K to make his ERA 9.00; and DeHoyos got the with with 1 2/3 IP of an ER on a hit and walk with a K to improve to 1-0 with a 5.40 ERA. Sanchez was 2-5 with a walk, 2 RBI and 2 RS to drop to .500; Lubanski had another standout game in going 5-6 with an RBI and 2 RS to improve to .900 in 2 games; Kaaihue was 2-4 with 2 walks, a HR and 3 RBI to improve to .250; Stephens was 4-5 with 2 HR, 5 RBI and 3 RS to improve to .444; Sevilla was 2-4 with a walk, double and RBI along with 2 RS to improve to .500; and Gaffney was 2-5 with a double and 3 RBI to set a .400 BA.

High Desert finished the second half at 39-31. Overall the Mavs finished 75-65. Game 3 will be at High Desert's place. Tentative pitchers for tonight's do-or-die: Lancaster's Garrett Mock (RHP 13-7 4.20) vs. Billy Buckner (RHP 5-6 5.36). High Desert also has earned home-field advantage in the second round if they advance that far.

Rookie: Idaho Falls finished the season on a 4-game win streak after a 9-2 finale win over Orem Thursday. 3B Brenan Herrera blasted a 2-run homer in the 1st (his 2nd) for a 2-0 IF lead and the Chukars added runs in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th on an RBI single by PH Antonio Sabatini, an RBI ground out by RF Byron Barber and an RBI single by CF Felix Peguero for a 5-2 lead. Idaho Falls put it away with 4 in the 8th on a 2-run Orem throwing error, another fielding error by the Owlz and an RBI double by C Jeff Howell. SP Phillip Davidson got the win with 5 IP of 2 ER on 5 hits with 5 Ks and 0 BBs to improve to 7-3 with a 4.73 ERA; RP Brandon Brantley got his 1st hold with 3 IP of 1 hit and 6 Ks to drop his ERA to 7.11; and RP Matt Kniginyzky went an IP and K'd 2 to drop his ERA to 4.66. 2B Joshua Johnson was 3-5 with a triple to finish at .249; Howell was 2-3 with 2 walks, a double and RBI to finish at .346; SS Chris McConnell was 0-3 with a walk to finish at .331; Barber was 0-3 with a walk and RBI to finish at .304; and PH Kiel Thibault was 1-1 to finish at .310.

Idaho Falls finished the second half like the first half -- 17-21 -- and 3 games back of first. Overall the Chukars were 34-42.

Royals on the Farm 9/7

High-A: High Desert blew a 5-2 7th-inning lead to lose the opener with Lancaster, 8-5, and put them in a must-win situation in game 2 of the best-of-3 series tonight at home. The Mavs scored in the first on a solo shot by CF Chris Lubanski but Lancaster pushed across a run in the bottom of the inning to tie the game. Lancaster took a 2-1 lead in the 3rd but High Desert knotted it in the 5th on a solo homer by DH Brandon Powell. The Mavs took the lead with 3 in the 7th on a 3-run homer by Lubanski but SP Patrick Green got torched in the bottom of the frame. With 2 out and 0 runs scored by Lancaster in the 7th, Green gave up an RBI single and then hit a batter to load the bases. Lancaster DH Alex Frazier then cranked a grand slam to give the JetHawks a 7-5 lead. Who knows why Green was left in when he was struggling. RP Chad Blackwell gave up a solo homer in the 8th to give Lancaster some padding and the Mavs didn't get a run on in either the 8th or 9th inning. Green took the loss with 7 ER on 10 hits and a walk with 4 Ks over 7 IP to drop to 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA; and Blackwell allowed 1 ER on a hit with a K in his 1 IP to make his playoff ERA 9.00 too. SS Angel Sanchez was 2-3 with a double; Lubanski stepped up and was 4-4 with 2 HR, 4 RBI and 2 RS; and Powell was 1-4 with a HR and RBI. 1B Kila Kaaihue was among the 4 0-fers on the Mavs last night.

High Desert finished the second half at 39-31. Overall the Mavs finished 75-65. Games 2 and 3 will be at High Desert's place in Adelanto. Pitchers for tonight's game 2: Lancaster's Matt Chico (7-2, 3.76) vs. John Gragg III (13-5, 4.36). High Desert also has earned home-field advantage in the second round if they advance that far.

Rookie: Idaho Falls won its 3rd straight with a 6-run 7th en route to an 11-4 win over Orem Wednesday. Orem started the scoring in the 2nd with a run but Idaho Falls scored 2 that inning on a bases-loaded HBP by 2B Joshua Johnson and an RBI ground out by CF Ethien Santana. Orem tied it in the 3rd but Idaho Falls inched back ahead in the 5th on a bases-loaded walk by 3B Joshua Colafemina. Orem took the lead with 2 in the 6th but Idaho Falls took it right back with 2 in the bottom of the inning on a 2-run single by RF Felix Peguero that was aided by an Orem throwing error. The Chukars put it away in the 7th with 6 runs on a Colafemina RBI double, Johnson RBI single, Santana RBI single, a steal of home by Santana and a 2-run triple by SS Chris McConnell. The Chukars stole 5 bases in the inning. SP Mario Santiago went 3 IP and allowed 2 ER on 3 hits and 3 walks with 3 Ks to move his ERA to 7.27; RP David Henninger got the win with 3 IP of 2 ER on 4 hits with 6 Ks to improve to 5-1 with a 3.60 ERA; RP Eliszer Garcia got his 1st hold with 2 hitless IP to drop his ERA to 3.45; and RP Matt Kniginyzky went a hitless inning with 2 Ks to drop his ERA to 4.66. Santana was 1-4 with a walk, 2 RBI and 2 RS to drop to .300; C Kiel Thibault was 0-4 with a walk to drop to .306; Peguero was 2-4 with a walk, RBI and 2 RS to improve to .268; McConnell was 2-5 with a triple and 2 RBI to improve to .335; LF Byron Barber was 2-5 to improve to .315; DH Brenan Herrera was 2-5 with 2 RS to improve to .254; and Colafemina was 2-3 with 2 walks, a double and 2 RS to improve to .242. Santana stole his 19th and 20th bases and Johnson stole his 9th and 10th. Colafemina made his 15th error.

Idaho Falls is 16-21 and out of the playoff hunt with 1 last game left on the schedule, against Orem tonight.

Royals on the Farm 9/6

AAA: Omaha finished 72-72 and 3 games back of Nashville. SS Andres Blanco and SP Kyle Snyder joined the list of September call-ups Tuesday. DH Calvin Pickering was also designated for assignment.

AA: Wichita finished the second half 33-37 and 4 games back of first. The Wranglers were 68-72 overall to finish below .500 for the first time since 1997. RP Chris Demaria reaped the benefits of Pickering's DFA as another Sept. call-up. In other recent Wrangler news, OF Mitch Maier was named the Texas League Player of the Week for August 28-September 4, it was announced today by the Texas League office. He went 13-33 (.394) with 2 home runs, 2 doubles, 1 triple and 9 RBI, with 7 runs scored. He hit in eight of nine games, including five two-hit games as part of a season-high 7 game hit streak.

High-A: The High Desert Mavericks will face Lancaster in a best-of-3 series to start the playoffs tonight. Pitchers: Patrick Green (RHP 3-4 4.33) vs. Lancaster's A.J. Shappi (RHP 5-6 5.10).

High Desert finished the second half at 39-31 and clinched a playoff berth and the second-half division title. Overall the Mavs finished 75-65. Games 2 and 3 (if necessary) will be at High Desert's place in Adelanto. High Desert also has earned home-field advantage in the second round if they advance that far.

Low-A: Burlington finished the second half at 31-39 and in the cellar of the MWL Western division. They finished 65-75 overall.

Rookie: Idaho Falls finished their road schedule on a high note with a 7-4 win over Casper Tuesday. The Chukars scored 3 in the 1st on a Casper wild pitch and a 2-run single by 1B Jase Turner and kept the lead at 3 with a run in the 2nd on an RBI force out by 3B Brenan Herrera. Idaho Falls expanded the lead in the 4th on an RBI double by SS Chris McConnell and finished scoring with 2 in the 8th on a 2-run shot by DH Felix Peguero (his 6th). SP Bennett Cromer got the win with 6 IP of 2 R (1 ER) on 5 hits with 9 Ks to improve to 7-3 with a 5.07 ERA; and RP Cody Harkcom got his 2nd save with 3 IP of 2 ER on 4 hits and a walk with 3 Ks to move his ERA to 8.16. McConnell was 3-5 with a double and RBI to improve to .333; CF Ethien Santana was 1-4 to drop to .301; OF Byron Barber was 1-4 to drop to .310; and C Kiel Thibault was 1-4 to drop to .314. McConnell made his 23rd error as one of four Chukar miscues in the game.

Idaho Falls is 15-21 and out of the playoff hunt with 2 games left on the schedule, both against Orem (20-16).

The ASL Royals finished the second half at 15-13 and 3 games back of first. Overall the Royals finished 34-22.

Royals on the Farm 9/5

AAA: Omaha blew a late lead in a 6-4 loss to Oklahoma Monday to end the season at .500. The O-Royals scored 2 in the 2nd on an RBI single by 1B Chad Santos and an RBI force out by CF Adrian Brown but Oklahoma tied it in the 4th. Omaha scored 2 more in the 6th on an RBI force attempt by 2B Rudy Gomez and an RBI double by C Jared Price to take a 4-2 lead. RP Chris George coughed up 3 runs in the 7th to give Oklahoma the lead and the RedHawks scored again in the 8th to pad the lead. SP Denny Bautista went 3 IP and allowed 2 hits and a walk with 4 Ks to drop his ERA to 2.77; and George took the loss with 5 IP of 6 ER on 11 hits and a walk with 4 Ks to drop to 8-8 with a 5.63 ERA. SS Andres Blanco was 0-5 to end the season at .254; DH Calvin Pickering was 1-4 to end the season at .275; LF Shane Costa was 1-4 to improve to .188; Price was 2-3 with a HBP, 2 doubles and an RBI to improve to .239; and Santos was 1-4 with an RBI to drop to .259. Brown stole 3 bases to end the season with 33.

Omaha finished 72-72 and 3 games back of Nashville.

AA: Wichita finished the second half 33-37 and 4 games back of first. The Wranglers were 68-72 overall.

High-A: High Desert finished the second half at 39-31 and clinched a playoff berth and the second-half division title. Overall the Mavs finished 75-65. The Mavs will face Lancaster in a best-of-3 series to start the playoffs Wednesday. Game 1 will be in Lancaster and games 2 and 3 (if necessary) will be at High Desert's place in Adelanto. High Desert also has earned home-field advantage in the second round if they advance that far.

Low-A: Burlington finished its season on a good note with a 4-3 win in 12 over Clinton Monday. The Bees led off the scoring in the 4th on a solo homer by 1B Miguel Vega (his 3rd) but Clinton tied it that inning and took the lead in the 6th off RP Justin Sherman. Burlington scored 2 in the 7th on a double play ball by SS Irving Falu and an RBI single by 2B Gary Perez to take the lead but the LumberKings tied it in the 8th and the game went into extra innings. In the top of the 12th, Vega doubled home Falu to make the score 4-3 and RP Adam Rowe set Clinton down in order in the 12th to end it. SP Rayner Oliveros went 5 IP and allowed an ER on 4 hits and 2 walks with 2 Ks to move his ERA to 6.43; Sherman went 1 2/3 IP and allowed an ER on 2 hits and a walk with 2 Ks to move his ERA to 4.90; and Rowe blew his 8th save but got the win with 5 1/3 IP of 1 ER on 4 hits and 8 Ks to improve to 6-6 with a 4.78 ERA. Falu was 2-4 with a walk and double to improve to .254; Perez was 1-6 with an RBI to finish at .252; 3B Edward Lucas was 2-6 to improve to .292; Vega was 2-6 with a double, HR and 2 RBI to improve to .276; and LF Kenard Springer was 1-2 with a walk, 2 HBP and double to end the season at .233. Falu stole his 34th base.

Burlington finished the second half at 31-39 and in the cellar of the MWL Western division. They finished 65-75 overall.

Rookie: Idaho Falls took down Casper for a 15-8 win Monday. The Chukars scored 3 in the 1st on a solo homer by SS Joshua Colafemina (his 1st), an RBI single by 3B Brenan Herrera and an RBI double by RF Byron Barber. After Casper scored in the 2nd, Idaho Falls scored 6 in the 3rd on a bases-loaded HBP by Herrera and walk by Barber before 2B Joshua Johnson cranked a grand slam (his 3rd homer) to make the score 9-1 IF. The Chukars added a run in the 4th on an RBI single by 1B Jase Turner and 2 in the 6th on a Turner 2-run shot (his 12th). Idaho Falls scored in the 8th on a Barber RBI single and added 2 in the 9th on a Turner RBI single and a wild pitch. SP Chris Nicoll couldn't hang on long enough to qualify for his first win as he went 4 IP and allowed 2 ER on 5 hits with 0 BB and 10 Ks(!!!) to move his ERA to 3.62; RP Adam Kalkhof went 1 2/3 IP and allowed 5 ER on 5 hits and 3 walks with 2 Ks to move his ERA to 4.31; RP Travis Trammell got the win with 1 1/3 IP of 1 hit with 3 Ks to improve to 2-0 with a 7.31 ERA; and RP Matt Kniginyzky went 2 IP and allowed an ER on 3 hits and 2 walks with a K to move his ERA to 4.82. CF Ethien Santana was 0-5 with a walk to drop to .302; Colafemina was 1-4 with 2 walks, a HR, RBI and 4 RS to improve to .232; C Jeff Howell was 2-3 with 3 walks and 3 RS to improve to .338; Turner was 4-4 with a walk, HBP, HR, 4 RBI and 3 RS to improve to .284; Barber was 2-5 with a walk, double and 3 RBI to improve to .312; and Johnson was 2-3 with 2 walks, a HR and 4 RBI to improve to .241.

Idaho Falls is 14-21 and out of the playoff hunt with 3 games left on the schedule.

The ASL Royals finished the second half at 15-13 and 3 games back of first. Overall the Royals finished 34-22.

Royals on the Farm 9/4

AAA: Omaha gave it a good run after being 14 games out of first on July 27 but finished just short of division leading Nashville after being eliminated Sunday in a 10-8 loss to Oklahoma. Omaha fumbled away the game with 5 errors. DH Calvin Pickering hit an RBI single in the 1st to give Omaha an early lead but Oklahoma scored runs off SP Ryan Jensen in the 1st and 2nd thanks in part to errors by CF Adrian Brown, 3B Chris Truby and SS Andres Blanco. Oklahoma added 2 runs in the 4th before Omaha got back on the board in the 5th on a solo homer by RF Jaime Jones (his 5th). Oklahoma scored 2 more off Jensen in the 5th to take a 6-2 lead but Omaha came back with a run in the 6th on an RBI ground out by 2B Rudy Gomez. The RedHawks pulled away with 4 in the 8th off RP Shane Nance and RP Dave Elder but Omaha made a late 2-out rally with 5 in the top of the 9th on RBI singles by Blanco and Truby and a 3-run homer by Pickering (his 23rd) before Gomez grounded out to end the game. Jensen took the loss with 5 IP of 6 R (4 ER) on 8 hits and a walk with 2 Ks to drop to 2-11 with a 7.20 ERA. Hopefully that's his last game in the KC organization. RP Justin Huisman went a hitless inning with a K to drop his ERA to 3.92; Nance went 1 1/3 IP and allowed 3 ER on 3 hits to move his ERA to 5.16; and Elder went 2/3 IP and allowed an UER on a hit to keep his ERA at 0.00. Brown was 0-3 with 2 walks and 2 RS to break the 36-year-old single-season Omaha record for runs scored with 104. His BA dropped to .273; Blanco was 2-5 with an RBI to improve to .266; Truby was 2-5 with an RBI and 2 RS to improve to .244; Pickering had a great game in going 5-5 with a double, HR and 4 RBI to improve to .275; LF Shane Costa was 0-4 to drop to .167; 1B Chad Santos was 1-4 to drop to .259; and Jones was 3-4 with a HR, RBI and 2 RS to improve to .272. Truby's error was his 11th and Blanco's was his 10th.

Omaha is 72-71 and out of the playoffs with 1 game left in the season. Omaha plays the final game of the season today at Oklahoma. Pitchers: RH Denny Bautista (0-1, 3.60) vs. LH Derek Lee (5-2, 3.86).

AA: Wichita was on the short end of a pitchers' duel with Tulsa in the season finale Sunday as the Drillers scraped together a 6th-inning run and rode it to a 1-0 win. The Wranglers only had 3 hits in the game and only had a runner at third once. SP Mike Stodolka went 5 IP and allowed only 3 hits and a walk with 4 Ks to drop his ERA to 5.92; RP Stephen Bray took the loss with 2 IP of 1 ER on 2 hits with 2 Ks to drop to 1-1 with a 4.40 ERA; and RP Chris Demaria went an inning and gave up a hit with a K to drop his ERA to 1.76. 2B Ruben Gotay was 0-4 to end the season at Wichita at .245; 1B Josh Pressley was 1-3 with a HBP to end the season at .311; LF Billy Butler was 1-3 with a double to end his AA season at .312; and CF Mitch Maier was 1-3 to end the season at .255.

Wichita finished the second half 33-37 and 4 games back of first. The Wranglers were 68-72 overall.

High-A: High Desert lost its regular season finale, 9-4, to Lancaster but will have a couple days off before facing the JetHawks in a best-of-3 first-round playoff series starting Wednesday. Lancaster took a 3-0 lead in the 2nd before High Desert got 2 runs back on a 2-run homer by 3B Brandon Powell (his 18th). A Mavs run in the 5th on a Powell RBI ground out made the score 4-3 and another run in the 7th on a solo homer by DH Kila Kaaihue (his 20th) made it a 5-4 game. Lancaster pulled away with 3 in the 8th to get the win. SP Chris Coughlin took the loss with 2 IP of 3 ER on 4 hits and a walk to drop to 5-11 with a 7.31 ERA; RP Greg Atencio went 2 IP and allowed an ER on a hit and 3 walks with 2 Ks to move his ERA to 4.84; RP Eric Ackerman went 2 IP and allowed an ER on 4 hits to move his ERA to 5.54; RP Chad Blackwell, in his first game up from Burlington, went 2 IP and allowed 3 ER on 4 hits with 5 Ks to move his ERA to 2.55; and RP Brian Steffek went an inning and allowed an ER on a hit with a K to move his ERA to 5.60. LF Pete Maestrales was 1-4 with a walk to drop to .319; SS Angel Sanchez was 2-5 with 2 doubles to improve to .313; CF Bernard Stephens was 1-5 with a double to drop to .303; Kaaihue was 1-5 with a HR and RBI to drop to .304; Powell was 2-4 with a HR and 3 RBI to improve to .287; C Brady Everett was 0-3 with a walk to drop to .278; and 1B Michael Gaffney was 2-4 to improve to .299. The Mavs set three records in the game as the new league record for homers in a season is 203, the league record for hits in a season is 1,536 by HD and the new record for homers allowed in a season is 173 by High Desert.

High Desert finished the second half at 39-31 and clinched a playoff berth and the second-half division title. Overall the Mavs finished 75-65. The Mavs will face Lancaster in a best-of-3 series to start the playoffs Wednesday. Game 1 will be in Lancaster and games 2 and 3 (if necessary) will be at High Desert's place in Adelanto. High Desert also has earned home-field advantage in the second round if they advance that far.

Low-A: Burlington dropped another 1-run game to Clinton, 6-5, Sunday, to lose a 4th game in a row. The Bees scored 4 in the 1st on an RBI ground out by 1B Miguel Vega and RBI singles by RF Geraldo Valentin, DH Rusty Brown and C Felipe Del Rosario and another run in the 6th on an RBI double by LF Kenard Springer gave the Bees a 5-1 lead. Clinton scored 2 in the 6th off RP Kraig Schambough and then scored 3 more off Schambough in the 7th to take a 6-5 lead. The Bees didn't threaten in the last 3 innings. SP Daniel Christensen went 5 1/3 IP and allowed 2 ER on 5 hits and 2 walks with 11 Ks to move his ERA to 3.54; and Schambough blew his 1st save and took the loss after giving up 4 R (2 ER) on 5 hits and 3 walks with a K to drop to 2-2 with a 4.32 ERA. 2B Gary Perez was 0-4 to drop to .257; 3B Edward Lucas was 1-4 to drop to .291; Vega was 2-4 with an RBI to improve to .273; Brown was 2-4 with an RBI to improve to .267; and Del Rosario was 2-4 with an RBI to improve to .256. Lucas stole his 29th base and SS Irving Falu stole his 33rd. Lucas also made his 29th error.

Burlington is 30-39 and out of the playoff hunt. The Bees end the season at Clinton today. No announced starters.

Rookie: Idaho Falls blew three leads Sunday in a 6-5 loss to Casper. Idaho Falls got out of the gate quickly with a run in the 1st on an RBI single by 1B Brenan Herrera and 2 in the 2nd on a 2-run double by LF Antonio Sabatini. Casper scored 3 off SP Ryan DiPietro in the 3rd to tie the game but Idaho Falls scored a run in the 4th on a Sabatini RBI ground out. Casper tied it again off DiPietro in the 4th but, again, the Chukars took the lead with a run in the 5th on an RBI double by RF Byron Barber. DiPietro gave up the lead for good in the 5th on a 2-run homer that gave Casper the 6-5 lead. The Chukars got 2 on with 1 out in the 9th but couldn't tie the game. DiPietro got the loss with 4 1/3 IP of 6 ER on 8 hits and a walk with 3 Ks to drop to 1-6 with a 5.62 ERA; and RP David Henninger went 3 2/3 IP and allowed 3 hits with 3 Ks to drop his ERA to 3.47. Sabatini was 2-5 with a double and 3 RBI to improve to .246; Herrera was 3-4 with a walk, double and RBI to improve to .252; C Jeff Howell was 1-4 with a double to drop to .331; Barber was 1-4 with a double and RBI to drop to .307; 3B Joshua Colafemina was 2-4 with 2 RS to improve to .232; and SS Chris McConnell was 1-3 with a walk to improve to .328. McConnell made his 22nd error.

Idaho Falls is 13-21 and out of the playoff hunt with 4 games left on the schedule. The series switches to Casper tonight.

The ASL Royals finished the second half at 15-13 and 3 games back of first. Overall the Royals finished 34-22.

Royals on the Farm 9/3

AAA: Omaha is clinging to the last of its playoff hopes after a 3-2 loss to Oklahoma Saturday. The RedHawks scored in the 1st off SP Dennis Tankersley but Omaha tied it in the 3rd on a sac fly by 3B Chris Truby. The O-Royals took the lead in the 6th on an RBI single by LF Shane Costa but Tankersley gave up the tying single in the 7th. Omaha loaded the bases with 2 out in the 8th but couldn't score and with 2 out in the bottom of the 9th RP Justin Huisman allowed the RedHawks to load the bases and Oklahoma 1B Chris Richard hit a walkoff single to end it. Tankersley went 6 IP and allowed 2 ER on 6 hits and 3 walks with 2 Ks to move his ERA to 4.24; RP Jaime Cerda went 2 1/3 IP and allowed a hit and walk with 2 Ks to drop his ERA to 5.26; and Huisman took the loss with 1/3 IP of 1 ER on 3 hits and a walk to drop to 8-2 with a 3.97 ERA. SS Andres Blanco was 1-4 with a HBP to drop to .260; DH Calvin Pickering was 2-4 to improve to .264; Costa was 2-4 with a double and RBI to improve to .250; C Jared Price was 0-3 with a walk to drop to .224; and 1B Chad Santos was 0-3 with a walk to drop to .259. Both teams left 10 on base.

Omaha is 72-70 and 2 games behind Nashville with 2 games left in the season. Omaha continues the final series of the season and tries to somehow salvage a playoff berth tonight at Oklahoma. Pitchers: RH Ryan Jensen (2-10, 7.20) vs. RH R.A. Dickey (9-6, 6.15). Jensen is just who Omaha needs on the mound with the season on the line. In other O-Royals news, with 102 runs now scored, CF Adrian Brown is just a run shy of the club’s single season record set by George Spriggs in 1969.

AA: Wichita won't finish .500 for the second half as both the Wranglers and Tulsa Drillers did all their offensive work in the 5th in a 4-3 Wichita loss Saturday. Both teams were quiet until the 5th when, with 2 out, 2B Ruben Gotay hit a 2-run double and CF Mitch Maier followed with an RBI double to give the Wranglers a 3-0 lead. Tulsa's runs came on one swing as Drillers LF Justin Czarniecki cranked a grand slam off SP Kyle Middleton to give Tulsa a 4-3 lead in the 5th. The Wranglers loaded the bases with 2 out in the 9th but Gotay struck out to end the game. Middleton took the L with 7 IP of 4 ER on 10 hits with 7 Ks to drop to 10-9 with a 5.31 ERA; and RP Nate Hoelscher went an inning and allowed a hit to drop his ERA to 5.63. Gotay was 1-5 with a double and 2 RBI to drop to .255; Maier was 1-4 with a double and RBI to drop to .254; 1B Josh Pressley was 0-4 to drop to .311; 3B Brennan King was 2-4 to improve to .288; LF Billy Butler was 0-4 to drop to .312; and DH John Draper was 2-3 to improve to .251. Butler made his 3rd error in the 6th.

Wichita is 33-36 and out of the playoff hunt with 1 game to play. The season ends at Tulsa today. No announced starters.

High-A: High Desert got the division wrapped up Saturday in a comeback 11-10 win in 11 innings over Lancaster. Lancaster took a 7-0 lead with 5 in the 2nd and 2 in the 3rd off SP Cesar Herrera to put High Desert in an early hole. The Mavs broke through with 2 in the 3rd on RBI singles by 3B Walter Sevilla and CF Chris Lubanski. The JetHawks increased their lead to 10-2 by the middle of the 5th but it was all High Desert from there. The Mavs scored 6 in the 5th on a 2-run homer by 2B Pete Maestrales (his 15th), an RBI force out by RF Alan Moye and a 3-run homer by LF Bernard Stephens (his 14th) to close the gap to 10-8 and also break the California League season record for home runs by a team with 201. The record was previously set by Visalia in 1971. The Mavs tied it in the 6th with 2 runs on RBI singles by SS Angel Sanchez and 1B Kila Kaaihue and the game stayed tied at 10 into extra innings after Lancaster left the bases loaded in the 9th. In the bottom of the 11th, Kaaihue and Moye walked with 1 out and the winning run scored on a walkoff single by Stephens to give the Mavs an 11-10 win and the second-half division title. Herrera went 4 1/3 IP and allowed 10 R (9 ER) on 12 hits and a walk with 5 Ks to bump his ERA to 7.27; RP Stephen Chamberlain went 2 IP and allowed a hit and walk with a K to drop his ERA to 7.61; RP Eric Ackerman pitched a hitless inning with a walk to drop his ERA to 5.59; RP Gabe DeHoyos went 1 2/3 IP and allowed 3 hits and a walk with 2 Ks to drop his ERA to 1.48; and RP Brian Steffek got the win with 2 IP of 1 hit to improve to 1-0 with a 5.40 ERA. Maestrales was 1-6 with a HR and 2 RBI to drop to .319; Sanchez was 3-6 with a triple, RBI and 2 RS to improve to .312; Lubanski was 2-5 with a walk and RBI to improve to .301; Kaaihue was 1-3 with 2 walks, a HBP and an RBI to improve to .305; Stephens was 3-6 with a HR and 4 RBI to improve to .304; DH Brady Everett was 3-5 with a double and 2 RS to improve to .333; and Sevilla was 3-4 with a walk and RBI to improve to .252. Sevilla made his 11th error.

High Desert is 39-30 and has clinched a playoff berth and the second-half division title with a game to play. The final regular season series ends tonight. No announced starters. The Mavs will face Lancaster in a best-of-3 series to start the playoffs Sept. 7. Game 1 will be in Lancaster and games 2 and 3 (if necessary) will be at High Desert's place in Adelanto. High Desert also earned home-field advantage in the second round if they advance that far.

Low-A: Burlington dropped its 3rd straight to Clinton with a 5-4 loss to the LumberKings Saturday. Burlington led off the game with a run in the 1st on an RBI single by 3B Edward Lucas but Clinton scored 3 off SP Dusty Dossett in the 1st to take a 3-1 lead. The Bees scored runs in each of the 4th, 5th and 6th innings on an RBI double by 1B Rusty Brown, a Lucas RBI single and a double play ball by Brown that scored a run and gave Burlington a 4-3 lead. The score remained that way into the bottom of the 8th when Clinton got runs on a wild pitch and a Lucas throwing error to take the lead. The Bees loaded the bases with 2 out in the top of the 9th but C Damaso Espino lined out to end the game. Dossett went 6 IP and gave up 3 ER on 7 hits and 2 walks with 2 Ks to move his ERA to 4.07; and RP Rusty Begnaud blew his 1st save and took the loss with 2 IP of 2 R (1 ER) on 3 hits and 2 walks with a K to drop to 0-1 with a 4.28 ERA. SS Irving Falu was 2-5 with a triple and 2 RS to improve to .252; 2B Gary Perez was 1-4 with a walk and double to drop to .267; Lucas was 3-5 with an RBI to improve to .292 and he had 2 errors to get to 28 on the season; and Brown was 2-4 with 2 doubles and an RBI to improve to .265.

Burlington is 30-38 and out of the playoff hunt. The Bees continue the final series at Clinton tonight. No announced starters.

Rookie: Idaho Falls lost to Casper Saturday, 9-4. Casper scored all 9 runs in the 1st 3 innings off SP Phillip Davidson and the Chukars didn't recover. Idaho Falls got on the board in the 6th on a solo homer by SS Chris McConnell (his 6th) and scored 3 in the 8th on an RBI single by CF Ethien Santana and an RBI force out by McConnell that scored another run on a Casper error. Davidson took the loss with 2 1/3 IP of 9 ER on 9 hits and a walk to drop to 6-3 with a 4.83 ERA; RP Brandon Brantley went 3 2/3 IP and allowed only 3 hits with 5 Ks to drop his ERA to 7.55; RP Kevin Bulger went an inning and allowed 2 hits and a walk with a K to drop his ERA to 10.45; and RP Jacob Eckley went an inning and allowed a hit with 2 Ks to drop his ERA to 7.18. Santana was 1-4 with an RBI to drop to .308; McConnell was 1-4 with a HR and 2 RBI to drop to .328; LF Felix Peguero was 2-4 with 2 doubles to improve to .265; C Kiel Thibault was 0-4 to drop to .316; and RF Byron Barber was 1-3 to improve to .310.

Idaho Falls is 13-20 and 5 games out of first with 5 games left on the schedule. The series switches to Casper tonight.

The ASL Royals finished the second half at 15-13 and 3 games back of first. Overall the Royals finished 34-22.

Royals on the Farm 9/2

AAA: Omaha stayed a game back of Nashville with a late rally in a 5-3 win over Oklahoma Friday. Omaha broke a 0-0 tie in the 4th on an RBI single by 3B Chris Truby but Oklahoma tied it that inning off SP Kyle Snyder. RP Nate Field gave up a 2-run single in the 7th and the RedHawks took a 3-1 lead. After a ground out by SS Andres Blanco scored a run, Truby got the big shot with a 2-run blast (his 20th) to give Omaha a 4-3 lead. C Jared Price tacked on a solo homer (his 5th) in the 9th and RP Santiago Ramirez pitched the 9th for another save. Snyder went 5 2/3 IP and allowed 1 ER on 7 hits and 3 walks with 3 Ks to drop his ERA to 3.55; RP Shane Nance went 2/3 IP and allowed 2 ER on a hit and walk to move his ERA to 4.81; Field got the win despite giving up the 2-run single. He allowed a hit and walk with a K as he improved to 1-0 with a 4.91 ERA; RP Dave Elder got his 3rd hold with a hitless IP that included a walk and 2Ks to keep to a 0.00 ERA; and Ramirez got his 17th save in allowing a hit and walk with 2 Ks in an IP to drop his ERA to 5.21. CF Adrian Brown was 3-5 with a double and 2 RS to improve to .277; Blanco was 0-5 with an RBI to drop to .260; Truby was 2-4 with a HR and 3 RBI to improve to .244; Price was 1-4 with a HR and RBI to improve to .232; LF Shane Costa was 0-4 in his first game at AAA; and RF Jaime Jones was 2-4 with a double to improve to .266. 1B Chad Santos was 0-4 to drop to .261. Brown also stole his 30th base.

Omaha is 72-69 and 1 game behind Nashville with 3 games left in the season. Omaha continues the final series of the season tonight at Oklahoma. Pitchers: RH Dennis Tankersley (9-8, 4.29) vs. RH Josh Rupe (6-7, 6.47). In other O-Royals news, with 101 runs scored on the season, Brown is the 2nd Royal to ever hit the century mark in a single season and is just two runs shy of the club’s single season record set by George Spriggs in 1969.

AA: Wichita cranked out a 7-5 win over Tulsa to stay on track to finish at .500 with wins in the remaining 2 games. Tulsa took a 1-0 lead in the 3rd but Wichita tied it in the 4th on a solo homer by LF Billy Butler (his 5th). After Tulsa scored 3 off SP Ryan Baerlocher in the 4th to open a lead, Wichita matched it in the 5th on a 3-run shot by 1B Josh Pressley (his 22nd) to tie it at 4. Tulsa again took the lead with a run in the bottom of the 5th but Wichita scored 3 in the 6th on a 2-run single by Pressley and an RBI single by 3B Brennan King. RP Jonah Bayliss got the lead into the 9th and RP Chris Demaria got out of a 2-on, 1-out jam with 2 Ks to end it. Baerlocher went 4 IP and allowed 4 ER on 6 hits and a walk with 5 Ks to make his ERA 3.44; RP Wes Wilkerson got the win with 1 1/3 IP of 1 ER on 2 hits and a walk with a K to improve to 1-4 with a 6.53 ERA; Bayliss got his 1st hold with 2 2/3 hitless IP that included 4 Ks to drop his ERA to 2.84; and Demaria got his 1st save with an IP of 2 hits with 2 Ks to drop his ERA to 1.88. DH Ruben Gotay was 4-5 with a double and 2 RS to improve to .257; CF Mitch Maier was 0-3 with 2 walks and 2 RS to drop to .254; Pressley was 3-5 with a double, HR and 5 RBI to improve to .314; King was 2-4 with a walk and RBI to improve to .286; and Butler was 1-5 with a HR and RBI to drop to .324.

Wichita is 33-35 and out of the playoff hunt with 2 games to play. The final series at Tulsa continues tonight. No announced starters.

High-A: High Desert lost one chance to clinch the division title as Lancaster took a 13-11 win Friday. High Desert jumped out to a 4-0 lead with 3 runs in the 2nd and 1 in the 3rd on a bases-loaded double by 2B Pete Maestrales and a solo homer by 1B Kila Kaaihue (his 19th). After Lancaster scored in the 4th, the Mavs regained the 4-run lead with an RBI single by SS Angel Sanchez. Lancaster put up 2 in the 5th and broke through with 5 in the 6th to take an 8-5 lead. High Desert scored again in the 6th on an RBI single by CF Chris Lubanski but Lancaster scored 4 in the 7th to make it a 12-6 game. The Mavs scored 2 in the 7th on a solo homer by 3B Adam Keim (his 26th) and an RBI ground out by C Adam Donachie but Lancaster got an insurance run in the 8th. RF Alan Moye led off the 9th with a homer (his 24th) and, with 2 out, Maestrales walked and Sanchez cracked a 2-run homer (his 5th) to make the score 13-11. Lubanski doubled to bring the tying run to the plate but Kaaihue struck out to end the game. SP Devon Lowery took the loss with 5 2/3 IP of 7 R (3 ER thanks to a Lubanski error with 2 out in the 6th) on 6 hits and 2 walks with 4 Ks to drop to 6-3 with a 3.84 ERA; RP Greg Atencio went 1 1/3 IP and allowed 5 ER on 7 hits and a walk to move his ERA to 4.85; RP Chris Coughlin allowed 1 ER on 1 hit and a walk with 2 Ks in 1 IP to move his ERA to 7.16; and RP Stephen Chamberlain went a hitless inning with a K to drop his ERA to 7.82. Maestrales was 2-5 with a walk, 2 doubles, 3 RBI and 2 RS to improve to .321; Sanchez was 3-6 with a HR and 3 RBI to improve to .310; Lubanski was 2-5 with a walk, double and RBI to move back to .300 -- his error was his 8th; Kaaihue was 1-6 with a HR and RBI to drop to .305; LF Bernard Stephens was 3-5 with a double and 2 RS to improve to .302; and Moye was 4-4 with a walk, HR, RBI and 3 RS to improve to .295. Lubanski is up to 115 RBI on the season.

High Desert is 38-30 and has clinched a playoff berth with 2 games to play. The Mavs are up 1 1/2 games on Lancaster with a shot to take the second-half division title with another win. The final regular season series with the JetHawks continues tonight. No announced starters. Home field advantage in the first round of the Cal League playoffs is at stake as HD earns it with another win. They will face Lancaster in a best-of-3 series to start the playoffs Sept. 7.

Low-A: Burlington dropped another game in a 4-3 loss to Clinton Friday. No game log at the Bees' site. SP Luis Cota went 5 IP and allowed 2 ER on 6 hits and 3 walks with 5 Ks and 3 wild pitches to move his ERA to 4.01; RP Chad Blackwell got his 2nd hold with 3 IP of 5 hits with 3 Ks to drop his ERA to 2.23; and RP Adam Rowe blew his 7th save and took the loss with 1 2/3 IP of 2 ER on 4 hits and 2 walks to drop to 5-6 with a 5.01 ERA. SS Irving Falu was 2-5 to improve to .250; 2B Gary Perez was 1-5 with a 2-run homer (his 4th) and 2 RBI to drop to .267; 1B Miguel Vega was 2-5 to improve to .260; 3B Edward Lucas was 1-5 with an RBI to drop to .288; and LF Darwinson Salazar was 2-3 with a walk to improve to .174. Falu stole his 32nd base and Lucas swiped his 28th. Falu also made his 21st error.

Burlington is 30-37 and out of the playoff hunt. The Bees continue the final series at Clinton tonight. No announced starters.

Rookie: Idaho Falls had a monster 1st in a 10-9 win over Casper Friday. The Rockies scored 3 off SP Mario Santiago in the 1st but the Chukars came back with 8 that inning on an RBI double by 1B Jase Turner, a Rockie wild pitch, an RBI single by C Kiel Thibault, a Casper fielding error, an RBI single by 2B Joshua Johnson, a 2-run single by CF Ethien Santana and a sac fly by SS Chris McConnell. Casper closed the gap to 8-5 before Idaho Falls scored again in the 5th on a McConnell solo homer (his 5th). Casper came back to tie it in the 8th before the Chukars regained the lead on a Johnson RBI single with 2 out in the 8th. RP Jacob Eckley set the Rockies down in order in the 9th to end it. Santiago went 2 2/3 IP and allowed 5 R (4 ER) on 3 hits and 4 walks to make his ERA 7.39; RP Cody Harkcom went 3 1/3 IP and allowed 1 hit and a walk with 5 Ks to drop his ERA to 8.31; RP Eliszer Garcia went 1 1/3 IP and allowed 3 R (2 ER) on 2 hits and 3 walks with 3 Ks to make his ERA 3.61; RP Travis Trammell blew his 1st save but got the win with 2/3 IP of an UER on a hit and walk to move to 1-0 with a 7.98 ERA; and Eckley got his 3rd save with a hitless IP that included a K to drop his ERA to 7.42. Santana was 1-5 with 2 RBI to drop to .309; McConnell was 1-3 with a walk, HR, 2 RBI and 2 RS to improve to .329; Thibault was 1-5 with an RBI to drop to .326; and Johnson was 4-5 with 2 RBI to improve to .239. The Chukars took advantage of 5 Rockie errors. McConnell made his 21st error.

Idaho Falls is 13-19 and 4 games out of first with 6 games left on the schedule. The series switches to Casper tonight.

The ASL Royals finished the second half at 15-13 and 3 games back of first. Overall the Royals finished 34-22.

Royals on the Farm 9/1

AAA: Omaha pulled a half-game closer to the division lead with a 4-3 win over Iowa Thursday as the O-Royals came back from a 1st-inning deficit. SP Danny Tamayo gave up a 2-run blast in the 1st to let Iowa take a 2-0 lead but Omaha scored runs in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th on solo homers by DH Scott Walter (his 8th coming fresh off the DL) and RF Jaime Jones (his 4th) and an RBI single by 2B Justin Gemoll. Iowa scored in the 7th to tie the game but 3B Chris Truby came through with a 2-out RBI single in the 7th to give Omaha the lead at 4-3. RPs Jaime Cerda and Santiago Ramirez held it down for the win. Tamayo went 7 1/3 IP and allowed 3 R (2 ER) on 5 hits with 4 Ks to improve to 9-8 with a 5.28 ERA; Cerda got his 7th hold with 2/3 IP of 1 hit with 2 Ks to drop his ERA to 5.51; and Ramirez got his 16th save with a hitless IP that included a K to drop his ERA to 5.29. SS Andres Blanco was back in the lineup and went 1-3 with a walk to improve to .274; LF Chad Santos was 0-3 with a walk to drop to .263; and C Jared Price was 1-3 to improve to .231. 1B Calvin Pickering was 0-3 with a walk to drop to .262 and stole his 1st base of the season and first since 2000 in organized American baseball. Blanco made his 9th error in the win.

Omaha is 71-69 and 1 game behind Nashville with 4 games left in the season. Omaha starts its final series of the season tonight at Oklahoma (77-62). No announced starters. In other O-Royals news, 1B Justin Huber got a September call-up. Don't they know Omaha's in a playoff race? I'm only half-kidding.

AA: Wichita salvaged a chance to end the second half at .500 as they creamed Tulsa, 11-3, Thursday thanks to a big night from CF Mitch Maier. 3B Brennan King got the scoring started in the top of the 1st with a sac fly and DH Cory Aldridge followed with a 2-run shot (his 27th) to give Wichita a 3-0 lead. SP Derrin Ebert gave up a 2-run homer in the 1st to close the lead to 1 but the Wranglers added a run in the 2nd on an RBI triple by RF Shane Costa. The Wranglers scored again in the 5th on an RBI double by SS Brett Groves but Tulsa matched it that inning to make the score 5-3 Wichita. The Wranglers broke it open in the 6th on an RBI single by 1B Josh Pressley and loaded the bases with 2 outs. Maier stepped up and hit a grand slam (his 6th homer) to make the score 10-3 and then threw in a solo shot (#7) in the 9th to pile on another run. Ebert went 6 2/3 IP and allowed 3 ER on 6 hits and 2 walks with 5 Ks to improve to 7-3 with a 4.89 ERA; and RP Drew Endicott went 2 1/3 IP and allowed a hit with 2 BB and a K to drop his ERA to 1.50. 2B Ruben Gotay was 3-4 with a walk, double and 2 RS to improve to .229; Costa was 3-4 with a walk, triple, RBI and 2 RS to improve to .282; Pressley was 2-5 with an RBI and 2 RS to improve to .311; LF Billy Butler was 2-5 to improve to .330; and Maier was 2-5 with 2 HR, 5 RBI and 2 RS to improve to .256.

Wichita is 32-35 and out of the playoff hunt with 3 games to play. The final series at Tulsa continues tonight. Ryan Baerlocher (7-5, 3.18) will start for Wichita.

High-A: High Desert had to wait an hour longer to start Thursday's game with Lake Elsinore because of bus problems for the Storm and then blew a 4-1 lead in an 8-5 loss to the Storm. Lake Elsinore pushed across a run in the 3rd but High Desert matched it that inning on a solo homer by CF Chris Lubanski (his 28th) and scored 2 more in the 4th on an RBI double by C Adam Donachie and an RBI single by 2B Walter Sevilla for a 3-1 lead. Another run in the 6th on a solo homer by DH Alan Moye (his 23rd) gave High Desert a 4-1 lead but the Storm rallied for 2 in the 7th off SP Billy Buckner and RP Eric Ackerman to close the gap to 1. The Storm tied it in the 8th on a solo homer and then scored 4 more runs that inning to take an 8-4 lead. 3B Adam Keim led off the bottom of the 8th with a solo homer (his 25th) but the Mavs couldn't get anything going. Buckner went 6 2/3 IP and allowed 3 ER on 4 hits and 4 walks with 6 Ks to move his ERA to 4.78; Ackerman blew his 3rd save and took the loss with an IP of 3 ER on 4 hits to drop to 3-2 with a 5.70 ERA; and RP Brian Steffek went 1 1/3 IP and allowed 2 ER on 2 hits and 4 walks with a K to move his ERA to 6.14. LF Pete Maestrales was 1-5 to drop to .320; SS Angel Sanchez was 2-5 to improve to .308; Lubanski was 1-4 with a walk, HR and RBI to drop to .299; 1B Kila Kaaihue was 0-5 to drop to .307; RF Bernard Stephens was 1-4 to make his BA .299; and Donachie was 1-3 with a walk, double and RBI to improve to .296.

High Desert is 38-29 and has clinched a playoff berth with 3 games to play. The Mavs are up 2 1/2 games on Lancaster with a shot to take the second-half division title with another win. The JetHawks (35-31) come to town to face the Mavs in the final series of the regular season tonight. No announced starters. Home field advantage in the first round of the Cal League playoffs is at stake as HD earns it with another win. They will face Lancaster in a best-of-3 series to start the playoffs Sept. 7.

Low-A: Burlington took a beating from Clinton Thursday, 10-2, to fall into a tie with the LumberKings for last place in the division in the second-half standings. Clinton took an early 2-0 lead but the Bees cut it to 1 in the 3rd on an RBI single by 2B Gary Perez. From there, Clinton rattled off 8 unanswered runs off SP Patrick Hicklen and RP Rayner Oliveros (rude welcome in his A ball debut) before the Bees scored their final run in the 8th on an RBI double by DH Miguel Vega in his first game back off the DL. Hicklen got the loss with 5 IP of 6 R (4 ER) on 10 hits and a walk with 4 Ks to drop to 6-8 with a 4.19 ERA; Oliveros went 2 IP and allowed 4 ER on 8 hits and a walk to establish an 18.00 ERA; and RP Rusty Begnaud went 2 IP and gave up a hit and walk to drop his ERA to 4.26. Perez was 1-4 with an RBI to drop to .271; 3B Edward Lucas was 1-4 to drop to .289; and Vega was 2-4 with a double and RBI to improve to .254. SS Irving Falu made his 20th error.

Burlington is 30-36 and out of the playoff hunt. The Bees start the final series of the season -- a 4-gamer -- at Clinton tonight. Pitchers: RH Luis Cota (5-8, 4.03) vs. Clinton RH Kea Kometani (3-2, 2.28). In other Bees news, the team met its home attendance goal for the season of 70,000 and finished with a final total of 70,807 in 68 games.

Rookie: Idaho Falls took down Casper Thursday in a 5-3 win. The Chukars scored in the 1st on an RBI single by 1B Jase Turner for a 1-0 lead but Casper tied it in the 2nd. Idaho Falls scored again in the 2nd on a sac fly by 2B Joshua Johnson but Casper struck back with 2 in the 3rd for a 3-2 lead. The Chukars tied it in the 4th on a Johnson RBI single and took the lead for good with 2 in the 5th on a wild pitch and a sac fly by C Jeff Howell. SP Bennett Cromer got the win with 6 IP of 3 ER on 7 hits and 2 walks with 3 Ks to improve to 6-3 with a 5.47 ERA; RP Adam Kalkhof got his 1st hold with 2 hitless IP that included 4 Ks to drop his ERA to 3.32; and RP Matt Kniginyzky got his 5th save with a hitless 9th in which he K'd 2 to drop his ERA to 4.85. CF Ethien Santana was 2-4 with a double and walk to improve to .312; SS Chris McConnell was 0-4 with a walk to drop to .329; Turner was 2-2 with 2 walks and an RBI to improve to .270; LF Felix Peguero was 2-3 with a walk, double and 2 RS to improve to .259; Howell was 1-2 with a walk and RBI to improve to .333; and RF Byron Barber was 0-2 with a walk to drop to .309. 3B Brenan Herrera had 2 errors to get to 7 on the season.

Idaho Falls is 12-19 and 4 games out of first with 7 games left on the schedule. The Chukars continue the series with Casper tonight.

The ASL Royals finished the second half at 15-13 and 3 games back of first. Overall the Royals finished 34-22.

Royals on the Farm 8/31

AAA: Omaha got another win in a 6-2 victory over Iowa and, combined with a Memphis sweep of Nashville in a doubleheader, that put the O-Royals a game and a half closer to the division lead. Omaha scored 2 in the 1st on RBI singles by 1B Calvin Pickering and LF Chad Santos but Iowa cut the lead to 1 in the 3rd. A 3-run Omaha 6th put it away as a single by RF Jaime Jones was aided by an error to score DH Justin Huber and C Jared Price cracked a 2-run homer (his 4th). Omaha added its final run in the 8th on an RBI double by CF Adrian Brown. SP Denny Bautista went 2 2/3 hitless IP with 2 Ks in a decent rehab start to drop his ERA to 3.60; RP Chris George got his first home win with 4 1/3 IP of 1 ER on 4 hits and 2 walks with 4 Ks to improve to 8-7 with a 5.45 ERA; and RP Justin Huisman went 2 IP and allowed an ER on 2 hits and a walk with 3 Ks to move his ERA to 3.87. Brown was 2-5 with a double and RBI to improve to .274; Pickering was 3-4 with an RBI to improve to .265; Santos was 2-4 with an RBI to improve to .265; Huber was 1-3 with a walk to improve to .274; Jones was 2-3 with a walk and 2 RS to improve to .260; and Price was 2-4 with a HR and 2 RBI to improve to .227. SS Andres Blanco didn't play again after fouling a ball off his right knee over the weekend.

Omaha is 70-69 and 1 1/2 games out of first behind Nashville with 5 games left in the season. Omaha concludes the final home set of the season tonight. Pitchers: Cubs RH Bobby Brownlie (6-6, 4.70) vs. RH Danny Tamayo (8-8, 5.41).

AA: Wichita got a bad introduction to SP Yovany Damico, just up from Burlington, as he gave up 7 ER over 3 2/3 IP to take the L in an 8-3 Wrangler loss to Tulsa Wednesday. Wichita scored in the 1st on an RBI single by DH Cory Aldridge but the Drillers got 3 off Damico in the bottom of the inning on a 3-run shot to take the lead. Wichita scored runs in the 2nd and 3rd on an RBI ground out by 2B Ruben Gotay and a solo homer by Aldridge (his 26th) to tie the game at 3 but Damico gave up 2 runs in both the 3rd and 4th to allow Tulsa to pull away. Wichita didn't get another runner past second. Damico had a line of 3 2/3 IP, 7 ER on 7 hits and 3 walks with 3 Ks to start out 0-1 at Wichita with a 17.18 ERA; RP Stephen Bray went 2 1/3 IP and allowed 1 ER on 4 hits with 4 Ks to make his ERA 4.71; and RP Chris Demaria pitched 2 innings and gave up a hit to drop his ERA to 2.02. Gotay was 1-5 with an RBI to drop to .207; RF Shane Costa was 1-5 to drop to .275; 1B Josh Pressley was 2-4 to improve to .310; Aldridge was 2-4 with a HR and 2 RBI to improve to .274; LF Billy Butler was 0-3 with a walk to drop to .326; CF Mitch Maier was 2-4 to improve to .254; and 3B Brennan King was 2-4 to up his BA to .286. Butler made his 2nd AA error in the loss.

Wichita is 31-35 and out of the playoff hunt with 4 games to play. The final series at Tulsa continues tonight. Pitchers: LH Derrin Ebert (6-3, 4.94) vs. Tulsa RH Jon Asahina (12-9, 4.04).

High-A: High Desert clinched at least a wildcard playoff spot with a 10-2 win over Lake Elsinore Wednesday. There's no game log at MiLB's site. SP John Gragg III took the win with 5 IP of 0 ER on 6 hits and 2 walks with 3 Ks to improve to 13-5 with a 4.36 ERA; RP Chris Coughlin went an inning and allowed an ER on 2 hits with 2 Ks to make his ERA 7.13; and RP Greg Atencio went 2 IP and allowed an ER on 3 hits and a walk with a K to move his ERA to 1.51. LF Pete Maestrales was 2-5 with 2 RS to improve to .325; SS Angel Sanchez was 3-5 with a HR, 2 RBI and 3 RS to improve to .308; CF Chris Lubanski was the offensive star of the game with a 4-4 night with a walk, double, 2 HR (#s 26 and 27), 7 RBI (to get his season total to 112) and 2 RS to get over the .300 mark at .302; 1B Kila Kaaihue was 0-5 with an RBI to drop to .311; RF Bernard Stephens was 1-4 to make his BA .299; and 2B Walter Sevilla was 2-4 to improve to .242.

High Desert is 38-28 and has clinched a playoff berth with 4 games to play and are up 3 1/2 games on Lancaster with a shot to take the second-half division title with another win. They end the set with Lake Elsinore tonight. No announced starters.

Low-A: Burlington dug itself out of an early 4-run hole to take a 6-4 win over Clinton Wednesday. The LumberKings jumped on SP Justin Sherman for 4 in the 2nd to chase him from the game and take the 4-0 lead. It held into the 4th when the Bees scored 2 on a 2-run homer by C Felipe Del Rosario (his 2nd). Burlington added a run in the 5th on an RBI single by 2B Gary Perez and took the lead with 2 in the 6th on an RBI single by RF Darwinson Salazar and a Perez RBI double. They got some insurance in the 8th on a Perez RBI single. Sherman went 1 2/3 IP and allowed 4 ER on 5 hits and 2 walks with a K to move his ERA to 4.89; RP Kraig Schambough got the win with 5 1/3 IP of 3 hits and a walk with 4 Ks to improve to 2-1 with a 4.11 ERA; and RP Chad Blackwell got his 14th save with 2 IP of 1 hit and a BB with 3 Ks to drop his ERA to 2.33. SS Irving Falu was 2-5 with a double, triple and 2 RS to improve to .249; Perez was 4-5 with a double and 3 RBI to improve to .272; 3B Edward Lucas was 0-4 to drop to .289; and Del Rosario was 2-3 with a walk, HR, 2 RBI and 2 RS to improve to .258.

Burlington is 30-35 and out of the playoff hunt. The Bees conclude the final home set with Clinton tonight and have 5 games left on the schedule. Pitchers: RH Patrick Hicklen (6-7, 4.07) vs. Clinton RH Eric Hurley (11-6, 3.85). In other Bees news, 1B Miguel Vega was activated from the DL after June thumb surgery.

Rookie: Idaho Falls tried to come back from an early 4-run deficit but couldn't as SP Chris Nicoll went another game in search of his first pro win in a 5-4 loss to Casper. Nicoll was tagged for 4 runs in the 1st by the Rockies but 2 were unearned thanks to an error by SS Chris McConnell. McConnell tried to right his wrong with an RBI single in the 1st to cut into the lead but Casper scored again in the 4th to make the lead 4 again at 5-1. It held until the 7th when the Chukars scored 3 on a 2-run triple by 2B Joshua Johnson and an RBI single by CF Ethien Santana. Johnson hit a 2-out double in the 9th to give Idaho Falls one last chance but 3B Brenan Herrera grounded out to end it. Nicoll went 4 IP and allowed 5 R (3 ER) on 5 hits and 2 walks with 5 Ks to drop to 0-3 with a 3.47 ERA; RP David Henninger went 3 IP and allowed only 3 hits and 2 walks with 2 Ks to drop his ERA to 3.71; and RP Brandon Brantley went 2 hitless IP with a walk and 3 Ks to drop his ERA to 8.18. Santana was 1-4 with a walk and RBI to drop to .308; McConnell was 1-2 with 2 walks and an RBI to drop to .335 -- his error was his 20th; LF Felix Peguero was 2-4 with a double to improve to .253; DH Kiel Thibault was 0-4 to drop to .331; C Jeff Howell was 0-2 with 2 walks to drop to .331; and Johnson was 2-4 with a double, triple and 2 RBI to improve to .224.

Idaho Falls is 11-19 and 5 games out of first with 8 games left on the schedule. The Chukars continue the series with Casper tonight.

The ASL Royals finished the second half at 15-13 and 3 games back of first. Overall the Royals finished 34-22. The Giants won both halves of the season so there won't be any playoffs. The Royals would have won the wild card if there was one.