Royals on the Farm 8/1

AAA: Omaha SP Danny Tamayo had the best start of his season thus far and the O-Royals beat Tacoma, 6-0, Monday. Tamayo took a perfect game into the 7th before losing it on a walk and then losing his no-hit bid on a single later in the inning. Meanwhile, Omaha scored 3 in the 4th on consecutive RBI singles by C Scott Walter, 3B Chris Truby and 1B Justin Huber (his first AAA hit of the season); and added 3 in the 5th on a fielding error, a fielder's choice RBI by LF Matt Diaz and a sac fly by DH Calvin Pickering. Tamayo went 8 1/3 IP and allowed only 2 hits and a walk with 9 Ks to move to 6-7 with a 5.61 ERA. RP Jaime Cerda finished it off with 2/3 IP and 1 BB to drop his ERA to 6.75. SS Denny Hocking was 3-4 with a BB to up his BA to .281; Diaz was 0-3 with a BB and RBI to snap his hitting streak and drop to .403; RF Aaron Guiel was 0-5 to drop to .272 but scored 2 runs; and Huber was 1-4 with an RBI and 2 Ks to improve to .077 (1-13).

Omaha is 50-60 and 10 games back of first. The teams wrap up their series today as it's RH Mike Wood (0-0, 2.70) vs. Tacoma RH Chris Buglovsky (3-2, 5.16).

AA: Wichita had Monday off to recover from dropping the series to Arkansas. Wichita is 20-18 and a game back of the Travs. The Wranglers also have today off before starting a 4-game set at Tulsa Wednesday.

High-A: High Desert LF Billy Butler put the Mavs in front early and High Desert did enough to win, 5-2, over Rancho Cucamonga to take sole possession of first in the Cal League South. Butler cracked a 2-run homer (his 25th) in the opening frame to give the Mavs a 2-0 lead before SP Billy Buckner allowed 1 run that inning. The Mavs added a run in the 3rd on a Butler sac fly and scored 2 in the 6th on a 2-run double by 3B Brandon Powell to take a 5-1 lead. Buckner went 6 1/3 IP and allowed 2 ER on 4 hits and 2 BB with 9 Ks to improve to 8-11 with a 4.67 ERA; RP Brian Steffek (recently signed as an FA out of the Northern League) went 1 2/3 IP and K'd 1 with 0 hits or walks to get his 1st hold and drop his ERA to 10.12; and RP Chris Demaria got his 17th save with a hitless 9th that included a K to drop his ERA to 2.22. 2B Pete Maestrales went 0-3 with 2 BB to drop to .322; SS Angel Sanchez was 4-5 with 2 doubles to improve to .291; Butler was 3-4 with a HR and 3 RBI to move to .354; DH Jared Price was 0-4 to drop to .337; CF Chris Lubanski was 0-4 to drop to .284; 1B Kila Kaaihue was 1-4 to drop to .312; and Powell was 2-4 with a double and 2 RBI to improve to .310. Butler is up to 91 RiBbIes this season.

High Desert is 21-16 and up a game on Rancho Cucamonga for the division lead. The series with the Quakes continues tonight.

Low-A: Burlington started the game well but Wisconsin was helped by 3 Bees errors to a 6-4 win and series win. The Bees scored all 4 of their runs in the 1st on an RBI single by C Damaso Espino, a sac fly by RF Brian McFall and RBI singles by LF Kenard Springer and 1B Eddie Solis. Unfortunately they only got 1 hit from then on. 3B Edward Lucas made 2 errors to get to 19 on the season and McFall made his 7th error to help the Rattlers to 2 unearned runs in the loss. SP Patrick Hicklen went 5 2/3 IP and allowed 4 R (2 ER) on 4 hits and 3 BB with 2 Ks to make his ERA 3.81; and RP Adam Rowe blew his 6th save and got the loss with 3 1/3 IP of 2 ER on 4 hits and a walk with 2 Ks to drop to 5-5 with a 5.44 ERA. CF Cody Cure was 0-4 with a walk to drop to .296; Lucas was 0-3 with a HBP to drop to .300; and Solis was 2-4 with a double and RBI to improve to .210. SS Irving Falu stole his 22nd base and drew 3 walks in the game.

Burlington is 21-17 and 2 games behind Quad Cities. A 4-game set at Lansing (17-21) starts tonight. Pitchers: RH Gabe DeHoyos (4-1, 1.37) vs. Lansing RH Po-Hsuan Keng (2-4, 5.10). In other Bees news, IF Gary Perez joined the Bees from Idaho Falls, where he was batting .362 with 2 home runs, 23 RBI, 11 doubles, 4 triples, and 29 runs scored in 36 games. Perez split time between second base and third base with the Chukars, playing 22 games at second and 14 at third. He spent the 2004 season with Salcedo in the Dominican Summer League and earned the team's Player of the Year award from the Royals. He hit .366 with 2 home runs, 26 RBI, 14 doubles, 4 triples, 56 runs scored, and 19 stolen bases in 60 games for Salcedo.

Rookie: Idaho Falls blew three leads in an 11-10 loss to Ogden in 11 innings Monday. The Chukars scored 3 in the 1st on RBI singles by RF Felix Peguero and CF Andrew Larsen and an RBI double by 1B Jase Turner but Ogden scored 6 unanswered runs to take a 6-3 lead into the 5th. Idaho Falls closed the lead to 2 in the 5th with a solo homer by Turner (his 5th) but Ogden scored again to make it a 7-4 game. The Chukars tied it in the 6th on an RBI double by 2B Joshua Johnson, a sac fly by 3B Joshua Colafemina and a Peguero RBI single before taking the lead in the 7th on a Colafemina RBI single. Ogden regained the lead that inning at 9-8 but Idaho Falls tied it in the 8th on a Turner RBI single. C Jeff Howell led off the 9th with a double but ended up getting thrown out at home later in the inning and the game stayed tied into the 11th, when the Chukars broke through with a Colafemina RBI single to take a 10-9 lead. RP Jacob Eckley came in for the bottom of the 11th and didn't get an out after two singles and a double ended it. SP Mario Santiago went 3 1/3 IP and allowed 6 ER on 5 hits and 2 BB to move his ERA to 9.58; RP Phillip Davidson went 3 1/3 IP and allowed 3 ER on 3 hits and 2 BB with 3 Ks to bump his ERA to 8.10; RP Matt Kniginyzky blew his 2nd save with 1/3 IP of 1 hit and 1 BB to drop his ERA to 2.70; RP Eliszer Garcia went 3 IP and allowed 1 hit with 2 BB and 2 Ks to drop his ERA to 3.91; and Eckley picked up his 4th blown save and the loss with 2 ER on 3 hits in 0 IP to drop to 3-2 with a 4.91 ERA. LF Ethien Santana was 3-7 with 2 RS to improve to .289; SS Chris McConnell was 2-7 to move to .329; Turner was 4-6 with a double, HR and 3 RBI to improve to .280; and Howell was 4-4 with 2 walks, a double and 2 RS to improve to .400. The Chukars left 13 on base.

The Chukars are 0-2 on the second half and 2 games out of first. The series with Ogden continues tonight as SP Rusty Begnaud (2-2, 5.72) goes for Idaho Falls.

The ASL Royals dropped their game with the Rangers, 6-3, Monday. The Royals scored in the 1st on a solo shot by DH Jeff Bianchi, who finally made his return to the lineup in style with his 6th of the season. The Rangers came back with 4 in the 1st off SP Paul Raglione and didn't look back. The Royals scored again in the 2nd on a solo homer by RF Oscar Gonzalez (his 2nd) and then not again until the 8th on a Gonzalez sac fly. Raglione got the loss with 4 IP of 5 ER on 8 hits and 4 BB to drop to 1-2 with a 7.07 ERA and RP Brent Fisher went 4 IP and allowed an UER on a hit and 3 BB with 7 Ks to drop his ERA to 3.38. LF Jose Duarte was 1-5 to drop to .368; Bianchi was 2-4 with a BB, HR and RBI to improve to .451; SS Andres Blanco was 1-4 with a BB and 3 Ks to drop to .286; CF Joseph Dickerson was 1-4 with a double to drop to .328; and IF Valentino Arce was 1-4 to drop to .388.

The ASL Royals are 2-2. They play the Cubs tonight and the A's tomorrow.