Royals on the Farm 8/31

AAA - Omaha: O-Royals 8, New Orleans 7 (10)

LF Huber 1-6, 2B (21), RBI (44), 2 K -- .283
RF Costa 2-5, BB, RBI (27) -- .344
SS Prieto 4-5, HR (3), 3 RBI (18), SB (2) -- .232
CF K. Robinson 2-4, BB, HBP, 4 RS, SB (17) -- .310
DH Coolbaugh 0-2, 2 BB, HBP, SF, 2 RBI (24), RS -- .230
2B Cortez 0-4 -- .251

Mahomes 6 IP, 6 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 7 K, HRA -- ND, 5.77 ERA
Yan 2 IP, H, 2 K -- 6.62 ERA
Diaz 2 IP, ER, 2 H, 2 BB, K -- BS, 4, W, 2-3, 4.15 ERA

*** A late comeback gave Omaha the lead in the 9th but Jose Diaz blew it before the Royals regrouped to win in 10. A throwing error by former Royals C Alberto Castillo in the 1st allowed Kerry Robinson to score the first run of the game. Pat Mahomes had a bad 1st, however, as he gave up a 2-run triple and 2-run homer with 2 outs in the inning to stake the Zephyrs to a 4-1 lead. Mike Coolbaugh hit an RBI ground out in the 3rd but New Orleans added 2 runs in the 6th on a 2-run single off Mahomes to make it 6-2. The Royals fought back to tie the game in the 7th as Alejandro Prieto hit a 3-run homer for his 3rd of the season and Justin Huber doubled home a run. Shane Costa singled home the go-ahead run in the 8th and Diaz came in for the 9th with an 8-7 lead. He gave up a single and 2 walks to load the bases with 1 out and an RBI force out tied the game before Diaz got out of the jam. A balk put 2 in scoring position for Omaha in the 10th and Coolbaugh hit a sac fly to get the lead run home. Diaz ended the game on a DP ball. Omaha is 53-87 entering the final series of the season. Zephyrs 3B Brandon Larson was 2-5 with his 20th HR and 4 RBI (72) to move to .268, LF Tyrell Godwin was 3-5 with his 7th triple, 19th SB and 2 RBI (44) to move to .242 and 1B Mike Vento was 0-5 to drop to .357.

The Royals finish the season with a 4-game home set vs. the Iowa Cubs (72-68) starting Friday night. Andy Van Hekken pitches the opener for Omaha and Iowa hadn't named a starter as of about 1 p.m. Friday. The Royals need to sweep to avoid the worst record in franchise history. In other news, the Royals called up RP Ryan Braun for his major league debut as Reggie Sanders was moved to the 60-day DL. Here's hoping Braun will be the Royals' closer for the next 6 years.

AA - Wichita: Wranglers 3, Tulsa 1

3B Gordon 2-4, RBI (96), 2 K -- .323, outside shot to become only player in franchise with 100-RBI year
LF Lubanski 2-4, RS -- .281
CF Maier 1-4, K -- .302
SS Sanchez 0-3, K -- .280
2B Murphy 1-4 -- .249
DH D. Brown 1-2, BB, SF, RBI (74), RS -- .310

Lumsden 6 IP, ER, 4 H, BB, 5 K, WP, 3 hit batsmen -- W, 2-1, 3.06 ERA, control probs but good start
Cedeno 3 IP, H, K -- SV, 2, 5.77 ERA, had Jekyll control Thursday, not Hyde

*** Either Wichita is hitting on all cylinders or the Drillers are playing possum until the playoffs next week as Wichita won again, this time in less than 2 hours. Brett Groves drove in a run on a force out in the 2nd as the play was aided by the Drillers' 2nd error of the frame. Tyler Lumsden gave up a run on 2 hits and a wild pitch in the 3rd to tie it at 1 but the Wranglers scored twice in the 5th on an Alex Gordon RBI single and Dee Brown sac fly to make it 3-1. Lumsden and Cedeno stymied Tulsa thereafter to end the game in 1 hour, 57 minutes. Wichita is 40-26. Gary's son Tulsa LF Joe Gaetti was 2-4 to move to .297, 1B Joe Koshansky was 0-3 to drop to .287 and 3B Ian Stewart was 1-4 with his 41st double to drop to .270.

Junior Herndon starts game 3 of the 5-game set Friday night. The Eagle reports Luke Hochevar is set to start playoff game 4 against Tulsa next week. Apparently the negotiations between the Wranglers and Springdale, Ark., have hit a snag and it's up in the air at this point whether the team will leave Wichita or not -- contract squabbles.

High-A - High Desert: Inland Empire 7, Mavs 6

DH Stodolka 0-4, BB, 2 K -- .287
SS Falu 3-5, RBI (47), RS -- .301, still white hot
C Duenas 0-3, BB, SF, RBI (53), 2 K, RS -- .299
CF Senreiso 3-4, 2B (16), RBI (59), RS -- .288
LF Tomlin 2-4, 3B, RBI (34), RS -- .297

de la Vara 5 IP, 3 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 3 K, HRA -- L, 0-5, 5.61 ERA, why is he starting?
Hicklen 2 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, HRA -- 6.24 ERA
Schambough 2 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, HRA -- 13.50 ERA

*** A 9th-inning comeback rally wasn't to be as the 66ers earned a split of the 4-game set with HD. Gilbert de la Vara made another start and gave up a 3-run homer in the 2nd to put the Mavs down early. Juan Senreiso singled home a run in the 4th to get the Mavs a run but Patrick Hicklen gave up a 2-run homer in the 7th (to Andy Hargrove, who had the other HR) to make it 5-1 IE. James Tomlin tripled home a run and Irving Falu singled home a run in the Mavs 7th to cut it back to 5-3. Rusty Brown hit an RBI ground out in the 8th to cut the lead to 1 but Kraig Schambough gave up a 2-run homer in the 9th to give IE 2 insurance runs. Mike Gaffney hit a 1-out RBI single in the bottom of the 9th and a Duenas sac fly cut the lead to 1, but Ed Lucas grounded into a game-ending force out. The Mavs are 32-35 and down to a 1/2-game lead on the wild card entering the final series. Hargrove, son of Seattle MGR Mike Hargrove, was 3-3 with 2 HR (5) and 5 RBI (16) to move to .236, C Omar Falcon was 2-3 with his 13th double, 7th HR and 2 RBI (28) to move to .260 and RF Casey Craig was 2-3 with his 3rd error to move to .292.

The Mavs start a regular-season ending 3-game road set with the Bakersfield Blaze (29-37, High-A Rangers) Friday night. No announced starters. RP Justin Barnes was suspended 3 games and Tomas Duenas 1 game for their part in a brawl Tuesday with the 66ers. Both ejected 66ers got 3-game suspensions. P Patrick Green's final start for the season will be the 2-man no-hitter he threw Aug. 21 with Jarod Plummer as Green has elbow tendinitis. Same goes for P Brandon Weeden, who has started some for HD. The Royals' track record with pitchers continues.

Low-A - Burlington: Cedar Rapids 7, Bees 6 (12)

1B Everett 3-6, 2B (13), K, RS, E (5) -- .263
C Howell 3-4, RS -- .249
CF Duarte 1-6, 2B (22), 4 K -- .266, golden sombrero
2B Johnson 0-6, 2 K -- .247
DH Peralta 1-4, BB, 2 RBI (2), K -- .250

A. Morales 5 1/3 IP, 4 R (3 ER), 7 H, 2 BB, 2 K, WP -- ND, 5.06 ERA
Hayes 1 2/3 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 5 H, BB, K -- BS, 6, L, 3-6, 2.84 ERA

*** A 9th inning Bees rally was countered by a Kernels rally in the 11th and Cedar Rapids took the series finale. Angelo Morales made his A-ball debut and gave up a run in the 1st but the Bees scored 2 in the 2nd on a 2-run single by Felix Peralta. Cedar Rapids regained the lead with 2 in the 5th off Morales on 2 hits and a wild pitch. Morales and Eliezer Garcia allowed another run in the 6th to make it 4-2. Omar Pena drove home a run on a ground out in the 7th to cut the lead back to 1 but the Kernels got the run back off Garcia in the 7th. The Bees loaded the bases down by 2 with 1 out in the 9th and a Pena sac fly cut it to 4-3. A throwing error on a ball hit by Ethien Santana allowed the tying run to score and the game went into extras. Santana tripled home Pena in the 11th to give the Bees a 5-4 lead but Chris Hayes gave up a single that, along with a Santana error, retied the game. With 2 out in the 12th, the Kernels got a walkoff single off Hayes to end it. The Bees are 27-39. Kernels CF Brad Coon was 4-5 with his 27th RBI and 54th SB to move to .278, DH Jordan Renz was 3-5 with his 84th RBI to move to .226 and 2B Josh Davies was 2-5 with his 5th triple, 5th error and 20th RBI to move to .239.

The Bees end the season with a split 4-game set vs. the Swing of the Quad Cities (40-25, Low-A Cards) starting Friday night. Luke Hochevar makes his final Burlington start. In other news, the Iowa town won't be the only Burlington to have a Royals farm team starting next season. More on that in the Idaho Falls section.

Rookie - Idaho Falls: Orem 11, Chukars 3

2B Mertins 2-4, 2B (9), RBI (22), K, RS -- .337
DH Maddox 1-3, BB, K -- .324
CF Van Stratten 2-4, RBI -- .500 in IF debut
3B Herrera 2-4, 2B (16), RS, E (14) -- .253
SS McConnell 0-3, SF, RBI (30), E (18) -- .255
LF Bigler 1-3, BB, E (4) -- .246

Gutierrez 5 IP, 3 R (2 ER), 7 H, BB, 6 K, 2 WP -- ND, 6.70 ERA
Cribb 1 1/3 IP, 6 R (5 ER), 8 H, K -- L, 2-5, 4.98 ERA

*** Orem kept its thumb on Idaho Falls this season by scoring 8 late runs to drub the Chukars. A wild pitch and single scored runs for the Owlz off Dan Gutierrez in the 1st and Nick Van Stratten singled home a run in his first IF AB in the 2nd. Orem scored again in the 3rd but IF tied it that inning on a Kurt Mertins RBI double and Chris McConnell sac fly. Marc Maddox was thrown out at home trying to score the lead run to end the 5th and the score stayed tied at 3 into the 7th when Josh Cribb gave up 6 runs on 7 consecutive singles and a Brett Bigler error. Chase Vacek gave up 2 more runs in the 8th and IF didn't post any kind of rally to end the game. The Chukars are 13-18 and a game up on Ogden for the wild card. Orem CF Chris Pettit was 3-5 with his 21st double and 2 RBI (46) to move to .324 and DH Ryan Mount was 2-5 with 2 RBI (38) to move to .298. 4 other Owlz had multi-hit games.

The series continues Friday. No announced starters. In other news, the Royals signed a development agreement with the Burlington, N.C., rookie-level Appalachian League team that had been with the Indians organization for 21 years. They will be the Burlington Royals. I assume that means the Royals will be out of IF and the Pioneer League. Maybe two heavy hitter-type leagues are too much for evaluation purposes in regard to the Pioneer and California leagues. No confirmation on what happens with IF yet.

Rookie - AZL: Royals' season done at 36-20. The Padres won the league with a 5-2 win over the Angels in the AZL title game Thursday.