Royals on the Farm 9/1

AAA - Omaha: Iowa 3, O-Royals 2

LF Huber 0-4, K -- .279
RF Costa 1-3, BB, 2B (11), RBI (28), OF assist at second -- .344
3B Aviles 2-4, K, SB (13) -- .258
CF K. Robinson 0-2, 2 BB, RBI (40), CS -- .308
2B Cortez 1-4, 2B (6), K, RS -- .251

Van Hekken 7 IP, 3 ER, 10 H, BB, 2 K -- L, 3-5, 4.36 ERA
Nunez 2 IP, H, K -- 1.80 ERA

*** A long-gone Royal made an impact against the O-Royals as Mac Suzuki got the win for Iowa. Andy Van Hekken gave up runs in the 2nd and 3rd to give Iowa a 2-0 lead before Shane Costa doubled home a run with 2 out in the 3rd. Kerry Robinson drove home a run on a ground out off Suzuki in the 5th to tie the game. Van Hekken gave up a 2-out RBI single in the 6th and the Royals' last gasp came with 2 singles with 2 outs in the 9th before Fernando Cortez grounded out to end the game. The Royals are 53-88. Suzuki allowed 2 ER on 4 hits and 2 walks with 3 K over 5 IP to move to 1-0 with a 4.05 ERA, RF Buck Coats was 3-4 with his 17th SB and 21st double to move to .278 and 2B Eric Patterson was 2-4 with his 7th SB to move to .358.

Game 2 of the set is Saturday evening. Pitchers: Iowa RH Jae-Kuk Ryu (7-8, 3.36) vs. RH Kyle Middleton (0-7, 5.27). The loss clinched 2006 as the worst season in Royals history.

AA - Wichita: Wranglers 10, Tulsa 1

3B Gordon 2-4, BB, RBI (97), K, RS, E (16) -- .325
LF Lubanski 2-5, RBI (70), RS -- .282
CF Maier 2-4, RBI (88), K, 2 RS -- .303
SS Sanchez 3-5, 2B (24), RBI (57), 2 RS -- .283
RF Groves 3-4, RBI (18), RS -- .201
2B Murphy 2-5, HR (14), 2 RBI (45) -- .251
C Espino 2-4, RBI (18), RS -- .246
DH D. Brown 0-4, SF, RBI (75) -- .307

Herndon 5 IP, ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 4 K, WP -- W, 12-6, 5.29 ERA
Musser and Lowery 4 IP scoreless relief

*** An 8-run 2nd and good pitching by Junior Herndon and 2 relievers got Wichita yet another win over Tulsa. Donnie Murphy continued his hot hitting with a leadoff homer in the 2nd for his 14th of the season, Brett Groves singled home a run and another scored on a Tulsa error, Chris Lubanski, Mitch Maier and Alex Gordon followed with RBI singles, Dee Brown hit a sac fly and Angel Sanchez singled home a run to make it 8-0. Herndon gave up a run on 2 hits and a walk in the 3rd but Wrangler pitchers only allowed 2 hits thereafter. Wichita added gravy runs in the 7th and 8th on RBI singles by Damaso Espino and Murphy. Wichita is 41-26. Tulsa LF Seth Smith was 1-4 with his 70th RBI and 5th error to move to .294, 1B Joe Koshansky was 0-4 to drop to .285 and RF Joe Gaetti was 0-3 to drop to .294.

The series continues Saturday night as Billy Buckner makes his final regular-season start. After Sunday's finale, the teams get a day off before starting the playoffs Tuesday.

High-A - High Desert: Mavs 5, Bakersfield 2

1B Stodolka 0-3, 2 BB, K, RS -- .285
3B E. Lucas 2-4, BB, HR (8), RBI (66), 2 K, 2 SB (19) -- .283
C Thibault 2-3, HBP, 2B (10), HR (1), RBI (17) -- .333, great game in place of suspended Duenas
SS Falu 0-4, BB -- .299
LF Tomlin 1-3, BB -- .297

Gragg 8 IP, 2 ER, 8 H, 6 K -- W, 8-9, 4.29 ERA
Plummer IP, 2 BB, K -- SV, 10, 4.05 ERA

*** A 4-run 3rd propelled the Mavs to a much-needed win. Both teams stranded runners in the 2nd and the Mavs broke through in the 3rd on a leadoff solo shot by Kiel Thibault for his 1st at HD and 2 Blaze errors scored 3 more runs to make it 4-0 HD. Ed Lucas added a solo homer in the 5th for his 8th of the season. Gragg allowed 2 runs in the 5th but regrouped as he and Jarod Plummer didn't allow another hit. The Mavs are 33-35 and still 1/2 a game up on the wild-card with 2 games left. Blaze LF Joe Napoli was 2-3 to move to .385 and DH Johnny Washington was 2-3 with a double to move to .156. Andres Galarraga's son Armando took the loss for Bakersfield to drop to 0-1 with a 6.23 ERA.

The series continues Saturday night as the Mavs can clinch with a win and a Lake Elsinore loss. Luis Cota starts for HD. LE leads the division as of Saturday pre-game so if they take the second-half title, the Mavs take the wild-card.

Low-A - Burlington: Quad Cities 2, Bees 1

CF Duarte 0-4 -- .264
2B Johnson 1-3, BB, K -- .247
3B Lisson 1-4, 2B (30), RBI (71) -- .259

Hochevar 6 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 6 K, 2 HRA -- L, 0-1, 1.17 ERA
Penn 3 IP, H, 5 K -- 2.62 ERA

*** Two solo shots off Luke Hochevar in the 2nd gave the Swing a clinched division title and Hochevar his first loss as a Royals farmhand. The Bees never mounted much offense and scored their lone run in the 8th on a 2-out RBI double by Mario Lisson. They went down in order in the 9th. The Bees are 27-40. Swing SP Tyler Norrick went 6 IP and allowed 2 hits and 3 walks with 7 K to move to 2-2 with a 3.72 ERA, SS Tyler Greene was 1-3 with his 14th homer and 43rd RBI, DH Jose Martinez was 1-3 with his 8th homer and 36th RBI and CF Jon Jay was 0-4 to drop to .347.

The series continues Saturday night as Dan Cortes pitches for the Bees. Hochevar will move on to Wichita for a start against Tulsa next week.

Rookie - Idaho Falls: Chukars 3, Orem 2

2B Mertins 2-4, BB, RS, SB (21) -- .340
CF Dickerson 2-5, GW RBI (36), CS, E (4) -- .284
LF Bigler 2-4, BB, RS, 2 SB (16) -- .251
RF Van Stratten 3-4, 2B -- .625
DH Maddox 1-4, 2 RBI (33) -- .322
SS McConnell 1-4, 2B (7), K -- .255

Hardy 6 1/3 IP, 2 UER, 6 H, 5 K -- ND, 2.91 ERA, another good start
Hartsock 2 2/3 IP, H, BB, 3 K -- W, 6-2, 3.19 ERA

*** Joe Dickerson came through with a big hit in the 9th and the Chukars beat Orem for the first time in 11 tries. Marc Maddox singled home a run in the 1st and drove home a run with a ground out in the 3rd as Rowdy Hardy retired the first 9 Owlz. A Dickerson error led to an unearned Owlz run in the 6th and a Brenan Herrera error in the 7th scored another unearned run to tie the game. Dickerson grounded out to end the 7th with the go-ahead run at third and Aaron Hartsock worked out of a jam in the 8th. With 2 on and 1 out in the 9th, Dickerson redeemed himself with a walkoff single to end it. IF is 14-18 and still a game in the wild card lead. Orem CF Chris Pettit was 3-4 with his 22nd double and 47th RBI to move to .332 and 3B P.J. Phillips was 2-4 to move to .243.

Harold Mozingo starts for the Chukars Saturday night. In other news, reports state the Royals will keep the Chukars in the organization and just add the Burlington (NC) Royals as a third rookie-level team in the organization.