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Omaha Storm Chasers

Royals Game Notes

June 8, 2008 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Omaha Storm Chasers News Release


TODAY: The Omaha Royals host the Iowa Cubs in a 1:35 p.m. game at Rosenblatt Stadium. It's Lockheed Martin Military Appreciation Day. All active members of the military get a buy-one-get-one-free ticket to the game, good for all levels of seating. Also courtesy of Lockheed Martin, the 1st 1,000 fans will receive a Frank White jersey-backpack. It's also U.S. Bank Family FUNday, also presented by KGBI 100.7 FM and Cox Communications. All Royals Kids Club members receive a FREE ticket to the game, courtesy of SUBWAY. Plus, any fan bringing an Our Family Brand food item to the stadium gets a FREE General Admission ticket to the contest. The pre-game show is on the air at 1:15 p.m. on News Talk 1420 KOTK and at www.oroyals.com.

LAST NIGHT: Iowa won its 3rd straight in the series, edging the Royals 4-3. Omaha starter Carlos Rosa was perfect for 4.0 innings, retiring all 12 batters he faced, before a 1:07 rain delay took him out of the game. Roman Colon lost the perfect game on a Casey McGehee single with 1 out in the 5th and the Cubs scored 3 runs in the 6th off Colon (1-1) to break the scoreless tie. Felix Pie doubled home Iowa's 1st run. Matt Murton's sacrifice fly scored Eric Patterson from 3rd and Mitch Maier's throw to 3rd hit Pie sliding into the base and he wound up scoring on the play to make it 3-0. Jason Smith's team-leading 13th home run in the 7th put Omaha on the board and it was the only hit allowed by Mike Burns (4-4), who retired the other 10 Royals he faced. In the 8th, Pie singled with 2 outs, stole 2nd base and scored the decisive run on a Matt Murton single. With 1 out and a runner on in the bottom of the 9th, Billy Butler's 2nd home run in as many days cut the Cubs' lead to a run. Jim Brower then issued back-to-back walks to Ryan Shealy and Smith before getting Damon Hollins to ground into a game-ending double play, giving Brower his 2nd save with Iowa.

ROYALS REPORT: The Royals have dropped from 1.5 games behind Iowa to 4.5 games out by losing the 1st 3 games of this series. Omaha has lost 5 straight at Rosenblatt. The streak is 1 game shy of the Royals' longest home losing skid of the season, set May 11-20. *** After giving up 5 runs in his 1st inning with Omaha on May 17 at Albuquerque, Rosa has given up just 6 earned runs over his last 24.0 frames, for an ERA of 2.25 over that span, dropping his season ERA to 3.96. *** Butler, who hit 1 home run in 53 games with KC, has now belted 2 homers in his last 3 games with Omaha. Butler has hit in 4 straight, going 7-for-15 (.467) with a double and a triple in addition to the 2 taters and he has knocked in 5 runs. *** Smith's round-tripper Saturday night was his 1st in the past 12 contests. Over his last 23 games, he's hitting .318 (27-for-85) with 5 home runs and 20 RBI. *** With 2 more dingers as a team last night, the Royals now lead the PCL with 83 home runs - 1 more than the Albuquerque Isotopes. Omaha's pitching staff has also yielded the most gopher balls, giving up 82 homers in the 1st 60 games of the year. *** It was a busy night in the field Saturday for both teams' 2nd baseman. Iowa's Eric Patterson had 7 assists, robbing David Matranga and Butler of potential base hits by making plays ranging far to his left, and turning the game-ending double play. Matranga, playing 2nd base for the Royals, had an assist or a putout in all 9 innings, compiling 6 assists and 4 putouts. *** Matt Tupman was 0-for-3 last night and is hitless in 10 at-bats over his last 3 games, dipping his average 20 points to .246. *** Brayan Pena is scheduled to start at catcher for the Royals today. Pena was claimed by KC off waivers from the Atlanta Braves on May 30 and then had to go through waivers again before being assigned to Omaha. The 26-year old switch-hitter is a .228 hitter in parts of the past 4 seasons with the Braves, including this season when he was 4-for-14 (.286), all as a pinch-hitter. He is a career .303 hitter in 572 minor league games. *** Brad Salmon fired a hitless 9th inning Saturday, walking 1 and fanning 1. In 2 relief appearances this month, Salmon has worked 4.0 scoreless stanzas. He had a 6.19 ERA in 8 games last month. *** The Royals have seen enough of Iowa's Mr. Burns. In 3 games vs. Omaha this year, Burns is 1-0 with a 1.86 ERA, allowing 2 runs on just 2 hits in 9.2 innings.

STARTERS: LH J.R. Mathes (2-3, 2.86) vs. LH Horacio Ramirez (NR)

Ramirez makes his Omaha Royals debut. The 28-year old left-hander was signed by KC as a minor league free agent on May 21, after being released by the Seattle Mariners on March 12 during Spring Training. Ramirez spent the 1st 10 years of his professional career in the Atlanta Braves organization, pitching for Atlanta from 2003-2006. He was acquired by the Mariners from the Braves in exchange for right-hander Rafael Soriano on December 7, 2006. In 2007, Ramirez was 8-7 with a 7.16 ERA in 20 starts for Seattle. He began the season with 6 consecutive wins at Safeco Field, the longest such streak in Mariners history, but was placed on the disabled list on May 25 with left shoulder tendinitis. He was not activated by Seattle until July 16. It was the 4th trip to the DL for Ramirez in 2 seasons, as he made just 14 starts for Atlanta during the 2006 campaign, when he made 3 trips to the DL for various injuries. In 2005, Ramirez made a career-high 32 starts and appeared in 33 games overall, going 11-9 with a 4.63 ERA. His sophomore big league season in 2004 was also injury filled, limiting him to just 9 starts for Atlanta. He was 12-4 with a 4.00 ERA in his 2003 rookie season, at one point winning 7 consecutive decisions to tie the Braves record for the longest win streak by a rookie starting pitcher. Ramirez was selected by Atlanta in the 5th round of the 1997 draft out of Inglewood (CA) High School. He resides in Mableton, Georgia.

PROBABLES FOR SERIES AT NEW ORLEANS:

Mon., 7:00 p.m.: RH Matt Wright (1-2, 4.85) vs. LH Willie Collazo (3-2, 2.88)

Tue., 7:00 p.m.: RH Brandon Duckworth (2-5, 4.87) vs. RH Ruddy Lugo (4-4, 3.71)

Wed., 12:00 p.m.: LH Tyler Lumsden (2-7, 7.15) vs. RH Brian Stokes (6-5, 4.56)

Thur., 7:00 p.m.: RH Carlos Rosa (2-1, 3.96) vs. RH Nelson Figueroa (2-0, 2.40)

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