PCL1 Omaha Storm Chasers

Omaha draws within one in the ninth, but falls to Oklahoma City 3-2

Published on May 6, 2011 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Omaha Storm Chasers News Release


OMAHA, Neb. - The Omaha Storm Chasers may still have a three-game division lead, but they are finding life challenging without slugging first baseman Eric Hosmer. On a day Kansas City Royals fans celebrated the Major League debut of one of the franchise's future cornerstones, the Chasers dropped a 3-2 decision to the Oklahoma RedHawks Friday night at Werner Park.

Omaha rallied late behind suddenly-hot hitting Lance Zawadzki, pulling within a run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning on his RBI single, but Lucas May popped out to end the ballgame with runners on the corners. Zawadzki finished the game 3-for-4 with one RBI, giving him seven hits and five runs batted in over his past three games. He also produced one of the game's biggest highlights, singling on the 16th pitch of his second-inning at-bat against winning pitcher Ryan Rowland-Smith (1-2) after fouling off 11 consecutive pitches.

Rowland-Smith was excellent for the RedHawks, going 6.1 innings while allowing one run. He struck out four Storm Chasers and did not walk a batter. Losing pitcher Jeff Suppan (2-4) was equally effective through five scoreless innings, but ran into trouble in the sixth when Collin DeLome and Brian Dopirak launched solo home runs off the veteran righthander - the only two runs he would allow.

Following Suppan's six frames, Kansas City Royals reliever Robinson Tejeda came on as part of his big-league injury rehabilitation assignment. He allowed a pair of hits and an unearned run, but battled back to strike out DeLome on a high fastball to end his inning of work. The final pitch registered 93 miles per hour on the stadium radar gun, a welcome sight for Royals fans.

Meanwhile, down I-29 in Kansas City, Hosmer was firmly in the spotlight. The 21-year-old, who was batting .439 with a .525 on-base percentage in 26 games in Omaha, drew walks in his first two plate appearances before being called out on strikes his last two times up. Hosmer's presence drew an unusually large walk-up crowd to Kauffman Stadium for the Royals game with the Oakland Athletics, and he made a splash online by making both the United States and worldwide "trending" topics list on Twitter.

The Storm Chasers and RedHawks will return to action at 7:05 p.m. Saturday at Werner Park. Righthander Kevin Pucetas (2-0), currently fourth in the Pacific Coast League in ERA at 1.96, will take the hill for the Storm Chasers against Oklahoma City southpaw Douglas Arguello (2-1). The first 2,500 fans will receive a blue, flexible-fitted Storm Chasers cap, courtesy of Wells Blue Bunny.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from May 6, 2011


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