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Omaha Storm Chasers

Royals Game Notes

June 27, 2008 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Omaha Storm Chasers News Release


TONIGHT: The Royals open a 4-game, 3-day home stand at Rosenblatt Stadium with a 7:05 p.m. game vs. the Oklahoma RedHawks. Omaha is coming off a 10-6 road trip and is on a 6-game winning streak. The Royals lead the season series vs. Oklahoma 5-3. Tonight's game is followed by Werner Enterprises Fireworks, also presented by 99.9 KGOR, KETV and The City Weekly! It's also another U.S. Cellular Dreams Come True Night. The pre-game show is on the air at 6:45 p.m. on News Talk 1420 KOTK and at www.oroyals.com.

LAST GAME: The Royals completed a 4-game sweep at New Orleans, shaded the Zephyrs 5-4. Omaha scored 3 unearned runs in the 3rd innings on 3 hits and 2 Z's errors. Jason Smith hit his 17th home run of the season in the 4th to make it 4-0. The Zephyrs scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 4th, keyed by Michel Abreu's 2-run homer, to cut the Royals' lead to a run. Smith singled to lead off the 6th and eventually scored the deciding run on Gookie Dawkins' sacrifice fly to make it 5-3. New Orleans scored a run in the bottom of the 9th, but with 2 outs and the bases full, Brandon Duckworth got Abreu to ground into a force out, earning his 1st save. Matt Wright (3-4) picked up the win, allowing 3 runs over 5.0 innings. Willie Collazo (4-5) took the loss, giving up 4 runs (1 earned) in 5.0 frames.

ROYALS REPORT: The Royals' 6-game winning streak is their longest of the year. It's the team's longest win string on the road since an 8-game streak July 31-September 2, 2005. Now, the Royals are back at Rosenblatt, where the club is riding a 6-game losing skid, equaling their longest of the season at home. The last home losing string that was longer than this was a 7-game slide July 18-24, 2003. *** Omaha's sweep of the 4-game series at New Orleans was the Royals' 1st since August 1-4, 2007 vs. Las Vegas. *** Wright has won each of his last 2 starts, posting a 2.77 ERA (4 ER in 13.0 IP) in the process. He has yielded just 1 home run over his last 3 outings, after being tagged for 15 round-trippers in his 1st dozen starts. *** Smith's home run Tuesday was his 17th of the season - tied for 4th-most in the PCL - and it was #100 for Omaha in 77 games. The Royals have hit the 2nd-most home runs in the league, 12 fewer than Albuquerque. The Royals staff has allowed 96 taters, 2nd-most in the loop, 2 less than have been given up by Nashville. Over his last 9 games, Smith is batting .382 (13-for-34) with 3 homers and 5 RBI. *** Shane Costa is riding a 7-game hitting streak. During the string, he's hitting .419 (13-for-31) with a home run and 6 RBI. *** Billy Butler is 0-for-12 over the last 3 contests. In the 18 games prior to that, he hit .403 (29-for-72), belting 5 home runs and driving in 13 runs. *** Damon Hollins has put together a 9-game hitting streak, dating back to June 8. Over that span, he's batting .351 (13-for-37) with 3 home runs and 5 RBI. *** Ryan Shealy was hitless in 4 at-bats Tuesday, snapping his hitting streak at 5 games. Over the last half-dozen contests, he's 10-for-25 (.400) with a homer and 2 RBI. *** Dawkins has hit in 4 straight, matching his season high with Omaha. He's 5-for-13 (.385) with 5 RBI during the string, upping his average 36 points to .263. *** Duckworth's save Tuesday was the 3rd of his professional career, his 2nd in the minors. It was his 1st save in the minor leagues since his 2nd professional season in 1999. His only Major League save came in 2007 with KC. *** Omaha is 11-9 in 1-run games following Tuesday's victory. *** The Royals made a plethora of roster moves today. In addition to adding tonight's starter, Carlos Rosa, from KC, relievers Jeff Fulchino and Yasuhiko Yabuta also join Omaha after being optioned down from the parent club. Infielder Ed Lucas has been sent back to Double-A Northwest Arkansas. Shortstop Angel Sanchez, who missed all of the 2007 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery on his right elbow, has been promoted to Omaha from Northwest Arkansas. In 63 games with the Naturals, he hit .261 with 1 home run and 23 RBI. Reliever Roberto Giron was released by KC, after going 3-3 with a 5.86 ERA and 1 save in 20 games with Omaha.

STARTERS: LH Matt Harrison (2-1, 4.00) vs. RH Carlos Rosa (2-1, 3.96)

Rosa makes his 6th Triple-A start, his 3rd vs. Oklahoma. It's the 1st start for the 23-year old lefty since KC optioned him back to Omaha last Sunday, when the Royals promoted Horacio Ramirez. Rosa was 0-0 with a 2.70 ERA in 2 relief appearances with KC. He made his Major League debut on June 14 at Arizona, tossing a hitless inning, striking out 1. His last appearance was June 20 vs. San Francisco, when he allowed 1 run on 3 hits over 2.1 innings, fanning 2. After giving up 5 runs in the 1st inning of his 1st start for Omaha on May 17 at Albuquerque, Rosa surrendered just 6 earned runs in his next 24.0 innings with Omaha for a 2.25 ERA. In his 2 starts vs. the RedHawks, Rosa is 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA. He began this season with Double-A Northwest Arkansas, going 4-2 in 8 starts and leading the Texas League with a 1.20 ERA. In 45.0 innings, he gave up just 30 hits and 7 walks, striking out 42 batters. The native of the Dominican Republic is in the 6th season of his professional career, after being signed by KC as a non-drafted free agent on November 29, 2001. Entering this season, Rosa was ranked by Baseball America as the #7 prospect in the Royals' organization. In 2007, he opened the season with Class-A Wilmington and was 2-1 with a 0.39 ERA in 4 starts before being promoted to Double-A Wichita. He went 6-6 with a 4.36 ERA and 1 save in 21 games (17 starts) with the Wranglers. He struggled for Wichita early, but was 3-1 with a 2.87 ERA in 10 starts after the All-Star break, posting a 0.83 ERA in 4 August starts. After missing the entire 2005 season following Tommy John surgery, Rosa bounced back in 2006 to be named the Royals Minor League Pitcher of the Year and the Burlington (IA) Pitcher of the Year. He went 8-6 in 24 starts for the Bees and his 2.53 ERA was 4th in the Midwest League. He was promoted to High Desert for 3 starts at the end of the '06 season.

PROBABLES FOR REMAINDER OF SERIES:

Sat., 12:05 p.m.: RH Brian Gordon (0-1, 4.15) vs. LH Tyler Lumsden (3-7, 6.53)

Sat., 7:05 p.m.: RH Kameron Loe (2-4, 5.59) vs. RH Brandon Duckworth (3-6, 4.82)

Sun., 1:35 p.m.: RH Dustin Nipper (5-2, 4.47) vs. LH Dusty Hughes (1-0, 0.00)

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