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PCL1 Omaha Storm Chasers

4/28 Royals Game Notes

April 28, 2008 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Omaha Storm Chasers News Release


APRIL 28, 2008, 9:05 p.m.: OMAHA ROYALS (13-8) at Sacramento (12-11)

HOME: 9-5 (45-27 in ‘07) AWAY: 4-3 (28-44 in '07) vs. Sacramento: 0-0 (2-2 in '07)

TONIGHT: The Royals open an 8-game road with the 1st of 4 games at Raley Field in Sacramento. The Royals and River Cats split a their 4-game series last season at Rosenblatt Stadium. Omaha is coming off a 4-3 weather-abbreviated home stand, going 2-1 vs. Nashville after splitting a 4-game set vs. New Orleans.

SUNDAY: Jorge De La Rosa and Neal Musser cooled off Nashville in Omaha's 3-2 win, after the Sounds had scored 24 runs in the 1st 2 games of the series. De La Rosa (3-0) went 6.1 innings, allowing 2 runs on 7 hits, walking 2 and striking out 8. Neal Musser fired 2.2 hitless innings of scoreless relief to post his 5th save. The Royals tallied 2 runs in the 4th off Chris Narveson (0-4), with an RBI double by Mike Aviles tying the game at 1-1 and Aviles taking 3rd base on the play when Sounds right fielder Brendan Katin's errant throw missed the cutoff man. Shane Costa then lined a single past Nashville's drawn-in shortstop, Ozzie Chavez, to make it 2-1. Angel Berroa's 3rd home run of the season in the 5th made it 3-1 and turned out to be the deciding run, as Nashville scored once in the 6th on Russell Branyan's run-scoring single for his 7th RBI of the 3-game series.

ROYALS REPORT: De La Rosa's 8 strikeouts Sunday - including 3 straight in the top of the 3rd after Nashville had started the inning with 3 consecutive singles to take a 1-0 lead - were the most K's for an Omaha pitcher in a game this year. For the season, the lefty has 23 strikeouts, compared to just 7 walks, in 22.0 innings. His 1.64 ERA ranks 5th in the PCL. *** Musser added 4 more whiffs yesterday to give Royals pitchers a season-high 12 strikeouts on the day. His biggest K was in the 7th with the bases loaded and 2 outs, when he fanned Sounds cleanup batter Brad Nelson, who had 8 RBI the previous 2 games, on 3 pitches. He's tied for 4th in the league with 5 saves. *** Sunday's victory gives Omaha a 5-1 record in 1-run games, while Nashville fell to 0-5 in contests decided by a run. *** Aviles' double yesterday was his 10th of the season, tied for 3rd-most 2-baggers in the PCL, and it was his 18th extra-base hit (tied for 2nd). He has hit in 9 straight games (.375, 15-40, 2 HR, 9 RBI) and has at least 1 RBI in 4 consecutive contests (6 RBI total). His team-leading 21 RBI puts Aviles in a tie for 3rd in the PCL in that category. *** Berroa's homer Sunday was his 1st long ball in his last 9 games. *** Omaha smacked 10 taters in the 3 games vs. Nashville. The Royals have homered in 6 straight tilts, belting 14 round-trippers in that span. On the season, Omaha's 34 home runs rank 2nd in the PCL, 2 less than have been hit by Albuquerque. Royals pitchers have allowed 25 jacks. *** Costa has at least 1 hit and 1 RBI in each of the last 4 games, going 5-for-17 (.294) with 2 homers, 7 RBI and 4 runs during the streak. He has reached base in all but 1 of the Royals' 21 contests this year. *** Dave Matranga went 0-for-3 Sunday after hitting in each of his 1st 4 games with Omaha. *** Yesterday marked the 12th time this season that the Royals have not committed an error - Omaha is 10-2 in those games. *** Since joining the PCL in 1998, Omaha is 15-25 (.375) vs. Sacramento. That's the Royals' worst winning percentage vs. any PCL club.

STARTERS: LH Mike Maroth (0-1, 7.50) vs. RH Kirk Saarloos (2-0, 2.45)

Maroth makes his 3rd start of the season. The 30-year old lefty made his Omaha debut on April 7 vs. Round Rock; he did not factor in the decision as the Royals won 7-5. He was placed on the D.L. with a sore left shoulder on April 9, retroactive to April 8, and was not activated until last Monday when he started vs. New Orleans and took the loss in the Royals' 6-2 defeat (2.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 1 K). Maroth was signed by KC as a minor league free agent on February 13. He spent most of the past 6 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, before being traded to St. Louis midway through 2007. Last season, he became just the 3rd pitcher in Major League history to start games for both of the previous year's World Series teams, joining Joe Bush in 1926 (PIT/WASH) and Sal Maglie, who did it in 1955 (NYG/CLE) and 1957 (BKY/NYY). Maroth opened last season with Detroit, going 5-2 with a 5.06 ERA in 13 starts. He was traded to St. Louis in exchange for RHP Chris Lambert on June 22 and went 0-5 with a 10.66 ERA in 14 games (7 starts) for the Cardinals. He also pitched briefly for Memphis, going 1-0 with an 8.31 ERA in 2 games. In 2006, Maroth missed a large part of the season, after undergoing surgery to remove bone chips from his left elbow on June 2. He won a career-high 14 games for the Tigers in 2005. In 2003, he led the A.L. with 21 losses, becoming the 1st pitcher to lose at least 20 games since Oakland's Brian Kingman lost 20 during the 1980 season. Maroth was originally selected by the Red Sox in the 3rd round of the 1998 draft out of the University of Central Florida, where he pitched for 3 seasons. The Tigers acquired him from Boston in exchange for RHP Bryce Florie on July 31, 1999.

PROBABLES FOR REMAINDER OF SERIES:

Tue., 9:05: RH Kyle Davies (2-1, 0.90) vs. LH Danny Borrell (2-0, 2.08)

Wed., 1:35: LH Tyler Lumsden (1-1, 9.56) vs. LH Lenny DiNardo (0-0, 0.00)

Thur., 9:05: RH Matt Wright (0-1, 6.00) vs. LH Dan Meyer (2-1, 6.11)

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