5/6 Royals Game Notes
Published on May 6, 2008 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Omaha Storm Chasers News Release
MAY 6, 2008, 6:35 p.m.: OMAHA ROYALS (15-14) vs. Portland Beavers (15-14)
HOME: 9-5 (45-27 in â07) AWAY: 6-9 (28-44 in '07) vs. Portland: 0-0 (2-2 in '07)
TONIGHT: The Royals open an 8-game home stand at Rosenblatt Stadium, facing the Portland Beavers in game 1 of a 4-game series. Omaha is coming off a 2-6 road trip to Sacramento and Fresno, losing each set 3-1. It's $2 2uesday, featuring $2 General Admission tickets and $2 nachos, courtesy of Valpak, Z-92 and The Reader! It's also the final "Hit the Books" night of the season, when the Royals and the Nebraska College Savings Program honor area students who completed the 2nd annual reading program in the off-season. 1st pitch is 6:35 p.m., with the pre-game show on the air at 6:15 p.m. on News Talk 1420 KOTK and at www.oroyals.com.
MONDAY: Was it live or was it Memorex? The Royals were shutout for the 2nd straight game, again being held to 5 hits in a 2-0 whitewashing at Fresno. Grizzlies starter Matt Palmer (2-3) worked 8.0 innings, yielding 5 singles and 1 walk, while striking out 9 Royals. Alex Hinshaw tossed a perfect 9th inning, adding 2 more K's, to notch his 5th save. Royals starter Tyler Lumsden (1-3) was the victim of no run support, as he allowed just 2 runs on 8 hits over 6.0 innings to take the loss. Omaha's Devon Lowery fired 2.0 hitless relief frames.
ROYALS REPORT: Before the final 2 games at Fresno, the last time that the Royals had suffered back-to-back shutout losses came in the 2004 season at Rosenblatt. Memphis blanked the Royals 5-0 in game 2 of a doubleheader July 20 and then shutout Omaha 3-0 on the 21st. *** On Saturday night at Fresno, the Royals set season highs in runs (13) and hits (18) in a 13-7 mauling of the Grizzlies. Omaha scored all 13 of its runs and had all but 1 of its 18 hits in the 1st 7 innings of that contest. In 20 innings since then, the Royals have not scored and have picked up just 11 hits, all of them singles. *** In the 12 games prior to the past 2 days, the Royals had bashed 28 home runs and scored 82 runs (6.83 runs per game). However, even during that 12-game stretch, Omaha scored 12 or more runs 4 times and was held to 3 runs or fewer in 4 other contests. The Royals went just 6-6 over that span. *** In addition to collecting just 10 singles over the last 2 tilts, the Royals as a team picked up only 1 walk, while striking out 23 times. *** Lowery was dominating in his 2 relief appearances at Fresno - his 1st 2 career outings at the Triple-A level - pitching 4.0 hitless innings of scoreless relief, with no walks and 2 strikeouts. Lowery, a 25-year old right-hander who was KC's 14th round pick in the 2001 draft, opened this season with Double-A Northwest Arkansas. In 9 relief appearances for the Naturals, he was 1-0 with a 0.69 ERA and 2 saves, giving up just 1 earned run in 13.0 frames, walking 5 and fanning 17. He was promoted to Omaha last Thursday, after Jorge De La Rosa was traded to the Rockies. *** Since returning from a sore left wrist that kept him out of action from April 6-25, Mitch Maier has hit in 9 consecutive contests. He's batting .366 (15-for-41) with 2 home runs and 5 RBI during the streak. *** Mike Aviles lost a team-best, 15-game hitting streak on Sunday. He went 1-for-4 yesterday, giving him hits in 16 of the past 17 tilts. Over that stretch, he's hitting .360 (27-for-75) with 8 doubles, 3 triples, 4 home runs, 14 RBI and 16 runs scored. *** Damon Hollins picked up the Royals lone walk Monday. It was the 1st time in his last 6 games that Hollins had walked. Hollins coaxed 12 bases-on-balls over the season's 1st 9 games, but has only 5 free passes over the past 17 contests. Hollins is also in a 2-for-21 (.095) funk over the past 7 games, dropping his average from .209 to .182. *** Ryan Shealy is in a 2-for-20 (.100) slide over the past 5 contests, with no homers and 2 RBI, dipping his average 22 points to .186. Just prior to that cold streak, Shealy had homered in 3 straight games and had gone deep in 4 of 5 contests.
STARTERS: RH Enrique Gonzalez (0-1, 4.09) vs. RH Matt Wright (0-1, 5.16)
Wright makes his 6th start of the season. The 26-year old right-hander's last outing was last Thursday at Sacramento; he was not involved in the decision in the Royals' 5-3 loss (4.2 IP, 8 H, 3 R-1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 1 HR). In his 1st 5 starts this season, Wright has only worked 22.2 innings and has allowed 31 hits and 12 walks, while striking out 14. Last season, he walked only 40 batters in 137.1 innings. Wright was signed by KC as a minor league free agent prior to 2007 and spent the entire campaign with Omaha, going 10-5 and ranking 7th in the PCL with a 4.06 ERA. In 21 starts last season, he was 7-3 with a 4.01 ERA; he went 3-2 with a 4.32 ERA in 7 relief appearances. His one outing vs. the Beavers last season was a June 5 start at Portland; he was not involved in the decision as the Royals lost 5-4 in 10 innings (4.0 IP, 8 H, 4 R-3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K). Wright pitched well in tight spots last season, holding opponents to a .216 average with runners in scoring position and .193 with runners in scoring position and 2 outs. He won 6 of his 7 decisions at Rosenblatt Stadium last year, although his ERA was actually better on the road than at home (3.89 to 4.24). Following the season, he was a member of the gold-medal winning USA Baseball Team at the World Cup in Chinese Taipei, going 1-0 with a 1.00 ERA in 2 games (1 start). Prior to 2007, Wright spent his 1st 7 professional seasons in the Braves organization. He was named to the Carolina League All-Star team in 2004, when he ranked 6th in Atlanta's system with 133 strikeouts for Myrtle Beach. Wright was selected by the Braves in the 21st round of the 2000 draft out of Robinson High School in Texas.
PROBABLES FOR REMAINDER OF SERIES:
Wed., 12:05 p.m.: RH Josh Greer (2-2, 3.97) vs. RH Jeff Fulchino (0-0, 3.68)
Thur., 6:35 p.m.: LH Shawn Estes (4-2, 3.67) vs. RH Brandon Duckworth (2-1, 5.13)
Fri., 7:05 p.m.: LH Cesar Ramos (3-2, 5.53) vs. RH Kyle Davies (3-2, 2.61)
Pacific Coast League Stories from May 6, 2008
- Tucson Lose Series Opener to Nashville 4-1 - Tucson Sidewinders
- Sounds Open Road Trip With 4-1 Victory - Nashville Sounds
- Sky Sox drop opener to Round Rock - Colorado Springs Sky Sox
- Red-Hot Portland Rides Six Homers, Ninth-Inning Heroics Past Royals - Portland Beavers
- Zephyrs' can't bounce back - New Orleans Baby Cakes
- Cubs fall to Rainiers, 5-2 - Iowa Cubs
- Sidewinders Return Home To Host Nashville And Memphis - Tucson Sidewinders
- Oklahoma RedHawks Game Notes- May 6, 2006 - Oklahoma City Comets
- 5/6 Royals Game Notes - Omaha Storm Chasers
- Sunday Salt Lake Bees Game Moves To 6:35 p.m. - Salt Lake Bees
- Z's fall in 12 innings - New Orleans Baby Cakes
- Gerut delivers winning hit in 12th inning; Beavers win fifth in a row - Portland Beavers
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