PCL1 Omaha Storm Chasers

5/9 Royals Game Notes

Published on May 9, 2008 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Omaha Storm Chasers News Release


MAY 9, 2008, 7:05 p.m.: OMAHA ROYALS (16-16) vs. Portland Beavers (16-16)

HOME: 10-7 (45-27 in ‘07) AWAY: 6-9 (28-44 in '07) vs. Portland: 1-2 (2-2 in '07)

TONIGHT: The Royals host the Portland Beavers at Rosenblatt Stadium in the finale of a 4-game series, which Portland leads 2-1. Werner Enterprises Fireworks follow the game, also presented by KFAB, KETV and The City Weekly! It's another U.S. Cellular Dreams Come True Night: a lucky fan who signed up at a U.S. Cellular store will be on the field for batting practice and throw out a ceremonial 1st pitch. It's also Law Enforcement Night and the recipient of the team's inaugural Royals-Robinson Scholarship will be announced during the game. 1st pitch is 7:05 p.m., with the pre-game show on the air at 6:45 p.m. on News Talk 1420 KOTK and at www.oroyals.com.

LAST NIGHT: Is it over yet? Portland rallied for 2 runs in the top of the 9th, posting an 8-7 win over the Royals in a 3:41 marathon. Brian Myrow's 2-run double to left on an 0-2 pitch from Neal Musser was the deciding hit. Chase Headley, who collected the last of his 5 hits in the 9th inning when he singled off Musser, scored the decisive run. Musser (0-2) took the loss, giving up 2 runs on 3 hits and 2 of the 10 walks issued by Omaha pitchers. The Royals rallied from a 6-5 deficit to take a 1-run lead in the 7th inning by scoring twice - Shane Costa's leadoff homer tied the game and Angel Berroa's 2-out, RBI infield hit gave Omaha a 7-6 lead. Mike Adams (3-1) worked around a pair of walks and a wild pitch in the bottom of the 8th to get the win. Jared Wells tossed a perfect 9th for his 6th save.

ROYALS REPORT: At 3:41, last night's game was the longest 9-inning contest played by the Royals since the 2003 season. On June 30 of that year, the Royals went 3:50 at Albuquerque in a 17-9 win. *** Five Omaha pitchers combined last night to throw a whopping 233 pitches, only 118 of them for strikes. Royals hurlers issued 10 walks, 1 shy of their season high (Omaha pitchers walked 11 Nashville batters on April 26 here in a 13-9 defeat). Thursday night's starter, Brandon Duckworth, walked 4 batters in 2.0 innings. Over his last 4 games (2 starts), Duckworth has thrown 16.0 innings, walking 12 and striking out 17. His ERA climbed from 5.13 to 6.04 last night. *** Of the 52 Portland batters who came to the plate last night, 14 went to a full count. *** The Beavers left 17 runners stranded on base last night. It was the most LOB's for a Royals opponent in exactly 1 year. On May 8, 2007 Sacramento left 19 runners on base, but that came in a 13-inning contest, won by Omaha 7-6. In last night's game, the Royals stranded 10 runners, 1 shy of their season high. *** Headley last night became the 1st opposing batter to have 5 hits in a game vs. Omaha since Oklahoma's Ian Kinsler turned the trick on August 25, 2005 at Rosenblatt to lead the RedHawks to a 13-11 victory. *** Mike Aviles was 2-for-4 with a double, 2 RBI, a run scored and a stolen base last night. The double was his 16th of the season - 2nd-most in the PCL. He leads the league with 28 extra-base hits and is 3rd with a .688 slugging percentage. Aviles has hit in 19 of the past 20 games, batting .375 (33-for-88) with 10 doubles, 4 triples, 4 home runs, 17 RBI and 22 runs scored. *** After being on the shelf from April 6-25 with a sore left wrist, Mitch Maier has hit in all 12 games since returning to the Royals lineup. During the streak, he's hitting .377 (20-for-53) with 3 homers and 8 RBI. *** Ryan Shealy, who went 5-for-8 in the 1st 2 games of this series, was 0-for-2 last night and came out of the contest with a leg injury after striking out in the 3rd. *** Until his 7th inning RBI single last night, Berroa had been 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position and 2 outs this year. *** Costa's round-tripper Thursday night was his 7th of the season and the 2nd homer during his current, 6-game hitting streak. He's 8-for-25 (.320) with 4 RBI and 4 runs scored during the string. *** Last night's loss gives Omaha an 0-5 record in games decided in the final at-bat. *** Since returning to the PCL in 2001, Portland is 15-4 at Rosenblatt, while the Royals are 12-8 at PGE Park.

STARTERS: LH Cesar Ramos (3-2, 5.53) vs. RH Kyle Davies (3-2, 2.61)

Davies makes his 7th start of the season. The 24-year old right-hander's 2.61 ERA ranks 5th in the PCL. His last outing was Sunday at Fresno, when he took the loss in the Royals' 8-0 defeat (6.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 2 K, 2 HR). Davies is 1-0 with a 0.90 ERA in 2 starts at Rosenblatt (10.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER). He's 2-2 with a 3.43 ERA in 4 starts on the road. Davies was acquired by KC from Atlanta in exchange for reliever Octavio Dotel on July 31, 2007. He began last season with the Braves and was 4-8 with a 5.76 ERA in 17 starts. Following the trade, he went 3-7 and posted a 6.66 ERA in 11 starts for KC. Davies made his KC debut last August 4 at Yankee Stadium, allowing 5 runs on 6 hits in 3.0 innings and surrendering Alex Rodriguez' 500th career home run. He earned a win in his Kauffman Stadium debut vs. Minnesota, firing 6.2 shutout innings in a 1-0 victory. In 2006, he opened the season in the Braves starting rotation, but underwent surgery to repair a torn right groin on May 19 and was on the D.L. until September 1. Davies began his big league career with Atlanta in 2005 by recording 14.0 straight scoreless innings, the most by a Braves rookie starter to open his career since Larry McWilliams (14.1) in 1978. In 2004, he was named the Phil Niekro Award Winner as the top pitcher in the Braves organization and was selected to Baseball America's minor league All-Star 2nd team. Davies was selected by Atlanta in the 4th round of the 2001 draft out of Stockbridge High School in Georgia. Kyle is his middle name - his given name is Hiram.

PROBABLES FOR SERIES VS. TACOMA:

Sat., 7:05 p.m.: LH Ryan Feierabend (3-1, 1.70) vs. LH Tyler Lumsden (1-3, 7.39)

Sun., 1:35 p.m.: RH Chris Jakubauskas (1-0, 0.00) vs. RH Matt Wright (0-1, 5.34)

Mon., 6:35 p.m.: RH R.A. Dickey (1-4, 3.25) vs. RH Jeff Fulchino (1-0, 2.66)

Tue., 12:05 p.m.: LH Robert Rohrbaugh (3-2, 6.44) vs. RH Brandon Duckworth (2-1, 6.04)

Check out the Omaha Storm Chasers Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Pacific Coast League Stories from May 9, 2008


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central