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PCL1 Omaha Storm Chasers

Royals Game Notes

June 18, 2008 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Omaha Storm Chasers News Release


JUNE 18, 2008, 7:05 p.m.: OMAHA ROYALS (33-37) @ Round Rock (32-40)

HOME: 15-19 (45-27 in '07) AWAY: 18-18 (28-44 in '07) vs. Round Rock: 6-2 (9-9 in '07)

TONIGHT: The Royals visit the Dell Diamond in Round Rock, Texas for game 2 of a 4-game series. The Express leads this series 1-0, while the Royals lead the season series 6-2. Omaha is 4-5 on this 16-game road trip. 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: Emergency starter Josh Miller combined with 2 relievers on a 6-hitter as Round Rock shut out Omaha 3-0. Miller (4-3), called upon to start after Jack Cassel was scratched due to a sore back, went 7.0 innings, allowing 5 singles and no walks, striking out 2. Ray King retired all 4 batters he faced. Chad Paronto came on with 1 out in the 9th and was greeted by Billy Butler's single, before inducing Ryan Shealy to ground into a game-ending double play. David Newhan hit a 2-run homer in the 4th off Roman Colon (2-2), who yielded 8 hits over the 1st 4.0 frames. Mark Saccomanno smacked his 15th home run of the year - a solo shot in the 8th - off Neal Musser.

ROYALS REPORT: The Royals have lost 4 straight. It's their longest skid of the year on the road and is 1 loss shy of their season-worst overall, set June 6-9. During the past 4 games, Omaha has been blanked twice and scored 1 run in another defeat. *** Joel Peralta fired 3.0 scoreless innings last night, extending his shutout streak with Omaha this season to 15.1 innings over all of his 8 Triple-A outings. In his 4 appearances since he was sent down by KC last week, Peralta has allowed just 2 hits and 1 walk in 5.1 innings, striking out 8. *** The home run allowed by Musser Tuesday night was his 7th gopher ball in 38.1 innings this season and it raised his ERA to 3.99. In 2007, he surrendered just 1 homer in 55.1 frames and posted a 0.49 ERA with Omaha. *** Dusty Hughes, who was named as Double-A Wichita's Pitcher of the Year in 2007, has been promoted to Omaha. The lefty, who turns 26 years old later this month, opened this season back at Double-A and was 5-2 with a 2.91 ERA and 3 saves in 20 games (4 starts) with Northwest Arkansas. He was particularly impressive on the road, going 3-1 with a 1.46 ERA and 3 saves. Hughes missed the 2006 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, but rebounded in 2007 to post a 6-2 record and 3.08 ERA for Wichita. After the season, he went 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA in the Arizona Fall League and earned AFL Pitcher of the Year honors in a fan vote. Entering this year, Hughes was ranked by Baseball America as KC's #28 prospect, 1 spot ahead of Mike Aviles. Lefty Tony Bradley was sent back to class-A Burlington (IA). He had a 16.87 ERA in 2 relief appearances with Omaha, giving up 5 earned runs in 2.2 innings at Albuquerque. *** Butler's 9th inning single last night extended his hitting streak to 6 games (.455, 10-for-22, 1 HR, 3 RBI). He has hit in 13 of the past 14 contests, batting .426 (23-for-54) with 3 home runs and 10 RBI. *** Shane Costa had 2 hits Tuesday night, recording his 16th multi-hit tilt of the season. Costa was just 2-for-18 over the previous 5 games. *** Ed Lucas, who 0-for-3 last night, is 1-for-his-last-22 (.045) and is hitting .083 (3-for-36) in 13 games since being promoted from Northwest Arkansas. *** Mitch Maier is hitting at a .324 clip (11-for-34) on this road trip, driving in 5 runs in 8 games. *** While not playing every day, Damon Hollins is still batting at a .378 pace (14-for-37) over his past 10 contests, belting 4 home runs and knocking in 9 runs over that span. *** Aviles lined a home run in the top of the 8th last night to give Kyle Davies and KC a 2-1 win at St. Louis. It was the 3rd round-tripper in 12 games for Aviles, who's hitting .333 for KC since being called up from Omaha. Meanwhile, Davies allowed just 1 earned run in 7.0 stanzas to improve to 3-0 with a 1.46 ERA in 4 starts since his promotion from Triple-A.

STARTERS: LH Horacio Ramirez (1-1, 2.25) vs. RH Chad Reineke (3-8, 6.06)

Ramirez makes his 3rd start of the year. He got the win in his last start at Albuquerque last Friday, a 7-5 win (6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K). Since giving up 3 runs in the 1st inning of his Omaha debut on June 8 vs. Iowa, Ramirez has tossed 11.0 straight scoreless innings. The 28-year old left-hander was signed by KC as a minor league free agent on May 21, after being released by the Seattle Mariners on March 12 during Spring Training. Ramirez spent the 1st 10 years of his professional career in the Braves' organization, pitching for Atlanta from 2003-2006. He was acquired by the Mariners from the Braves in exchange for right-hander Rafael Soriano in December 2006. In 2007, Ramirez was 8-7 with a 7.16 ERA in 20 starts for Seattle. He began the season with 6 consecutive wins at Safeco Field, the longest such streak in Mariners history, but was placed on the disabled list last May 25 with left shoulder tendinitis. He was not activated by Seattle until July 16. It was the 4th trip to the DL for Ramirez in 2 seasons, as he made just 14 starts for Atlanta during the 2006 campaign, when he made 3 trips to the DL for various injuries. In 2005, Ramirez made a career-high 32 starts and appeared in 33 games overall, going 11-9 with a 4.63 ERA. His sophomore big league season in 2004 was also injury-filled, limiting him to just 9 starts for Atlanta. He was 12-4 with a 4.00 ERA in his 2003 rookie season, at one point winning 7 consecutive decisions to tie the Braves record for the longest win streak by a rookie starting pitcher. Ramirez was selected by Atlanta in the 5th round of the 1997 draft out of Inglewood (CA) High School. He resides in Mableton, Georgia.

PROBABLES FOR REMAINDER OF SERIES:

Thur., 7:05 p.m.: RH Matt Wright (1-4, 5.89) vs. RH Ron Chivacci (1-1, 10.80)

Fri., 7:05 p.m.: RH Brandon Duckworth (3-6, 4.93) vs. RH Runelvys Hernandez (6-3, 3.82)

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