Hughes, Two Relievers Shine In Royals' Two-Hit Shutout Of Beavers

Published on August 16, 2009 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Portland Beavers News Release


PORTLAND, Ore. - Dusty Hughes, Yasuhiko Yabuta and Chris Hayes combined on a two-hit shutout as the Omaha Royals blanked the Portland Beavers for the second time in three days with a 1-0 win in front of 6,790 at PGE Park on Sunday afternoon.

Hughes (2-3), who pitched in the Triple-A All-Star Game at PGE Park in July, allowed two hits and three walks and struck out four over 5 1/3 innings, before giving way to Yabuta, who pitched 2 1/3 hitless frames, and Hayes, who finished the last four outs for the Royals (51-69).

Beavers starter Josh Banks (6-6) notched his fourth straight quality start at PGE Park but took his third loss in a row, giving up a run on five hits over seven strong innings. He also struck out three and walked none.

The Beavers (50-72) broke a franchise record with their eighth straight loss.

The lone run of the game came in the top of the sixth, when Irving Falu and Tug Hulett hit back-to-back two-out doubles to right field.

The Beavers put men on first and second in the eighth with none out but Yabuta and Hayes together induced a popout, strikeout and dribbler to the mound to escape the jam.

The Royals loaded the bases in the ninth with none out, intending to pad their one-run lead. But John Suomi bounced into a 6-2 force-out and Mario Lisson hit a hard grounder up the middle on which second baseman Russ Adams made a diving stop before a glove flip to shortstop Sean Kazmar for the inning-ending double play.

Hayes notched his second save of the season with 1 1/3 perfect innings.

The Beavers and Royals wrap up their series with a special 1:05 p.m. (Pacific) start Monday afternoon.

NOTES: Brett Dowdy returned to the Beavers lineup and started in right field, where he made a diving catch on Tug Hulett's fly ball in the fourth and gunned down Scott Thorman at the plate to end the third ... the Beavers also lost 1-0 at Tacoma on July 12 ... Omaha has notched a PCL-high 16 shutouts on the season ... Portland was blanked for the 11th time in 2009.

Beavers Game File

SUNDAY'S GAME: Omaha 1, Beavers 0

WINNING PITCHER: Hughes (2-3)

LOSING PITCHER: Banks (6-6)

SAVE: Hayes (2)

HOME RUNS: None

MONDAY'S GAME: Omaha (Heath Phillips: 6-7, 5.41) at Portland (Wade LeBlanc: 2-9, 4.25), 1:05 p.m. (Pacific); televised live on FSN and live audio broadcast on KKAD AM-1550 and www.portlandbeavers.com. Follow the Beavers on Twitter: www.twitter.com/PortlandBeavers

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Pacific Coast League Stories from August 16, 2009


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