Iowa Loses to Omaha
September 1, 2008 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Iowa Cubs News Release
Brayan Pena had five hits, including a three-run home run as the Omaha Royals defeated the Iowa Cubs 13-8 Monday afternoon to close out the 2008 regular season at Principal Park.
Pena began his day by following a Gookie Dawkins walk with a one-out, first inning ground ball single to center field. Dawkins scored two batters later on an RBI single by Ryan Shealy to give the Royals a 1-0 lead.
Iowa answered in the bottom half of the inning with three straight hits, beginning with a one out single to right field by Luis Figueroa. Felix Pie followed with a double to left. Both came in to score when Jason Dubois launched a three-run home run to left field to give the I-Cubs a 3-1 lead.
The lead wouldn't last as Omaha scored in six of the next seven innings, starting in the second inning when Damon Hollins opened the frame with a solo home run off Iowa starter Jason Stanford to trim Iowa's lead to 3-2. Pena sparked another rally in the third inning with a one-out single to left field and advanced to third one batter later on a double by Kila Ka'aihue. Ryan Shealy tied the game at three by driving in Pena with a sacrifice fly to center field. Chad Spann followed with the Royals' third hit of the inning, a single to center field, to give Omaha a 4-3 lead. Hollins reached base for the second time on an error by I-Cubs shortstop Andres Blanco, scoring Spann to build up a 5-3 Royals lead. They would add another run on an RBI single by Josh Labandeira for a 6-3 advantage.
Iowa trimmed the lead in the fifth when Nate Spears started a two-out rally by coaxing a walk from Omaha reliever Neal Musser. Spears moved to second on a single by Blanco and scored on an RBI single by Nate Samson to make it a 6-4 game.
Omaha's Hollins led off the fifth with a double and scored on a two-out RBI single by Dawkins to extend the Royals' lead to 7-4.
Dubois reached base for the second time on a fielding error by Dawkins and scored on an RBI double by Josh Kroeger to make it a two run game again at 7-5 in the fifth inning. Iowa Cubs newcomer, Welington Castillo, brought it to within one with his first triple-A hit, an RBI single to center field to score Kroger.
Iowa's late rallies would fall short as Pena struck again in the sixth with a lead-off double off Stanford and would come around to score on an RBI double by Shealy and give the Royals a 8-5 lead.
Pena capped off his day with a three-run homer in the seventh off Iowa reliever Carmen Pignatiello, giving the Royals a six run lead at 12-6. He fell a base short of completing the cycle when he roped a two out double down the right field line in the top of the ninth off Iowa reliever Jesse Estrada. He scored one batter later on an RBI single by Ka'aihue for a 13-6 Omaha lead.
Iowa added a run in the ninth inning when Dubois reached on a fielder's choice, scoring Andres Torres. Kroeger followed with an RBI double to left field, scoring I-Cubs pitcher Kevin Hart, who reached on a pinch-hit base hit to make it 13-8.
Pena finished the afternoon 5-for-6 with four runs and three RBI. Omaha Reliever Neal Musser (3-5) picked up the win for the Royals with one and one-third shutout innings in relief.
Stanford took his first loss of the year (3-1), giving up eight runs (six earned) on 12 hits and five and one-third innings.
The Iowa Cubs finish the 2008 season as winners of the PCL American North Division with a 83-59 record. They will host the first two games of a best of five playoff series with Oklahoma RedHawks beginning at 6:35 on Wednesday with RHP Randy Wells (10-4) taking the hill for the I-Cubs against Oklahoma RH Elizardo Ramirez.
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Pacific Coast League Stories from September 1, 2008
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- Iowa Loses to Omaha - Iowa Cubs
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