PCL1 Omaha Storm Chasers

Omaha Royals Game Notes

Published on June 17, 2006 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Omaha Storm Chasers News Release


TONIGHT: The Royals continue their 17-game road trip with a 6:10 p.m. game vs. the Memphis Redbirds at AutoZone Park. Omaha is 0-1 in the series and 1-4 on the trip. Air-time is 5:50 p.m. on Magic 1490 and at www.Oroyals.com.

LAST NIGHT: Memphis sent 13 batters to the plate in an 8-run 4th inning and the Redbirds downed the Royals 9-4. Jason Conti and Brian Martin each collected 2 hits and an RBI in the big inning. Denny Bautista (0-1) took the loss, giving up 5 runs on 7 hits over 3.0 innings, plus the 1st 4 batters in the 4th. He was relieved by Ryan Baerlocher, who surrendered the final 4 runs (3 earned) on 4 hits in the 4th, before tossing 3.0 more scoreless innings. The Royals scored 4 runs off Anthony Reyes (4-1), 3 coming in his last inning of work in the 6th. Chris Clapinski led off the 6th with his 1st home run of the season and Paul Phillips followed with his 7th. Mike Aviles, who tripled and doubled in his 1st 2 at-bats, capped the 6th inning rally with an RBI single.

ROYALS REPORT: The Redbirds' 8-run inning matched the highest scoring stanza this season for a Royals foe. Salt Lake also scored 8 runs in the 7th inning of a 13-1 rout on May 11th at Rosenblatt Stadium. That outburst also featured 2 opposing batters with 2 hits apiece: Curtis Pride and Casey Smith turned the trick. *** Aviles needed a home run in his final at-bat in the 8th inning last night to become the 1st Omaha batter to hit for cycle since Jarrod Patterson did it in the 2003 season. However, Aviles grounded out to short. Aviles' 3 hits last night were 1 more than he had collected in 18 at-bats over the previous 5 games. *** Kerry Robinson, who had hit in 5 straight games at a .409 pace (9-22) had his contract purchased by KC yesterday. *** Clapinski filled in for Robinson in the leadoff spot last night, becoming the 5th Royal to bat at the top of the order this season. After going 0-for-21 in his 1st 5 games after being activated from the DL, Clapinski is 4-for-11 (.364) with a double, homer, 2 RBI and 3 runs scored in the past 3 contests. *** The back-to-back homers by Clapinski and Phillips marked the 2nd time this season Royals batters have hit consecutive home runs. Justin Huber and Phillips were the 1st pair to do it, on April 19th in a 9-7 loss at Nashville. *** Phillips' home run was his 3rd and the RBI his 12th in a dozen games this month. The Royals catcher is hitting .273 (12-44) in June. As a team, the Royals are hitting just .216 and have hit 8 home runs in 15 games this month. Omaha tailed off to 20 homers in 31 games in May, after blasting 25 round-trippers in 22 April tilts. *** Chad Allen, who had missed the previous 6 games, returned to the Royals lineup last night and was 1-for-4 with a run scored. Allen had been out since his left elbow was hit by a pitch last Friday vs. Oklahoma. He went 0-for-1 that night, ending a 14-game hitting streak. *** Ruben Gotay, in a 6-for-47 (.128) slide over the past 12 games, had the night off Friday.

STARTERS: RH Seth Etherton (0-1, 13.50) vs. RH Dennis Tankersley (2-7, 4.36) Etherton makes his 2nd start for Omaha. The 29-year old right-hander's 1st start after being outrighted from KC was at Nashville Monday, when he took the loss in a 7-2 defeat (4.2 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 4 BB, 2 K, 2 HR). Etherton made 2 starts for KC, going 1-1 with a 9.39 ERA. KC acquired him on May 26 from the Padres for a player to be named later or cash. He had been signed by KC as a free agent last November, but was selected by San Diego in the Major League portion of the 2005 Rule 5 Draft on December 8. Etherton opened this season with the Padres' Triple-A club at Portland, going 2-2 with a 4.38 ERA in 9 starts. In 2005, he made 3 starts for Oakland when Rich Harden was injured in May, going 1-1 with a 6.62 ERA. He spent most of last season with Sacramento, where he was 7-7 with a 2.72 ERA in 20 games (19 starts). Besides Oakland, he has pitched in the big leagues with Cincinnati (2003) and Anaheim (2000). Etherton attended the University of Southern California from 1995-1998 and was named Outstanding Pitcher for the Trojans 3 years in a row (1996-1998). He was selected by St. Louis in the 9th round of the 1997 draft, but did not sign. He signed with Anaheim as the Angels' 1st round pick (18th overall) in the 1998 draft.

PROBABLES FOR REMAINDER OF SERIES: Sun., 2:10: RH Runelvys Hernandez (3-3, 5.71) vs. LH Chris Narveson (1-0, 0.00) Mon., 7:10: RH Brian Boehringer (0-3, 3.43) vs. RH John Webb (3-6, 4.77)

Check out the Omaha Storm Chasers Statistics

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



Pacific Coast League Stories from June 17, 2006


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