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PCL1 Omaha Storm Chasers

Royals Game Notes- 4/21

April 21, 2008 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Omaha Storm Chasers News Release


APRIL 21, 2008, 6:35 p.m.: OMAHA ROYALS (10-6) vs. New Orleans (10-8)

HOME: 6-3 (45-27 in ‘07) AWAY: 4-3 (28-44 in '07) vs. New Orleans: 1-1 (8-6 in '07)

TONIGHT: The Royals host the Zephyrs at Rosenblatt Stadium in game 3 of a 4-game series, which is tied 1-1. Enjoy $1 hot dogs, courtesy of 89.7 The River and The Daily Nonpareil! It's also Casey's Birthday! If a child brings a birthday card to the Rosenblatt Stadium ticket windows, they will receive a buy-one-get-one reserved seat for the game! First pitch is 6:35 p.m., with the pre-game show on the air at 6:15 p.m. on News Talk 1420-AM KOTK and at www.oroyals.com.

SUNDAY: Jorge De La Rosa pitched 6.0 scoreless innings and the Royals evened the series with a 1-0 win over New Orleans. De La Rosa (2-0) gave up just 3 hits and 2 walks, striking out 6. Mike Aviles had 3 hits, doubling twice and singling once. His RBI double in the 1st gave Omaha a 1-0 lead. Shane Costa's run scoring double and Brian Buchanan's 3-run homer in the 3rd made it 5-0. Z's starter Ruddy Lugo (2-1) took the loss, after getting roughed up for 10 hits and 6 runs (2 earned) in 6.0 innings.

ROYALS REPORT: Having allowed just 2 earned runs in 15.2 innings, De La Rosa's ERA stands at 1.15, which ranks 3rd in the PCL. His effort Sunday marked the 2nd quality start for an Omaha pitcher this season and dropped the starters' combined ERA from 3.69 to 3.40. *** Making just the 2nd start of his Major League career yesterday, Luke Hochevar took a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the 4th at Oakland, when the A's sent 10 batters to the plate and scored 5 runs. Hochevar allowed another run in the 5th before he was lifted, giving him a final line of 4.2 innings, 9 hits, 6 runs, 3 walks and 5 K's. He took the loss as KC suffered its 4th straight defeat, losing 7-1. To make room for the 24-year old right-hander, Hideo Nomo was designated for assignment. He can be traded or put on waivers over the next 10 days. KC manager Trey Hillman said if Nomo clears waivers, KC doesn't anticipate having room for him on Omaha's roster. *** Aviles' big day at the plate Sunday was his 2nd 3-hit game and 8th multi-hit contest of the year. He now has 9 doubles, tied for 2nd-most in the PCL, 1 double shy of Costa's PCL co-leading ten 2-baggers. Aviles has hit in 4 straight games, going 6-for-18 (.333) with 3 doubles and 3 RBI. *** Costa collected his 5th 2-hit game yesterday and was robbed of a 3rd hit in the 7th inning on a terrific diving catch of his fly ball to shallow right-center field by Z's 2nd baseman Anderson Hernandez. Costa has reached base in all 16 tilts this season, tying him for the longest on-base streak in the league this season. *** Omaha matched 2 team season-highs in yesterday's contest: the 4-run 3rd inning equaled the highest-scoring stanza for the club and the 10 K's for Royals pitchers tied the season standard. *** Chris Lubanski has hit in a season-high 4 straight games, going 4-for-13 (.308) with 2 RBI over that span. That follows a 3-for-29 (.103) skid for the Royals left fielder. *** Mike Stodolka made his 1st start of the year in the outfield Sunday, playing right. He had played 7 games at 1st base and was Omaha's designated hitter in 3 others. The converted pitcher caught Michel Abreu's fly out to deep right in the 1st inning and then watched Abreu smack a double off the warning track leading off the 4th. Stodolka batted 5th, his highest spot in the order this season, and went 0-for-4.

STARTERS: RH Jose Diaz (0-2, 3.12) vs. LH Mike Maroth (0-0, 6.75)

After being activated from the disabled list today, Maroth makes his 2nd start of the season. The 30-year old lefty made his Omaha debut on April 7 vs. Round Rock; he did not factor in the decision as the Royals won 7-5 (4.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HR). He was placed on the D.L. with a sore left shoulder on April 9, retroactive to April 8. Maroth was signed by KC as a minor league free agent on February 13. He spent most of the past 6 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, before being traded to St. Louis midway through last season. In 2007, he became just the 3rd pitcher in Major League history to start games for both of the previous year's World Series teams, joining Joe Bush in 1926 (PIT/WASH) and Sal Maglie, who did it in 1955 (NYG/CLE) and 1957 (BKY/NYY). Maroth opened last season with Detroit, going 5-2 with a 5.06 ERA in 13 starts. He was traded to St. Louis in exchange for RHP Chris Lambert on June 22 and went 0-5 with a 10.66 ERA in 14 games (7 starts) for the Cardinals. He also pitched briefly for the Cards' Triple-A club at Memphis, going 1-0 with an 8.31 ERA in 2 games. Maroth missed a large part of the 2006 season, after undergoing surgery to remove bone chips from his left elbow on June 2. He won a career-high 14 games for the Tigers in 2005. In 2003, he led the A.L. with 21 losses, becoming the 1st pitcher to lose at least 20 games since Oakland's Brian Kingman lost 20 during the 1980 season. Maroth was originally selected by the Red Sox in the 3rd round of the 1998 draft out of the University of Central Florida, where he pitched for 3 seasons. The Tigers acquired him from Boston in exchange for RHP Bryce Florie on July 31, 1999.

PROBABLES FOR REMAINDER OF SERIES:

Tue., 11:05: RH Brian Stokes (2-1, 1.50) vs. RH Kyle Davies (1-1, 1.38)

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