PCL1 Omaha Storm Chasers

Royals game notes

Published on June 15, 2006 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Omaha Storm Chasers News Release


JUNE 15, 2006, 7:00 p.m. : OMAHA ROYALS (26-40) @ Nashville Sounds (36-30)

HOME: 16-19 (35-37 in '05) AWAY: 10-21 (37-35 in '05) vs. Nashville: 5-6 (9-7 in '05)

TONIGHT: The Royals continue their 17-game road trip with a 7:00 p.m. game vs. the Nashville Sounds at Herschel Greer Stadium. Nashville leads the series 2-1. Air-time is 6:40 p.m. on Magic 1490 and at www.Oroyals.com.

WEDNESDAY: Nashville starter Ben Hendrickson allowed only 1 run over 6.0 innings and the Royals scored just 1 unearned off 3 relievers, as the Sounds won 5-2. Hendrickson (4-2) scattered 8 hits, walking 2 and striking out 3, in lowering his ERA to 2.21, 5th-best in the PCL. Nashville scored 3 runs - only 1 of them earned - off Royals starter Brian Boehringer (0-3), who worked 5.0 frames. A passed ball by Jared Price in the 1st inning allowed Tony Gwynn, Jr. to score an unearned run, following his leadoff triple. Price also committed a throwing error in the 4th inning, leading to a 2nd unearned run and a 2-1 Nashville lead. Alec Zumwalt notched his 4th save for the Sounds by pitching a scoreless 9th inning.

ROYALS REPORT: Boehringer lost his 3rd consecutive start Wednesday. The game marked the 3rd time in his 4 starts that he has allowed only 1 earned run. However, the Royals have scored a total of 5 runs in those 3 games and the veteran righty is 0-2 with 1 no-decision, despite posting a 1.62 ERA. *** Chris Clapinski's 1st inning single yesterday was his 1st hit in 22 at-bats since coming off the DL. In his next 4 at-bats, he added a bunt single and a double. *** Justin Huber, who was 2-for-4 with an RBI yesterday, is riding a 6-game hitting streak, his longest of the season. He's hitting .333 (7-21) during the streak with a homer and 4 RBI. *** Ricky Bell has hit in 5 of the last 6 contests, going 7-for-20 (.350) with 3 RBI. He had been in a 3-for-35 (.086) slump over his previous 10 tilts. *** Kerry Robinson was 2-for-5 yesterday and has a 4-game hit string (.333, 6-18, 2 RBI, 2 R). *** Aaron Guiel has hit in 3 of his last 4 games, going 4-for-14 (.286). He had gone 4-for-25 (.160) in his 1st 9 games back from KC. *** Despite going 0-for-3 yesterday, Andres Blanco is still 4-for-10 in this series and is hitting .351 (13-37) on the season vs. Nashville. That's over 100 points higher than Omaha's team batting average of .247 in 11 games vs. the Sounds. *** Chad Allen missed his 5th straight game Wednesday with a sore left elbow, which was hit by a pitch last Friday. He was 0-for-1 that night, ending his 14-game hitting streak. *** Following yesterday's loss, the Royals are 3-14 in day games this season.

STARTERS: LH J.P. Howell (3-2, 5.34) vs. RH Rick Helling (0-0, 7.20)

Howell makes his 8th start of the season and his 3rd since being activated from the DL, where he landed for over a month with shoulder stiffness. The 23-year old lefty's last start was last Saturday vs. Oklahoma; he was not involved in the decision as the Royals lost 1-0 in 10 innings (2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 5 BB, 3 K. In 2 starts vs. Nashville this season, Howell is 2-0 with a 1.64 ERA. In 2005, Howell raced through 3 levels of the minors and got his first taste of the big leagues in just his 2nd professional season. He began the season with Class-A High Desert, making 8 starts before jumping to Double-A Wichita - where he made just 3 starts before being promoted to Omaha. In 7 starts at Triple-A, Howell went 3-1 and posted a 4.06 ERA. In his 18 minor league starts combined, he was 8-2 with a 2.83 ERA. Howell had his contract purchased by KC on June 11 and wound up making 15 starts for KC, going 3-5 with a 6.19 ERA. He enjoyed the 2nd-quickest rise through the Royals organization in club history, as only Bo Jackson had a quicker trip to the Majors. Howell was KC's sandwich pick between the 1st and 2nd rounds (31st overall) in the 2004 draft out of the University of Texas. In 2004 as a junior with Texas, he was the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year and a finalist for the Roger Clemens Award, given annually to the top college pitcher. Howell pitched for the Longhorns in the College World Series in 2003 (3rd place) and 2004 (runner-up to Cal. St.-Fullerton); he posted a 0.77 ERA in the 2004 CWS.

PROBABLES FOR SERIES AT MEMPHIS:

Fri., 7:10: RH Denny Bautista (0-0, 0.00) vs. RH Anthony Reyes (3-1, 2.77)

Sat., 6:10: RH Seth Etherton (0-1, 13.50) vs. RH Dennis Tankersley (2-7, 4.36)

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 15, 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