PCL1 Omaha Storm Chasers

Royals game notes

Published on July 19, 2006 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Omaha Storm Chasers News Release


JULY 19, 2006, 7:05 p.m.: OMAHA ROYALS (38-58) vs. Nashville Sounds (52-43)

HOME: 23-22 (35-37 in '05) AWAY: 15-36 (37-35 in '05) vs. Nashville: 6-8 (9-7 in '05)

TONIGHT: The Royals host the Nashville Sounds at 7:05 p.m. at Rosenblatt Stadium. The 4-game series is tied at 1-1 and the Royals are 4-2 on the homestand. It's Women's Wednesday; all women receive $2 off the price of a ticket and one will win a $250 shopping spree! Air-time is 6:45 p.m. on Magic 1490 and at www.Oroyals.com.

LAST NIGHT: Shane Costa belted a 1st inning home run, but Nashville knuckle-baller Jared Fernandez and 2 relievers combined to blank Omaha the rest of the way and the Sounds rallied for a 2-1 victory. Fernandez (6-2) worked 7.0 innings and, besides surrendering Costa's 8th homer with Omaha, allowed 4 singles and no walks, striking out 4. Nashville scored both its runs in the 5th. Ozzie Chavez tied the game with a 2-out, RBI triple and Kennard Bibbs followed with a double. Kyle Middleton (0-3) took the loss, allowing 2 runs on 7 hits over 5.2 frames. Sounds closer Alec Zumwalt retired 4 of the 5 Omaha batters he faced for his 9th save.

ROYALS REPORT: The loss last night snapped the Royals' longest winning streak of the season at 4 games. *** All 6 games of this homestand have been decided by a single run. Seven of Omaha's past 8 contests have been 1-run affairs, with the other decided by 2 runs. The Royals are 13-21 in 1-run decisions this year. *** Costa's home run extended his team-high hitting streak to 16 games. During the streak, Costa is hitting .419 (26-62) with 6 homers, 11 RBI and 15 runs scored. In 27 games since coming down from KC, Costa owns a .387 average, .441 on-base percentage and .726 slugging percentage. He also boasts a .487 (19-39) average in 10 tilts at Rosenblatt. Costa is also the 1st Royal to homer in 3 straight games since Aaron Guiel had a 4-game home run binge June 23-26, 2005 at New Orleans and Iowa. *** Justin Huber has hit in 8 straight games, his longest streak of the year. He's hitting .464 (13-28) with 2 home runs and 4 RBI during the streak. Just before the hit string, Huber missed 7 consecutive contests due to a thumb injury. *** Chad Allen has put together a 5-game hit string (.474, 9-19, 3 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI) and is hitting .371 (47-128) in 34 games at home, with 6 homers and 28 RBI. *** Kerry Robinson's 4-game hitting streak came to an end last night, as the Royals leadoff batter went 0-for-4. *** Matt Tupman, who had 1hit in each of his 1st 3 games with Omaha, was hitless in 4 at-bats last night. Tupman came to the plate with runners at second and third and 2 outs in the 4th inning, but his grounder up the middle was turned into the final out of the frame on a nice effort by Sounds second baseman Jermaine Clark. In his last 6 games with Wichita before being promoted to Omaha, Tupman was 10-for-19 (.526) with 3 RBI. *** Boston reliever Mike Timlin improved to 5-0 by getting the win in Monday night's 5-4 win over KC. Only 2 relievers in Red Sox history have finished a season undefeated while posting at least 5 wins. Both are ex-Royals: Steve Crawford was 5-0 in 1984 and Tom Burgmeier, Omaha's pitching coach, was 7-0 in 1982.

STARTERS: RH Ben Sheets (1-1, 3.12) vs. RH Ryan Baerlocher (4-3, 4.16)

Baerlocher makes his 8th start (19th appearance) of the season. The 28-year old right-hander's last appearance was a start last Friday vs. Oklahoma, when he got the win in a 3-2 triumph (5.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 3 K). He has not faced Nashville this season. In 7 starts this season, Baerlocher is 1-2 with a 6.09 ERA. He's 3-1 with a 2.18 ERA and 1 save in 11 relief appearances. He began this season at extended spring, joining Omaha on April 27. Baerlocher opened the 2005 season on the disabled list after undergoing Tommy John surgery on July 16, 2004. Once off the D.L. last season, he made 3 starts for Omaha, going 0-1 with a 6.00 ERA. He was sent to Double-A Wichita and went on to become that team's Pitcher of the Year, after posting a 7-5 record with a 3.44 ERA in 15 starts. Baerlocher was selected by KC in the 6th round of the 1999 draft out of Lewis-Clark State College, where he was a member of NAIA National Championship teams in 1996 and 1999.

PROBABLES FOR REMAINDER OF SERIES:

Thur., 12:05: RH Dennis Sarfate (7-5, 3.78) vs. RH Denny Bautista (1-3, 6.60)

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Pacific Coast League Stories from July 19, 2006


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