PCL1 Omaha Storm Chasers

Royals Game Notes

Published on April 29, 2007 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Omaha Storm Chasers News Release


APRIL 29, 2007, 1:35 p.m.: OMAHA ROYALS (10-13) vs. Nashville Sounds (13-9)

HOME: 8-3 (31-41 in '06) AWAY: 2-10 (22-50 in '06) vs. Nashville: 3-0 (7-9 in '06)

TODAY: The Royals host the Nashville Sounds in the final game of the series, which Omaha leads 3-0. A four-game set vs. Memphis begins Monday. Today is Family FUNday, with clowns, face painting, and all kids invited to run the bases after the game, presented by KGBI-100.7 FM, KPTM-Fox 42 and Just for Kids and Families...plus all Royals Kids Club members receive a free ticket to the game, courtesy of SUBWAY. Air-time is 1:15 p.m. on News Talk 1420 KOTK and at www.Oroyals.com.

LAST NIGHT: Justin Huber's 1st home of the season - a 3-run shot in the 6th - erased a 3-1 deficit and put the Royals on the way to their 3rd straight win over Nashville, by a final score of 8-6. Huber's homer to right-center brought home Billy Butler and Mike Aviles, who were among 7 Omaha batters collecting 2 hits in Omaha's balanced, 16-hit attack. Fernando Cortez capped the scoring in the 8th with a solo shot - his 3rd home run of the season. Huber's round-tripper chased Sounds starter Tim Dillard (0-2), who was charged with 4 runs on 11 hits over 5.2 innings. Royals reliever Thad Markray (1-0), who allowed 2 runs in 3.0 frames, got the win. Kenny Ray surrendered a run in 2.0 inings, but notched his 2nd save.

ROYALS REPORT: The Royals' current 3-game winning streak equals their longest of the season. Omaha is 8-3 at Rosenblatt, having won 5 straight here. *** Shane Costa, who singled and doubled in 4 official at-bats last night, is riding a 14-game hitting streak. During the club-high hit string, Costa is batting .446 (25-56) with 14 runs scored and 3 RBI. Costa's .351 average on the season leads the club and is just outside the PCL Top 10. *** Cortez, who never hit more than 3 home runs in any of his 1st 6 professional seasons, has smacked 2 homers in his last 6 at-bats. He has belted 3 round-trippers over his last 40 at-bats, since breaking a 632 at-bat homer-less streak on April 14. *** Aviles was 2-for-4 Saturday, posting his 4th consecutive multi-hit game. Over that span, he's 9-for-15 (.600) with 4 RBI and 4 runs scored, upping his season average from .284 to .341. *** Billy Butler collected 2 hits and 2 walks in 5 trips to the plate last night. Butler has put together a 10-game hitting streak and has hit in 13 of the past 14 contests (.392, 20-51) with 3 home runs and 16 RBI over that stretch. Butler is tied for 5th in the PCL in homers (6) and ranks 4th in RBI 923). *** Joey Gathright was 2-for-5 with a single, double and 2 runs scored on Saturday, giving him 7 hits in 13 at-bats (.538) in this series, with 4 runs scored and an RBI. The Royals leadoff batter has not drawn a walk in the past 4 games, after coaxing 20 free passes in the previous 16 tilts. Still, Gathright's batting average has climbed from .238 to .289 during this series and his .455 OBP is 4th in the league. *** Omaha pitchers last night surrendered 3 gopher balls in a game for the 1st time this season. However, 2 led off innings and all 3 were solo shots. Royals pitchers issued just 1 walk in the contest. *** The Royals lead the Sounds 5-4 in sacrifice flies this series, even though Nashville had 3 productive fly outs last night. Omaha batters have collected 14 sac flies in 23 games. *** The last time the Royals swept a 4-game series was August 16-19, 2005 at New Orleans.

STARTERS: RH Chris Oxspring (2-1, 1.61) vs. RH Ben Hendrickson (2-1, 4.98)

Hendrickson makes his 5th start of the season. The 26-year old right-hander was acquired by Kansas City from Milwaukee on March 27 in a trade for catcher Max St. Pierre. His last outing on Tuesday at Memphis was a no-decision in Omaha's 8-7 loss, after the Royals blew a 7-0 lead (7.0 IP, 10 H, 5 R-1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K). Hendrickson spent most of the 2006 season with Nashville, but also saw time with the Brewers. He was 9-8 with a 3.36 ERA in 23 starts for the Sounds. His 3.36 ERA ranked 9th in the PCL and he was selected to the mid-season PCL All-Star team. He went 1-1 with a 2.95 ERA in 3 starts vs. Omaha last season. Hendrickson pitched in 4 games (3 starts) for Milwaukee last season, going 0-2 with a 12.00 ERA. Prior to both the 2005 and 2006 seasons, Hendrickson was named as having the "Best Curveball" in the Brewers organization by Baseball America, which rated him as Milwaukee's #7 prospect prior to 2005 and #19 entering 2006. In 2004, he was named as Milwaukee's Minor League Pitcher of the Year and the International League's MVP, after going 11-3 with a 2.02 ERA for Indianapolis. That same season, he was 1-8 with a 6.22 ERA for the Brewers. Hendrickson was selected by Milwaukee in the 10th round of the 1999 draft out of Bloomington Jefferson High in the Twin Cities.

PROBABLES FOR SERIES VS. MEMPHIS:

Mon., 6:35: RH Mike Parisi (2-0, 3.77) vs. RH Luke Hudson (NR)

Tues., 6:35: RH Blake Hawksworth (0-4, 5.31) vs. RH Scott Elarton (1-1, 5.91)

Wed., 6:35: LH Troy Cate (1-0, 1.96) vs. RH Zach Day (1-0, 2.30)

Thur., 11:05: RH Mike Smith (3-2, 4.75) vs. RH Matt Wright (2-2, 4.29)

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Pacific Coast League Stories from April 29, 2007


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