PCL1 Omaha Storm Chasers

Royals Game Notes

Published on June 1, 2007 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Omaha Storm Chasers News Release


JUNE 1, 2007, 9:05 p.m.: OMAHA ROYALS (27-27) @ Tacoma Rainiers (24-31)

HOME: 22-10 (31-41 in ‘06) AWAY: 5-17 (22-50 in '06) vs. Tacoma: 1-2 (0-4 in '06)

TONIGHT: The Royals visit Cheney Stadium, facing the Tacoma Rainiers in a 9:05 p.m. game. It's the finale of a 4-game series, which Tacoma leads 2-1. Following this series, the Royals travel to Portland for a 4-game set vs. the Beavers. Air-time is 8:45 p.m. on News Talk 1420 KOTK and at www.Oroyals.com.

LAST NIGHT: Royals starter Matt Wright pitched into the 7th inning and Neal Musser turned in another dominant relief appearance, leading Omaha to a 4-1 victory. Wright (3-2) gave up 1 run on 5 hits over 6.1 innings, walking 1 and striking out 6. Musser allowed just 1 hit in 2.2 scoreless innings of relief, fanning 3 batters and notching his 1st save. Billy Butler had 2 RBI, Fernando Cortez had 3 hits, 2 stolen bases and scored a run, and Joey Gathright added 2 hits, 2 steals and scored once. Tacoma starter Juan Done (0-1) took the loss in his Triple-A debut, yielding 4 runs (2 earned) on 10 hits over 6.1 innings.

ROYALS REPORT: Over his last 3 starts, Wright has allowed just 2 earned runs in 19.1 innings for a 0.93 ERA. Last night was his 1st decision in that stretch. He has issued only 3 walks over that span. Wright's 3.10 ERA ranks 7th in the PCL. *** Musser maintained his 0.00 ERA with Omaha last night. In 13 appearances covering 24.2 innings, the lefty has given up only 13 hits and 1 unearned run, walking 7 while striking out 20 batters. *** The Royals finished May with a 16-13 record. Omaha batters posted a .299 team batting average and belted 33 home runs, while going 29-for-36 in stolen base attempts during the month, while Royals pitchers had a 3.98 team ERA. It's the club's 1st winning month since April 2006 and the 1st winning May since 1999. Omaha went a combined 20-40 the past two Mays and was 82-126 (.394) in the month from 2000-2006. *** Cortez has put together a 7-game hitting streak, hitting .414 (12-29) with 4 RBI and 3 steals. *** Over the past 13 contests, Gathright is batting .392 (20-51), scoring 11 runs and driving home 6. He's also 11-for-11 in stolen base attempts over those 13 games. Gathright leads the PCL with 19 stolen bases. *** Butler has 11 RBI in the last 8 tilts and has a team-leading 36 RBI in 40 games. *** Richard Lewis' RBI single in the 2nd inning last night extending his hit string to 7 games. He's 8-for-23 (.348) with a home run and 7 RBI during the streak. *** Justin Huber, out since May 8 with a hamstring injury, was activated from the disabled list Thursday and returned to Omaha's lineup last night. Huber played left field for the 1st time this season and was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored. The Aussie owns an 8-game hitting streak; he was 11-for-28 .393) with 2 homers and 11 RBI in 7 early May games just before suffering the injury. *** Catcher Paul Phillips, who was designated for assignment by KC last Saturday, has cleared waivers and is back on Omaha's roster today. To make room, Cody Clark was sent back to Wilmington. Phillips was 2-for-10 with a double and 2 RBI in 5 games for KC since being called up on May 11. Clark was 2-for-7 with a double, home run and 2 RBI in his 1st 3 Triple-A tilts.

STARTERS: RH Ben Hendrickson (4-3, 5.36) vs. LH Jake Woods (2-3, 6.15)

Hendrickson makes his 10th start and 11th appearance of the season. The 26-year old right-hander's last outing came in relief of the rehabbing John Bale on Sunday vs. New Orleans and he got the win in an 8-6 victory (4.0 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 0 K). Hendrickson is 4-1 with a 4.54 ERA in 7 games at home, while going 0-2 with a 7.62 ERA in his 3 outings on the road. He was acquired by KC from Milwaukee on March 27 in a trade for catcher Max St. Pierre. In 2006, Hendrickson spent most of the 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. He pitched in 4 games (3 starts) for Milwaukee, 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 AT PORTLAND:

Sat., 9:05: LH Tyler Lumsden (4-3, 5.63) vs. RH Tim Stauffer (2-1, 7.96)

Sun., 4:05: LH John Bale (0-0, 0.00) vs. RH Jack Cassel (4-4, 3.23)

Mon., 9:05: RH Zach Day (1-1, 3.93) vs. RH Mike Thompson (1-5, 9.73)

Tue., 2:05: RH Matt Wright (3-2, 3.10) vs. LH Ryan Ketchner (0-6, 4.24)

Check out the Omaha Storm Chasers Statistics

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Pacific Coast League Stories from June 1, 2007


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