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PCL1 Omaha Storm Chasers

Royals Game Notes

July 27, 2007 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Omaha Storm Chasers News Release


JULY 27, 2007, 8:05 p.m.: OMAHA ROYALS (52-54) @ Salt Lake Bees (53-53)

HOME: 33-18 (31-41 in ‘06) AWAY: 19-36 (22-50 in '06) vs. Salt Lake: 3-0 (2-2 in '06)

TONIGHT: The Royals visit Franklin Covey Field for an 8:05 p.m. game with the Salt Lake Bees. It's the finale of a 4-game series, which Omaha leads 3-0. Air-time is 7:45 p.m. on News Talk 1420 KOTK and at www.Oroyals.com.

LAST NIGHT: The Royals swept the doubleheader, winning the opener 4-2 and taking the nightcap 7-3. In the 1st game, Luke Hochevar (1-1) picked up his 1st Triple-A win, allowing 2 runs on 8 hits over 6.0 innings. Hochevar walked 2 and fanned 4. Mike Aviles snapped a 2-2 tie when he led off the 6th inning with his 12th home run of the season, adding an RBI single in the 7th to chase Bees starter Kasey Olenberger (8-5), who gave up 4 runs in 6.1 frames. Neal Musser struck out the side in the bottom of the 7th for his 5th save. In the nightcap, Justin Huber had 3 hits and 2 RBI and Paul Phillips capped a 3-run 6th inning with a 2-run double. Tyler Lumsden (7-5) got the win after yielding 3 runs - 2 earned - in 5.2 stanzas. Ryan Braun recorded the final 4 outs, 3 via strikeouts, to notch his 8th save. Jason Bulger (4-2) took the loss.

ROYALS REPORT: Last night marked the 1st sweep of a doubleheader on the road since May 29, 2000, when Omaha took a twinbill at Memphis, winning 1-0 and 4-1. The Royals are 2-0-1 in double-dips this season, having also swept Oklahoma on May 24 at Rosenblatt and getting a split on June 24 at Oklahoma. *** Aviles had a pair of hits in both ends of last night's doubleheader, going 4-for-7 with a double, home run, 3 RBI and 3 runs scored. Over the past 9 games, Aviles is hitting .432 (16-37) with 5 doubles, a triple, 4 homers and 11 RBI. *** In his last 2 starts, Hochevar has allowed just 2 earned runs over 11.0 innings, for a 1.64 ERA. *** Lumsden has won back-to-back starts, posting a 2.53 ERA in the process. In his previous 6 outings, he was 0-2 with a 10.22 ERA. *** Musser has now pitched 36.1 innings for Omaha this season and still owns a 0.00 ERA, having allowed only 2 unearned runs. *** Braun rejoined Omaha after making 2 appearances with KC over the past week. He worked a hitless innings at Detroit last Friday, but gave up 3 runs in 1.1 innings vs. New York on Monday. He's 2-2 with a 1.20 ERA and 8 saves for Omaha. *** Braun was optioned back to Omaha after Scott Elarton was activated from the DL. With Elarton since released, KC yesterday purchased the contract of reliever Jason Shiell. The veteran right-hander was 1-4 with a 4.70 ERA and 2 saves for Omaha. Over his last 5 outings, Shiell was 1-1 and allowed just 1 earned runs in 9.0 innings, with no walks and 5 strikeouts. *** Shane Costa went 0-for-3 in game 1 last night, ending his hitting streak at 10 games. He was 2-for-4 with 2 runs scored in the nightcap and is hitting .380 (19-50) over the past 12 contests, with 11 runs scored. *** Joey Gathright was 2-for-4 with a triple in Thursday's opener, extending a hitting streak that dated back to May 31 to 12 games. It was halted in game 2, when he was 0-for-2 with a pair of walks. In 7 games since coming back from KC, he's 10-for-24 (.417) with 3 RBI and 8 runs scored. *** Ryan Shealy has hit in all 6 games of his 2nd rehab assignment for a strained left hamstring. He's 7-for-24 (.292) with a double and a homer. *** Angel Berroa is riding an 8-game hitting streak, batting .483 (14-29). He has also hit in 11 of the past 12 tilts, batting .467 (21-45) with 4 home runs, 13 RBI and 13 runs scored. *** A Royals win tonight would match the club's longest road winning streak of the season at 4 games and give Omaha its' 1st road series sweep since August 16-19, 2005 at New Orleans.

STARTERS: RH Matt Wright (6-3, 3.82) vs. RH Ervin Santana (0-1, 1.29)

Wright makes his 15th start and 22nd appearance of the season. The 25-year old right-hander's last action was a start last Saturday vs. Memphis. He was not involved in the decision in Omaha's 8-5 victory (5.2 IP, 10 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 6 K). In his 14 starts, Wright is 3-1 with a 3.65 ERA; he's 3-2 with a 4.32 ERA in his 7 relief appearances. He's 4-0 with a 3.83 ERA at home, while going 2-3 with a 3.81 ERA on the road. Wright was signed by KC as a minor league free agent in the off-season after spending the 1st 7 campaigns of his professional career in the Atlanta Braves organization. In 2006, he opened the season pitching for Double-A Mississippi, posting a 7-3 record with a 2.22 ERA in 15 games (14 starts). He was promoted to Richmond in mid-July and went 3-5 with a 5.77 ERA over 10 starts in his 1st action at the Triple-A level. Entering this season, his minor league totals included a 46-47 record, with a 3.68 ERA and 744 strikeouts in 743.2 innings. Wright was selected by the Braves in the 21st round of the 2000 draft out of Robinson High School in Waco, Texas.

PROBABLES FOR SERIES AT COLORADO SPRINGS:

Sat., 8:05: TBA vs. RH Jason Hirsh (0-2, 9.45)

Sun., 2:05: RH Billy Buckner (7-5, 4.48) vs. LH Kevin Walker (4-3, 5.28)

Mon., 1:35: TBA vs. RH Jorge DePaula (8-5, 5.98)

Tue., 8:05: RH Luke Hochevar (1-1, 3.94) vs. RH Bobby Keppel (6-7, 6.30)

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