PCL1 Omaha Storm Chasers

Royals Game Notes

August 15, 2007 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Omaha Storm Chasers News Release


AUGUST 15, 2007, 7:05 p.m.: OMAHA ROYALS (63-61) vs. Iowa Cubs (69-55)

HOME: 39-21 (31-41 in '06) AWAY: 24-40 (22-50 in '06) vs. Iowa: 5-4 (5-11 in '06)

TONIGHT: The Royals host the Iowa Cubs in a 7:05 p.m. game at Rosenblatt Stadium. It's game 2 of a 4-game series, which Omaha leads 1-0. The 1st 100 kids eat FREE, with a pizza courtesy of SUBWAY and ValPak! Air-time is 6:45 p.m. on News Talk 1420 KOTK and at www.Oroyals.com.

LAST NIGHT: Billy Buckner combined with 2 relievers on a 6-hitter as the Royals shutout Iowa 2-0 in the series opener. Buckner (9-7) allowed just 3 singles and a walk, while striking out 4. Kenny Ray gave up a pair of singles with 1 out in the 8th, but Neal Musser came on to record the final 5 outs, striking out 3 batters and posting his 7th save. The Royals broke a scoreless tie in the 5th on Mitch Maier's RBI single, with Mike Aviles plating another run when his grounder was booted by Iowa 1st baseman John Nelson. Former Royal Cory Bailey (4-3) took the loss, giving up 2 runs on 8 hits over 7.0 innings.

ROYALS REPORT: In 3 starts this month, Buckner is 2-1 with a 1.27 ERA. That has trimmed his ERA on the season from 4.48 to 3.82, which ranks 7th in the PCL. He retired the last 10 batters he faced in last night's contest. *** The shutout last night was the 8th posted by Omaha's pitching staff, tied for 2nd most in the PCL. Only Nashville's pitching staff has tossed more shutouts, with 10 on the year. Meanwhile, the Royals offense has been blanked just 3 times this season. *** The Royals have won 4 of their past 5, 9 of 13 and 17 of 25 games. Omaha has also won 12 of the last 17 tilts at Rosenblatt. A victory tonight would put the Royals 3 games over .500, matching the club's high water mark this year (30-27 on June 3). *** Chris Lubanski has hit in 5 straight games, his longest streak of the season. Over his last 12 games, he's batting .317 (13-41) with a home run and 5 RBI. *** Justin Huber has hit in 4 straight and over the past 16 contests he's hitting .359 (23-64) with 6 home runs, 17 RBI and 11 runs scored. *** Over his last 3 starts, Angel Berroa has gone 8-for-12 with a homer and an RBI, jumping his average from .283 to .300. *** Paul Phillips had 3 hits last night, matching his season high. *** Derek Wathan was 0-for-2 with a sacrifice bunt Monday, halting his hitting streak at 5 games. During the string, which equaled his longest of the season, he was 7-for-21 (.333) and drove in 3 runs. *** Craig Brazell is hitting .333 (19-57) with 2 home runs and 7 RBI over the past 15 games. *** Matt Tupman has hit in 4 straight, going 5-for-16 (.313) and driving in 5 runs.

STARTERS: RH Kevin Hart (2-1, 3.55) vs. RH Brandon Duckworth (NR) Duckworth makes his 1st start for Omaha, continuing a rehab assignment for a strained left oblique that he began last week with Single-A Wilmington. In 2 starts for the Blue Rocks, the 31-year old right-hander was 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA. Duckworth has not pitched for KC since June 10. Prior to the injury, he was 2-3 with a 2.94 ERA and 1 save in 18 games (2 starts) for the parent club. KC acquired Duckworth from Pittsburgh on June 10, 2006 for cash considerations. He had opened the 2006 season with the Pirates' Triple-A club, Indianapolis, where he was 8-3 with a 2.42 ERA in 12 starts. With KC, he went 1-4 with a 4.85 ERA in 8 starts, before being moved to the bullpen. He was 0-1 with a 24.00 ERA (8 ER in 3.0 IP) in 2 relief appearances before he went on the DL on July 31 with a right elbow strain. He underwent season-ending surgery on August 15. Duckworth spent parts of the past 6 seasons in the Majors with the Phillies, Astros and Royals. He was 17-26 with a 5.43 ERA in his big league career prior to this season. Duckworth was obtained by the Astros on November 3, 2003 from the Phillies with RHP Ezequiel Astacio and RHP Taylor Buchholz in exchange for LHP Billy Wagner. He was originally signed by the Phillies as a non-drafted free agent on August 13, 1997. He attended the College of Southern Idaho and Cal State Fullerton.

PROBABLES FOR REMAINDER OF SERIES:

Thur., 7:05: RH Sean Gallagher (3-1, 2.16) vs. RH Luke Hochevar (1-2, 6.82)

Fri., 7:05: LH J.R. Mathes (10-6, 5.00) vs. LH Tyler Lumsden (7-5, 6.33)

Check out the Omaha Storm Chasers Statistics



Pacific Coast League Stories from August 15, 2007


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