Royals Game Notes
Published on April 25, 2008 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Omaha Storm Chasers News Release
APRIL 25, 2008, 7:05 p.m.: OMAHA ROYALS (12-7) vs. Nashville Sounds (4-16)
HOME: 8-4 (45-27 in '07) AWAY: 4-3 (28-44 in '07) vs. Nashville: 3-1 (7-9 in '07)
TONIGHT: The Royals host Nashville in game 2 of a 4-game series at Rosenblatt Stadium. Omaha leads the series 1-0 and is 3-2 on the home stand. Werner Enterprises Fireworks follow the game, also presented by KAT 103, KETV and The City Weekly! It's also the first U.S. Cellular Dreams Come True night: a lucky fan who signed up at a U.S. Cellular store will be on the field for batting practice, throw out a ceremonial first pitch and assist in the press box during the game. First pitch is 7:05 p.m., with the pre-game show on the air at 6:45 p.m. on News Talk 1420-AM KOTK and at www.oroyals.com. The game will also be televised on WOWT 620 (Cox Channel 120) with an air-time of 7:00 p.m.
LAST NIGHT: In a slug-fest that featured 8 home runs - 4 by each team - Chris Lubanski fired the final salvo with a 2-run bomb over the right field fence in the 7th inning, which capped the scoring in the Royals' 12-11 victory. Lubanski had 3 hits and 3 RBI, while Mike Aviles and Damon Hollins also homered and knocked in 3 runs apiece and Mike Stodolka went deep and scored 3 runs. Nashville's Brad Nelson blasted 2 homers and had 5 RBI. Chin-Hui Tsao (1-0) fired 2.0 innings of scoreless relief to get the win. Neal Musser notched his 4th save with a perfect 9th inning. Steve Bray (0-2) took the loss.
ROYALS REPORT: The 12 runs scored by the Royals last night matched their season high, accomplished 3 times, with all 3 big outbursts occurring at Rosenblatt. In winning 8 of 12 home games, Omaha has a .291 team batting average and has hit 18 home runs, scoring 76 runs, for an average of 6.3 runs per game at home. *** The 4 round-trippers for the Royals last night marked the team's season high, while Nashville's 4 taters is a new season standard for an opposing club. *** The 7-run 3rd inning marked the biggest inning for Omaha this season. On April 20, 2007, the Royals put together an 8-run 2nd inning in a 10-7 win vs. Round Rock. *** Tyler Lumsden gave up 3 home runs and 8 earned runs in 3.1 innings of Thursday night's start, upping his ERA from 6.39 to 9.56. He has surrendered 5 homers in 16.0 innings in 2008, after giving up just 11 gopher balls in 119.1 innings in 2007. *** Sounds starter Nic Ungs saw his ERA climb from 10.32 to 12.86 after yielding 7 earned runs in 2.2 frames Thursday. While pitching for Albuquerque the past 2 seasons, Ungs was 2-1 with a 2.10 ERA in 6 games vs. Omaha, going 2-0 with a 1.02 ERA (2 ER in 17.2 IP) over 3 starts. In his last Rosenblatt start on August 21, 2007 Ungs hurled 5.2 scoreless stanzas. *** The Royals, winning last night despite trailing by 4 runs twice, have posted 5 come-from-behind wins this season. *** All of Lubanski's 4 home runs this season have come at home. He's hitting .308 (12-for-39) with 3 doubles, 4 homers and 11 RBI in 12 games at Rosenblatt, while hitting .200 (5-for-25) with no extra-base hits and 2 RBI in 7 road contests. Lubanski is on a season-best, 7-game hitting streak, batting .391 (9-for-23) with 2 homers and 6 RBI over that span. *** Stodolka's 1st Triple-A homer capped last night's 7-run 3rd inning. He's hitting .313 (10-for-32) with 4 RBI in 10 games at home, while going 2-for-13 (.154) with 1 RBI in 4 road tilts. *** Hollins has homered in back-to-back games and has 8 RBI in those 2 contests, after collecting 6 RBI in his 1st 16 games. *** Aviles' 3rd triple of the year last night ties him for the PCL lead in triples. His 3rd home run of the season was his 15th extra-base hit (2nd in PCL) and 27th hit (4th), and it gave him 19 RBI (tied for 3rd). Aviles has hit in 7 straight games (.355, 11-for-31, 1 HR, 7 RBI). *** Matt Tupman collected his 1st 3-hit game of the season last night. *** With 2 hits Thursday, Shane Costa now has 26 hits (5th in PCL). He scored his 17th run, also 5th-best in the loop. Although he didn't bang out a double last night, Costa ranks 2nd in the league with 10 two-baggers. *** Jason Smith is 1-for-18 with 9 K's, playing in 4 games of this home stand. On the season, Smith has a team-high 24 K's in 74 at-bats. *** Following last night's win, the Royals are now 4-1 this season in 1-run decisions. *** Prior to Thursday, the Royals had not batted around in any inning this year, while their opponents had only done it once. Omaha sent 10 batters to the plate in the bottom of the 3rd last night and Nashville did likewise in the top of the 4th. *** Tonight's starter for Nashville, Zach Jackson, was 2-1 with a 2.66 ERA in 4 starts vs. Omaha in 2007.
STARTERS: LH Zach Jackson (1-3, 7.04) vs. RH Matt Wright (0-1, 5.14)
Wright makes his 4th start of the season. The 26-year old right-hander's last outing was last Saturday vs. New Orleans, when he took the loss in a 6-2 defeat (5.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R-3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 1 HR). Wright was signed by KC as a minor league free agent prior to last season and turned in a solid campaign with Omaha. He went 10-5 and his 4.06 ERA ranked 7th in the PCL. In 21 starts, he went 7-3 with a 4.01 ERA, while he was 3-2 with a 4.32 ERA in 7 relief outings. In 3 starts vs. Nashville last season, he was 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA. Wright pitched well in tight spots last season, holding opponents to a .216 average with runners in scoring position and .193 with runners in scoring position and 2 outs. He won 6 of his 7 decisions at Rosenblatt Stadium. Following the season, Wright was a member of the gold-medal winning USA Baseball Team at the World Cup in Chinese Taipei, going 1-0 with a 1.00 ERA in 2 games (1 start). Prior to 2007, he spent his 1st 7 professional seasons in the Braves organization. He was named to the Carolina League All-Star team in 2004, when he ranked 6th in Atlanta's system with 133 strikeouts for Myrtle Beach. Wright was selected by the Braves in the 21st round of the 2000 draft out of Robinson High School in Texas.
PROBABLES FOR REMAINDER OF SERIES:
Sat., 7:05: LH Chris Narveson (0-3, 4.29) vs. LH Jorge De La Rosa (2-0, 1.15)
Sun., 1:35: RH Richie Gardner (0-0, 5.40) vs. LH Mike Maroth (0-1, 7.50)
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