PCL1 Omaha Storm Chasers

Royals Game Notes

Published on May 7, 2008 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Omaha Storm Chasers News Release


MAY 7, 2008, 12:05 p.m.: OMAHA ROYALS (15-15) vs. Portland Beavers (16-14)

HOME: 9-6 (45-27 in ‘07) AWAY: 6-9 (28-44 in '07) vs. Portland: 0-1 (2-2 in '07)

TODAY: The Royals host the Portland Beavers at Rosenblatt Stadium in game 2 of a 4-game series, which the Beavers lead 1-0. It's also the 2nd game of an 8-game home stand. Enjoy ½-price burgers during this Business Person Special, presented by 1110 KFAB and Strictly Business! 1st pitch is 12:05 p.m., with the pre-game show on the air at 11:45 a.m. on News Talk 1420 KOTK and at www.oroyals.com.

LAST NIGHT: After being shutout in their previous 2 games, the Royals erupted for 11 runs on 18 hits in the series opener. However, Portland blasted 6 home runs, including 3 in a 6-run 9th inning to take a 12-7 lead. The Beavers survived the Royals 4-run 9th to edge Omaha 12-11. The Beavers cranked 3 of their round-trippers off Roberto Giron (1-3), who took the loss after being tagged for 7 runs on 5 hits in 2.1 innings. Former Royal Chip Ambres capped Portland's 6-run rally in the 9th when he greeted Paul Mildren with a 3-run shot. Bryan Myrow went deep twice for the winners. Beavers reliever Adam Bass (1-1) got the win, allowing 1 run in 2.0 innings of work. Omaha scored 4 runs off Mike Adams in its final at-bat - and had runners at 1st and 3rd with 2 outs - when Jared Wells retired Mike Aviles on a pop-up to short to register his 5th save.

ROYALS REPORT: Will the real Omaha offense please stand up? Last night the Royals matched their season high with 18 hits - 8 of those going for extra bases. The 18-hit mark was set just last Saturday in a 13-7 win at Fresno. But, in the 2 games in between those 2 slugfests, the Royals were shut out twice and held to just 5 singles in each contest. *** Last night marked the 1st time in almost 3 years to the day that an Omaha opponent homered 6 times in a game. The last team to do it was Memphis on May 5, 2005, as the Redbirds won 8-5 at Rosenblatt. The 6 homers for Portland Tuesday marked the most for an opposing club since last August 18, when Albuquerque blasted 7 round-trippers - 6 off Matt Wright - in the Isotopes' 11-4 win at Rosenblatt. *** Last night also marked the 1st time an opposing club smacked 3 homers in 1 innings since June 23, 2006 when Iowa's Felix Pie, Micah Hoffpauir and Mike Fontenot all dialed long distance in the 4th inning of a game in Des Moines, ironically won by the Royals 6-4. *** Matt Tupman, capping Omaha's 4-run 7th inning with a 2-run homer that snapped a 5-5 tie, set a new season-high for home runs with his 4th. Tupman had only hit 11 home runs in the 1st 6 seasons of his professional career, with his former season-best of 3 coming in 2004 with Wilmington. The Royals catcher had hit only 1 tater in 107 games and 372 at-bats with Omaha over the past 2 years. *** The Royals lost Tuesday despite leading 7-5 after 7 and still ahead by a run after 8 innings. Prior to last night, Omaha was 14-1 when leading after 7 and 14-0 when on top after 8 frames this season. *** Last night's loss dropped the Royals to 0-4 in games decided in the last at-bat, although Omaha is still 5-2 in 1-run contests. *** Giron's ERA jumped from 5.12 to 7.48 after he surrendered 7 earned runs in 2.1 innings Tuesday. In 21.2 innings, Giron has yielded 8 gopher balls, tied for the team lead and the PCL lead in home runs allowed with Wright (who has pitched 28.2 innings). *** With 8 earned runs allowed in 3.0 innings, the Royals bullpen ERA rose last night from 3.74 to 4.28. *** Aviles banged out 3 more hits Tuesday night, including his league-leading 6th triple. Aviles has hit in 17 of the past 18 games, batting at a .370 (30-for-81) clip with 8 doubles, 4 triples, 4 home runs, 15 RBI and 18 runs scored. *** Mitch Maier also had 3 hits last night, including a pair of doubles. Since returning from a sore left wrist that kept him on the shelf from April 6-25, Maier is hitting .383 (18-for-47) with 2 homers and 6 RBI. *** After going just 2-for-20 over the past 5 tilts, Ryan Shealy went 2-for-4 last night and scored twice. *** Jason Smith walked twice and struck out once last night. In his 1st 27 games this season, he had walked only 6 times, while fanning in 31 at-bats. As a team, the Royals collected 4 walks to 3 strikeouts Tuesday night, after coaxing just 1 free pass compared to whiffing 23 times in suffering the back-to-back shutout losses Sunday and Monday at Fresno.

STARTERS: RH Josh Geer (2-2, 3.97) vs. RH Jeff Fulchino (0-0, 3.68, 1 save)

Fulchino makes his 2nd consecutive start, after his 1st 5 appearances with Omaha came in relief. The 28-year old right-hander took the rotation spot of Jorge De La Rosa, after he was traded by KC to the Colorado Rockies. Fulchino's 1st start was last Friday at Fresno; he was not involved in the decision as the Royals lost 6-4 (5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 3 K). He was signed by KC as a minor league free agent on February 7, 2008 and opened this season at Double-A Northwest Arkansas. In 2 relief outings for the Naturals, he had no record, a 5.40 ERA and 1 save. Prior to this season, Fulchino spent the 1st 7 years of his professional career in the Marlins organization, pitching for Triple-A Albuquerque in each of the last 3 years. In 2007, he was 6-2 with a 5.83 ERA in 16 starts for the Isotopes, before being placed on the disabled list on July 2 and missing the rest of the season with a right shoulder strain. Fulchino has seen one "beam of moonlight" in the big leagues, working one-third of an inning in his only relief appearance for the Marlins on June 22, 2006 at Baltimore. He entered that game in the 8th inning with 2 runners on base and, after walking Kevin Millar to load the bases, he snared a Ramon Hernandez line drive to end the inning. Four days later, he was optioned back to Albuquerque. In 2005, Fulchino set an Isotopes franchise record with 11 wins, tied for 2nd-most in the PCL. Fulchino was selected by the Marlins in the 8th round of the 2001 draft out of U-Conn.

PROBABLES FOR REMAINDER OF SERIES:

Thur., 6:35 p.m.: LH Shawn Estes (4-2, 3.67) vs. RH Brandon Duckworth (2-1, 5.13)

Fri., 7:05 p.m.: LH Cesar Ramos (3-2, 5.53) vs. RH Kyle Davies (3-2, 2.61)

Check out the Omaha Storm Chasers Statistics

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Pacific Coast League Stories from May 7, 2008


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