PCL1 Omaha Storm Chasers

Royals Game Notes

Published on May 23, 2008 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Omaha Storm Chasers News Release


TONIGHT: The Royals visit the Dell Diamond, opening a 4-game road trip vs. the Round Rock Express. Omaha is coming off a split of a 4-game home series vs. Iowa, taking the final 2 games of the set. 1st pitch is 7:05 p.m., with the pre-game show on the air at 6:45 p.m. on News Talk 1420 KOTK and at www.oroyals.com.

LAST NIGHT: The Royals jumped on Iowa starter Sean Marshall (0-1) for four runs in the 1st inning, and Carlos Rosa earned his 1st Triple-A win, as Omaha defeated Iowa 8-3. The Royals had 4 hits in the 1st frame, including Jason Smith's 2-run triple to left-center that made it 3-0. Rosa (1-1) went 7.0 innings, allowing 3 runs on 7 hits, including Jason Dubois' solo homer, and left with a 5-3 lead. Roman Colon finished with 2.0 innings of 1-hit, scoreless relief, notching his 1st save. Omaha scored 3 runs in the 8th inning without a ball being put into play, as Cubs reliever Jim Henderson walked 5 batters, hit another with a pitch and struck out 3. Marshall (0-1) took the loss, giving up 5 runs on 6 hits over 3.2 stanzas.

ROYALS REPORT: Rosa threw 100 pitches in his 2nd Triple-A start, 61 for strikes, with no walks and 2 K's. It was a nice rebound from his Triple-A debut last Saturday at Albuquerque. In that outing, he gave up 5 runs - all in the 1st inning - and lasted just 3.0 frames. Last night's effort lowered the 23-year old right-hander's ERA from 15.00 to 7.20. His next scheduled start is next Tuesday night at Rosenblatt, when the Royals open a 4-game series vs. Oklahoma. *** Thursday night's game improved the Royals record this season when scoring 1st in games to 14-9 and when scoring in the 1st inning to 12-6. *** Odd but true: Omaha had 4 hits in the 1st inning and sent 8 men to the plate. In the bizarre 8th inning, the Royals batted around for just the 7th time this year despite not putting a ball into play. In that inning, Henderson became the 1st opposing pitcher to walk 4 straight Royals since another Iowa pitcher had the same misfortune in 2004 at Rosenblatt. On August 29, 2004, Iowa starter Renyel Pinto retired the 1st 2 Omaha batters in the 1st inning before issuing 4 straight walks, followed by Jarrod Patterson's grand slam, as the Royals scored 5 runs in their 1st at-bat on the way to a 12-8 triumph. *** The 5 walks allowed by Henderson last night and the 7 free passes from the Iowa staff as a whole were both single-game season highs for Royals foes. *** Damaso Espino drew 2 of the walks last night, giving him 4 bases-on-balls in his last 7 trips to the plate. *** Dave Matranga grounded out in his 1st at-bat last night, making him 1-for-his-last-22. He bounced back with an RBI single, a sacrifice bunt and a bases loaded walk in his next 3 plate appearances, giving him 2 RBI for his 3rd multi-RBI effort in 2008. *** Shane Costa was 0-for-5 last night, halting a 4-game hit string. He struck out 3 times - marking the 1st time Costa had done that in an Omaha uniform since July 19, 2006 in a game vs. Nashville. *** In a span of 42 at-bats over his last 12 tilts, Smith has hit 3 home runs and knocked in 11 runs, while striking out 21 times. He's hitting .262 (11-for-42) over that stretch. *** Angel Berroa, who was hit by a pitch in the 8th inning last night, is on a 5-game hitting streak, batting .389 (7-for-18) with 2 homers, 4 RBI and 5 runs scored during the string. *** Damon Hollins, who was 0-for-4 with 2 strikeouts Thursday night, is in a 6-for-53 (.113) skid at the plate, dropping his average 42 points to .167. *** Colon's save last night was his 4th in the minors. He also has 1 career save in the big leagues.

STARTERS: RH Matt Wright (0-2, 5.59) vs. RH Chad Reineke (2-5, 6.69)

Wright makes his 9th start of the season. The 26-year old right-hander's last outing was last Sunday, in game 1 of doubleheader at Albuquerque, when he took the loss in an 11-2 defeat (4.0 IP, 11 H, 7 R, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 HR). The rough outing jumped Wright's ERA from 4.41 to 5.59. This is his 1st start vs. Round Rock this season. Wright was signed by KC as a minor league free agent prior to 2007 and spent the entire campaign with Omaha, going 10-5 and ranking 7th in the PCL with a 4.06 ERA. In 21 starts last season, he was 7-3 with a 4.01 ERA; he went 3-2 with a 4.32 ERA in 7 relief appearances. He made 3 appearances vs. Round Rock last season, all in relief, and was 1-1 with a 4.22 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 last year, although his ERA was actually better on the road than at home (3.89 to 4.24). Following the season, he 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, Wright 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 p.m.: LH Tyler Lumsden (1-5, 6.75) vs. RH Josh Miller (3-1, 5.86)

Sun., 2:05 p.m.: RH Brandon Duckworth (2-2, 4.93) vs. RH Runelvys Hernandez (3-2, 4.74)

Mon., 12:05 p.m.: RH Kyle Davies (5-2, 2.17) vs. LH Josh Muecke (3-3, 3.20

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Pacific Coast League Stories from May 23, 2008


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