Royals Game Notes
May 27, 2008 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Omaha Storm Chasers News Release
TONIGHT: The Royals host the Oklahoma RedHawks in the opener of a 4-game series at Rosenblatt Stadium. Omaha is coming off a 3-1 trip to Round Rock. It's $2 2uesday - general admission tickets to the game and peanuts are only $2, courtesy of Valpak, Z-92 and The Reader. Fans may also exchange up to four used tickets from any April Royals home game for up to four free general admission tickets to tonight's contest. 1st pitch is 6:35 p.m., with the pre-game show on the air at 6:15 p.m. on News Talk 1420 KOTK and at www.oroyals.com.
MONDAY: Kyle Davies posted another win, pitching the Royals to a 4-1 victory at Round Rock. Davies (6-2) worked 7.0 innings, giving up 1 run on 5 hits and no walks, striking out 5. Jeff Fulchino fired 2.0 innings of scoreless relief to notch his 3rd save. The game was scoreless until the 5th inning, when Omaha scored 3 unearned runs off Express starter Josh Muecke (3-4), who took the loss. Round Rock 3rd baseman Mark Saccomanno committed an error early in the frame and the Royals took advantage with a 2-out rally, starting with a 2-run double by Mike Aviles and concluding with Shane Costa's RBI single.
ROYALS REPORT: Davies has delivered 4 consecutive quality starts and is 3-0 with a 1.40 ERA (4 ER in 25.2 IP) over that streak, which has lowered his ERA on the year from 2.61 to 2.06. He now leads the PCL in ERA and his 6 wins are tied for most in the league. *** Over the past 7 games, Omaha starters have gone 4-2 and posted a combined 3.27 ERA (16 ER in 44.0 IP). *** The Royals have won 5 of their last 6 contests, after winning just 5 of 20 games prior to this hot stretch. Dating back to last season, Omaha has won 10 of its last 11 meetings vs. Round Rock, going 6-1 vs. the Express so far this year. *** Fulchino's save yesterday was his 3rd of the season and 2nd of the series at the Dell Diamond. In the 2 appearances vs. Round Rock, he fired 5.0 scoreless innings. Fulchino did not have a save in his 1st 7 professional seasons prior to this year, as 149 of his 155 minor league outings were starts. *** Aviles' double Monday was his 21st of the season, which ranks 2nd in the PCL. It was his league-leading 35th extra-base hit. The 2 RBI gives him 40 on the year, tied for 3rd-most in the 16-team loop. *** Costa hit in each of the games at Round Rock, going 6-for-16 (.375) with 3 RBI. In 23 road games, Costa is batting .355 with 6 home runs and 18 RBI. He's hitting .253 with 3 homers and 14 RBI in 24 home contests *** Jason Smith had his hitting streak halted yesterday at 6 games, as he went 0-for-4 and struck out 3 times. Smith, who batted .280 (7-for-25) with 2 home runs and 5 RBI during his hit string, had only whiffed 3 times in the previous 4 games. In 175 at-bats this season, Smith has 59 strikeouts, tied for 3rd most in the PCL. He's also tied for 3rd in the league with 12 home runs. Albuquerque's Dallas McPherson leads the circuit in both round-trippers (15) and whiffs (69). *** Over the past 7 games, Mitch Maier is hitting .355 (11-for-31) with 3 doubles, 6 RBI and 5 runs scored. *** Damon Hollins is mired in a 6-for-55 (.109) slump, dipping his average from .209 to .164. *** On the heels of a 7-game hitting streak, Angel Berroa is 0-for-6 the past 2 contests. He's still hitting .344 (11-for-32) over his past 9 tilts, with 2 home runs, 5 RBI and 8 runs scored. *** Tonight's game is the 1st of 16 meetings with Oklahoma this season. In 2007, the 2 teams split their 16-game season series. The Royals went 5-3 vs. the RedHawks at Rosenblatt last year, including a 4-game sweep of the 1st series here May 21-24. That included a doubleheader sweep on May 24 as the 23rd was a rainout. Since both teams moved from the American Association to the Pacific Coast League in 1998, the Royals are just 53-75 vs. the RedHawks. Entering this season, that .414 winning percentage was Omaha's 2nd-lowest mark vs. any PCL club. The Royals only had a lower win rate (15-25, .375) vs. Sacramento. In American Association play, the Royals went 328-295 (.526) vs. the Oklahoma City 89ers, Omaha's 3rd-best winning percentage vs. an American Association foe.
STARTERS: RH Eric Hurley (2-3, 5.93) vs. RH Carlos Rosa (1-1, 7.20)
Rosa makes his 3rd Triple-A start, after beginning this season pitching for Double-A Northwest Arkansas. The 23-year old right-hander's last outing was last Thursday vs. Iowa, when he picked up his 1st Triple-A win in the Royals' 8-3 triumph (7.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 1 HR). With Northwest Arkansas, Rosa was 4-2 in 8 starts and led the Texas League with a 1.20 ERA. In 45.0 innings, he allowed just 30 hits and 7 walks, while striking out 42 batters. The native of the Dominican Republic is in the 6th season of his professional career, after being signed by KC as a non-drafted free agent on November 29, 2001. Entering this season, Rosa was ranked by Baseball America as the #7 prospect in the Royals' organization. In 2007, he opened the season with Class-A Wilmington and was 2-1 with a 0.39 ERA in 4 starts before being promoted to Double-A Wichita. He went 6-6 with a 4.36 ERA and 1 save in 21 games (17 starts) with the Wranglers. He struggled for Wichita early, but was 3-1 with a 2.87 ERA in 10 starts after the All-Star break, posting a 0.83 ERA in 4 August starts. After missing the entire 2005 season following Tommy John surgery, Rosa bounced back in 2006 to be named the Royals Minor League Pitcher of the Year and the Burlington (IA) Pitcher of the Year. He went 8-6 in 24 starts for the Bees and his 2.53 ERA was 4th in the Midwest League. He was promoted to High Desert for 3 starts at the end of the '06 season. He resides in San Francisco de Macoris, D.R.
PROBABLES FOR REMAINDER OF SERIES:
Wed., 6:35 p.m.: LH A.J. Murray (2-2, 4.17) vs. RH Matt Wright (1-2, 5.24)
Thur., 6:35 p.m.: RH Robinson Tejeda (1-1, 2.18) vs. LH Tyler Lumsden (2-5, 6.41)
Fri., 7:05 p.m.: RH Dustin Nippert (2-1, 5.27) vs. RH Brandon Duckworth (2-3, 4.79)
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