Royals Game Notes
Published on May 28, 2008 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Omaha Storm Chasers News Release
TONIGHT: The Royals host the Oklahoma RedHawks in game 2 of a 4-game series at Rosenblatt Stadium. Omaha leads the series 1-0. Kids Eat Free! All kids 12-and-under will receive a voucher for a personal SUBWAY pizza or a meal voucher from the Omaha Royals. It's brought to you by SUBWAY, Star 104.5 and The Omaha Newspapers. 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.
LAST NIGHT: The Royals used 4 home runs and strong pitching to take the series opener 5-2. Mike Aviles hit a pair of solo homers, with his 1st of the night snapping a 2-2 tie in the 5th. Angel Berroa smacked a 2-run shot and Brian Buchanan also went deep for Omaha. Royals starter Carlos Rosa (2-1) got the win, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits over 5.0 innings, walking 2 and striking out 7. Neal Musser followed Rosa to the hill and fired 3.0 shutout stanzas. Devon Lowery pitched a scoreless 9th for his 2nd save. Oklahoma starter Eric Hurley (2-4) took the loss, giving up 3 runs (1 earned) on 7 hits - including 2 of the homers - in 6.0 innings.
ROYALS REPORT: The 4 home runs last night were 1 round-tripper shy of Omaha's season high for a single game. The Royals have clouted 72 homers this season, 2nd-most in the PCL to Albuquerque's 73 dingers. *** Aviles was just the 2nd Royals batter to slug 2 home runs in a game this year. Jason Smith homered twice on April 7 at Rosenblatt to lead the Royals to a 7-5 win over Round Rock. Aviles is the 1st Omaha batter to hit a home run in back-to-back AB's since Jeff Keppinger turned the trick on July 23, 2006 at Las Vegas in a 7-3 Royals win. Aviles ranks 3rd in the PCL with 42 RBI, tied for 3rd with 42 runs scored, is tops with 37 extra-base hits and is 2nd with 72 hits. *** Since allowing 5 earned runs in the 1st inning of his Triple-A debut on May 17 at Albuquerque, Rosa has given up just 5 earned runs over 14.0 innings for a 3.21 ERA during that span. *** In the past 8 games, Omaha starters are 5-2 with a 3.31 ERA (18 ER in 49.0 IP). Royals pitchers struck out 12 RedHawks Tuesday night, matching the team's season high. *** The Royals have won 6 of their last 7 contests, after winning just 5 of 20 games prior to this hot stretch. Omaha has won 3 straight at Rosenblatt, 1 game shy of the team's longest victory string at home this year (won 4 straight at home April 6-9). *** Over the last 10 tilts, Berroa is batting .343 (12-for-35) with 3 home runs, 7 RBI and 9 runs scored. For the month of May, he's hitting .325 with 6 home runs and 16 RBI in 23 contests. *** Prior to his home run in the 7th inning last night, Buchanan had 3 hits in his last 33 at-bats (.091) with no round-trippers and 2 RBI. *** Mitch Maier is hitting at a .343 clip (12-for-35) over the last 8 games, with 6 RBI and 5 runs scored over that stretch. *** Shane Costa has hit in 5 straight games, going 7-for-19 (.368), raising his batting average from .297 to .304. *** Damon Hollins is in a 6-for-55 (.109) funk at the plate, dropping his average 45 points to .164. *** Musser has not allowed an earned run in 9.2 innings over his last 5 relief appearances, trimming his ERA from 4.58 to 3.07. *** Lowery's save last night was his 2nd in as many chances with Omaha and he shaved his ERA to 1.06 after his 1st 9 appearances at the Triple-A level. The 25-year old right-hander was 1-0 with 2 saves and a 0.69 ERA in 9 relief outings for Double-A Northwest Arkansas this season, before being promoted to Omaha. *** Lefty reliever John Foster joined Omaha yesterday from KC's extended spring in Surprise, Arizona. Foster is trying to rebound from a back injury suffered in Spring Training. To make room for him on Omaha's roster, catcher Cody Clark was sent back to Northwest Arkansas.
STARTERS: LH A.J. Murray (2-2, 4.17) vs. RH Matt Wright (1-2, 5.24)
Wright makes his 10th start of the season. The 26-year old right-hander's last outing was last Friday at Round Rock, when he picked up his 1st win of the season in the Royals' 5-2 victory (6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 3 K, 2 HR). It was Wright's 2nd quality start in his last 3 outings. 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 1 start vs. Oklahoma last season, getting the win in a 9-6 triumph over the RedHawks on July 2 at Rosenblatt (5.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 10 K, 1 HR). 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:
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)
Pacific Coast League Stories from May 28, 2008
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- Schierholtz Home Run Not Enough In Loss To Tacoma - Fresno Grizzlies
- Chavez homers, Gonzalez sharp as River Cats edge Portland - Portland Beavers
- Sounds Return Favor, Hammer Isotopes 11-3 - Nashville Sounds
- Zephyrs five-game win streak snapped - New Orleans Baby Cakes
- Roy Williams to Visit The Brick Saturday, May 31 - Oklahoma City Comets
- Zephyrs Bostick Undergoes Season-Ending Surgery - New Orleans Baby Cakes
- Royals Game Notes - Omaha Storm Chasers
- Oklahoma RedHawks Game Notes - Oklahoma City Comets
- Wilson Placed on Disabled List, Wipke Joins Bees - Salt Lake Bees
- Fireworks, Faith Nights Highlight Upcoming Homestand - Nashville Sounds
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