PCL1 Omaha Storm Chasers

Royals Game Notes

Published on May 30, 2008 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Omaha Storm Chasers News Release


TODAY: Gates to Rosenblatt Stadium will open at 4:00 p.m. and the Omaha Royals and Oklahoma RedHawks will play a doubleheader to make up for last night's regularly scheduled game being postponed due to the threat of severe weather. 1st pitch of the opener is 5:05 p.m. Omaha leads the series 2-0. To make up for the fact that the two teams only played 5 innings on Thirsty Thursday last night, $1 beer and Cokes will be sold during the 1st game tonight, courtesy of 96.1 The Brew, Action 3 News and The City Weekly! It's Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Night, presented by the SilverStone Group. Omaha players will wear red jerseys, auctioned off during the game to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. It's also Indy Car Night, with Indy race cars on display in front of Rosenblatt, with fans having a chance to win race tickets to the Iowa Speedway. Plus, it's U.S. Cellular Dreams Come True Night and the evening will be capped off with Werner Fireworks! The pre-game show is on the air at 4:45 p.m. on News Talk 1420 KOTK and at www.oroyals.com.

LAST NIGHT: The Royals and RedHawks completed the game which had been suspended Wednesday night due to a hydrochloric acid spill at a railway yard in the vicinity of Rosenblatt. Omaha rallied for a 4-3 victory. The game was stopped after four frames on Wednesday with the RedHawks leading 2-1 and the score remained that way until the 7th, when the Royals scored 3 runs to take a 4-2 lead. Dave Matranga tied the contest with an RBI triple and Mitch Maier followed with a 2-run homer off Bill White, pinning the loss on Wes Littleton (2-1), who was charged with 2 runs in 2.1 innings. Roman Colon (1-0) picked up the win, giving up just 1 run on 3 hits over 3.2 innings. After surrendering a solo homer to Chris Davis with 2 outs in the 8th, Colon was relieved by Brad Salmon, who gave up 2 hits and a walk the rest of the way, while also striking out 2 batters, to earn his 1st save.

ROYALS REPORT: Mike Aviles was recalled by KC yesterday and made his Major League debut in the Royals 5-1 loss vs. the Twins. He started at shortstop and batted 9th, going 0-for-3 with a strikeout. Playing in all of Omaha's 51 games, Aviles hit .336 and was among the PCL leaders in several offensive categories at the time of his recall, including a PCL-best 37 extra-base hits (21 2B, 6 3B and 10 HR). He led the Royals in runs (42), hits (72), doubles, triples and RBI (42). *** To make room for Aviles, Billy Butler was sent to Omaha. In 53 games with KC, Butler hit .263 with just 1 home run and 18 RBI. He was batting .233 with no homers and 7 RBI in 26 games in May. Butler, KC's 1st round pick (14th overall) in the 2004 draft out of Wolfson High in Jacksonville, split the 2007 season between Omaha and KC. He hit .291 with 13 home runs and 46 RBI in 57 games at the Triple-A level and batted .292 with 8 homers and 52 RBI in 92 big league games last season. *** Reliever Neal Musser was also recalled yesterday by KC, after Leo Nunez was placed on the disabled list. Musser finished last night's contest vs. Minnesota by working a scoreless 9th inning, allowing no hits and 1 walk in his 1st action of this year with KC. In his 19 appearances for Omaha, Musser was 0-4 with a 3.07 ERA and 6 saves in 7 chances. The 27-year old lefty had not allowed an earned run in 9.2 innings over his previous 5 relief outings, shaving his ERA by 1.51 in the process. *** Omaha is in a virtual 3-way tie for 1st place in the PCL's American Conference North with Iowa and Memphis. It's the 1st time the Royals have been on top of the division since May 10.

GAME 1 STARTERS: RH Dustin Nippert (2-1, 5.27) vs. LH Tyler Lumsden (2-3, 4.79)

Lumsden makes his 10th start of the season. The 25-year old lefty snapped a 4-start losing streak in his last outing at Round Rock last Saturday, picking up the win in Omaha's 8-3 victory (6.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 4 BB, 2 K). It was his 2nd quality start of the year. Lumsden is 0-2 with an 8.10 ERA in 4 starts at home, while going 2-3 with a 5.13 ERA in 5 starts on the road. He was acquired by KC along with right-hander Daniel Cortes from the White Sox in exchange for Mike MacDougal in July 2006. He spent all of the 2007 season with Omaha, going 9-6 with a 5.88 ERA in 25 games (24 starts) during his 1st year at the Triple-A level. In 3 starts vs. Oklahoma last year, he was 2-0 with an 3.86 ERA. Following the season, Lumsden pitched for Surprise in the Arizona Fall League and was 1-0 with a 6.00 ERA in 7 relief appearances. He was ranked by Baseball America as KC's #13 prospect entering 2008, after being rated #5 prior to 2007. The same publication named him as having the Best Slider in the White Sox organization entering the 2006 season. In '06, he was 9-4 with a 2.69 ERA in 20 starts for the White Sox Double-A club, Birmingham. Following the trade to KC, he finished the '06 campaign at Wichita, going 2-1 with a 3.06 ERA in 7 games (6 starts). He missed the entire 2005 season after undergoing surgery on his left elbow. Lumsden was selected by the Chisox as a sandwich pick between the 1st and 2nd rounds (34th overall) of the 2004 draft after compiling a 17-7 record in 3 seasons at Clemson. He graduated from Cave Spring High School in Roanoke, Virginia, where he lettered all 4 years in baseball and basketball and was a hoops teammate of J.J. Redick, who went on to star at Duke. Out of high school, Lumsden was selected in the 5th round of the 2001 draft by the Marlins, but did not sign.

GAME 2 STARTERS: RH Kameron Loe (2-3, 5.14) vs. RH Brandon Duckworth (2-3, 4.79)

Duckworth makes his 6th consecutive start, after opening the season in Omaha's bullpen and making 6 relief appearances. The 32-year old right-hander took the rotation spot of Mike Maroth, who was released by KC after going 0-2 with a 12.91 ERA in 3 starts for Omaha. Duckworth's last outing was last Sunday at Round Rock, when he took the loss in the Royals' 4-2 defeat (5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 4 BB, 4 K, 1 HR). The sinkerballer has surrendered 8 home runs in 47.0 innings this season, after allowing just 3 homers in 46.2 innings for KC last year. In 2007, Duckworth made KC's Opening Day roster after being a non-roster invitee at Spring Training, and was 3-5 with a 4.63 ERA and 1 save in 26 games (3 starts). He tore his left oblique last June 13 vs. St. Louis and was placed on the D.L. the next day. Duckworth had rehab stints with Wilmington and Omaha, combining for 20 strikeouts and 3 walks in 19.0 innings. He was activated by KC September 1. After opening the 2006 season with the Pirates' Triple-A club, Indianapolis, Duckworth was acquired by KC in exchange for cash on June 10. He went 1-5 with a 6.11 ERA in 10 games (8 starts) for KC, but his ERA jumped from 4.85 to 6.11 in his final 2 appearances, both in relief, before he underwent season-ending elbow surgery on August 15. Duckworth has spent at least parts of the last 7 seasons in the Majors with the Phillies, Astros and Royals. He struck out the 1st 6 batters of the game in his start for the Phillies on August 5, 2002 vs. the Dodgers, becoming the 1st big league pitcher to fan that many batters to begin a game since Jim Deshaies struck out a Major League record 8 in a row on Sept. 23, 1986, also vs. the Dodgers. Duckworth was originally signed by the Phillies as a non-drafted free agent on Aug. 13, 1997, after pitching collegiately at Cal State Fullerton.

PROBABLES FOR SERIES AT OKLAHOMA:

Sat., 7:05 p.m.: RH Kyle Davies (6-2, 2.06) vs. RH Luis Mendoza (1-1, 5.79)

Sun., 2:05 p.m.: RH Carlos Rosa (2-1, 6.00) vs. RH Eric Hurley (2-4, 5.49)

Mon., 12:05 p.m.: RH Matt Wright (1-2, 4.99) vs. LH A.J. Murray (2-2, 4.00)

Tue., 7:05 p.m.: TBA vs. TBA

Check out the Omaha Storm Chasers Statistics

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Pacific Coast League Stories from May 30, 2008


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