PCL1 Omaha Storm Chasers

Royals Game Notes

Published on June 5, 2008 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Omaha Storm Chasers News Release


TONIGHT: The Omaha Royals host the Iowa Cubs in the opener of a 4-game home stand at Rosenblatt Stadium. Omaha is coming off a 3-1 trip to Oklahoma. It's Thirsty Thursday with $1 beer and Cokes during the game, brought to you by 96.1 The Brew, Action 3 News and The City Weekly. Also, courtesy of Two Fine Irishmen: the 1st 1,000 fans receive a FREE koozie and all fans are invited to stay after the game and enjoy the live music of The Whipkey Three. 1st pitch is 7:05 p.m. and the pre-game show is on the air at 6:45 p.m. on News Talk 1420 KOTK and at www.oroyals.com.

LAST GAME: Damon Hollins and Chris Lubanski each smacked 3-run homers Tuesday night to help the Royals to a 10-4 win over Oklahoma. Angel Berroa hit a solo shot and Billy Butler had 3 of Omaha's 12 hits, including a double and a triple and drove in 2 runs. Brad Salmon (4-1) got the win, tossing 3.0 innings of scoreless relief, allowing 3 hits, walking 1 and striking out 1. RedHawks starter Steve Rowe (1-1) took the loss, yielding 6 runs (5 earned) on 7 hits, including 2 homers, in 4.0 frames.

ROYALS REPORT: Omaha is in 2nd place in the PCL's American Conference North, trailing Iowa by 1.5 games. The Royals have won 10 of their last 14 games, starting with 2 wins over the Cubs on May 21-22 at Rosenblatt. Omaha has also won 7 of its past 9 road games. *** Hollins has homered in back-to-back contests and was 5-for-7 with 6 RBI and 3 runs scored in those 2 games. In his 11 contests previous to that, he was mired in a 3-for-35 (.086) slump. *** In the 4 game series at the Bricktown Ballpark, Lubanski was 6-for-16 (.375) with 2 home runs and 7 RBI. He had knocked in 20 runs over his 1st 41 games this season. He also scored 4 runs in the series. *** In Tuesday's series finale, Jason Smith collected his 5th 3-hit game of the year, 2nd on the Royals to Mike Aviles' eight 3-hit efforts. Smith has a 5-game hit streak, going 9-for-19 (.474) with 5 doubles, a triple and 7 RBI. He's hitting at a .342 pace (26-for-76) over his last 20 games, with 4 home runs and 19 RBI. *** Tuesday night marked the 1st time that Salmon had worked as many as 3.0 innings without giving up a run since his 1st relief appearance on April 5 vs. Albuquerque, when he fired 3.0 innings of hitless relief and picked up a win. *** Roman Colon made a spot start for Omaha Tuesday night, giving up 3 runs on 6 hits over 4.0 innings, striking out 2. He yielded back-to-back jacks in the 2nd inning to German Duran and Taylor Teagarden, as the RedHawks rallied to tie the game at 3-3. Colon owns a 1.42 ERA in 4 outings at Rosenblatt, but has an 11.57 ERA in 2 away games. *** Neal Musser surrendered a home run to Jason Botts in the 8th inning Tuesday. It was the 6th gopher ball allowed by him in 33.1 innings this season. He gave up 1 tater in 55.1 innings in 2007. *** Brian Buchanan has hit in 6 straight games. During the streak, which is his longest of the campaign, he's hitting .350 (7-for-20) with 3 RBI and 4 runs scored. *** Berroa has hit in 4 consecutive contests, going 4-for-14 (.286) with a homer and 4 RBI. *** Reliever Roberto Giron finished off Tuesday's tilt with a hitless inning of relief, striking out 1 batter. It was the 1st appearance of June for Giron, who struggled in May, posting a 10.32 ERA (13 ER in 11.1 IP).

STARTERS: LH Rich Hill (1-2, 4.41) vs. LH Tyler Lumsden (2-6, 6.58)

Lumsden makes his 11th start of the season. The 25-year old lefty lost for the 5th time in his last 6 starts in his last outing vs. Oklahoma last Friday, when the Royals lost 6-1 in game 1 of a doubleheader (5.2 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 3 BB, 2 K, 1 HR). He faced Iowa at Rosenblatt on May 19, taking the loss in the Royals' 5-4 defeat (7.0 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 2 K, 2 HR). Lumsden is 0-3 with an 8.06 ERA in 5 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 last 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 2 starts vs. Iowa last year, he was 1-0 with an 2.77 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.

PROBABLES FOR REMAINDER OF SERIES:

Fri., 7:05 p.m.: RH Randy Wells (4-1, 2.35) vs. RH Brandon Duckworth (2-4, 4.82)

Sat., 7:05 p.m.: RH Justin Berg (1-2, 6.31) vs. RH Carlos Rosa (2-1, 4.71)

Sun., 1:35 p.m.: LH Randy Keisler (4-6, 3.14) vs. RH Matt Wright (1-2, 4.85)

Check out the Omaha Storm Chasers Statistics

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Pacific Coast League Stories from June 5, 2008


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