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PCL1 Omaha Storm Chasers

Royals Game Notes

June 14, 2008 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Omaha Storm Chasers News Release


JUNE 14, 2008, 8:05 p.m.: OMAHA ROYALS (33-33) @ Albuquerque (31-36)

HOME: 15-19 (45-27 in '07) AWAY: 18-14 (28-44 in '07) vs. Albuquerque: 5-4 (5-11 in '07)

TONIGHT: The Omaha Royals visit Isotopes Park in Albuquerque for game 2 of a 4-game series. Omaha leads this series 1-0 and is 5-4 vs. Albuquerque this season. The Royals are 4-1 on this 16-game road trip. 1st pitch is 8:05 p.m., with the pre-game show on the air at 7:45 p.m. on News Talk 1420 KOTK and at www.oroyals.com.

LAST NIGHT: The Royals took a 7-0 lead into the 7th inning stretch and wound up hanging on for a 7-5 victory. Omaha opened the scoring with a 5-run 3rd inning, ignited by David Matranga's leadoff homer and aided by 2 Isotopes errors. Matt Tupman had 2 RBI on a bases loaded single, with a 3rd run scoring on an error by Albuquerque center fielder Lorenzo Scott. Horacio Ramirez (1-1) blanked the 'Topes on 3 hits over 6.0 innings to get the win. Dallas Trahern (1-6) took the loss, giving up 6 runs - 1 of them earned - on 9 hits over 4.2 frames. Neal Musser gave up single runs in the 7th and 8th innings. Tony Bradley, just up from class-A Burlington, relieved Musser to start the 9th, but gave up 3 runs on 3 hits, before Joel Peralta relieved him with the tying run at the plate. Peralta struck out John Gall to end the rally and notch his 1st save.

ROYALS REPORT: The Royals have won 4 straight games. It's Omaha's longest road win string of the season and is 1 shy of the club's longest winning streak overall. *** Last night's win improved the Royals record when scoring 1st to 24-11. Omaha is 9-22 when its' opponent draws 1st blood. *** The Isotopes committed 3 errors Friday night, leading to 5 unearned runs. Meanwhile, the Royals played an errorless contest, improving their record in such games to 22-10. On the season, the Royals have committed just 47 errors and have a .981 fielding percentage as a team - both marks are tied with Fresno for best in the PCL. Albuquerque's 69 errors and .973 fielding percentage are both tied for worst in the league. *** Matranga had 3 hits last night and was just a double shy of hitting for the cycle. In the 1st 5 games of this trip, he's hitting .500 (11-for-22) with 3 home runs, 9 RBI and 6 runs scored. On the year, Matranga is batting .347 with 3 homers and 13 RBI in 14 road games, while hitting .250 with 1 tater and 7 RBI in 20 contests at home. *** Ramirez, who gave up 3 runs in the 1st inning of his Omaha debut last Sunday vs. Iowa, has pitched 11.0 straight scoreless stanzas since. *** Gookie Dawkins had 2 more hits last night and knocked in a run. In the 4 games that he has played 3rd base for the Royals since he was acquired by KC from the White Sox for cash, Dawkins has gone 7-for-18 (.389), driving in 4 runs and scoring 3 times. *** Bradley has a 40.50 ERA after his 1st appearance of the season with Omaha. The 22-year old lefty was with the Royals from May 9-11, but did not appear in a game. With Burlington (IA) this year, he was 1-3 with a 1.32 ERA and 3 saves in 5 opportunities. *** Billy Butler has hit in 9 of the last 10 tilts, batting .410 (16-for-39). He has smacked 3 home runs and driven in 10 runs over that span. *** Mitch Maier had a 5-game hit string cut Friday night, as he went hitless in 5 at-bats. During the streak, the Royals leadoff hitter went 9-for-23 (.391) with 4 RBI and 3 runs scored. *** In 2 games since coming off the D.L. for sore wrists, Shane Costa is 0-for-8. He has walked twice, stolen a base and scored a run. *** Former Omaha right-hander Billy Buckner made his Arizona Diamondbacks debut last night and picked up the win over KC. Buckner kept the game scoreless with in the top of the 10th and got the win when Chad Tracy's walk-off home run in the bottom of the inning gave Arizona a 1-0 victory. Buckner, who was traded in the off-season for infielder Alberto Callaspo, was just recalled from Tucson, where he was 4-5 with a 4.48 ERA in 14 starts. Last season, Buckner was 9-7 with a 3.78 ERA in 27 games (15 starts) for Omaha and was 1-2 with a 5.29 ERA in 7 outings (5 starts) with KC. *** KC has completed the deal with the Cincinnati Reds that brought right-hander Brad Salmon to the organization, sending pitcher Henry Arias to the Reds as the player to be named on March 19. The 23-year old righty was 2-3 with a 3.78 ERA and 2 saves in 18 relief appearances for Burlington (IA). The 28-year old Salmon is 5-1 with a 4.43 ERA and 1 save in 21 appearances (1 start) with Omaha.

STARTERS: RH Matt Wright (1-3, 5.64) vs. RH Bobby Keppel (6-6, 5.40)

Wright makes his 13th start of the season, his 3rd vs. Albuquerque. The 26-year old right-hander's last outing was at New Orleans last Monday, when he took the loss in the Royals' 10-4 defeat (5.0 IP, 10 H, 8 R, 2 BB, 3 K, 1 HR). Wright has surrendered 15 home runs this season, tied for most in the PCL. In his 2 starts vs. the Isotopes, Wright is 0-1 with a 10.80 ERA. 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. Wright made 4 appearances (2 starts) vs. Albuquerque last season, going 1-2 with a 6.98 ERA. He won 6 of 7 decisions at Rosenblatt last year, although his ERA was actually better on the road than at home (3.89 to 4.24). He pitched well in tight spots in 2007, holding opponents to a .216 average with runners in scoring position and .193 with runners in scoring position and 2 outs. 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:

Sun., 7:05 p.m.: RH Brandon Duckworth (3-5, 4.34) vs. RH Frankie De La Cruz (7-3, 3.92)

Mon., 8:05 p.m.: LH Tyler Lumsden (2-7, 6.71) vs. RH Gaby Hernandez (2-6, 5.58)

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