PCL1 Omaha Storm Chasers

Royals Game Notes

Published on July 22, 2008 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Omaha Storm Chasers News Release


TODAY: The Royals open an 8-game road trip with a 9:05 p.m. game at Cashman Field in Las Vegas. It's the opener of a 4-game series, which will be followed by a 4-game set at Tucson. Omaha is coming off a 2-3 home series vs. Round Rock. The pre-game show airs at 8:45 p.m. on News Talk 1420 KOTK and at www.oroyals.com.

MONDAY: Mike Stodolka belted a game-winning home run in the bottom of the 9th, giving the Royals a 1-0 win over Round Rock. With 1 out in the 9th, Stodolka crushed the 1st pitch he saw from right-hander Fernando Nieve over the right-center field wall for his 4th home run of the season. The walk-off shot made a winner of Jose Capellan (3-0), who was brilliant in derailing the Express on just 3 hits over 8.0 innings of relief. The 27-year old right-hander walked 1 and struck out 7, following rehabbing lefty John Bale to the mound after Bale pitched a scoreless 1st inning, working around a pair of singles. The Royals were blanked over 8 innings by Round Rock starter Chad Reinke, who allowed 5 hits and 3 walks, striking out 8. Nieve (1-5) struck out Gookie Dawkins to begin the home 9th, before surrendering Stodolka's game winning blast. The win improved Omaha's record this season in games decided in the final at-bat to 7-16.

ROYALS REPORT: Stodolka's walk-off homer was the 1st for Omaha this season. Richard Lewis was the last Royal to hit a game-ending home run, when his round-tripper leading off the bottom of the 13th on August 26, 2007 gave Omaha a 2-1 win over Round Rock. Lewis' dramatic homer was the Royals' 5th and final game-winning shot of last season and was the 2nd one in as many games, both coming vs. the Express. All 5 of the Royals' game-ending homers last year came in extra innings. *** Stodolka's homer extended his hitting streak to a season-high 6 games. He has hit in 7 of his last 8 contests, going 11-for-29 (.379) with 1 home run and 5 RBI. *** In his 2nd appearance for Omaha since being signed by KC, Capellan retired the last 10 batters and 21 of the last 23 he faced Monday. 67 of his 95 pitches were strikes and he fanned 5 of 7 batters who came to the plate in the 6th and 7th innings. *** The Royals were 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position Monday, after going 2-for-17 in those situations while being swept in a doubleheader on Sunday. With 8 runners left on base yesterday, Omaha has stranded 28 runners in the past 3 games. *** Monday marked the 1st 1-0 game involving Omaha since June 21, 2006 when the Royals were on the losing end of a 1-0 shutout at Iowa. *** Dawkins struck out in 3 of his 4 at-bats Monday and was robbed of a hit in his other AB on a terrific diving catch in right-center by right fielder Reggie Abercrombie. Gookie still wound up going 9-for-17 in the series, with 3 doubles, 2 homers, 6 RBI and 6 runs scored. *** Ryan Shealy is on a season-best, 11-game hit string. He has hit in 18 of his last 19 tilts, batting .417 (30-for-72) with 3 home runs and 12 RBI. *** Mitch Maier doubled in his last at-bat Monday, extending his hitting streak to 6 games. During the streak, he's 9-for-24 (.375) with a homer, 3 RBI and 5 runs scored. In 20 games this month, Maier is batting .368 and has scored 17 runs. *** KC activated reliever Leo Nunez from the D.L. Monday and optioned righty Joel Peralta back to Omaha. Lefty Tyler Lumsden has been placed on Omaha's disabled list. In 2 stints with KC this year, Peralta is 1-2 with a 5.52 ERA in 24 games. Since going up to the big leagues the last time on June 23, he was 1-0 with a 5.19 ERA and had no walks and 7 strikeouts in 8.2 innings. In 10 games over 2 stints with Omaha, Peralta is 1-0 with 2 saves and a 0.00 ERA, having fired 18.2 scoreless stanzas. Nunez, on the D.L. since May 18 due to a strained right lat (upper back) muscle, pitched one-third of an inning in KC's 19-4 loss vs. Detroit Monday night. He relieved Jimmy Gobble, who was charged with 10 earned runs in 1.0 inning to see his ERA jump from 7.99 to 11.31. Tony Pena, Jr. pitched a perfect 9th inning, becoming the 1st position player to make a mound appearance for KC since Omaha native Shane Halter took the hill in an 18-5 loss at Seattle on July 17, 1998. *** The Royals swept the season series vs. Las Vegas last year, winning all 4 games at Rosenblatt. In 2006, the 2 teams split the 4-game set at Cashman. Since joining the PCL in 1998, Omaha leads the all-time series 29-27. *** The 51s have a team batting average of .300, tops in the PCL.

STARTERS: RH Brad Salmon (6-4, 4.50) vs. RH Justin Orenduff (2-6, 6.78)

Salmon makes his 34th appearance and 3rd spot start of the season. The 28-year old right-hander's last outing was in relief vs. Round Rock last Saturday; a no-decision in Omaha's 9-2 win (1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K). Since June 1, Salmon is 3-3 with a 3.41 ERA and 2 saves. In his 2 starts, he's 1-0 with a 1.13 ERA. Salmon was acquired by KC from Cincinnati on March 19 of this year, for a player to be named later. In 2007, he split the season between Triple-A Louisville and Cincinnati, making 26 relief appearances in 4 stints with the Reds. He began last season with Louisville and went 1-0 with a 2.16 ERA and 2 saves in 8 appearances in April. Salmon was recalled by the Reds for the 1st time on April 28 and made his Major League debut on May 1 at Houston, tossing 1.0 scoreless inning in a no-decision. On the season with the Reds, he posted a 0.93 ERA in 11 road games but compiled a 6.28 ERA in 15 outings at Great American Ball Park. He had a 3.42 ERA with the Reds going into his final appearance last September 28, when he gave up 2 runs in 0.1 inning vs. the Cubs to finish at 4.13. In 2006, Salmon split the season between Double-A Chattanooga and Triple-A Louisville, making 55 relief appearances and going a combined 7-2 with a 2.44 ERA and 5 saves. In 2002, Salmon was selected to pitch in the Midwest League All-Star Game; he posted a career-best 12 wins that season with Dayton. Salmon was originally selected by the Reds in the 21st round of the 1999 draft out of Jefferson Davis Community College in Alabama. Born in Pensacola, he now lives in Cantonment, Florida.

PROBABLES FOR REMAINDER OF SERIES:

Wed., 9:05: RH Brandon Duckworth (3-10, 4.75) vs. RH B.J. LaMura (0-1, 7.20)

Thur., 9:05: LH Dusty Hughes (2-0, 4.03) vs. RH Miguel Pinango (4-6, 5.71)

Fri, 9:05: RH Matt Wright (3-6, 5.79) vs. RH Jon Meloan (5-10, 4.97)

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Pacific Coast League Stories from July 22, 2008


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