Royals Game Notes
Published on July 30, 2008 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Omaha Storm Chasers News Release
JULY 30, 2008, 7:05 p.m.: OMAHA ROYALS (49-61) vs. Salt Lake (65-45)
HOME: 22-29 (45-27 in '07) AWAY: 27-32 (28-44 in '07) vs. Salt Lake: 0-0 (3-1 in '07)
TONIGHT: The Royals open an 8-game home stand, hosting the Salt Lake Bees in a 7:05 p.m. game at Rosenblatt Stadium. The 4-game series will be followed by a 4-game set vs. Colorado Springs. Omaha is coming off a 2-6 road trip. Kids eat FREE! All kids 12-and-under will receive a voucher for a SUBWAY pizza or a meal voucher from the Omaha Royals. It's brought to you by SUBWAY, Star 104.5 and the Omaha Newspapers! The pre-game show airs at 6:45 p.m. on News Talk 1420 KOTK and at www.oroyals.com.
LAST NIGHT: Tucson routed the Royals 15-3 to take the series 3-1. The Sidewinders scored 3 runs in each of the 1st 2 innings to chase Omaha starter Dusty Hughes (2-1). Roman Colon came on in the 3rd and gave up 9 runs (8 earned) on 12 hits over 5.0 frames. Royals DH Brian Buchanan mopped up with a 1-2-3 8th inning. Josh Whitesell had 3 hits, including his 20th home run of the season, and 4 RBI for Tucson. Juan Gutierrez (3-10) got the win, hurling 5.0 innings of scoreless relief.
ROYALS REPORT: Tuesday night's loss marked the largest margin of defeat for the Royals this season. The 15 runs scored by Tucson were the most for an Omaha opponent in a game since July 25, 2006 at Las Vegas, when the 51s romped to a 20-8 victory. *** The Royals opened the just-completed road trip by setting their own single-game high for runs scored in a 17-5 rout at Las Vegas. Omaha lost 6 of the next 7 contests, with 3 of the losses by 1 run. *** Hughes' 7th Triple-A start last night jumped his ERA from 3.67 to 4.95, while Colon's ERA climbed from 4.24 to 4.98 following his 18th appearance with Omaha. The 12 hits off Colon set a new season high for a Royals pitcher, while the 8 earned runs he allowed tied the club's season high. *** Buchanan last night became the 1st position player to pitch for the Royals this season. The last to have done it was infielder Richard Lewis, who mopped up in a 8-0 loss on August 31, 2007 at Iowa. For Buchanan, whose professional career began in 1994, it was just his 3rd time on a mound. The last time he had pitched was April 23, 2006 for Louisville, when he gave up a solo homer in 1.0 inning of a game vs. Indianapolis. The starter and winner for Indy in that contest was current Royal Brandon Duckworth, who tossed 7.0 scoreless innings in a 10-0 victory. *** Kila Kaaihue will join Omaha's roster tonight. The 24-year old 1B/DH was promoted from Northwest Arkansas, where he led the Texas League in home runs (26), on-base percentage (.463) and slugging percentage (.624), while ranking 3rd in RBI (79) and 7th in batting (.314). Entering 2008, Kaaihue was named by Baseball America as having the Best Strike-Zone Discipline in KC's organization. In 91 games with the Naturals, he collected 80 walks, while striking out just 41 times. The lefty slugger did most of his damage vs. right-handed pitchers, hitting .327 with 25 homers and 72 RBI in 245 at-bats, compared to batting .238 with 1 home run and 7 RBI in 42 at-bats vs. southpaws. *** Chris Lubanski did not hit a home run last night for just the 2nd game in the past 6. Prior to his recent home run binge, he had not gone deep in a 34-game stretch. Lubanski, who did have 2 hits including a double Tuesday night, extended his hitting streak to 9 games. During the string, which is now his longest of the year, he's hitting .394 (13-for-33) with 2 doubles, 2 triples, 4 home runs and 7 RBI. *** Gookie Dawkins had 2 hits last night, including his 7th home run in 36 games with Omaha. He has equaled his longest hitting streak of the season by hitting in 7 straight. Over that span, he's batting .303 (10-for-33) with a home run and 2 RBI. *** Matt Tupman is riding a season-best, 6-game string. He's hitting .387 (12-for-31) with 5 doubles and 6 RBI. *** Mike Stodolka had 3 more hits Tuesday night. Over his last 14 games, he's batting .429 (24-for-56) with 2 homers and 7 RBI. *** Despite going 0-for-5 with 3 K's last night, Ryan Shealy is hitting .368 (35-for-95) over his last 26 tilts, smacking 4 home runs and driving in 17 runs.
STARTERS: RH Shane Loux (11-6, 4.05) vs. RH Matt Wright (3-6, 5.80)
Wright makes his 20th start (21st appearance) of the season. The 26-year old right-hander's last outing was last Friday at Las Vegas, when he came on in relief of rehabbing KC starter John Bale. Wright was not involved in that decision as the Royals lost 7-1 (6.0 IP, 6 H, 5 R-4 ER, 3 BB, 5 K). On the season, he has surrendered 21 home runs, tied for 2nd-most in the PCL although he has allowed just 2 homers in 19.1 innings over his last 3 appearances. He's 0-2 with a 5.10 ERA at home this year, while going 3-4 with a 6.26 ERA on the road. 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 started on July 27, 2007 at Salt Lake, getting a no-decision in Omaha's 13-7 loss (4.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 3 BB, 3 K, 1 HR). Wright 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 batters 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:
Thur., 7:05 p.m.: RH Giancarlo Alvarado (6-4, 3.95) vs. RH Jose Capellan (3-0, 2.75)
Fri., 7:05 p.m.: RH Nick Adenhart (6-10, 6.18) vs. LH Josh Newman (1-1, 2.45)
Sat., 7:05 p.m.: RH Nick Green (7-4, 4.86) vs. RH Brandon Duckworth (3-11, 5.01)
Pacific Coast League Stories from July 30, 2008
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- Cubs lose in extra innings - Iowa Cubs
- Niese, Z's dominate Tucson - New Orleans Baby Cakes
- RedHawks fall in homestand opener - Oklahoma City Comets
- Niese, Hernandez Star In Zephyr Win - Tucson Sidewinders
- Oklahoma RedHawks Game Notes - Oklahoma City Comets
- Royals Game Notes - Omaha Storm Chasers
- 'Topes Tame Grizzlies, 13-6 - Albuquerque Isotopes
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