PCL1 Omaha Storm Chasers

Royals Game Notes

Published on July 31, 2008 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Omaha Storm Chasers News Release


JULY 31, 2008, 7:05 p.m.: OMAHA ROYALS (49-62) vs. Salt Lake (66-45)

HOME: 22-30 (45-27 in '07) AWAY: 27-32 (28-44 in '07) vs. Salt Lake: 0-1 (3-1 in '07)

TONIGHT: The Royals host the Salt Lake Bees in a 7:05 p.m. game at Rosenblatt Stadium. It's game 2 of a 4-game series, which Salt Lake leads 1-0. It's Thirsty Thursday with $1 beers and Cokes during the game, courtesy of 96.1 The Brew, Action 3 News and The City Weekly! Following the game, enjoy live music with Scott Severin and the The Milton Burlesque presented by Two Fine Irishmen! The pre-game show airs at 6:45 p.m. on News Talk 1420 KOTK and at www.oroyals.com.

LAST NIGHT: A 2-run rally by the Royals in the 8th inning was snuffed out on a pickoff play and Salt Lake held on for a 5-4 victory. Kila Kaaihue led off the bottom of the 8th with his 1st Triple-A home run - his 27th homer of the season - to cut the Bees' lead to 5-3. Omaha scored another run on a fielder's choice by Angel Sanchez, putting runners at 1st and 3rd with 2 outs. Chris Lubanski, who had hit a solo homer in the 7th inning, came up. But, with a 1-0 count Bees reliever Matt Wilhite picked Sanchez off 1st base to quell the uprising. Gookie Dawkins singled with 1 away in the 9th, but Jason Bulger struck out Jason Smith swinging and his 2-2 breaking pitch caught Kaaihue looking at a called 3rd strike as Bulger earned his 13th save in 14 chances. Former Royal Shane Loux (12-6) became the PCL's top winner, yielding 2 runs on 4 hits over 7.0 stanzas. Matt Wright (3-7) took the loss, working the 1st 6.0 innings and giving up 5 runs.

ROYALS REPORT: The Royals have lost 7 of their last 8 games, 4 decided by a single run. Omaha is 15-19 in 1-run games this year. *** Kaaihue, who went 1-for-5 with the solo homer in his Triple-A debut, turned down a baseball scholarship offer from the University of Nebraska when KC made him its 15th round pick in the 2002 draft out of Iolani High School in Honolulu. *** Lubanski's home run was his 5th in the last 7 contests. Prior to that stretch, he had not homered in 34 straight games. Lubanski is riding a season-best, 10-game hitting streak, batting .368 (14-for-38) with 2 doubles, 2 triples, 5 homers and 8 RBI. *** After winning 6 of 7 decisions at Rosenblatt in 2007, Wright is still looking for his 1st win at home this season. He's now 0-3 with a 5.40 ERA in 9 starts here. In 6 games (5 starts) in July, Wright was 0-3 with a 7.08 ERA. *** 3 relievers each pitched a hitless inning for Omaha Wednesday night. Rehabbing KC lefty John Bale pitched a perfect 7th inning, striking out 1; left-hander Tyler Lumsden came off the D.L yesterday and worked a 1-2-3 8th inning with 1 K; right-hander Jeff Fulchino tossed a scoreless 9th, walking 1. *** Dawkins had 2 hits last night, posting in 14th multi-hit effort in 37 games with the Royals. His 3rd inning double was his 10th with Omaha and extended his hitting streak to 8 games. During the string, which is his new season high, Dawkins is batting .316 (12-for-38) with a home run and 2 RBI. *** Matt Tupman's 8th inning single last night ran his hitting streak to 7 games. During the streak, his longest of the year, he's hitting .371 (13-for-35) with 5 doubles and 6 RBI. *** Mike Stodolka collected 3 walks last night, giving him 6 walks over his past 6 games. He had picked up 15 free passes in his 1st 63 contests of the campaign. Over his last 15 tilts, Stodolka is hitting .439 (25-for-57), hitting 2 home runs and driving in 7 runs. *** Ryan Shealy is 0-for-8 the last 2 games, but is still batting .357 (35-for-98) over his last 27 contests with 4 round-trippers and 17 RBI. *** KC reliever Jimmy Gobble will begin a rehab assignment Saturday night by starting the series finale vs. Salt Lake. Gobble has been on the D.L. with a stiff lower back since July 22, a day after giving up 10 earned runs in 1.0 inning vs. Detroit to jump his ERA from 7.99 to 11.31 in 31 appearances with KC. *** Omaha has lost 24 of its last 33 games overall and 17 of its last 24 at home. With an 8-21 record in July, the Royals will fail to win 10 games in a month for the 1st time since August of 2006, when the club went 9-21.

STARTERS: RH Giancarlo Alvarado (6-4, 3.95) vs. RH Jose Capellan (3-0, 2.75)

Capellan makes his 4th appearance (3rd start) with Omaha. The 27-year old right-hander's last outing was a start at Tucson last Saturday; he left the game with the Royals leading 5-3 going into the bottom of the 9th, but settled for a no-decision as the Sidewinders rallied for a 6-5 win in 10 innings (8.0 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 2 K). Capellan was signed by KC as a minor league free agent on June 23 and briefly worked out at KC's complex in Surprise, Arizona before joining Omaha. He opened this year in the Rockies' organization, after being acquired by Colorado from Detroit last December in a trade for former KC and Omaha pitcher Denny Bautista. Capellan began this season with Colorado Springs, going 2-0 with a 3.94 ERA in 3 starts. The Rockies purchased his contract on April 26 and he pitched in relief that night in Los Angeles vs. the Dodgers, allowing 1 run on 3 hits over 2.0 innings, striking out 2. That was his only appearance before the Rockies designated him for assignment on May 2 and he elected free agency. Capellan has also seen action in the Major Leagues each of the last 4 seasons, making 98 appearances with Atlanta (2004), Milwaukee (2005-2007) and Detroit (2007). Entering 2007, he was rated as the Brewers' 9th-best prospect by Baseball America. He opened last season with Nashville and was recalled by the Brewers on June 1, before being traded to the Tigers in exchange for LHP Chris Cody on July 1. He split the rest of the campaign between Detroit and Toledo. His combined 2007 Major League numbers: 0-3, 5.54 ERA in 17 games; in the minors last year: 3-3, 4.34 ERA in 26 games (3 starts). In 2006, he made a career-high 61 relief appearances with Milwaukee, going 4-2 with a 4.40 ERA. He was rated by Baseball America as the Brewers' 4th-best prospect entering 2005 and spent most of the year with Nashville, but posted a 2.87 ERA in 17 games for Milwaukee. Capellan was acquired by the Brewers, along with a player to be named, prior to the '05 season from Atlanta in exchange for RHP Dan Kolb. He was originally signed by the Braves as a non-drafted free agent in August 1998.

PROBABLES FOR REMAINDER OF SERIES:

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. LH Jimmy Gobble (NR-rehab)

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Pacific Coast League Stories from July 31, 2008


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