PCL1 Omaha Storm Chasers

Royals Game Notes

Published on August 9, 2008 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Omaha Storm Chasers News Release


AUGUST 9, 2008, 6:00 p.m. DH: OMAHA ROYALS (52-67) at Nashville (48-71)

HOME: 24-35 (45-27 in '07) AWAY: 28-32 (28-44 in '07) vs. Nashville: 7-5 (7-9 in '07)

TONIGHT: The Royals face the Nashville Sounds in a doubleheader at Greer Stadium, with the 1st pitch of the opener set for 6:00 p.m. The twin bill was scheduled after the 2 teams were rained out the last time the Royals visited Nashville on April 18. Omaha leads the 5-game series 1-0. The Royals lead the season series vs. the Sounds 7-5. The pre-game show airs at 5:40 p.m. on News Talk 1420 KOTK and at www.oroyals.com.

LAST NIGHT: Brandon Duckworth won for the 1st time in nearly 2 months, helping the Royals to a 6-1 win in the series opener. Duckworth (4-11) allowed just 1 run on 4 hits over 7.0 innings, walking 1 and fanning 4. Greg Atencio finished with 2.0 perfect frames. The Royals trailed 1-0 entering the 4th, when Kila Ka'aihue hit a solo homer to tie the game. Omaha cracked 2 home runs in the 5th to cap the scoring, with Brayan Pena's 2-run shot putting the Royals ahead and Damon Hollins hitting a 3-run blast. Lindsay Gulin (5-5) took the loss, yielding 6 runs on 6 hits - including the 3 home runs - in 5.0 innings. He walked 5 and struck out 5.

ROYALS REPORT: Duckworth won last night for the 1st time since June 10 at New Orleans - a span of 11 appearances (9 starts). He had lost 10 of his previous 11 decisions, including 6 straight. Friday night marked the 3rd consecutive appearance (2 starts) in which he has allowed 3 earned runs or less in 6.0 innings or more. He's 1-0 with a 3.26 ERA over that 3-game span. *** Ka'aihue's home run extended his hitting streak to all 9 games with Omaha. It was the 5th homer with Omaha for the 24-year old 1st baseman. Ka'aihue, who began the year with Northwest Arkansas, has 31 home runs in 2008, tied for 5th-most in the minors. He also walked twice last night, giving him 6 walks with the Royals and 86 walks on the year, tied for 2nd-most in the minors. *** Since coming back from Northwest Arkansas, Atencio has fired 5.0 innings of 1-hit, scoreless relief over 2 appearances, walking 1 and striking out 8. The 27-year old right-hander is 1-0 with a 1.08 ERA in 3 outings with the O-Royals. *** Joey Gathright, on the D.L. since July 24 with a bone bruise in his right shoulder, began a rehab assignment last night with Omaha. He went 0-for-5 at the plate. *** Pena's home run last night was his 2nd round-tripper in 8 at-bats. He did not hit a homer in his 1st 147 at-bats with the Royals. The Omaha catcher also collected his 4th stolen base Friday in his 39th game. *** Hollins has belted 2 home runs in his last 5 games, after hitting just 1 long ball in his previous 25 contests. *** Mike Aviles went 4-for-5 for KC and scored the Royals' lone run last night in a 4-1 loss vs. Minnesota. It marked Aviles' 4th 4-hit effort in 56 games with KC and the 2nd time he's done it in the past 5 contests. Aviles is batting .341 with KC and has a .448 average (13-for-29) so far in August. *** Omaha is 0-4-6 in doubleheaders this year. The last time the Royals swept a twin bill was August 25, 2007 vs. Round Rock.

GAME 1 STARTERS: RH Roman Colon (3-5, 4.64) vs. LH Sam Narron (6-3, 4.78)

Colon makes his 8th start (20th appearance) with Omaha. The 28-year old right-hander's last outing was a start vs. Colorado Springs last Sunday, when he got the win in the Royals' 4-0 win (5.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K). It was a nice rebound from his previous outing - a July 29 relief appearance at Tucson when he gave up 9 runs (8 earned) on 12 hits in 5.0 innings. Colon has faced the Sounds once, taking the loss in a 4-2 defeat at Rosenblatt on July 7, in a game that was called by rain with 2 outs in the bottom of the 6th and 2 Royals on base (5.0 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 BB, 2 K, 1 HR). In his 7 starts, he's 1-3 with a 3.86 ERA; he's 2-2 with a 5.35 ERA and 1 save in 12 relief appearances. Colon opened this season with Double-A Northwest Arkansas, going 2-1 with a 5.29 ERA and 1 save in 10 relief outings. He was acquired by KC from Detroit on July 13, 2007 for a player to be named (Danny Christensen). He struggled with injuries last season, limiting him to a combined 12 appearances between Toledo, Erie and Omaha. 2007 marked the 1st season since 2003 that Colon did not spend time in the Major Leagues. He was sent to Omaha on a rehab assignment last August 3, but it was ended a week later after only 1 relief appearance and he underwent elbow surgery to remove bone chips. In 2006, he spent most of the campaign with Detroit, going 2-0 with a 4.89 ERA and 1 save in 20 games (1 start); he missed all of April due to a right shoulder strain and his season ended on August 14 due to neck spasms. He was acquired by the Tigers along with Zach Miner from Atlanta in exchange for Kyle Farnsworth on July 31, 2005. Colon, who resides in Monte Cristi, D.R., was originally signed by the Braves as a non-drafted free agent in August of 1995.

GAME 2 STARTERS: RH Matt Wright (3-7, 5.86) vs. LH Troy Cate (2-2, 5.22)

Wright makes his 21st start (23rd appearance) of the season. The 26-year old right-hander's last outing was in relief last Monday vs. Colorado Springs; he was not involved in the decision as the Royals lost 8-3 (5.1 IP, 10 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 6 K). He has faced Nashville once, getting the start but no decision on April 26 at Rosenblatt, as the Royals lost 13-9 (4.0 IP, 6 H, 7 R-4 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, 3 HR). On the season, he has surrendered 23 home runs, tied for 2nd-most in the PCL. He's 0-3 with a 5.37 ERA at home this year, 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. 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:

Sun., 6:00 p.m.: RH Jose Capellan (4-1, 3.56) vs. LH Chris Narveson (4-12, 5.10)

Mon., 6:00 p.m.: LH Jimmy Gobble/LH Josh Newman (0-0, 3.86/1-2, 2.97) vs. RH Nic Ungs (1-2, 12.86)

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Pacific Coast League Stories from August 9, 2008


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