PCL1 Omaha Storm Chasers

Royals Game Notes

Published on August 12, 2008 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Omaha Storm Chasers News Release


TONIGHT: The Royals host the Albuquerque Isotopes in a 7:05 p.m. game at Rosenblatt Stadium. It's the opener of a 4-game home stand. Omaha is coming off a 2-3 trip to Nashville. It's $2 2uesday with $2 G.A. tickets and popcorn, courtesy of Valpak, Z-92 and The Reader! The pre-game show airs at 6:45 p.m. on News Talk 1420 KOTK and at www.oroyals.com.

LAST NIGHT: Kila Ka'ahuie's 2-run homer in the 4th gave the Royals a 2-1 lead, but Nashville rallied for a 3-2 victory in the series finale. The Sounds tied the game when Adam Heether led off the bottom of the 6th with a home run off Yasuhiko Yabuta. Leading off again in the bottom of the 8th, Heether greeted Greg Atencio (1-1) with a double, injuring himself on the play. Pinch-runner Hernan Iribarren was bunted to 3rd and scored the deciding run on Vinny Rottino's sacrifice fly. Mitch Stetter (3-3) got the win, retiring both batters he faced in the 8th. Joe Bateman retired the Royals in order in the 9th to notch his 3rd save.

ROYALS REPORT: Last night's loss dropped the Royals to 8-21 this season in games decided in the final at-bat. *** Omaha has lost 15 of its last 20 games and 32 of its past 45 overall. The Royals have also dropped 22 of their last 31 contests at Rosenblatt Stadium. *** Ka'aihue's homer last night gives the 24-year old 1st baseman 7 home runs and 12 RBI in his 1st 13 games with Omaha. He opened the season by smacking 26 round-trippers and driving in 79 runs in 91 contests with Northwest Arkansas. The former University of Nebraska recruit's 33 home runs ranks 4th in the minors. Albuquerque's Dallas McPherson leads the minors with 39 taters. Ka'aihue also ranks 2nd in Minor League Baseball in walks (90), 4th in slugging percentage (.656), 6th in on-base percentage (.467) and tied for 13th in RBI (91). *** Lefty Jimmy Gobble, on a rehab assignment as he recovers from a stiff lower back, made his 3rd start with Omaha Monday night. He gave up 1 run on 2 hits over 3.0 innings, walking 2 and striking out 3. Of Gobble's 48 pitches, 28 were strikes. *** Joey Gathright appeared in the 2nd game of his rehab assignment last night. The speedy center fielder, on the D.L. since July 24 with a bone bruise in his right shoulder, went 0-for-4 last night and is 0-for-9 in 2 games with the O-Royals. *** Before taking the loss Monday night, Atencio had hurled 5.0 scoreless innings over 2 appearances in his 2nd stint of the season with Omaha. *** Gookie Dawkins doubled in the 6th inning last night, extending his hitting streak to 8 games. Over his last 24 contests, he's batting .320 (33-for-103) with 4 home runs and 11 RBI. *** Devon Lowery pitched a perfect 7th inning last night, striking out 2 batters. In 12 road games, he owns a 1.73 ERA. He has a 3.10 mark in 11 games at home. *** Damon Hollins was 0-for-3 Monday night, but had a good series at Greer, going 5-for-14 (.357), while belting 2 home runs and knocking in 7 runs. *** Brian Buchanan, mired in an 0-for-23 slump that has dropped his average 27 points to .231, had the night off Monday. *** Josh Labandeira has hit in 4 straight, going 4-for-13 (.308) and driving in 3 runs. *** Nashville's Callix Crabbe walked in all 4 of his trips to the plate last night. He became the 1st opposing player to walk 4 times in a game in almost 5 years. The last to do it had been Albuquerque's Abraham Nunez, on August 25, 2003 at Rosenblatt, as the ‘Topes won 5-2 in 10 innings.

STARTERS: RH Rick VandenHurk (1-1, 5.91) vs. LH Dusty Hughes (2-1, 4.95)

Hughes makes his 8th Triple-A start. The 26-year old lefty hasn't pitched since his July 29 start at Tucson, when he took the loss as the Royals were routed 15-3 (2.0 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 2 BB, 1 K). Hughes had a memorable Triple-A debut on June 22 at New Orleans, combining with Devon Lowery on a 5-hitter in the Royals' 3-0 victory. He opened this season with Double-A Northwest Arkansas. In 20 games (4 starts) for the Naturals he was 5-2 with a 2.91 ERA and 3 saves. In 2007, Hughes was named by KC as Double-A Wichita's Pitcher of the Year, after he went 6-2 with a 3.08 ERA and 1 save in 25 games (16 starts). In 108.0 innings last year, he surrendered only 5 home runs. Following last season, he was 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA in 6 starts for the Surprise Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, earning AFL Pitcher of the Year honors in a fan vote. Last year was an impressive rebound by Hughes, who missed the entire 2006 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Entering this season, he was ranked by Baseball America as KC's #28 prospect. On April 12, 2004, he combined with Burlington (IA) reliever Jake Mullis on a no-hitter. In his 1st professional season, he was named the 2003 Pitcher of the Year for the Surprise Royals of the Rookie Arizona League, after going 5-2 and ranking 4th in the league with a 2.84 ERA. Hughes was selected by KC in the 11th round of the 2003 draft out of Delta State University in Mississippi, where he earned all-conference and team MVP honors as a junior and senior. He led the Statesmen to the Division II World Series in both 2001 and 2002. The Tupelo, Mississippi native was selected by the Marlins in the 50th round of the 2002 draft, but did not sign.

PROBABLES FOR REMAINDER OF SERIES:

Wed., 7:05 p.m.: RH Dallas Trahern (4-10, 6.52) vs. RH Carlos Rosa (4-3, 4.25)

Thur., 7:05 p.m.: RH Frankie De La Cruz (11-7, 4.50) vs. RH Matt Wright (3-8, 5.65)

Fri., 7:05 p.m.: LH Chris Seddon (9-8, 4.87) vs. RH Jose Capellan (4-1, 4.05)

Check out the Omaha Storm Chasers Statistics

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Pacific Coast League Stories from August 12, 2008


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