PCL1 Omaha Storm Chasers

Royals Game Notes

Published on August 16, 2008 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Omaha Storm Chasers News Release


AUGUST 16, 2008, 7:05 p.m.: OMAHA ROYALS (54-73) at Oklahoma (69-59)

HOME: 25-38 (45-27 in '07) AWAY: 29-35 (28-44 in '07) vs. Oklahoma: 7-5 (8-8 in '07)

TONIGHT: The Royals visit Bricktown Ballpark, facing the Oklahoma RedHawks in a 7:05 p.m. game. It's the opener of a 4-game road trip to Oklahoma City. The Royals lead the season series 7-5. Omaha is coming off a 1-3 home series vs. Albuquerque. The pre-game show airs at 6:45 p.m. on News Talk 1420 KOTK and at www.oroyals.com.

LAST NIGHT: Albuquerque manager Dean Treanor ate his lineup card, while the Royals got the taste of losing out of their mouths, as Omaha snapped a 6-game home losing streak with an 8-2 victory over the Isotopes. The episode that captivated 9,587 fans at Rosenblatt as much as any play on the field occurred in the top of the 7th inning. Dallas McPherson and Treanor were ejected during Paul Lo Duca's at-bat. After his ejection, Treanor threw his 3rd base coach's helmet and then tore up his lineup card and stuffed it in his mouth. Moments later, Lo Duca was called out on strikes by home plate ump Vic Carapazza and tossed almost immediately afterwards. The Royals bolted to a 7-0 lead in the 1st 3 innings off Chris Seddon (9-9), who walked 3 batters and hit another with the bases loaded. Roman Colon (4-5) got the win, giving up 2 runs on 4 hits over 6.0 innings. Yasuhiko Yabuta fired 3.0 innings of 1-hit relief for his 2nd save.

ROYALS REPORT: Last night's win snapped the Royals' 4-game losing streak, 1 shy of their longest skid of the season. It also ended the 6-game loss string at home, which was tied for their longest home losing streak of the year. And it ended a 6-game losing string vs. Albuquerque. Omaha, which wound up 6-10 vs. Albuquerque this season, is 20-44 vs. the Isotopes since 2005. *** Chad Spann went 3-for-4 with 2 RBI and a run scored last night. In 2 games with Omaha since being signed by KC after his July 29 release by Boston, Spann is 5-for-8 with a double and 2 RBI. *** The Royals collected 11 hits last night, all of them singles. *** Gookie Dawkins did not get a hit Friday night, ending his hitting streak at 11 games. During the streak, which was his longest of the season, Dawkins hit just .255 (13-for-51) and drove in 1 run, while scoring 3 times. *** Joey Gathright, appearing in the 5th game of his rehab assignment for a bone bruise in his right shoulder, was 2-for-5 and scored a run. After going 0-for-9 in his 1st 2 contests, Gathright is 4-for-12 in the last 3 games. *** Ryan Shealy has hit in 4 straight, after collecting at least 1 hit in each game of the just-completed series. He was 6-for-16 (.375) with 2 home runs, 6 RBI and 5 runs scored in the 4 games vs. Albuquerque. On the season, 5 of his 19 homers and 16 of his 55 RBI came at the Isotopes' expense. *** Chris Lubanski, who was 0-for-4 last night, is mired in a 3-for-34 (.089) slump, dropping his average 15 points. *** Damon Hollins has hit in 4 straight and in 6 of his last 7 tilts. Over that longer stretch, he's 9-for-25 (.360) with 2 home runs and 8 RBI. Hollins has hit 4 homers in his last 13 contests, after smacking just 1 round-tripper in his previous 25 games. *** Colon is 2-3 with a 3.73 ERA in his 8 starts, while going 2-2 with a 5.14 ERA in 13 relief outings. *** Yabuta is 1-0 with a 0.53 ERA and 2 saves in 7 appearances at home, while going 1-3 with a 9.45 ERA in 8 road games. *** KC has optioned starter Kyle Davies to Omaha and recalled reliever Jeff Fulchino. Davies, who opened the season with Omaha and was 6-2 with a 2.06 ERA in 10 starts, went 5-4 with a 4.71 ERA in 14 starts for KC. Fulchino, who was 3-4 with a 4.84 ERA and 5 saves at Triple-A, is in his 2nd stint with KC. He made 5 relief appearances with the parent club in June, going 0-0 with a 9.00 ERA. *** Lo Duca, who was 5-for-13 with 2 RBI in the 4 games at Rosenblatt, had his contract purchased today by the Marlins. The 4-time N.L. All-Star hit .423 (11-for-26) with 7 RBI for Albuquerque.

Omaha catcher Matt Tupman has hit in 5 straight, going 7-for-18 (.389) with 5 RBI. Tupman, who hit .209 in the season's 1st half, is batting .338 (22-for-65) since the All-Star break, including 6 doubles and 12 RBI. *** The last time the Royals faced Oklahoma, the 2 teams had to play back-to-back doubleheaders at Rosenblatt on June 28-29. They split each twin bill, leaving the Royals with a 41-40 record, which is the last time that Omaha has been above .500. A 5-game losing streak followed and the Royals are 13-33 since that double twin bill weekend. *** KC signed prep 1st baseman Eric Hosmer, the 3rd overall pick in the 2008 draft, minutes before last night's 11 p.m. signing deadline. Hosmer hit .470 with 11 homers, 27 RBI and 14 steals as a senior at American Heritage High in Plantation, Florida.

STARTERS: LH Jimmy Gobble (0-0, 3.52) vs. LH Michael Ballard (1-3, 9.64)

Gobble makes his 4th rehab assignment start. The 27-year old lefty's last outing was at Nashville last Monday; he was not involved in the decision as the Royals lost 3-2 (3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 3K). A stiff lower back sent Gobble to the D.L. on July 22, a day after he surrendered 10 earned runs in 1.0 inning vs. Detroit. The rough outing jumped his ERA from 7.99 to 11.31 after 31 relief outings with KC. He is 0-2 and has 1 save for the parent club this season. In 2007, Gobble enjoyed the best season of his Major League career, going 4-1 with a 3.02 ERA and 1 save in 74 relief outings for KC. The career-high 74 appearances ranked 4th all-time in Royals history behind Dan Quisenberry (84 in 1985 and 75 in 1980) and Jason Grimsley (76 in 2003). He held left-handed hitters to a .241 average. In 2006, Gobble spent his 1st full season in the big leagues and made 60 appearances, leading KC pitchers with 80 strikeouts. He 1st made it to KC in 2003 as a starter, getting called up from Double-A Wichita. Gobble split the 2004 and 2005 seasons with KC and Omaha, making 16 Triple-A starts over those 2 years, with a combined record of 5-8 with a 6.12 ERA in his Omaha career. Billy James Gobble was KC's sandwich pick (43rd overall) between the 1st and 2nd rounds of the 1999 draft out of John Battle (VA) High.

PROBABLES FOR REMAINDER OF SERIES:

Sun., 7:05 p.m.: LH Dusty Hughes (2-1, 4.70) vs. RH Brandon McCarthy (0-1, 4.58)

Mon., 12:05 p.m.: RH Brandon Duckworth (4-11, 4.93) vs. Elizardo Ramirez (10-5, 4.21)

Tue., 7:05 p.m.: RH Matt Wright (3-9, 5.66) vs. RH Brian Gordon (4-4, 4.65)

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Pacific Coast League Stories from August 16, 2008


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