PCL1 Omaha Storm Chasers

Royals Game Notes

Published on August 21, 2008 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Omaha Storm Chasers News Release


AUGUST 21, 2008, 7:05 p.m.: OMAHA ROYALS (57-75) vs. Memphis (69-62)

HOME: 26-38 (45-27 in '07) AWAY: 31-37 (28-44 in '07) vs. Memphis: 5-7 (8-8 in '07)

TONIGHT: The Royals host the Memphis Redbirds in a 7:05 p.m. game at Rosenblatt Stadium. It's game 2 of a 5-game series, which the Royals lead 1-0. Memphis leads the season series 7-5. It's Thirsty Thursday with $1 beers and Cokes during the game, courtesy of Dex Media, 96.1 The Brew, Action 3 News and The City Weekly. The pre-game show airs at 6:45 p.m. on News Talk 1420 KOTK and at www.oroyals.com.

LAST NIGHT: The Royals scored single runs in each of the last 5 innings to rally for a 7-6 victory in the series opener. In a game filled with defensive miscues, the Redbirds' 3rd error of the contest in the 8th inning helped Omaha score an unearned run off Randy Flores (0-1), who had retired the 1st 2 batters in the inning. Alberto Callaspo reached on a fielding error by Memphis 3rd baseman David Freese, took 2nd on a single by Brayan Pena, and scored the deciding run on Kila Ka'aihue's single through the right side. Josh Phelps' 3-run homer in the 3rd gave the Redbirds 4-2 lead and Nick Stavinoha's 2-run shot in the 5th made it 6-3. The Royals started painting the picket fence on the scoreboard in the 5th, finally tying the game in the 7th on Damon Hollins' solo home run. Yasuhiko Yabuta (3-3) got the win, firing 3.0 innings of hitless relief, walking 1 and fanning 4.

ROYALS REPORT: Last night marked Omaha's 19th come-from-behind win this season. The Royals improved to 9-22 in games decided in the final at-bat. *** The Royals' current 3-game winning streak is their longest since the club put together a season-best 7-game win string June 19-28. *** In his last 5 appearances, Yabuta owns a 0.69 ERA, allowing just 1 earned run on 5 hits over 13.0 innings. *** Memphis committed 3 errors last night, after making a PCL-low 86 errors in their 1st 130 contests. The Royals had 2 errors Wednesday night, after committing the 2nd-fewest miscues in the league - 92 - in their 1st 131 games. *** Brett Bigler came up with a big defensive play in the 6th inning, when the Royals right fielder nailed Jarrett Hoffpauir trying to score from 2nd base on Bryan Anderson's 2-out single. Bigler's single in the bottom of the 6th extended his hitting streak to 3 games. He's 4-for-his-last-10, after going 0-for-4 with 3 strikeouts in his 1st Triple-A game. *** Bigler came into the game for Joey Gathright in the top of the 2nd. Gathright will have his rehab assignment ended and will be recalled by KC today prior to the Royals' day game in Cleveland. He's taking the roster spot of Mitch Maier, who suffered 3 broken bones in his face when hit by a pitch in last night's 8-5 loss to the Indians. Maier was squaring around to bunt in the 5th inning when he was hit by Zach Jackson's delivery. Gathright, who was rehabbing a bone bruise in his right shoulder, hit .152 (5-for-33) in 9 games with Omaha. *** KC starter Luke Hochevar has been placed on the DL with a bruised rib cage. Lefty Josh Newman, who was optioned back to Omaha on Tuesday but had not joined the Triple-A club, was immediately recalled yesterday by KC. *** Hollins' home run last night was his 6th in his past 17 games. He hit 9 homers in his 1st 76 contests and had hit just 1 in 25 tilts prior to his hot stretch. *** Pena last night ran his hitting streak to 6 games, which is now his longest of the year. During the streak, he's batting .409 (9-for-22) with 1 home run and 4 RBI. *** Roman Colon started last night's contest for Omaha, giving up 6 runs on 9 hits over 6.0 innings. Coming into the game, Colon had gone 2-0 with a 1.88 ERA (3 ER in 14.1 IP) over his previous 3 appearances. *** Mike Aviles continued his torrid hitting for KC last night, going 3-for-4 with 3 RBI and 2 runs scored. Aviles stroked his 22nd double and picked up his 5th stolen base of the season. In his 1st 270 Major League at-bats, he's hitting .326 with 7 home runs and 35 RBI.

STARTERS: RH Mitchell Boggs (7-3, 3.59) vs. LH Tyler Lumsden (3-11, 6.92)

Lumsden makes his 25th appearance of the season and his 17th start. It's his 1st start since July 8. The 25-year old lefty's last outing was last Saturday at Oklahoma; he was not involved in the decision in the Royals' 7-3 loss (3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 0 K). Tonight marks Lumsden's 3rd appearance (2nd start) vs. Memphis. He's 0-2 with a 13.50 ERA in his 2 previous outings vs. the Redbirds. Lumsden is 0-7 with a 9.57 ERA at home, while going 3-4 with a 4.78 ERA on the road. In 6 relief appearances since the All-Star break, he's 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA, after going 3-10 with a 7.27 ERA in 18 games (16 starts) in the season's 1st half. Lumsden was acquired by KC along with right-hander Daniel Cortes from the White Sox in exchange for Mike MacDougal in July 2006. He spent all of last season with Omaha, going 9-6 with a 5.88 ERA in 25 games (24 starts) during his 1st year at the Triple-A level. Following the season, Lumsden pitched for Surprise in the Arizona Fall League and was 1-0 with a 6.00 ERA in 7 relief outings. He was ranked by Baseball America as KC's #13 prospect entering 2008, after being rated #5 prior to 2007. The same publication named him as having the Best Slider in the White Sox organization entering the 2006 season. In '06, he was 9-4 with a 2.69 ERA in 20 starts for the White Sox Double-A club, Birmingham. Following the trade to KC, he finished the '06 campaign at Wichita, going 2-1 with a 3.06 ERA in 7 games (6 starts). He missed the entire 2005 season after undergoing surgery on his left elbow. Lumsden was selected by the Chisox as a sandwich pick between the 1st and 2nd rounds (34th overall) of the 2004 draft after compiling a 17-7 record in 3 seasons at Clemson. He graduated from Cave Spring High School in Roanoke, Virginia, where he lettered all 4 years in baseball and basketball and was a hoops teammate of future Duke star J.J. Redick. Out of high school, Lumsden was selected in the 5th round of the 2001 draft by the Marlins, but did not sign.

PROBABLES FOR REMAINDER OF SERIES:

Fri., 7:05 p.m.: RH Clayton Mortensen (5-4, 4.63) vs. LH Dusty Hughes (2-2, 5.09)

Sat., 7:05 p.m.: RH Blake Hawksworth (3-7, 6.87) vs. RH Brandon Duckworth (5-11, 4.75)

Sun., 1:35 p.m.: RH Jess Todd (1-0, 2.13) vs. RH Matt Wright (4-9, 5.52)

Check out the Omaha Storm Chasers Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Pacific Coast League Stories from August 21, 2008


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central