Zephyrs drubbed in first loss to Omaha

The New Orleans Zephyrs' perfect record against the Omaha Storm Chasers came to an abrupt end Monday in a 19-1 loss at Werner Park in Papillion, Neb., in which Omaha third baseman Jimmy Paredes hit for the cycle.

Zephyrs starter Matt Montgomery (0-3) held Omaha to one run through the first three innings, but he got just one out in the fourth inning before ceding to Jay Rogers, who entered the game with the bases loaded.

Rogers got Christian Colon to ground out back to the mound, but Paredes hit a grand slam in the next at-bat to give Omaha a 5-0 lead and tally the first four of his eight runs batted in on the night.

Omaha scored four more runs in the sixth inning, with the first two charged to Rogers, as he had walked Brett Eibner and given up a double to Colon. Both runners scored when Paredes hit a triple off of Arquimedes Caminero.

Paredes scored on a base hit by Carlos Peguero, who also scored later in the inning on a single by Paulo Orlando to put Omaha ahead 9-0.

The Zephyrs scored their lone run in the top of the seventh on a Josh Rodriguez double that drove home Jordany Valdespin, who had singled in the prior at-bat against Donnie Joseph. 

The Z's mustered five hits and received three walks from Omaha starter Aaron Brooks (2-1) in his six innings, but they could not push across a run.

Omaha continued to pour in runs with another four to take a 13-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning, as Paredes picked up a double to drive in Colon, who had driven home the second and third runs of the frame against Grant Dayton after Francisco Pena led off the inning with a home run.

Paredes completed the cycle with an RBI single as part of a six-run eighth inning. Dayton gave up his second and third runs of the game, with one unearned because of an error by Juan Diaz on a ground ball to begin the inning, and the final four came against Jesus Sanchez.

Each of the Z's five pitchers allowed at least five runs, and the Storm Chasers tallied 20 hits while going 12-for-22 with runners in scoring position, and Paredes finished 4-for-6 with three runs scored.

The Zephyrs had 11 hits, as Diaz, Justin Bour, Kyle Jensen and Zack Cox each had two hits, but they were also 3-for-10 with runners in scoring position in a game that ended their three-game winning streak and snapped their string of six consecutive wins to open the season against Omaha.

The Z's and Storm Chasers will finish their four-game series with an 11:05 a.m. start Tuesday at Werner Park. Elih Villanueva (3-1, 2.08 ERA) is set to start for New Orleans opposite Brett Tomko (1-3, 5.81 ERA) of Omaha.