Perez Slams Storm Chasers Past Isotopes

OMAHA, Neb. - Salvador Perez punctuated his final four games at Double-A Northwest Arkansas by hitting grand slams on July 24 and 26 and winning the Texas League Player of the Week award. Three games into his Triple-A career, he hasn't missed a beat. Perez hit yet another grand slam, his first home run with Omaha, and later added an RBI single in the Storm Chasers' 10-1 victory over Albuquerque in front of 8,791 fans Friday night at Werner Park.

The 21-year-old backstop, noted more for his defense than for his bat, went after the second pitch from reliever Ramon Troncoso in the bottom of the sixth inning, depositing it just over the wall in deep left-center some 385 feet from home plate. His grand slam gave him a remarkable 20 runs batted in over his last seven games, smashing the season total of 14 he had through the end of June. His 34 RBI during the month of July is three more than any other player in all of professional baseball.

Perez' heroics were plenty enough for Omaha starting pitcher Sean O'Sullivan (3-2), who allowed one run on three hits over six innings of work. He walked two and struck out five on the night. Kelvin Herrera, who came up with Perez from Double-A Wednesday, threw a scoreless seventh before Everett Teaford and Robinson Tejeda finished off the Isotopes with one scoreless inning apiece.

In addition to Perez and his 2-for-4, five RBI night, five other Storm Chasers drove in runs during the game. David Lough kicked off the scoring with an opposite-field, solo home run in the bottom of the first, Clint Robinson went 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI, while Johnny Giavotella, Irving Falu and Jarrod Dyson collected hits and brought home runs.

With the victory, coupled with losses by both Memphis and Nashville, Omaha (57-49) now leads the American Conference Northern Division by 5.0 games over the Redbirds (52-54) and 5.5 games over the Sounds (52-55) with 37 games remaining in the regular season. Fourth-place Iowa (47-60) is 10.5 games behind. The Chasers are seeking their first postseason berth since 1999 and first playoff series victory since 1990.

Omaha will hit the road for a brief, four-game road trip to Oklahoma City Saturday through Tuesday before returning home for an eight-game homestand against Sacramento and Fresno of the Pacific Conference. Saturday's match-up at Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City will be a battle between the Chasers' Vin Mazzaro (5-1, 4.74) and the RedHawks' Sergio Perez (5-9, 4.31) at 7:05 p.m., with the game broadcast live on KOIL-AM 1180 and at omahastormchasers.com. The two teams have split their 12 meetings this season.