April 30 Game Notes: Royals vs. Memphis
SUNDAY: Joey Gathright provided the lightning and Justin Huber supplied the thunder as the Royals rallied for a 5-4 victory over Nashville and a series sweep of the 1st-place Sounds. The speedy Gathright scored from 2nd base on a sacrifice fly caught at the foot of the warning track in center field in the 9th to tie the game at 4-all. Huber drilled his 2nd home run of the season - and 2nd in as many games - deep over the left-center field wall with 1 out in the 10th to give Omaha the walk-off win. The homer came off Dennis Sarfate (1-1), who took the loss after blowing a save chance in the 9th. It made a winner of Jason Standridge (1-0), who pitched a scoreless 10th inning, despite allowing a leadoff single.
ROYALS REPORT: After sliding into home plate with the game-tying run in the 9th inning Sunday, Gathright had to be helped off the field and did not play in the 10th. He suffered a cramp in his left leg and is day-to-day. The Royals leadoff batter, who had 3 more hits yesterday, was 10-for-18 (.556) in the Nashville series, with 5 runs scored and 2 RBI. *** Huber's heroics marked the Royals' 1st walk-off home run since August 23, 2005, when Chad Santos followed Huber's game-tying homer leading off the bottom of the 9th with a game-winning round-tripper, lifting the Royals to an 8-7 win over New Orleans. After a slow start at the plate this season, Huber has homered in 2 straight and hit in 4 conscutive games (.412, 7-17, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 4 R). *** Prior to Sunday, the Royals were 0-12 when trailing after innings 6-8 and 0-3 in games decided by 1 run. Omaha has won 4 straight overall and 6 in a row at home, both season highs. *** Shane Costa, who supplied the game-tying sac fly in the 9th yesterday, also had 1 hit. His 2nd triple of the year in the 3rd inning ran his hitting streak to 15 games. During the club-best hit string, Costa is batting .448 (26-58) with 14 runs scored and 4 RBI. Costa's .355 season average leads the team and is ranked 10th in the PCL. *** Billy Butler was 0-for-2 with 3 walks yesterday, halting his hitting streak at 10 games. Butler has still hit in 13 of the past 15 tilts, at a .377 clip (20-53) with 3 homers and 16 RBI over that span. *** Mike Aviles went hitless in 5 at-bats Sunday, after going 9-for-15 (.600) with 4 RBI and 4 runs scored in the previous 4 games. *** Fernando Cortez did not homer for a 3rd straight game yesterday, but his RBI double in a 3-run 4th inning helped the Royals tie the game and extended his hitting streak to 5 games, matching his longest of the season. He's 6-for-18 (.333) with 2 doubles, 2 homers and 4 RBI during that stretch. *** Reliever Neal Musser fired 3.0 hitless innings from the 7th through the 9th on Sunday. Musser has allowed just 1 unearned run on 3 hits over 13.0 innings in his 1st 7 relief appearances with Omaha. The lefty also owns a 0.00 ERA in 2 relief outings for KC this season.
STARTERS: RH Mike Parisi (2-0, 3.77) vs. RH Luke Hudson (NR)
Hudson, who was placed on the disabled just prior to the season with right shoulder inflammation, makes his 3rd rehab assignment start for KC after his 1st 2 outings came with Double-A Wichita. The right-hander, who turns 30 on Wednesday, went 0-1 with a 3.68 ERA in his 2 starts for the Wranglers. In his last start at Springfield last Wednesday, Hudson was not involved in the decision as Wichita lost 4-3 (4.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R-1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 1 HR). Hudson spent most of the 2006 season with KC, but also pitched for Omaha. He was signed by KC as a minor league free agent on March 13, 2006 and opened the campaign in the big league club's bullpen. However, after going 0-3 with an 8.74 ERA in 9 games through April 30, he was designated for assignment and then outrighted to Omaha after clearing waivers. Hudson sparkled at the Triple-A level, going 2-0 with a 2.80 ERA in 13 games (2 starts) for Omaha. KC purchased his contract on June 30 and was used mostly as a starter the rest of the season. He wound up going 7-6 with a 5.12 ERA in 26 appearances, including 15 starts, for KC. He was 6-3 with a 4.79 ERA as a starter, compared to a 1-3 mark and a 7.24 ERA as a reliever. He left with the lead in 12 of his 15 starts, but saw the bullpen cost him a win in 6 contests. He was twice named KC's Pitcher of the Month, in July (3-0, 3.16 ERA) and August (4-2, 6.48). Down the stretch, he made 9 starts against teams within 5.5 games of a playoff berth and went 4-1 with a 2.87 ERA. Hudson pitched for Cincinnati in parts of the 2002, 2004 and 2005 seasons, missing all of the '03 campaign following shoulder surgery. He was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 4th round of the 1998 draft out of the University of Tennessee.
PROBABLES FOR REMAINDER OF SERIES:
Tues., 6:35: RH Blake Hawksworth (0-4, 5.31) vs. RH Scott Elarton (1-1, 5.91)
Wed., 6:35: LH Troy Cate (1-0, 1.96) vs. RH Zach Day (1-0, 2.30)
Thur., 11:05: RH Mike Smith (3-2, 4.75) vs. RH Matt Wright (2-2, 4.29)