Omaha at Round Rock, 7:05 p.m.
LAST NIGHT: The Royals won their 6th straight game, banging out 15 hits in an 8-2 victory. Mario Lisson roped 3 doubles, driving in a run and scoring twice. Alex Gordon had 3 singles, knocking in a run and scoring once. Scott Thorman capped a 3-run 1st inning with an RBI single, singled and scored during a 2-run 4th that made it 5-1 and delivered a sacrifice fly an inning later to put the Royals ahead 6-1. Chris Chavez (1-2) got the win, pitching 5.0 innings of 1-run relief, allowing 6 hits but no walks while striking out 5. Josh Muecke (7-11) took the loss, surrendering 6 runs on 10 hits over 6.0 innings.
ROYALS REPORT: KC today recalled right-hander Carlos Rosa and purchased the contracts of righty Victor Marte and lefty Dusty Hughes from Omaha. The moves came after last night's 2-1 loss to the Angels, when KC lost 2 relievers to injuries as right-hander Kyle Farnsworth suffering muscle spasms in his lower back and southpaw John Bale straining his right hamstring. Hughes, who was slated to start for Omaha tonight, was 3-3 with a 3.50 ERA and 1 save in 34 Triple-A games, including 11 starts. Marte was 1-4 with a 2.13 ERA and 4 saves in 26 Triple-A contests, after opening the season at Double-A Northwest Arkansas. He gave up just 1 unearned run in 21.1 innings over his last 14 appearances. Rosa had an up-and-down Triple-A campaign going 2-8 with a 4.56 ERA and a team-leading 7 saves. Over his last 8 outings, he posted a 1.69 ERA with 15 strikeouts to just 3 walks in 10.2 innings. *** Lefty Lenny DiNardo, named last week to the 2009 All-PCL Team, has not been called up by KC as of yet. However, he pitched just 2.0 innings in his final Triple-A start last night and it was not due to injury. DiNardo finished 10-5 with a 3.35 ERA and 2 saves in 28 games (23 starts) for Omaha, striking out 127 batters and walking only 37 in 150.2 innings. He started 5 of the Royals' league-leading 17 shutouts, getting the save in another. *** Tony Pena, Jr. will continue his conversion from shortstop to reliever with Omaha, after being promoted today from low-A Burlington, Iowa. The 28-year old right-hander was 1-2 with a 3.14 ERA in 7 games (1 start) for the Bees, allowing 8 hits and 5 walks in 14.1 innings, striking out 14. Pena, who opened this season by hitting .098 (5-for-51) in 40 games with KC, was sent to the rookie-level Surprise Royals in July to begin the switch. He had no record and a 0.00 ERA in 2 relief outings in the Arizona League last month. *** Tim Hamulack, who finished Friday's tilt with 2.0 shutouts frames, has pitched in 3 of Omaha's last 4 games. In his last 7 appearances, he's 2-0 with 1 save and a 0.71 ERA. *** Lisson became the 1st Royals batter with 3 doubles in a game since June 14, 2007 when Craig Brazell did it in a 3-1 win at Iowa. Over his last 14 games, Lisson is hitting .365 (19-for-52) with 9 doubles, 3 homers and 14 RBI. *** Gordon has hit in 5 straight, going 10-for-21 (.476) with 2 home runs and 8 RBI. *** Thorman is on a 6-game streak, 1 shy of his longest of the year. Over that stretch, he's batting .455 (10-for-22), hitting 2 homers and driving in 11 runs. *** Cory Aldridge has hit in 6 straight (.542, 13-for-24, 1 HR, 7 RBI) and over his last 29 contests he's batting .386 (44-for-114) with 12 home runs and 29 RBI. *** Luis Hernandez had 2 hits Friday, logging his 4th multi-hit effort in 6 games. Over that span, he's hitting .435 (10-for-23) with 5 walks, 5 RBI and 5 runs scored. *** The Royals' 6-game winning streak is their longest of the year. Omaha has won 3 straight road games, 1 victory shy of a season high.
STARTERS: LH Ray Liotta (0-0, 4.15) vs. LH Andy Van Hekken (0-1, 5.09)
Liotta makes his 2nd Triple-A start. The 26-year old lefty came off the disabled list on Wednesday and has not pitched since his Triple-A debut on August 22 vs. Oklahoma City. He was not involved in the decision as the Royals won 5-4 (4.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 4 K). Liotta spent the 1st 4 months of this season with high-A Wilmington, going 4-2 with a 3.84 ERA in 24 games (8 starts). In 68.0 innings he allowed 68 hits - only 5 home runs - walking 24 batters and striking out 34. He was 2-2 with a 5.30 ERA in his 8 starts and 2-0 with a 2.05 ERA in his 16 relief outings for the Blue Rocks. Liotta, in his 5th professional season, had never pitched above the high-A level before this year. In 2008, he came back from shoulder surgery which cost him the entire 2007 season. He opened last year with the Surprise Royals, posting a 0.96 ERA and no record in 4 games (3 starts). He moved up to low-A Burlington (IA), going 1-1 with a 2.81 ERA in 3 starts. He finished with Wilmington, going 1-1 with a 1.80 ERA in 4 starts. Liotta was selected by KC from the Chicago White Sox in the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 draft in December 2007. Entering 2006, he was ranked by Baseball America as the 8th-best prospect in the White Sox organization. He was named the Most Outstanding Pitcher in the South Atlantic League in 2005, after going 8-3 with a league-leading 2.26 ERA with Kannapolis. He also led the Pioneer League in ERA in his 1st professional season in 2004, posting a 2.54 mark with Great Falls. Liotta was selected by the White Sox in the 2nd round of the 2004 draft out of Gulf Coast Community College in Panama City, Florida, where he earned 2004 Panhandle Conference Pitcher of the Year honors. He began his college career pitching in 2002 at Tulane, but transferred after being redshirted by the Green Wave in 2003. Liotta was originally selected by the Brewers in the 12th round of the 2001 draft out of Kenner High in Louisiana, but did not sign. He is a distant cousin of the actor by the same name.
PROBABLES FOR REMAINDER OF SERIES:
Sun., 6:05 p.m.: LH Heath Phillips (8-7, 5.14) vs. LH Mark McLemore (5-10, 4.87)
Mon., 12:05 p.m.: RH Chris Nicoll (2-1, 7.65) vs. LH Polin Trinidad (6-5, 4.71)