May 24 Notes: Royals at Fresno
LAST NIGHT: Two former Royals had big hits for Fresno in a 5-run 7th inning and the Grizzlies rallied for a 6-5 win. Omaha led 4-1 at the 7th inning stretch. But, in the home half of the inning after an RBI single cut the lead to 2 runs, Chad Santos tied the game with a 2-run double and Jed Hansen belted a 2-run homer to put Fresno in front 6-4. All 5 runs came off loser Steve Andrade (2-0) who pitched scoreless ball in the 6th and 8th innings. Matt Anderson (1-2) got the win with 1.1 scoreless innings of relief. Paul Phillips homered in the 9th to bring the Royals within a run and Mark Teahen picked up his 4th hit of the game to put the tying run on base with 2 outs, but Jack Taschner struck out Justin Huber to end the game and record his 2nd save.
ROYALS REPORT: Outfielder Kerry Robinson rejoins Omaha today, after clearing waivers and accepting his assignment back to the Triple-A club. Robinson hit .274 in 16 games with KC. In 20 games with Omaha to begin the season, Robinson hit .367 with 12 RBI, 18 runs scored and 7 stolen bases. *** Left-hander Neal Musser was signed as a minor league free agent by KC today, after being released yesterday by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Musser, who was 1-3 with a 5.45 ERA with Tucson this season, will start today in place of scheduled starter Danny Tamayo. *** Last night's scheduled starter, Adam Bernero, was scratched due to illness. Ryan Baerlocher made a spot start, allowing 1 run on 2 hits and 4 walks in 4.1 innings. *** Teahen is riding an 8-game hit string, his longest of the season. He's hitting .643 (18-28) with 9 RBI and 5 runs scored during the streak. Teahen had a triple last night, but did not deliver a double for the 1st time in 6 games. *** Chad Allen had a single in 4 at-bats last night, extending his hitting streak to 9 games. It's his longest streak of the season and equals the longest streak for a Royal this season, set by Mike Aviles. Allen is hitting at a .447 (17-38) clip during the streak. His .328 average on the season ranks 7th in the PCL and he leads the league with 57 hits. *** Phillips has hit in 7 of his last 8 games, going 10-for-29 (.345) over that stretch. His home run last night was his 1st in 18 games, after he smacked 3 homers in his 1st 18 starts behind the plate. *** Huber, making his 2nd consecutive start in left field last night, was 0-for-4 with a walk and 3 strikeouts. In 4 games since coming back from KC, he's 0-for-17 with 7 K's, dropping his average from .301 to .244. *** Last night's game marked the 7th blown save in 14 opportunities for the Royals bullpen. The bullpen's combined ERA rose from 3.48 to 3.71.
STARTERS: LH Neal Musser (1-3, 5.45) vs. LH Michael Tejera (3-1, 2.95)
Musser makes his 1st start for Omaha. In 8 games (7 starts) for Tucson, the 25-year old lefty worked 36.1 innings, allowing 44 hits and 24 walks, with 18 strikeouts. Musser's last appearance was in relief last Thursday at Round Rock. He did not factor in the decision as Tucson lost 8-3 (3.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 0 K). Musser was signed by the Diamondbacks as a minor league free agent last November, after spending the 1st 7 seasons of his professional career in the New York Mets organization. He spent the entire 2005 season with Triple-A Norfolk, going 6-11 with a 5.02 ERA in 24 starts. Last year was Musser's 1st full season at Triple-A. In 2004, he turned in an All-Star season with Double-A Binghamton, going 9-6 with a 3.41 ERA in 19 starts. He was promoted to Norfolk on July 20, 2004 and went 2-4 with a 6.25 ERA in 7 starts. Musser was the Mets' 2nd round pick in the 1999 draft out of Benton Central High School in Oxford, Indiana.
PROBABLES FOR REMAINDER OF SERIES:
Thur., 9:05: RH Bobby Keppel (3-4, 5.00) vs. RH Matt Kinney (3-3, 4.98)