Omaha vs. Iowa, 7:05 p.m.
SUNDAY: With the game tied at 5-all and 2 outs in the bottom of the 8th, Scott Thorman doubled to right and scored on a single through the left side of the infield by Luis Hernandez, giving the Royals a 6-5 victory over New Orleans. Thorman had 3 hits in the game, finishing a triple shy of the cycle, driving in 2 runs and scoring twice. Hernandez had 3 singles, 2 of which plated runs. Victor Marte (1-4) picked up his 1st Triple-A win, pitching 2.0 innings of scoreless relief. A.J. Battisto (0-1) took the loss, giving up a run on 4 hits over 2.0 stanzas. Cory Aldridge was 3-for-3 for the Royals, belting his team-leading 22nd home run.
ROYALS REPORT: Lenny DiNardo, who made his last home start on Sunday, was named today as one of two starting pitchers on the 2009 All-PCL team. The 29-year old southpaw, in his 1st season in KC's organization, was selected as the top left-handed pitcher in the Pacific Coast League. He's the 1st Omaha Royal to be named to the post-season All-Star squad since 2005, when outfielder Aaron Guiel was honored. DiNardo is 10-5 with a 3.33 ERA, which ranks 5th in the league. He has chalked up 126 strikeouts, 2nd-most in the circuit and the most for a Royals pitcher since 1989, when Jose DeJesus fanned 158 batters. DiNardo was 5-2 with a sterling 1.43 ERA at home. *** Sunday's win improves Omaha's record in 1-run games to 17-28. Since August 12, the Royals have won 8 of 9 contests decided by a single run. Omaha is now 10-24 in games decided in the last at bat and 19-17 in day games with 1 left. The Royals are 40-60 at night. *** Aldridge has hit 12 home runs and driven in 24 runs in his last 24 games, batting at a .366 clip (34-for-93). *** Marte has given up just 1 unearned run in 19.1 innings over his last 13 appearances, dropping his ERA from 4.29 to 2.23. *** Irving Falu went 0-for-4 yesterday, halting his team-best, 12-game hitting streak. During the streak, he was 22-for-50 (.440). Sunday was Falu's last with Omaha as he has left the team to join Puerto Rico's World Cup team. In 122 games with the Royals, he hit .269 with 2 homers, 40 RBI and 64 runs scored. He was 12-for-17 in stolen base attempts and walked 52 times compared to 35 strikeouts. *** In his last 14 contests, Thorman is hitting .407 (22-for-54) with 2 home runs and 6 RBI. *** Mario Lisson went 0-for-3 Sunday, but is still 10-for-his-last-27 (.370) with 5 doubles. That's ever since he snapped out of an 0-for-36 slide. *** Kila Ka'aihue is hitless in his last 15 at bats, but has walked 5 times and scored 3 runs over that stretch. *** J.R. House has hit in 6 straight, going 8-for-22 (.364) with 1 homer and 3 RBI. *** Hernandez has a 4-game hit string, going 6-for-16 (.375) with 3 RBI. *** The Royals committed 2 more errors yesterday, giving them 14 errors in their past 8 games. Omaha made just 89 fielding miscues over the 1st 128 contests of the season.
STARTERS: LH J.R. Mathes (12-7, 3.60) vs. LH Dusty Hughes (2-3, 3.74)
Hughes makes his 11th start (34th appearance) of the year. The 27-year old lefty's last start was vs. New Orleans last Wednesday. He left after 6 innings with a 1-0 lead, but wound up with no-decision as the Zephyrs rallied to win 4-2 on Gookie Dawkns' 3-run homer in the 9th (6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 5 BB, 9 K). Hughes is 2-2 with a 3.80 ERA in his 10 starts, although he hasn't fared that well vs. Iowa. In 3 games (2 starts) vs. the Cubs he's 0-1 with a 7.71 ERA. In 2008, Hughes opened the season with Double-A Northwest Arkansas, going 5-2 with a 2.91 ERA and 3 saves in 20 games (4 starts). He was promoted to Omaha and had a memorable Triple-A debut last June 22 at New Orleans, combining with Devon Lowery on a 5-hitter to lead the Royals to a 3-0 win. Hughes wound up 3-2 with a 5.04 ERA in 12 games (11 starts) with Omaha last season. He had no record and a 7.20 ERA in 2 starts vs. Iowa. In 2007, Hughes was named by KC as Double-A Wichita's Pitcher of the Year, after he went 6-2 with a 3.08 ERA and 1 save in 25 games (16 starts). Following the 2007 season, he was 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA in 6 starts for the Surprise Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, earning AFL Pitcher of the Year honors in a fan vote. Hughes missed the entire 2006 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. On April 12, 2004, he combined with Burlington (IA) reliever Jake Mullis on a no-hitter. In his 1st professional season, he was named the 2003 Pitcher of the Year for the Surprise Royals of the Rookie Arizona League, after going 5-2 and ranking 4th in the league with a 2.84 ERA. Hughes was selected by KC in the 11th round of the 2003 draft out of Delta State University in Mississippi, where he earned all-conference and team MVP honors as a junior and senior. He led the Statesmen to the Division II World Series in 2001 and 2002. The Tupelo, Mississippi native was selected by the Marlins in the 50th round of the 2002 draft, but did not sign.
PROBABLES FOR REMAINDER OF SERIES:
Tue., 7:05 p.m.: RH Esmailin Caridad (5-10, 4.06) vs. LH Heath Phillips (7-7, 5.20)
Wed., 7:05 p.m.: LH James Russell (3-2, 3.24) vs. RH Chris Nicoll (1-1, 8.36)
Thur., 7:05 p.m.: RH Jeff Samardzija (6-4, 3.53) vs. LH Mike O'Connor (1-3, 6.17)