Royals at Oklahoma City, 1:05 p.m.

TODAY: The Royals visit Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City for a 1:05 p.m. game vs. the RedHawks. It's the season finale for both clubs. Omaha leads this series 2-1, while Oklahoma City leads the season series 9-6. The pre-game show is on the air at 12:45 p.m. on Omaha's KOIL AM-1180 and at www.oroyals.com.

SUNDAY: Anthony Lerew put the finishing touches on winning the PCL ERA title, turning in another strong start to lead the Royals to a 9-1 win over the RedHawks. Lerew (9-4) allowed only 1 run on 5 hits over 6.0 innings, trimming his league-best ERA to 2.55. Omaha's offense banged out 15 hits and took advantage of 3 RedHawks' errors. Mike Moustakas, Marc Maddox and Jordan Parraz each had 3 hits. Cody Clark capped a 5-run 9th inning with a 3-run homer. Oklahoma City spot starter Tanner Scheppers (1-3) took the loss, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits in 3.0 innings.

ROYALS REPORT: Sunday's win was the Royals' 80th of the season, marking just the 5th time that plateau has been reached in the team's 42-year history and the 1st time since 1999, which was the last season Omaha made the playoffs. Should the Royals win today and Memphis wins at Iowa, Omaha will finish just 1.0 game out of 1st place in the American North and the Redbirds go to the playoffs. A 3-way tie between Omaha, Memphis and Iowa would have had the Royals playoff-bound. *** For Omaha outfielder Jarrod Dyson, Sunday was the best of times and it was the worst of times. The bad news first: he went 0-for-6 at the plate, striking out 4 times and leaving 7 runners on base. The good news: he learned that he has been called up by KC. The 26-year old speedster, who was KC's 50th round pick in the 2006 draft, will be getting his first taste of the big leagues. In 42 games with Omaha, he hit .272 with 33 runs scored in 46 games and was 13-for-16 in stolen base attempts. *** Lerew is the first Royals pitcher to win an ERA title since 2004, when Les Walrond posted a 3.06 ERA and went 11-5. That season, the Omaha lefty edged Portland's Dennis Tankersley, who had a 3.15 ERA. It was not a sweat for Lerew this year, as former RedHawk and current Texas left-hander Michael Kirkman ranks 2nd at 3.09. In his last 6 starts, Lerew went 4-1 and posted a 0.66 ERA (3 ER in 41.0 IP). *** Victor Marte and Blaine Hardy combined to hold the RedHawks without a hit over the final 3.0 innings Sunday. On the year, Omaha's bullpen is 36-22 with a 3.47 ERA and 31 saves. *** Moustakas, who had a 9-game hitting streak snapped Saturday, is batting .383 (18-for-47) over his last 11 tilts, with 8 home runs and 24 RBI. *** Parraz is finishing strong, riding a 5-game hit streak. In that time, he's 10-for-17 (.588) with 4 doubles, 1 homer and 2 RBI. *** Maddox snapped out of a an 0-for-15 slump yesterday with a 2nd inning single, followed by a steal of 2nd base for his 4th stolen base of the season. He later added 2 more singles for his 7th 3-hit game this year. *** Clark's home run was his 4th of the season and his 1st since July 22 at Memphis, a span of 20 games. Since the All-Star break, the Royals catcher is batting .348, after hitting .216 in the 1st half. *** In his last 8 games, Irving Falu is hitting .455 (15-for-33) with 4 RBI, 9 runs scored and 2 stolen bases. *** Scott Thorman has hit in 8 of his past 9 contests, batting .395 (15-for-38) with 5 doubles, 1 triple, 2 home runs, 5 RBI and 8 runs scored. *** Kurt Mertins had 2 hits Sunday, including his 3rd triple of the campaign. Over his past 11 games, Mertins is batting .278 (10-for-36), driving in 3 runs and scoring 8 runs. *** The Royals have won 24 of their last 34 games since August 1, when a 12-6 loss at Memphis left Omaha at 56-53, in 4th place in the division and 5.5 games out of 1st place. *** Double-A Northwest Arkansas, which won the 1st half title in the Texas League's North division, wrapped up a 1st place finish in the 2nd half Sunday, when Eric Hosmer smacked a walk-off double in the bottom of the 9th for a 4-3 win over Tulsa. The Naturals, managed by Carter Lake, Iowa resident and T.L. Manager of the Year Brian Poldberg, finished the 2nd half with the best half-season mark (43-26) in team history. And they posted the most wins ever in a season (85) by a KC affiliate. The Naturals host Springfield on Wednesday in the opener of the best-of-5 semi-final series. *** Former KC Royal Esteban German picked up his 50th stolen base of the season yesterday for Oklahoma City. It's the most steals in a year for German since he swiped 78 for class-A Visalia in 2000.

STARTERS: RH Matt Herges (8-4, 4.86) vs. TBA

After opening the season in Omaha's bullpen, Herges makes his 5th start, coming in his last 6 outings. The 40-year old right-hander is making the 998th and final appearance (68th start) of his 19-year professional career. His last outing was in relief of KC rehab starter Brian Bannister vs. Round Rock last Wednesday, when Herges got the win in the Royals' 5-1 victory (2.2 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 1 K). He is 2-1 with a 7.71 ERA in 4 starts, which are his 1st since 2000, when he made 4 starts for the LA Dodgers. He went 6-3 with a 4.04 ERA in 38 relief appearances this season. In 6 relief outings vs. Oklahoma City this year, he is 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA, allowing 2 earned runs in 8.2 innings. He did not pitch in the big leagues this season for the first time in the past 12 years. In 2009, Herges pitched for both the Cleveland Indians and Colorado Rockies at the big league and Triple-A levels for each organization. He was 3-1 with a 3.38 ERA in 30 Major League appearances last season, while going 4-4 with a 3.18 ERA in 24 Triple-A games. Herges posted a 43-35 record and a 3.91 ERA in 567 career big league games (4 starts). The 43 wins as a relief pitcher are tied for 9th with Eddie Guardado among all active pitchers. In 2004, Herges became the 9th Giants pitcher to post 20 saves in a season, when he closed out 23 wins for San Francisco. In 2000, he tied former Royal Rick Ankiel, pitching for St. Louis at the time, for most wins among N.L. rookies with 11. Herges was signed by the Dodgers in 1992 as a non-drafted free agent out of Illinois State University, where he ranks 2nd on the school's all-time list in complete games (10). His brother-in-law is former Major League outfielder Todd Hollandsworth.