May 26 Game Notes: Royals vs. New Orleans

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May 26 Game Notes: Royals vs. New Orleans
05/26/2007 2:50 PM ET
By Kevin McNabb / Omaha Royals

TONIGHT: The Royals host the New Orleans Zephyrs in a 6:05 p.m. game at Rosenblatt Stadium. Omaha leads the series 1-0 and is 5-0 on this homestand. Gates open at 4:00 p.m. and the 1st 1,500 fans receive an Alex Gordon Replica Omaha Royals Jersey, courtesy of Bellevue University, WOWT-Channel 6 and 1620 The Zone. Air-time is 5:45 p.m. on News Talk 1420 KOTK and at www.Oroyals.com.
LAST NIGHT: Craig Brazell cranked a pair of homers for the 4th time in 5 games and Richard Lewis' 1st home run of the season helped the Royals rally for 4 runs in the bottom of the 9th to edge New Orleans 8-7 in the series opener. Brazell smacked a leadoff homer in the 2nd inning and a 2-run shot in the 6th off Mets prospect Adam Bostick. The Zephyrs hit 3 home runs of their own and led 7-4 entering the bottom of the 9th, when rehabbing big leaguer Guillermo Mota came on in relief. Mitch Maier plated the 1st run with an RBI single. He was still at 1st base with 2 outs when Lewis lined the 1st pitch he saw from Mota (0-1) over the left field wall to tie the contest at 7-7. Joey Gathright singled and stole 2nd base and, after a walk, Billy Butler spanked a 1-2 pitch off the left field wall for a game-winning single. Nate Hoelscher (1-0) got the win after allowing just 1 hit - Ben Johnson's solo homer - in 4.0 innings of relief.
ROYALS REPORT: Brazell has hit 8 home runs in 20 plate appearances over the 1st 5 games of this home stand. It's the hottest homer stretch for a Royals batter since April 2004, when Calvin Pickering smashed 10 taters in 27 trips to the plate over 7 contests. Brazell has smacked 12 long balls in his last 12 games and leads the PCL with 13 round-trippers after just 16 games with Omaha. Beginning the season with Wichita, he had 7 homers in 30 games giving him a minor-league leading 20 home runs on the year. Brazell's career-high in homers in a season came in 2004, when he belted 23 in 121 games with Triple-A Norfolk and his only career big league homer in 24 games with the Mets. Brazell is also riding a 15-game hitting streak (.422, 27-64) and owns a .397 average and .423 OBP to go along with a 1.015 slugging percentage with Omaha. *** The Royals have reached .500 for the 1st time this season, after a season-long, 5-game winning streak Omaha has won 6 consecutive home contests -tied for the Royals' longest home win string of the season - giving the club a PCL-best home record of 20-9. In all 5 games on this homestand, the Royals opponent has scored 1st. On the year, the opponent has scored 1st in 24 of 29 games at Rosenblatt, but the Royals are 15-9 in those affairs. *** Butler's walk-off single Friday night came a day after his grand slam during a 7-run 6th inning erased a 6-5 deficit to Oklahoma in game 2 of Thursday's twinbill. Butler leads the team with 30 RBI in 34 games. *** Lewis - who contributed a 2-run single during Thursday's 6th inning rally - came to the plate in the 9th inning last night having not hit a home run in his 1st 106 at-bats this season. *** After allowing 6 runs on 10 hits over 5.0 innings Friday, Zach Day's ERA rose from 2.93 to 4.04. *** Gathright tied his season high with 3 hits last night, scoring 2 runs and collecting his 13th stolen base - 5th-best in the PCL. The Royals leadoff batter is 7-for-18 (.389) on the homestand, scoring 5 runs and driving 3 home. *** Mike Aviles ignited last night's 9th inning rally with an infield single. Aviles has hit in 11 of the past 12 tilts, at a .422 clip (19-45), raising his average 19 points to .330. *** Matt Tupman owns a personal-best, 8-game hitting streak. He's hitting .519 (14-27) and has 7 RBI during the hot stretch.
STARTERS: RH Brian Lawrence (0-3, 7.01) vs. RH Matt Wright (2-2, 3.75)
Wright makes his 5th start and 10th appearance of the season. The 25-year old right-hander's last outing was in a starting role last Sunday at New Orleans, when he fired 6.0 scoreless innings and left with a 4-0 lead, only to see the Z's rally for a 5-4 win in 10 innings (6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K). Wright has no record and a 3.50 ERA in his 4 starts; he's 2-2 with a 4.00 ERA in 5 relief appearances. He's 2-0 with a 5.23 ERA at home, while going 0-2 despite posting a 1.76 ERA on the road. Wright was signed by KC as a minor league free agent in the off-season after spending the 1st 7 campaigns of his professional career in the Atlanta Braves organization. In 2006, Wright opened the season pitching for Double-A Mississippi, posting a 7-3 record with a 2.22 ERA in 15 games (14 starts). He was promoted to Richmond in mid-July and went 3-5 with a 5.77 ERA over 10 starts in his 1st action at the Triple-A level. Entering this season, Wright's minor league totals included a 46-47 record, despite a 3.68 ERA and 744 strikeouts in 743.2 innings. He was selected by the Braves in the 21st round of the 2000 draft out of Robinson High School in Waco, Texas.
PROBABLES FOR REMAINDER OF SERIES:
Sun., 1:35: RH Chan Ho Park (3-3, 5.49) vs. RH Ben Hendrickson (3-3, 4.84)
Mon., 6:35: RH Mike Pelfrey (0-0, 1.54) vs. LH Tyler Lumsden (3-3, 5.74)

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.