Omaha's offense explodes for 15 runs in Iowa

Irving Falu was 3-for-6 with a home run and two runs scored.
(File photo: Minda Haas / Royal Blues)

Des Moines, IA – Willy Lebron worked 2.2 scoreless innings in relief while Omaha’s offense poured it on in a 15-5 decision over Iowa Friday night in the opener of the final four-game series of the regular season at Principal Park.

The Storm Chasers collected 16 hits, drew nine walks and took advantage of three errors to improve their overall record to 79-61 and their record away from home to 39-29.

Irving Falu’s solo home run in the first inning got the scoring started before the visitors added a trio of runs with two outs in the third. David Lough tripled and scored after an errant throw to third base prior to Manny Pina’s two-run double that made it a 4-0 game.

Lou Montanez tripled in a run and scored during a three-run bottom half of the third that brought the Cubs back to within one. Iowa moved in front for the first time in the fourth when Marquez Smith delivered an RBI double and scored when Chris Robinson followed with a base hit.

Chavez, Chasers close out Rainiers

Jesse Chavez picked up his 15th
save of the season Tuesday night
(Photo: Brad Williams Photography)

Tacoma, Wash. – Storm Chasers reliever Jesse Chavez hadn’t been called upon to record a save since August 3, but he came out of the bullpen firing, picking up his team-leading 15th save Tuesday night at Cheney Stadium.

Chavez entered with two men on and one out in the eighth and recorded all five of the remaining outs via the strike out, preserving Omaha’s 3-2 victory over the Tacoma Rainiers.

Second place Memphis picked up their fourth win in a row, keeping the pressure on the Chasers to win if they want to keep their 4.0 game lead in the PCL American North. The Chasers are 6-4 in their last 10 games (compared to Memphis, who is 7-3), which isn’t bad for a team that has been decimated by big league call ups and nagging injuries. By the way, the Chasers announced that playoff ticket packages are now on sale.

Starting pitcher Luis Mendoza (9-5), who missed a start with a “tired” arm, earned the victory on Tuesday, allowing two runs on five hits over six innings of work. He walked two and struck out five, using 88 pitches. Mendoza improved to 7-0 in nine road starts this season and 9-1 on the road overall, despite seeing his ERA rise to a still-league best 2.30. He has 10 quality starts in his last 13 outings.

Four-run ninth propels Omaha to victory

Kila Ka'aihue's ninth inning home run moved him
into fifth place on the franchise's all-time list
(File photo: Lee Warren) 

Salt Lake City, UT – Kila Ka’aihue’s two-run home run finished off a four-run ninth inning that propelled Omaha to a 9-6 win over Salt Lake Monday night in the last of a four-game series at Spring Mobile Ballpark. The Storm Chasers improved to 67-55 and held on to their four-game lead over victorious Memphis in the PCL American North.

Joaquin Arias opened the decisive inning with a walk, but was thrown out at second base on Jarrod Dyson’s attempted sacrifice bunt. Irving Falu, who was 4-for-4, was hit by a pitch and the runners then pulled off a double steal. In a 5-5 game against a drawn-in infield, Dyson scored the go-ahead run on a Lorenzo Cain ground out before Clint Robinson’s single pushed Falu across with an insurance run. Ka’aihue followed with his long ball, the 62nd of his career with Omaha to move him into fifth place on the franchise’s all-time list, to sew up the victory.

Chasers hang on for 7-6 win

Lorenzo Cain belted his career
high 15th home run of the season
(Photo: Brad Williams Photography)

Omaha, Neb. — The Storm Chasers jumped out to an early five-run lead against the Fresno Grizzlies, ultimately hanging on for a 7-6 victory Wednesday afternoon at Werner Park. The Chasers improved to 11-2 in games while trailing 2-1 in a series.

Down 2-1 entering the third inning, Cody Clark lead off with a bloop single and moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jarrod Dyson, with Dyson reaching safely on an error. David Lough followed with a bunt single – which resulted in yet another error, allowing Clark to score from second to make it 2-2.

After Lorenzo Cain – who homered in the first inning – was hit by a pitch, Clint Robinson ripped a two-run double to make it 4-2 Chasers. Kila Ka’aihue then stepped to the plate and belted his eighth home run of the season and third in his past five games, making it a 7-2 ballgame in favor of Omaha.

The Grizzlies clawed their way back into the game. They picked up two runs in the fourth inning on a double by third baseman Edgar Gonazalez to pull within three runs.

Broken bat ground out pushes Fresno past Omaha

Jarrod Dyson made a great defensive play in addition
to going 3-for-5 with a triple. (Photo: Corey O'Malley)

Omaha, Neb. – Just when it looked like the Omaha Storm Chasers might storm from behind to win Tuesday night, Brett Pill hit a broken bat ground out to short in the tenth inning that scored a run, giving the Fresno Grizzlies a 4-3 lead and that score held up. The ball was hit too slowly for Omaha shortstop Yamaico Navarro to turn a double play, so he had to go to first.

“He made a good pitch,” Jirschele said after the game, speaking about reliever Brandon Sisk facing Pill in the tenth inning. “It was just too good a pitch. He should have hit it a little firmer.”

The Chasers found themselves down 3-0 in the middle innings. Brandon Crawford hammered a 1-1 offering from Omaha starter Vin Mazarro over the right field wall in the fourth inning. Later in the inning, Justin Christian and Edgar Gonzalez both drove in a run with singles.

Sloppy defense by Omaha leads to Fresno win

David Lough was 1-for-4 with 2 RBIs
(File photo: Lee Warren)

Omaha, Neb. – The Fresno Grizzlies took advantage of a pair of Omaha errors during a six-run second inning, coasting to a 7-3 victory over the Storm Chasers Sunday evening at Werner Park. The Chasers quickly cut the lead in half in the bottom of the third, but were held scoreless over the final six innings.

Second place Memphis picked up a game on the Chasers with a win on Sunday, moving to within five games of Omaha.

The top of the second got off to an ominous start on Sunday, as starting and losing pitcher Luis Mendoza couldn’t corral a Brett Pill one hopper back to the mound for an error. Following a single and a walk, Brandon Crawford chopped a ball up the first base line to Mendoza, whose throw to Clint Robinson glanced off Robinson’s glove for an error, scoring two. The inning spiraled out of control from there, only ending when Brandon Belt was gunned down at the plate to end the inning with the Chasers trailing 6-0.

River Cats squeak by the Chasers

Cody Clark was 2-for-3 with an RBI
(File photo: Lee Warren)

Graham Godfrey and the Sacramento River Cats shut down the Omaha Storm Chasers 2-1 Friday night, in front of a nearly-full house of 8,871 fans at Werner Park. The River Cats have claimed two of the first three games of the four-game series, with all three games decided by a single run.

Thanks to strong performances by winning pitcher Graham Godfrey (11-2) and Omaha’s Mike Montgomery (4-7), the difference in the ballgame turned out to be a pair of ground balls down the first base line, one by each team.

In the top of the second, Adrian Cardenas turned on a pitch from Montgomery and snuck it past a diving Clint Robinson for a double, scoring Michael Taylor with the game’s first run. Later, with the River Cats up 2-1 in the seventh, Omaha’s Jarrod Dyson came to the plate with runners on first and second and hit a similar ground ball toward the line that looked to be enough for the game-tying hit. But 6-foot-4 first baseman Chris Carter smothered it with a sprawling dive and was able to flip to pitcher Vinnie Chulk for the out, squashing the rally.

Giavotella drives in four in Chasers rout

Johnny Giavotella, shown here helping Jeff Suppan
warm up earlier this season, went 5-for-6 with 4 RBIs.
(Photo: Gage Matthews / Kings of Kauffman)

Oklahoma City, OK – Johnny Giavotella collected five hits and drove in four runs to back a solid outing from Mike Montgomery as Omaha raced out to a huge early lead en route to a 12-3 decision over Oklahoma City Sunday afternoon in the second of a four-game series at Bricktown Ballpark.

The Storm Chasers won their third straight game to improve to 59-49 and remain five games up on the Memphis Redbirds in the PCL American North.

Lorenzo Cain’s two-run home run, his career-high 13th, staked the Chasers to a 2-0 lead in the first inning that held up after Montgomery stranded runners at second and third with one out in the bottom half of the inning.

Omaha scores five in the ninth for improbable win

David Lough delivered the game-winning
sacrificy fly in the ninth inning
(Photo: Minda Haas / Royal Blues)

Metairie, LA – David Lough delivered the game-winning run with a sacrifice fly to finish off a five-run ninth inning rally as Omaha came back to fashion an improbable 6-5 victory over New Orleans Tuesday night in the middle contest of a three-game set at Zephyr Field. The Storm Chasers stopped a two-game slide to improve to 47-39 and maintain their hold on first place in the PCL American North.

Trailing 5-1 and held to just three hits entering the ninth, the visitors loaded the bases with nobody out on two hits and an error to chase Mariano Gomez from the hill. Pete Andrelczyk took over and was greeted by a Cody Clark single that knocked in a run and a two-run double by Joaquin Arias that trimmed the deficit to 5-4.

Jarrod Dyson was hit by a pitch to fill the bases before New Orleans native Johnny Giavotella singled home the tying run with his first hit of the series. Lough then followed with a fly ball off Dan Jennings deep enough for Arias to tag from third and score the decisive run. Mike Aviles, who started the game-changing rally with a leadoff double, went 2-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to 13 games.

Cleto outduels Davies in Redbirds win

Kyle Davies went 7 innings, allowing just 4 hits,
striking out nine. (File Photo: Lee Warren)

Memphis starter Maikel Cleto shook off a leadoff home run by Mike Aviles in the bottom of the first inning, flashing an upper-90s fastball and a devastating curveball in a 3-1 Memphis win in front of 8,658 fans Saturday night at Werner Park.

He out-dueled Omaha starter Kyle Davies, who matched the youngster pitch-for-pitch but suffered the loss thanks to a pair of Storm Chasers throwing errors.

Cleto (1-0) fired 7.1 excellent innings in his Triple-A debut – though he previously made two appearances in the big leagues with St. Louis this season. The 22-year-old Dominican allowed just one run on four hits, struck out nine and did not walk a batter. His dominating performance marked another key milestone in his time with the St. Louis organization after being acquired from Seattle for infielder Brendan Ryan in the offseason.

Omaha powers past Nashville

Cody Clark (Photo: Lee Warren)

Cody Clark and Mike Aviles slugged solo home runs in a decisive four-run seventh inning to power Omaha past Nashville, 8-2, Thursday night in the fourth of a five-game set at Greer Stadium.

The Storm Chasers quieted the Sounds for a ninth time in 11 meetings to improve to 41-34 and increase their lead to 1 1/2 games over Memphis in the American Conference North Division. 

Lance Zawadzki smashed a two-run home run in the second to put the Chasers ahead 2-0 and extend his hitting streak to 14 games, the longest for any Omaha hitter this season.

Omaha takes opener in Nashville, comeback falls short in game 2

Clint Robinson singled home Irving Falu with two outs
in the seventh inning of game two to bring Omaha to within
a run, but they ended up falling short. (Photo: Lee Warren)

Frankie De La Cruz was solid through 6 1/3 innings and helped to make early offense stand up as Nashville fended off Omaha, 5-4, in game two to earn a doubleheader split Wednesday night at Greer Stadium. The Storm Chasers claimed the opener, 4-1, and head into the final two games of the five-game series at 40-34.

Sean O'Sullivan took the hill for Omaha on a rehab start in the nightcap and was touched for run-scoring hits by Erick Almonte and Mat Gamel in the first inning that put the visitors in an early 2-0 hole. Taylor Green led off the second with a home run, his third against the Storm Chasers this season, and another run came across on a wild pitch later in the frame. O'Sullivan was tagged with the loss after giving up four runs on six hits over 2 1/3 innings.

Almonte was involved in the Chasers two runs in the fifth as he committed an error on an Irving Falu grounder that allowed Paulo Orlando to score before Johnny Giavotella singled home Falu with two outs to halve the deficit.

Kansas City announces preliminary Omaha roster

David Lough in action last season
(Photo: Lee Warren)

Kansas City announced the preliminary Omaha Storm Chasers' roster yesterday. The following information comes from a press release:

The 24 players on the roster are relatively young by Triple-A standards, with no players in their thirties and 15 players aged 25 or younger, including a quartet of young stars aged 22 and younger.

Leading the youth movement are 21-year-old first baseman Eric Hosmer and 22-year-old third baseman Mike Moustakas, the most highly-regarded duo of prospects in the entire minor leagues at No. 8 and 9 in “Baseball America’s” Top 100. Joining them in the infield are Irving Falu, Johnny Giavotella, Clint Robinson and Lance Zawadzki. Behind the plate will be Manny Piña and Cody Clark.