Chasers shut down by Cubs' pitching

Jarrod Dyson drove in the only run for Omaha
(File photo: Minda Haas / Royal Blues)

Des Moines, IA – Mario Mercedes tripled in the game-winning run in the sixth inning to lift Iowa to a 2-1 victory over Omaha Sunday night in the middle of a three-game series at Principal Park.

The Storm Chasers fell to 79-62 and will have one last chance to win 80-or-more games in back-to-back seasons for the first time in franchise history.

D.J. LeMahieu’s run-scoring single in the first inning put the Cubs in front before Jarrod Dyson’s RBI double in third evened the count. From there, the Chasers were shut down by Chris Rusin, Andrew Cashner, Chris Carpenter and Scott Maine, who held them scoreless on six hits over the final six innings.

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.

Chasers lose a close one, but magic number reduced to two

David Lough was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a BB.
(File photo: Gage Matthews / Kings of Kauffman)

Omaha, Neb. – Round Rock catcher Taylor Teagarden belted two solo home runs, leading the Express past the Storm Chasers 3-2 Tuesday night at Werner Park. The Chasers put the tying run in scoring position in both the eighth and ninth innings, but were unable to score the equalizer.

“We battled,” said Omaha manager Mike Jirschele after the game about the team the Chasers will face in the playoffs, if they can maintain their lead.

“It was a tough game,” he said. “You know, we play these guys tough all the time – they are up, what now, 10-4 [in the season series] on the year? But if you look at it, I think there was only one game where we got beat by seven, but otherwise, there have been a lot of two-run, one-run games – extra innings. You know, we play them tough. 

“But what hurt us tonight is when we lost Clint [Robinson] and Kila [Ka’aihue] both and you’ve got to put Mertins and Zawadzki in the four and five hole for most of the game. Not that they can’t do the job, but it hurts when you lose those two big boppers.”

4-3 Omaha win reduces magic number to three

Clint Robinson is hitting .404 in August.
(File photo: Minda Haas / Royal Blues)

Omaha, Neb. – Willy Lebron pitched three scoreless innings of relief, ensuring that Clint Robinson’s go-ahead two-run single would be enough for the Chasers to defeat the Round Rock Express 4-3 Monday night at Werner Park.

After the game, Omaha manager Mike Jirschele spoke about Robinson, who is hitting .404 with 29 RBIs in August.

“He made two outstanding [defensive] plays tonight,” Jirschele said. “Besides that, he’s seeing the ball good – swinging the bat well. He’s on a mission right now and he’s been helping to carry this club.”

The victory reduced the Storm Chasers’ magic number to three with seven games remaining, but Jirschele was quick to point out that the Chasers need to stay focused.

“Memphis has got a good club,” he said. “They could easily win out. So we’ve got to be able to go out and win three more games yet.”

Chasers trounce the Zephyrs, trim magic number to six

Joaquin Arias was 3-for-5 with a home run and 3 RBIs
(File photo: Brad Williams Photography)

Metairie, LA – Joaquin Arias collected three hits, scored three times and blasted a three-run homer as Omaha rolled over New Orleans, 14-1, Friday night in the middle contest of a five-game series at Zephyr Field.

The Storm Chasers improved to 75-58, pushed their lead over Memphis back to four games and trimmed their magic number to six to clinch their first division title since 1999.

Clint Robinson started the second inning with a single, moved to second base on a wild pitch and scored on Irving Falu’s one-out base hit to get the Chasers on the board. Matt Dominguez led off the home half of the inning with a home run, his 12th of the season and fifth against Omaha. The long ball ended a stretch of 61 innings for Omaha starter Luis Mendoza since he had last yielded a home run on June 28 to Andrew Brown of Memphis.

O'Sullivan wins his sixth straight start

Sean O'Sullivan won his sixth straight start on Tuesday.
(File photo: Brad Williams Photography)

Omaha, Neb. – After an embarrassing defensive performance last night, in which the Storm Chasers committed six errors, Omaha manager Mike Jirschele tweaked the defense and Sean O’Sullivan pitched a gem en route to a 5-2 Omaha win over Nashville on Tuesday night.

Second place Memphis won as well, so Omaha maintained its four-game lead in the PCL American North. The loss moved the Sounds to 7.5 games back.

After the game on Monday, Jirschele said he would make some adjustments to the defense. The adjustments included moving Irving Falu from second base to shortstop (replacing Yamaico Navarro who committed two errors) and putting Kila Ka’aihue back at first base, replacing Clint Robinson (who committed two errors).

Omaha unable to overcome six errors

Omaha starter Jeff Suppan allowed one earned
run in 6.1 innings pitched, giving up six hits
and one walk to go with one strikeout.
(Photo: Brad Williams Photography)

 

Omaha, Neb. – The Omaha Storm Chasers dropped a 7-3, 11-inning decision to Nashville Monday evening at Werner Park – a game marred by six Chasers errors that aided six of the Sounds seven runs. Omaha was unable to capitalize on a two-run rally in the bottom of the ninth that sent the game to extras, remaining winless at Werner Park when trailing after eight innings.

Before the game reached extra innings, the Chasers were able to forge a tie with two out in the ninth thanks to some patience at the plate and a clutch base hit.

With David Lough aboard at third and two men already out, Clint Robinson coaxed a free pass from reliever Donovan Hand, followed by an infield single by Kila Ka’aihue to score Lough and bring the Chasers to within a run at 3-2. After Irving Falu worked a six-pitch walk to load the bases, Yamaico Navarro smashed a grounder past a diving Eric Farris at second base. Pinch-runner Joaquin Arias scored easily, but rightfielder Caleb Gindl’s throw home was on the money to gun down pinch-runner Kurt Mertins, ending the ninth with a 3-3 score. It was one of two innings in which the Chasers made the third out on the basepaths.

Navarro’s 9th inning home run gives Chasers another win

Yamaico Navarro blasted a three-run home run
to give Omaha a 4-2 win at Tacoma
(File photo: Lee Warren)

Tacoma, Wash. – Yamaico Navarro’s three-run home run in the ninth inning lifted Omaha to a 4-2 come-from-behind win over Tacoma Wednesday night in the second of a four-game series at Cheney Stadium.

The Storm Chasers improved to 69-55 and lengthened their lead to five games over Memphis in the PCL American North with just 19 regular season games left to play.

Trailing 2-1 after Tacoma had scored in the home eighth, the Chasers got back-to-back singles from Irving Falu and Lorenzo Cain to begin the decisive inning. Rainiers reliever Scott Patterson battled back to strike out Clint Robinson and Kila Ka’aihue and was one strike away from doing the same to Navarro before the shortstop drilled a line drive that cleared the left field wall to dramatically alter the contest with his first three runs driven in wearing an Omaha uniform.

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.

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.

Perez has big night in Chasers win

Salvador Perez was 3-for-4 with 3 RBIs
(File photo: Brad Williams /
Brad Williams Photography)

Omaha, Neb. – With violent storms whipping across the Omaha metro area Saturday night, the Chasers felt right at home, winning a 7-5 decision over the Sacramento River Cats at Werner Park. The game was delayed two times due to the weather, once with Omaha leading 6-4 in the fifth and again with the Storm Chasers on top 7-5 in the eighth.

The win by the Chasers, coupled with a loss by second place Memphis, gives Omaha a six game lead in the PCL American North. The Chasers are now 63-51 and they are 7-3 in their last 10 games.

Jeff Suppan (11-5) eventually earned the win in this one, as the 36-year-old righthander completed five innings of work just before the first storm hit. The 11 victories move him into a first-place tie for most wins in the league this season, matching Albuquerque’s Dana Eveland and Sacramento’s Graham Godfrey. He allowed four runs on four hits, walked two and struck out three in the game.

Catcher Salvador Perez, 15 years Suppan’s junior, was the hitting star for the Chasers in the ballgame. He ripped a pair of RBI doubles in the first three innings, giving him three runs batted in on the night and 10 in his short time in a Storm Chasers’ uniform. His second-inning double scored new shortstop Yamaico Navarro, who arrived in Omaha just three hours prior to first pitch. Navarro went 1-for-3 with a pair of runs scored.