Friday, Aug. 5, 2005 | 10:17 a.m.
SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
-- Nick Christensen
OMAHA, Neb. -- A three-run home run by Calvin Pickering in the third inning helped the Omaha Royals to a 6-3 win against the Las Vegas 51s on Thursday night.
The blast was Pickering's 15th of the season. He went 2-for-4 on the night and led the team with three RBIs. The home run came off starter Scott Erickson, who made his first start for the 51s after being designated by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Erickson was pitching his first game since July 24. He'd pitched just 12 2/3 innings for the Dodgers since May.
"He actually threw the ball not bad," 51s manager Jerry Royster said. "He went four full innings and gave up a three-run home run, a run in the first and a single run ... he went out the following inning and pitched a zero-inning."
The Royals got the scoring started early, taking a 5-0 lead through three innings. Las Vegas got its first run the following inning when Tony Schrager scored on a walk.
Omaha added one more run in the seventh to make it 6-1 when Chris Truby scored on a pop fly.
Schrager, an Omaha native, made his first appearance at Rosenblatt Stadium since he was a member of Stanford's 1997 team that advanced to the College World Series. He hit a solo home run in the ninth inning.
Las Vegas reliever Buddy Carlyle, also an Omaha native, allowed one hit and an unearned run in the seventh inning while striking out two Royals batters.
Jaime Cerda (2-1) earned the win after allowing three hits and one run in four innings of play.
Erickson (0-1) took the loss, giving up six hits and five runs in four innings.
Sun reporter Nick Christensen contributed to this report.
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