PCL: Zephyrs rally in ninth, top Royals

• Story line: Former Omaha Royal Gookie Dawkins hit a three-run homer in the top of the ninth to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 victory, and the Royals lost Wednesday for a league-worst ninth time when leading after eight innings. No other PCL team has lost more than four such games. Omaha is 8-24 in games decided in the final at-bat.

• Star of the game: Dawkins went 3 for 4 and drove in all four Zephyrs' runs — he had tied the game with the RBI single in the seventh. He got an assist from another former O-Royal, David Matranga, who singled to cap a 12-pitch at-bat to start the ninth-inning rally with one out.

• Mound matters: Omaha starter Dusty Hughes turned in six strong innings, pitching around five walks by allowing just two hits while striking out nine. He had the Royals in position for a potential 18th shutout of the season (the franchise record is 19). … Reliever Chris Hayes (1-6) gave up four runs on seven hits in three innings to take the loss.

• Hot hitter: Cory Aldridge blasted his 21 st homer of the season to give Omaha a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the eighth. Aldridge, 30, has topped 20 homers only one other time in his professional career — he had 30 (27 in Class AA) in 2006. He's hit four homers during a seven-game hitting streak and has 11 homers and 21 RBIs while hitting .354 (28 for 79) over his last 20 games, putting him at .306 for the season.

• Alex Gordon watch: Gordon didn't put a ball in play until his final at-bat in his eighth game with Omaha, his seventh since being optioned to Class AAA. He walked three times and stuck out once before Tug Hulett doubled to bring Gordon to the plate as the tying run in the bottom of the ninth. Gordon flied to right on the first pitch to end the game. He's hitting .280.

• Up next: The series continues tonight. At 5:30, the July 3 game suspended by rain will be resumed. It's tied 2-2 going into the 11th inning. The regularly-scheduled game will follow. New Orleans sends RHs Matt DeSalvo (1-1, 1.64 ERA) and Rick VandenHurk (5-1, 2.52) to the mound, while Omaha hadn't decided on its pitchers as of Wednesday night. VandenHurk will wind up being the starter in each game, since he pitched the first six innings of the July 3 game.

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