If any team could overcome a 6 run first inning deficit, it would be the St. Louis Cardinals. Thankfully it didn't happen yesterday. In an error-filled first inning, 6 Royals crossed the plate. Then Royals fans held their breathe when Ryan Jensen took the mound in his first appearance since coming up from Omaha.
Jensen held his own, going 5 innings and giving up 2 earned runs against a deadly line up. Jensen is a lot like Jeff Suppan—the former Royal, whom the Royals faced yesterday. He doesn't throw hard. He keeps the ball around the plate. And he tries to make guys get themselves out. The one difference is that Jensen has a knuckleball that he isn't afraid to throw. He struck Larry Walker out with it and he threw it to another hitter later in the game. His out pitch is his slider and he had reasonable success with it.
Leo Nunez pitched nearly flawlessly behind Jensen in relief—giving up just 1 hit and 0 runs in 3 innings. MacDougal pitched a scoreless ninth.
All in all, we've got to feel good about this series. We dropped 2 of 3 games, but both of our losses were by one run. We stood toe-to-toe with a team that could win the World Series this year and we traded shots. They were just a little better.
- Sweeney continues to swing a hot bat—going 2-for-4…
- Berroa went 3-for-4…
- Buck hit his 3rd home run of the season…
- Brown was 3-for-4 with 3 RBI and is looking comfortable at the plate…
- Stairs went 2-for-4…
- And unfortunately, Ken Harvey went on the 15-day DL with back problems...
Tuesday, Runelvys Hernandez (2-5, 5.17) goes against Ryan Drese (3-4, 6.37) in Texas.
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