Down Go the Yankees

D. J. Carrasco stepped up big time last night and shut the evil Yankees out for 6 innings. Guy Hansen has been working with D.J. trying to get him to cut down on the number of arm angles he uses and the number of different pitches he throws. Hansen wants D.J. to throw over the top, rather than dropping down three quarters or even side arm. And he wants D.J. to stay with just his fastball, his change, and his curve. He thinks that in minimizing both D.J.'s arm angles and pitches, he'll be able to solve his control problems and be around the plate more consistently.

Sounds good in theory and it seemed to help D.J. last night. Although, the two bases on balls that he issued were 4-pitch walks and in both instances, D.J. seemed to lose focus. And he dropped down side arm at one point in the game, probably more out of habit than anything. But for the most part, he kept the Yankees guessing and frustrating some of them with his biting change up.

Stemle continues to impress, throwing two innings behind Carrasco and giving up 0 runs. And MacDougal is starting to look like the MacDougal of old (2003). He gave up a one-run shot to Bernie Williams and then he gave up a double—that definitely reminded me of the 2003 season, but he isn't as wild. He's issued 12 BB this season in 27 innings. His WHIP is 1.48, which certainly isn't good, but when you compare it to his 2004 WHIP (2.21), it looks almost normal. Just slightly better than the 1.50 WHIP he posted in 2003. I still think the closers role belongs to Affeldt when he comes back, but now that MacDougal is back on track, he'll be good in set up situations and for an occasional save.

Anybody noticing Mike Sweeney's improved glove work at first in recent games? He made several more good plays last night. He's not getting caught in between hops. He's moving well. He looks fluid. Dropping some weight and working harder to become a better fielder is definitely paying off. He's only made one error this season in the 32 games he's played at first base.

And how about Tony Graffanino? With the aid of his five hit performance the other night, his average is at .292. He's only had the chance to play second base 14 times this season though. He has played 1B, 2B, SS, and 3B already this season and he may be the new version of Desi Relaford.

Emil Brown seems to be settling down and playing like management thought he could. His two run shot off Randy Johnson gave the Royals an early lead and they never looked back.

Tonight, the Royals have a chance to do something that they haven't done in their last 78 series—sweep. And how sweet would it be to use the brooms against the evil Yankees? I think we've got a good shot. Ryan Jensen (1-1, 9.72) goes against Carl Pavano (4-3, 4.18). Pavano has put up some decent numbers this season, but he doesn't look like the Pavano who pitched for the Marlins. Go Blue!