From Train Wreck to Masterpiece

If the game two nights ago was a train wreck for the Royals, their 7-1 win last night against the White Sox was a masterpiece.

Even though Jose Lima has pitched well over the last three weeks, when you saw that he was matched up against Buehrle last night, well…you had to wonder if the Royals even had a chance to win given the White Sox explosive offense and the Royals tendency of being shut down by good pitchers. But through the first five innings, we had ourselves a good old fashioned pitchers duel and it was fun to watch.

Lima's change up was working and he ended up striking out 5 guys in the 6 innings that he worked. He had good command of his pitches and he didn't fall behind a lot of hitters. He did walk 3 guys, but in each case the count was full—no four pitch walks. After working the top half of the sixth inning, he was over 100 pitches and looked to be done for the night with the score tied 1-1.

But in the bottom half of the sixth inning, Ambres, Sweeney, and Brown all got hits to start the inning and when Teahen came up with the bases juiced later in the inning, he hit a big bases clearing double to break the game open in a 6-run inning for the Royals. The Royals only managed 8 hits for the night, but they made them count. Ambres, Sweeney, and Brown each had two hits.

Affeldt relieved Lima and his stuff was nasty—striking out two guys in his one inning of work. Burgos and Nunez were equally effective in the eighth and nine innings to close the door on the White Sox. Another impressive outing for the bullpen. And finally the Royals have a W against the White Sox for the first time in 11 tries this season.

The game this afternoon looks like it could be another pitchers duel, which means it'll probably be a blow out one way or the other. The White Sox send ace Jon Garland (15-4, 3.19) against Runelvys Hernandez (8-9, 4.34).