Royals, Angels Split Series

Game Date: July 23, 2006
Game Score: Angels 3, Royals 1 / Box Score
WP: Weaver (7-0), LP: Duckworth (1-4), SV: Rodriguez (25)
Royal Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 34-64

Brandon Duckworth did what he could to keep the Royals in the game yesterday, but in the end, he didn’t have good enough control to keep the Angels off the board entirely. He gave up three earned runs in five innings, but the real problem was the four walks that he issued. A couple of days ago I complimented Royals’ hitters for showing more patience at the plate and for drawing more walks. Now I’d really like to see our pitching staff stop issuing so many walks. We’ve issued 381 walks, which puts us 26th in the major leagues in that category.

Jered Weaver dominated us again—giving up just one earned run on three hits in 6.2 innings. He had his slider working and his delivery was deceptive enough to keep the Royals off balance.

A bizarre play happened in the bottom half of the second inning. The Royals were down 1-0 and Emil Brown was on second base with two outs. Angel Berroa hit a ball to Orlando Cabrera at shortstop. Brown took third as Cabrera fielded the ball, but then he started for home (Silverio waved him home) and Cabrera made the adjustment to nail Brown at home. I guess Cabrera thought he was going to have a difficult time getting Berroa at first, so he decided to go home with the ball.

I’m also guessing that Cabrera’s observation after that game is going to be discussed behind closed doors in Kauffman Stadium: “I saw the coach send him home too early. I thought I didn’t have a chance at first base. I remembered it was [Brown]. He always runs with his head down.”

You can’t blame a guy for getting thrown out at home if his third base coach sends him, but you can blame him for having a reputation for not having a clue about his surroundings while he’s running the bases.

The Royals are off today. Tomorrow night, they’ll start a new series at home against the Orioles.