Mediocre Pitching and Defense Costly

Game Date: April 11, 2007
Blue Jays 7, Royals 4 / Box Score
WP: Chacin (1-0) LP: De La Rosa (1-1) SV: Ryan (3)
Royal Home Runs: DeJesus (2)
Royals Record: 3-6

A sub-par outing by De La Rosa coupled with two bad defensive plays cost the Royals this one. De La Rosa went 5.2 innings, giving up nine hits, four earned runs, one base on balls, and he had three strikeouts. He kept trying to throw his version of a change up, which really looks more like a splitter, and he repeatedly left it up in the zone. A good example was Frank Thomas' at bat in the fourth inning. De La Rosa got ahead of him 0-2, but then he threw his change/splitter and he hung it over the plate. Thomas whacked it for a single. Thomas came around to score.

Wellemeyer didn't get the job done in relief either. He gave up two runs on two hits and two walks in one inning. And like I said, the defense cost the Royals a couple of runs. In the second inning, Alex Gordon bobbled a ground ball with two outs and he failed to throw out Aaron Hill in time at first base--allowing a run to score from third. The official scorer originally called it an error, which it should have been, but then he changed his ruling to a single. Then, in the sixth inning, with two outs and a guy on third, Pena bobbled a ball and it cost the Royals another run. This one was rightly ruled an error. The Royals ended up losing by three, but it may be changed the complexion of the game.

David DeJesus had another good night at the plate, going 2-for-5 with a home run and an RBI. Esteban German was 2-for-4 with an RBI filling in for Grud. Shealy and LaRue had the other two RBI.

This is the third straight series that the Royals have lost, but they've played three very good teams. The guys are off to Baltimore to begin a new series there tomorrow. Gil Meche (1-1, 4.40) will go against Steve Trachsel (0-0, 4.05). Meche is 4-2 with a 3.33 ERA against the Orioles in his career. Trachsel is 0-3 with a 6.21 against the Royals, so you've got to like our chances in this one.