Royals Drop Another One

Game Date: May 1, 2007
Angels 7, Royals 5 / Box Score
WP: Colon (3-0), LP: Greinke (1-3), SV: Rodriguez (10)
Royal Home Runs: Teahen (3)
Royals Record: 8-19

What an ugly pitching performance from two guys you expect more from. The Royals got to Bartolo Colon for five runs on nine hits in just five innings. Zack Greinke nearly didn't survive the first inning after giving up a grand slam to Vladimir Guerrero. He ended up giving up six earned runs on ten hits in five innings.

Even though the Angels jumped out to a big lead, Mark Teahen brought the Royals right back with a three-run home run in the third. But the Royals bats went cold after the fourth inning and the Angels' bullpen finished the game off only giving up one hit in the final four innings.

Billy Butler made his major league debut and went 2-for-4. Nice to see him off to a good start at the plate. He wasn't as good in the field. Hopefully that'll improve with experience.

With Scott Elarton and Luke Hudson nearing their respective returns to Kansas City, there's talk of moving Greinke to the bullpen since he's struggling so much right now. He still has a better ERA than Odalis Perez and I'd much rather see Greinke stay in the rotation that Perez, but we seldom seem to leave young pitchers in their roles when they are struggling. And Perez would probably throw a hissy-fit if he got moved to the pen.

Tonight, Jorge De La Rosa (2-2, 3.82) is matched up against Ervin Santana (2-3, 5.79). De La Rosa is 0-1 in his career against the Angels with a 5.40 ERA. Santana is 1-0 against the Royals with a 5.73 ERA.