Royals Strike First in I-70 Series

Game Date: June 12, 2007
Royals 8, Cardinals 1 / Box Score
WP: Bannister (3-3), LP: Thompson (4-2)
Royal Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 25-40

Ever since Brian Bannister ended the Royals seven game losing streak in Tampa on June 1, the Royals have been a different team. They've won six of eleven games, and over that stretch, Bannister is 3-0 with a 0.41 ERA in 22 IP. He's struck out 14, walked just two, and given up just one home run during that span of games.

To be honest, his stuff doesn't look like it's anything special, but he thinks like a pitcher. Last night, he saw that the Cardinals were sitting on his fastball in the first inning. With the bases loaded, he decided it was time to start utilizing his change up more and he was able to strike out Juan Encarnacion using it to end the inning without allowing any runs. 

In the bottom half of the first, the Royals took advantage of a couple of misplays by Scott Rolen at third base and they put a five spot on the board. Mark Teahen had an RBI triple down the left field line. Esteban German singled in Mike Sweeney and Mark Teahen. And Jason LaRue doubled in German and Alex Gordon.

Speaking of Gordon, he had three more hits last night and is now flirting with the Mendoza line. He seems much more relaxed at the plate than he's been all year. The Cardinals weren't afraid to test him in the second inning though. They gave a Mike Sweeney a free pass in order to pitch to Gordon. Gordon singled in Teahen.

Tony Pena, on the other hand, failed to get the job done twice with runners on third with less than two outs. He continues to take gigantic swings in such situations and I'm having a difficult time understanding why Bell or Barnett aren't all over him. Maybe they are, but if they are, he isn't listening.

David Riske saw his scoreless inning streak come to an end in this one. He'd gone 18 straight appearances spanning 17.1 innings without allowing a run. He gave up a monumental solo home run to Ryan Ludwick in the ninth inning. I'd much rather see our pen going after guys though with such a huge lead rather then trying to be too good and walking the bases full before giving up the home run.

Tonight, Odalis Perez (3-6, 5.68) goes against Adam Wainwright (4-5, 5.19). Perez is 2-3 in his career against the Cardinals with a 8.57 ERA. Wainwright is 0-0 against the Royals with a 3.86 ERA (in 4.2 innings of work).