Game 12

Game Date: April 13, 2008
Royals 5, Twins 1  / Box Score
WP: Bannister (3-0), LP: Liriano (0-1) 
Royal Home Runs: Gordon (3)
Royals Record: 7-5

The Royals finally found a way to score a few runs, and Brian Bannister took it from there, throwing a 3-hitter on 111 pitches. It should have been a shutout, but Jose Guillen dropped a ball in the first inning allowing Brendan Harris to reach first base and Harris came around to score later in the inning.

Brain Bannister's star continues to rise, and with good reason. For the fans who are immersed in stats, Bannister can talk their game. For those who love to see a starting pitcher who economizes his pitches and can tell you why he threw every pitch, Bannister is their guy. And for those who simply love to see a pitcher keep the other team off-balance while giving the Royals a chance to win, Bannister gives them something to cheer about.

Trey Hillman put Joey Gathright back at the top of the batting order and he came through, going 2-for-4 with a run scored. Esteban German got the nod at second base and went 1-for-3 with an RBI. And Billy Butler expanded his hitting streak to 12 games (he has at least one hit in every game this season) by going 1-for-1 with 3 BB. Alex Gordon hit his third home run of the season. And Miguel Olivo got in on the action, going 1-for-3 with an RBI.

Have you noticed Tony Pena's batting average? After his 0-for-3 yesterday, he's hitting .033--less than the price of a postage stamp. If this were the old days, somebody might actually start calling him "Postage Stamp Pena" and he'd never get rid of the nickname.

How about the debut of the powder blues? They look a little odd to me because of the white pants. Why not go all out and go powder blue from head to toe?

The Royals flew to Seattle after the game last night to begin a six game swing through Seattle, Los Angeles, and Oakland. Tonight, Zack Greinke (2-0, 0.60) will go up against Jarrod Washburn (1-1, 3.00). Greinke is 0-0 in his career against the Mariners with a 4.22 ERA in 21.1 IP. Washburn is 8-4 against the Royals with a 3.36 ERA in 88.1 IP.