Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Game 33: Los Angeles @ Kansas City

Game Date: May 7, 2008
Royals 9, Angels 4 / Box Score
WP: Greinke (4-1), LP: Weaver (2-5) 
Royal Home Runs: DeJesus (3), Gordon (4)
Royals Record: 15-18

Well, it's May 7th and the Royals are finding a way to stay around .500. They salvaged the final game of this series the way they've won most of their games this year--great pitching. Yeah, they scored nine runs, but Zack Greinke, after struggling through the first inning (in which he threw 27 pitches and gave up a run), shifted into cruise control. He gave up three earned runs on five hits and he struck out eight, and his ERA rose only slightly to 1.80.

Now for the offense...they had a break out game. One of the most impressive at bats in my opinion came in the first inning when Mark Grudzielanek had a 10-pitch battle with Jered Weaver, ending with a single. Billy Butler later doubled him home. In the second inning, Jose Guillen led off with a double and three hitters later, Tony Pena singled on a 1-2 pitch to give the Royals a 2-1 lead and they didn't look back. DeJesus followed Pena's single with a blast over the right field wall that resulted in three more runs. The Royals had another big inning in the fourth when Alex Gordon hit a two-run home run and Ross Gload singled in a run. That put the Royals up 9-1 and Greinke fed off of that--sitting the Angels down in order in the fifth and sixth inning.

The bullpen took over from there. Joel Peralta threw a 6-pitch 1-2-3 eighth inning. Yasuhiko Yabuta struggled in the ninth--giving up three hits and a run, but he finally closed the door.

This wraps up my time in Kansas City, where I've been interviewing players from both the Royals and the Angels for a newspaper association that I work for. I'll post tomorrow about a few of my experiences.

The Royals begin a new series tomorrow night at the K against the Orioles. Luke Hochevar (2-1, 4.86) will go up against Daniel Cabrera (2-1, 4.06). Hochevar has never faced the Orioles. Cabrera is 3-0 against the Royals in his career with a 2.57 ERA.

4 comments:

Marko said...

I've just started reading your blog. It's a much more interesting way of keeping up with the Royals than reading the KC Star. Do you keep a scorecard of the games? It would be interesting to occasionally scan and post them as a link online.

Lee Warren said...

Welcome Mark.

I think the guys at the Star do a great job, so maybe you could keep up with the Royals by reading both sources.

When I'm working on assignment at the ballpark for a newspaper or magazine, I keep a scorecard. Once in a while I'll keep one at home too. But I don't keep a traditional scorecard. I use an excel spreadsheet I developed many years ago. It'd be too large to scan and put on the blog though.

Marko said...

I didn't say they do a poor job at the Star. I just enjoy this format better.

Lee Warren said...

I understand and I really appreciate your comments Mark.

 
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