Game Date: June 12, 2008
D-backs 1, Royals 0 / Box Score
WP: Buckner (1-0), LP: Yabuta (1-2)
Royal Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 26-42
When Chad Tracy came up to face Yasuhiko Yabuta in the bottom of the tenth inning with no score, I turned to a friend and said, "I don't have a good feeling about this." A pitch or two later, Tracy sent the ball over the right field wall for a walk-off win for the D-backs and I was left scratching me head.
Why not use Jimmy Gobble, the only lefty we had left in the pen, against Tracy? I know his ERA is 8.10, but against lefties he has a 3.86 ERA (against righties he has a 13.50 ERA). Yabuta has been pitching well, but the match up just didn't make sense.
Of course, we didn't score a single run ourselves, and you can't win if you don't score. I can't help but think back to the first inning when the Royals had guys on first and third with one out, but Jose Guillen struck out. Guillen has been on fire lately, but he still has to get the run home from third in that situation.
Zack Greinke struggled with his command (he walked seven guys), but he still found a way to keep the D-backs off the board for the seven innings he was on the mound. Ramon Ramirez and Ron Mahay also kept the D-backs from scoring.
In the top half of the tenth inning, former Royal Billy Buckner took the mound and ironically, he ended up with the win after Tracy hit the home run.
Tonight, Luke Hochevar (3-5, 4.91) will go up against Randy Johnson (4-3, 4.10). Hochevar has never faced the D-backs. The Big Unit is 15-7 in his career against the Royals with a 2.92 ERA.
1 comment:
I didn't have a good feeling about Yabuta either... but I also didn't have a good feeling about Mahay. The bullpen is just blowing so many good starting pitching performances lately (although Zach's game wasn't that great with all the walks) but Gil Meche's start vs. the Rangers comes to mind.
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