Another 1-0 Loss

Game Date: July 19, 2006
Game Score: Red Sox 1, Royals 0 / Box Score
WP: Beckett (12-5), LP: Redman (6-5), SV: Papelbon (29)
Royal Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 32-62

I can’t believe it happened again. Two 1-0 losses in a row? In Fenway Park? As much as I’m surprised by it all, I was glad to listen to another pitcher’s duel. But as fun as they are to watch and/or listen to, now I’d actually like to see us win one of them. Beckett and Redman threw a combined 16 innings this afternoon, giving up just one run on 11 hits. The only run of the game came off the bat of Manny Ramirez who smashed the first pitch of the fourth inning over the Green Monster.

The Royals had one chance in this game. Angel Berroa doubled to lead off the third inning. Phillips got him over to third with a groundout, but Joey Gathright struck out. That just can’t happen in a situation like that. He’s simply got to be able to put the ball in play somewhere to give the runner a chance to score. Gathright is hitting a pitiful .203 right now and he struck out in all three of his plate appearances. I’m still wondering about the trade that brought him here. I’m not impressed with him so far.

Tomorrow night, the Royals begin a new series in Anaheim. Jimmy Gobble (3-3, 4.58) goes against Ervin Santana (11-3, 3.88).

Royals Outpitched Again

Game Date: July 18, 2006
Game Score: Red Sox 1, Royals 0 / Box Score
WP: Lester (5-0), LP: Duckworth (1-3), SV: Papelbon (28)
Royal Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 32-61

I love seeing old fashioned pitching duels—even if we end up on the losing end. Brandon Duckworth was outstanding through six innings. He gave up just one earned run on five hits. The run came in the fifth inning when Jason Varitek doubled with one out and Alex Gonzalez singled him in with two outs. Duckworth had his cutter working and he changed speeds well. And he lowered his ERA 4.78 which is a little more respectable.

Unfortunately, John Lester was better than Duckworth. He gave up just one hit in eight innings and the Royals never threatened against him. Thankfully, Mark Teahen had a solid single to center in the second inning or we might be talking about a no hitter tonight. Between the Tigers and the Red Sox, we’re running into all sorts of could young starting pitchers. That’s a good thing for baseball, which has been overloaded with power hitters for the better part of a decade, but a bad thing for the Royals.

The Royals are now 1-5 on this road trip, but with the exception of the 6-0 loss on Saturday, they’ve been in all the rest of the games against teams who are simply better than we are. Let’s hope that we can figure out a way to win a few of these types of games as the season progresses.

Before the game, the Royals placed Scott Elarton on the 15-day DL with a strained right shoulder. Joe Nelson replaced Elarton on the roster, and we’ll probably have to make another move when Elarton’s spot comes around again.

Tomorrow afternoon, the Royals send Mark Redman (6-4, 5.38) against Josh Beckett (11-5, 5.12). Redman is 1-7 with a 9.29 ERA in his career against the Red Sox. Beckett has never pitched against the Royals before.

Gotay to the Mets?

According to an article in the Star today, the Royals are close to trading Ruben Gotay to the Mets for Jeff Keppinger. I have no idea why the Mets would want such a free swinger at second base, but I’m glad they are interested. Keppinger would be a much better fit in our organization. He’s currently hitting .297 in Triple-A (Norfolk) and he has .349 OBP. He doesn’t have much power (2 HR, 25 RBI in 87 games), but he knows how to get on base and set the table.

Red Sox Sneak by Royals

Game Date: July 17, 2006
Game Score: Red Sox 5, Royals 4 / Box Score
WP: Timlin (5-0), LP: Peralta (1-2), SV: Papelbon (27)
Royal Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 32-60

The Royals jumped on the board early last night with three runs in the second inning, but after chasing knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, the Red Sox bullpen held steady and kept them in the game just long enough to beat us by a run. The big blow came in the seventh inning with the Royals leading 4-1. Joel Peralta gave up a three run shot to Doug Mirabelli to tie to the game. Peralta is not having anywhere near that year he had with the Dodgers last season where he had a 3.89 ERA and opponents only hit .219 against him. This year, his ERA is nearing 5.00 and opponents are now hitting .272 against him.

Luke Hudson pitched better than most people would have expected, including me. He gave up 3 ER in 6.1 IP. He threw 94 pitches and had 4 K. And I’m sure that he earned himself another start or two. Zack Greinke doesn’t appear to be close to returning and Runelvys Hernandez is sitting in the doghouse in Omaha, so Hudson it is—at least for a while.

Mark Grudzielanek was back in the lineup, but he went 0-for-5 and made a throwing error that snapped his 77-game errorless streak—a new record for Royals’ second basemen. Frank White held the record previously with 70 games. Although, I’m guessing that nobody on the planet would even whisper the idea that Grudzielanek had anywhere near the same range as White.

Allard Baird showed up during the Royals’ BP. That had to be an odd feeling for him.

Brandon Duckworth (1-2, 5.40) goes against Jon Lester (4-0, 2.89) tonight in Boston.

Royal Reflections' Poll Results

Here are the results from the last Royal Reflections’ poll that asked this question: Who is your favorite (active) former Royal?

38% (15 votes): Raul Ibanez
28% (11 votes): Carlos Beltran
15% (6 votes): Joe Randa
8% (3 votes): Johnny Damon
5% (2 votes): Other
3% (1 vote): Jermaine Dye
3% (1 vote): Paul Byrd
3% (1 vote): Jeff Suppan

A new poll will be up soon.

Redman's Parents

If you haven’t had a chance to read this story from the Miami Herald about Mark Redman and his parent’s battle to live (both have life-threatening diseases), check it out. It’s a quite touching story. People always have more going on in their lives that most people know about—baseball players included.

I particularly loved this line: “So Redman asked Royals manager Buddy Bell if he could shake up the rotation, letting the left-hander start on Sunday against the Mariners so his parents could watch on television. Bell obliged. Quietly.”

Royals Finally Beat the Tigers

Game Date: July 16, 2006
Game Score: Royals 9, Tigers 6 / Box Score
WP: Elarton (4-9), LP: Miner (6-2), SV: MacDougal (1)
Royal Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 32-59

The twelfth time was the charm. The Royals snapped the Tigers’ 10-game home winning streak, and finally put up a win against Detroit for the first time this season in twelve attempts. As almost always is the case—this game came down to pitching.

Elarton wasn’t great, but he was good enough. He only gave up three hits in six innings, but he also walked three guys and gave up two home runs. All in all though, you’ve got to be happy if you can keep this lineup down long enough to stay in the game, and that’s what Elarton did. He left with the Royals leading 7-3.

David DeJesus was back in his customary spot at the top of the lineup and he produced, going 4-for-6. He set the table for the first Royals’ run in the third inning with a leadoff single. The Royals scored four runs in the third inning on four hits and an intentional walk to Mark Teahen. Two of the hits—one by Esteban German and the other by Joey Gathright—came with two outs in the inning.

Gathright sliced a ball down the left field line in the fifth inning and it got by Marcus Thames. I thought Joey might round the bases for an inside the park home run, but he ended up at third. His triple also came with two outs and it scored two more runs.

Emil Brown was the next guy to drive in a run with two outs, this time in the sixth inning. So, this was more like the Royals we saw at the end of the first half—getting key hits with two outs and pitching just well enough to win.

Doug Mientkiewicz was back in the lineup today. Matt Stairs more than adequately filled in for him over the past few games. Matt showed that he can still pick a ball out of the dirt, and everyone knows that he can still hit. Angel Berroa missed his second straight game with a sore rib muscle. Tony Graffanino filled in for him.

With the Royals up 7-3 in the seventh inning, Bell gave the ball to Elmer Dessens and he had his second straight bad outing—giving up three earned runs in an inning. Burgos pitched the eighth inning—walking a guy of course, before getting out of it. And Mike MacDougal picked up his first save of the season by pitching a perfect ninth inning. Nice to see Mac back.

The Royals head to Boston next, where they’ll begin a new series tomorrow night. Luke Hudson (2-3, 5.79) goes against Tim Wakefield (7-8, 4.05). Hudson is 0-1 with a 4.05 ERA in his career against the Red Sox. Wakefield is 10-5 with a 3.56 ERA against the Royals. Surely, Allard Baird will be watching the game with interest now that he’s a “special-assignment scout” under Theo Epstein.

Verlander Dominates Again

Game Date: July 15, 2006
Game Score: Tigers 6, Royals 0 / Box Score
WP: Verlander (11), LP: Gobble (3)
Royal Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 31-59

You could see this loss coming simply by looking at the pitching match up. Gobble never makes it more than five or six innings and Verlander owns the Royals. Including the game tonight, he’s pitched 16 innings in his career against us and hasn’t given up one run. Detroit’s win tonight was also their eleventh in a row against the Royals this season. And including the two losses before the break, the Royals have now lost five games in a row. Not really what we were hoping for after they played so well for the preceding three weeks.

Verlander completely shut us down. We only managed two hits off of him. Gobble on the other hand wasn’t horrible, but wasn’t up to the task of competing with Verlander. Gobble gave up 4 ER in 5.0 IP. And he joins the growing trend of Royals’ starters who can’t seem to get past the fifth inning without throwing 95 or 100 pitches. Gobble threw 95 tonight. Verlander only threw 101 in 7 innings. Andrew Sisco continues to struggle. Tonight he gave up two more earned runs in one inning and he saw his ERA climb to 7.51. I’m thinking that it’s time to send Burgos and Sisco to Omaha for a few weeks until they can get things figured out.

One thing that really bugged me about this game, other than the pitching mismatch, was Emil Brown’s at bat in the second inning. With one out, he hit a ball to deep right field and he went into his home run trot. The ball hit the wall and got away from Ordonez, but since Emil wasn’t running, he barely made it to second. I’m old school. I admit it. But if I were Bell, I would have removed Brown from the game immediately and told him that he would not play again until he apologized to the team. Then, I’d serve notice to the rest of the team by telling them that they are always expected to run hard—no matter what, and if they don’t, then they’ll get the same treatment Brown got.

On the injury front, Angel Berroa was scratched before the game with a sore muscle. Grudzielanek is expected back Monday. Mientkiewicz was said to have more back pain before the game tonight than he did yesterday—that doesn’t sound good. And, you probably know by now that Paul Bako was put on the 15-day DL. Paul Phillips was called up and he had a pinch hit double tonight. Mike MacDougal finally made his first appearance of the season. He threw 10 pitches in one inning of relief. He gave up one hit and understandably, he struggled with his control.

Tomorrow is the last game of the Detroit series and it can’t get over quickly enough. The Royals send Scott Elarton (3-9, 5.38 ERA) against Zach Miner (6-1, 2.57). Elarton is 3-4 in his career against the Tigers with a 4.70 ERA. Miner has never pitched against the Royals.

Sweeney Interview

I recently had an article published in a Christian newspaper called The Pathway (in Jefferson City, MO) about Mike Sweeney. I interviewed him in mid-June for the article. If you’re interested in reading it, here’s a link: Royals’ Star Relies on Faith.

Bad Defense & Pitching Costly

Game Date: July 14, 2006
Game Score: Tigers 10, Royals 9 / Box Score
WP: T. Jones (2), LP: Affeldt (6)
Royal Home Runs: Berroa (6), Teahen (9)
Royals Record: 31-58

This is starting to look to familiar. The Royals jumped out to an early lead again last night, only to see bad pitching and bad defense cost them another game.

The Royals jumped on Kenny Rogers early, scoring four runs in the second inning off of him. The big blow came after Mark Teahen worked the count to 3-1 with two guys on base. Rogers tried to spot a fastball low and away, but he got more of the plate than he probably intended and Teahen turned on it and knocked it way up in the right field seats.

The Royals took a 6-3 lead into the sixth inning, but that’s when Redman faltered and Dessens didn’t fair much better. Angel Berroa didn’t help him. He booted a routine grounder, and in the process, allowed the tying run to score. He attempted to back hand a ball that he didn’t need to back hand, and after he couldn’t field it cleanly, he eventually gained control of the ball, only to have it squirt out of his hands before he could attempt a throw to first base. Seriously, can’t we find a way to dump this guy on somebody else? Or how about just eating his salary and saying adios?

With two guys on in the seventh inning, Bell brought in Ambiorix Burgos, and I cringed. By now, the league has figured this guy out and he really needs to go down to Omaha to either develop another pitch or to learn how to at least get some movement on his fastball. He let both inherited runners score and then one more, to give Detroit a 9-6 lead.

Joel Zumaya started the eighth inning. I was surprised that we got anything going against him because he’s been outstanding so far this season. But Graffanino walked to lead off the inning. After Berroa hit into a fielder’s choice, Mark Teahen walked, and then Buck singled to load the bases. David DeJesus then plugged the gap in left center, clearing the bases, and tying the score 9-9.

In the bottom of the ninth, with one out, Affeldt threw a good curve ball, down and in to Carlos Guillen, but Guillen went down and got it and somehow hit it out of the park for a walk-off home run. The Royals are 0-10 against the Tigers this season and it’s not because their pitching has held us down, but more so because our pitchers can’t find a way to get their hitters out either.

Tonight, Jimmy Gobble (3-2, 4.32) goes against Justin Verlander (10-4, 3.01). Gobble is 3-2 with a 3.86 ERA in his career against the Tigers. Verlander has only pitched against the Royals once, and it was a complete game shutout earlier this season. I don’t like this pitching match up at all. Gobble isn’t pitching well right now. He’s only thrown 9.1 innings in his last three starts and he has a 6.75 ERA over that span of games. Verlander, on the other hand, has thrown 21.0 innings in his last three starts, and he’s 2-0 with a 2.14 ERA.

Berroa Walk Watch (the quest for double digits): 8 walks in 82 games. Berroa made his 10th error of the season last night. Will he end up with more errors than walks this season?

Teahen Error Costly

Game Date: July 13, 2006
Game Score: Tigers 6, Royals 4 / Box Score
WP: Bonderman (9), LP: Duckworth (2)
Royal Home Runs: Graffanino (5), Teahen (8)
Royals Record: 31-57

According to Ryan Lefebvre, last night was the 59th time in 88 games this season that a Royals’ starter has failed to go at least five innings. Brandon Duckworth threw 103 pitches in just 4.2 innings, causing Bell to tap into a bullpen that has already seen way, way, way too much work. Yes, Teahen should have made the play at third, and if he had, Duckworth would have been out of the inning, but Brandon still threw more than a hundred pitches and he wasn’t fooling anybody. In the fifth inning alone, he gave up four successive singles and a walk. When the Tigers posted a five spot in the bottom of the fifth, they took the lead and didn’t look back.

The Royals were playing without Mark Grudzielanek (who is still in KC getting his back examined) and Doug Mientkiewicz (who also has back problems). Graffanino played well in place of Grudzielanek—going 1-for-4 with a home run and a walk. Stairs made a couple of nice plays at first and he went 2-for-4 with a walk at the plate.

DeJesus looked oddly out of place hitting in the three hole, and so did Gathright, who hit in the leadoff spot. Couldn’t we have hit Brown third and left DeJesus and Gathright in their respective positions in the order? Seems to make more sense to me.

Todd Wellemeyer and Joel Peralta pitched well in relief—going the final 3.1 innings and giving up no runs on three hits.

Tonight, Mark Redman (6-4, 5.27) goes against Kenny Rogers (11-3, 3.85). Redman is 2-3 in his career against the Tigers with a 4.60 ERA. Rogers is 19-13 against the Royals with a 3.74 ERA.

Berroa Walk Watch (the quest for double digits): 8 walks in 81 games.

Butler Named MVP of Futures Game

Billy Butler was named the MVP of the XM Satellite Radio Futures Game after hitting a two-run home run. He was 2-for-4 with a single, a home run, and two RBIs. After the game, the Hall of Fame requested his bat and he was happy to oblige.

Alex Gordon was also 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs.

Looks like the future could be bright in KC.

If you want to read more about the futures game, click here.

Halladay Takes it to the Royals

Game Date: July 9, 2006
Game Score: Blue Jays 11, Royals 3 / Box Score
WP: Halladay (12), LP: Gobble (2)
Royal Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 31-56

The Blue Jays jumped all over Jimmy Gobble this afternoon, scoring five runs off of him in 3.1 innings. Gobble was up in the zone and Blue Jay hitters’ didn’t miss their opportunities. Troy Glaus started the Blue Jays off with a three-run home run in the first inning. Reed Johnson singled in another run in the second inning. The Royals on the other hand, had a hard time getting the bats going against Roy Halladay—managing just four hits and one run off of him in 7.0 innings.  

Todd Wellemeyer had his first bad outing as a Royal—giving up four runs in 1.2 IP. The Blue Jays also got two more runs off of Joe Nelson. Affeldt and Burgos pitching the final three innings without giving up any more runs, but the damage was already done.

All-in-all, it was not a pretty way to end the first half of the season, but with Halladay on the mound, you sort of had to expect it. The Royals have a .356 winning percentage which is pathetic if you just look at the number itself, but when you consider that they were hovering around .250 just a month ago, you’ve got to feel pretty good about it. At this pace, they would win 57 games—a disappointing season by anybody’s definition, but I suspect that they’ll play better than .356 during the second half.

Enjoy the All-Star game festivities. If any news about the Royals breaks, you’ll read about it here.

Kris Wilson to Start for Yanks

You know things in evil Yankee-land are desperate when you hear that they plan to start former Royal Kris Wilson in Tampa tomorrow. And given the fact that they are fond of former Royal players (Damon, Guiel, Wilson)—maybe we could get them to take Angel Berroa off our hands.

Jays Snap Royals Streak

Game Date: July 8, 2006
Game Score: Blue Jays 7, Royals 5 / Box Score
WP: Tallet (2), LP: Peralta (1), SV: Ryan (24)
Royal Home Runs: Berroa (5)
Royals Record: 31-55

Scott Elarton just didn’t have his best stuff tonight. He gave up five runs in 3.1 IP and he walked two guys. We were down 4-1 in the third inning as a result, but the Royals stormed back with four runs in the bottom half of the inning. David DeJesus walked. Mark Grudzielanek doubled. Reggie Sanders singled in a run. Emil Brown singled in a run. And Tony Graffanino doubled in two runs. We held the lead briefly, but Elarton gave up another run in the fourth and the score was tied.

It stayed that way until the seventh inning when Toronto struck for two runs against Joel Peralta. The Blue Jays’ bullpen held the lead. In the ninth inning, Esteban German reached on an error, and then stole second, setting the stage for a possible tie if Reggie Sanders could launch one. Sanders was facing closer B.J. Ryan for the first time. And with the fans chanting “Reggie, Reggie, Reggie” Ryan struck him out. But with the way the Royals have been playing lately you couldn’t help but think that he might just turn on one and put it half way up the seats in left field.

Tomorrow afternoon the Royals send Jimmy Gobble (3-1, 3.66) against Cy Young candidate Roy Halladay (11-2, 3.02). Gobble is 0-0 with a 2.79 ERA in his career against the Blue Jays in 9.2 IP. Halladay is 6-2 with a 3.44 ERA against the Royals.

Berroa Walk Watch (the quest for double digits): 8 walks in 79 games.