Royalsblog

For a team that’s supposed to be a favorite in the AL Central, the Twins just can’t seem to get it done against the Royals. I mean the Royals winning three of five against the Twins in a weeklong span isn’t what I’d call awesome, but wins are wins.

Things went well enough last night with the Royals keeping the Twins down 4-3.  Odalis Perez threw six solid innings and he picked up win number two but it was the pen that shined.  Four relievers combined to throw three innings of one hit ball to hold the lead for the Royals.  David DeJesus had another nice game and he hit homerun number four.  He went three for four with two RBIs and two runs.  Mike Sweeney also got it done with his second homerun and two RBIs.

Today’s game was an eleven inning pitcher’s duel that the Royals lost 1-0.  Zach Greinke had a great started wasted and he threw seven shutout innings.  Todd Wellemeyer took the loss when he gave up three hits and the game winning run in the eleventh.  Alex Gordan had a nice game at the plate and he went two for two with three walks.

Now the Royals head west to play the Mariners.  The schedule gets more and more bizarre because instead of playing the Angels in Anaheim after that series, they come to host the Angels.  Weird stuff.

Royals pitching gave up sixteen runs in their two game series with the White Sox and as you’ve probably guessed, the end result was two losses.  Neither of these games were pretty, although the ugliness took different forms in both.

On Monday, Gil Meche had a good enough start but the pen game up four runs in the final two frames to lose it.  Jimmy Gobble took the loss but there was plenty of blame to go around in this one.  Meche gave up three runs on eight hits with three strikeouts in seven solid innings.  David DeJesus walked twice and scored two runs in the 7-4 loss and John Buck homered and drove in two runs.

Last night, the Royals jumped all over Javier Vazquez early with four runs in the first but it went downhill from there.  The Royals actually had the lead as late as the seventh but three runs in the final two innings once again cost them.  Brian Bannister was roughed up for four runs in 4 1/3 innings and Joakim Soria took the loss when he gave up two runs in the ninth.  Mark Teahen was the hitting star in the 9-7 loss.  He went two for five with two runs and two RBIs.

There’s no rest though as the Royals head to Minnesota for two against the Twins.  Odalis Perez will throw tonight.

Huh, this one definitely took me by surprise.  The Royals hosted the first place Twins and took two of three in a pretty solid series.  And there was a little bit of everything from a high scoring game to a pitcher’s duel.  I’m not sure it means too much but it’s encouraging that the Royals put this together.

On Friday, the Royals got a ton of offense.  Mike Sweeney, Reggie Sanders and Mark Grudzielanek all homered and David DeJesus had three more hits with two runs in the 11-7 win.  The pitching wasn’t all that great but a win is a win.  Odalis Perez gave up four runs in five innings and he picked up his first win of the season.

Saturday was the loss as Zach Greinke and the pen was hit hard.  Greinke gave up four runs on nine hits and a walk with two strikeouts in five innings.  Joel Peralta took the loss and he gave up two runs in 2/3 of an inning.  Alex Gordon and Mark Teahan both hit their second homerun and Grudzielanek picked up two hits and two runs in the 7-5 loss.

Jorge de la Rossa got it done yesterday.  He gave up just one unearned run on five hits and a walk with four strikeouts in eight innings and the win improves his record to 2-1.  Ross Gload had the big hit with a two run homer and Mike Sweeney went three for four with an RBI in the 3-1 win.

Next up is a two game set against the White Sox beginning tonight.  Gil Meche gets the start and he’ll face Mark Buehrle.  I like our chances in this one even though Buehrle is coming off of the no hitter.

The Royals finally ended their six game winning streak in the series finale with the Tigers and they needed extra frames to do it.  Gil Meche gave up three six inning runs and Mike Sweeney shaved that lead to two with an RBI single in the seventh.  Then in the ninth, Mark Teehen doubled home David DeJesus and then Teahen scored on Ross Gload’s ground out.  In the tenth, John Buck came up huge with a solo homerun to win the game.  Meche was solid in the start and an error by Alex Gordan cost him in the three run sixth.  He gave up three unearned runs on six hits and three walks with six strikeouts in eight innings.  Joakim Soria struck out four in two shutout frames and he picked up the win.

The rest of the series didn’t go as well.  Zach Greinke gave up a grand slam in the first inning of Monday’s opener and that started a 12-5 blowout.  The pen didn’t fare very well and Ryan Shealy hit a two run homerun.  Emil Brown had two hits, two runs and an RBI in the loss.

Yesterday’s game was pretty crazy.  The Tigers had leads of 4-1 and 5-2 but a four run sixth inning gave the Royals a 6-5 lead.  Unfortunately, they couldn’t hold it though as the pen gave up single runs in the seventh and the eighth and the final turned out to be 7-6 Tigers.  David DeJesus had a huge game and he went four for five with a homerun, two RBIs and three runs.

It’s a travel day tomorrow and then the Royals host the Twins.  Odalis Perez gets the start in the opener on Friday.  Maybe the Royals can make it two in a row.

The bad weather came and put an early end to what turned out to be a three game series between the Royals and the Orioles.  It’s just as well because the Royals didn’t do all that well in the first three games.

On Thursday, the Royals got six shutout innings from Gil Meche but they didn’t get any run support to go with it.  The lone run came on an RBI single by Mark Grudzielanek and as soon as Meche came out of the game, Jimmy Gobble gave up a run to tie the game.  Then Jason Stanridge gave up a run in the ninth to lose it 2-1.

After that, it got ugly.  Erik Bedard shut down the Royals on Friday and Brandon Duckworth was knocked around in an 8-1 loss.  The Royals struck out ten times and the lone run came on a sac. fly by Emil Brown. Then on Saturday, the Royals got a few runs but Odalis Perez and the pen gave up more.  Grudzielanek had two hits and two runs while Ross Gload went two for three with an RBI.  Joel Peralta took the loss and he gave up two runs and he retired only one hitter.

Next up are the Tigers as the Royals head to Detroit for a three game series.  It’ll be a good matchup tonight as Zach Greinke takes on last year’s ROY, Justin Verlander.  Both have had really good starts so this should be a good one. 

The pitching staff, outside of Zach Greinke, took it on the chin in the Royals three game series against the Jays.  If your pitching gives up 19 runs in the three games, you’re not going to do very well.

Monday’s loss was the worst in a 9-1 pounding.  Odalis Perez didn’t even finish up the second inning and he gave up four runs while Jason Stanridge was also hit hard in his relief appearance.  The lone Royals run came on a solo homerun by John Buck in the seventh inning.

Tuesday’s game went a bit better as Zach Greinke threw a very good game.  He gave up just a single run on six hits with five strikeouts in six innings of work and he evened his record up at 1-1.  Joakim Soria threw two perfect innings to close out the game and he picked up his first career save.  Alex Gordan hit his first career homerun and David DeJesus and Mark Grudzielanek each had three hits in the 6-3 win.

Then yesterday, Jorge de la Rossa was hit hard in the rubber game.  He gave up five runs (four earned) on nine hits and a walk with three strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings in the loss.  David DeJesus homered and he’s off to a fine start while Esteban German had two hits and an RBI in the 7-4 loss.

Without a day off, the Royals travel to Baltimore for a four game series with the Orioles.  Gil Meche will try to bounce back from his last start in the series opener tonight.

I’m not sure what it is about the series opener, but the Royals have won both of them so far.  It’s the other four games they’ve had a hard time with.  With the AL champ Tigers in town, the Royals put together some nice pitching and some timely hitting to walk away with Friday’s game.  Jorge de la Rosa gave up just a single run on four hits in seven innings of work and the Royals scored two in the seventh to walk away with a 3-1 win.  David DeJesus went two for four with a run and an RBI while Tony Pena, Jr. continued his hot hitting with another triple in a game he went two for three in.

Then the Royals hit a wall.  On Saturday, Gil Meche was rocked for six runs in seven innings in a 6-5 loss.  Reggie Sanders had a nice game in which he went three for four with a homerun, two RBIs and three runs but it wasn’t enough.  Then on Sunday, the Royals had the lead for most of the game before David Riske gave up a three run, ninth inning homerun as the Tigers edged the Royals 3-2.

I guess there’s some consolation that the Royals are staying in a lot of these games.  They just need to win a few more.  Now the Royals hit the road for a three game set against the Blue Jays in their home opener.  Odalis Perez will get the start and if the trend continues, the Royals will win this one tonight. 

Well, the Royals know Daisuke Matsuzaka is for real.  He held the Royals to a single run on just six hits.  It’s kind of a bummer because Zach Greinke had a nice start.  He gave up just two runs (one earned) on eight hits and a walk with seven strikeouts in seven innings of work.  Joel Peralta was tagged for two runs in the eighth but that didn’t matter since the Royals scored just the one run.

And that one run was a solo shot by David DeJesus.  He finished with two hits as did Esteban German in the 4-1 loss.

The AL Champ Detroit Tigers roll into town tomorrow.  Jorge De La Rosa gets the start and he’ll face ROY Justin Verlander.

The Red Sox returned the favor last night in a blow out win over the Royals.  The only run for the Royals came on a Jason LaRue sac. fly.  Ross Gload had two of the three hits in the 7-1 loss.

Odalis Perez was knocked around for four runs on five hits and three walks with three strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.  Todd Wellemeyer gave up two runs in relief.

The rubber game is this afternoon and there’s some hype behind the game with Dice-K making his major league debut.  Zach Greinke will take the first step in his comeback as he pitches for the Royals.

I’ve been a big fan of David DeJesus since he came up through the minors and I always thought he had a batting title in him at some point.  He’s a great patient hitter and while he hasn’t shown a lot of pop, he makes a solid top of the lineup tablesetter.  At least that’s how it was supposed to work.  Instead, DeJesus has been injured most seasons and he’s never quite put together the great season yet.

John Sickels recently posted what he thinks could be DeJesus’ career line in a crystal ball column.  It’s probably pretty realistic although I hope it’s kind of a low end projection because I think the centerfielder still has some upside.  They also have him bailing once he gets his six years in, which is entirely possible the way this team works.  Interesting take though.

Maybe Gil Meche isn’t as bad as people think.  He made a tough Red Sox lineup look pretty foolish as he gave up just a single run on six hits and just one walk with six strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings of work.  Then Joel Peralta struck out four of the five outs he made as he threw 1 2/3 shutout frames.

At the plate, John Buck homered and Mark Grudzielanek had a big game at the plate.  He went three for five with three RBIs and two runs in the 7-1 win.  Buck and Tony Pena, Jr. each scored twice.

Odalis Perez takes the mound for the Royals on Wednesday.  They’ll be facing Josh Beckett and man would it be nice to get another early win under our belt.

It looks like Octavio Dotel’s debut as the Royals closer might be delayed for a couple of weeks because he’s injured his left oblique.  It looks like according to this Rotoworld report that they’ll make a decision on Wednesday and that in the meantime, David Riske is probably the next best option.  It wouldn’t surprise me if he tests a couple of guys just to see if one backup rises to the occassion.