Zack Greinke seemed to follow right along with Bannister’s stellar performance yesterday to pitch a one-run complete game of his own. This is the first complete game of Greinke’s career in the majors. He did so on just 107 pitches as well. This makes the second complete game by the Royals starting pitchers in as many days. This could not be any better in the eyes of the skipper Trey Hillman. What else can you ask for but one run complete game pitching from your starting staff. It sure does take the pressure of the bullpen as a whole.
To give an example of how well Zack has been pitching; His ERA went up from the 0.60 he earned after his outstanding outing against the Yankees, to 0.75, because of the one earned run he gave up in the 3rd inning off the bat of Ichiro Suzuki (go figure). That is an ERA below Bannister, below most pitchers in the majors (with that many innings), and below one! Wow. Who would have thought that at the beginning of this season we would be talking about any Royals pitcher in the top rankings in the league? How about the entire pitching staff?
Aside from some questionable outings, so far this year, the Royals are the talk of baseball. ESPN, and FOX Sports Net, CBSSportsline.com, and every baseball publication known to man, can’t stop talking about these Royals. It is really quite exciting, especially when there is nothing but comparisons to the great years, with George Brett and the boys. There is a winning tradition here in Kansas City, and it seems that this young club may be waking a sleeping giant.
The 5 runs scored came from an early set of homers in the 3-run third inning, off the bats of Billy Butler, and Miguel Olivo. They stole a couple of runs in the 7th and 8th, turning this into a 5-1 lead, and the victory.
This was the second win in a row for the club, and things look very good in Kansas City. They did not seem to be rattled by their previous 3-game losing streak, and have rebounded quite well. Of course this is helped along by incredible pitching (which always helps), but they are staying strong, and fighting through the valleys early on this season. This is a different attitude than we are used to seeing. A lot of the credit goes to the skipper Trey Hillman, his drive for success, and ability to see things for what they are, game by game. Also some credit must go to the front office. Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations/General Manager, Dayton Moore deserves a ton of credit, also, for driving for change in the Royals clubhouse.
Things are looking really good again, and back on track if you are a Royals fan. The get the first game against the Mariners, and look for the sweep tomorrow. The win today takes their record to an impressive 8-5, and has many in Major League Baseball taking notice. This team can get you both on the mound, and behind the plate. Things are looking very good for the future of this organization.
