Jul/095
Royals Drop Game 2, Stay Optimistic
Posted by: Casey on July 11, 2009.
The bad news is, the Red Sox scored one run all night on friday, and they still got the win. The good news is that Bannister stymied the Sox for much of the night, dancing through the high-powered sox lineup with using both sides of the plate and keeping the hitters guessing.
There’s something about Fenway Park that makes Lester completely dominate the Royals. He has now pitched 26 scoreless innings against the Royals at home, which is an unbelievable feat. If you would have told me that there was going to be a no-hitter tonight in the major leagues, I would have been genuinely worried that it was going to be Lester doing it to us again. Lester has turned into a heck of a pitcher, really coming after hitters and not being afraid of challenging guys with his fastball. I enjoy watching him pitch, I think he’s got a chance to be very great.
I’m very optimistic about our chances to come away with at least a 2-2 tie at Fenway, which in my mind is an accomplishment, especially when you consider the fact that the Sox missed out on Greinke. We get to face Smoltz, which will be fun to face a legend, especially since he hasn’t been very good so far as a Red Sox player. Not only that, but we also have Meche heading onto the mound to face him in saturdays game. Hopefully we get the win against Smoltz because Chen will be facing Beckett in the sunday finale and yeah, that could be bad.
After many hours of thought, here’s my ruling on the trade today. We’re getting a SS who is a legitimate big-leaguer. We’ll be having Gordon and Betancourt on the left side of the infield, which gives us a much better lineup than we have had in the last few weeks. Compare these hypothetical lineups:
Typical lineup for first-half of the season.
- DeJesus (LF)
- Bloomquist (SS)
- Butler (1B)
- Guillen (RF)
- Teahen (3B)
- Jacobs (DH)
- Callaspo (2B)
- Olivo (C)
- Maier (CF)
With Gordon/Betancourt
- DeJesus (LF)
- Bloomquist (CF)
- Butler (1B)
- Guillen (DH)
- Teahen (RF)
- Gordon (3B)
- Callaspo (2B)
- Olivo (C)
- Betancourt (SS)
If you compare the lineups, you’ll notice some small differences, which actually turns out to be big differences. We fielded a lineup earlier this year that had Maier, TPJ and Hernandez. None of those players are legitimate big-league players, let alone guys that should be starting often. The additions of Gordon and Betancourt make this team much better on offense, defense and speed. I don’t think you can argue that.
We won’t know if Cortes ends up being as good as advertised. I think that because he’s not a proven big-league player, and that we got Betancourt who is a proven player (who by the way, has unlimited talent), that this trade is going to work out well for the Royals. It dramatically improves this team at SS, meanwhile we won’t know how Cortes pans out for years to come. I like the trade, and I will go on record as saying that I think Betancourt will work harder in KC and will work out for us very well. Let’s hope I am right.
BTW – props to Teahen. I really don’t want to see him leave this team.
Jul/090
Royals @ Red Sox, 6/10/09
Posted by: Casey on July 10, 2009.
Bannister vs Lester.
Let’s hope for no no-no.
Jul/090
Royals Stun Sox
Posted by: Casey on July 9, 2009.
The Royal Dance (aka, we aren't use to dramatic, clutch hits)
How about them Royals? Hoch goes 6 innings, allowing 5 runs, and gets the victory. Normally I would make a wise-ass remark relating to how much we suck. No, not tonight, tonight is the time to celebrate and drink some blue Kool Aid.
After being down 4-0, I can honestly say I didn’t give us much of a chance at winning that ball game. But as I said on twitter, we were fighting. I made a tweet remarking: “Regardless of how this inning turns out, props to DDJ, Bloomquist and Butler for making Penny work.” That was the first time I thought we might have a chance, and even though we didn’t score that inning (believe it was the 3rd), I thought it was a critical juncture in the game. DeJesus came up with 2 outs, Penny was rolling. The next 3 hitters all had solid plate appearances, and even though Butler didn’t get a hit, we still showed some life.
Then we continue to do a great job battling.. Why Callaspo was hitting 8th, I have no freaking idea. But it turned out pretty well today, he had a couple of clutch doubles, and this team really gave us a glimpse of how they can play if they play to their potential. Even with a poor starting pitching effort, we didn’t give up, and we kept battling.
Then we get the game-tying hit. Yes, Ryan freakin Freel with the clutch warning-track-power bloop. I don’t think he could be any more similar to Bloomquist, fighting off all of those pitches, being as versatile as he is as well. He had a hit, a walk, scored two runs, and his average is now over the Mendoza. Congratulations to Freel.
Okay, so we tie the game. I’m was really happy with the effort this team had showed up to that point. Freel’s on first, and DeJesus comes up to the plate. I’m not even contemplating the possibility of DDJ coming through with a big hit, I was already thinking ahead about the possibilities of scoring another run. But no, DeJesus decides to hit the damn ball for once this year.. And I didn’t believe it was going to get out of the park, but it did.
And can someone teach this team how to celebrate? Either be a Yankee and act like you expected to hit a go-ahead two run home-run, or do something more exciting than a “Royal Dance“.
lol @ Nick Green’s at bat with runners on 1st and 3rd with 2 outs in the 8th facing Soria.. For those who missed it:
- 1st pitch – Swings out of his shoes, literally as hard as you can swing at a 78 mph curve
- 2nd pitch – Fastball, high and tight, he thought it was another curve, check-swing fouls it off his bat
- 3rd pitch – The nasty curve, yet again, this time he didn’t even swing, and had a classic reaction to striking out on three nasty nasty pitches
Great job to the team, I tip my hats off to them. Let’s feel good for a night, forget about the record, the expectations, the past scars. Just wait for the game to show up on FSN on Royals Replay tonight. I’ll be there friends, yes, I’ll be there.
/celebrate! No negative comments tonight
Jul/092
Royals @ Red Sox – Live Game Thread 6/9/2009
Posted by: Casey on July 9, 2009.
Hochevar vs Penny. First pitch at 6:10 CST. Game is being played at Fenway.
Hope for no no-no..
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