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Matchups: Kansas City Royals
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Matchups: Kansas City Royals
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Matchups: Kansas City Royals
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Reputation:99
Level:Superstar
Since:Apr 7, 2007
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Baltimore Orioles (16-18) vs. Kansas City Royals (16-18)
Daniel Cabrera (2-1) 4.06 (1.35), 27/23
vs.
Luke Hochevar (2-1) 4.86 (1.63), 14/9
Hochevar is one of KC's best pitching prospects and has been so-so to start his major league career. I have read that the time when Luke gets into trouble is when he gets out of his delivery and that leads to disastrous results. Regardless, we have Daniel Cabrera going for us. Never fear, DC is here and we put and end to the losing streak right here. Advantage Orioles.
Steve Trachsel (1-4) 7.43 (1.98), 13/19
vs.
Gil Meche (2-4) 5.98 (1.53), 27/15 *(L2: 1.99 (.735), 7/1)
Although Meche has struggled to get going this year, he has been brilliant over his last two starts as you can see above. This is more like the Gil Meche KC saw last year and I think it continues here against Steve Trachsel. Needless to say, Advantage Royals.
Garrett Olson (1-0) 2.08 (1.08), 13/6
vs.
Brett Tomko (1-3) 4.98 (1.46), 21/11
Tomko has been up and down as expected, but pitched seven innings of two hit ball against Anaheim in his last start. I do think Olson continues his pitching dominance in the majors here and you never know what you will get out of Tomko. Advantage Orioles.
Brian Burres (3-3) 3.19 (1.34), 20/14
vs.
Brian Bannister (3-4) 4.46 (1.25), 24/10 (L2: 11.25 (2.08), 6/4)
Brian Bannister is going to be very good in the majors and he started out that way, but he has struggled in his last two starts as you can see. Brian Burres has come back to earth a bit, but he has managed to keep us in the game and give us a chance to win. He struggled with his delivery in his last start, but surprisingly, this is a tough one for me. I can't see Bannister having a third consecutive bad start, but I hate to pick against Burres again. I think Bannister starts to come out of it and Burres keeps us in the game yet again. I'm going to take Bannister here, but just barely. Advantage Royals.
Our poor decision making on the bases have cost us dearly. It's either being picked off first or being doubled up on a caught line drive in the infield or something. Until I see improvement here, I'm going to be hesitant to give us the benefit of the doubt. I think we will split this series. We both have the same record, so the teams seem pretty evenly matched. If Burres comes in again and has problems with his delivery, the top of the Royals order will make him pay. I think Bannister pulls it together here and our struggling offense should help that along. All I want to see in this series are the elimination of bad base-running and unnecessary pick-offs during crucial times. Our pitching seems to be the only constant we can expect solid production out of. Now, all we need is some run scoring. If we keep making silly mistakes, we may not split. As others have mentioned, we have played the Royals well, but this isn't the same crappy Royals team either. I would be happy with a split and seeing the team play the game with some intelligence and instinct on the bases.
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Matchups: Kansas City Royals
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Matchups: Kansas City Royals
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Reputation:99
Level:Superstar
Since:Aug 31, 2006
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EXACTLY. I'd rather see improvement in a loss than making the same mistakes in a win. Sure, "A win's a win," and usually "We'll take 'em ugly", but not where the Orioles are now. The exception, in my opinion, is Daniel Cabrera. Just let this guy get some wins, build his confidence, and the consistency that we have been dreaming about will come. I couldn't care less how many baserunners he allows, as long as he continues to keep them from scoring. Ramon Hernandez had better snap out of it soon. His leash is getting ever shorter so far as I'm concerned (which I'll grant ain't that far). I think (and, in a weird way, hope) Aubrey Huff has pretty much plateau-ed. Nick Markakis and Adam Jones will pick up the pace as the season wears on. The double-plays are still killing my soul, though. We're getting just as many baserunners as they are...we're just not very good at getting them all the way around just yet. But they're making pitchers work a lot more than we've seen in the past. I won't deconstruct anymore; I'll resign myself to hoping I've made my point...or rather, reinforced sessh's. This is most definitely a team with a bright future. My Dear Lord, it feels good to say that.
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Matchups: Kansas City Royals
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Matchups: Kansas City Royals
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Reputation:99
Level:Superstar
Since:Jun 15, 2007
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I'm not gonna come down on the team too bad for that Oakland series. They had a bad series that they would love to forget...................and I'm sure they will. A few base running mistakes, and 2 of them games could have gone either way. Trembly will calm them down, and get them focused again. Its a series they'd like to forget, and I'd like to forget, so I'm moving on (except for Luis Hernandez..................he's got to go. even his fielding sucks now!!)
on to KC. I will be VERY happy with a 2 - 2 series. However, I wouldn't be surprised if we took 3 out of 4. Of course the only way that we dont is if our offense goes missing again. I think DC, Olson, and Burress all have great outings, but it will depend on this Offense.
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Matchups: Kansas City Royals
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Matchups: Kansas City Royals
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Reputation:94
Level:All-Star
Since:Dec 30, 2006
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This series is going to be two teams who have bad offenses, so whoever can strike with hits is gonna be the winner.
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Matchups: Kansas City Royals
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Matchups: Kansas City Royals
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Reputation:98
Level:Superstar
Since:Aug 17, 2006
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This series is going to be two teams who have bad offenses, so whoever can strike with hits is gonna be the winner.
That didn't stop the A's...but I'll stay opptimistic and say that at the end of this series we are one game under .500. I'll tell you one thing though, that strikezone yesterday was horrible, that man decided to give the strike off the corner at the worst possible times (Ramon's strikeout comes instantly to mind, then in the next inning Guthrie does the same thing to a batter on the other side of the plate and everyone in the stadium thought it was a strike except the ump).
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Matchups: Kansas City Royals
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Matchups: Kansas City Royals
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Reputation:99
Level:Superstar
Since:Jun 15, 2007
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yeah, the strike zone yesterday was pretty pathetic. Even the guys on the radio couldn't believe how inconsistent the umpire was.
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Matchups: Kansas City Royals
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Matchups: Kansas City Royals
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Reputation:99
Level:Superstar
Since:Apr 7, 2007
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I don't care much whether an umpire wants to call a wide strike zone or a tight one, but if it's a strike in the first inning, it should be a strike in every inning thereafter. Hopefully, we see more consistent umpiring in this series.
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Matchups: Kansas City Royals
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Matchups: Kansas City Royals
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Reputation:94
Level:All-Star
Since:Dec 30, 2006
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I am just glad we miss their best pitcher, Zach Grienke.
 vs. 
Baltimore Orioles(16-18) &nbs p; &n bsp; Kansas City Royals(16-18)
Game 1:  Daniel Cabrera vs. Luke Hochevar
Cabrera Career vs. Royals: 3-0; 35 IP; 2.57 ERA; 1.43 WHIP
Hochevar Career vs. Orioles: 0-0; 0 IP; 0.00 ERA; 0.00 WHIP
Wow. D-Cab kills the Royals. I think we open with a win.
Game 2:  Steve Trachsel vs. Gil Meche
Trachsel Career vs. Royals: 1-3; 58 IP; 4.81 ERA; 1.53 WHIP
Meche Career vs. Orioles: 4-4; 91.2 IP; 2.95 ERA; 1.30 WHIP
I think we loss this one. Atleast Trachsel isn't pitching against an offensive team, but we drop this one.
Game 3:  Garrett Olson vs. Brett Tomko | |
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