Luke Hochevar and Brian Bannister combine for 14 IP 10 H 0 R 1 BB 16 K .. Solid..

6 game winning streak.. 

Pure awesomeness.

Short post today, it's been awfully busy..

and I'm still trying to cope with the Manny news.  It's too soon for me to talk about it.

Hitter of the Game

Billy Butler was the only Royal with 2 hits, and one of only two Royals with an RBI.  He gets the award today, he was 2-4 with an RBI, no runs, strikeouts, or walks.

Pitcher of the Game

I don't necessarily like it when starters only go 6 innings, but Banny was pretty damn good today, even without his best control.  He went 6 innings, allowing 5 hits and walking 1 while striking out 7.  He did not allow a run, earned or otherwise.

Tomorrow

The Royals travel to LA tomorrow to take on the Halos.  Gil Meche will take on Matt Palmer.  First pitch is at 9:05 central time.

Minor League Notables

Nick Van Stratten was 4-6 with a HR, a 2B and 7 RBI.

Alex Caldera struck out 10 over 6 innings of 1 run ball.  He walked just one and allowed just 4 hits.  Very nice showing for him, he's got a 4.97 ERA on the year.

Kurt Mertins had a 2 hit game, going 2-4 with a home run, 1 run, 1 rbi and a strikeout.  He is batting .278 so far.

Dan Cortes had one of his better outings this season as he pitched 6 innings of 1 run ball.  He struck out 8, walked 4 and allowed 5 hits.  His ERA is "down" to 5.02 after tonight.

Brayan Pena played left field, batted 3rd, and had 2 hits for AAA Omaha.  He was 2-4 with an RBI, no k's or bbs.

Luke Hochevar had his best outing of the season, throwing 8 shutout innings against the Springfield Redbirds.  He struck out 9, walked none and gave up just 5 hits, all singles.  75 of his 97 pitches were for strikes.  I think it's gotta be close to hoochie mama time in Kansas City.

Thanks for reading!

Royals DFA the wrong Pena.

Well, a depressing game today.  Especially considering we were facing Zach Miner.  Ugh.. oh well.  Obviously Kyle didn't have it today.  We'll have to see how he bounces back next time out.  I'm (obviously) not ready to give up on him yet.

Hitter of the Game

Coco Crisp scored the only run, so I'll give him the award, but make no mistake, the offense was awful all around today.  Coco was 1-3 with 1 run, 0 rbi, 0 k and a walk.

Pitcher of the Game

Ron Mahay gets it today.  He came in and struck out the side on 16 pitches.  Enough said.  He gave up no hits and walked no one.

Tomorrow

The Royals will finish up the Tigers series tomorrow as Sidney Ponson takes on Armando Gallaraga.  I expect another massacre.  Ugh.

DFA'd

Brayan Pena was DFAd today and all I have to say is why..  Tony Pena Jr. should have not even made this team, let alone still be hanging on.  By all accounts Brayan is a very useful player who is well.. a lot better than TPJ.  Oh well.  DFA Fail.

Minor League Notables

Derrick Robinson had a nice game, going 3-6 with 3 runs, 2 rbi, and a double.  He did not walk or strike out.  He also stole 2 bases, bring his season total to 11.

Mike Moustakas was 2-5 with a double and a home run.  Mike scored 2 runs and drove 2 in.  He did not walk or strike out.

Antonio Jimenez was 3-4 with a double and a RBI.  He also stole a base, he did not strike out or walk.

Thanks as always for reading!

DO call it a comeback..

Well.. when the Royals gave up the lead in the 7th inning on Mike Jacobs lack of an ability to effectively field a ground ball, all hope was lost.  At least in my opinion.  When the next 5 Royals batters made consecutive outs, most all hope was lost.  But nay, not today, the Royals roared back on the bat of Butler, Pena, Callaspo and Buck.  I'll admit, I was surprised, as I didn't think the Royals offense had 6 runs in them.  

When Joakim Soria shut the door, I felt completely silly for having given up earlier.  Then again, this offense does suck.  Our DH and RF combine for 8 career home runs.. and neither of them are "young".  Ouch.

Hitter of the Game

Big ol' John Buck stole the show today with a 3-4 performance.  John drove in 3 runs and scored one himself.  He did not walk and struck out once.  2 of his 3 hits went for bases as he had a double and a home run.

Pitcher of the Game

I know that Gil could have easily had 7 shutout innings today, as it was his defense more than his pitching that let him down, but I have to go with Soria slamming the door shut by striking out the side en route to his third save of the season for the pitcher of the game.  Soria gave up no hits and walked no one.  Perfect.

Tomorrow

Zack Greinke will take on Fausto Carmona tomorrow at the K.  First pitch is at 7:10 central time.

Losing to the Rangers sucks.. oh and it's the eve of the WBC.

Losing to the Rangers sucks, but at least the games don't ACTUALLY count.

The Game

The games are beginning to resemble real games more and more as only 4 pitchers pitched today.  Brian Bannister and Luke Hochevar each saw 3 innings of work, with Banny giving up 2 runs and the Hooch giving up none.  Dan Cortes and Yasuhiko Yabuta each saw an inning of work each, Yabuta didn't give up a run but Cortes gave up a 3 run big fly to Rangers 'spect Justin Smoak after walking 2.  Offensively, the Royals only mustered one run each in the 5th, 7th and 8th innings.  The Royals ended up losing to Kevin Millwood and the Rangers 5 to 3.

The Offense

The Royals hitters mustered just three runs on 6 hits today.  The only XBH were a double from Crisp and a homer from Gordon.  Brayan Pena did have a stolen base.  I guess he runs well for a catcher.  Ha.  Once again, the Royals only drew 2 walks (Tommy Murphy and Brayan Pena) but only struck out 5 times, but left 6 runners on base.  The Royals defense turned 3 double plays.

The Pitching

The Royals pitching wasn't awful today.  They gave up 5 runs on just 6 hits, tallying 6 strikeouts against 3 walks.  The Rangers only left 1 runner on base as a team, so they obviously got pretty lucky, or did very well with runners on base, depending on how you view it.  (luck!)

Hitter of the Game

Alex Gordon hit his 2nd home run in as many days, but I'm gonna give the hitter of the game award to Coco Crisp.  Coco had as many RBIs as Gordon (1), but had twice as many hits (2).  Coco had 2 hits, including a double, and one RBI.  He also struck out once.  Coco's average this spring rests at .400 after today's action.

Pitcher of the Game

Luke Hochevar gets the pitcher of the game award hands down.  Luke pitched 3 scoreless innings today, surrendering just 2 hits (both singles), while striking out 2 and walking none.  Luke's ERA this spring training is 3.60, and after today's outing, so is Brian Bannister's.

Tomorrow

The Royals do not have a scheduled game tomorrow.

WBC

The WBC starts tomorrow, with China taking on Japan and Chinese-Taipei taking on Korea.  Both games are scheduled to start at 3:30 AM central time, and can be viewed on ESPN 2, or on www.worldbaseballclassic.com .  I realize there is not much excitement around here for this event, and I find that disappointing.  The WBC has the potential to be like the Olympics if we allow it to be.  It also has the chance to improve the quality of the MLB, due to the increased interest in baseball worldwide.  I genuinely hope this WBC will help grow interest both in the US and around the world.

I'll call it now, I believe that Team USA will win this WBC.  I realize they've been hit hard with injuries, but we definitely have a better team than we did in 05, and I feel like the players really are gonna play with a chip on their shoulder, plus a lot of other significant teams have lost really good players, so the injury bug has bitten everyone, pretty much.  My pick for the runner up is Japan.

Leave comments on your pick for winner and runner-up.

Thanks, as always, for reading.