I'm dreaming.. Right...?

Whew, after a long day I can barely keep my eyes open!  Then again, why would I want to, knowing that TPJ made the roster.. maybe if I go to sleep I'll wake up and it'll all have been a dream.. TPJ making the roster.. HoSucky and Sucky Ponson making the rotation..  Yeah.. All a dream..

Anyway, we'll look at the game quickly, but expect a longer/better post tomorrow.  I'm just not able to write much tonight!  Sorry!

The Game

Zack Greinke struck out 7 but allowed 4 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks in 5 innings.  Greinke's ERA is at 9.21, so we'll see if he can turn it around for the season, as this was the last game he will pitch in before he will pitch Wednesday in Chicago.  The Rangers outhit the Royals 9-7 and also scored more runs, winning 7-2.  The hitters managed 5 walks and struck out 8 times, not great, but an improvement.  The pitchers struck out 12 Rangers but walked 5.  The strikeouts are fine, but they could stand to walk less hitters.  

Hitter of the Game

David DeJesus was 2-3 today with 2 doubles, netting him the HoG award.  David had 1 RBI, 1 run, 1 K and 1 BB.  He is batting .303 on the spring.  David was in the two hole tonight.  I think I really like him there.

Pitcher of the Game

Hamulack pitched a third of an inning.  But he was the only pitcher who was successful, in my opinion, so he will be the pitcher of the game.  He gave up 0 hits and struck out and walked none as he retired the only batter he faced and stranded his lone inherited runner.  Hamulack has a 2.45 ERA this spring, but it appears he will probably not make the 25 man roster.

Tomorrow

The Royals will play the Rangers in their first game in a big league ball park tomorrow at 1:05 central time.  Kyle Davies gets the nod for the Royals, while Anna Benson's husband will start for the Rangers.  Joakim Soria is also scheduled to pitch.

Thanks for reading!

Teahen goes yardski..

Well the Royals went down today, and went down hard.  I know it's just spring training but it's never fun to see your pitching get demolished like that.  

Overall the pitchers gave up 9 runs on 17 hits, 8 of which went for extra bases.  The pitching did manage 9 strikeouts against 4 walks, not too bad.  The hitters scored just 3 runs on 11 hits and struck out 9 times while drawing just 2 walks.  

Hitter of the game

Mark Teahen grabs the hitter of the game award tonight.  Teahen was 2-4 with a solo home run and no strikeouts or walks.  He drove in one run and scored one run.

Pitcher of the game

Tim Hamulack will be the pitcher of the game for tonight.  I had never seen Tim pitch before and he was fairly impressive I thought.  Tim pitched a scoreless 8th inning, striking out 2 batters and allowing 2 hits.

Overall thoughts..

I felt like overall I was impressed with our hitters approach at the plate.  While it didn't amount to a lot of walks tonight, there were very few first pitch outs, which is encouraging as that is one of the most frustrating things in baseball for me.  (That and leadoff walks, of course).  

Tony Pena Jr. looked awful in the field, while I felt Mark Teahen didn't look half bad.  IF Teahen can continue his torrid hitting (and that is a big IF) then I feel like there will be almost no option but to start him at 2nd base.  (Hey, if Skip Schumaker can do it...).  Greinke's stuff was there, but I felt like he was kind of just toying around a lot, so I'm not too worried about his line for the night.

On another note, Joel Goldberg is as obnoxious and annoying as ever and Frank White continues to underwhelm me.

Tomorrow

The Royals are off on Thursday

Thanks as always for reading, look for me to continue my "breakout candidate of the year" series tomorrow on the Royals day off.