Royals open up series against Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of California of North America

The good news is that the Royals scored more than 5 runs for the first time this season. The bad news is that the Bale and Nomo were awful. Hopefully Gil Meche can break through tonight and get his first win agaisnt the Angels. Weaver will be the opposing pitcher and is 1-2 despite having a good ERA.

4/15/08

Stud of the Game:
Tony Pena Jr. - 2 fo 4, 1 run, 2 RBI, 1K

Bum of the Game:
Hideo Nomo - 1 IP, 3 hits, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1K (just beat out Bale)

Back in First Place

Royals get their first back to back complete game performance since 2000. Bannister and Greinke have looked fantastic so far this year! The Royals have gone 13 straight games this season without scoring more than 5 runs, which makes our pitching staff look amazing considering we have 8 wins and are in first place. Billy Butler now has a 13 game hitting streak to start the season. I attended the game on Saturday and am very pleased with my Butler jersey. I got there 2 hours before game started and there was a HUGE line. The Royals manager greeted me at the gate and was the one who game me my jersey so that was pretty neat. Too bad the Royal's bats were as cold as the weather that night...

4/10/08

Stud of the Game:
Mark Teahen: 3 for 4, Royals only run

Bum of the Game:
Hideo Nomo: 3 IP, 2 ER, 4 hits, 2 HR, 2 BB, 1K

4/11/08

Stud of the Game:
Alex Gordon: 2 for 4, about the only positive during this shutout

Bum of the Game:
Jose Guillen: 0 for 4, 2K, 5 runners left on base

4/12/08

Stud of the Game:
Brett Tomko: 6 IP, 2 ER, 1BB, 1 K, Great defensive play, got the loss

Bum of the Game:
Jose Guillen: 0 for 4, 1 left on base

4/13/08

Stud of the Game:
Brian Bannister: Complete Game, 0 ER, 1 run allowed, 3K, 1 BB, 3 hits allowed, Win

Bum of the Game:
Jose Guillen: 3 game streak being Bum, 0 for 4, 2 K, 4 runners left on base

4/14/08

Stud of the Game:
Zach Greinke: Complete game, 1 ER, 5 hits, 4 K, 1 BB, Win

Bum of the Game:
Mark Grudzielanek: 0 for 4, 2 left on base

Will Return on Monday

I will be out of town this weekend so I won't be able to post until then (maybe even Sunday night). I gotta leave here in about 10 minutes so I will just post my studs/bums from Thur-Sun whenever I get back.

Royals Shutout Yankees, Go For Sweep Tomorrow

Once again our pitching was lights out! Greinke went 8 strong innings and goes to 2-0 on the season. He lowered his ERA to 0.60 in the process. John Buck got the Royals on the board in the 5th with a solo HR, his first of the year. Another interesting stat is that Joey Gathright recorded his 6th steal of the season, but got caught on trying to get his 7th steal. Guillen ended up leaving 5 runners on base going 1-4...and actually raised his batting average to .152. Great game in crappy weather. The boys in blue go for the sweep tomorrow at 7:10 CST.

4/9/08

Stud of the Game:
Zach Greinke - 8 shutout innings, 6 hits, 2 K, 2 BB, great outing!

Bum of the Game:
Tony Pena Jr. - 0 for 4, 1K, batting average now a pathetic .040

Guillen was going to get Bum of the Game leaving 5 runners on base, but he did manage to get a hit and 1 RBI, so Pena Jr. edges him out tonight.

Image source: www.tsn.ca

Royals Win Season Opener Against Yankees

Great pitching today giving up only 2 runs against a Jeter-less Yankees team. It's quite amazing how the Royals are in a tie for first despite Jose Guillen not putting up any offensive numbers this season. Our slugger is batting a whopping .138 for the season. Gordon and Butler showed up at the plate once again. It is quite nice to see Gathright set loose to roam the bases. 3 stolen bases today giving him 5 for the season...not too shabby! Bannister is now 2-0 after pitching a good 5 innings. Soria was perfect in the 9th once again.

4/08/2007

Stud of the Game:

Joey Gathright - 2 for 4, 2 runs, 3 stolen bases

Bum of the Game:

Jose Guillen - 0 for 5, 2 strikeouts, 3 runners left on base

Image reference: http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com/kc/images/fan_forum/wallpaper/2007/Gathright1024x768.jpg

Butler Jersey Night Near Sellout

Just to let everybody know, there are only a few tickets left for saturday's game. So if you were planning on going I would get online and buy tickets right now. The best tickets that were available for 2 people at the time of my purchase (today at 9pm) was row YY in the upper section of the upper deck.

Pitching Wins It For Royals Today

Today I am having the exact opposite problem that I had the past 2 games. I now have several players that deserve to be "stud of the game" today. I am going to give it to Soria because he was perfect in every way in the 9th, earning his 3rd save of the season. Tomko actually pitched 5 shutout innings and he, along with Alex Gordon, deserve consideration today as well. Butler was 3 for 4 at the plate today and knocked in 2 doubles. Great road trip for the Royals going 4-2.

4/6/2008

Stud of the Game:

Joakim Soria: 1 IP, 1 Save, 3 K, 0 BB, 0 H (in other words he was awesome)

Bum of the Game:

Ross Gload: 0 for 4, 2 K, 2 runners left on base

The Royals will be playing the Yankees in their home opener on Tuesday.

Royals Need To "Walk" Off Those Twinkies

After a quick 3-0 start, the Royals have gone into an offensive funk in the late innings. From innings 4-9, the Royals have scored a total of 2 runs this series. Also, the Royals have had a total of 0 walks this series!!! The Royals were never really out of either game, they just couldn't knock in that extra run or 2. Looking on the bright side, we have been competitive in every game so far this season.

4/4/2008

Stud of the Game:
Billy Butler - 2 for 4, 2-out RBI

Bum of the Game:
Alex Gordon - 0 for 4, 3 runners left on base

4/5/20008

Stud of the Game:
Alberto Callaspo - 1 for 4, 1 run, 1 RBI, 1 triple

Bum of the Game:
Gil Meche - 5.2 IP, 6 ER, 5 K, 1 HR, 2 BB

Picking "Stud of the Game" has been difficult this series as nobody has really had an outstanding game yet. Gil Meche got off to a great start until he gave up the 3-run HR today.

Kitty Cats Swept!

First I would like to apologize for not writing much the past week. I've been extremely busy and haven't had the time to post.

Now I would have never dreamed the Royals would have swept one baseball's best teams on the road to start the season. It is really incredibile! Our pitching has been outstanding thus far, although the next 2 pitchers in the rotation are not in the same class as Meche, Bannister, and Greinke. Let's hope we can keep it going against the Twins. Also, looking at the schedule, it apears this might be are most difficult month as far as quality teams we're playing. If we can manage to finish April with a .500 record I think things are looking very good for the rest of the season.

Now let me give out my awards for the past 2 games:

4/2/08

Royals Stud of the Game: Brian Bannister.

7 innings of shutout, 2 hit baseball. Also had 0 walks.

Royals Bum of the Game: Alex Gordon.

0-4 at the plate, 4 runners left on base, 3 strikeouts.

4/3/08

Royals Stud of the Game: Zach Greinke

7 innings only giving up 1 run, 3K, 6 hits given up.

Royals Bum of the Game: Tony Pena Jr

Has a great glove, but 0-4 today with 2 runners left on base.

Image source: http://www.hbcprotocols.com/Images/greinke.jpg