Kansas City Royals @ Cleveland Indians Game Thread (5/4)

[alnorth]

<table border=3 cellpadding = 4>
<tr>
<td>Final</td> <td> 1 </td> <td> 2 </td><td> 3 </td><td> 4 </td><td> 5 </td><td> 6 </td><td> 7 </td><td> 8 </td><td> 9 </td><td> R </td><td> H </td><td> E </td></tr>
<tr> <td>KC (14-16)</td> <td> 0 </td> <td> 0 </td><td> 0 </td><td> 0 </td><td> 1 </td><td> 0 </td><td> 0 </td><td> 0 </td><td> 1 </td><td> 2 </td><td> 5 </td><td> 0 </td></tr>
<tr> <td>CLE (14-17)</td> <td> 0 </td> <td> 0 </td><td> 0 </td><td> 0 </td><td> 0 </td><td> 0 </td><td> 0 </td><td> 0 </td><td> 0 </td><td> 0 </td><td> 4 </td><td> 2 </td></tr>
</table>

http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/sp/v/mlb/teams/20080123/80x60/kan.gif

Win, (2-4) Gil Meche 7IP 0R 0ER 0BB 4K
Hold, (5) Leo Nunez 1IP 0R 0ER 0BB 1K
Save, (8) Joakim Soria 1IP 0R 0ER 0BB 0K

VS.

http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/sp/v/mlb/teams/20080123/80x60/cle.gif

Loss, (0-2) Aaron Laffey 7IP 1R 0ER 2BB 5K
Masahide Kobayashi 1IP 0R 0ER 0BB 1K
Rafael Perez 0.2IP 0R 0ER 0BB 0K
Rafael Betancourt 0.1IP 1R 1ER 0BB 1K

Starting Lineups

KC

1. David DeJesus, CF
2. Mark Grudzielanek, 2B
3. Alex Gordon, 3B
4. Jose Guillen, LF
5. Billy Butler, 1B
5. Ross Gload, 1B
6. Mark Teahen, RF
7. Miguel Olivo, DH
8. John Buck, C
9. Tony Pena Jr, SS

CLE

1. Grady Sizemore, CF
2. Franklin Gutierrez, RF
3. David Dellucci, LF
4. Victor Martinez, C
5. Jhonny Peralta, SS
6. Travis Hafner, DH
7. Ryan Garko, 1B
8. Casey Blake, 3B
9. Asdrubal Cabrera, 2B

[Jenson71]

Cmon ol Meche boy let's go now

[alnorth]

Top 1st

DeJesus flies out to left
Grudzielanek grounds out to second
Gordon strikes out (swinging)

0 runs, 0 hits

Bottom 1st

Sizemore strikes out (looking)
Gutierrez fouls out to third
Dellucci flies out to left

0 runs, 0 hits

[alnorth]

Top 2nd

Guillen grounds out to shortstop
Butler grounds out to pitcher
Teahen strikes out (swinging)

0 runs, 0 hits

Bottom 2nd

Martinez lines out to first
Peralta grounds out to third
Hafner grounds out to second

0 runs, 0 hits

[alnorth]

Top 3rd

Olivo strikes out (swinging)
Buck walks
Pena Jr reaches on a 5-4 fielder's choice, Buck out at second
DeJesus strikes out (swinging)

0 runs, 0 hits

Bottom 3rd

Garko singles to left
Blake flies out to left
Cabrera flies out to left
Sizemore grounds out to second

0 runs, 1 hit

[Bowser]

A real pitcher's duel today.

[alnorth]

Top 4th

Grudzielanek lines out to shortstop
Gordon pops out to shortstop
Guillen lines out to second

0 runs, 0 hits

Bottom 4th

Gutierrez grounds out to shortstop
Dellucci flies out to left
Martinez singles to left
Peralta strikes out (foul tip)

0 runs, 1 hit

[alnorth]

Top 5th

Butler grounds out to pitcher
Teahen grounds out to pitcher
Olivo singles to right
Buck walks, Olivo to second
Pena Jr reaches second, Buck to third, Olivo scores on an Error by 3B
DeJesus flies out to right

1 run, 1 hit, 1 error

Bottom 5th

Hafner flies out to left
Garko hits an infield single to third
Blake lines out to third
Cabrera flies out to left

0 runs, 1 hit

[Sure-Oz]

Nice job, cant even get a hit off this laffey clown

What a pathetic lineup

[alnorth]

Top 6th

Grudzielanek grounds out to shortstop
Gordon lines out to first
Guillen singles to center
Butler grounds out to second

0 runs, 1 hit

Bottom 6th

Sizemore singles to right
Gutierrez sacrifices (bunt) to pitcher, Sizemore to second
Dellucci flies out to right
Martinez strikes out (swinging)

0 runs, 1 hit

[alnorth]

Top 7th

Teahen flies out to center
Olivo strikes out (looking)
Buck singles to center
Pena Jr hits an infield single to pitcher, Buck to second
DeJesus pops out to second

0 runs, 2 hits

Bottom 7th

Ross Gload replaces Billy Butler at 1B

Peralta strikes out (swinging)
Hafner fouls out to third
Garko grounds out to shortstop

0 runs, 0 hits

[alnorth]

We probably shouldnt get overly excited since Cleveland's offense is almost as bad as ours, but Meche is having a nice game even against the Indians' few good hitters.

Guy in scoring position, 2 outs, best hitter in the AL up, and Meche finds a way to strike him out.

[alnorth]

Alert! Attention! Announcement!

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg81/Northjayhawk/siren.gif Tony Pena Jr reached first on a scratch infield single! http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg81/Northjayhawk/siren.gif

[Adept Havelock]

Alert! Attention! Announcement!

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg81/Northjayhawk/siren.gif Tony Pena Jr reached first on a scratch infield single! http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg81/Northjayhawk/siren.gif

WhooHoo!

http://b.imagehost.org/0681/happy1.gif

[alnorth]

ROFL Laffey is obviously frustrated in the dugout.

Tough luck line for him so far, 7 solid innings, 1 unearned run, and he may get tagged with the loss if our bullpen comes through.

[alnorth]

Top 8th

Masahide Kobayashi relieves Laffey

Grudzielanek strikes out (swinging)
Gordon reaches on an Error by 1B
Guillen grounds into a 6-3 double play, Gordon out at second

0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error

Bottom 8th

Leo Nunez relieves Meche

Blake grounds out to shortstop
Cabrera pops out to first
Sizemore strikes out (swinging)

0 runs, 0 hits

[leviw]

We probably shouldnt get overly excited since Cleveland's offense is almost as bad as ours, but Meche is having a nice game even against the Indians' few good hitters.

Guy in scoring position, 2 outs, best hitter in the AL up, and Meche finds a way to strike him out.

Or...you could get excited considering this is the same lineup that lit Gil up in KC for eight runs less than two weeks ago.

And I'm guessing out of all people, Meche has the least amount sympathy for Laffey not getting run support.

[alnorth]

Or...you could get excited considering this is the same lineup that lit Gil up in KC for eight runs less than two weeks ago.

And I'm guessing out of all people, Meche has the least amount sympathy for Laffey not getting run support.

Nah, Cleveland's offense is terrible. A broken clock is right on target twice a day. Meche still had a good game, but its hard to tell how good it really was.

[Mr. Laz]

jeebus ..... gruds almost swung at ball rolling on the ground for that 3rd strike. :banghead:


we have no vision at the plate ..... none whatsoever

[leviw]

Nah, Cleveland's offense is terrible. A broken clock is right on target twice a day. Meche still had a good game, but its hard to tell how good it really was.

Really? Have you watched Meche this year? He was better last Sunday (again, no run support). This is his best start of the season, and it's not close.

His breaking stuff is breaking, and his fastball is bumping 95-96 again. Something was wrong the first month of the year when it was barely hitting 90. He's looking a lot better, plus he went seven innings for the first time this year.

This was a fantastic start, regardless of the lineup -- that by the way still includes Travis Hafner, Victor Martinez and Grady Sizemore and was an AL championship series team last year.

[Sure-Oz]

C'mon Nunez....gload bails him out

[chiefbowe82]

well this is herms vision of baseball 1-0

[alnorth]

This was a fantastic start, regardless of the lineup -- that by the way still includes Travis Hafner, Victor Martinez and Grady Sizemore and was an AL championship series team last year.

They were a fantastic lineup last year, but this year they are God-awful so far. Our lineup has been only a little worse, but the Indians are really struggling.

I'm not intending to discredit Meche, I hope he has a good year, it was just a simple, bored, idle observation that the Indians have been a terrible offensive team so far this year, so its hard to judge a pitching performance against them.

Maybe Meche would have also held any other team scoreless, but thats hard to say.

[Sure-Oz]

Id say so far ramirez for de la rosa has worked out well....

after just 1 start delarosa has 4 ip 9ER and 4k...

Ramirez
13.2ip 1er 15k

Nunez does a fine job setting up Soria

[alnorth]

Top 9th

Rafael Perez relieves Kobayashi

Gload grounds out to second
Teahen flies out to center

Rafael Betancourt relieves Perez

Olivo homers to left
Buck strikes out (swinging)

1 run, 1 hit

Bottom 9th

Joakim Soria relieves Nunez

Gutierrez pops out to third
Dellucci grounds out to first
Martinez flies out to center

0 runs, 0 hits

Royals win, 2-0

[leviw]

They were a fantastic lineup last year, but this year they are God-awful so far. Our lineup has been only a little worse, but the Indians are really struggling.

I'm not intending to discredit Meche, I hope he has a good year, it was just a simple, bored, idle observation that the Indians have been a terrible offensive team so far this year, so its hard to judge a pitching performance against them.

Maybe Meche would have also held any other team scoreless, but thats hard to say.

You can't discredit Meche. He's going to win a 1-0 shutout (barring an unthinkable run given up by Soria). Yeah, the Indians' offense has been bad, but they didn't touch him today.

My point was, his stuff looks crisp again, when it clearly didn't last month. That's huge for this team, because they clearly need him. And again, this is the same lineup that hit him for eight in 3-1/3 less than two weeks ago. Something is different today, and I think it was Meche...not Cleveland's lineup.

[alnorth]

LOL, oh Indians, you so silly. Bringing in the closer to nail down the 3rd out in the 9th.

If they somehow come back against Soria, Betancourt would earn one of the cheapest wins of the year.

[Sure-Oz]

Olivo has massive power good lord

[SPchief]

BOOM

[siberian khatru]

That was big.

[Adept Havelock]

HR Olivo! :D

[Stewie]

That ball was CRUSHED!!!

[Sure-Oz]

Our backup catcher leads the team in HR's, how pathetic *cough gordon, guillen and butler *cough*

[alnorth]

LOL, oh Indians, you so silly. Bringing in the closer to nail down the 3rd out in the 9th.

If they somehow come back against Soria, Betancourt would earn one of the cheapest wins of the year.

ROFL He gives up a homer! Wedge, you are a fool.

[leviw]

ROFL He gives up a homer! Wedge, you are a fool.

That was a ridiculous turn of events.

[alnorth]

The over/under on strikeouts by Soria is 1.5, taking wagers now.

[leviw]

Over. 2.

[leviw]

Soria's got some awful sideburns going.

[Adept Havelock]

Heh. I like Dellucci's batting ditty. Never noticed that before.

[Sure-Oz]

huge out

[alnorth]

The over/under on strikeouts by Soria is 1.5, taking wagers now.

Looks like the under's have it. Oh well, a save is a save even if its not flashy.

[Sure-Oz]

gload is our pena at 1st

[Sure-Oz]

dejesus ends it

[siberian khatru]

We usually win when the other team doesn't score.

[Bowser]

We usually win when the other team doesn't score.

Thanks, Yogi. :)

Nunez and Soria are as good an eighth and ninth inning combo going right now. I like it.

[keg in kc]

Shame they didn't pull out one of the last two in Texas. Still, an encouraging road series, hard to complain about 3-2, especially after the way Cleveland raped us the first series...

Puts them at 14-16 now. I think we'd all have been thrilled with that by this point. Team has some character, lose 7 straight and they're still fighting for .500.

[Bowser]

Shame they didn't pull out one of the last two in Texas. Still, an encouraging road series, hard to complain about 3-2, especially after the way Cleveland raped us the first series...

Puts them at 14-16 now. I think we'd all have been thrilled with that by this point. Team has some character, lose 7 straight and they're still fighting for .500.

I'll take it. I'm still hoping our bats wake up. If our projected "power" guys start to come around, this team could make some noise.

[POND_OF_RED]

Shame they didn't pull out one of the last two in Texas. Still, an encouraging road series, hard to complain about 3-2, especially after the way Cleveland raped us the first series...

Puts them at 14-16 now. I think we'd all have been thrilled with that by this point. Team has some character, lose 7 straight and they're still fighting for .500.

Also if Minnesota loses today (down 6-3 in 7th vs Det) we're only 1 game out of first. Hard to imagine.

[thurman merman]

soria rulez! !!

[Pitt Gorilla]

We really need some pop in this lineup. Are there any decent bats available?

[ChiTown]

We really need some pop in this lineup. Are there any decent bats available?

Barry Bonds

[KCUnited]

Great call by Hillman to pull B. Butler at 1st for Gload. The dig he made on the Pena throw was gold, and then the back hand on the hot shot saved extra bases. They say a major league manager will only win you close to 10 to 12 games a year. This was one of those games.

[SCTrojan]

Barry Bonds

Dayton Moore doesn't strike me as a guy who would sell his soul to the devil.