*** Kansas City Royals @ Cleveland Indians Game Thread (4/21) ***

[alnorth]

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
KC (9-9)	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	3	6	0
CLE (3-0)	0	0	0	2	0	2	0	0	X	4	11	3

Loss, (2-1) Jeremy Guthrie 6⅓IP 4R 4ER 0BB 3K 2HR
Kelvin Herrera 1⅔IP 0R 0ER 0BB 0K

VS.



Win, (3-0) Zach McAllister 6IP 3R 2ER 1BB 2K
Hold, (1) Marc Rzepczynski 1IP 0R 0ER 0BB 1K
Hold, (5) Cody Allen 1IP 0R 0ER 0BB 1K
Save, (7) John Axford 1IP 0R 0ER 0BB 0K

Home Runs

KC

none

CLE

Michael Brantley, (4) - Bottom 4th 2-run homer to right
Jason Kipnis, (3) - Bottom 6th 2-run homer to center

AL Central

Final: CWS 3, DET 1

Starting Lineups

KC

1. Norichika Aoki, RF
2. Omar Infante, 2B
3. Eric Hosmer, 1B
4. Billy Butler, DH
5. Alex Gordon, LF
6. Salvador Perez, C
7. Mike Moustakas, 3B
8. Alcides Escobar, SS
9. Jarrod Dyson, CF
9. Justin Maxwell, ph/CF

CLE

1. Michael Bourn, CF
2. Nick Swisher, 1B
3. Jason Kipnis, 2B
4. Lonnie Chisenhall, 3B
5. Michael Brantley, LF
6. Asdrubal Cabrera, SS
7. Jason Giambi, DH
8. David Murphy, RF
9. Yan Gomes, C

[Mother****erJones]

Originally Posted by Chiefspants

I'm sure Sale's injury after being left out for 127 pitches was just a coincidence.

Our manager is ****ing stupid. Has no business being a manager

[Sure-Oz]

The whole teams hitting approach is garbage. Blame them and the shitty philosophy of gmdm.

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by Sure-Oz

The whole teams hitting approach is garbage. Blame them and the shitty philosophy of gmdm.

Its mind boggling. Nobody on this team has any REAL HR power right now.

I dont get it. The Royals have some sort of systematic problem in their organization i think.

No true pull hitters. Everyone just sort of sprays the ball around.

Alot of guys who can get on base. Nobody who can drive in runs.

[Mother****erJones]

Well trade ya Dunn.

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by Mother****erJones

Well trade ya Dunn.

Welp, hes better than Butler at this point.

[Dartgod]

Same as it ever was, same as it ever was...

[Mother****erJones]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

Welp, hes better than Butler at this point.

Always has been except when he got to Chicago. For some reason he's looked a lot better this year. Looks better at the plate, gets his walks and will get his HRs. Will always strike out but that's better than GIDPs IMO

[GloryDayz]

It was funny listening to the 610 girls this morning. They make excuses for the Royals and the flaws like they're on the payroll. "It's too early to panic"... Yep, just like every year, it's too early to panic... We're not the Yankees, the bats may get better, but they'll never get to what they need to be in the AL.

At a minimum it's time to part ways with Billy. Unlike the others, he's a one-dimensional player (by definition), and he's not what he needs to be in that one dimension. Perhaps]s watching him be sent away will be good for him (start fresh somewhere else and get over his ego in the process), and the other players realize they have to produce.

And yes, the number of HRs NOT hit by this team matters. I don't care what the date is, just compare it to other competitive clubs. It's a number that's way out of whack, and you can't just deny it.

[BlackHelicopters]

Hitting coach needs to be fired

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by theelusiveeightrop

Hitting coach needs to be fired

I dont know who he is or is qualifications....but wasnt he Bretts hand picked boy last year?

[Simplicity]

Who's takin the game thread today?

[GloryDayz]

Originally Posted by theelusiveeightrop

Hitting coach needs to be fired

I'm hardly one to defend coaches, and I'm fine with firing him too, but I'm not thinking this is where the firings start or end. And before that happens, it's time they get the chance to take the players to tack for not listening. I don't know if all the stories are true, but it's rumored that Billy won't listen. If that's true, unless you hire a hitting coach who can beat players with a stick, can it be fixed.

And yes, it starts with Billy! He's got exactly one job to do, and he needs to be a threat to go yard at every at-bat. Instead we cheer if he hits it in the air. And this isn't new, it's the same shit all over again. He needs to be made an example of..

[Mother****erJones]

Originally Posted by theelusiveeightrop

Hitting coach needs to be fired

Most of the time it's not the coach. Especially with your lineup. You just fired one like a year ago.

But the right coach can with the right approach get guys going. White Sox hired Todd Steverson as out hitting coach. He's changed our hitter approach and worked with guys and it's worked wonders. Preaching patience and working counts.

[Three7s]

Originally Posted by Mother****erJones

Most of the time it's not the coach. Especially with your lineup. You just fired one like a year ago.

But the right coach can with the right approach get guys going. White Sox hired Todd Steverson as out hitting coach. He's changed our hitter approach and worked with guys and it's worked wonders. Preaching patience and working counts.

Same as the Twins. I would love it if the Royals had the Twins hitting approach.

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by Three7s

Same as the Twins. I would love it if the Royals had the Twins hitting approach.

The Royals have been fairly patient and working counts. I'm not convinced thats the problem.

When they do get that fat mistake pitch over the middle, the best we've been able to do is, in general, hit a gapper for a double, and thats actually an alarming (and demoralizing) thing: perhaps the players themselves are just unable to consistently hit for power. If that is the case, then this thing can't be fixed and we're doomed.