True. Blue. Tradition. (Fake KC Royals Baseball)

[plotty]

How Sweep it Is!
Teahen Homer Sends Boston Home.


OF Mark Teahen runs out his third double of the season.

Everyone criticized Mark Teahen for his "lack of power" he showed in Spring Training. He just might had been heating up.

Teahen hammered a three-run home run in a four run fifth inning to boost the Royals to a 7-2 win over Boston Thursday night.

On the home run, Teahen said he just saw the ball well, and swung.

"We all knew the hype behind Dice-K," Teahen said, "we all had to come to the plate and just see pitches. The guy is for real. At times he showed electric stuff."

Teahen and rookie 1B Brad Eldred each had three hits to pace another double-digit hitting night for the Royals, who finished the game with 12 hits.

John Buck also drove in a pair of runs on a couple fielder's choice's.

The side story was about Dice-K, who was making his Major league Debut. He fared okay in his first U.S. outing, pitching five innings. He allowed five runs on eight hits. He walked a batter and struck out four.

The four run outburst took Royal starter Odalis Perez off the hook, as he spotted Boston a 2-0 lead through the first four innings on RBI by Jason Varitek and David Ortiz. The outburst made a winner out of reliever David Riske.

Next Series vs. Detroit
Friday, April 6: Nate Robertson vs John Thomson
Saturday, April 7: Andrew Miller vs Brian Bannister
Sunday, April 9: Jeremy Bonderman vs Gil Meche

Boston Red Sox 0-3

Batter - Pos AB R H RBI BB SO
Lugo SS 5 0 1 0 0 1
Youklis 1B 4 0 0 0 0 1
Ortiz DH 4 0 1 0 0 2
Ramirez LF 3 1 2 0 1 0
Drew RF 2 1 0 0 2 1
Lowell 3B 3 0 1 0 1 1
Varitek C 3 0 1 1 1 0
Crisp CF 4 0 1 1 0 0
Pedroia 2B 4 0 1 0 0 0
Totals 32 2 8 2 5 6

Batting
2B: Lugo (1), Ortiz (1)
RBI: Varitek (1), Crisp (2)
GIDP: Lugo
CS: Crisp (1)


Pitching IP H R ER BB SO
Matsuzuka (L, 0-1) 5 8 5 5 1 4
Lopez 0 3 2 2 0 0
Delcarmen 3 1 0 0 0 2
Totals 8 12 7 7 1 6



Kansas City Royals 3-0

Batter - Pos AB R H RBI BB SO
DeJesus CF 4 0 1 1 0 0
Grudzielanek 2B 4 0 1 0 0 0
Sweeney DH 4 1 1 0 0 1
Teahen RF 4 2 3 3 0 1
Eldred DH 4 2 3 0 0 1
Gordon 3B 3 1 1 0 1 0
Buck C 4 1 1 2 0 1
Gathright LF 4 0 1 0 0 1
Pena, Jr. SS 3 0 0 1 0 1
Totals 34 7 12 7 1 6

Batting
2B: Teahen (3), Eldred (2)
HR: Teahen (1)
RBI: DeJesus (1), Teahen 3 (4), Pena, Jr. (3), Buck 2 (4)
SAC: Pena, Jr.
SB: Gordon (2)
CS: DeJesus (1)

Pitching IP H R ER BB SO
Perez 5 2/3 5 2 2 4 5
Riske (W, 1-0) 1 1/3 3 0 0 1 0
Gobble 2 0 0 0 0 1
Totals 9 8 2 2 5 6

[plotty]

Royals Keep on Trucking
KC Wins Four in a Row to Start the Season.


Royals closer Octavio Dotel shuts the door on Detroit.

The Kansas City Royals were coming off a sweep of the defending AL East Champions in the Boston Red Sox. Next was the Detroit Tigers.

They seemed to be "not phased by the schedule".

Mark Teahen continued to swing a hot bat, as he collected three more hits. Ross Gload, in his first start of the season, added three hits as well as Kansas City rallied for a 4-3 win over the Tigers.

Kansas City tallied runs in the first, third and fifth innings off of Nate Robertson. However, Robertson kept Kansas City hitters off balance. "Nate had some good stuff," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said, "they (KC) just found ways to scratch runs home."

The winning run was truly scratched home. The Royals banged three consecutive hits off of losing pitcher Macay McBride. Rookie Brad Eldred drove in the winning run on a ground ball that resulted in a 6-4-3 double play.

Octavio Dotel pitched a shutout ninth inning to notch his second save in as many chances.

Detroit Tigers 1-3

Batter - Pos AB R H RBI BB SO
Granderson CF 3 1 1 0 2 0
Polanco 2B 4 0 0 0 0 1
Sheffield DH 4 2 2 2 0 0
Ordonez RF 4 0 2 1 0 2
C. Guillen SS 4 0 0 0 0 0
Rodriguez C 4 0 1 0 0 1
Casey 1B 4 0 1 0 0 1
Monroe LF 4 0 1 0 0 0
Inge 3B 4 0 1 0 0 0
Totals 35 3 9 3 2 5

Batting
HR: Sheffield (2)
RBI: Sheffield 2 (6), Ordonez (8)
GIDP: Casey
SB: Guillen (1), Sheffield (1)


Pitching IP H R ER BB SO
Robertson 7 10 3 3 1 2
Mcbride (L, 0-1) 1 3 1 1 0 1
Totals 8 13 4 4 1 3



Kansas City Royals 4-0

Batter - Pos AB R H RBI BB SO
DeJesus CF 3 1 1 0 1 0
Grudzielanek 2B 4 1 2 0 0 0
Sweeney DH 4 2 2 0 0 0
Teahen 3B 4 0 3 1 0 0
Gload 1B 3 0 3 1 0 0
Eldred PH-1B 1 0 0 0 0 0
Buck C 4 0 1 1 0 0
Matos CF 4 0 1 0 0 1
German SS 3 0 0 0 0 2
Gathright LF 3 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 33 4 13 3 1 3

Batting
2B: Sweeney (3)
RBI: Teahen (5), Buck (5), Gload (1)
GIDP: Sweeney, Eldred, Buck




Pitching IP H R ER BB SO
Thomson 5 1/3 5 2 2 1 1
Peralta 1 2/3 3 1 1 1 3
Soria (W, 1-0) 1 1 0 0 0 1
Dotel (S, 2) 1 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 9 9 3 3 2 5

[KC Royals Nation]

Octavio's not making it interesting. Is he here to stay or is he merely building trade value?

If the Royals are in the division race by mid-season, what do you plan to do to improve our team? Or will we instead be sellers?

4-0. Keep it up, baby!

[skillset]

The everyday lineup is filled with promising young players in Teahen, DeJesus, Buck, Gathright and rookies Gordon, Pena Jr., and Eldred.

On the other hand, it looks like the pitching is filled with veterans. Will you be looking to trade some of the veteran arms for young hurlers come June/July?

Greinke, Soria, Bannister are a nice start and Jennings and Meche are entering their peak years. But beyond them I don't see much for the next few years. Adding a lefty to this team would be a big boost as well. Gobble is a specialist and it would be nice to have another LHP in the pen to give teams a different look with so many RHP in the rotation.

[plotty]

Royals Nation, MLB freelance writer Skillset and GM Mathias Platcheck sit down after Kansas City's fourth win a row to start the season.

RN: Four and zero to start off the season. Nice start.

MP: I envisioned us blasting out to a quality start, but to say I am a little stunned at the undefeated start would be an understatement. The boys are playing great ball to start the season.

SK: All the rookies seem to be off to good starts as well.

MP: I knew a little but of what to expect with the guys we drafted, like Gordon and Teahen. But the surprise so far has been this Eldred kid. It looks to be he might be a quality steal. And Soria has gave us a couple quality bull pen outings.

RN: What's the story behind Octavio Dotel?

MP: Contrary to popular belief, he's staying put for the time being. I hear grumbles that so and so would like to get a younger, more reliable closer hand. But right now Octavio is who we're sticking with. Sure, if the season goes by the wayside as it progresses, a move may occur, but right now no way.

SK: I've noticed the lack of lefties in both the rotation and the pen. Could there be some shaking up of that to find an even balance?

MP: It's definitely something we are looking into. Right now we have four good dependable right-handers. Our lefty in Odalis Perez has been solid. In Spring Training I kept him over Jorge de la Rosa because of his veteran leadership. I would not mind adding a second lefty to the rotation, but he will have to be of a ace-type. That's where the draft may come into play.

RN: If the Royals are in the division race by mid-season, what do you plan to do to improve our team? Or will we instead be sellers?

MP: From day one, I said that this team will be winners. The core group of guys we have right now are sticking together. If any team comes to us for a piece of that core group, then they had better bring the farm and then some. Especially if we are in the divisional race. Even if we fall off the table of the race, the core group will remain intact. If we are in the race, I really don't know if there is much to improve at this point. We could always trade for another quality starter--that would be my best guess right now. But there's a long season ahead; a season that can turn in a blink of an eye.

[plotty]

Royals Batter Tigers for Fifth Straight Win
Rookie Eldred Leads 18-Hit Attack.


DH Mike Sweeney delivers one of his three hits on the night.

Brad Eldred never imagined playing in Kaufmann Stadium. Once he heard of the trade there from playing in cavernous PNC Park, he was excited.

Now he loves it.

Eldred continued the hot pace of hitting by rookies by going two for three, including a monstrous tape measure home run off of former Royal Chad Durbin to lead the Royals to a 13-2 drubbing of Detroit. The home run Eldred hit cleared the waterfall in left-center field.

"Now that's a home run," said manager Buddy Bell after the game, "that's one of the longer hits I have seen here. And I have seen my fair share of hits at this ball park."

Lost in the fold was backup catcher Paul Phillips. Receiving a rare start in place of the ill John Buck, Phillips responded with a three for five night, including two doubles. He also drove in a career-high five runs.

Also continuing their stead play were Mark Teahen and Mike Sweeney. Teahen reached base in all four of his plate appearances, with two doubles, a single and a walk. Sweeney also reached safely in his four at-bats, with two singles, a double and a walk.

Detroit Tigers 1-4

Batter - Pos AB R H RBI BB SO
Granderson CF 4 0 1 0 1 1
Polanco 2B 3 0 0 0 1 0
Sheffield DH 4 1 1 0 0 1
Ordonez RF 3 0 1 1 1 0
C. Guillen SS 4 0 0 0 0 2
Rodriguez C 4 0 2 0 0 0
Casey 1B 4 0 1 0 0 1
Monroe LF 3 0 0 0 1 1
Inge 3B 3 1 2 1 1 1
Totals 32 2 8 2 5 7

Batting
2B: Granderson (5), Sheffield (1)
HR: Inge (1)
RBI: Ordonez (9), Inge (1)
GIDP: Guillen


Pitching IP H R ER BB SO
Miller (L, 0-1) 4 9 6 6 2 4
Durbin 1 1/3 5 5 5 2 1
McBride 2 3 2 2 1 0
Rodney 2/3 1 0 0 0 0
Totals 8 18 13 13 5 5



Kansas City Royals 5-0

Batter - Pos AB R H RBI BB SO
DeJesus CF 6 1 1 0 0 0
Grudzielanek 2B 5 2 3 0 0 1
Sweeney DH 4 3 3 1 1 0
Teahen 3B 4 4 3 2 1 0
Eldred 1B 3 3 2 3 2 0
Gordon 3B 5 0 2 2 0 0
Phillips C 5 0 3 5 0 0
Gathright LF 4 0 0 0 1 2
Pena, Jr. SS 4 0 1 0 0 2
Totals 40 13 18 13 5 5

Batting

2B: Sweeney (4), Teahen 2 (5), Pena, Jr. (1), Phillips 2 (2)
HR: Eldred (1)
RBI: Gordon 2 (6), Sweeney (3), Teahen 2 (7), Eldred 3 (4), Phillips 5 (5)
HBP: Pena, Jr.
CS: Gordon (2)

Pitching IP H R ER BB SO
Bannister (W, 1-0) 6 1/3 3 1 1 4 4
Riske 1 4 1 1 1 1
Gobble 1 2/3 1 0 0 0 2
Totals 9 8 2 2 5 7

[KC Royals Nation]

The Royals breaking thru with the bats!!

5-0. Unstoppable, baby!

[plotty]

Tigers Halt Royals Winning Streak
Bonderman Pitches Gem to Keep Tigers from Sweep.


Tigers SP Jeremy Bonderman fires a pitch in a 3-1 win over Kansas City.

Tigers pitcher Jeremy Bonderman finally did what five other opposing pitchers couldn't: silence the hot Royals bats.

Bonderman pitched eight and two-thirds of an inning, and just allowed one run to lead Detroit to a 3-1 win over Kansas City. The loss snapped Kansas City's five game winning streak.

The Tigers received a two RBI single by 1B Sean Casey and a RBI single by Carlos Guillen.

The Royals scored their lone run on a RBI single by Joey Gathright, scoring Mark Teahen.

Next Series at Toronto
Monday, April 9: Jason Jennings (1-1) vs A.J. Burnett (0-0)
Tuesday, April 10: Odalis Perez (0-0) vs Dustin McGowan

Detroit Tigers 2-4

Batter - Pos AB R H RBI BB SO
Granderson CF 2 1 0 0 2 2
Polanco 2B 4 1 1 0 0 1
Sheffield DH 4 0 0 0 0 0
Ordonez RF 3 0 0 0 1 2
C. Guillen SS 4 1 1 1 0 3
Rodriguez C 4 0 2 0 0 0
Casey 1B 3 0 1 2 1 0
Monroe LF 4 0 0 0 0 2
Inge 3B 3 0 1 0 1 0
31 3 6 3 5 10

Batting
RBI: Guillen (3), Casey 2 (3)
CS: Inge (1)




Pitching IP H R ER BB SO
Bonderman (W, 1-1) 8 2/3 9 1 1 1 2
Rodney (S, 1) 1/3 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 9 9 1 1 1 2



Kansas City Royals 5-1

Batter - Pos AB R H RBI BB SO
DeJesus CF 4 0 1 0 0 0
Grudzielanek 2B 4 0 2 0 0 0
Gordon 3B 4 0 1 0 0 0
Teahen DH 4 1 2 0 0 0
Eldred 1B 4 0 1 0 0 0
Buck C 3 0 1 0 1 0
Matos RF 3 0 0 0 0 0
Gload PH 1 0 0 0 0 0
Gathright LF 3 0 1 1 0 0
Pena, Jr. SS 2 0 0 0 0 2
Totals 32 1 9 1 1 2

Batting
2B: Eldred (3), Buck (1)
RBI: Gathright (2)
SAC: Pena, Jr.
GIDP: Gordon



Pitching IP H R ER BB SO
Meche (L, 1-1) 5 2/3 5 3 3 4 6
Peralta 1 1/3 0 0 0 1 2
Soria 1 0 0 0 0 1
Riske 1/3 1 0 0 0 0
Greinke 2/3 0 0 0 0 1
Totals 9 6 3 3 5 10

Wednesday, April 11: John Thomson (0-0) vs Shawn Marcum

[gilgameche]

well it was bound to happen sometime

[mtroyals]

Tomorrow will be an interesting bounce back.

[plotty]

International Doldrums
Royals Sluggish in Loss at Toronto.

Royce Clayton smashed a two-run home run in the sixth inning to boost the Toronto Blue Jays to a 3-2 win over Kansas City.

The home cane on a three-two count. Royals pitcher Jason Jennings threw what looked to be a curve ball, but it hung in the middle-inside part of the plate. "Completely garbage pitch made right there," said Jennings after the game.

Even with the home run, the Royal offense continued to fail to score runs. The two run performance followed up the one run game in the last game of the Detroit series. "These are times of baseball," said Royal manager Buddy Bell, "at times you will hit the ball well, and others you won't. It makes us human."

John Buck made everyone on the Toronto side look lost, though. His four hits were a career high. He drove in one of the Royal runs. Mike Sweeney, on a one out double in the fifth, drove in Esteban German.

Shake Up: After the game, GM Mathias Platcheck promoted OF Ryan Langerhans from Triple-A Omaha. Langerhans was batting .445 with a home run and six RBI in four games. With the promotion, Platcheck demoted OF Luis Matos to Omaha.

Kansas City Royals 5-2

Batter - Pos AB R H RBI BB SO
Gathright LF 4 0 1 0 0 0
German 2B 2 1 0 0 2 0
Gload DH 1 0 0 0 2 0
Eldred PH-DH 1 0 0 0 0 0
Sweeney 1B 4 0 1 1 0 0
Teahen RF 3 1 1 0 1 1
Gordon 3B 4 0 1 0 0 0
Buck C 4 0 4 1 0 0
Matos CF 3 0 0 0 0 2
DeJesus PH 1 0 1 0 0 0
Pena, Jr. SS 4 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 31 2 9 2 5 3

Batting
2B: Sweeney (5)
RBI: Sweeney (4), Buck (6)
GIDP: German
CS: Pena, Jr. (1)


Pitching IP H R ER BB SO
Jennings (L, 1-1) 5 2/3 7 3 3 2 4
Riske 1/3 0 0 0 0 0
Gobble 2 0 0 0 1 0
Totals 8 7 3 3 3 4



Toronto Blue Jays 4-3

Batter - Pos AB R H RBI BB SO
Rios RF 4 0 1 0 0 0
Lind LF 3 0 0 0 1 1
Thomas DH 2 0 0 0 2 0
Glaus 3B 4 0 0 0 0 1
Wells CF 4 1 1 0 0 1
Hill 2B 3 1 2 0 0 0
Stairs 1B 3 0 1 1 0 0
Clayton SS 3 1 1 2 0 1
Zaun C 3 0 1 0 0 0
Totals 29 3 7 3 3 4

Batting
2B: Hill (2)
HR: Clayton (1)
RBI: Clayton 2 (4), Stairs (2)
GIDP: Glaus, Stairs
PB: Zahn (1)
SB: Wells (1)

Pitching IP H R ER BB SO
Burnett (W, 1-0) 6 7 2 2 4 1
Zambrano, V. 1 0 0 0 0 1
Downs 1 0 0 0 1 0
Accardo (S, 2) 1 2 0 0 0 1
Totals 9 9 2 2 5 3

[plotty]

Royals Humbled Over the Border
Toronto Sends KC To Third Straight Loss.

Jason Phillips drilled a two-run home run, and Vernon Wells drove in a pair of runs as well as Toronto pounded Kansas City 9-0.

It was the Royals' third straight loss.

"We are not good situational hitters right now," commented manager Buddy Bell, "the quality of pitching has caught up with our bats."

The Royals mustered nine hits off of Blue Jay pitchers Dustin McGowan and Victor Zambrano, but only one of them -- a Mark Teahen double to lead off the fifth -- was the furthest a Royal advanced on the basepaths. McGowan picked up the win for Toronto.

Losing for Kansas City was Odalis Perez, who was battered for eight hits and five runs, all earned.

Bottom of Lineup Sucked: The Royals 7-8-9 hitters went a combined 0-for-10 with four strikeouts.

A Fake Callup: The reported call-up of OF Ryan Langerhans for OF Luis Matos was mistakenly reported yesterday. It actually occurred today. GM Mathias Platcheck was angry at the media for leaking information. "You ******* with the press better get your information straight," said Platcheck.

Kansas City Royals 5-3

Batter - Pos AB R H RBI BB SO
DeJesus CF 4 0 2 0 0 0
Grudzielanek 2B 4 0 1 0 0 0
Eldred 1B 4 0 1 0 0 1
Sweeney DH 4 0 2 0 0 0
Teahen RF 4 0 2 0 0 0
Gordon 3B 4 0 1 0 0 1
Matos LF 2 0 0 0 0 1
Gathright PH-LF 2 0 0 0 0 1
Phillips C 3 0 0 0 0 1
German SS 3 0 0 0 0 1
Totals 34 0 9 0 0 6

Batting
2B: Teahen (6)
GIDP: Grudzielanek
E: Peralta (1), Eldred (1)

Pitching IP H R ER BB SO
Perez (L, 0-1) 4 8 5 5 2 6
Greinke 1 3 3 2 1 0
Peralta 2/3 1 1 0 1 0
Soria 1 2 0 0 0 1
Riske 1/3 0 0 0 0 0
Gobble 1 1 0 0 0 1
Totals 8 15 9 7 4 8



Toronto Blue Jays 5-3

Batter - Pos AB R H RBI BB SO
Rios RF 5 2 2 0 0 1
Wells CF 5 2 4 2 0 1
Thomas DH 4 1 1 0 1 0
Glaus 3B 4 1 0 0 1 1
Zaun C 4 0 2 1 1 1
Clayton SS 4 1 3 1 0 0
Hill 2B 4 0 0 1 0 2
Phillips LF 3 1 1 2 1 1
Stairs 1B 4 1 2 0 0 1
Totals 37 9 15 7 4 8

Batting
2B: Rios (2), Clayton (3)
3B: Wells (1)
HR: Phillips (1)
RBI: Wells 2 (5), Zaun (2), Clayton (5), Hill (4), Phillips 2 (2)
SF: Clayton, Hill
GIDP: Glaus

Pitching IP H R ER BB SO
McGowan (W, 1-0) 6 6 0 0 0 2
Zambrano, V. 3 3 0 0 0 4
Totals 9 9 0 0 0 6

[mtroyals]

Talk about a fiesty GM.

[ror1fan]

About time to run the yearly doom and gloom Posanski colum.

[mtroyals]

That's funny!