Twins Series Summary (5/1-5/3)

The Royals took 2 out of 3 on the road against the Minnesota Twins. Kansas City is now 14-11 and remains in 1st place.

Friday 5/1
Matchup: Sidney Ponson vs. Kevin Slowey
Result: 7-5 Loss
The Sidney Ponson who was almost passable as a fringe major league pitcher has left the building. In his place we were subjected to a scrub pitcher with little left in the tank. Apparently Sidney thought he was at the Metrodome to throw batting practice to the Twins hitters. In 4.1 innings, Ponson “allowed” 9 hits, 7 runs, 2 home runs and 1 walk. He managed to strike out 1 batter. The bullpen did its job over the next 3.2 innings allowing only 1 hit and no runs. The damage had already been done as the offense had its worst night of the series hitting .270 with no walks and 3 doubles. DeJesus, Guillen, and Aviles had multi-hit games in the losing effort.

Saturday 5/2
Matchup: Brian Bannister vs. Glen Perkins
Result: 10-7 Win
Bannister was only slightly more effective than Ponson. BB threw 5.1 innings and gave up 8 hits, 6 runs, 3 earned runs, 2 walks and 1 home run while striking out 4. Once again the bullpen did its job allowing only 1 run in 5.2 innings of work. Offensively the Royals hit .319 for the game with 5 walks, 3 doubles, 1 triple, and 1 home run. 5 players had multi-hit games. Both teams played poorly, but the Royals ended up on top at the end of 11 innings.

Sunday 5/3
Matchup: Gil Meche vs. Scott Baker
Result: 7-5 Win
Meche wasn’t terrible but he certainly wasn’t good. In 6.0 IP he gave up 7 H, 4 R, 2 BB and struck out 3. The pen was again solid throwing 3.0 innings without surrendering an earned run. For the game, despite no hits in the first 6 innings, the team ended up hitting .294 with 10 hits, 3 walks, 2 doubles, 1 triple and 1 home run. Bloomquist and Guillen had multi-hit games.

Series Impression:
The starting rotation threw 15.2 innings with a 8.04 ERA, 1.85 WHIP, and 8 SO.

In 12.1 innings of work the bullpen posted a 0.73 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, and 7 SO.

For the series, the Royals hit .297 (35/118) while drawing 8 walks and striking out 18 times. They left 20 men on base while scoring 22 runs. In the series they hit 8 2B, 2 3B, and 2 HR. They hit .394 (13/33) with runners in scoring position.

The starters were collectively awful as they failed to record a quality start. In 15.2 innings they gave up 14 earned runs. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the bullpen was brilliant. In 12.1 innings, the pen allowed only 1 earned run and kept the team in all the games. The offense faired very well against a struggling Twins pitching staff averaging 7.33 runs per game in the series. They won the series on the road against a good team who was getting one of their best players back from the DL. Fortunately for the Royals, Joe Mauer can’t pitch.

Upcoming Series:
The Royals now head home to host a 2-game series against the 12-12 White Sox. On the season the Sox have scored 108 runs and allowed 115. The Royals have 119 RS and 101 RA. At this point in the season, the Royals are a better team and should take both games in the series.
5/4 Bartolo Colon (2-1, 4.15) vs. Zack Greinke (5-0, 0.00)
5/5 Gavin Floyd (2-2, 5.52) vs. Kyle Davies (2-1, 4.85)