Mariners SS (5/6-5/7)

The Royals won both games of a 2 game series against the Seattle Mariners and have now won 6 games in a row.

Wednesday 5/6
Matchup: Carlos Silva vs. Sidney Ponson
Result: 9-1 Win
Sir Sidney pitched his sizable posterior off.  In 7.1 innings he allowed 8 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, and struck out 1.  The bullpen finished off Ponson’s excellent outing allowing only 1 hit and no runs in 1.2 innings of work.  DeJesus, Butler and Jacobs all hit doubles while Mark Teahen hit his 4th HR of the season.  Six Royals had multi-hit games and as a team they hit .447.

Thursday 5/7
Matchup: Jarrod Washburn vs. Brian Bannister
Result: 3-1 Win
Bannister followed up Ponson with an even better performance of his own.  In 6.0 innings BB allowed 5 hits, 1 walk, and no runs while striking out 7 Mariners.  The bullpen pitched 3.0 innings and gave up 4 hits, 2 walks, and 1 run while recording 4 strikeouts.  David DeJesus and Coco Crisp both hit doubles for Kansas City’s 2 extra-base hits.  Billy Butler had 2 singles and was the only batter for the Royals to have a multi-hit game.  As a team they hit .259.  There was a sign of things to come, however, with Joakim Soria’s 29-pitch outing.  He got his 7th save of the season but gave up 2 hits, 2 walks, and 1 run in his 1 inning of work.

Series Impression:
The starting rotation threw 13.1 innings with a 0.68 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 8 SO.

In 4.2 innings of work the bullpen posted a 1.93 ERA, 1.50 WHIP and 6 SO.

For the series, the Royals hit .369 (24/65) while drawing 5 walks and striking out 7 times.  They left 15 men on base while scoring 12 runs.  In the series they hit 5 2B and 1 HR.  They hit .389 (7/18) with runners in scoring position.

The Royals have been living off 1 or 2 phases of their team winning games for them thus far in the season.  Wednesday’s 9-1 win was one of the 1st games where all phases of the team were in sync and contributed significantly to the victory.  They reverted to their previous form Thursday as the offense fell asleep. Fortunately the rotation and the bullpen did enough to carry the team and win the day.  Getting consecutive starts like they did from their fourth and fifth starters doesn’t happen often, so doing enough to win both games was crucial to their divisional viability going forward.