Cardinal Stew

Series Analysis

St. Louis @ Kansas City

Tuesday June 12 KC 8-1 STL

Wednesday June 13 KC 0-7 STL

Thursday June 14 KC 17-8 STL

There are very few things in my book that are better then beating the Cardinals. Most of my fraternity brothers in college were from St. Louis so naturally, they were pompous Cardinal fans and usually lambasted me for being a Royals fan. So to see the boys in blue take a series from the Cardinals for me, is just bittersweet vindication.

After watching the series there are a few things that have really come to life:

-One- Scott Rolen is obviously washed up, he has become a shell of his former self both with the bat and in the field.

-Two- The Royals are frustrating. Its nice to see them play well, but to score 8, 0 and then a 17 is a bit odd. Hopefully they just ran into good pitching, and they did, but the inconsistency is a bit troubling...but that is just a minor complaint. I'll take 2 out of 3 every series like that all year.

-Three- Alex Gordon is starting to come around- 6/13 .461 2HR 6RBI 2K for the series and is batting .204 for the season. His first homerun of the series on Saturday was a thing of beauty, a 439 ft shot to right-center that landed in the second tier of the water spectacular.

-Four- Scott Elarton is not very good- 2IP 6ER 0K 3BB- I think the Royals may end up putting Grienke back in the starting rotation...

-Five- Grienke is very good in the bullpen- W 4IP 1ER 3K- but to keep him in the bullpen is a waste. I think this stint in the pen has been great for his confidence, but I'd like to see what happens if they put him back in the starting rotation.

-Six- Odalis Perez has regressed mightily- L 3IP 6ER oK 2BB 1oH!- he had pitched very well earlier this year, but before that he pitched like this crap. I'm not sure what to do...the Royals need a warm body for the rotation and with nobody ready in the minors, I guess the fans will just have to cross their fingers and hopefully Dayton can flip him for something useful at the trade deadline, but with starts like that...

-Seven- Mark Teahen's bat is also starting to come alive- 6/13 .461BA 7RBI 3 Triples

-Eight- The Royals have played very well against the National League. So far this season they're 6-3 against the NL and with 3 series left against NL teams the Royals have a good shot at a winning record for interleague play.

I guess that's more then a few things, but hey I've been gone a while. Hopefully they keep the momentum going against the NL and then carry it back to the AL.

-b

Royals 2007 Record: 26-41