The Orioles send Adam Eaton to the mound in the second game of their four game set in Kansas City, and the Royals counter with Zach Greinke. Greinke is having a fantastic season and is working on a 13 inning scoreless streak after having a 38 inning streak broken up earlier this year. A strike-out rate of 10 K/9 combined with a walk rate of 1.36 BB/9 and no home runs allowed results in a FIP of just 1.51 (so he hasn't even been all that lucky - his BABIP is only a moderately low .273, and batters are still only hitting .185 against him). Let's just say it was pretty smart of the Royals to sign him to a four year contract this off-season ($38 M).
________________________________________________
Top 1:
- Nice start for the O's as Brian Roberts draws a walk.
- Nasty slider under Izturis' hands gets him swinging.
- Greinke just misses outside with a 96 mph fastball after getting a 77 mph curveball over for strike two. No wonder he has an 0.51 ERA. Another slider inside gets Markakis swinging.
- Aubrey Huff singles into short left-field.
- Melvin Mora flies out to right, and Greinke's scoreless streak moves to 14 innings.
- Coco Crisp grounds out to first.
- David DeJesus singles under the glove of a diving Mora at third.
- Billy Butler gets a slider/cut-fastball in the middle of the plate and lines it into left-field for a double.
- Nice job by Eaton to get Mike Jacobs swinging, though the batter certainly helped him out by swinging at a high curveball.
- Jose Guillen unloads on a hanging curveball, but luckilly he gets out in front of it and pulls it foul. Just a 420 foot strike. Next pitch he hits a little knubber that gets through the right-side of the infield for a single. Two runs score and the Royals have a 2-0 lead.
- Mark Teahan flies out to left to end the inning. Those two runs may very well hold up though.
- Luis Montanez grounds a ball up the middle for a single.
- Nolan Reimold hits a check swing roller to short that KC turn two on.
- Gregg Zaun does a good job laying off some tough pitches and draws a walk.
- Felix Pie grounds out to first.
- Pie takes a less than effecient route, but is able to run down a deep flyball to center off the bat of Alberto Callaspo.
- Miguel Olivo also flies out to deep center.
- Willie Bloomquist hits a soft liner to second. Relatively quick inning for Eaton.
- Roberts hits a lead-off double into deep right-field.
- Izturis strikes out swinging again.
- Brian steals third, though the ball beat him to the bag.
- Nick takes a fastball below the knees for a called strike, has a little talk with the umpire, and then can be seen on camera mouthing "wow" a couple of times. It was a bad call, and it may have cost him as he flies out to short left on a 3-1 pitch.
- Huff lines a single to left to bring in the first O's run of the game.
- Mora serves a single into right-field with Huff moving over to third.
- Montanez puts a charge into one, but Crisp is able to run it down at the warning track.
- Crisp pops out to short left-center.
- Nice fastball on the inside corner gets DeJesus looking.
- Butler grounds out to short to end the inning.
- Reimold flies out to deep right-center.
- Zaun grounds out to short.
- Pie flies out. Still 2-1, Royals.
- Mike Jacobs extends the KC lead with a homer to dead center-field.
- Guillen grounds out to second.
- Teahan lines a single into right-center.
- Callaspo draws a walk.
- Olvio deep and gone to left. 6-1 Royals, and with Greinke on the mound this one is pretty much over.
- Eaton's able to get out of the inning without any futher damage, vut Mark Hendrickson is warming in the pen.
- Roberts reaches first on a wild pitch strike-out, but the Orioles can't take advantage. Would you call that a 1-2-3-4 inning?
- Eaton's still in there. He gives up a run on three singles, but hopefully he can save the bullpen a little. Though, he has already thrown 112 pitches. That'll probably be his last inning.
- Three up, three down go the O's.
- Hendrickson comes out for the sixth and retires the Royals in order.
- Roberts picks up his second hit of the day, but Greinke K's a pair and leaves him stranded.
- Hendrickson strikes out the side but also gives up a run on three hits.
- Juan Cruz retires the Orioles in order.
- Another 1-2-3 inning.
- Kyle Farnsworth closes things out.
________________________________________________
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment