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| Normally I only post photos for wins, but this is a special occasion. |
During a Weekend Update bit on Saturday Night Live, Norm McDonald once redubbed Kenny G’s Christmas album “Happy birthday, Jesus. Hope you like crap.” In that spirit, happy birthday, Amy. Hope you enjoyed this ballgame.
Truth be told, it would actually have been a reasonably good game if not for the first two innings. Salvador Perez is back from the DL, and he got off to a reasonably good start. He hit a solid single in the second and might have stood a chance to score if Jarrod Dyson hadn’t grounded into a fielder’s choice. Then in the fourth he hit a two-run blast over the left field wall. I like the idea of having a catcher who isn’t a liability in the batter’s box, and I’m looking forward to watching him play.
After the home run the Royals did their usual routine, putting men on here and there but never managing the hitting and running combinations required to make it all 360 feet. We finally scored again in the bottom of the ninth. Though our run was due at least in part to defensive indifference, it would have tied the game were it not for the runs allowed by our starter, Vin Mazzaro.
So let’s talk about Mazzaro for a minute. The truly amazing thing about giving up seven runs in one and a third innings is that it isn’t even his worst appearance as a Royal. Last May he gave up 14 in two and a third, setting a franchise record for runs surrendered by a single pitcher. That’s also the most any pitcher in the modern era has given up without throwing at least three innings. Of course after his last fiasco he was chased directly back to the Storm Chasers. With our pitcher-packed DL, we may not have the luxury of reintroducing him to I-29 quite so quickly this year.
The icing on the cake: exactly one week earlier he threw six innings for a 3-2 win in St. Louis. So he saved up this particular collapse for that magic moment when our stadium was packed with crimson-clad, bandwagoning assholes.
Off the field, the Royals organization continues its high regard for fans. The public WiFi was unavailable, requiring a long, complicated series of maneuvers to get iScore up and running. And they were supposed to have a birthday message for Amy on the board, which of course didn’t happen.
As the outing’s sole bright spot, Perez was Player of the Game and his home run was the Play of the Game. Beyond that, this was a completely worthless experience other than Mom’s opportunity to see her favorite hitting coach.
The box score: CARDINALS (11) AT ROYALS (4) CARDINALS AB R H BI ROYALS AB R H BI Rafael Furcal 3 2 1 0 Alex Gordon 5 0 1 0 Daniel Descalso 1 0 1 0 Yuniesky Betancourt 3 1 1 0 Jon Jay 5 2 1 0 Billy Butler 5 0 2 1 Matt Holliday 5 1 3 0 Eric Hosmer 5 0 1 1 Carlos Beltran 5 2 2 4 Jeff Francoeur 4 0 0 0 Yadier Molina 5 1 2 1 Mike Moustakas 3 1 1 0 David Freese 4 1 3 2 Salvador Perez 4 1 2 2 Matt Carpenter 4 2 2 1 Alcides Escobar 4 0 2 0 Tyler Greene 5 0 1 2 Jarrod Dyson 4 1 1 0 Skip Schumaker 3 0 1 1 Shane Robinson 1 0 0 0 TOTALS 41 11 17 11 TOTALS 37 4 11 4 CARDINALS 460 100 000 -- 11 ROYALS 100 200 001 -- 4 LOB--CARDINALS 10, ROYALS 9. 2B--Tyler Greene, Skip Schumaker, Carlos Beltran (2), David Freese, Matt Carpenter. HR--Salvador Perez. HBP--Jon Jay, Mike Moustakas. SACF--Matt Carpenter. SB--Yadier Molina, David Freese. CARDINALS IP H R ER BB SO HR Joe Kelly 6 9 3 3 0 1 1 Sam Freeman 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 Eduardo Sanchez 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 Fernando Salas 1 2 1 1 1 1 0 ROYALS Vin Mazzaro 1 1-3 6 7 7 2 2 0 Roman Colon 4 1-3 8 4 4 2 1 0 Tim Collins 1 1-3 1 0 0 1 2 0 Kelvin Herrera 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Jose Mijares 1 1 0 0 0 3 0 WP--Roman Colon. SO--Matt Holliday, Tyler Greene, Skip Schumaker (2), Rafael Furcal, Shane Robinson, Jon Jay (2), Jeff Francoeur, Alex Gordon, Mike Moustakas. BB--Matt Holliday, Skip Schumaker, Rafael Furcal (2), David Freese, Yuniesky Betancourt (2). Buck seat: W- (fundraiser, but for a decent cause) Guard: Navy Anthem: Just sing it, Broadway Umpires: Didn’t get names. I think West was at first Time: 7:09
Temp: 85
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