Game Two vs. Detroit

Though it’s impossible to tell this early in the season, this match-up is likely to be the big rivalry in the American League this year. It’s going to be interesting to see how the Royals and Tigers fare. Though if tonight is any indication, it won’t be much of a contest.

Detroit definitely didn’t bring its A-game to the field. We got off to an early lead in the third with a three-run homer from Eric Hosmer, and in the fifth we scored five runs and sent the whole team to the plate. If Jose Iglesias (their number nine hitter) hadn’t snuck in a lead-off triple in the eighth, this could easily have been a shut-out.

The highlight of the game was the moment we’ve all been waiting for (especially since the postseason last year). The Tigers put the usual extreme shift on Mike Moustakas, and he responded by bunting a perfect shot right down the vacant third base line. Finally! At long last!

What a great way to get the season underway.

TIGERS (1) AT ROYALS (8)

TIGERS               AB  R  H BI  ROYALS               AB  R  H BI
Rajai Davis           4  0  1  1  Alex Gordon           4  1  2  2  
Ian Kinsler           3  0  0  0  Mike Moustakas        5  1  2  1  
Miguel Cabrera        2  0  1  0  Lorenzo Cain          5  1  1  0  
Victor Martinez       4  0  2  0  Eric Hosmer           4  1  1  2  
J.D. Martinez         4  0  0  0  Kendrys Morales       4  1  1  1  
Yoenis Cespedes       4  0  0  0  Salvador Perez        4  1  2  1  
Nick Castellanos      4  0  1  0  Omar Infante          4  0  1  0  
James McCann          4  0  1  0  Jarrod Dyson          4  1  3  0  
Jose Iglesias         3  1  1  0  Christian Colon       4  1  1  1  
TOTALS               32  1  7  1  TOTALS               38  8 14  8

TIGERS                        000 000 010 -- 1  
ROYALS                        003 050 00x -- 8  

LOB--TIGERS 7, ROYALS 8. 2B--Kendrys Morales, Mike
Moustakas, Salvador Perez. 3B--Jose Iglesias. HR--Eric
Hosmer. SB--Lorenzo Cain, Christian Colon.

 TIGERS                          IP    H    R   ER   BB   SO   HR
Alfredo Simon                  4.33    9    6    6    2    6    1
Alex Wilson                    1.67    3    2    2    0    2    0
Al Alburquerque                1.00    2    0    0    0    0    0
Angel Nesbitt                  1.00    0    0    0    0    2    0
 ROYALS                     
Danny Duffy                    7.00    7    1    1    2    7    0
Jason Frasor                   1.00    0    0    0    1    2    0
Brandon Finnegan               1.00    0    0    0    0    1    0

WP--Danny Duffy. SO--Rajai Davis, Miguel Cabrera, J.D.
Martinez (3), Yoenis Cespedes (2), Nick Castellanos (2),
James McCann, Alex Gordon, Omar Infante, Lorenzo Cain (3),
Eric Hosmer (3), Mike Moustakas, Christian Colon. BB--Ian
Kinsler, Miguel Cabrera (2), Alex Gordon, Eric Hosmer.

Game One vs. Oakland

It seems odd to be out at the K for the first time so late in April. Though I’m glad we didn’t go out for Opening Day, it would have been nice to have seen at least one game before April 19. If nothing else, it kinda throws a wrench in the whole “stay for three or four innings and then go get Indian” tradition.
But if the games are going to be like this, they’ll be worth staying for.

Of late our guys seem to be taking a lot of abuse. Several of our batters have been hit by pitches. And on Friday Brett Lawrie slid hard into Alcides Escobar, dealing him an injury that with luck won’t keep him out too long.

The trend continued this evening with hit batters and a nearly-bench-clearing incident in the late innings. Though it’s great to see the team and the fans this fired up about the game, I do hope things settle down a bit as the season progresses. Exciting baseball is one thing. Unnecessary drama is something else.

ATHLETICS (2) AT ROYALS (4)

ATHLETICS            AB  R  H BI  ROYALS               AB  R  H BI
Craig Gentry          3  0  0  0  Paulo Orlando         3  1  0  0 
 Sam Fuld             2  0  0  0  Mike Moustakas        4  0  0  0 
Mark Canha            3  1  1  0  Lorenzo Cain          3  1  1  1 
Ben Zobrist           2  0  2  2  Eric Hosmer           3  1  1  0 
 Eric Sogard          1  0  1  0  Kendrys Morales       4  0  1  2 
Billy Butler          2  0  0  0  Omar Infante          2  0  2  0 
Cody Ross             3  0  0  0   Orlando  Calixte     2  1  0  0 
Josh Phegley          4  0  0  0  Erik Kratz            3  0  0  0 
Brett Lawrie          4  0  1  0   Alex Gordon          1  0  0  0 
Josh Reddick          4  0  2  0  Christian Colon       3  0  2  0 
Marcus Semien         3  1  0  0  Jarrod Dyson          2  0  1  1 
                                   Salvador Perez       1  0  0  0 
TOTALS               31  2  7  2  TOTALS               31  4  8  4

ATHLETICS                     001 010 000 -- 2 
ROYALS                        000 010 03x -- 4 

LOB--ATHLETICS 8, ROYALS 6. 2B--Eric Sogard, Kendrys
Morales, Omar Infante, Lorenzo Cain. HBP--Lorenzo Cain.
SB--Ben Zobrist, Mark Canha, Lorenzo Cain.

 ATHLETICS                       IP    H    R   ER   BB   SO   HR
Scott Kazmir                   7.33    6    2    2    1    5    0
Eric O'Flaherty                0.67    2    2    2    1    0    0
 ROYALS                    
Danny Duffy                    5.00    4    2    2    5    5    0
Jason Frasor                   1.00    2    0    0    1    0    0
Ryan Madson                    1.00    1    0    0    0    1    0
Kelvin Herrera                 0.67    0    0    0    0    0    0
Franklin Morales               0.33    0    0    0    0    0    0
Wade Davis                     1.00    0    0    0    0    2    0

WP--Scott Kazmir, Danny Duffy. SO--Sam Fuld (2), Craig
Gentry (2), Brett Lawrie (2), Marcus Semien, Mark Canha,
Lorenzo Cain, Erik Kratz (2), Salvador Perez, Paulo Orlando.
BB--Cody Ross, Ben Zobrist, Billy Butler (2), Marcus Semien,
Mark Canha, Eric Hosmer, Paulo Orlando.

The new ticket scheme

Good news on the ticket front. Though the Royals won’t print tickets for us anymore, they’ve at least made it possible for us to print our own. So we won’t have to mess with whatever smart phone app nonsense they’re trying to get people to do (like that’s ever going to work reliably).

I’m still a little fuzzy on how parking is going to work, but I imagine we’ll get it figured out.

I’ve also got a userid and password for our ticket account, so we’ll all be able to access it as needed. I’ll get the info to you in a less public forum (i.e. the next time I see you).