Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That the Royals are fortunate to be 2-3, since they have been outscored by Toronto's Marco Scutaro and Florida's Emilio Bonafacio. Those two players have touched home plate nine times; Kansas City has scored eight runs total, batting .198 as a team. Billy Butler is 1-for-17 with seven strikeouts, David DeJesus is 4-for-21 with six strikeouts, Coco Crisp has a .211 average, Alex Gordon is batting .133, and Miguel Olivo and Mike Jacobs are at .214. Crisp leads the club with three RBI.
Oh, and sore hips forced Jose Guillen to the DL and Gordon out of yesterday's game.
Baseball is America's pastime, but had our forefathers enjoyed the modern conveniences of clocks, ball pumps, or haste, this pastime may well have been basketball or football. Instead, they had wood, leather, and a rudderless disposition. Baseball is Boring is a series of live blogs for folks who need irony and self-awareness to get through a game.
From the Wikipedia article for "beard" - "A beard is the hair that grows on a human's chin, cheeks, neck, and the area above the upper lip (the opposite is a clean-shaven face). Typically, only post-pubescent males are able to grow beards. When differentiating between upper and lower facial hair, a beard specifically refers to the facial hair on the lower part of a man's chin."
The question here is, "how much lower part of a man's chin can one man have?" Peralta might as well cut his chest hair into a straight line and pretend it's his jawline. Sorry Jhonny, I want to look like Brad Pitt as much as the next guy, but when your head is shaped like a ripe melon a thin line of scruff isn't going to differentiate your neck fat from your head fat.
That's Joey Gathright, occasional big-league center fielder. He's currently playing with the Royals (of Triple-A Omaha, that is), though the video was taken in 2002, back when he was still a legitimate prospect for the Devil Rays. What went wrong?
Well, he can't hit worth a lick, and he jumped over one more car in this video than he's hit home runs over three seasons. I kind of hope he makes the big show and gets traded to the Phillies, though, if for no other reason than to see him try jumping over Jon Lieber's truck.
One of the amazing things about watching the Tigers last season was their ability to turn things around late. I don't remember how many times I saw this team play like zombies for eight innings, and then in the ninth inning come to life and get a win.
It's one of the biggest factors for their American League pennant, and it returned on Sunday afternoon in Kansas City. From the Detroit News:
Through eight innings of their 3-2 victory Sunday afternoon, the Tigers did so little at the plate against the Kansas City Royals it looked like they were going to leave town with two defeats in a ballpark where they won all nine games last year.
They were dead in the water. Scoreless. Until the ninth.
The Tigers came to the plate in the ninth inning down 2-0 and quickly got to work. Magglio Ordoñez led the inning off with a double, and then David Riske walked Carlos Guillen. Ivan Rodriguez then came to the plate, and Riske made a fatal mistake.
"I thought he was going to bunt, so I threw one right down the middle. I was thinking about fielding a bunt and getting the next guy out instead of making a high-quality pitch."
Yeah, Pudge wasn't looking to bunt. Instead he took that first pitch and re-directed it 420 feet over the fence as the Tigers left Kansas City with a 3-2 win.
It was an all too familiar feeling for the Royals, who went 0-9 against the Tigers at home last season but managed to win one game in this series. It was also a reminder to the American League that if you're going to beat the Tigers, you're going to have to fight them tooth and nail for the victory, because they will never quit on themselves.
It was Mike Maroth's first regular season start since last May when elbow surgery robbed him of a season, even if it wasn't very pretty. In the end Maroth knows it's the win that counts, and that's precisely what Maroth got as Detroit beat Kansas City 6-5.
"[I] did enough to win," Maroth said. "I wouldn't say that I pitched real well, but we scored more runs than they did, and that's what counts."
His teammates spotted Maroth a 4-1 lead early, but he let the Royals tie the game up in the third inning after Reggie Sanders smoked a two-run homer to left field. Fortunately for Maroth, his counterpart Gil Meche wasn't nearly as sharp as he was on Opening Day, and the Tigers offense didn't miss their chances.
After Kansas City tied the game at 4, Ivan Rodriguez led the fourth inning off by lining the first pitch he saw from Mech over the wall in left field. Curtis Granderson would then add a solo shot in the fifth inning to provide the Tigers with all the runs they'd need.
Meche lasted seven innings, but allowed all six Tigers runs that included the solo homers to Rodriguez, Granderson, and Gary Sheffield. Afterwards Meche talked about not having the same command of his pitches that he had when he beat the Red Sox earlier this week.
"I never felt like the weather was bothering me," Meche said. "I just couldn't find a rhythm on the mound with my offspeed pitches, and I kept falling behind. The other day, it seemed that everything that came out of my hand was a strike, and today, it seemed like I was trying to find it pretty much every inning. I couldn't get it to where I wanted to be."
The two teams will meet again in the rubber match on Sunday afternoon as the Tigers send Jeremy Bonderman to the mound against Brandon Duckworth.
It wasn't exactly hitter's weather in Kansas City yesterday (and I guess it wasn't pitcher's weather, either) but Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched pretty darn well in Boston's 4-1 victory against the Royals. In seven innings of work, he only issued one walk, he fanned 10 and gave up a scant six hits.
No fewer than 19 photographers gathered behind home plate for Dice-K's warm-up pitches before the bottom half of the first inning, just part of a media contingent that numbered at least 200.
Again, I approach this performance the way I did in regards to Dice-K's spring outings -- with cautious optimism. Sure, this was a stellar start in a media-swarmed event. And yes, Dice-K has proven his vast array of pitches is a hard thing to combat if you're at the plate against him. But it's early. Very, very early. And it was the freaking Royals, after all.
Some highlights from yesterday's games ... Who is this guy? So, apparently there was some guy from Japan that pitched yesterday? Daisuke Matsuzaka? Yeah, I've never heard of him, either. But he looked pretty good after a tentative first inning, finishing the game with six hits, one run and 10 strikeouts in seven innings. From The Feed:
Every pitcher, Japanese or otherwise, should be so lucky to face the Royals in their first game. It's really too much luck to get both the Royals and Greinke, who missed 2006 battling an anxiety disorder. The 5000 photographers following Dice-K's every step are probably good for a guy battling an anxiety disorder.
Greinke actually pitched well (7 IP, 1 ER, 7 K) despite getting tagged with the loss, but that line was too good to just let disappear unnoticed.
One step forward, two steps back? The White Sox won their game against the Indians, but it came at the expense of Mark Buerhle, who left the game early after being struck by a line drive and is listed as day-to-day. Ironically, getting hit by the ball ended up working in the team's favor later in the game, as Indians pitcher Roberto Hernandez beaned A.J. Pierzynski to bring home the winning run.
Ugly homecoming. Andy Pettitte couldn't make it out of the fifth inning in his first start back in the Big Apple. No worries, though; I'm guessing most of the fans will remember Alex Rodriguez popping up with the bases loaded and the winning run on second base in the eight inning. Elijah Dukes, a talented young hitter who's fallen under the radar with all of the attention lavished upon Delmon Young and B.J. Upton, meanwhile, homered for the second time in as many games for the Rays.
Octavio Dotel missed all of last season thanks to injury problems, but the Royals took a chance on him this offseason since they needed a closer. Things were working very well for both sides this spring until Dotel started feeling a "pinch" in his left oblique muscle.
The Royals approached the injury with caution, resting Octavio, but after a pregame throwing session on Wednesday he's headed for the disabled list.
Royals closer Octavio Dotel is headed for the disabled list after continuing to feel a pinch in his left oblique Wednesday in a pregame throwing session.
"I'm disappointed," he admitted, "but I don't want to make it worse. I just don't feel real good; not like I want to."
The Royals replaced Dotel by purchasing the contract of right-hander Jason Standridge from Class AAA Omaha. Standridge, 28, was expected to join the club in time for Wednesday's game against the Red Sox at Kauffman Stadium.
"Standridge pitched well enough in spring training to be on our club," manager Buddy Bell said. "He was on his way to Omaha when we stopped him."
In Dotel's place will be setup man David Riske. Riske has only 16 saves in his Major League career, but did close 73 games while in the minors. This is good news for copy writers in Kansas City because they'll be able to use headlines like "Riske Proposition" or "No Riske, No Reward." They love doing things like that.
The good news for KC is that since they were able to back date Dotel's injury, he's eligible to return to action on April 14th.
The Fanhouse's look at the day's most intriguing matchups
Kansas City Royals (1-1) vs. Boston Red Sox (1-1)-2:10PM Est.
The wait is finally over. Sure, you saw him in spring training, but we're experiencing the real thing now. Daisuke Matsuzaka makes his Major League debut for the Boston Red Sox this afternoon in Kansas City. Will we finally get a chance to see this magical pitch they call the Gyroball or is it just a myth? Unfortunately, overshadowed in this game is Zack Greinke who's making his first start of the season after battling through a severe case of depression last season. Greinke had a strong spring to regain his spot in the Royals rotation, and says he's worked through his problems. The good news is that if he relapses, he can follow the lead of women everywhere, and sit in the dugout with a gallon of Dice-Kream.
Philadelphia Phillies (0-2) vs. Atlanta Braves (2-0)-3:05PM Est.
If the third game of this series is as exciting as the first two, you'd be a fool to skip it. The Braves have rallied from behind in both games so far before winning each contest in extra innings. A win today would give Atlanta it's first 3-0 start since 1994. Ahh, 1994. Remember that magnificent 1994 World Series? That was easily the best World Series of all time. What? You're kidding? Wow. That's messed up.
San Francisco Giants (0-2) vs. San Diego Padres (2-0)-10:15PM Est.
Barry Bonds hit home run number 735 last night to move within 20 of the great Hank Aaron, but unfortunately the Giants still lost. The way that Barry has treated the Padres over his career--86 home runs, his most against any opponent--it's not too crazy a notion that he'll hit number 736 tonight against Clay Hensley. More importantly for the Giants, they're looking to avoid their first 0-3 start since 1984.
The Fanhouse's look at the day's most intriguing matchups
Chicago White Sox (0-1) vs. Cleveland Indians (1-0)-2:05PM Est.
I'm going to go ahead and say that the Indians will not continue their torrid pace offensively this afternoon. Not because they don't have the ability to, just because I don't think they'll want to. The game time temperature at U.S. Cellular Field will be more suitable for a Bears/Browns game than the Sox and Indians. It's expected to be 38 degrees with 25MPH winds, and a 30% chance of snow. You ever try and hit a baseball in that kind of weather? Doesn't exactly feel good making contact. Of course the wind doesn't exactly help the pitchers either. A gust at the right time could add enough break to their curves to make Mark Mallory blush.
Milwaukee Brewers (2-0) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (0-2)-8:05PM Est.
It's the battle of free agent acquisition pitchers! Jeff Suppan will make his Milwaukee debut against Jason Schmidt and the Dodgers. The Brewers are off to a 2-0 start so far this season, making that Brewers in the NL Central bandwagon a little more crowded. Just remember kids, it doesn't matter if you win or lose, just that you hit the 12-man beer bong beforehand.
Kansas City Royals (1-0) vs. Boston Red Sox (0-1)-8:10PM Est.
What would happen in Boston if the Sawx were to experience the embarrassment of losing two in a row against the mighty Royals to start the season? Something tells me that if they do, Dan Shaughnessy won't act as civilized on his flight back to Boston. The Sawx will be sending Josh "Blisters" Beckett to the mound against Odalis Perez in hopes of stopping the bleeding.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
One of the amazing things about watching the Tigers last season was their ability to turn things around late. I don't remember how many times I saw this team play like zombies for eight innings, and then in the ninth inning come to life and get a win.
It was Mike Maroth's first regular season start since last May when elbow surgery robbed him of a season, even if it wasn't very pretty. In the end Maroth knows it's the win that counts, and that's precisely what Maroth got as 
It wasn't exactly hitter's weather in Kansas City yesterday (and I guess it wasn't pitcher's weather, either) but Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched pretty darn well in 
Octavio Dotel missed all of last season thanks to injury problems, but the Royals took a chance on him this offseason since they needed a closer. Things were working very well for both sides this spring until Dotel started feeling a "pinch" in his left oblique muscle.
