Game 8 - 4/9/2008

Yankees 0, Royals 4

Was at the game with my son last night. It was my first peek at the new "K," and let me just say this - that scoreboard is awesome!

It's so big, it almost takes away from the game, but the wealth of information it provides is incredible. And the picture is so clear - I saw more than I wanted of the girl singing the National Anthem (don't tongue piercings hurt???)

Grienke was awesome, even in the crappy weather. It rained steadily from the second inning on, and the infield was pretty muddy. And it was cold with a pretty stiff wind coming in from right field.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi made a strange decision to scratch starter Ian Kennedy just before game time. I guess he was expecting a rain delay, so he started his bullpen, and planned to go with Kennedy after the delay.

The delay never came, so the Royals faced an assortment of Yankees pitchers. Kennedy finally entered the game in the sixth and finished it out. He came in trailing 2-0 and gave up 2 more runs in the sixth. I'm sure Girardi knows what he's doing, but that seemed like a dumb thing to do. Just sayin'.

There was no offense until John Buck took Farnsworth deep in the 5th. He crushed that ball just left of the scoreboard, into the water. I think it was measured at 429 feet. It was a shot.

That homer seemed to loosen everybody up, and the Royals finally started getting some action after that, eventually putting up 4 runs between the 5th and 6th.

Grienke pitched 8 innings, giving up 6 hits and 2 walks with 2 strike outs. His ERA is now a *sick* 0.60.

I know, it's still early, but how can you not feel good about this team? It's all working right now. Great pitching, timely hitting, effective base running, and stellar defense (except, I think Hillman needs to let his outfielders take a few steps back.)

Here's a nice nugget: the Royals have shut out both the Tigers and the Yankees, but haven't been shut out yet. The Royals have faced two of the top three payroll lineups in baseball and have shut both of them out. The Tigers have been shut out twice.

How 'bout little sweep action tonight, eh?



The Hill Climb
Actual Record 6-2
Expected Record 6-2
Runs Scored 32
Runs Allowed 18
Projected Record 122-40
Pythagorean Record 123-39
Pythagorean Winning% 0.759

Let's go get 'em