Semi-Live Blog: Opening Day - Royals vs Red Sox

I've never blogged a game, but when was the last time the Royals had a chance to have a winning record? You're probably wondering why this is now such a Royals Blog...well, I'm sure it won't last. By May I'll probably be too depressed to keep following them, but until then...

(John Miller and Joe Morgan announcing)

Top 1st
Gil Meche is your #1 pitcher in the Royals rotation (pronouned Mesh). The announcers say that maybe he can be the leader of the rotation, and then maybe they can get some of the other young pitchers to come along too. There's a lot of maybes in that sentence.

Meche strikes out the first batter of the season. 2 batters later Ortiz drives in a run and the Royals are losing. Already. Manny flies out and Ortiz is on second with 2 outs. After walking a batter, foul ball near the first base side and a fan interferes with the catcher. At first the announcers defend the fan, then say they feel sorry for him, then say he should have known better. Meche strikes the batter out anyways.
1-0 Red Sox

Bottom 1st
Schilling is your Opening Day starter for Boston. Alex Gordon is batting 5th, having never taken any regular season at-bats in the big leagues or even AAA. DeJesus flies out to start the inning. The ESPN graphic says "MLB Service: 12" -- that seems like an odd way to put it. Grudzielanek won the Gold Glove last year and gets a base hit to left on a high fastball. I bet he's really good at Scrabble.

I bet Schilling is deathly afraid of the heart of the Royals lineup. They had to move Teahen from 3b to the outfield to make way for the rookie sensation Gordon -- how come there hasn't been a Jeter-ARod controversy?

Teahen gets a hit up the middle an a 0-2 count. Sweeney the DH up to bat, with Gordon on deck. Base hit to right field, and the bases are loaded! Standing ovation for Gordon for his first at bat in the big leagues -- the announcer calls it the perfect situation for him.

Gordon fights off a couple pitches and strikes out on a splitter. Bases are still loaded with 2 outs. It seems very Royalesque to leave 3 men on. The Royals only hit one Grand Slam all of last year. Good to know. 3-2 count for Shealy. I don't know what position he plays. I'm guessing outfield. Good camera shot of Sweeney playing with his junk. And he walked him on a 3-2 splitter -- the Royals get the equalizer! (That's my best soccer announcer voice.) It feels like I've been writing forever. A "laborious" inning ends with a fly out.
1-1

Top 2nd
Meche throw 27 pitches in the first, Schilling 33. No wonder it seemed like I've been writing so long. Coco Crisp sounds like a delicious centerfielder. He grounds out for the second out. The Royals have had 6 different Opening Day starters over the last 6 years. The Boston 2b lined it to right, tried to strech it to second, and was out by a good measure. Quick half inning.
1-1

Bottom 2nd
It's quite windy there, I bet the smell of barbecue is flying around. First batter for KC grounds out. Next batter is a new addition: Tony Pena Jr. SS. They're saying he has a good glove but is a crappy hitter. He's in the 9 spot today. Last year in 40 games he hit .227 with 1 HR and 3 RBI.

So of course, Pena takes a splitter deep to left-center in his first at-bat as a Royal. Crisp slips in the outfield and Pena stretches it into a triple. Apparently, that's his first triple in the majors. Only one out for the top of the order. 5 of the 9 batters got on base the first time through the order.

The announcers are making a big deal about how Boston is bringing their infield in to try and prevent the runner from scoring. Strike 3 looking on DeJesus. 2 outs with a guy on 3rd for Grudz who scored the Royals run in the 1st. Base hit again for G and the Royals are on top, 2-1. Schilling doesn't have a curveball anymore. I know it's early, but not a great sign if you're a Boston fan. And as I say that, Schilling gets a strike out and ends the inning.
2-1 Royals

Top 3rd
Another strikeout for Meche, that's 3 for him already. Meche was the 2nd most expensive FA pitcher this offseason, only to Zito. He tied Sweeney as most expensive Royals contract. Fly out and then Ortiz grounds out. Back to back 1-2-3 innings for KC.
2-1 Royals

Bottom 3rd
George Brett is in the booth, mainly to talk about Gordon -- who's also a 3b. Sweeney flies out, and that brings up Gordon. He's the first to be College Player of the Year and Minor League Player of the Year, back to back. Should be a contender for AL Rookie of the Year. He's battling Schilling again, at a 2-2 count, before striking out, again.

Joe Morgan proceeds to bring up the Denkinger call and then the pine tar incident with George Brett. Royals go 1-2-3 as well.
2-1 Royals

Top 4th
And we're a third of the way though, with Manny leading off, and he grounds out. Meche seems like he's got some good stuff, nasty curve, and he's gotten over the early jitters. And then he gives up a base hit to JD Drew. I should stop typing.

Sharply hit ball to Gordon at third, who knocks it down and gets throw in time to get the force at second. Nice to know he can make a play.

Seriously, it's so windy that the dirt flying across the camera looks like it's a fuzzy signal. Morgan and Brett start rambling, forgetting completely about the baseball game going on. That only took 4 innings. Strike out looking, that's 4 for Meche, and it ends the half inning.
2-1 Royals


Bottom 4th
It's great to see the fountains going, nothing else like it. Schilling's thrown 75 pitches after 3 and 1/3. Double down the line with 1 out for the catcher, Buck. Manny casually relays the ball back in. Pena gets a walk, good stuff out of the 9th spot. 2 on, 1 out, for the top of the order. Schilling has thrown 11 first-pitch balls out of 19 pitchers -- unusual for a strike guy. DeJesus flies out to left...maybe Pena should be the lead off man, and DeJesus should be #9.

Grudz is 2 for 2 with a RBI chance here. And he takes the first pitch and drives it deep to right... over Drew's head, bounces off the wall. Buck will score, Pena coming around, the throw to the plate...not in time! 2-run double for Grudz and then Teahen comes up and takes the first pitch up the middle. G comes around to score and it's 5-1 Royals. All 5 runs for the Royals have been scored with 2 outs -- and that's a great stat. Schilling has to come out pretty soon. He does strike out Sweeney, but the damage is done.
5-1 Royals

Top 5th
Dice-K will be starting in game 3 of this series, which should be Thursday. Meche gets yet another strike out, and it was one where the batter thought he had a walk. Meche's curve is freaky naughty. Ball hit up the middle, Pena running across the field and gets the throw to first in time. Nice play by the new addition.

Watch out, American League. The Royals have some players that know their ass from third base. What's that? Another strike out on a BIG curveball from Meche. Lugo got caught looking and started jawing at the ump.
5-1 Royals

Bottom 5th
Javier Lopez in to replace Schilling. Lopez facing Alex Gordon, who's already struck out twice. And he gets hit! He's on base. Welcome to the show.

The outfield camera makes me think it's raining, but it's just dusty wind. And that's the first double play of the game, followed by a ground out, and Lopez has 3 up, 3 down.
5-1 Royals

Top 6th
Wild play to start the 6th. Youkilis hits it sharply down the 3rd base line, Gordon makes a diving stop to knock it down. He has plenty of time on the throw, but throws it wide. Youkilis then tries to go to second (situation is zero outs, down four runs with Ortiz and Manny due up) and gets thrown out easily by the 2b who covered quickly.

I kind of hope that Ortiz gets a hit and ends up being left on third base, so that Youkilis move costs them runs. Ortiz does get a hit -- the ball hits him in the foot and now he's on first.

Manny hits into a double play (now 0-3) to end the inning.
5-1 Royals

Bottom 6th
Should I be feeling good about this game? I know that Meche can't last forever, and the Royal's closer, Dotel, is not active today. I mean the Royals are the Royals right? They can blow this.

Okajima in for Lopez and his first major league pitch...is a home run for the catcher Buck. Right of straight away, over 410 feet. First home run of the game, and it's not a home run park.

Pena strikes out, but he's already proved his worth for the day. DeJesus up and he's 0-3 so far.
Apparently, Bo Jackson has the record for longest home run in this stadium, a 475 foot shot in '86. DeJesus flies out 400 feet to center, too bad it takes 410. Grudz up, and he's 3-3 on the day. He grounds out to end the inning and we're 2/3 of the way home.
6-1 Royals

Top 7th
I'm officially scared about the Royals bullpen. Meche is still out there, facing JD Drew, who grounds out. The word FRICK looks like a different word when it's in all caps and at a distance. The R and I can blend together. I bring this up because they have a Ford Frick award for a broadcaster. I missed a fly out thinking about that, and Varitek grounds out to Pena to go 1-2-3. 6-1 Royals

Bottom 7th
There's plenty of room on the Royals bandwagon. And it's moving so slowly, any one can jump on. Teahen, Sweeney, Gordon due up. I'd love for Gordon to get a hit this time.

Teahen goes down swinging. Sweeney base hit. Gordon hits the ball hard down the line, but because Sweeney's on first, the 1b was playing tight on the line. Sweeney advances to 2nd, but Gordon's out. Donnelley in to pitch for Boston. He's wearing spectacles. And he strikes out the last batter.
6-1 Royals

Top 8th
Meche still in at 96 pitches. He's got 6 strike outs and either 5 or 3 hits given up - a discrepancy between the announcer and the graphic. One out on a grounder to right. "It's been all Royals ever since the first inning." Line drive to center, and DeJesus makes a diving stop. The ball bounces in front of him, but he makes a nice play to keep it to a single. And that's all for Meche who leaves to a Standing O. Miller calls Meche the "toast of Kansas City." That might be a bit of a stretch.

1 out, 1 on, as Peralta comes in to replace Meche. Lugo up to face Peralta. Lugo struck out 3 times against Meche and was applauding as he left. Lugo takes it up the middle, and now there's a runners on 2nd and 1st with only one out. Youkilis is up, with Ortiz and Manny on deck. Seriously, I have zero confidence in the Royals pen.

The Royals blew 31 saves last year. It's never too early to start this year. A reminder, Dotel the closer is not availble today. Meche's 7 1/3 is the longest opening day start for the Royals since Saberhagen in '88.

Full count to Youkilis...and he strikes him out! How do you like them apples?

Ortiz up to bat, and after Pujols, he's the guy I least want to see up. 2 outs, and now 1-2. Crowd on their feet...Ortiz fouls it back. Ortiz called time to retrieve a hot dog wrapper than had blown on to the field. Perhaps trying to ice Peralta. 2-2 count, and he fouls off another. And he goes down swinging. Down goes Ortiz! Down goes Ortiz!
6-1 Royals

Bottom 8th
Royals lead in hits 10-7, but runs 6-1. Not what you would think you would get out of the Royals.

Wild turn of events here in the 8th. Gload (has he been playing the whole time?) chops one to first, and Boston's 1b can't handle it - over his head. After Buck pops up, Pena (who else?) comes up big. Facing a 1-2 count with a guy on first, after he had just avoiding getting out on a just foul grounder, he hits a big shot to left. Off the wall again, Manny slips, and Pena slides safely into third, scoring Gload. Francona comes out to argue that Pena was out at third.

Romero in to pitch for Boston. And Miller is talking about how much he likes watching movies in HD. Also, travelogues to India. I'm not making this up.

So the leadoff man DeJesus is now 0-5, and yet the Royals scored 7. Pena never had a triple before today. Now he has 2 in his career. Grudz ends the inning on a full count fly out.
7-1 Royals

Top 9th
If the Royals blow a 6 run lead in the 9th, this will be the last Royals game I ever watch.

Manny up to bat to start the 9th. And the dust has not gone away. Peralta gets strike three called. 2 outs away.

Willy Mo Pena in to bat for JD Drew, obviously trying to take advantage of Tony Pena Jr's good batting today. Pena strikes out swinging. And that's 4 consecutive strike outs for Peralta, including Ortiz, Ramirez, Pena. 1 out away.

Lowell could be the last batter today. Red Sox have 7 hits, but only one for extra bases. 2-1 to Lowell. Sharply hit to left, and that's a stand up double.

Varitek up to bat. 1-2 count...and it's a fly out to right field. And that's it.
Final Score 7-1 Royals

The Royals have a winning record. They're tied for first in the division, ahead of the White Sox and Tigers, and they showed a lot of promise.

Obviously, it's just one game, and the Royals are without a doubt the weakest team in the division and it would be a miracle just to finish 4th. But you take what you can get. And today they played solid baseball and beat a good team.

There aren't any Royals games scheduled to be on tv for the next two weeks, so we'll see if they're still playing good baseball the next time I see them.