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05-12-2003, 05:22 PM
They wore themselves out with that double header.
:(
Poopers.
Boogers.
O's fall, 8-5, with series of lost chances
Team strands 10 runners, wastes 3 HRs as Royals gain split of 4-game set; Four-run 7th inning boosts K.C.; Harvey is hero again, gets tiebreaking, 2-run single
By Joe Christensen
Sun Staff
Originally published May 12, 2003
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The morning newspaper here carried a huge headline yesterday that said, "Are they for real?" and if it weren't for the photo and the big smile on Royals manager Tony Pena's face, readers might have wondered, "Who?"
The Kansas City Royals, that's who. Four more games against the Orioles this weekend did nothing to prove anything otherwise.
The Orioles swept both ends of a doubleheader Friday, but they exhausted themselves in the process, and that eventually caught up to them.
Interim manager Sam Perlozzo didn't want to dig too deeply into his tired bullpen, even with starting pitcher Pat Hentgen fighting a sore groin muscle, and the Royals eventually overpowered the Orioles, 8-5, yesterday at Kauffman Stadium.
The Orioles packed for Chicago looking back on another lost opportunity. They wasted three home runs, settled for a series split against the American League Central leaders and fell below .500 again, at 18-19.
Jay Gibbons, Deivi Cruz and David Segui each hit home runs for the Orioles, but the team finished 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left 10 runners on base.
Tony Batista stranded four of those, fouling out to end the fifth inning with a man on third and grounding into a 6-4-3 double play with the bases loaded to end the seventh.
"I think I was missing too many pitches," said Batista, who is batting .250 with runners in scoring position. "I don't know why. It was just one of those days."
For the second game in a row, the defining moment centered on Kansas City rookie first baseman Ken Harvey.
On Saturday, Harvey hit a two-run homer off Orioles reliever Buddy Groom to give the Royals an eighth-inning lead, and they went on to win, 8-4.
Privately, the Orioles fumed about the way Harvey celebrated that home run, with a Sammy Sosa-like hop out of the batter's box, two fists raised in the air and a curtain call.
This time, Harvey came up with the score tied 3-3 and one out in the seventh inning. With first base open, Perlozzo had Orioles reliever Travis Driskill intentionally walk Raul Ibanez to face Harvey, and the burly rookie lined a two-run single to left field.
Perlozzo, who took over for manager Mike Hargrove again Saturday when Hargrove returned to Texas to see his ailing mother, said the decision to walk Ibanez and face Harvey was "pick your poison."
Ibanez had 103 RBIs last season and is batting .305. Harvey has now delivered the game-tying or game-winning hit in eight of his past 18 games. He normally serves as Kansas City's designated hitter, but he played first base during this series as All-Star Mike Sweeney sat out with a strained right hamstring.
"Obviously, it's the right call [to walk Ibanez]," Driskill said. "We've got a right-hander [Harvey] on deck, a guy who's not the fastest guy in the world and we've got a double play set up all over the field. If I was able to make the pitch, they could give us a double play."
Driskill stayed in the game, and the Royals scored two more runs in the seventh before Perlozzo had anyone up in the bullpen.
Groom and right-hander Kerry Ligtenberg had pitched the two previous days.
B.J. Ryan and Rick Bauer had pitched Saturday, and Willis Roberts, who began warming up late in the seventh, had thrown two innings Friday.
Driskill took over for Hentgen with the score tied 3-3 in the sixth, and Perlozzo was determined to stick with him until the Orioles took a late-inning lead.
"We got to a certain point where we needed to rest our 'pen," Perlozzo said.
"I thought Travis was throwing the ball really well, and then all off a sudden, bing-bang. We had two left-handers [Ryan and Groom] who could give us a couple hitters at the most. The seventh inning is not the time to burn them, especially on the rest they've had."
Making his second start of the season, Hentgen held the Royals to three runs over five innings, despite allowing seven hits and two walks.
"Pat had a really gutsy performance today," Perlozzo said. "He actually tweaked his groin on his second warm-up toss, and I thought he did a tremendous job to get us where he got us."
Hentgen refused to blame the injury for his performance, calling it "a non-factor."
He caught a bad break in the fourth inning, when right fielder Gibbons went back to the wall and dropped a fly ball by Royals catcher Brent Mayne.
With two outs, Mendy Lopez singled up the middle, and Mayne scored to make it 3-2.
"I've got to make a better pitch there with two outs and an open base," Hentgen said. "I've just got to do a better job of shutting the inning down."
Copyright © 2003, The Baltimore Sun
:(
Poopers.
Boogers.
O's fall, 8-5, with series of lost chances
Team strands 10 runners, wastes 3 HRs as Royals gain split of 4-game set; Four-run 7th inning boosts K.C.; Harvey is hero again, gets tiebreaking, 2-run single
By Joe Christensen
Sun Staff
Originally published May 12, 2003
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The morning newspaper here carried a huge headline yesterday that said, "Are they for real?" and if it weren't for the photo and the big smile on Royals manager Tony Pena's face, readers might have wondered, "Who?"
The Kansas City Royals, that's who. Four more games against the Orioles this weekend did nothing to prove anything otherwise.
The Orioles swept both ends of a doubleheader Friday, but they exhausted themselves in the process, and that eventually caught up to them.
Interim manager Sam Perlozzo didn't want to dig too deeply into his tired bullpen, even with starting pitcher Pat Hentgen fighting a sore groin muscle, and the Royals eventually overpowered the Orioles, 8-5, yesterday at Kauffman Stadium.
The Orioles packed for Chicago looking back on another lost opportunity. They wasted three home runs, settled for a series split against the American League Central leaders and fell below .500 again, at 18-19.
Jay Gibbons, Deivi Cruz and David Segui each hit home runs for the Orioles, but the team finished 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left 10 runners on base.
Tony Batista stranded four of those, fouling out to end the fifth inning with a man on third and grounding into a 6-4-3 double play with the bases loaded to end the seventh.
"I think I was missing too many pitches," said Batista, who is batting .250 with runners in scoring position. "I don't know why. It was just one of those days."
For the second game in a row, the defining moment centered on Kansas City rookie first baseman Ken Harvey.
On Saturday, Harvey hit a two-run homer off Orioles reliever Buddy Groom to give the Royals an eighth-inning lead, and they went on to win, 8-4.
Privately, the Orioles fumed about the way Harvey celebrated that home run, with a Sammy Sosa-like hop out of the batter's box, two fists raised in the air and a curtain call.
This time, Harvey came up with the score tied 3-3 and one out in the seventh inning. With first base open, Perlozzo had Orioles reliever Travis Driskill intentionally walk Raul Ibanez to face Harvey, and the burly rookie lined a two-run single to left field.
Perlozzo, who took over for manager Mike Hargrove again Saturday when Hargrove returned to Texas to see his ailing mother, said the decision to walk Ibanez and face Harvey was "pick your poison."
Ibanez had 103 RBIs last season and is batting .305. Harvey has now delivered the game-tying or game-winning hit in eight of his past 18 games. He normally serves as Kansas City's designated hitter, but he played first base during this series as All-Star Mike Sweeney sat out with a strained right hamstring.
"Obviously, it's the right call [to walk Ibanez]," Driskill said. "We've got a right-hander [Harvey] on deck, a guy who's not the fastest guy in the world and we've got a double play set up all over the field. If I was able to make the pitch, they could give us a double play."
Driskill stayed in the game, and the Royals scored two more runs in the seventh before Perlozzo had anyone up in the bullpen.
Groom and right-hander Kerry Ligtenberg had pitched the two previous days.
B.J. Ryan and Rick Bauer had pitched Saturday, and Willis Roberts, who began warming up late in the seventh, had thrown two innings Friday.
Driskill took over for Hentgen with the score tied 3-3 in the sixth, and Perlozzo was determined to stick with him until the Orioles took a late-inning lead.
"We got to a certain point where we needed to rest our 'pen," Perlozzo said.
"I thought Travis was throwing the ball really well, and then all off a sudden, bing-bang. We had two left-handers [Ryan and Groom] who could give us a couple hitters at the most. The seventh inning is not the time to burn them, especially on the rest they've had."
Making his second start of the season, Hentgen held the Royals to three runs over five innings, despite allowing seven hits and two walks.
"Pat had a really gutsy performance today," Perlozzo said. "He actually tweaked his groin on his second warm-up toss, and I thought he did a tremendous job to get us where he got us."
Hentgen refused to blame the injury for his performance, calling it "a non-factor."
He caught a bad break in the fourth inning, when right fielder Gibbons went back to the wall and dropped a fly ball by Royals catcher Brent Mayne.
With two outs, Mendy Lopez singled up the middle, and Mayne scored to make it 3-2.
"I've got to make a better pitch there with two outs and an open base," Hentgen said. "I've just got to do a better job of shutting the inning down."
Copyright © 2003, The Baltimore Sun