As noted and predicted in the game thread, and elsewhere, a big part of Robinson Tejeda's success this season has been his ability to avoid giving up home runs. Tonight against the Yankees, he surrendered two long balls, which accounted for all three Yankee runs.
Overall, Tejeda still managed to turn in another good start, allowing just four hits total, along with three walks and five strikeouts.
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John Buck had a nice night, collecting a double and a triple. The less said about what happened in the seventh, which was not Buck's fault, the better. I can understand the (expected) decision by the Royals to keep Olivo and use Pena as a backup, but like David DeJesus, Buck is a player that Dayton Moore misidentified as a problem from day one. He's a middling defensive catcher with some pop and a low batting average, which is to say he's about item #27 on the organization's list of problems. But again, it's always able to be a tough guy and Captain Accountability when you're holding other people, and other people's decisions, accountable. Which brings us to...
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Jamey Wright, who is definitively not an effective pitcher, appeared in his 65th game tonight. Honestly, it seems like its been 165. I wake up in the middle of the night hearing the words "Jamey Wright is up in the Royals' bullpen". The old-school Royals are always quick to tell us about how stats don't matter, then we get playing time decisions based off of a week's worth of stats. Jamey Wright had a good ERA on April 29th, and we're still living in that world.
- Josh Anderson had two hits tonight, raising his average to .239. Just like St. Willie, he's another batting average only guy... who doesn't have a good batting average!
- Billy Butler had another huge night, collecting two walks and two hits. I'm not used to having Royals who routinely get on-base four times a night. Expect a nonsensical quote from either Hillman or Moore in the Star sometime in the next three days criticizing him for a minor element of his game.
- Alberto Callaspo played third tonight. Someone go get something to write with, there's a wall over here we can use.