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10-4. The Royals are 10-4. 10-4. Wow. With today's win the pressure remains on Cleveland, the other juggernaut challenging the Royals for AL Central supremacy. The Royals go for the Grass Creek sweep tomorrow. Special.
All series we've wondered, "are the Royals starters pitching well, or is this just what every Mariner game is like?"
Well, today Sean O`Sullivan pitched five shutout innings, scattering six hits and two walks, mixing in four strikeouts. O`Sullivan has been so bad this season that his ERA is still 5.00. The Mariners had some things going on in the middle and bottom of the order, but Ichiro & Figgins today went 0-10.
Because today is a day of the week ending in the word "day", Tim Collins pitched an inning, adding three more strikeouts to his season tally. His rookie cohort, Aaron Crow, somewhat pointlessly worked the ninth inning. If we can't have a lower-quality reliever pitch the ninth in a 7-0 game, it'll never happen. But alas. I loved Yost's use of the 'pen a week into the season, now I wonder if he's riding Crow & Collins too hard.
Alex Gordon & Mike Aviles had nice games today, though Kila couldn't complete the triumvirate of anti-Moore players contributing. There's always tomorrow. Your move, Cleveland.