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On July 23, the Giants were riding high with the best record in the National League while the Royals were 50-50 with critical spirit bloggers debating whether or not they should be sellers at the trade deadline. Since then, the two teams have headed in opposite directions, with the Royals winning 11 out of 14 games, and entering tonight's ballgame the Royals are a percentage point ahead of the Giants in win-loss record. Baseball is a funny game.
The Royals try to extend their five game winning streak with James Shields on the hill tonight. Big Game James has bounced back quite nicely after a rough stretch in May and June, allowing just nine earned runs in his last six starts for a 1.99 ERA. Shields has never faced the Giants before.
San Francisco counters with old man Tim Hudson. The 38-year old right-hander has continued to be excellent for the Giants with a 2.74 ERA in 22 starts with barely over a walk per start, the lowest walk ratio of his career. Tim Hudson has long thrived on inducing groundballs with a killer sinker and a good split-fingered fastball as well. Hudson will also mix in a cutter and a curveball. You may not remember this, but Hudson was an American League pitcher a long time ago (during the first W. Bush term) and he has a 3-3 record with a 4.09 ERA against the Royals in ten career starts. When Hudson faces Royals designated hitter Raul Ibanez, that will be 80 years of life combined between those two.
Raul Ibanez first faced Tim Hudson in July 2000: http://t.co/FHAUNamCPx
— Brandon H. (@BHIndepMO) August 9, 2014
Good heavens.
The Royals are tied for the ninth best record in baseball right now, the same record as those boys on the other side of the state. If you're posting in this gamethread, you're probably not at the Royals Review meetup in in Lot N, Row B of the parking lot, or Section 405 of the stadium unless you're some sort of wizard. And if you're not at the meetup, Kevin is sorely disappointed in you.