Series Preview: Royals @ Sox

Kansas City (39-52) at Boston (55-36)
3 Game Series @ Fenway Park

Standings: Sox up 9 gms in AL East; KC 15.5GB in AL Central

Season Series: Sox lead, 2-1

Probable Pitching matchups:

• GM1 Mon 705 Bannister (5-5, 3.71) vs. Gabbard (2-0, 4.87) MY PICK: Sox win
• GM2 Tue 705 Thompson (1-1, 3.38) vs. Wakefield (10-8, 4.47) MY PICK: Sox win
• GM3 Wed 705 Perez (4-8, 5.68) vs. Tavarez (5-7, 5.15) MY PICK: Sox win
  

Keep An Eye On: C John Buck .245/15/39--the light hitting catcher leads the Royals in homers, and he gave the Sox fits in the teams' first meeting of the season. In the first game of the year, a 7-1 KC win, Buck clubbed two extra base hits off Boston, including a homer on Hideki Okajima's first pitch in the big leagues

Preview:
For a team struggling to put together a decent winning stretch, a visit from the woeful Royals (or Rays) is just what the doctor ordered to help the Sox get healthy again.

Since putting together a modest four game winning streak against the Rangers & Rays (see) before the break, Boston has dropped five of its last seven games, and after beginning the season by going 36-16 in the first two months, the team is a decidedly mediocre 19-20 in the last month and a half.

So that's why the Sox have to be ecstatic that the lowly Royals are limping into town. Although this year's edition of the team isn't the worst in baseball (for a change), it's still in the bottom 10, and with such putrid numbers in both offensive and pitching categories, it's no wonder why.

• Batting average: .260 (10th in AL)
• Runs scored: 415 (11)
• Homers: 63 (14)
• ERA: 4.51 (10)
• BAA: .279 (13)
• OBP: .391 (13)

Needless to say anything less than a sweep of these guys would be considered a major upset, especially after they handed Boston and Curt Schilling an embarrassing 7-1 loss to start the 2007 season off on a sour note in Kansas City.

Even though the Sox went on to win the nest two in that series, no one can forget the humiliation suffered from that first loss.

And you know what they say--payback's a bitch.

Go Sox--Sweep or Nothing!
just kidding, we'll settle for two out of three if we have to