Kansas City Royals (21-22) 
AL CENTRAL: 2 GB
STREAK: W1
LAST 10: 6-4
BA: .264 (5th in AL)
RS: 165 (14)
HRS: 23 (14)
ERA: 4.27 (9)
RA: 185 (8)
SV: 12 (6)
4 game series at Fenway Park
Game 1 Monday 705
Hochevar (3-2, 3.94) vs. Lester (2-2, 3.95)
Game 2 Tuesday 705
Meche (3-5, 5.98) vs. Masterson (0-0, 1.50)
Game 3 Wednesday 705
Tomko (2-4, 5.32) vs. Colon (NR)
Game 4 Thursday 135
Bannister (4-5, 4.29) vs. Matsuzaka (7-0)
Key Royals:
-2B Mark Grudzielanek .331/20R/10 2B/.387 OBP The man known as the human eye chart has people opening their eyes to the fact that the scrappy second sacker is leading the AL in batting. He's also 8th in OBP and has been the sparkplug for the resurgent Royals offense
-OF Jose Guillen .245/18R/16 2B/5HR/30BI The mercurial outfielder is leading the league in doubles and is 7th in RBI and has been on a tear of late, batting .500 (19-38) with 8 doubles, 2 homers and 15 ribbies during a current 10 game hitting streak
-3B Alex Gordon .286/24R/10 2B/5HR/20RBI The former phenom has started to settle into his role as the next George Brett, not putting too much pressure on himself now that his sure fire rookie of the year season is over. He didn't win it, by the way, as Sox fans well know.
-RP Joakim Soria 11SV/1.04 ERA/0.40WHIP/2BB/20K The flame throwing closer just inked a multi-year deal that could keep the lanky righty in Royals blue for the next 6 seasons. Good move, KC, cause this kid's stuff is filthy, electric, nasty and every other outdated adjective for flat out awesome you can think of.
PREVIEW:
Coming on the heels of the Sox sweep of the Brewers Boston will have to face a team that has become a recent nemesis to them, the pesky Kansas City Royals.
Boston has dropped 8 of its last 12 contests with KC and that includes a disastrous 4game set last July at Fenway when the Sox shutout the royals 4-0 in the opener and then dropped the next three by a combined score of 19-10.
That kind of humiliation alone should be enough motivation for the team to come out strong in this series, as if hanging on to first place isn't enough of a motivator, but something tells me it won't be easy to win a series against what has been the most surprising team of the AL Central this year.
Kansas City comes to town having won 6 of its last 7 games including a sweep of the lowly Tigers that helped vault the club into a tie for third place in the division, just two games back of the surging Chisox, and they'd love nothing more than to add another series win against the Sox to their resume to help boost credibility with their long suffering fans and within their own clubhouse.
A major part of the Royals resurgence has been the solid play of Mark Grudzielanek, who leads the league in hitting, and the recent hot streak of Jose Guillen, who was just named the AL player of the week for last week.
Combine those factors with the reality that Boston will start a pair of unproven commodities in games 2 & 3, rookie Justin Masterson and rehabbing Bartolo Colon, and any outcome would not be surprising in this series.
Best case scenario is the Sox pitchers out-pitch the shaky Royals starters, because if the starters should falter the middle relief situation, with Hideki Okajima nursing a slight wrist injury and Delcarmen and Hansen nursing bruised egos, things could get dicey.
And hopefully Boston will have a lead late because 9th inning comebacks are not the norm against fantastic KC closer Joakim Soria.
Basically the Nation won't settle for anything less than winning 3 out of 4 and knocking these giant killers down a few pegs, just to make sure they know who the big boys in the AL really are.
Good luck with .500, KC. The Bosox have bigger plans.
STREAK: W1
LAST 10: 6-4
BA: .264 (5th in AL)
RS: 165 (14)
HRS: 23 (14)
ERA: 4.27 (9)
RA: 185 (8)
SV: 12 (6)
4 game series at Fenway Park
Game 1 Monday 705
Hochevar (3-2, 3.94) vs. Lester (2-2, 3.95)
Game 2 Tuesday 705
Meche (3-5, 5.98) vs. Masterson (0-0, 1.50)
Game 3 Wednesday 705
Tomko (2-4, 5.32) vs. Colon (NR)
Game 4 Thursday 135
Bannister (4-5, 4.29) vs. Matsuzaka (7-0)
Key Royals:
-2B Mark Grudzielanek .331/20R/10 2B/.387 OBP The man known as the human eye chart has people opening their eyes to the fact that the scrappy second sacker is leading the AL in batting. He's also 8th in OBP and has been the sparkplug for the resurgent Royals offense
-OF Jose Guillen .245/18R/16 2B/5HR/30BI The mercurial outfielder is leading the league in doubles and is 7th in RBI and has been on a tear of late, batting .500 (19-38) with 8 doubles, 2 homers and 15 ribbies during a current 10 game hitting streak
-3B Alex Gordon .286/24R/10 2B/5HR/20RBI The former phenom has started to settle into his role as the next George Brett, not putting too much pressure on himself now that his sure fire rookie of the year season is over. He didn't win it, by the way, as Sox fans well know.
-RP Joakim Soria 11SV/1.04 ERA/0.40WHIP/2BB/20K The flame throwing closer just inked a multi-year deal that could keep the lanky righty in Royals blue for the next 6 seasons. Good move, KC, cause this kid's stuff is filthy, electric, nasty and every other outdated adjective for flat out awesome you can think of.
PREVIEW:
Coming on the heels of the Sox sweep of the Brewers Boston will have to face a team that has become a recent nemesis to them, the pesky Kansas City Royals.
Boston has dropped 8 of its last 12 contests with KC and that includes a disastrous 4game set last July at Fenway when the Sox shutout the royals 4-0 in the opener and then dropped the next three by a combined score of 19-10.
That kind of humiliation alone should be enough motivation for the team to come out strong in this series, as if hanging on to first place isn't enough of a motivator, but something tells me it won't be easy to win a series against what has been the most surprising team of the AL Central this year.
Kansas City comes to town having won 6 of its last 7 games including a sweep of the lowly Tigers that helped vault the club into a tie for third place in the division, just two games back of the surging Chisox, and they'd love nothing more than to add another series win against the Sox to their resume to help boost credibility with their long suffering fans and within their own clubhouse.
A major part of the Royals resurgence has been the solid play of Mark Grudzielanek, who leads the league in hitting, and the recent hot streak of Jose Guillen, who was just named the AL player of the week for last week.
Combine those factors with the reality that Boston will start a pair of unproven commodities in games 2 & 3, rookie Justin Masterson and rehabbing Bartolo Colon, and any outcome would not be surprising in this series.
Best case scenario is the Sox pitchers out-pitch the shaky Royals starters, because if the starters should falter the middle relief situation, with Hideki Okajima nursing a slight wrist injury and Delcarmen and Hansen nursing bruised egos, things could get dicey.
And hopefully Boston will have a lead late because 9th inning comebacks are not the norm against fantastic KC closer Joakim Soria.
Basically the Nation won't settle for anything less than winning 3 out of 4 and knocking these giant killers down a few pegs, just to make sure they know who the big boys in the AL really are.
Good luck with .500, KC. The Bosox have bigger plans.
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