Game Thread #18: Royals (9-7) @ Brewers (11-6)

by Marty McSuperFly on Mar 15, 2008 7:53 AM CDT

Dave Bush and Manny Parra get to show their stuff against Gil Meche today, following yet another good outing from Claudio Vargas. It's basically a lock for Vargas to make the rotation, given that he's pitched well and as everyone likes to remind us, he's out of options. As usual, the offense didn't disappoint Vargas in the 6-2 victory over the Padres.

Adrian Monk would be proud of the managers, as they've agreed to go an even 10 innings.

It turns out that both teams are looking to stretch out their pitchers (Gil Meche is slated to throw six innings for Kansas City) so an agreement was struck to play as many as 10 innings, regardless of the score.

UPDATE: It was a regular 9-inning game, and now that text is nowhere to be found on jsonline. I guess maybe an agreement wasn't reached, after all.

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Nice

What a bargain for the fans. Ten innings for the price of nine. I bet the lineup is all seasoned veterans today. Only real gamers could deal with the adversity of playing an extra inning. Right now Ned is laughing evilly as he contemplates getting to make more pitching changes.

by molitorfan on Mar 15, 2008 7:19 AM CDT reply actions

It'd be nice to see Escobar,

some Munson, and some more LaPorta. He looked pretty tenacious in his only at bat yesterday.

by ol Pete on Mar 15, 2008 9:19 AM CDT reply actions

Laporta

He looked like his bad weighed 10 pounds. He could be the next Mike Piazza.

by brewfan2 on Mar 15, 2008 9:46 AM CDT up reply actions

Bat not bad

by brewfan2 on Mar 15, 2008 9:46 AM CDT up reply actions

Parra

Sheesh, a seven-pitch inning with two strikeouts? That's hard to top.

Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.

by TheJay on Mar 15, 2008 3:36 PM CDT reply actions

weeks and hardy miscues

load the bases. Jim Powell gives dissertation on defense.

by ol Pete on Mar 15, 2008 4:02 PM CDT reply actions

And Parra

does a Vargas

by ol Pete on Mar 15, 2008 4:02 PM CDT up reply actions

Parra shows how it's done

Follow two errors with a strikeout and a fly out.

by Marty McSuperFly on Mar 15, 2008 4:02 PM CDT reply actions

Not sure who said it

but on the pregame show, maybe it was McCalvy's voice, said Parra has things to prove in AAA or something like that. I can buy stashing him while the roster is trimmed, but the guy sure seems ready.

by ol Pete on Mar 15, 2008 4:05 PM CDT up reply actions

Parra

Every good outing he has in spring has to be edging the team closer to optioning Capuano down to AAA, salary disparity be damned, huh?

Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.

by TheJay on Mar 15, 2008 4:08 PM CDT reply actions

Even though he has options

I thought that there was some technicality with service time that would make it difficult.

by ol Pete on Mar 15, 2008 4:09 PM CDT up reply actions

No

At five years of service time, he could refuse the assignment, but he's only got 4 years and 45 days of service time.

Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.

by TheJay on Mar 15, 2008 4:14 PM CDT up reply actions

Maybe it was something else

I'm probably wrong. I still think Parra goes to AAA. If Parra stays up and Cap goes to AAA, I would think that it would show commitment to him or mean his value is near worthless. If he stays up, I'd guess they were trying to showcase him to sell.

by ol Pete on Mar 15, 2008 4:19 PM CDT up reply actions

That's probably how it will work out

I'd guess another big reason they wouldn't send Capuano down is because of his salary.

Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.

by TheJay on Mar 15, 2008 4:23 PM CDT up reply actions

I guess we should keep Hart on the roster

3 run HR

by Marty McSuperFly on Mar 15, 2008 4:10 PM CDT reply actions

"zing bang zoom"

says Powell.

by ol Pete on Mar 15, 2008 4:11 PM CDT up reply actions

fourth inning over

but I look at the box and the gritster, AKA Craig Counsell, is batting .483

by ol Pete on Mar 15, 2008 4:24 PM CDT reply actions

Maybe it's time to forget that Weeks guy

He's only hitting .111 now.

Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.

by TheJay on Mar 15, 2008 4:26 PM CDT up reply actions

And he's striking out a lot too

and making some errors.

Tons of talent and I assume good health. Just a slow start or streakiness? Is a sports psychologist the answer?

by ol Pete on Mar 15, 2008 4:31 PM CDT up reply actions

He's always made errors

I'd guess it's just a slow start. Only 36 at bats isn't much to draw conclusions from. He could raise his average almost 50 points with two hits from here on out today.

Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.

by TheJay on Mar 15, 2008 4:35 PM CDT up reply actions

and just a wee bit later

he hits a laser beam triple

by ol Pete on Mar 15, 2008 5:05 PM CDT up reply actions

On the heels of Fielder's error

I think it's fair to note that Hardy, Hall and Weeks are all going to be charged with errors this year on plays that a guy like Derek Lee or Albert Pujols (or anyone not named Giambi) would make. The fact of the matter is that our superstar first baseman is a fairly awful defender, and that shows up all over the infield. Weeks is probably never going to do better than average defensively, but it's not all his fault in Milwaukee.

by Marty McSuperFly on Mar 15, 2008 4:57 PM CDT up reply actions

You are 100% correct

First base is the most underrated position in baseball. If any team has a gold glove first baseman, their defense is better than having a gold glove shortstop. First base impacts so many other positions, but many teams just throw their slow un-athletic power hitter over there and the defense always suffers.

by brewfan2 on Mar 15, 2008 5:34 PM CDT up reply actions

Braun

With Braun out of the line up, is it time to start worrying that his injury is more serious than they originally thought?

by drezdn on Mar 15, 2008 4:46 PM CDT reply actions

So much for LaPorta

From the official site:

On Saturday came news that right-hander Tim Dillard had been optioned to Triple-A Nashville and that catcher Andy Bouchie and outfielder Matt LaPorta were returned to Minor League camp.

Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.

by TheJay on Mar 15, 2008 4:56 PM CDT reply actions

Over on Royalsreview

a guy says Uecker sounds like Captain Kirk of Star Trek. I'm not sure about that one.

by ol Pete on Mar 15, 2008 4:59 PM CDT reply actions

another guy

refers to Counsell as "grit on a stick"

lol...

by ol Pete on Mar 15, 2008 5:01 PM CDT up reply actions

Dave "Notthefirstinning" Bush

I say we get the nickname started.

by Marty McSuperFly on Mar 15, 2008 5:02 PM CDT reply actions

There really aren't enough nicknames

but what about Bulldog? I have to say I'm partial to that one.

by ol Pete on Mar 15, 2008 5:07 PM CDT up reply actions

Parra

How did the one run score against him?

"He's been very, very impressive," Yost said. "I mean really impressive. I mean really, really impressive."

by MadJimiBrewha on Mar 15, 2008 5:08 PM CDT reply actions

2 consecutive errors in the inning

Then he struck out a batter and got a fly out to get out of bases loaded.

by Marty McSuperFly on Mar 15, 2008 5:11 PM CDT up reply actions

Makes his final line all the more impressive

By looking at the box score it sure looks like there is a lot of free swinging going on.

"He's been very, very impressive," Yost said. "I mean really impressive. I mean really, really impressive."

by MadJimiBrewha on Mar 15, 2008 5:14 PM CDT up reply actions

one thing you can do

is go to the gameday thingy

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/

Click on the diamond symbol. When it comes up, click on the inning with the scoring on the left.

by ol Pete on Mar 15, 2008 5:17 PM CDT up reply actions

Normally I would

but the computer I'm on is a bit messed up and doesn't open java applications for some unknown reason. It really is a pain in the butt and I can't for the life of me figure out why.

"He's been very, very impressive," Yost said. "I mean really impressive. I mean really, really impressive."

by MadJimiBrewha on Mar 15, 2008 5:22 PM CDT up reply actions

Update

Jsonline.com might not have that text anymore, but it's still on mlb.com's recap of last night's game verbatim.

Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.

by TheJay on Mar 15, 2008 10:01 PM CDT reply actions

9 official innings + 1 unofficial one

this recap says they kept playing, but the last inning (and a half, actually) didn't count.

Weird, but not weird.

by Jeff Sackmann on Mar 16, 2008 1:42 PM CDT up reply actions

thanks jeff

good to see you

by Marty McSuperFly on Mar 16, 2008 3:18 PM CDT up reply actions

Next day story

Yost from JSonline:

That's as good as I've seen him in a long, long time. He went from a two-pitch pitcher to a four-pitch pitcher. It was a pleasant thing to sit back and watch.

That's a reference to Bulldog. He sure is laying it on thick. Impressive to add two pitches though.

"Yost said he sat down with Bush (1-1, 8.31) and left-hander Chris Capuano (1-1, 9.39) and told them it was time to pull out all of the stops as five pitchers vie for three openings in the rotation."

Yipes, what a conversation.

I'm not going to say we're not going to make a deal," said Yost. "But we're not going to make two deals. We're going to keep our depth.

The likelihood of two big-league pitchers going to Triple-A is getting more real. But this is the big leagues. We're here to win. Nothing personal.

I guess if you can't get much return, stick guys in AAA, and it sounds like it might actually be Cap or Bush, although the affection Yost has for Bulldog seems awfully intense.

Maybe its dealmaking talk though. And maybe Vargas's performance could send him out in a trade.

by ol Pete on Mar 16, 2008 11:26 AM CDT reply actions

2-pitch to 4-pitch

McCalvy over on the official site has it worded differently.

Bush also impressed Yost on Saturday, mostly because he was confident enough to unveil a slider and a changeup -- two pitches that Bush had in his arsenal but had used sparingly of late.

The Brewers organization really lays it on thick when they talk to the media (e.g., Braun could win a Gold Glove in left). Perhaps a consultant could be brought in to teach them about managing expectations.

by Marty McSuperFly on Mar 16, 2008 12:31 PM CDT up reply actions

So much of it is Yost

I thought Melvin said that Simmons would be sucking up some of the media time so Yost wasn't out there so much.

by ol Pete on Mar 16, 2008 1:17 PM CDT up reply actions

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