KANSAS CITY -- Sunday has dawned sunny and sultry here in northwest Missouri, probably the warmest day of the baseball season so far for the Cubs. Will that wake up their bats?
I know, stop posing rhetorical questions. I wanted to call your attention to this note in Paul Sullivan's game recap from last night's loss:
The Cubs have won the first game of the last five series they have played against the Phillies, Brewers, Yankees, White Sox and Royals. Yet they're 2-9 in the other games of those series.
Why is it that they can't win games like this, after starting series with wins? (Stop asking rhetorical questions!) The only two wins, noted above, that they have had after winning the first game of those series, are the two wins they had over the Brewers in that four-game set at Wrigley Field, which is the only series the Cubs have won this month.
Perhaps today will be different. Or not. It's kind of sad, really.
For BCB'ers in Kansas City who want to meet up, I will be in section 223, row JJ today. I am leaving to drive back to Chicago right from the game, so the recap will be written somewhere from the road, wherever I can find some wifi. (Yes, I'll stop first before writing.)
Cubs lineup:
Fukudome RF, Castro SS, Ramirez DH, Pena 1B, Johnson CF, DeWitt 3B, Soriano LF, Soto C, LeMahieu 2B
Royals lineup:
Cabrera CF, Hosmer 1B, Butler DH, Gordon LF, Francoeur RF, Moustakas 3B, Treanor C, Escobar SS, Getz 2B
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Randy Wells has, obviously, never faced the Royals. Alcides Escobar, formerly with the Brewers, is the only current Royal with a significant number of at-bats against Randy (6-for-12).
Luke Hochevar has never faced the Cubs; the only current Cub he has faced has hit him hard. That would be Carlos Pena, who is 5-for-9 against him with a double.
Today's game is on CSN Chicago and FSN Kansas City. Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.
Baseball-reference.com game preview
Please visit our SB Nation Royals site Royals Review.
Today's first pitch thread will be up at 1 pm CDT and the overflow threads will post at 2 pm, 3 pm and 3:45 pm CDT. If you need more overflows due to extra innings or rain delays, post them in the fanshot section.
Discuss amongst yourselves.