Keys to the game-
1.) Looks are not everything. The win
we saw yesterday was not a "pretty" win. In fact, with the 9 runners
left on base, and the 1 defensive error, it was down right ugly. The only
bright spot was Josh Tomlin, who pitched 7 innings, giving up just 1 run on 3
hits. Other then that, yesterday was an ugly game. But as my mama says, looks
are not everything. A win is a win no matter how we get it. We are naturally
going to play some ugly games; it is the nature of the beast that is the 162
game season. But if we win at the end of those ugly games... well then it was a
good day. So no matter how the box score looks, don't give up on the game.
2.) Give Mike Clevenger some early run
support. In order to do this we are going to have to figure out how to do
damage against a left-hander. Danny Duffy takes the mound today for KC, and he
is looking to bounce back after struggling in his last start against the White
Sox. He is 2-2 on the year, with a 3.89 ERA. He has been struggling with
maintaining his velocity throughout ballgames. The more he throws, the slower
his velocity becomes, the easier it is to hit off him. So battle at the plate!
3.) Make your case! Mike Clevenger makes his
first Major League start of the 2017 season today. He has been tearing it up in
Triple A, where he is 3-1 with a 1.50 ERA and racked up 32 K's in 30 innings of
work. He has been working hard at commanding his fastball and has completely
reworked his delivery (we won't see him throwing across his body anymore!), and
all that work has paid off. He has the opportunity to face off against a
struggling KC offense, to prove he is worthy of a more permanent spot in the
rotation. His one area of concern is he doesn't typically go deep into
ballgames, so our bull pen better be ready to do what they do best- shut them
down. A win today means we win the series- which is our goal going into every
series! Let's do it in dominating fashion!
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