Royals pull away from Angels late
07/21/2006
KANSAS CITY -- Joey Gathright's speed might be as good as advertised, but it could do nothing to accelerate the lumbering pace of Thursday night's game between the Royals and Angels.
Batting in the bottom of the sixth with the game already approaching the 2 1/2-hour mark, the Royals' center fielder at least added some spice.
In the process, he helped produce what proved to be the winning run in Kansas City's 9-4 victory against the Angels.
Whether as the leadoff man -- a role he is expected to gradually assume -- or in the No. 9 spot as he was Thursday, one maneuver is especially successful in Gathright's offensive arsenal: the unassuming bunt single.
It is only now occurring to him.
"I could bunt at any time and I should do it a lot more, which I will be doing," Gathright said. "It's a weapon. So I'm going to start using it."
With the game tied at 4, he laid a bunt down the third-base line to begin the sixth and started his sprint toward first base. Angels reliever Kevin Gregg, unwilling to concede, scrambled to try to nab Gathright.
His throw bounced up the line and even eluded Angels second baseman Howie Kendrick, who dove trying to back up the play. Gathright knew he was going to advance on Gregg's error. It was just a matter of how far.
He dug himself a potential hole after taking a wide turn around first base, venturing into the outfield grass.
"It's hard for me to stop once I'm going," Gathright said, "so I had to get all the way out there and just try to go the best I could."
The ball strayed far enough into foul ground in right field that Gathright decided to go for third. He wasn't worried that Vladimir Guerrero, widely regarded as having one of the best arms among outfielders in baseball, would be trying to throw him out.
"It doesn't matter who's getting the ball," Gathright said. "If I'm running, I feel like I'm going to be safe."
On base with a single and two-base error, he scored one batter later, as David DeJesus reached on an error by Angels first baseman Kendry Morales.
"Joey gives us a dimension that we haven't had all year," manager Buddy Bell said. "Having speed like that in your lineup, especially when you're not swinging the bats well like we were in Boston, it's nice to have to be able to manufacture some stuff."
Kansas City came into the game on the heels of a 1-6 road trip, losing the latter two games 1-0 at Fenway Park. Considering its opponent, the club's offensive struggles figured to last a little longer.
Another of baseball's starting Santanas stood in the Royals' path Thursday, bringing with him a recent string of personal success that rivaled his team's own hot streak.
Results were mixed for Kansas City the last time that happened. On July 3, the Royals knocked Minnesota ace left-hander Johan Santana, fresh from a torrid June (5-0, 1.05 ERA), out of the game in the sixth. But things turned sour soon after. The bullpen faltered in the late innings, helping the Twins to their 11th consecutive win.
This time, Angels right-hander Ervin Santana, winner of seven straight decisions, was the foe, taking the mound for a club that had victories in eight of its last nine games.
Just as Johan and Ervin are not related, however, neither was the outcome for Kansas City. The Royals set the tone early, then added five runs in the last three innings, to halt a three-game skid.
A corollary of the funk, a 21-inning scoreless streak, was snapped in the bottom of the first largely because Santana had trouble finding the strike zone.
First baseman Doug Mientkiewicz's trip around the bases told the story: He walked, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and reached third on Emil Brown's sacrifice fly, which scored Mark Grudzielanek.
Mientkiewicz came around himself courtesy of a passed ball by Angels catcher Mike Napoli. The Kauffman Stadium loudspeaker blared The Troggs' tune "Wild Thing" despite the official ruling.
Perhaps it was foreshadowing. Santana added a second wild pitch later in the frame and walked eight in 4 1/3 innings. The game featured two more wild pitches. Los Angeles also committed four errors -- three in the sixth -- to the Royals' one.
Further, there were separate calls for runner's and catcher's interference.
Elmer Dessens improved to 5-7 by pitching three innings of one-hit relief.
"I located my fastball and that was key," Dessens said. "It was down in the strike zone."
Source: http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com/
KANSAS CITY -- Joey Gathright's speed might be as good as advertised, but it could do nothing to accelerate the lumbering pace of Thursday night's game between the Royals and Angels.
Batting in the bottom of the sixth with the game already approaching the 2 1/2-hour mark, the Royals' center fielder at least added some spice.
In the process, he helped produce what proved to be the winning run in Kansas City's 9-4 victory against the Angels.
Whether as the leadoff man -- a role he is expected to gradually assume -- or in the No. 9 spot as he was Thursday, one maneuver is especially successful in Gathright's offensive arsenal: the unassuming bunt single.
It is only now occurring to him.
"I could bunt at any time and I should do it a lot more, which I will be doing," Gathright said. "It's a weapon. So I'm going to start using it."
With the game tied at 4, he laid a bunt down the third-base line to begin the sixth and started his sprint toward first base. Angels reliever Kevin Gregg, unwilling to concede, scrambled to try to nab Gathright.
His throw bounced up the line and even eluded Angels second baseman Howie Kendrick, who dove trying to back up the play. Gathright knew he was going to advance on Gregg's error. It was just a matter of how far.
He dug himself a potential hole after taking a wide turn around first base, venturing into the outfield grass.
"It's hard for me to stop once I'm going," Gathright said, "so I had to get all the way out there and just try to go the best I could."
The ball strayed far enough into foul ground in right field that Gathright decided to go for third. He wasn't worried that Vladimir Guerrero, widely regarded as having one of the best arms among outfielders in baseball, would be trying to throw him out.
"It doesn't matter who's getting the ball," Gathright said. "If I'm running, I feel like I'm going to be safe."
On base with a single and two-base error, he scored one batter later, as David DeJesus reached on an error by Angels first baseman Kendry Morales.
"Joey gives us a dimension that we haven't had all year," manager Buddy Bell said. "Having speed like that in your lineup, especially when you're not swinging the bats well like we were in Boston, it's nice to have to be able to manufacture some stuff."
Kansas City came into the game on the heels of a 1-6 road trip, losing the latter two games 1-0 at Fenway Park. Considering its opponent, the club's offensive struggles figured to last a little longer.
Another of baseball's starting Santanas stood in the Royals' path Thursday, bringing with him a recent string of personal success that rivaled his team's own hot streak.
Results were mixed for Kansas City the last time that happened. On July 3, the Royals knocked Minnesota ace left-hander Johan Santana, fresh from a torrid June (5-0, 1.05 ERA), out of the game in the sixth. But things turned sour soon after. The bullpen faltered in the late innings, helping the Twins to their 11th consecutive win.
This time, Angels right-hander Ervin Santana, winner of seven straight decisions, was the foe, taking the mound for a club that had victories in eight of its last nine games.
Just as Johan and Ervin are not related, however, neither was the outcome for Kansas City. The Royals set the tone early, then added five runs in the last three innings, to halt a three-game skid.
A corollary of the funk, a 21-inning scoreless streak, was snapped in the bottom of the first largely because Santana had trouble finding the strike zone.
First baseman Doug Mientkiewicz's trip around the bases told the story: He walked, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and reached third on Emil Brown's sacrifice fly, which scored Mark Grudzielanek.
Mientkiewicz came around himself courtesy of a passed ball by Angels catcher Mike Napoli. The Kauffman Stadium loudspeaker blared The Troggs' tune "Wild Thing" despite the official ruling.
Perhaps it was foreshadowing. Santana added a second wild pitch later in the frame and walked eight in 4 1/3 innings. The game featured two more wild pitches. Los Angeles also committed four errors -- three in the sixth -- to the Royals' one.
Further, there were separate calls for runner's and catcher's interference.
Elmer Dessens improved to 5-7 by pitching three innings of one-hit relief.
"I located my fastball and that was key," Dessens said. "It was down in the strike zone."
Source: http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com/
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