Royals’ Burst in First Tops White Sox

June 14, 2014 @ admin → No Comments

The Chicago White Sox almost defeated the visiting Kansas City Royals — if you take away the first inning Friday night at U.S. Cellular Field. That would be the inning when Sox left-hander Jose Quintana gave up five runs in what became a 7-2 Royals victory. Let the record show very few baseball games do not have a first inning.

2013 Playmate of the Year Raquel Pomplun seems to be a soccer fan.

* Sox catcher Tyler Flowers struck out three times in three at bats. For the season, he has whiffed a team-worst 76 times in 180 at-bats. If the statistical-analysis computed correctly (and that’s a big “if”), that means Flowers is striking out 42 percent of the time. Flowers and teammate Adam Dunn (72 strikeouts) are 1-2 in that category in the American League. Hey, Sox fans wanted a league leader, didn’t they?

* Speaking of Flowers and Dunn, each has grounded into only one double play this season. See, there’s a bright side to everything. “Bright” being a relative term.

* You want optimism? Look no further (or possibly “farther” — the grammar department took the night off, so it’s not entirely clear) than Chicago Cubs first-round pick in the 2014 amateur draft Kyle Schwarber.. The No. 4 overall selection went 3-for-4, including a three-run homer, as short-season Boise defeated Tri-City 4-2. Before Cubs fans extrapolate too much from that, let the record also show he made a first-inning throwing error as a catcher.

* Speaking of strikeouts (as we were a few paragraphs ago), Cubs occasional third baseman Mike Olt struck out as a pinch hitter in the team’s 2-1 victory over the Phillies in Philadelphia. Olt has whiffed 58 times in 141 at-bats. That computes to striking out 41 percent of the time. Olt is the third baseman of the future for the Cubs. Meaning the Iowa Cubs perhaps.

* Cubs right-hander Jake Arrieta pitched seven scoreless innings. He allowed two hits, one walk and struck out nine in lowering his earned-run average to 2.09 — and more importantly increasing his trade value.

* Washington Nationals right-hander Jordan Zimmerman threw 76 pitches (57 strikes) in a complete-game (eight innings) loss to the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. The Cards’ 1-0 victory was their 14th shutout of the season. They had 15 in 2013. The Cubs have four shutouts in 2014 and the Sox are the only big-league team without any.

* Speaking of the Cardinals’ victory, Matt Adams went 2-for-3, including a second-inning home run. For those who like to see batters work the count to increase a pitcher’s pitch count, let the record show Adams totaled four pitches for the night.

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