Royals get crucial sweep of White Sox!!
When we look back at season's end this just might be the series that turned things around for the Royals. Coming into July the Royals were sitting at 39-35 and in fourth place in the division. They were playing winning ball but not playing it that well. More or less mediocre play to say the least.
The Royals came into this series desperately needing wins and they did just that. The White Sox were 41-34 coming into the series and held a huge 6-1 series lead over the Royals so far in 2010. But all good things come to an end and it did this week at Kauffman Stadium.
Before game one, manager Antonio De Leon moved short stop
Rudolph Shaeffer up to third in the lineup from the fifth spot and moved
Melvin Colmenares and
Gene Marquez back one spot. And boy did it pay off.
In this three game set Shaeffer went 7/12 with 6 RBI's. He also scored four runs. "We moved Rudolph up in the lineup to take advantage of his OBP and to have two high walk guys in Colmenares and Marquez behind him for McElroy to bring home. With McElroy hitting .350 plus this year we couldn't pass up that opportunity and it has worked out just fine so far," said Manager De Leon after last nights game.
Also leading the charge was outfielder
Larry Bigbie who went 5/13 with a homerun and 7 RBI's. Bigbie just recently came off the disabled list and has picked up right where he left off.
William Quattlebaum also chipped in the third game by going yard twice and picking up three walks.
And all of this was accomplished without the services of top outfielder
Santiago Rao. Rao has been on the DL for the past two plus weeks with back spasms but he was actived off of the DL after tonights game and will be ready for tomorrow's game in San Francisco. The Royals last inter-league series.
Along with all the good hitting the Royals starting pitchers also helped out tremendously. In the series Antonio De Leon started two rookie pitchers in
Robert "Stinky" Shelor and
Paul Valtierra. It was Shelor's first start of the season after being called up from Omaha a few days ago and Valtierra has pitched nicely all year considering his lack of experience.
In the first game, "Stinky" went seven innings, gave up eight hits and four earned runs. Not exactly awesome pitching but just enough to get the Royals the win. Closer
Chris Hernandez came on in that game to get his American League Leading 20th save of the year.
Paul Valtierra also went seven innings in game two, allowing seven hits and three earned runs. It was Valtierra's fifth win of the season and he currently sits at 5-4 with a 4.52 ERA.
And in the last game, starting pitcher
Brandon Hawksworth finally pitched like a number one. The fans were wearing thin of his lack of production but hopefully this outing turns around his season. He went seven innings strong with seven hits surrendered and one earned run. He also struck out five White Sox batters.
Needless to say this was a fantastic series and with Royals heading on a ten game road trip tonight, this will make the fans turn on the television this upcoming week and watch the games. And with this past series performance, the Royals improved to 42-35 and moved into third place in the division. Lets go Royals!!