[Bub13]

Let's finish up the month.

April 28-30 vs. KANSAS CITY
The first place (13-6) Royals come to town to wrap up April. KC's been on quite a roll lately, making the post-season 9 of the past 11 seasons, and making the Series in 2027 (they lost). They've got strong pitching and hitting, and rank no lower than 8th in any of the major stats so far this season. They've hit the most HR in the AL, with 32-year-old rookie Hakaru Watanabe leading the way with 10. Manager Eli Guy is in his 16th season at the helm, and it's interesting to note that his "Outstanding" reputation doesn't mean that his players like him. Quite the opposite.

#20: WIN 5-4...Steve Miller Band tried to give this away with 2 runs in the ninth, but we rallied...Wunderlich was wunderbar, with 10 Ks
#21: LOSS 4-5...Watanabe HR in the 13th was the difference...bullpen pitched well, six runners in six innings...SS Mullen injured, pending
#22: WIN 8-2...Dunklee grand slam in the 5th, only his 3rd HR...DiFranco complete game, 7 hits, 6 K

Two wins out of three against a very good opponent, nice. It's very easy to get wrapped up in the ups and downs of each series, but taking a step back and I can see that we're starting to trend upward. We're tied for first with Oakland, our pitching has come around, the bullpen looks solid so far, and we're finally hitting more. Fingers crossed for Mullen's injury; he's hit .362 with 4 HR this month, and is a solid fielder. Losing him long-term will really sting.


APRIL STATUS REPORT
(See stats below.) Batting: Wiggins, Drayton, Hebert, and Collins were all on fire this time last year. At least all but Drayton are coming around, having raised their averages by 20-40 points the past ten games or so. Drayton was an MVP candidate last season; he's hitting bombs but doing little else right now...Mullen had 14 BB in 549 PA last year, so 5 walks this month is stupendous for him...Rookie Adam Groff has been outstanding; he comes off the DL in a week, good news especially if Mullen is out for a while. Pitching: Clark needs to keep the ball in the yard, simple as that...Brock is looking at a demotion, especially as we have a number of guys in KC pitching very well right now...Our new pen (only Key and Boldin are holdovers) has shaped up lately, and looks sharp right now...But man, what do I have against Bolin? He made 14 appearances last year despite being on the roster all season, and he's got only the one so far this year. (And what a crapfest that was.)

Looking around at the league (see standings, below), there are few surprises. Detroit is surpassing expectations, New Orleans and St Louis living down to theirs. (NO lost 12 in a row at one point.)...There's parity in the AL East, although I'll be surprised if Toronto doesn't open up a nice lead by, say, the All-Star break...Pittsburgh is playing through a lot of pain right now: two all-star regulars are out, one for the season; and two of their starting pitchers are gone. They've had to move knuckleballer Jeremy Gearhart (with his 10 stuff and 9 control) into the rotation, where he threw a one-hitter his first outing...KC has 38 HR in 22 games, Miami 37 in 21.