The kinda scary thing is that Heyward is hitting .116 & has a .562 OPS even with the homer tonight. And while Justin has been lights out, B.J. is hitting just .152 with a .511 OPS.

And yet somehow they're doing what they're doing, in spite of a pedestrian .334 OBP (7th in the NL)

I figure McCann will come back from the DL and screw up everything.

ESPN Stats/Info: Justin Upton is averaging 422.4 feet per home run and all eight of his HR this season have gone over 400 feet.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) April 17, 2013

Geez. It's noon and we're already in the 4th in Atlanta

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Wade Davis - the jury is certainly still out but pitched a nice one today

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Glad to see the Royals get a split with the Braves, but still irritated with the late game meltdown that cost them a sweep.

Shields and Davis continue to pitch awfully well. That trade is looking awfully good thus far.

Any Reds fans watch all of tonights game? I fell asleep, but am I reading this right? Did the shitty fucking Reds fans boo a rookie pitcher making his debut while UP 11 to motherfucking 0?

I don't remember any booing. My wife was doing schoolwork, and I had the game on while browsing the web, even up 11-0... I do remember them starting to do that howling shit they've been doing, but not outright booing.

That's good. I was hoping I was hearing wrong.

In other news, this has some serious hilarity potential.

I am Jose Canseco, famed steroid user and former MLB player. Ask me anything. : IAmA

That can't be real, can it?

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Jeter has a small fracture in his ankle near the previous injury, and is expected to be out through the All Star break.

Lester and Buchholz continuing very strong starts. Combine that with a great bullpen and the Red Sox might make some noise after all. Especially because it's not the "closers" in Bailey and Hanrahan who are special - although Bailey does look good - but the nominal 3rd/4th relievers Tazawa and Uehara, who are the top 2 relievers in MLB the last 2 seasons in K/BB ratio and BB% (min 40 IP).

Local radio just had the Royals VP of communication on to discuss game tonight. Said he's heard nothing from officials thus far as to whether game will happen tonight. He mentioned that they usually head to the park by noon on game days, so he expected a decision pretty soon.

Todd Frazier Homered At The Request Of A Batboy With Down Syndrome

As Deadspin said:

Even better, Teddy asked for eleven runs and eleven strike outs, so everyone would get free pizza. He got both.

Watching 4 games at once with MLB.tv is pretty damn awesome.

One of those weird plays in the Brewers-Cubs game. Jean Segura on second base, Ryan Braun on first. Segura leaves second early and gets in a pickle. Braun takes second, and Segura goes back to second. So two men are on second but after Segura gets tagged he starts running off the field but the ump called Ryan Braun out. Segura ends up running back to first.

Basically, Segura stole second, went back to first, and eventually he was thrown out trying to steal second to end the inning.

Score that one.

I don't see what's so awful about the Astros. They're 2-0 in games I've been to this season ;)

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Neil Diamond singing sweet Caroline at Boston. Very cool as the crowd was into it.

The Blue Jays defense is awful, almost bad as Laz Diaz's strike zone. They gave away 4 runs today. Still very early, but so far in the AL East the two teams that were supposed to complete for last are 1-2 and the Jays and Rays are 4-5.

I am surprised nobody has mentioned David Ortiz's pregame speech. :)

David Ortiz punctuates Red Sox pregame ceremony with strong statement, language | Big League Stew - Yahoo! Sports

Cool moment, but that performance was awkward. So terrible.

Gotta be honest...I've always hated that song.

Damn, the Indians are embarrassing the Astros. The Tribe scored 8 in the 1st and 6 in the 2nd, are are up 14-0 after two innings.

FnA! What the hell is up with LA!? Motherfucker! I am so sick of seeing this no hitting, lackluster bullshit! Mattingly is going to be short lived if this shit keeps up. And I like Mattingly.

{scratches head}

Is clutch hitting the problem? 'Cause they're 3rd in the majors in average, 7th in SLG and OPS.

And yet, 29th in runs. Dodgers, not Angels.

Yeah, I came back to the thread to own that mistake. Figured out what I'd done shortly after posting. {hangs head}:banghead:

Well something is the matter since they are 2nd to last in runs scored per game in the NL at 2.76 r/g.

And also on 2nd look, the Dodgers' SLG is the issue - 3rd lowest in the NL at .367.

Edit: that teaches me for taking so long to research & post.

Speaking about Runs... the Mets are ridiculously scoring a ton of runs... 1st in the majors at 6.07. But the pitching is just that bad... when is Wheeler getting called up? :(

Hopefully the Dodgers still stink next weekend when I'm in town to catch a Brewer game at Dodger Stadium :)

Was just asking my FIL the same thing, he can't do any worse than Heffner, Gee, etc...

Niese and Harvey have been great, but the other 3 days are hard to watch.

Good to see the FCC using some common sense.

FCC Has No Issue With David Ortiz’s Pregame Speech, Says He ‘Spoke From the Heart’ | Boston Red Sox | NESN.com

Eh, I don't think you can go after him specifically -- he's not licensed by the FCC after all -- but any broadcast outlet that aired it (was there even a broadcast outlet, or just cable?) should be liable for failing to have it on delay.

He's already announced his resignation and is probably in ain't care mode. ;)

(but, cool tweet nonetheless)

This again today. Only 1/10th through the season and I've already hit the panic button.

Easy solution. Spend another $50M.

Giancarlo Stanton is an atrocious right fielder. Is he seriously this bad?

And another reason why dealing Wheeler should be a no go.

Pablo Sandoval is ridiculous. The Padres pitcher threw 6 pitches, none of which were strikes, and Pablo hit every one of them (foul, etc etc) - he finally throws one in the dirt (count was 0-2), and Pablo hits it up the middle for a single. Just ridiculous.

Only had to throw three additional strikes in the 10th but Holland K's the side and the Royals take both games of the doubleheader from the Red Sox.

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Look who just became best friends!

Amazing how things have changed. In the past, we'd be thrilled in certain situations just to avoid being swept. In the case of the last two series, the Royals won three games and it felt like they gave away and should have won the other two. Still, 3-2 after 2/3 of the 1st place gauntlet is great.

That's baseball, tho. The team still plays with fire a lot and could easily have lost all 5 games, too. Five games is a nice little sample but it's what one can sustain over a month and then two months and then six months. It's the marathon aspect of baseball that lets you know which teams are really good and which are just on a hot streak. I still don't see the necessary talent and depth there to sustain for the long haul but I'd like to be proven wrong.

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I know everyone is used to the Andrelton Simmons' crazy defense by now, but this is a great catch.

Meh, that should have been an infield fly call.

In foul territory with nobody on base in LF?

Our pitching is night and day. Last year, we'd scratch for runs only to see the lead disappear the very next inning as our 5.00+ starters put in their 4-5 innings of work. We'd be just happy with a 'quality start' last year. This year, it's a surprise if our starter doesn't go seven innings. Also, our starters don't fall apart if they give up runs early. They usually settle in and do well. I see a huge difference in talent. Our 'ace' from last year is now a long reliever. That alone should show you how far this team has come.

As for hedging excitement, Royals fans don't have time to wait for the marathon to end. We're just happy to have someone in the lead pack at anytime during the race.

Watch out for the sarchasm, you might just fall in.

No, it really shouldn't. Last year's team won 72 games and its starting pitching was abysmal. Against those standards, you'd be pleased most years. Try it.

2011: We got rid of that dumpster fire in Davies but Hochevar may have finally turned a corner! Francis and Chen gave good veteran innings work, which is something we were missing with Banny's inconsistency. If Duffy or Paulino or both could stay healthy, this team could have some really good starting pitching in 2012.

2010: Yeah, I got nothing here.

2009: Zack was the best pitcher in baseball! If Meche can get healthy, and Banny continue to show consistency, that's a playoff caliber top of the rotation! We just need to get a veteran or two like Bruce Chen for those last couple of spots.

2008: Gil keeps pitching awesome and Zack looks like he's back! That's a great 1-2 punch. Unfortunately Banny regressed and I hope no one gets hurt. We have a pair of really talented youngsters in Hochevar and Davies who could really be something. Look at the potential of that rotation!

2007: I didn't think either of those moves would work out but year 1 of the Gil Meche era was a smashing success and he's paired with Banny who was #3 in ROY voting after we traded away Burgos. There was nothing else in the rotation but that's something to build on.

2006: Wow! The rotation is awful! No wonder we lost 100 games again. Mark Redman an All Star?!? A rotation where no one started 30 games and 13 different guys started 5 and Luke Hudson's 5.12 ERA was the best of any of the 13. I hope we don't do something stupid like sign Gil Meche for 5/$55M since he's so wildly inconsistent. Fortunately, there's lots of arms down on the farm so I'm sure, say, 2012 won't be this bad.

Oh, and all those years: that maxed out at, what? 75 wins?

Now look at 2013: Shields has to stay healthy. If Santana can keep pitching at a career best and Guthrie not horribly regress, that's a quality 1-2-3. 4 and 5 are shaky but we have lots of bulk with Davis, Chen, Hochevar, and Mendoza. I think there's 85 wins there if everything and, I mean, everything (realistic) falls right. But that's a lot of hoping against hope.

How do you feel about the pitching matchups this week?
Davis-Scherzer
Shields-Verlander
Mendoza-Sanchez
That's an unfortunate dose of cold water as Detroit should be favored in all 3. But, baseball's a funny game and a lot of times, things don't turn out quite as planned.

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We'll see. I certainly feel a whole lot better with Davis and Shields in those first two games than if it were Chen and Hochevar as the starters.