Royal Clutch!

It`s been a series of clutch moments for this young Royals team since that series sweep by the Pirates. After that series the Royals have played six games against the NL Central and are now 5-4. In the past six games, the Royals have come from behind five times and have won four of those 5 comebacks. The only downer in their last series was Gets getting hurt. Gets has become a key player at second base in the past month and has played very dominate at that. The Royals travel down to Texas to take on the Astros today, after a 15 inning Thriller in St. Louis last night. So lets break it down.

Tonight at 7:05pm, Pitcher J.A Happ will host Jonathan Sanchez. Happ is 4-7 with an ERA of 5.33 and for Sanchez, he is 1-2 with an ERA of 5.33. Happ`s struggled a lot lately, as he has gone 0-4 with an ERA of 7.17 in his last 5 starts. In this span he's allowed 30 hits and 18 runs, while walking 10 batters in 21 1/3 innings. As for Sanchez, he made his return from the DL in his last outing and received a no decision, in that game he allowed one run on seven hits in 5 innings. He`s yet to make it to the 6th inning this season. So look for a close game here tonight and a tired Royals team as Houston is the favorite.

Tomorrow June 19, 2012 @ 7:05 Wandy Rodriguez takes on Luke Hochevar. Rodriguez is 6-4 with an ERA of 3.35 and Hoch is 3-7 with an ERA of 6.27. Rodriguez is 3-0 in his past 5 starts, but has not been dominate. His ERA is 5.72 in those five appearances, allowing 42 hits in 28 1/3 innings in 9 starts, while Hochevar just threw one of his best games of the season in his last time out, when he went 7 1/3 innings, allowing just 3 runs on 6 hits and struck out 5 Brewers in a no decision. so look for another great game between two, as of lately, struggling pitchers.

Wednesday June 20, 2012, @ 1:05 pm, Jordan Lyles will host Bruce Chen in the Final game of the 3 game series. Lyles is 1-3 with an ERA of 5.50 and then Chen, Chen is 5-6  with an ERA of 5.05 In his previous two starts, Lyles has carried a shutout into the fifth inning before giving up five runs and lasting 4 1/3 innings. He is 0-2 with an ERA of 7.27 in those starts, for Chen, he was KO`ed in St. Louis last Saturday in 1 2/3 innings. The reason for this was, he could not establish his fastball in the 89-mph range, and got stuck in the 80`s. He will look to capitalize against Lyles, who is struggling as well, as they go head to head at 1:05pm on Wednesday.

My prediction for this series is that the Royals will win two of three and walk out with their third series win in 12 games. I like the Royals rotation right now and I like how the team is 6 games from .500 ball and 5 games behind the White sox. I expect the Royals to play good ball in this series as they are gelling well together and capitalizing on their mistakes.