Official 6/11/16 Royals @ White Sox Gamethread

[caulfield12]

I think it's MUCH more likely that Ventura comes completely unglued and hits someone in the Sox line-up (Lawrie is too obvious, maybe it's Eaton, who has been struggling offensively) and/or there's a huge brawl because the White Sox are frustrated with not getting to (Y)Ventura and/or Rodon pitches poorly coming off a skipped start.

 

I would have a terrible time trying to bet that game (and I never have bet baseball once in my entire life)...anything seems possible.

 

 

Since the start of the 2012 season, Robin Ventura’s first as manager of the Chicago White Sox, the Royals have had great success against Chicago.

 

The Royals are 52-29 against the White Sox, and that record includes a lopsided advantage in games decided in the late innings.

 

The teams have played 21 games that were tied after the fifth inning, and the Royals have a 19-2 record in those contests.

 

Additionally, the Royals have rallied 11 times for a victory when the White Sox led after five innings. Chicago has won 7 such games.

 

That’s 30 wins when the Royals were tied or trailing after five innings, compared to nine for the White Sox. That’s a .769 winning percentage. Exactly 3 out of 4 if the White Sox win on Sunday in that situation.

 

 

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-colum...l#storylink=cpy

Edited June 12, 2016 by caulfield12

[Dick Allen]

If Melky was bunting for a hit, Robin apparently thought differently:

 

"He decided to do that on his own," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "He's up there sensing the situation, and I think he thought we could get on the board early by getting them over. It's something that you look at either way. But he decided to do on his own."

 

His choice of words makes it sound like to me that he was sacrificing.

 

And no I don't think you're a bad guy, don't even know you, and for that matter you don't know me. Maybe we're both just "meathead" fans?

 

Mark

Right getting them over, a baseball play. It doesn't mean he was sacrificing. He was trying to get a hit. Like when there is a guy on second and nobody out, and hitters try to hit it to the right side. They want to make sure at the very least the runner gets to 3rd. They aren't sacrificing. Melky was trying to bunt for a hit, and at the very least advance the runners.who knows if it cost the team runs, but it did have the same effect as if he had hit a ball caught at the wall and the runners advanced.

Edited June 12, 2016 by Dick Allen

[SCCWS]

Right getting them over, a baseball play. It doesn't mean he was sacrificing. He was trying to get a hit. Like when there is a guy on second and nobody out, and hitters try to hit it to the right side. They want to make sure at the very least the runner gets to 3rd. They aren't sacrificing. Melky was trying to bunt for a hit, and at the very least advance the runners.who knows if it cost the team runs, but it did have the same effect as if he had hit a ball caught at the wall and the runners advanced.

 

I guess what it does say is that Melky was trying to help the team in his mind. So to those who think some players on Sox are "selfish", we can exclude Melky.

 

[caulfield12]

There's another way of reading it.

 

Melky has struggled for quite some time against LHP...remember last year, where he went for something like 6 weeks without a hit in those situations?

 

He probably didn't feel 100% comfortable against Duffy.

 

http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/splits/_/id/6347/melky-cabrera

 

The problem is that this year he's been really raking against LHP...well over a 900 OPS. Frazier and Lawrie, on the other hand, have been struggling mightily in recent weeks. Is it really unselfish to put two players who are clearly just having a hard time making contact on the hook for getting the runners in when you're the 3 hole hitter???

 

 

http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/batvspitch/_...7/melky-cabrera

Against Duffy, just 4/22 with 2 doubles, a homer and a low 600's OPS

 

 

 

At any rate, I'm not 100% sure we can call this unselfish...in the way we would if Austin Jackson/Saladino/Anderson/Rollins did the same thing to advance the runners for the big boppers coming up behind them.

 

Of course, you also have to consider Duffy has the lowest ERA of any opposing pitcher in the history of USCF, and that scoring an early run or two to give Q the lead there would have been huge. And he also was probably concerned about hitting into a DP. The problem is if you're really thinking this way, you probably don't deserve to be the 3rd hitter in the line-up, because most guys in that situation would feel it's their responsibility to drive a double into the gap.

Edited June 12, 2016 by caulfield12

[Dick Allen]

You are putting way to much into this. We see it all the time, we criticize if guys faile, but when there is a runner at second and nobody out, the hitter "has a job to do". That doesn't change with a runner at first. Melky is going to be expected to hit the ball the other way to, at the very least, advance the runners. He thought a bunt would advance the runners and give him a pretty good shot at a hit. It is pretty simple, the runners advanced, Frazier failed. Lawrie hit a rocket but it was caught.

 

 

It wasn't so stupid. He wasn't giving himself up anymore than a guy making sure he is going to the right side would anyway, which is considered good baseball, and if there is a runner on second and he hits a ground ball to 3rd, unless he has a couple of strikes in him, he is rightfully going to get ripped.

Edited June 12, 2016 by Dick Allen

[caulfield12]

How many bunt hits has Cabrera successfully pulled off in the last five years?

 

Just curious.