The Duke's Sports
The Royals have gotten in rhythm with their bats and driving in runs; moreover, their bullpen has gone on a string of nice outings to bail out some mediocre starts. Tonight, we get a mediocre starter in journeyman Bruce Chen who is coming off one of his best starts as a Royal. He should follow up strong here vs a Seattle team that is 16-37 vs lefty starters and hasn't hit lefties all that well this year (.236 BA). And the guy who has lit up Chen, Ichiro is struggling with a .245 BA. The Mariners' lineup is leaving men on base and not manufacturing the runs. Furthermore, their bullpen, which was strong earlier in the season, got hit hard Wednesday ( 6 runs in 2 innings), which could be a harbinger of a fallout here against a heating up KC lineup. Yes, Seattle's starter Fister turned in some quality work, but the Mariners are 3-13 with Fister on the road. KC the call.