Stats From the Sweep of the Royals

The Indians just completed a two game sweep of the Royals in which they certainly made up for the two games missed this past weekend. Some, including myself, thought that the Indians might be a little rusty after having the short layoff. This was far from reality as the Indians scored 19 runs on Monday, and followed that up with a respectable 7 on Tuesday.

Looking at the stats of the series reveals how dominate the Indians were. They outscored the Royals 26 to 4, which improved their run-differential to a league best +63. They outhit the Royals 30-12 with 20 hits in the first game. This offensive output surely made up for the games missed on the weekend.

The craziest stat from the series came from Royals pitcher Vin Mazzaro. Poor guy. He allowed 14 runs in 2.1 innings on 11 hits. The fourth inning was the worst for him, when he allowed ten runs. Nine of these came with two outs in the inning. It pushed his ERA to 22.74. He was rewarded with a demotion to AAA, to regain some confidence after that terrible outing.

The real question is, why did the coaching staff not replace him? It was obvious that he did not have good stuff on Monday. The answer lies in the fact that their starter Kyle Davies only recorded one out before he was taken out of the game, with apparent shoulder soreness. The Royals coaches did not want to go through their whole bullpen, which they basically ended up doing by pitching six relievers in the game.

The game saw 4 RBI performances by Michael Brantley and Matt LaPorta. Hafner added 3, and followed up on Tuesday with 3 more. It was a series that the Indians will not soon forget, and one that the Royals are trying to forget.

The Tribe will not play in Kansas City again until September, which is great news for the Royals and their fans. I always wait for this time of year, because it is the time when the Royals usually begin their collapse. It is also the same time that the Indians are usually out of it, but this year is different so far.

The Tribe head into Chicago tonight for another 2 game series, this time against the White Sox.