KC Royals Must Beat King Felix To Shake Streak
By Scott Dillon
Sunday, May 1st – 3:10 Central Time
Ian Kennedy had looked solid in his three starts prior to walking into the Bizarro World that was Angel Stadium. The Angels looked like they were being supported by the ‘angels’ in the Disney movie about them in that series. They had more good fortune dink and dunk singles than you can shake a stick at.
Even with that start, Kennedy has lasted at least six innings in every outing this season. It would be great to see him rebound with a phenomenal start in the final game of the West Coast series on Sunday.
So far this season, Kennedy has pitched 26 innings and has three quality starts. He’s got an ERA of 2.77 and has struck out 23 batters. His record currently stands at 2-2.
The Mariners hitters have some good success against Kennedy, but so did the Tigers and he shut them down for the most part when facing them. Nori Aoki, and old friend, is 6-13 against Kennedy while Seth Smith is 7-24 with four doubles and a home run.
Overall the Mariners are batting .275 against Kennedy with an on-base percentage of .375.
The Royals will face a very good young Mariners’ pitcher in Taijuan Walker. They’ve long awaited his dominance to appear and looks like it finally has.
So far this season he’s got four quality starts in four games started. He’s pitched 25 innings and has 25 strikeouts with only three walks allowed. The Royals need to be aggressive early and not get into deep counts. He’s going to attack the zone, so they should sit fastball and break that slump.
He carried a 1.44 ERA on the year and a win-loss record of 2-0.
Next: How Do They Compare?