Victory Snatched from Defeat Snatched from Victory
It wasn't what you'd call a "good" win for the Royals, but a "bad" win is better than any loss.
Today’s newsletter was ready to write itself. A great starting pitching performance was backed essentially by one player in the lineup and the Royals were on their way to a close win. Let’s look at the pitching. Let’s highlight the hitter. And then let’s get out of here. I think the problem is that I looked at the clock. The game started at 6:40 and at 8:45, there were two outs and nobody on in the ninth inning. Kids, never look at the clock at a baseball game because bad things tend to happen to your favorite team when you even make a mental note of how fast the game is moving.
The good thing about what happened is that the game went from two stars to three. Carlos Estevez’s inability to throw three strikes before he threw three balls for three batters allowed for a little room to be made on the podium for Freddy Fermin, shoving Kris Bubic and Drew Waters slightly aside. Maybe Estevez was just being a good teammate in getting Fermin some love in a season where he hadn’t done a whole lot yet. People do say Estevez is great in the clubhouse, so we can go with that. I’m honestly not entirely sure where to start with his, so let’s just start with the starter. It is in his position title, after all.
Bubic was masterful. The Rockies are a bad offense, without a doubt, but I really thought it might have been his best work of the season. His final line was outstanding:
7 IP
4 H
0 R
0 BB
6 K