Blind Quarterback Plays Baseball: Opening Weekend Roundup

Your Blind Quarterback is taking a vacation and is taking on the persona of the Blind Pitcher for this off season and bringing you some baseball!

Midafternoon on Thursday, at Kauffman Stadium, gloves creaked, bats cracked, foul balls flew into the stands and homers drover over the fence in what Kansas City sports fans had been waiting for since the end of Chiefs’ football season – Opening Day 2019. The rain in stormy Kansas City delayed the game 2 hours before the Boys in Blue – The Kansas City Royals would emerge from their dugout and onto the diamond. But the delay would be worth the wait for avid Royals fans.

Your always faithful Blind Quarterback took on the persona of the Blind Pitcher and listened the game from my man cave, while getting on site info with my correspondent, baseball mentor and friend Tom or as you may know him on Twitter – KC Old Dog. He sat in his 400 level seat, perfectly overlooking home plate, a baseball bag at his feet, filled with and all the tools that he would need for Opening Day at the “K”.

Opening Weekend Game 1: Thursday, March 28, 2019

Royals’ starting pitcher, Brad Keller finally threw out the first pitch two hours after the scheduled start time. Thursday was Keller’s first start, and he pitched a gem of a game. The cold nor the rain seemed to effect Keller in the slightest, as he struck out five, walked one and only allowed two hits through his seven innings on the mound. Keller used a winning combination of fast balls, sinkers and a nasty slider that did the most damage to the White Sox batting order. 

Meanwhile, the Royals batting order came out swinging (pun intended) on that rainy evening. 2^nd baseman, Whit Merrifield was first at bat and logged two stolen bases, two runs and one hit, which brought his hit total to 21 consecutive games. Shortstop, Adalberto Mondesi, followed Merrifield in the batting order, racked up two triples. This brought him to becoming one of only two Royals to accomplish such a feat on Opening Day. Right fielder, Jorge Soler recorded two hits as well.

After Keller threw 92 pitches, Ian Kennedy relieved him middle of the seventh. Kennedy quickly dispatched the White Sox batting order with a 1-2-3 out eighth inning. The Royals took a 5-0 lead into the top of the ninth – needing only 3 more outs to finish the game. Unfortunately, a somewhat shaky bullpen would struggle to do so, allowing the White Sox to score 3 runs in the ninth inning and load the bases several times. It took four calls to the bullpen, before Brad Boxburger finally recorded the final out. The rain was worth it for many fans after a final score of 5-3 for the Boys in Blue.

Opening Weekend Game 2: Saturday, March 30, 2019

Saturday afternoon’s game was also delayed -  this time only by 30 minutes. Jakob Junis started as pitcher for the Royals, throwing 5 solid innings before becoming a tad shaky in the sixth inning. After Junis was relieved by Tim Hill, the bullpen proved they could step up and protect a lead. The game ended in the top of the ninth when Kennedy allowed only two hits before shutting the White Sox down and recording his first career save.  Merrifield brought his hitting streak up to 22 games, and the Royals claimed their second victory over the White Sox with a final score of 8-6.

Opening Weekend Game 3: Sunday, March 31, 2019

While the Royals would win their first series, they suffered their first loss of the season - on the most beautiful day of the series. White Sox starting pitcher, Lucas Giolito, completely dominated this game. Giolito held the Royals scoreless for the first six innings, throwing a mixture of controlled fast balls and extremely effective change ups and curve balls to do so. Royals starting pitcher Jorge Lopez gave up back-to-back homers in the fourth inning, prompting relief pitcher, Tim Hill, out of the bullpen into a bases loaded situation, where he walked two before the inning blessedly ended on a double play. The Royals would close out this first series with a final score of 6-3 White Sox.

After exchanging messages with my baseball mentor and good friend Tom throughout the weekend, I am giving this long-time Royals fan and season ticket holder his section in the Blind Quarterback on Baseball blog series to answer my questions for my readers. Follow him on Twitter @kcolddog for his live updates from the games.

Ask the Old Dog:

“I was encouraged on some the offensive numbers. Soler and Hamilton had a good series against Sox. Merrifield kept his streak alive and continued his base stealing abilities. Our starters each had at least six innings and Keller and Junis had good stuff. Lopez has trouble early but not bad start. Our bullpen is a concern. Need to find our key guys and see if Ian Kennedy can become a legitimate closer. Overall, we won our opening series and now play another team in our division the Twins we need to beat” 

The Royals have Monday off before the Minnesota Twins AKA “the Twinkies” pay a visit to the K for a two game series. The boys in blue will hit the road headed for Detroit to face off against the Tigers in a 3 game series before finally returning home to host the Seattle Mariners on Monday April 8. 

Your Blind Pitcher will be hanging out in the dugout and around the bullpen to bring you a fresh blog this time next week.