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If it's anything like his last couple of outings, this will likely be Buckner's last start, with Yusmeiro Petit now on his rehab assignment, and likely to be available again before long. The good news is, at least this time Buckner isn't pitching at Chase, because the results he has obtained have been an awful lot better away from Phoenix - in his two starts on the road, he has allowed just one earned run in 13.1 innings of work. Something more like that, rather than the trio of wretched outings in Phoenix, would be welcome.
Looks like they'll have to do it without Chris Young, though he may be available off the bench. Otherwise, it looks like the team are going to try and avoid using him through Monday's off-day, to give his groin four clear days to heal. As long as that gets him back and fit, I'll be happy - heck, even Byrnes is batting .282 in June, though he needs to walk a lot more, and Parra's bat has gone chilly of late. Shame we sent the hottest hitter on the team this month back to the minors, to make room for Clark - Whitesell was hitting .321, with a .972 OPS, ahead even of Upton.
Won't be around, so our pets will not have to cower in the corner when AJ goes to the bullpen. By the time you see this, we'll be unpacking stuff at the new house, then going for dinner, and heading off to see a friend's sketch comedy show at Soul Invictus. Can't say I'm too optimistic, but the Royals series started off in pretty bad fashion, and turned out alright, didn't it? Same again, please. And best of luck to 'Charmer, whose playing in the Power Soccer Nationals. Last I heard (on Twitter), her team had just beaten Arizona 5-2, with a goal and an assist for her, but the toughest game was yet to come...
Lineup
- Felipe Lopez 2B
- Stephen Drew SS
- Justin Upton RF
- Mark Reynolds 1B
- Gerardo Parra CF
- Miguel Montero C
- Eric Byrnes LF
- Chris Snyder DH
- Ryan Roberts 3B + Buckner P