The St. Louis Cardinals knew they had an old team heading into the 2012 season, and injuries or players wearing down in the course of the regular season were the team’s most likely downfall. The Cardinals have sustained injuries throughout the season, but now fatigue is doing its best to take down the team

Shortstop Rafeal Furcal tore a ligament in his right elbow Aug. 30 in Washington after dealing with back problems for weeks, outfielder Matt Holliday was sidelined much of the last week with a sore back and outfielder Carlos Beltran has flat out stopped hitting.

Beltran had been among the league leaders in homeruns and RBIs for much of the season, but he has hit .165 in the last month with two homeruns and eight RBIs. He is now fifth in the National League with 28 homeruns, 10 behind leader Ryan Braun, and eighth in RBIs with 86.

Maybe Beltran’s knee is causing him more serious issues than he lets on, but either way the Cardinals have lost a very important bat in the middle of their lineup. With Beltran’s slump, Holliday’s back problems and Berkman trying to come back from a stay on the disabled list, the Cardinals no longer have a scary heart of the order.

Unfortunately, these issues couldn’t have come at a worse time. The Cardinals were able to survive early season injuries to Berkman, Allen Craig, Skip Schumaker and Matt Carpenter without losing too much ground in the standings.

That likely won’t be possible now. The Cincinnati Reds are running away with the National League Central Division and could be headed to 100 wins. The Cardinals still hold the second wild-card spot, but the Los Angeles Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates remain well within striking distance. Both teams were 1.5 games behind the Cardinals heading into play Saturday.

Manager Mike Matheny could be an easy target for a team that is wearing out near the end of the season, but there isn’t much he could do about these issues. He made sure starters got days off often at the beginning of the season, and he actually received criticism for not playing his best lineup often enough. The problem is the team just wasn’t built with much room for injuries and fatigue.

The Cardinals Opening Day lineup featured six players who are now 30 years or older. A team that old has to receive a fair amount of luck to make it through an entire season without dealing with many injury problems.

The Cardinals certainly haven’t received much luck in that department, but it also shouldn’t surprise everyone when the offense struggles. Sure, a team that leads the league in hitting shouldn’t go four straight games without scoring an earned run, as the Cardinals did Aug. 28-31 against the Pirates and Nationals, but it would also be unrealistic to think the offense would continue to churn out five or more runs a game nearly every night.

Despite the recent struggles, life is still pretty good for the Cardinals. They entered play Saturday in the second wild-card spot and 4.5 games behind the Atlanta Braves for the top wild-card position.

Plus, the upcoming schedule is favorable. The Cardinals have just four of their next 18 games against teams with a winning record, although all but five of those games are on the road. Still, this upcoming stretch might give the Cardinals a chance to get well for a final push toward the playoffs. They are going to need it.

If you’re looking for a hard hitting article that sheds light on crime in sports, you clicked on the wrong article. This article might be more to your liking.

Is stealing bases worth the risk?

This article is about a different crime; The Stolen Base. If you’ve watched the Royals for any amount of time this season, or previous seasons you’ve probably noticed that the Royals organization wants you to know that the Royals are pretty good at stealing bases. In fact as of this writing (mostly on Thursday 8/18/11, all stats referenced in this article are based off the games ending on 8/17. By the time today roles around they will have changed) they are tied with Yankees as league leaders in stolen bases at 120. The problem is the Yankees are tied with the Boston Red Sox in another statistic; Wins, 74. It’s nice that the Royals lead the league in a positive offensive category. However, as a fan I’d like to see that offensive category mean something. The Yankees are stealing bases and winning games. If the Yankees are doing it, it must be a good idea, right?

I’ve been writing for I70 Baseball for about six months. This will be my first attempt at using statistical analysis to make a point. Maybe I should clarify. I haven’t actually done the research yet we’ll find out together. The way I look at it, when a team is on offense the goal is to score runs. I do not fancy myself a Stathead, but I know one thing: Teams that score more runs than their opponents at the end of nine innings are undefeated. Because of this I’m going to look at the correlation between a team leading the league in stolen bases, and see if that means they end up near the stop of the league in runs scored.

To accomplish this I looked back five complete seasons; essentially the Dayton Moore era in Kansas City; and looked at the top five teams in stolen bases from the American League. Here is the Data:

2006:
1. LA Angels – 148 SB, 11th in RS, 766 R, 89 Wins, 2nd in ALW
2. NY Yankees – 139 SB, 1st in RS, 930 R, 97 Wins, Lost in ALDS
3. Tampay Bay – 134 SB, 14th in RS, 689 R, 61 Wins, 5th in ALE
4. Baltimore – 121 SB, 10th in RS, 768 R, 70 Wins, 4th in ALE
5. Seattle – 106 SB, 13th in RS, 756 R, 78 Wins, 4th ALW

2007:
1. Baltimore – 144 SB, 9th in RS, 756 R, 69 Wins, 4th in ALE
2. LA Angels – 139 SB, 4th in RS, 822 R, 94 Wins, Lost in ALDS
3. Tampa Bay – 131 SB, 8th in RS, 782 R, 66 Wins, 5th in ALE
4. NY Yankees – 123 SB, 1st in RS, 968 R, 94 Wins, Lost ALDS
5. Minnesota – 112 SB, 12th in RS, 718 R, 79 Wins, 3rd in ALC

2008:
1. Tampa Bay – 142 SB, 9th in RS, 774 R, 97 Wins, World Series Runner Up
2. LA Angels – 129 SB, 10th in RS, 765 R, 100 Wins, Lost ALDS
3. Boston – 120 SB, 2nd in RS, 845 R, 95 Wins, Lost ALCS
4. NY Yankee – 118 SB, 7th in RS, 789 R, 89 Wins, 3rd in ALE
5. Minnesota – 102 SB, 3rd in RS, 829 R, 88 Wins, 2nd in ALC

2009:
1. Tampa Bay – 194 SB, 5th in RS, 803 R, 84 Wins, 3rd in ALE
2. Texas – 149 SB, 7th in RS, 784 R, 87 Wins, 2nd in ALW
3. AL Angels – 148 SB, 2nd in RS, 883 R, 97 Wins, Lost ALCS
4. Oakland – 133 SB, 9th in RS, 759 R, 75 Wins, 4th in ALW
5. Boston – 126 SB, 3rd in RS, 872 R, 95 Wins, Lost ALDS

2010:
1. Tampa Bay – 172 SB, 3rd in RS, 802 R, 96 Wins, Lost ALDS
2. White Sox – 160 SB, 7th in RS, 752 R, 88 Wins, 2nd in ALC
3. Oakland – 156 SB, 11th in RS, 663 R, 81 Wins, 2nd in ALW
4. Seattle – 142 SB, 14th in RS, 513 R, 61 Wins, 4th in ALW
5. Texas – 123 SB, 4th in RS, 787 R, 90 Wins, World Series Runner-Up

The average rank in runs scored is 7.16, or a little worse than half. Average number of wins is 84.8, might win you a bad division. There are two World Series runner-ups in this group. There are the 2010 Mariners, who were one of the worst offensive teams in several years. Ten of the teams made the play-offs. There is no correlation between stealing bases and scoring runs, and there is even less correlation to overall team success. When I look at who the teams are on this list I make two observations. The first, teams with bad offenses use the stolen base to make up for their line-up’s weaknesses. As you can tell this doesn’t work that well. The stolen base will not make up for a weak offense. The second, is teams with good offenses do everything well, and will use the stolen base get better.

It’s obvious the Royals strategy to be aggressive on the base paths is coming from the front office. I thought the problem was a Trey Hillman thing, but Ned Yost has been even more aggressive. The Royals were 6th in stolen bases last season, see how well that worked out? Now that we have some evidence that stealing bases is a break even proposition at best. Let’s try and figure out if attempting a crime spree is hurting the offense.

I tried to find a statistic of caught stealing runners that would eventually score had they remained at first and their out not been recorded. But apparently I’m not smart enough to find it. If someone knows where I can find it send me an email. I find it hard to believe no one is tracking this. But no fear, we’ll see if the Royals have enough caught stealing numbers to impact their runs scored numbers.

Remember when I said the Yankees lead the league in stolen bases? They do NOT lead the league in caught stealing. The Royals do, 47. Right now the Royals are 6th in the league in runs scored, 540. Even if all the 47 caught base runners scored; which is preposterous; they would only move up to 4th in runs scored, 587. If you use the Pythagorean Expectation this is worth 2.33 wins for the Royals. But that is a best case scenario. Let’s say all of those guilty base runners were in scoring position. A base hit would score them. The Royals are batting .267 as a team. This would net the Royals another 12 runs. Throw that back into the Pythagorean Expectation and you’re looking at .60, just a little over half a win.

I’ve been concerned that the Royals aggressive base running has been hurting their chances of scoring more than it’s been helping. After going through these numbers I’m not sure it matters. Bad offenses will struggle to score no matter how many bases are stolen. If you want to increase wins, preventing runs is the best way to do that. But I don’t need to write an article to spell out the Royals shortcomings on that side of the equation.

Editor’s note: The content in this article is pulled directly from Press Release information from the two clubs.

Springfield Cardinals send five players to North Division Texas League All Star Roster, Northwest Arkansas Naturals send two.

Naturals’ do-it-all utilityman Anthony Seratelli and catcher Salvador Perez will represent the Naturals while first baseman Matt Adams and outfielder Alex Castellanos were elected starters at their positions. Shortstop Ryan Jackson was selected as a reserve infielder, and Maikel Cleto and Michael Blazek make up one-fifth of the All-Star pitching staff.

Despite battling an oblique strain since late May, Adams is still among the Texas League leaders in virtually every hitting category. His batting average (.354) is good for second in the Texas League, as are his 15 home runs. Add in Adams’ 47 RBIs (third in the league), and the Philipsburg, Pa. native is the obvious choice at first base. Just 21 years of age, Adams is enjoying one of his finest seasons as a professional.

Joining Adams in the starting lineup is 24-year-old outfielder Alex Castellanos. In his first year in Springfield, Castellanos has already eclipsed his home run total for all of 2010. His 14 home run total is third best in the league. Castellanos surely turned voter’s heads with his high average (.308), RBI total (41) and laser arm in right-field. The Miami, Fla. resident joins Tulsa’s Tim Wheeler and Arkansas’ Mike Trout to form an outstanding trio in the North Division outfield.

Seratelli, voted in as the starting designated hitter, has been a primary offensive catalyst for the Naturals this season, batting .320 with six homers and 27 RBI’s, second on the club, in 54 games. His six homers double the regular season total from 2010 for the 28-year old from Matawan, NJ. Seratelli has logged time all over the field, at first, second, shortstop, and outfield. He was originally acquired by the Royals in February of 2007 when they purchased his contract from an unaffiliated independent league team.

Rounding out the Cardinals position player All-Stars is shortstop Ryan Jackson. Although Jackson’s bat has been steady throughout (.265, 4 HRs, 26 RBI’s), it is his excellent glove work that sets the 23-year-old apart from other infielders in the Texas League. Jackson has routinely been cited for making the difficult look routine, a trait Springfield pitchers undoubtedly appreciate.

Perez will serve as a reserve catcher for the North Division squad. The defensive-minded backstop is batting .247 with three homers and nine RBI’s on the season as one of the youngest players in the circuit. More importantly, the 21-year old Valencia, Venezuela resident leads all Texas League backstops in games played (44) and assists (39), and leads all Texas League catchers in catching would-be opposing base stealers, gunning down runners at a 44.4% rate (24 CS in 54 opposing SB attempts). Perez was ranked prior to the season by Baseball America as the Kansas City Royals’ 17^th best prospect.

Blazek, from Las Vegas, Nev., has quietly become the Texas League leader in wins. His impressive 7-2 record is a major reason Springfield has a chance at finishing first in the division at the halfway point. Blazek’s 64 innings pitched is best on the staff, as are his 52 strikeouts. A 35th round selection in the 2007 MLB Draft, Blazek’s impressive 2011 campaign is making a case for his baseball future.

The final Springfield Cardinals’ All-Star is also the only member not originally drafted or signed by the club. Maikel Cleto was acquired from the Seattle Mariners for former St. Louis Cardinals’ shortstop Brendan Ryan in a trade on Dec. 12, 2010. Possessing a plus fastball, Cleto has always been an intriguing big league prospect, but under the tutelage of Springfield Pitching Coach Bryan Eversgerd, Cleto has harnessed his potential into impressive results. In just five starts, Cleto is 2-1 with a 2.70 ERA and 34 strikeouts.

The rest of the North Division All Star Team pitching staff includes Orangel Arenas, Ryan Braiser, Trevor Reckling, Garrett Richards and Matt Shoemaker from the Arkansas Travelers, and Juan Nicasio, Christian Friedrich and Stephen Dodson representing the Tulsa Drillers.

Accompanying Adams and Castellanos in the North Division starting lineup are catcher Wilin Rosario (Tulsa), second baseman Ryan Mount (Arkansas), third baseman Luis Jimenez (Arkansas), shortstop Darwin Perez (Arkansas), designated hitter Anthony Seratelli (Northwest Arkansas), and outfielders Wheeler and Trout (Tulsa and Arkansas, respectively).

Rounding out the 24-man roster are reserves Darin Holcomb, Ben Paulsen and Scott Beerer (Tulsa) and Salvador Perez (Northwest Arkansas).

Naturals’ skipper Brian Poldberg, in his fourth season with Northwest Arkansas, along with Hitting Coach Terry Bradshaw, Pitching Coach Larry Carter, and Athletic Trainer Tony Medina will also represent Northwest Arkansas in San Antonio. The most experienced coaching staff in the league, the quartet won the first Texas League Championship in Northwest Arkansas’ short Texas League history and has the Naturals fighting down the wire in the first half of this season for a playoff spot, as well.

The 24-man All-Star rosters were selected by a voting panel which includes the Texas League President as well as the league’s managers, coaches, radio broadcasters, and newspaper beat writers. For tickets to the All-Star game and further information, visit the San Antonio Missions’ website, www.samissions.com.

The Royals were supposed to be the whipping children of the American League. The team, the fans, and every expert around the country stressed that this would be a team to watch in 2012 and 2013. The farm system was the most exciting thing about the entire franchise and it would be the youth movement in the next few years that would lead the Royals back to glory.

Then the season started and the rag-tag bunch of players showed they were fit to play now. They got production from players that the rest of the league laughed at when the Royals announced them as acquisitions. Pitchers threw far beyond their expectations. And the team won.

Jeff Francoeur has emerged as a leader of this team. Most thought that Frenchy was brought in as a stop gap veteran to help the young guys adjust. Francoeur stepped up in April and showed that he was brought in to help a team win. He leads the team with five home runs and twenty runs batted in and his .314 average has shown that he is ready to be the veteran leader that this team needs.

Alex Gordon had dominated. Gordon himself said that this would be the year he dominated. Fans everywhere rolled their eyes at a young player that was overstepping his bounds without anything to base the claim off of. Then the calendar flipped to opening day and Alex Gordon started playing baseball. When April came to a close, Gordon would lead the team with a .339 batting average and would start to realize his gap power potential as he leads the team with twelve doubles. He finds himself among the league leaders in runs scored (3rd, 20), hits (3rd, 27), doubles (2nd) and batting average (5th).

Before the season we looked at what the team needed to do in each month to ensure a solid season. Let’s take a look at what we said they needed to do and what they accomplished.

April Breakdown:

Total Games: 27 (14 – 13 record)

Home: 16 (11 – 5)

Road: 11 (3 – 8)

Vs teams with winning records in 2010: 15 (10 – 5)

Vs teams with losing records in 2010: 12 (4 – 8)

Vs teams in the AL Central: 16 (8 – 8)

Key Series:

March 31-April 3 vs Los Angeles –

What we said going in: The Angels are being picked by many experts to win the AL West this year and will provide an immediate test for the Royals this season. That being said, the subtext that everyone in Kansas City is talking about revolves around the “Double Header” being billed on April 2nd. That night, following the game with the Angels, the Royals top two farm teams will do battle at Kauffman Stadium, allowing the fans in Kansas City to get a glimpse of the future that lays ahead of the franchise.

The Result: After dropping the home opener, the Royals ripped off three straight wins and showed the league very early on that they planned on being competitive. The futures game on April 2nd was all it was billed to be, but was overshadowed by a major league club that was fighting to be seen as the main attraction.

April 14-21 vs Seattle and Cleveland –

What we said going in: This may be the key week to the early season for the Royals. Some people are wondering if the Royals are not as bad as many are predicting them. If the Royals are to put together a successful season in the win-loss column, it will have to be solidified with wins over teams that are honestly worse than they are. This week projects as a battle between three teams that many pick to be the worst in the American League and will give the Royals an opportunity to prove that they are more than just going through the motions in 2011.

The Result: If the Royals are one of the surprise teams in April, Cleveland is the top of that heap. We said the team needed to win against teams that were worse than them, but we had no idea just how good Cleveland would be to open the season. A split with the Indians in a four game set and taking three of four from the Mariners was just what we thought the team needed.

Key To a Hot Start:

What we said: The Royals do not need a hot start. The team needs to be patient and develop their young players. If they are to separate themselves from the lower half of the American League, they need to take advantage of games against Cleveland, Seattle, and Detroit. They will be tested early by the likes of Minnesota and Chicago and coming away with a .500 record against those teams will go a long way in to convincing fans that the team has improved.

The Result: This team finished the month above .500 but finished at 7-7 against the teams we said they needed to provide winning records against.

At the end of April:

What we said: If the Royals have 14+ wins… they have stepped up and shown that they are not to be considered with the worst teams. Fourteen wins is not out of reach in April, looking at the schedule. If they win each series with Cleveland, Seattle, and Detroit they will have won ten games. A single win against the Angels, White Sox, Twins, and Rangers will get them to fourteen wins and a record that is above .500.

What we’re saying now: Looks like a step in the right direction for the rebuilding Royals. A focus on patience with the farm system will go a long way into turning April 2011 into a successful 2012.

The Royals have surprised everyone and now will be judged on whether or not they can keep up. The team put a target on themselves by winning long before anyone expected them to. They finished the month on a down turn, but still are well within striking distance of making this a solid season.

Only time will tell.

If someone had told me a month ago that by the end of April Albert Pujols would be hitting in the mid-.200’s and had ground into more double plays than home runs, I would think the Cardinals probably would be struggling to find offense. If that same someone had also told me Chris Carpenter would have more losses than wins and Jake Westbrook would have a 7.40 ERA by now, I would think the Cards had major rotation issues.

I also would not think that despite the above numbers, the League Leaders would still be littered with Cardinals. And I also would not think the Cardinals would be in first place. But it’s true—all of it.

It may not be fair to label Matt Holliday an “other guy.” He is, after all, the highest paid player on the roster. He should have great numbers. But Holliday started off so slowly last year it’s almost comical to see that he’s hitting over .400 for the month of April. And maybe Jaime Garcia really is as good as his rookie campaign in 2010, so with that in mind his 3-0 start and 2.08 ERA could just be a continuation of the type of pitcher he really is.

But Kyle Lohse of all people has been the best pitcher on the team, and is one of the best in the league. He is 4-1 with a 1.68 ERA. He and Garcia both already have complete game shutouts this season. And Kyle McClellan has shown he really can be an effective starter after finally getting his shot: he is 4-0 with a 3.23 ERA. The Cards are the only NL team with two four game winners; one is a guy who missed the better part of the last two years to injury and the other is a converted reliever.

And what can be said about Lance Berkman that hasn’t already been said? He won player of the week once this season, and he could win it again this week. Berkman and Holliday are pacing the league in batting average, and Berkman is among the leaders in home runs, too.

David Freese is off to a hot start, too, joining Berkman and Holliday in the top 10 in the majors in batting average. Colby Rasmus is up over .300 as well. If these guys have a knock against them, it’s their strikeouts…they are the top two K-machines on the team. But they only barely crack the highest 50 whiffers in the majors. So it could be a lot worse. Remember the little tirade Tony LaRussa had earlier this month? It looks like he was right. The Cards lead the league in team hits, batting average, on-base percentage, and RBI and are top 10 in slugging, home runs, and fewest strikeouts. This team can hit, and they still are not seeing much out of Pujols.

Everyone knows about the bullpen troubles, but I believe that to be a temporary speed bump. Roles have completely changed and guys have been injured. Is it serious? Certainly. But it’s hard to get completely down on pitching with Dave Duncan in the dugout. The bullpen will get sorted out; it may not ever be stellar but it will be better than we’ve seen this month.

All in all, the Cardinals have been surprising this month. I remember talking to a friend at the beginning of the year—during their slow offensive start—and saying I wanted to see increments before I believed this could be a good team. I wanted to see a good game, then a good series of games, then a good week, then a good couple of weeks, etc. So far the Cards have produced all of the above and could finish with a good month. If these numbers keep rolling and others elevate their levels to their norms, there will be no denying the 2011 Cardinals are in fact a great team.

Prologue:

Toronto hit the Royals hard in game two with a thirteen run barrage. Thirteen runs in a three game series is the Major League average for this season. So the “Canadian Bombers” struck Kansas City early and often in the series. However, the boys in blue etched out a series win against the Blue Jays with a solid performance by Zach Greinke in the afternoon series closer. The offense also did their part, giving Greinke a cushion to work with after a first half filled with little to no run support.

If the Royals want to continue their momentum, they will have to do it against one of the best if not the best starting rotation in the entire league. It’s possible for KC to go into “the house that Jeter built” and split the series, maybe even win it if the offense can get some assistance from their pitching staff. More good news is that they miss one of the best Yankee pitchers ever, Andy Pettitte, in this series due to an injury.

Game 1: Chen (5-3) vs. Sabathia (12-3)

This game features two left-handed hurlers who are polar opposites. Sabathia, a Cy Young candidate again this year, throws heat and is among the league leaders in most major pitching categories. Last year against Kansas City he pitched a 6-hit shutout. The Royals need to work counts when they can and not take the fastball down the middle. His off-speed stuff is just as effective when he has the command of his fastball.

Chen, a crafty veteran, has a winning record after the break for the first time since 2005 and possesses a good pick-off move if runners get on. By stopping the running of New York and getting some ground balls, he will give the KC offense a chance to keep it close while trying to take advantage of the short porch in right field.

Game 2: Bannister (7-8) vs. Burnett (7-8)

Both pitchers hold identical records and extremely high ERAs around or above five. The Royals may be coming against Burnett at the right time in the season as he has only one winning decision since the beginning of June. Burnett took out some frustration on the clubhouse door last week and caused lacerations to both hands, however, he is currently scheduled to make the start.

Bannister did not face the Yankees last year. However, in his two starts in 2008, the Yankees combined for a .489 batting average and scored 17 runs. Some of those players who dinged him up are now gone but plenty remain who did damage. To win against the “Bronx Bombers” he’s going to need to keep the ball down in the zone and that will keep the ball inside the fences.

Game 3: Davies (4-6) vs. Mitre (0-1)

Mitre’s only decision is a single loss, but he does have an impressive 2.88 ERA in 25 innings pitched. Last year against the Royals he only faced two batters and the one that got a hit (John Buck) is no longer with the team.

Davies has not faced the Yankees since the 2008 season. In his single appearance against them he was very effective, giving up only one run on seven hits. Five of those hits were to Cano, Jeter and A-Rod. He shouldn’t feel too bad; they have hit almost everybody in the past few seasons.

Game 4: Lerew (1-4) vs. Hughes (11-3)

Hughes has been nearly as tough as Sabathia despite dropping two of his last three decisions. He has nearly a three to one strikeout to walk ratio this season. In 2009 against the Royals he faced three batters and all three were sent back to the dugout. However in his appearance in 2008 against the “Boys in Blue” he got shelled to the tune of six hits, three runs, and four walks while facing only fourteen batters.

Lerew is coming off a traumatizing start. The four runs he gave up in 1.1 innings of work were only the beginning. He took a line drive to his midsection in the second inning and scared the entire stadium. The good news for Kansas City is that he is young and has recovered quickly enough to not miss his start. This will be a gutsy performance by the young hurler and hopefully one that will pay dividends on the scoreboard.

Offense:

What can I say? The Yankees have one of the best lead-off hitters of all time in Jeter and have at least a handful of all-star talent to back him up. The Royals do have some numbers on their side, just not the home runs that the Yankees can shell out in their home park. Kansas City needs to build off the Toronto series and catch Burnett and Hughes while they are struggling.

Defense:

If you play mistake free defense, get the sure out, and make the occasional outstanding play you give your pitcher confidence and a chance for your offense to win. The Yankees are currently ranked second behind Minnesota in terms of fielding percentage. They also have turned more double plays in two less games than the Royals.

Pitching:

The starting pitching of Kansas City simply does not match up well against the starting rotation of the Yankees. The good news for the Royals is that they most likely have to face Burnett following a game against Sabathia. The bullpen, when called upon, must hold the lead until Soria comes in. It would be a fun series to watch if we could see Soria and Rivera go at it in two or three late inning match ups. Rivera has experience and intimidation on his side but Soria is just as effective at getting people out.

X-factor:

With the rotation set and healthy, Kansas City needs to take care of business. The Yankees are still up in the air about their starters after Sabathia. New York has the best record in baseball and has won two out of every three at home this year. The Royals success will rely upon if they can get timely hits and score enough to avoid facing Rivera in front of the New York crowd.