If there is one thing we love to do, it is to give away things to our loyal readers.

We give away books, movies, swag and much more on a regular basis.  Today, we were presented with the opportunity to award our fans with what they really want: the ability to go see their team play in person.

In conjunction with some of our favorite blogs, C70 At The Bat and Pitchers Hit Eighth, and on behalf of Sports Vacation Guys, we give you just that opportunity.

The news broke late Monday night over at MLB Trade Rumors that former Cardinal centerfielder, Colby Rasmus, may end up wearing powder blue on the other side of the state in 2012.

Rasmus was the center piece in the Cardinals trade deadline deal that brought pitching and bench help to St. Louis during the stretch run. An outfielder with huge potential, Rasmus had been highly touted as a can’t miss player in St. Louis for many years. When he arrived in St. Louis, however, he would struggle under manager Tony LaRussa.

LaRussa, known for his tinkering and adjusting, limited Rasmus in duty against left handed pitchers early on in his career. Colby was no saint in the situation, demanding to be traded not once but twice, and refusing the help of team coaches in an apparent desire to follow the teaching of his father. Colby’s performance and attitude soured and after a year long battle behind the scenes with management, he was shipped off to Toronto.

An already tough season would see the wheels fall off when Colby arrived north of the border. The outfielder struggled in the new system and performed horribly down the stretch. A look at Colby’s career numbers:

Colby’s drop off in 2011 makes him a gamble in 2012. That being said, very few people feel that 2011 was the true Colby Rasmus. He is young (25 years old) and still has a big chance to grow. He is a proven commodity at the major league level and can provide some pop.

The National Post reported in September that Rasmus seemed a bit out of sorts. When asked about his timing at the plate, the article read this way:

Yet when asked about the focus of his daily drills, Rasmus replied: “I’m not working on anything right now.”

He said he is eager for the season to end, for the pressure of high expectations to fade, for a few months away from baseball to dissolve the bitter taste of his final days in St. Louis.

“I still got a lot of stuff going on through my head from being over in St. Louis,” Rasmus said before the Jays’ final home game Thursday night.

In addition, in that same article, it did not appear that Colby was open to the coaching being offered to him:

“I feel like I’ve played the outfield pretty good but my hitting’s been terrible,” he said. “But I wasn’t hitting good before I got here, so I didn’t really put too much expectation on myself to do good.”

The interview took place shortly after manager John Farrell said the Jays want Rasmus to stop trying to pull the ball on every swing. He needs to use the whole field and refine the timing of his leg kick, which serves as the trigger for his swing, Farrell said.

Even after a reporter told him what Farrell had said, Rasmus insisted he was “not working on anything.”

“I’m just going out there and hitting. Trying not to think too much. That’s where I got in trouble in the beginning.”

After joining the Jays, he said he tried “to fix too much stuff in the middle of the season, which is not a good idea. So I’m just going out there and playing and just riding it out, and then work on it in the off-season.”

The concern for me is his attitude. I have been a big supporter of Jeff Francoeur on this team due to his leadership qualities with the younger ballplayers. He has shown solid veteran leadership and fits in well to the grand scheme of the team growing in maturity and competing in the near future. Colby can be a strong part of that nucleus, but if he continues to buck against the system and his coaches, he could quickly become a clubhouse cancer.

With the recent additions of Jonathan Broxton and Jonathan Sanchez, the Royals are showing they are willing to take a bit of a risk on a high potential return. They seem to be making solid moves towards the future. Colby has the potential to be a part of a very strong future in Kansas City. He also has the potential to shake the foundation of the franchise from within.

It will be up to Dayton Moore to decide which side of the argument he feels has the greater potential.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball as well as the Assignment Editor for BaseballDigest.com.
He is the host of I-70 Radio, hosted every week on BlogTalkRadio.com.
Follow him on Twitter here.

This Monday night on Blog Talk Radio, I-70 Baseball Radio will make a long anticipated return.

I-70 Radio launched in July 2010 in support of this website. Over the time, it has featured many writers, players, and coaches bringing their thoughts to the airwaves.

In July of 2011, I-70 Radio took a hiatus from the airwaves due to issues beyond the staff’s control. In all honesty, I simply had to step away for a while to tend to real life issues.

Life is in order and I-70 Radio is back. With Bill Ivie (hey, that’s me!) and Troy Olsen bringing you all the news from around Cardinal and Royal nation.

This week, tune in and hear Bill Ivie interview Jon Jay and Lorenzo Cain as we check in on the center fielders from both organizations. Troy will be on hand to talk about Jonathan Sanchez, the new hurler in Royal blue, and Bill will break down the managerial search. Both guys will bring you up to speed on all the rumors surrounding the teams on the eve of the Winter Meetings.

Tune it at our new time, 9 PM Central Time. Join Angela Weinhold in the chat room and talk with some of the writers and fans of the site during the show.

Before we get going, I have a confession to make. Prior to last night’s game, I was planning on writing about the need for Albert Pujols to step it up offensively and have a big impact on this series. I was getting ready to tell you he hadn’t hit a homerun since September 22^nd, how he’d only driven in 3 runs since then, and that the drought needed to end. I was even going to go as far as to suggest he could no longer work over playoff-quality pitching at the clip he once could.

The prosecution would obviously like to strike all that from the record.

Monday night in Game 2 of the NLCS, Albert put on a display for the ages. How’s this for stepping it up offensively?

First Inning: Home Run, 2 RBIs

Third Inning: Double, 2 RBIs

Fifth Inning: Double, 1 RBI (the aggressive base-running led to him scoring on a wild pitch)

Seventh Inning: Double, Run scored

Eighth Inning: Groundout to 2^nd, Milwaukee crowd gives home team a mock-ovation for finally getting Albert out. Resident pest, Milwaukee centerfielder Nyjer Morgan, sure didn’t waste much time backpedaling on his “Alberta” comment, saying after last night’s game:

“He’s special. I’ve never said anything about how (Pujols) plays. It was just talking smack. He’s still that special player, one of the best and greatest hitters around. You tip your hat to a guy who does his work like that.”

It was as if Morgan just then realized that it’s probably not such a great idea to poke the sleeping bear… especially a bear who nearly has as many career home runs (445) as Morgan has hits (467). Both Pujols and Morgan are 31 years old.

But it doesn’t take Morgan’s comments to cement the fact that it was an absolutely dominant performance, and awaiting in Game 3 is a pitcher in Yovani Gallardo that Pujols tagged for 2 home runs in a game just last month.

The Pujols v Gallardo matchup is just one of the many things the Cardinals have going for them as the NLCS returns to St. Louis for the first time since 2006.

Carpenter Pitching Twice: Splitting the first two games in Milwaukee was huge for the Cardinals, especially considering how much Milwaukee has struggled on the road this season (more on that in a minute). But the big boost comes in the form of Chris Carpenter, who after putting on one of the best lock-down pitching performances last Friday, is now set to take the mound in 2 of the remaining 5 games in the series (if necessary). Even though he’s going up against Brewers ace, Yovani Gallardo, in both games, you still have to feel good about the Cardinals’ chances of winning those games. Carpenter shutout Milwaukee on 4 hits in September, and went 8 innings allowing just 2 runs in a Cardinals win in mid-August (one of just 2 losses handed to the Brewers over a 21 game stretch at the time).

Braun’s Bat Neutralized: Milwaukee outfielder, Ryan Braun, is one heck of a hitter. With all due respect to Prince Fielder, Braun is probably the most frightening postseason hitter the Cardinals have seen since Carlos Beltran’s in the 2004 NLCS. Every time he comes up, it feels like he’s going to stroke a double into the gap… at least in Miller Park, that is. For whatever reason, Braun has been a much better hitter at home this postseason, as have most of the Brewers (though admittedly, it’s a small sample size). But that has also been the case over much of the regular season, so we’ll have to see how it all plays out here during these next 3 games in St. Louis.

Road Woes: The Brewers went 39-42 on the road this season, not a terrible record considering how bad of a start they got off to, but here’s what is bad: Including the playoffs, Milwaukee is now 10-21 against teams who made the playoffs this season. Considering Carpenter’s dominance the past 2 times the Brewers came to Busch, and Jaime Garcia’s near-miss at no-hitting them at Busch earlier this year, Milwaukee might need to win Game 4 if they plan on bringing this series back home for a possible Game 6 and 7.

Starting Edge: There’s really no reason to believe that the Brewers will have the upper hand for the rest of the games in the NLCS from a starting pitching standpoint. We’ve already been over what Carpenter and Garcia have done to the Brewers (Game 3, 5, and 7 starters), we’ve already touched on Pujols’ success against Yovani Gallardo, who the Cardinals beat twice in one week early last month (he’s slated for Games 3 and 7). In game 6, you have a rematch of Game 2… and we all know how well that worked out for St. Louis. That leaves only game 4 where the matchup might be even… but Kyle Lohse has been hot the past month and a half for the Cardinals, and Randy Wolf, the Brewers’ #4 starter, just got bombed by the Diamondbacks in the NLDS.

With that said, I leave you this fair warning: The Cardinals and Brewers are not simply tied at one game apiece… they’re tied 10-10. In 20 games this year, the teams have split them evenly. So despite home field advantage, the Brewers’ road woes, and the Cardinals’ apparent pitching edge… don’t expect the Cardinals to wrap this series up at Busch and coast into the World Series. What you can expect, more than likely, is another heart-stopping, nerve-wracking, intense as all get-out Game 7 at Miller Park.

This past weekend, the Royals clinched their season-long series against the White Sox 11-7. It was the first time since 2000 that the Royals completed this feat, but don’t expect it to be another 11 years before it happens again.

After the game on Sunday, Ozzie Guillen said “They’re (the Royals) going to be awesome. They’re not too far away.” And on Monday night, it was announced that Guillen was leaving the White Sox to coach the Miami Marlins in 2012.

There, White Sox fans. Now do you believe it? Your (former) manager just gave a bigger compliment to a division rival than he gave to your team all year long. Something’s got to be going right in Kansas City now, doesn’t it?

Over the weekend, I got to catch up with some friends who I haven’t seen in a while and (of course) talk about baseball. Most of them are fans of teams in the Midwest like the White Sox, Cubs, and Twins. Naturally, a few of them are fans of the Red Sox or Yankees. For the most part, they all see the Royals’ record and say, “Those are the Royals we’ve all come to know.” The Royals have been getting national hype from guys like Peter Gammons and Steven Berthiaume lately, but not many people are noticing besides fans in Kansas City. This is completely understandable, because I don’t follow any other team as closely as I do the Royals. I couldn’t tell you much about White Sox center fielder Alejandro De Aza or half of the Twins’ roster that they trot out on a nightly basis. What I do know is that the majority of the MLB is taking notice of the Royals. Especially everyone in the AL Central.

In his postgame press conference last night, Guillen went on to compliment the Royals. “I talked to Manny Acta and any manager in our division,’’ he said. “The first thing they talk about is how good [the Royals] are and how hard they hit the ball. You talk about the future, I think these are maybe the guys with the best future in our division,” he added. “You look at Detroit, they’ve got the big boys, but in the future, I think Kansas City is way in front of a lot of teams.”

For how much Ozzie hated losing to the Royals this year, I take these statements as a huge endorsement. Thanks, Ozzie. Looks like you picked the right time to get out of the AL Central.

Remember when the Cardinals’ front office was toying with the idea of trading away outfielder, Lance Berkman, to the playoff-bound Texas Rangers? They even went so far as to put him on waivers, but never pulled the trigger on the deal.

That, believe it or not, was August 31^st… exactly 3 weeks ago. The Cardinals, who were as many as 10.5 games back of the wild card leading Atlanta Braves just days earlier, were still 9.5 games back and seemingly had nothing to play for but pride. At the time, many baseball analysts in St. Louis suggested the Cardinals had only kept Berkman on the team to ensure they could negotiate with him over the next couple months and perhaps lock him in for a contract extension. Few thought Lance would be a driving force behind a desperate surge towards post season play in the season’s final month.

But here we are, exactly 3 weeks later, and the Cardinals are now just 2.5 games behind the Braves in the wild card race. Berkman has hit a mere .385 this month, and the Cardinals have gone 12-5 including the team’s first 5 game winning streak of the season. Atlanta, meanwhile, has gone 5-12 and can’t seem to be able to buy a win, including Monday night’s giveaway in Florida where they were one out away from a win only to have it slip away.

Breaking Down the Next 9 Days
With 9 days to go in the regular season, a lot still has to go right for the Cardinals to make the playoffs… but the schedule does line up in their favor.

Tuesday through Thursday
The Cardinals will take on the New York Mets. They come in with a record of 73-80, good for 8^th in the National League, and have dropped 9 of their past 12 games. The Braves, meanwhile, are in Florida for two more games before an off day on Thursday. The Marlins (70-84) have won 7 of their last 12.

Friday through Sunday
The Cardinals host the National League’s 3^rd worst team, Chicago Cubs. The Cubs currently hold a record of (68-86) and have won 7 of their past 12, but should cool off in Milwaukee, where the Brewers are closing in on the Central Division title. Atlanta will jet off to the Nation’s Capital, where they’ll be greeted by the untouchable Stephen Strasburg. The Nationals currently sit at 72-79 and have won 6 of their past 8 games.

*Important note: If the Cardinals can at least keep pace with the Braves over these six games and stay within 3 games, then it’s anyone’s race at that point, because…

Monday through Wednesday, September 26-28
The Cardinals travel to Houston for a 3-game series vs the bottom-feeders of Major League Baseball, the Astros, while the Braves host baseball’s best team and division rival, the Philadelphia Phillies. Houston is 53-100, and will be looking to be put out of their misery once and for all. And while the Phillies (98-54) won’t be sending Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee to the hill vs the Braves with their playoff destiny already wrapped up, their lineup can still out-slug anyone (and need I remind you, the “bottom” of their rotation features Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt).

What it All Comes Down to
Weighing the Braves’ recent struggles with their schedule, I’d say it’s fair to assume they’ll split their final 8 games and finish with a record of 91-71. That would mean the Cardinals would have to go 7-2 down the stretch just to force a 1-game playoff vs the Braves. That’s a tall order, but given their opponents, it’s not an impossible one. Also helping matters, the Cardinals top-3 starting pitchers – Chris Carpenter, Jaime Garcia, and Edwin Jackson – will take the hill 6 of those 9 games.

It will be fun to see if the Cardinals can find a way to pull off the unthinkable. Regardless of the outcome, you have to give the team credit for making this interesting considering all they’ve been through this season (raise your hand if you thought the season was a complete loss the moment Adam Wainwright went down in Spring Training). But forget the injuries, blown saves, costly errors, and questionable managing decisions. There are 9 games left… and only 2.5 separating the Cardinals from a chance at ending the franchise’s 5 year playoff winless drought.

Play ball.

It just might be time to start thinking about the 2012 season. Though Monday’s loss could easily be shrugged off as “just one game,” the Cardinals have run out of time for that type of talk.

Reality check, Cardinal Nation: The Milwaukee Brewers are going to the playoffs. The Red Birds are 6 games out of 1^st place with 40 games to go. Though St. Louis plays Milwaukee 6 more times, they’d be lucky just to split vs a team they’ve beaten only 4 times out of 12 this year. Other than those games against the Cardinals, the Brewers play a team with a winning record just 4 times in its other 34 games. Forget about the division, it’s over.

The good news is… the Atlanta Braves are still within reach. At least they were before Monday night’s unfortunate turn of events. Heading into the week, the Cardinals were only 5 games out of the wildcard spot with the Pirates and Cubs awaiting them in their next 6 games. Atlanta, meanwhile, is hosting the defending World Series Champion Giants and the 1^st place Diamondbacks. This week is the Cardinals’ last real chance to close the gap and make a serious run. If the Cardinals go 5-1…and the Braves go, say… 2-5… we’re talking about a 1.5 game deficit with 5 weeks to go and a 3 game home stand with the Braves at Busch in September.

But unfortunately, the glass is now half empty.

The Cardinals just got done getting whipped by a Pittsburgh team that is 3-16 over the past three weeks. Three wins in 19 games. Yes, that is the team that just drubbed the Cardinals 6-2 at PNC Park. To add insult to injury, the Braves rallied late to overcome a 4-2 deficit against the Giants, and the Brewers won AGAIN.

In the wake of the two recent series against Milwaukee, the talk amongst Cardinals fans has been geared toward the “next two” series against the Brew Crew.

So here’s a breakdown of the remaining schedules for the Cardinals, Brewers, and Braves:

St. Louis: 40 games left, 13 vs teams with winning records, 9 vs worst 2 teams in NL

Milwaukee: 40 games left, 10 vs teams with winning records, 8 vs worst 2 teams in NL

Atlanta: 40 games left, 15 vs teams with winning records, 4 vs worst 2 teams in NL

That pretty clearly illustrates why the Brewers have the division in the bag and the Braves are still somewhat catchable. Atlanta on average will be facing the equivalent of a 62 win team every night; Milwaukee will be playing just a 58 win team every night.

If you’re wondering, the Cardinals will play the equivalent of a 60-win team from here on out… but that really doesn’t matter.

Their biggest obstacle is themselves.

I-70 Baseball has joined forces with a new partner in the movement of New Media.

Fan Vs Fan strives to turn writers, bloggers, and fans into “FanCasters” allowing people to go head to head in competitive debates with each other via Webcam.

I-70 Baseball launched in July, 2010 as an official affiliate of BaseballDigest.com. Since then, I-70 has featured new content daily related to the Kansas City Royals and the St. Louis Cardinals. I-70 has also featured a weekly radio show every Monday night since their launch discussing all things baseball related. The writing team that makes up I-70 has been featured regularly on various radio shows across the country. I-70 Radio can be heard every Monday at 10 p.m. CST on BlogTalkRadio.com, downloaded immediately after the live show on iTunes and is rebroadcast by the Internet radio station WWPM Media Net every Tuesday at 6 p.m.

According to their website, on September 9, 2009:

V-Tech announced the launch of its flagship multimedia property FanVsFan (www.FanVsFan.com), a website which breaks down the traditional barriers of fan journalism by offering a multimedia news and branded entertainment platform that promises lively sports debate, blog aggregation, vertical ad network and a traveling show all in the context of a game that transcends the on-line and off-line worlds. The announcement was made by Scott Stephens, Founder and CEO of FanVsFan, LLC and its parent company V-Tech, LLC.

Fan Vs. Fan will begin to feature content from I-70 Baseball as well as feature various debates from the I-70 staff and other fans across the internet. In addition, I-70 will continue to reach out to great content writers around the Internet to cross-promote and join us on I-70 Baseball Radio every Monday night.

FanVsFan allows fans, bloggers and athletes to debate sports via their webcam and become part of the FanVsFan debate show. Top debate challenges and their FanCasters may be selected for a FanBowl where one can win prizes including a trip on the Ultimate Tailgate Machine (UTM). On the UTM you will broadcast live from the FanVsFan game day Ultimate Tailgate Machine. On FanVsFan you can read and write articles, submit your blog for aggregation, drive traffic to your blog, create a show and watch videos. Compete, Broadcast, Win! See How To Score.

We feature thousands of sports websites and blogs, and pit blogger against blogger and fan against fan so you’ll get the news, rumors and the most controversial sports topics in an entertaining and engaging manner. We make it easier to follow your favorite teams, talk smack, get noticed and submit links to interesting articles found elsewhere on the web.

Check out the content over at Fan Vs Fan by clicking any of the various advertisments on I-70 Baseball website and continue to drop by i70baseball.com every day for all the Royals and Cardinals news from one of the largest teams of New Media writers on the Internet today.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball as well as the Assignment Editor for BaseballDigest.com.
He is the host of I-70 Radio, hosted every week on BlogTalkRadio.com.
Follow him on Twitter here.

As we enter our third month of bringing you daily content here on I-70 Baseball, we also enter our third month of our weekly radio show on Monday nights on BlogTalkRadio.com.

The show has increasingly drawn more and more listeners every week, and there are some good reasons. We have watched our guests, our hosts, and our fans grow in their various roles, producing a better show each and every week. It is my belief that, from the debut show until now, every show has been better than the previous. With knowledgeable guests checking in to discuss various Major League teams, accomplished writers discussing their books, charitable individuals discussing their causes and some of the industry’s top expert analysts checking in each and every week, the guest list has quickly become a who’s who of baseball coverage. I-70 Baseball content editor and Royals writer Matt Kelsey and myself have found a great balance that keeps the show moving while focusing equally on both the Cardinals and the Royals.

In addition to the on-air talent and informative audio broadcast provided, the online chat room has been a hotbed of activity during the show every Monday night. Monitored by Angela Weinhold and Justin Hulsey, the chat room provides fans the opportunity to discuss the events around the team, bring questions to the on air hosts if they do not want to call in, and interact with some of their favorite I-70 Baseball writers, all while listening to the great guests we bring to you for an hour.

Due to this growth, we have gained the ability to provide a quality broadcast on a weekly basis even during adverse situations. This month, we look forward to bringing you the same great content in a new and exciting way as the two franchises put the finishing touches on 2010.

On September 6th, Labor Day, I will be taking the day off. However, thanks to the great content we have been able to provide, this does not mean the show will not air. Join Matt Kelsey as he takes over the reigns of the show and he is joined by I-70′s Photo Editor Justin Hulsey from the Cardinals’ point of view.

The following week on September 13, Matt Kelsey will take his turn at vacation. In an effort to provide some cross promotion, balance the show with a Royals expert, and show some love to a site we feel deserves it, I will be joined by Nick Scott of BrokenBatSingle.com (BBS). BBS is one of my personal favorite Royals podcasts and I look forward to bringing Nick’s voice and opinion to our fans.

September 20 will see the reunion of I-70′s editors and broadcast team as Matt Kelsey and myself will bring you I-70 Radio once again. The team that many of you are growing to love will bring you the same great content you have come to expect, having some fun along the way and trying to pin down just what each franchise has done this season. We will come together one more time in September on the 27th to examine post-season hopes, winter league ball, and what to expect from both of these franchises in the offseason.

We hope each and every one of you can join us every Monday night in September at 10 p.m. Central Time as we broadcast, chat, and take calls live for one hour on Blog Talk Radio!

“It’s unacceptable”

Losing six straight games has become a regular occurrence in recent Royals memory. It has happened twice this season and too many times in the past ten years. I agree with Coach Ned Yost, this is unacceptable of any franchise who wants to contend. As the Royals are looking into getting back on track against Toronto on Monday night, the message is clear from the manager, “win.”

The Royals have given away games in a variety of ways during this streak. There have been errors on defense, digging early holes that are too deep to crawl out of, and/or lack of timely hitting. You cannot win ball games like this.

The Blue Jays are coming in to town after sweeping the Baltimore Orioles, including a 10-1 shelling on Sunday. They Blue Jays are also currently in fourth place in their division like the Royals, however they are above .500.

Game 1: Brett Cecil (8-5) vs. Kyle Davies (4-6)

Brett Cecil is making his first start against the Royals and he is coming off an impressive 7-inning performance that earned him his eighth win. On the other hand, Kyle Davies has not had a win in his past seven starts. His last start against the Mariners, earned him a no decision when the Royals rallied late to win 7-3.

Davies has faced the Blue Jays once, earlier this season. He gave up six hits, two walks, and four runs. He faced them twice last season and they managed a .320 average with three home runs. The upside of this is that the Royals will sleep in their own beds tonight and be better rested than their opponents will be.

Game 2: Jesse Litsch (0-4) vs. Anthony Lerew (1-3)

Both of these pitchers were shelled in their most recent outings. Both of them have atrocious ERAs at this point but one quick and painful outing will do that. On the other side of things, Litsch has had success against the Royals. In his career, he is 2-1 with an ERA of 1.19 against the boys in blue. However, the last time he faced the Royals it was in 2008 and the lineup has changed significantly since then. Like most of his starts this year will be, this will be the first time Lerew has thrown against the Jays.

Game 3: Marc Rzepczynski (0-0) vs. Zack Greinke (5-9)

Last series I made a bold statement about how Greinke needs to make a statement every time he pitches and I am not backing down from it. Instead of leading off the series, he is closing it out. The Royals need some momentum going into New York for their four game series against the Bronx Bombers.

Rzepczynski is slotted to replace Brandon Morrow for this game in order to give Morrow additional rest. This is his first appearance against the Royals. His ERA is currently 5.40. This is thanks largely to the Minnesota Twins, who shelled eight hits and four runs in just over five innings of work. In his three appearances, so far this season he has also given up two homeruns. If the Royals were looking for a mismatch in pitching matchups, they might have found one here.

Offense:
The Royals offense has struggled lately and it has been painfully obvious on the scoreboard and on the division standings. Hitting is a very fickle. You are going to have low points in a 162 game season. However, good hitting teams will never have everyone cold at once. It is the middle of July in Missouri, the Royals need their batting to match the weather, HOT every single day.

The Blue Jays have scored twenty-eight runs in the past five games, dating back to July 10th. This includes the ten-run onslaught that they gave the Orioles on Sunday. This being said, they are still near the bottom of the league in batting average with a team average of .243. If the Royals pitching staff needed to play a poor hitting team, this would be the opportune series to do so. The last time the Royals played a poorer hitting team (Seattle), it was a very productive boost in their confidence.

Defense:

The Royals made errors that cost them at least two of the games against the Athletics. A coach can hit infield until his arms fall off. However, there is something cannot be coached that the Royals defense has been lacking since the Chicago series (Execution). If you make plays behind your pitchers, they will battle for you. If you make an error every game, that is enough to throw the pitcher’s game out of whack enough to make him hittable.

DeJesus has continued his errorless streak and still has a shot of the all-time record for an outfielder, which is currently at 269 games. If he plays everyday, he is set to break the record on August 20 at home against the Chicago White Sox.

The Blue Jays are statistically in the middle of the pack on defense. They do however, rank third in the American League with 98 double plays turned so far this year. While the Royals are in a three way tie with 80.

Pitching:

When their ace left for “greener pastures”, the stats were not going to be as fantastic as they would be with him. Despite the notable departure, the Blue Jays are among the stingiest pitching staff when it comes to the long ball. They have only given up 82, where as the Royals have given up 103.

Based on what I have seen, watched, and/or read about the Royals pitching staff this season their winning combination is this:

Effective Start goes 6-7 innings and leave the game either tied or winning + 1-2 innings of relief + 1 inning of Soria to close the deal.

When the Royals manage to do this, it is lights out. However, getting the starters to go that deep day in and day out has been a struggle all year.

X-factor:

The Royals are playing at home. The Blue Jays have a time zone change and a flight of over a thousand miles. This might be a factor for game one of the series, but fatigue will be even for games two and three. If the Royals defense continues its consecutive games with at least one error, it will be another long and dreadful series for the Royals.