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7/29, 7:05 p.m.
Toronto Blue Jays at Kansas City Royals, Kauffman Stadium
(Or, "I thought you said we wouldn't be able to see any minor league games...")


Box score | Recap
R H E
Blue Jays
Royals
0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
0 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 -
1 5 2
4 7 0

Since they feature two of the most inexperienced rosters in baseball, Steve and Jeff weren't expecting much out of the Jays and Royals in the final game of their journey. And while defensively this game left much to be desired, the pitching was splendid (yes, splendid) as Paul Byrd outdueled Chris Carpenter in a 4-1 Kansas City victory.

In an era of nickel and dime pitching changes (see Bruce Kimm's gem last night), both pitchers threw complete games and kept their clubs close throughout. Carpenter was the hard luck loser, giving up only two earned runs in eight innings. Poor defense led to all of those runs:
  • An errant throw by SS Chris Woodward allowed the first run to score in the first. (Unearned)
  • A passed ball by C Ken Huckaby allowed the second run to score in the fourth. (Unearned)
  • Another errant throw by SS Chris Woodward prevented a double play from being turned and kept the eighth inning alive for Carlos Beltran, who hit a two-run home run to seal the deal. (While those runs were earned - can't assume the double play, so no error for Woodward - they were still a product of shoddy defense.)

Byrd was just a little bit better than Carpenter, but his defense was flawless. Well, almost flawless. There was, much to the delight of Jeff and Steve, the


Knoblauch (center, #11) still stinks.
And he still looks like he has to poop. 		requisite gaffe by Royals"left fielder" Chuck Knoblauch, who overran a fly ball and then tried to distract everybody by climbing the wall for no apparent reason. That turned the third out of the seventh inning into a double for Vernon Wells, who was promptly singled home by the defensively-challenged Woodward. So Byrd's only run was earned, but should never have scored.

Byrd's final line was very impressive - in addition to only giving up one
earned run he struck out five, walked none and scattered five hits in his fourth consecutive complete game. More remarkably, he threw only 92 pitches and most remarkably, 72 of them were strikes: amazing,
astounding, astonishing at 78%.

Not much else of note for this game, except for its quick pace: a brisk two hours and two minutes, nearly an hour less than the average game. If it hadn't for the defense this game easily would have come in under two hours.

Steve and Jeff liked Kauffman as much as they thought they would. Sure, it was pretty empty - only 17,000, with approximately 16,302
Paul Byrd tossed a gem tonight.
from the local chapters of the YMCA - and yes, the crowd wasn't too lively until the very end, but they weren't expecting too

much in that department. Highlights: the celebrated fountains, providing a beautiful backdrop for the game; and the oversized crown-shaped scoreboard, which is a nice touch and is always filled with useful information. Oh, and they sell Krispy Kreme doughnuts and steam pretzels with - brace yourself - parmesan cheese; quite delicious. But perhaps its best feature is the low ticket prices: Field box seats ($21) cost about the same as a bleacher seat at Fenway Park
($20). The only real complaint they had was its location. It's right off I-70, which, while incredibly convenient, has all the appeal of…um, an interstate.

Whatever the case, it will surely hold a place in their hearts, for it was the last park on their list. For this summer, anyway.

The baseball is over, but the driving still lies ahead…

The Royals have an excellent tribute to George Brett
outside the front entrance to Kauffman.


<-- Busch Stadium, St. Louis | Day 1 of driving home -->


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