Arizona Diamondbacks (40-34) AT Kansas City Royals (31-42)
June 22, 2011 at 8:10 PM EST
Opening Moneyline: ARI -130, KC +110
Current Moneyline: ARI -125, KC +104
Opening Total: 8.5
Current Total: 8
SP: ARI- Ian Kennedy; KC- Jeff Francis
Mo Peña has been everything that the Diamondbacks needed. He and Justin Upton propelled the Diamondbacks over the Royals 7-2 last night. Peña hit .363 with 21 homers at triple-A Reno this season before being called up, and he hit another his first game back in the majors since 2008. Upton, meanwhile, is hitting .457 with 15 RBIs over his last 21 games.
“We hope to get more of that out of him,” Upton said of Peña. “You want that dangerous hitter in your lineup. We welcome him with open arms because we need another guy that’s capable of putting the ball out of the ball park and driving in some runs.”
Upton had a rookie year comparable to Ken Griffey Jr., but in his second campaign he wasn’t as powerful at the plate. His slugging Percentage dropped from .532 to .442, and his homers dropped from 26 to 17. Baseball Prospectus blamed this on Upton getting too selective with his pitches and passing on a number of quality strikes that he should be swinging at.
Upton has gone 5 of 12 with 2 HRs in his career against Kansas City’s Jeff Francis, who is 3-7 on the year with a 4.83 ERA. Francis has dealt with pretty serious injuries over the past couple seasons, with a torn rotator cuff, which limited his effectivness for parts of last season. He’s still a decent starter, but he’ll never be the type of pitcher he was prior to all the tears in his rotator cuff.
On Thursday of last week, he gave up 6 runs and 9 hits in just 3 1/3rds innings. “I was falling behind guys in certain situations and that doesn’t do me any good,” said Francis, who is 2-2 with a 6.07 ERA in his last five starts. “When I did throw a good pitch they put some good swings on them.”
Ian Kennedy has already been good this year, but he is not getting the run support. He does have a 7-2 record to go with his solid 2.98 ERA, but he did not get a decision in an excellent outing in a 3-2 win over the Giants on Thursday. Kennedy has always prided himself upon having excellent control. His pitches are average to slightly above average but he doesn’t waste pitches and he kept his WHIP at 1.25 last season, while keeping a 3.80 ERA to go with it.
“He pitched unbelievable, and everyone knows that,” Upton beamed. “As long as Ian gives us a chance to win, we’ll win the games he pitches.”
Last time against Kansas City (on Sept 7 2007), Kennedy did not get a decision. The Royals have now dropped 14 of their last 20 at home and 25 of their last 36 overall.
Some betting trends:
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Arizona’s last 6 games and the Diamondbacks are 5-1 SU in their last 6 games on the road. The total has gone OVER In 8 of Arizona’s last 11 games against the Royals and the Diamondbacks are 5-1 SU in their last 6 games on the road against Kansas City.
The Kansas City Royals are 1-5 SU in their last 6 games and they have gone 2-7 SU in their last 9 games at home. The total has gone OVER in 8 of Kansas City’s last 11 games against Arizona and the Royals are 1-5 SU in their last 6 home games against Arizona.
The line on this one is pretty close. Kennedy is the better pitcher, and the Diamondbacks are slight favorites because of it. Arizona will look to extend its lead in the NL West as the Giants continue to struggle.
