Veteren Aces Square-off in Round Two of the Battle of the Underdogs

The Minnesota Twins handed the Kansas City Royals their first loss of the season last night in a tight contest that consisted of good pitching and plenty of small-ball. Both starters had decent performances, neither were spectacular, but Scott Baker just pitched a little better than John Bale. Both bullpens were nearly spotless, not allowing any hit until Nathan's ninth with two outs. Small-ball is the name of the game, and last nights game epitomizes this style of ball.  With both teams lacking a lot of power, look for the rest of the series to be the same, low scoring and a lot of baserunning. Today's afternoon game will feature the aces of either staff. Ironically neither pitcher have the makeup of a power pitcher ace, like most people expect. Neither have an overpowering fastball, but rely on changing speeds, keeping hitters off balance, and getting ahead in the count. Both had similar performances on opening day running into trouble at times, and giving up seven and eight hits  ... [link]