NewsTeahen does little wrong vs. Buehrle
Chicago (22-25) at Kansas City (23-25), 6:10 p.m. CT
By Rustin Dodd / MLB.com
05/29/09 11:40 PM ET
KANSAS CITY -- Mark Teahen is keeping his lips sealed.He doesn't want to say why he's always been able to hit Mark Buehrle, while the rest of baseball struggles against the White Sox ace.
"I'm not gonna give away any secrets," Teahen said.
Opponents have hit just .269 off Buehrle in his career, but Teahen has found a way to hit .432 (19-for-44) with seven doubles and a home run.
Teahen will get another crack at Buehrle on Saturday, when Buehrle takes the hill against the Royals at Kauffman Stadium in the second game of a three-game series.
The Royals and White Sox are paying tribute the Negro Leagues, with Kansas City wearing the jerseys of the 1924 Kansas City Monarchs and the Sox wearing the uniforms of the 1926 Chicago American Giants. The Royals are also handing out 20,000 replica Monarchs jerseys and opening the gates at 3 p.m. CT.
Despite the different uniform, Teahen should still be able to recognize Buehrle. He has more career plate appearances against Buehrle -- 48-- than against any other pitcher in baseball.
"He's a tough at-bat," Teahen said. "But sometimes you focus in more for those tough at-bats, so I've been fortunate to have success against him and hopefully that will continue."
Buehrle has been especially tough on hitters in 2009, taking a 6-1 record and a 2.59 ERA into Saturday.
Teahen's success against the left-handed Buehrle is even more remarkable considering that Teahen has hit just .249 in his career against lefties compared with a .277 average against right-handers. Just 11 of Teahen's 53 career home runs have come off left-handers.
And the Royals are getting their fill of southpaws this weekend.
The Royals faced left-hander Clayton Richard on Friday and now will see two more lefties, Buehrle and John Danks, in the last two games of the series. And with switch-hitting center fielder Coco Crisp battling a sore shoulder, Royals manager Trey Hillman may have to juggle his lineup to get more right-handed bats in action.
"At the point that we're at right now, we're trying to heal Coco, and not knowing what I'm gonna have available for all three games -- just take it a day at a time," Hillman said.
Of course, with Buehrle on the mound, it's probably safe to assume that Hillman will stick Teahen into the lineup.
Teahen continued his career success against Buehrle on Opening Day in Chicago with two walks and a double. That success helped springboard Teahen to a strong April.
Teahen hit .329 in the Royals' first 20 games of the season, but his bat has cooled off in May. Teahen was hitting .250 for the month going into Friday's series opener, and he was mired in a 2-for-25 slump before collecting three hits against Detroit on Wednesday.
"For a week and a half or two weeks or whatever it was, I just couldn't really find the timing at the plate," Teahen said. "But the last couple games, I felt more comfortable at the plate and obviously got some results on Wednesday."
Now that his slump has officially been busted, Teahen would like to forget it and keep the hits coming against Buehrle.
"You just got to keep rolling," Teahen said. "It's the up and downs of the season, and hopefully keep those bad streaks short."
Pitching matchupKC: RHP Gil Meche (2-5, 4.55 ERA)
Meche had his shortest outing of the season in his last start, lasting just 2 1/3 innings in a loss to the Tigers. Meche, who has been battling a tight lower back, said his body felt fine after losing for the third time in four starts. According to Meche, he just wasn't pitching well enough to win. It was a tough setback for Meche, who was coming off a quality start against Cleveland on May 20, when he allowed just two runs in six innings but drew a no-decision. Meche's last victory came at Minnesota on May 3, but he does have one solid outing against the White Sox already. He pitched seven innings and allowed one run in a no-decision on Opening Day in Chicago. CWS: LHP Mark Buehrle (6-1, 2.59 ERA)
Buehrle gave up a season-high 12 hits Sunday against the Pirates but left the game with a 3-1 lead. He gave up just the one run without walking a batter and striking out three but did not factor in the decision. He's walked only 12 batters in 59 innings this season. The southpaw faced Kansas City on April 7 and gave up two runs over six innings but once again earned a no-decision. He is 19-8 with a 3.48 ERA lifetime against the Royals. Crown Points
Luke Hochevar started for Triple-A Omaha on Thursday. Hochevar worked six innings and allowed two earned runs against Fresno, but took the loss and fell to 5-1 with Omaha this year. Catcher Brayan Pena, who started the season in Kansas City, had two hits in the 4-3 loss. ... Royals wives will conclude the 27th annual Royals Wives Food Drive on Saturday, when a select few Royals will visit area Hy-Vee grocery stores to collect donations for St. James Place, a local soup kitchen and food pantry. Royals outfielder David DeJesus and pitcher Ron Mahay will visit the Hy-Vee located at 7117 N. Prospect in Gladstone, Mo.; first baseman Billy Butler and infielder/outfielder Mark Teahen will visit the Hy-Vee at 310 SW Ward Rd. in Lee's Summit, Mo.; and infielder/outfielder Willie Bloomquist and outfielder Mitch Maier will visit the Hy-Vee located at 8900 W. 135th St. in Overland Park, Kan.
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• KCSP 610 Up next
• Sunday: Royals (Zack Greinke, 8-1, 0.84) vs. White Sox (John Danks, 4-3, 4.59), 1:10 p.m. CT
• Monday: Off-day
• Tuesday: Royals (Kyle Davies, 2-4, 5.09) at Rays (Andy Sonnanstine, 3-5, 7.66), 6:08 p.m. CT
Rustin Dodd is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
