Kansas City @ Los Angeles preview
Angel Stadium
Last Meeting ( Jun 3, 2010 ) LA Angels 5, Kansas City 4
Jose Guillen is back in the news, not that he’s ever far away.
Usually he only has to open his mouth to cause a commotion.
Guillen was suspended during a 2004 playoff run by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for calling out his pitchers for not retaliating when he was hit by a pitch. He left for Washington in 2005 and, despite saying the suspension was behind him, could not help himself when he made his return to Anaheim that June.
At the end of that series, Guillen went on a tirade about Angels manager Mike Scioscia, calling him a “piece of garbage” among other things for the suspension. He said any time he played against the Angels and Scioscia was the manager, it would be personal.
Guillen and the Royals open a three-game series Friday night in Anaheim, and Guillen is fresh off another rant against teammates.
Guillen told a Fox Sports reporter Wednesday that the Royals are “fundamentally one of the worst teams in baseball.”
But he went a little further by adding a dig at the team’s younger players: “Sometimes you just want to punch them, but you can’t because they are your teammates.”
Guillen famously removed an ingrown nail from his toe during spring training in 2009 when he was told surgery might be needed. Now, the Royals could be ready to remove Guillen from their lineup permanently.
The 34-year-old Guillen is in the final season of a three-year, $36 million contract. He has been the subject of trade rumors and his latest outburst could be the final straw to get him out of Kansas City, although Royals general manager Dayton Moore seemed to take the comments in stride and said the outfielder was happy in Kansas City.
The Royals have lost four in a row at Angel Stadium and 15 of their last 18 overall to the Angels.
Tonight’s starting pitcher for Kansas City, Kyle Davies (4-6, 6.06), also has lost four in a row. His last win was May 28.
When Davies faced the Angels on June 2, he lasted just four-plus innings after giving up six runs on eight hits in a 7-2 loss.
In that game, Torii Hunter had a two-run single and double off Davies and later added a home run off the bullpen.
Hunter is for 7-for-17 with two doubles and a homer against Davies all-time. He also is batting .333 on this homestand and has five RBIs against the Royals this season.
The Angels will counter with left-hander Joe Saunders (6-8, 4.88), who has struggled at home, going just 2-6 with a 6.18 ERA and allowing nine homers.
Saunders has been exceptional against Kansas City, going 3-0 with a 3.00 ERA in four starts. He threw a five-hitter in a 1-0 victory in his only previous home start against the Royals on May 9, 2009.