thanks, sdf, i'm aware of hirschbeck behind the plate @ minnisota. after being one of the most dependable under umps in years past, john hirschbeck has inexplicably narrowed his strike zone this year. while his games are a modest 5-3 to the over this year, here's the rest of his game stats this year - 12.0 rpg, .283 ba, .433 oba, 5.59 era, 1.674 whip, 1.40 bb/k ratio that includes an impressive 10.4 bb/g. snyder throws a lot of balls, and is unlikely to make it out of the middle innings. kc's bullpen is not looking capable of picking him up right now. sweeney and beltran are back for the royals, who probably know they'll have to put up some runs tonight to support snyder. lohse's career era in the metrodome is 4.48, 4.50 vs the royals.
