Five loses in a row

Twins 8 Royals 4
W-Lohse (1-2), L-Appier (0-1), S-Romero (1)
Royals Season Record: 4 Wins, 7 Loses

What a difference a year makes. Last April we couldn't lose. This year, no matter how many runs our offense produces, our pitchers give up even more.

Seeing Kevin Appier return to the mound tonight was a thrill for me. I can still remember when he came up with the Royals and the many successful seasons he had in a Royal uniform. Time will tell if he has anything left after having surgery on his pitching elbow at the end of last season, but I'm pulling for him big time.

He did hit 88 mph on the radar gun tonight which answers the questions about whether he could regain his velocity or not. His slider looked like Affeldt's curve ball—breaking from noon to 6:00 and fooling a few batters. But overall, Appier did not have good control of his fastball. The times he threw borderline pitches, he didn't get the calls. He gave up 6 hits and 5 earned runs in 3.0 innings.

Andres Blanco, up from Wichita, made his major league debut at shortstop tonight replacing Angel Berrora, who went on the 15-day DL today with migraine headaches. With Desi Relaford already on the DL, the middle of the infield looks far less solid now than it did to start the season. Blanco made one horrible throw to Sweeney at first base and he went 0-3 at the plate. He did make amends later in the game for his throwing error by fielding a ball behind second base and after bobbling it, making a good throw.

We needed to bring a shortstop up with both Berrora and Relaford on the shelf, but I'd like to see Mendy Lopez get a shot at playing shortstop until one of them returns. Lopez has always had an above average glove and in the past couple of years he has started to show a little potential with the bat. And who will ever forget the three run shot he hit opening day? He's got a great attitude—willing to play anywhere Pena needs him to play and it would seem to me that he has earned a chance to play during a time like this.

Carlos Beltran hit his 6th home run of the season and Mike Sweeney demolished his 4th home run of the season. If we can ever get a starting pitcher to hold the opposing team under 7 runs, we have a great chance to win. I'm not giving up hope though. Anderson, May and Affeldt are good major league pitchers. All three of them just happen to be off to bad starts.

Tomorrow is another day. Go get 'em Royals.