May stops the Orioles

I don't know if we can consider Darrell May a stopper, but he stopped one of the most frustrating streaks I've witnessed as a Royals fan—three straight shutouts—with a shutout of his own last night as the Royals beat the Orioles 7-0. He kept the ball down and his ball had good movement on it. He had guys chasing pitches way outside and down in the dirt.

This game reminded me of the May who fought Mulder a couple of months ago in Kauffman Stadium to the bitter end. Mulder was a little better that day and the A's won 3-1, but both guys went the distance and you got the sense that May was ready to establish himself as an above average pitcher.

Then everything changed. He started getting hit hard and even he seemed to have no idea why. At one point, a reporter walked into the clubhouse after one of those bad outings and said that May was sitting by his locker with his head down in his hands. This might sound crazy, but I was glad to hear that report. It told me that May isn't a guy who just wants to pick up a big paycheck ever other week.

It appears that he has things turned around. He has won four of his last five decisions to bring his record to 6-9. I wouldn't mind a 12-14 record with an ERA below 5.00 by the end of the year. Given our offensive problems this year, that would be quite a season. I know, I know. I sound desperate for mediocrity. But when you are as far down as we are—both in spirit and the standings—mediocrity doesn't look all that bad.