Another Mariners Pitching Gem

Listening to the end of todays game was difficult. After Zack Greinke threw 86 pitches (54 for strikes) and shut out the Mariners for 6 innings, Tony Pena removed him from the game. I didn't have a big disagreement with Pena's decision. Zack was on an 85-90 pitch count--probably because of his recent injury--so I wasn't surprised when he was lifted. In hindsight, even Zack agreed with the move:

"I think it was a really good idea. I mean, my arm felt fine but when he said, 'You're done,' I was like, 'Yeah, I should be,'" Greinke said. "Even though I felt good, it made total sense."

While Greinke was busy shutting down the Mariners, the Royals were busy making Aaron Sele look like Cy Young. So after 6 innings, neither team had scored. Enter Jaime Cerda, who allowed two base runners before Pena decided to make another move. With guys at second and third and one out, I was thinking, "Please, please, please don't bring in the wild thing. The last thing we need is for MacDougal to bury a pitch and allow one or both of these runners to score without putting the ball in play."

Of course, Tony Pena brought in MacDougal, and sure enough, he buried a pitch and the runner from third scored. Then MacDougal gave up a hit, so both runs scored. That's all the Mariners needed because the Royals could only manage one run. We dropped this one 2-1 and fell to 3-5 on the season.

Before the game today, the Royals placed Mark Teahen on the 15 day DL and purchased the contract of Joe McEwing to fill Teahen's spot. McEwing is 32 and was signed by the Royals as a minor league free agent on March 22. He'd been with the Mets since 2000. He has a .253 career average and has played every infield position as well as a little outfield.

Game notes:

• After going 0-3, John Buck is hitting an anemic .120 for the season…
• The Royals only managed 4 hits today…
• The bullpen has a 6.66 ERA…
• Starters have a 2.91 ERA…

Tomorrow afternoon Denny Bautista (1-0, 1.13) goes up against Jamie Moyer (1-0, 2.45). Let's hope that our guys actually find a way to score a few runs tomorrow.