The Streak Reaches 7

Zack Greinke and Jimmy Gobble pitched well enough to win this game, but not with an offense that manages only 6 hits and 1 walk. The Royals lost 3-1 and the losing streak is now at 7 games. Where it stops, nobody knows.

Before we are too hard on the offense, Greinke didn't help himself. In the second inning, with one out in a scoreless game, he fell behind Torii Hunter, and like most good hitters do, Hunter made him pay with a single. Greinke threw over to first and made a poor throw, hitting Hunter in the back as he dove toward bag, and he advanced to second on the error. Jacque Jones singled him home and ended up at second on the throw. Then, for some reason Jones stole third. The replay showed that he was out, but third base umpire Paul Schrieber called him safe. Lew Ford's sacrifice fly made it 2-0 and that was all Joe Mays needed.

I'm amazed at how many Royal hitters made first pitch outs against Mays. Berroa did it in the first inning (what's new?) Stairs did it in the second inning. Long did it in the fourth inning. Stairs did it again to lead off the fifth. Teahen followed him in the fifth and did it. And DeJesus did it in the sixth inning. It's no wonder Mays only threw 92 pitches in 8 IP. This team appears to be incapable of working the count.

Greinke gave up 4 hits and 2 runs in 6 IP. That's a quality start, but quality starts don't take into account an offense like ours. A quality start for our club should be 1 run in 6 innings instead of 3 runs in 6 innings.

On a positive note, Mike Sweeney took BP before the game and according to Bell he was "pretty much pain-free for the most part…" I have no idea what that means, but it sounds good. The team plans to activate Sweeney on Friday. He's scheduled to come off the DL then.

As a side note, has anybody noticed what Aaron Guiel is doing in Omaha? He's got 16 HR, 54 RBI, and he's hitting .266. He's obviously healthy because he has 290 AB's. I know that Emil Brown has established himself on the major league roster, but do we really not have a roster spot available for Guiel in Kansas City? We're not going to designate T-Long, that's for sure, but are Matt Diaz and Shane Costa better than Aaron Guiel? You make the call.

Tomorrow night, the Royals send J.P. Howell (1-2, 5.63) up against Carlos Silva (6-3, 3.18).