Shooting the Monkey

Wouldn't you know it? The one night that I catch dinner and a movie with a friend rather than watching the game is the night that the Royals finally break through with a win.

Our offense didn't exactly explode though. We only had four hits, but we made them count. Looking back at the statistics, Terrence Long singled to start the fourth. Then Sweeney singled. Emil Brown came up big with an RBI double, moving Sweeney to third and Matt Stairs got him home on a ground ball to first. The two runs held up and the Royals won 2-1. Their first victory in August.

Mike Wood only gave up 1 ER in 5 IP, but he threw 92 pitches. Not sure what happened there, but he found a way to keep the A's in check and put the Royals in a position to win the game. That's all we can ask from a number five guy. Sisco, Burgos, Affeldt, and MacDougal closed the door and finally, the pressure valve has been released. For now anyway.

I was impressed by the player's reactions after the game was over. Smiles all around, big high fives, and they seemed genuinely happy to have finally shot the rather large monkey that has been sitting on their back for the last 19 games.