Royals Lose Seventh Straight

Game Date: May 30, 2007
Orioles 3, Royals 0 / Box Score
WP: Bedard (4-3), LP: Meche (3-4), SV: Ray (12)
Royal Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 19-35

We needed our stopper. He showed up and only allowed one earned run in 7.1 innings. Unfortunately, the Royals couldn't even find a way to score once. No matter how good your stopper is, you still need to score to have a chance to win.

Erik Bedard is a good pitcher. But after losing seven straight games, during which the Royals have been outscored 55-13, I really didn't want to hear Buddy Bell tell us how good Bedard is. I didn't want to hear that we just couldn't do anything against him. But he did it anyway.

“We can’t keep giving credit to the other pitcher,” Bell said right before giving credit to the other pitcher. “But tonight was a little different. Bedard was outstanding.”

How about pointing out that we had runners at the corners in the third inning with one out and we failed to score a run? How about mentioning the fact that Mark Grudzielanek got doubled up at first in the fourth inning on a Mike Sweeney line drive that was caught in center field?

When Doug Mientkiewicz was here last year he said something that applies to our current situation. He said that whenever the Royals won a series, especially at home, the clubhouse was downright giddy afterward. He said that shouldn't be the case. We should expect to win series--especially at home.

We had an 8-2 road trip that nobody expected. Our guys were brimming with confidence, maybe to the point of giddiness. Now they've lost seven games in a row and everybody is searching for answers. The highs are too high and the lows are too low and somehow both extremes seem to have negative effects on the field.

Thankfully, the Royals are off today, and thankfully the homestand is over. On Friday, the Royals begin a new series at Tampa Bay. Brian Bannister (0-3, 4.54) goes against Scott Kazmir (3-2, 3.95). Bannister has never faced the Devil Rays. Kazmir is 1-0 against the Royals in his career with a 6.35 ERA.