Royals Win Fifth Straight

Game Date: June 29, 2007
Royals 8, White Sox 1 / Box Score
WP: Bannister (5-4), LP: Contreras (5-9)
Royal Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 34-46

Maybe I ought to go on business trips a little more often. I came home to a four game winning streak and the win tonight makes it five. The fans seem more lively. The players are smiling. Alex Gordon is on fire. Joey Gathright is making major contributions. And Zack Greinke is throwing smoke at the back end of the bullpen.

I could go for more of this.

Brian Bannister struggled with his command early, but he righted himself and ended up pitching 6.1 strong innings, giving up just one earned run, to win his fifth game of the month (and of the season).

The Royals fell behind 1-0 early, but quickly bounced back in the third with an RBI infield single by Esteban German. Billy Butler singled in a run in the fourth and John Buck drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the same inning to give the Royals a 3-1 lead. The Royals blew the game open in the seventh with German drove in Gathright with a single to center and Shane Costa singled in David DeJesus and German to make it 6-1. The Royals tacked on two more in the eighth.

The Royals improved to 15-11 in June and have secured their first winning month since July 2003. They have crept to within one game of the White Sox in the Central.

I ran across a story on SI.com today called "Bad Investments." It chronicles the ten ten worst investments in baseball this season. Strangely, there is no mention of Gil Meche--not even to acknowledge that maybe Dayton Moore wasn't as crazy as most pundits seemed to believe.

Tomorrow night, the Royals will try to make it six straight. Odalis Perez (4-7, 5.92) will go up against John Danks (4-6, 4.78). Perez is 0-4 against the White Sox in his career. Danks has never faced the Royals.