Royals Lose a Close One

Game Date: July 13, 2007
Indians 5, Royals 4 / Box Score
WP: Borowski (2-3), LP: Greinke (4-5)
Royal Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 38-51

Well, a walk off loss wasn't what I had in mind when I sat down to watch the game last night, but that's what happened when Ryan Garko singled up the middle in the bottom of the ninth to drive in Mike Rouse (who was pinch-running for Travis Hafner).

The Royals certainly had their chances. They had the bases loaded in the second inning and only managed to score one run. And they loaded the bases again in the third (with no outs) and only managed two runs. Buddy Bell continues to say that the offense refuses to be aggressive.

I think he's referring to situations where they have runners in scoring position, but the odd thing about that is, he's also been stressing situational baseball since he got here--which I agree with. We don't have many big sticks in the line up that can swing for the fences when the bags are full. And I cringe when I see guys like Tony Pena taking huge swings. I'd rather see them playing small ball than hitting into double plays and losing any chance of scoring.

Regarding Odalis Perez's short outing (4.2 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K)--I know we don't have a lot of options right now, but we've got to do something. Perez is killing our bullpen with his 5.1 innings per outing average. His ERA (5.68) and WHIP (1.64) are way too high for this stage of the season. And he doesn't appear to be getting any better.

If Billy Buckner is ready, I'd like to see what he could do at the big league level. He's 7-4 in Omaha with a 4.04 ERA. He's just about to turn 24. He's been in our system since 2004 (we drafted him in the second round in 2004). But he's been working out of the pen as of late, so maybe he isn't an option for the rotation in KC. I don't know. But I'm hoping that Perez's days are numbered.

Tonight, Gil Meche (5-6, 3.54) goes against C.C. Sabathia (12-3, 3.58) in what should be a classic pitchers duel. But Meche has never performed well against the Indians. He's 1-6 with a 5.69 ERA in his career against them. Sabathia is 12-6 with a 3.14 ERA against the Royals.