Another Tough Loss

Game Date: June 30, 2009
Minnesota @ Kansas City
Twins 2, Royals 1 / Box Score
WP: Baker (6-6), LP: Bannister (5-6), SV: Nathan (20)
KC Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 33-43 / Record in June 10-16

If official scorekeeper really wanted to tag somebody with this loss, he wouldn’t have given it to Brian Bannister.

He would have given it to Billy Butler. His errant throw toward second base in the sixth inning on what should have been a double play but instead the ball ended up in the outfield which led to the winning run for the Twins. Or he would have given it to the Royals offense which never could get a timely hit or even productive outs. Or he would have given it to Dayton Moore or Trey Hillman—whoever made the decision to carry 96 weak hitting infielders on our roster so we could pinch hit them for each other.

After the game, Hillman had this to say about Bannister getting the loss: “It adds a little insult to it, no doubt,” Hillman said. “You can’t not produce in the two major areas that we didn’t—and that’s defensively and offensively—getting the big hit and making routine plays.”

In other news, Alex Gordon is set to make a rehab appearance for the Omaha Royals on Friday night. He’ll be the DH. I plan to be there to snap some photos on the field and hopefully get in on the interview process. He’s never played for the Omaha Royals and it looks like it might be a one time thing since Omaha goes on the road on Saturday. Gordon will go to NW Arkansas after the game in Omaha.

And in totally unrelated news, has anybody seen the numbers that Jeremy Affeldt is putting up this season? He has pitched 18 straight innings without allowing a run; he also has 16 holds and a 1.48 ERA. And we thought we made a great deal when we sent Affeldt and Denny Bautista to Colorado for Ryan Shealy and Scott Dohmann. 

Back to the current series. This afternoon, Gil Meche (4-7, 4.27) will go up against Glen Perkins (3-4, 4.70). Meche is 8-5 in his career against the Twins with a 4.62 ERA in 103.1 IP. Perkins is 0-0 against the Royals with a 4.40 ERA in 14.1 IP.