Game 140: Cleveland @ Kansas City

Game Date: September 5, 2008
Indians 9, Royals 3 / Box Score
WP: Mujica (2-1), LP: Duckworth (2-1) 
Royal Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 60-80

The Indians jumped all over Brandon Duckworth in this one. They scored two runs off of him in the second inning--the fact that he walked three guys in the inning didn't help. Then in the fifth, he gave up three singles to lead off the inning and his day was done. Things didn't get any better when the bullpen took over. Joel Peralta came in and gave up three more singles, allowing three more runs to score. Peralta was removed in favor of Yasuhiko Yabuta who gave up yet another single and run to the first guy he faced and he gave up another run before the inning was over. That made it 8-0 Cleveland after five.

The Royals offense wasn't up to the task. They finally scored in the seventh inning when David DeJesus hit a sacrifice fly deep enough to score Ross Gload. And Jose Guillen doubled in two to make it 8-3 Cleveland, but that was as close as the Royals would get. We finally got to see phenom Kila Ka'aihue (he has a combined 37 home runs at the Double-A and Triple-A level this season) at first base in this one. He picked up his first Major League hit--a single into right field. Unfortunately, things didn't go so well in the field for him. He had two balls go off his glove that were ruled singles. Afterward he admitted that he should have made both plays.

So the race for 70 wins is on. At 60-80, the Royals are on pace to win 69 games and nobody wants to see that again.

Game 139: Oakland @ Kansas City

Game Date: September 4, 2008
Royals 9, A's 6 / Box Score
WP: Davies (6-6), LP: Meyer (0-4), SV: Ramirez (1) 
Royal Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 60-79

The Royals jumped all over A's starter Dan Meyer in the first inning of this one. They scored four runs on four hits. Jose Guillen singled in a run. Billy Butler doubled in a run. Alberto Callaspo sacrificed in a run. So did John Buck.

The Royals struck again for one in the third and three more in the fourth on RBI triples from Esteban German and Mile Aviles. Guillen also drove in another run with a single.

Kyle Davies wasn't exactly sharp. He threw 101 pitches in five innings, but he only allowed one run. Hillman used six relievers to finish the game. Robinson Tejeda gave up three runs and Kip Wells gave up two, but it didn't matter.

Tonight, the Royals begin a new series at home with the Indians. Brandon Duckworth (2-0, 4.91) will go up against Anthony Reyes (4-2, 2.93). Duckworth is 1-0 in his career against the Indians with a 2.84 ERA in 6.1 IP. Reyes is 2-0 against the Royals with a 1.69 ERA in 10.2 IP.

Game 138: Oakland @ Kansas City

Game Date: September 4, 2008
Royals 5, A's 4 / Box Score
WP: Soria (2-3), LP: Devine (4-1)
Royal Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 59-79

Brain Bannister didn't get the win, but he did pitch well again (1 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 3 K, 7.0 (IP) which is nice to see given the type of season he has had.

Billy Butler and Ryan Shealy contributed again at the plate. Butler gave the Royals the early lead with a two-run double in the third inning and Shealy singled in a run later in the inning. But the A's found a way to come back and push the game into extra innings.

In the bottom of the tenth, Esteban German reached on a throwing error by Bobby Crosby. David DeJesus sacrificed him to second. Mike Aviles drew an intentional walk. And that brought defensive replacement Joey Gathright to the plate.

First he planned to bunt, but then the A's brought Jack Hannahan in at third and took the bunt away. Then he planned to just slap the ball on the left side of the infield toward the hole and run like crazy. He was looking for a sinker, but got a 93 mph fastball which caused him to be a little late. He ended up slapping the ball fair down the left field line and German scored the winning run.

Baseball is a crazy game sometimes.

Mike Sweeney played against the Royals for the first time in a regular season game. He went 0-for-5, but he got a nice ovation from the crowd.

Game 137: Oakland @ Kansas City

Game Date: September 2, 2008
Royals 5, A's 2 / Box Score
WP: Greinke (10-9), LP: Gonzalez (1-3), SV: Soria (34)
Royal Home Runs: Butler (10), Shealy (1)
Royals Record: 58-79

Where has this version of Billy Butler been all season? We could have used him before the numerous losing streaks started. Yesterday he was 3-for-4 with a home run and 4 RBI. And he's raising his average to respectability. Butler's three-run shot in the first inning gave Zack Greinke all the cushion he needed.

Greinke pitched seven strong innings, giving up just two earned runs on six hits. He struck out eight. The win gave Greinke his tenth of the season. Can you guess the last time the Royals have had two ten-game winners in one season (Gil Meche also has ten wins this season)? Jeff Suppan and Jose Rosado did it in 1999. Wow.

The Royals brought up six players for September callups: Ryan Shealy, Kila Ka'aihue, Devon Lowery, Yasuhiko Yabuta, Jimmy Gobble, and John Bale. Technically Gobble and Bale were activated from injury rehab assignments while the other four were true callups.

Shealy made his presence felt right away when he blasted a home run to right field in the fourth inning.

This was Mike Sweeney's first trip back to Kauffman Stadium since joining the A's. He faces more knee surgery this off season and he isn't sure if he'll play next year or not, so he said he really wanted to make this trip to Kansas City, even though he's been out of action for a long time. Here are a couple of quotes from him from a couple of different sources:

"It’ll be an interesting off-season, to say the least,” he said. “Right now, I’m just happy to be playing again. I was in the minors on a rehab assignment and I felt pretty good. I’m hoping to be activated for this series because I had these three dates in Kansas City circled all season."

"I told my agents I really wanted to come back to Kansas City and the way the last few weeks have gone, I really thought about getting the surgery done and just getting ready for next year," he said. "But I still had that date circled on my calendar to come back to KC and I really wanted to make this trip and thank God I'm here."

There's a chance Sweeney will be activated for the game tonight. If he is, I hope that the Royal faithful will give him a long, standing ovation. Here's what he said about the possibility of playing in Kansas City tonight:

"If I got to play in tomorrow night's game and I blew out my knee and never got to play again, I'd retire a happy man," he said.

Tonight, Brian Bannister (7-14, 5.75) will go up against Dana Eveland (8-8, 4.21). Bannister is 1-1 in his career against the A's with a 3.96 ERA in 25.0 IP. Eveland is 1-0 against the Royals with a 1.59 ERA in 5.2 IP.

Game 136: Kansas City @ Detroit

Game Date: August 31, 2008
Tigers 4, Royals 2 / Box Score
WP: Glover (2-3), LP: Wells (0-1), SV: Rodney (7)
Royal Home Runs: Guillen (18)
Royals Record: 57-79

Gil Meche pitched well again (2 ER, 5 H, 6 K, 7.0 IP), but it wasn't enough for the win. He left with the score tied 2-2. Kip Wells took over in the eighth inning and hit the first batter he faced, walked the next batter, got a force at third, and then walked Magglio Ordonez to load the bases. Hillman yanked Wells and handed the ball to Ramon Ramirez, who gave up a two-run double to Miguel Cabrera. It turned out to be the game-winning hit.

Miguel Olivo was in the lineup again, which Hillman says had nothing to do with Olivo making rather stupid statements like this to the KC Star in recent days:

“I think (Hillman) doesn’t like me sometimes. I don’t know. There’s no way. When I’m in there, I do my job. I try to do my best. Every time I go over there (to the coaches), I say something, but I think nobody listens to me. That’s what I think. But I know I’m a good player. Everybody knows. I can play anywhere.”

Why would you sign with a team knowing that they have an established catcher and then complain that you aren't getting enough playing time? He believed that he was competing for a starting position when he signed with the Royals and that's fair enough. But after his bat cooled down in June (during which he hit just .200), he lost some playing time. Then in July he hit just .194. Buck, on the other hand, hit .235 and .238, which obviously isn't much to brag about, but it's better than what Olivo did and Buck also hit five home runs in July.

August was certainly a different story. Olivo hit .302 compared to Buck's pitiful .118 average. So it's hard to argue against Olivo playing more as of late (Olivo has played in 71 games this year, Buck has played in 96), but wouldn't it be nice to have guys who cared more about the team than themselves? Instead of complaining about the manager not liking you, why not point out that if you combined his numbers with Buck's that they have 19 HR and 78 RBI with a 167 games played between them (some of the games including both guys in the lineup when Olivo was the DH early in the season). Those aren't horrible numbers.

But all of this is just another chapter in the 2008 season that has turned into a debacle.

Unfortunately, there was more bad news in this game other than the fact that we lost and and Olivo is upset. Mike Aviles was hit by a pitch on the hand and had to leave the game. Thankfully, X-rays were negative and he's listed as day-to-day.

The Royals are off today. They open a new series at home against the A's tomorrow night. Zack Greinke (9-9, 3.72) will go up against Gio Gonzalez (1-2, 7.25). Greinke is 2-0 against the A's in his career with a 2.75 ERA in 36.0 IP. Gonzalez has never faced the Royals.

Game 135: Kansas City @ Detroit

Game Date: August 30, 2008
Royals 13, Tigers 3 / Box Score
WP: Duckworth (2-0), LP: Rogers (9-12)
Royal Home Runs: Butler 2 (9), Teahen (12)
Royals Record: 57-78

I miss a game and the Royals go nuts at the plate. Go figure. And Brandon Duckworth won again. What in the world? And Billy Butler hit two home runs? Oh stop.

Wish I had something more to offer, but like I said, I missed the game and when I checked in on the score I couldn't believe my eyes. It's too late for any of this to matter, but it's always nice to get a win.

Game 134: Kansas City @ Detroit

Game Date: August 29, 2008
Tigers 6, Royals 3 / Box Score
WP: Miner (8-4), LP: Davies (5-6)
Royal Home Runs: Teahen (11)
Royals Record: 56-78

Even after Mark Teahen hit a solo home run in the second inning to give the Royals a 1-0 lead, I didn't have a good feeling about the game. That's what happens during a losing streak. You are always waiting for the other shoe to drop.

And it did.

In the fifth inning, Mike Aviles made a throwing error on the first hitter of the inning. Six hits and six runs later, Kip Wells came to Kyle Davies' rescue and finally got the Royals out of the inning. But the damage was done. The Royals scored a couple of more times in the late innings, but they came up short. Again.

You'd like to see Kyle Davies overcome the throwing error. You'd like to see the Royals win if they out-hit their opponent (11-8). You'd like to see the Royals score more runs when the top of the lineup is 7-for 15. But Jose Guillen was 0-for-4. You'd like to see a lot of things out of this ball club, but when you've lost 18 out of the last 21 games, all you can see is losses.

The Royals are on pace to win just 67 games this season--which would be two less than last season. We've had several seasons that were worse (2006=62 wins, 2005=56 wins, 2004=58 wins, 2002=62 wins, 2001=65 wins, 1999=64 wins, 1970=65 wins), but somehow winning just 67 games this season would feel like the low point.

Maybe it's because expectations were higher this year. Most of us thought we would win in the low to mid-70s this season. Butler, Gordon, and Teahen had another year to mature. We had what we thought were three solid pitchers at the top of the rotation in Meche, Bannister, and Greinke. We brought in a proven power hitter. And we thought we had a better than average bullpen.

How is it possible that nearly all of those hopes were built on a false foundation? Butler, Gordon, and Teahen have all under-produced. Meche and Greinke have been solid, but Bannister is having an awful year. Jose Guillen embodies everything that is wrong with baseball. Our bullpen has a 4.29 ERA compared to a 3.85 ERA last season. And while there have been bright spots (Ramon Ramirez, Ron Mahay, Leo Nunez at times, Kip Wells surprisingly, and of course Joakim Soria) they have been offset by disappointments (Joel Peralta, Yasuhiko Yabuta, Jimmy Gobble, John Bale).

I wish I had answers, but I don't.

Tonight, Brandon Duckworth (1-0, 5.40) will go up against Kenny Rogers (9-11, 5.09). Duckworth is 2-2 in his career against the Tigers with a 3.63 ERA in 22.1 IP. Rogers is 21-19 against the Royals with a 4.13 ERA in 272.1 IP.

Game 133: Texas @ Kansas City

Game Date: August 27, 2008
Rangers 3, Royals 2 / Box Score
WP: Harrison (6-3), LP: Bannister (7-14), SV: Francisco (1)
Royal Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 56-77

...hope has vanished. This team is a disaster. Again. --Jeffrey Flanagan

I'm starting to run out of words to describe how horrible this season has become. The Royals have lost 17 of their last 20 games and have dropped like an anchor in the AL Central standings with no chance of seeing fourth place again this season. Remember when they were actually ahead of the Indians? Cleveland has won ten games in a row and moved past Detroit, into third place. The Royals are eight games behind the Tigers.

Jose Guillen is busy yelling at fans. Most of our young guys are underachieving. Our defense is atrocious. Our pitching isn't much better. Can you imagine what the season would be like without Mike Aviles or Joakim Soria? Maybe the worst ever.

Brian Bannister had his best outing last night since the last time he won a game--June 23. But it still wasn't good enough. With the scored tied 2-2 in the seventh inning, Bannister dropped a pop up (which pretty much sums up the season for the Royals) and the Rangers scored what turned out to be the winning run on the play.

Thankfully, the Royals are off today, which means they can't lose. They will start a new series in Detroit on Friday night. Kyle Davies (5-5, 4.81) will go up against Zach Miner (7-4, 3.61). Davies is 1-3 in his career against the Tigers with a 4.57 ERA in 21.2 IP. Miner is 2-2 against the Royals with a 4.33 ERA in 27.0 IP.

Game 131: Texas @ Kansas City

Game Date: August 25, 2008
Rangers 9, Royals 4 / Box Score
WP: Feldman (5-5), LP: Meche (10-10)
Royal Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 56-75

This version of Gil Meche hardly looked like the guy who was 4-0 with a 2.17 ERA since the All-Star break. The Rangers pounded out 14 hits against Meche which equated to five earned runs in 6.1 IP. While it wasn't even close to a decent outing, the Royals were down 5-2 when he left the game, and when John Buck grounded into a fielder's choice in the bottom of the seventh to bring home Billy Butler, the Royals were within two runs.

Then Joel Peralta came into the game and gave up three more runs to extend the Rangers lead. I was just looking at Peralta's numbers and the crazy thing is, August has been his second best month of the season (5.40 ERA). His best month was May (5.06 ERA). After being so solid out of the pen last year, you have to wonder what's happened to him. He was hit hard in April (6.75 ERA) and maybe his confidence was shaken. He's been sent to Omaha on more than one occasion and that probably didn't help his confidence either, but you can't leave a guy in the big leagues who is so unproductive. I like his attitude; I just hope that he turns things around soon.

Several Royals had good days at the dish. David DeJesus was 3-for-4 with an RBI. Billy Butler was 2-for-4. Ross Gload was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Alberto Callaspo and John Buck also had one RBI apiece. But four runs wasn't enough.

Tonight, Zack Greinke (9-9, 3.86) will go up against Kevin Millwood (7-7, 5.24). Greinke is 2-3 in his career against the Rangers with a 4.11 ERA in 35.0 IP. Millwood is 5-3  against the Royals with a 5.22 ERA in 58.2 IP.

Game 130: Detroit @ Kansas City

Game Date: August 24, 2008
Royals 7, Tigers 3 / Box Score
WP: Duckworth (1-0), LP: Rogers (9-11)
Royal Home Runs: Guillen (17)
Royals Record: 56-74

Sometimes inspiration comes from unexpected sources. Under normal circumstances, you could hardly call Brandon Duckworth's line inspirational (3 ER on 7 H and 4 BB in 5.0 IP). But given the condition of our rotation and the fact that Duckworth's numbers in Omaha this year aren't even close to good, you have to be happy with what he did yesterday.

Couple Duckworth's performance with the fact the Royals finally seem to have figured out Kenny Rogers and it led to a stoppage of the seven game losing streak. In honor of the win, I pulled out my calculator and determined that the Royals are now on pace to win 69 games this season--the same number as last season. You'll probably recall that the Royals had a colossal collapse last season in September (9-19) and they still won 69 games. Makes you wonder if the current team will even hit 69 wins this year.

The one thing we have to be happy about regarding the game yesterday is the fact that the Royals finally played situational baseball. With the Royals down 3-2 in the second inning, Mark Teahen hit a sacrifice fly to center to drive in Billy Butler. In the fifth, Esteban German tied the score with another sacrifice fly to center that scored Alberto Callaspo. And Mike Aviles raced home during the same inning on a wild pitch to give the Royals a 4-3 lead. And in the sixth inning, Joey Gathright scored on a ground out to short by Miguel Olivo.

And how about Callaspo at second? He looked comfortable there and he went 3-for-3 at the plate. If the guy can just find a way to stay out of trouble, he certainly has an opportunity to prove himself at the major league level with all of the injuries on the team.

Joey Gathright made his presence felt--both on the bases and in the outfield. He's certainly no replacement for Guillen's bat (Gathright ran for Guillen after Guillen pulled up lame at third in the sixth inning), but he's fun to watch.

The Royals begin a new series tonight at home against the Rangers. Gil Meche (10-9, 4.01) will go up against Scott Feldman (4-5, 5.15). Meche is 4-8 in his career against the Rangers with a 6.25 ERA in 72.0 IP. Feldman is 0-0 against the Royals with a 3.86 ERA in 14.0 IP.

Changes

With the injuries mounting, the Royals are scrambling to fill all their roster spots.

Alex Gordon has a "a tear in the upper right side of his leg" which is going to sideline him for at least a couple of weeks. So, Hillman decided to move Mark Teahen back to third base, which is his best defensive position and something I've been advocating since before the season started. (I'd like to see Gordon be the everyday first baseman.) Of course, Teahen hasn't played third base since 2006, so it'll be interesting to see how he handles the transition.

Ron Mahay was placed on the DL to make room for Kyle Davies, who will start tonight and hopefully eat a few innings.

Game 128: Detroit @ Kansas City

Game Date: August 22, 2008
Tigers 4, Royals 3 / Box Score
WP: Verlander (10-13), LP: Bannister (7-13), SV: Rodney (6)
Royal Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 55-73

Brian Bannister was better last night, but not good enough to out-duel Justin Verlander. He appeared to be pitching to contact, which allowed him to keep his pitch count down and eat some innings. He threw 100 pitches in eight innings, while giving up four earned runs. Mostly importantly, he kept the Tigers within striking distance and eventually the Royals did mount a come back.

Trailing 4-0 in the eighth, John Buck tripled in Ross Gload to make it 4-1. Then in the ninth, Esteban German doubled in Mike Aviles and Billy Butler singled in German to pull the Royals to within a run. With two outs and David DeJesus on third, Fernando Rodney uncorked a wild pitch. DeJesus raced home, but the ball bounced back to Brandon Inge and he threw out DeJesus at home to end the game. DeJesus said afterward that he didn't have a big enough lead.

It's hard to call such a loss a heartbreaker though because when you've lost 13 out of the last 15 games, losses are expected. I hate it that the season has come to this, but it has.

Positives? Well, they are hard to find, but how about Mike Aviles going 3-for-5? Ross Gload was 4-for-4. And Billy Butler was 2-for-5 with an RBI.

Tonight, Kyle Davies (5-4, 4.71) will go up against Zach Miner (6-4, 3.94). Davies is 1-2 in his career against the Tigers with a 4.02 ERA in 15.2 IP. Miner is 1-2 against the Royals with a 5.85 ERA in 20.0 IP.

Game 127: Kansas City @ Cleveland

Game Date: August 21, 2008
Indians 10, Royals 3 / Box Score
WP: Lee (18-2), LP: Greinke (9-9)
Royal Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 55-72

Do you remember the game a couple of seasons ago when Esteban German didn't take a pair of sunglasses with him to the outfield and then he ended up losing a ball in the sun, getting hit in the face with it, and leaving the game? Remember Buddy Bell's reaction? Here's what he said:

"I've seen things here recently I haven't seen since rookie league," Bell said. "Guys not having (sun)glasses, guys not covering first."

Well, maybe he should have stuck around a little longer because he would have had a chance to see it again yesterday when Tony Pena dropped an infield popup in the second inning. Here's what Hillman said about the play:

"Today was a sun ball," Hillman said. "Tony's got prescription glasses, flip shades don't fit over them and he doesn't have any prescription sunglasses."

In the Star today, Pena said that he ordered a pair of prescription sunglass, but they never showed up. I've got an idea. How about someone sending him to Wal-mart before the game tonight so he'll have them by the next time he plays?

The Indians went on to score three runs that inning.

I hate the fact that this franchise has been the butt of jokes over the past decade, but jokes have to have an element of truth, otherwise they aren't funny. And the Royals certainly provide enough material.

Pena's blunder wasn't the only costly mistake in this game. In the third inning, Billy Butler committed an error and the next hitter blasted a two-run home run to center field.

If you are looking for a little positive news, Mitch Maier seems to be doing fine after being hit in the face with a pitch a couple of games ago. The right side of his face is swollen, his right eye is hard to open, and he's still bleeding from his nose, but he says that he isn't in any pain. I'm thinking that this guy should have been a middle linebacker instead of a center fielder.

The Royals begin a new series at home tonight against Detroit. Brian Bannister (7-12, 5.96) will go up against Justin Verlander (9-13, 4.60). Bannister is 3-1 in his career against the Tigers with a 1.82 ERA in 24.2 IP. Verlander is 6-1 against the Royals with a 2.69 ERA in 63.2 IP.

Game 126: Kansas City @ Cleveland

Game Date: August 20, 2008
Indians 8, Royals 5 / Box Score
WP: Rincon (3-3), LP: Soria (1-3), SV: Lewis (4)
Royal Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 55-71

And it gets worse.

Gil Meche was nearly unhittable last night. In fact, if Alex Gordon hadn't committed an error in the first inning, thereby giving the Indians an extra AB which led to a two-run home run, Meche would have given up just one hit on the evening. He had his change up and curve ball working again and he was keeping it down. He retired 17 straight batters by the end of the seventh inning, and then Trey Hillman decided to put the game in the hands of the bullpen.

On paper, it makes sense. Ramon Ramirez has been strong in the set up role and Joakim Soria has been lights out all season. But when your starter is cruising like he was, don't you let him at least come out for the eighth? If he gives up a hit or a walk, nobody is going to question why you pulled him. But Hillman looked at the pitch count, and apparently the lateness of the season, and decided to pull him.

Then disaster struck.

But first, listen to what Hillman had to say about being second-guessed after the game:

"Easy to second-guess?" Hillman said. "Well, he's over 100 pitches and it's late in the season. He's not going to have any extra rest. We're already falling apart with our rotation. I don't understand why there'd be second-guessing, it's a no-brainer for me. If people want to second-guess that decision, that's fine."

A little testy there, aren't we Trey? You had to expect someone to ask why you pulled Meche.

Maybe all this losing is finally getting to Hillman. That would be understandable.

He handed the ball to Ramirez with a 5-3 Royals lead to begin the eighth. Two pitches into the inning, Kelly Shoppach hit a home run to left field to bring the Indians to within a run. Then Ramirez walked a guy, who was moved to second with a sacrifice bunt.

Enter Joakim Soria who was being asked to get a five-out save. He was certainly rested enough, given how many games the Royals have lost lately. But he walked the first guy he faced, Grady Sizemore, and then gave up a two-run home run to Franklin Gutierrez. Ryan Garko singled in two more guys later in the inning and you could just see by the looks on the faces in the Royals' dugout that they had nothing left.

They went down 1-2-3 in the ninth inning and have now lost 11 of their last 13 games.

Did you get a chance to see Mitch Maier's AB in the fifth inning? Nasty stuff. Maier was trying to get a sacrifice bunt down and Zach Jackson came up and in, hitting Maier in the face with a pitch. Maier suffered three "nondisplaced" facial fractures to his cheek bone, the orbital floor beneath the eye, and the zygomatic bone. He's head for the DL and Joey Gathright was recalled to take his place.

If you are looking for a positive, besides Meche's performance, you can look to Mike Aviles who was 3-for-4 with 3 RBI. He's been in a "slump" in August in comparison to the rest of the season. Of course, even his slump months are better than nearly everybody else on the team. He's hitting .304 in August.

The Royals play the final game of the series this afternoon in Cleveland. Zack Greinke (9-8, 3.92) will go up against Cliff Lee (17-2, 2.43) in what should be a great pitchers duel. Greinke is 3-6 in his career against the Indians with a 4.14 ERA in 58.2 IP. Lee is 9-4 against the Royals with a 4.88 ERA in 94.0 IP.

Game 125: Kansas City @ Cleveland

Game Date: August 19, 2008
Indians 9, Royals 4 / Box Score
WP: Reyes (2-1), LP: Hochevar (6-12)
Royal Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 55-70

This season is becoming just like so many others in recent Royals' history--painful to watch.

We've lost 10 of our last 12 games and the Indians are pulling away from us in the standings. Injuries are mounting. We aren't deep. Most of our young talent is under-performing. And I still can't believe we have a starting first baseman who has just three home runs in 105 games.

The Royals lost the game last night, and they may have lost Luke Hochevar for a while. In the sixth inning he felt muscular tightness in his right ribcage while throwing his warm up tosses. After the game he said that he was still having a hard time catching his breath. That doesn't sound good.

We're already down one starting pitcher in Kyle Davies, who was optioned to Omaha last week (he'll have to stay there for 10 days). Brian Bannister is either injured or completely ineffective right now and so the only two healthy/effective pitchers in the rotation are Gil Meche and Zack Greinke. I'm really hoping that Kip Wells isn't being considered as a possible fill-in until we can put a rotation back together.

Now can I pick on Mark Teahen for a minute? After going 0-for-5 last night, he's hitting just .242 in August with 0 HR and just 6 RBI in 16 games. If those numbers aren't pathetic enough, check out his numbers in July--he hit .211 with 2 HR and 7 RBI in 20 games. This is his fourth full season and he's not improving. He'll hit the magical 27 years of age next month, which is supposed to mean he'll be in his prime. Will his numbers improve in 2009? We'll see.

Let's hope that Gil Meche (10-9, 4.13) looks as good tonight as he did during his last outing on Friday against the evil Yankees when he faces Zach Johnson (0-0, 5.19). Meche is 3-7 in his career against the Indians with a 5.53 ERA. Johnson has never faced the Royals.