The Royals played the game I think every suspected they would play yesterday: as if they had no chance to win. The spot starter, Eduardo Villacis, whom I suspect 98% of Royals fan had never heard of, finds his day of reckoning at Yankees Stadium, and pitches as if he's never held a ball in his life. The offense was pathetic against a guy who hasn't pitched in two years. The defense booted the ball all over the field.

After the "game", Tony Pena threw down the gauntlet - the Royals will win the Central. Why don't you BELIEVE, people?

Mike Mussina has been terrible this year. He hasn't been effective in any of his starts. His fastball tops out at 87 mph.

Odds Mike Mussina will shut down the Royals today: 1-1.
Odds the Royals will go 2-7 on this road trip: 1-5.

The Royals are toast. Horribly inconsistent pitching, tons of injuries, the offense's inability to destroy bad pitchers well. One thing I will say about the Yankees - when they go up against a bad pitcher (or a green pitcher), they let him beat himself first. That's what good teams do. The Royals, who by all available standards are NOT a good time, try to hit home runs.

I'm run out of things to say about the injuries to this team. This is a systematic problem, something endemic to the organization. They simply cannot keep enough players healthy, which just ruins thist team. It happened last year when they won 83 games, and it's happening this year when they'll win 70.