Hell Gets Mighty Cold

The Royals actually won a series. I'm tempted to write "Well, it WAS the Devil Rays", but beating ANY team 3 out of 4 is quite an accomplishment for this club.

The Royals must lead the league in balked-in runs (2), which turned out to be the decisive run yesterday. Ambiorix Burgos actually struck out the side in the ninth; however, he also issued 2 walks and his third strikeout was also a wild pitch that allowed the batter to reach base. Burgos is extremely tantalizing but very unsteady. Mike Wood made things interesting before recording his second save of the series (how many Mike Wood pickups will there be today in fantasy baseball?)

Zack Greinke - another fantastic performance. Sounds like the early buzz about Denny Bautista displacing Greinke as the staff ace was a wee bit premature. He's been even better than advertised this season.

6.2 IP, 8H (all singles), 1ER, 1BB, 7K. Season ERA: 3.09.

He remains winless, though, as Greinke's run support is the worst in the majors: 0.68.

-- It was also DL Weekend, as Denny Bautista and Kyle Snyder find themselves on the shelf with (gack) shoulder problems. The Royals claim both moves are essentially precautionary, but I don't believe I'll take that at face value. Get well soon, fellers. As a result, Matt Diaz is back with the big club. Please, PLEASE, let this guy play. He has nothing more to prove at AAA. Either he's a AAAA washout or a decent major league outfielder. The Royals have absolutely no excuse not see which is true.

-- The Royals are carrying just 10 pitchers right now, which should be remedied once Jeremy Affeldt returns from his rehab assignment.

-- There was also a piece in the Star today about Missouri state legislators' failure to approve maintenance funding for the Truman Sports Complex, which could ultimately void the Royals' and Chiefs' leases. I find it hard to believe it will come to that, and the Chiefs aren't going anywhere anyway. The Royals? There will be suitors...