Gameday Blog

-- Inning 2: Elvys has solid command through 2, allowing just 1BB with 2Ks, but the Royals have been equally inept against Jon Garland. Carl Everett has already gotten himself tossed for arguing balls and strikes. Even with Everett, the White Sox lineup looks really weak, especially with Konerko on the bench. Frankly, I don't think today's Sox lineup is that much better than the Royals' lineup, which is scary for a team that's 29 games over .500. I can't imagine how the White Sox will stand pat without adding an impact bat at the trade deadline. Otherwise, this team isn't going to score any runs against the solid pitching teams in the playoffs.

I hear Mike Sweeney is available, despite JoePo's protestations.

-- Inning 3: Man, that was an extremely fast 3 innings.

Something positive about the youngsters:

OPS by Month, April to July

Player            April   May   June   July
Mark Teahen       .627   .673   .675   .749
John Buck         .520   .693   .699   .727
David DeJesus     .828   .643   .810   .922
Ruben Gotay       .560   .772   .833   .465

Granted, all but DeJesus are starting from a low base, and I don't know WHAT'S happened to Gotay in July (!), but the overall trend is positive. I've been down on Buck all season, but I think its probably time I let up a bit. I can see that Teahen is turning into a ballplayer. Gotay has some competition in Murphy, which will be good for both of their performances. DeJesus' needs a big second half, and he's started on fire.

Elvys, shutout through 4. He's pitched so well lately, he's earned a 10-day vacation. Looks like this is going to be a fast, low-scoring affair. The Royals need to take the lead before the 7th inning, or that dynamite Sox bullpen is going to shut them down.

Inning 4 and Beyond: Thanks to the less-than-stellar performance of Blogger, I wasn't able to post anything else about what was a very exciting game and an excellent win for the Royals. Yeomen work from the bullpen -- even Affeldt, even if he did make me nervous once again. The Royals had many chances to win the game, so I was surprised they were able to get away with squandering so many shots to win it.

25-26 under Buddy Bell. Its still a small sample size, and I find it hard to believe that the Royals would be near .500 if Buddy were the manager the entire season. But the fact is that this team has won about as much you could expect under Bell given their difficulties with things like, oh, hitting and pitching.

Up next: The Battle of the Dregs. Series like these are always a good test for the Royals, since Tampa Bay is a team the Royals should be able to beat 3 out of 5 times. I'm looking for a split on the road, but I'm not confident about the opener with Kyle Snyder on the mound.

The trade deadline is just 4 days away.