Great weekend for the Royals

The Royals had a great weekend, winning both games against the Brewers. The start of Saturday's game didn't look promising, as Brandon Duckworth struggled against the Brewers. Fortunately, after a 4-run top of the 4th by the Brewers, the Royals answered with a 5-run bottom of the 4th. Duckworth made it through five innings, but allowed 10 hits, 3 walks, and 5 runs. The mysterious Keppel and Duckworth have quickly been figured out it appears. Hopefully, they can adjust to the hitters and be serviceable for the rest of the season.

On a positive note, the bullpen finished the game strong with 4 scoreless innings. Dessens continues to be solid in long relief. The Royals have him signed through next year and his bullpen help is very welcome. Burgos picked up his 12th save Saturday night, striking out 2. Since June 8th, Burgos has picked up 5 saves and allowed just 1 run in 8 1/3 innings.

Sunday's game brought a great performance by Mark Redman and the bullpen, shutting out the Brewers. Redman has pitched well in June after a horrible start. David DeJesus had a great weekend, going 5 for 9 with 2 RBIs and a pair of doubles. When DeJesus produces, the Royals seem to get plenty of offense. Gobble picked up his first save, striking out 2. Gobble has been one of the Royals' best relievers. His improved command and strikeout abilities would make him a good candidate to start again.

July should be interesting for the Royals. They should finally get Greinke, MacDougal and Sweeney back and perhaps we'll see the team that could have been? The veteran acquistions haven't underperformed as bad as typical Baird signings do. Grudzielanek, Sanders, Mientkiewicz, Elarton and Dessens haven't been spectacular, but they've pretty much done what everyone expected. With the young players starting to produce again (Teahen, Buck, DeJesus) and the Royals' best players getting healthy (hopefully), perhaps the second half will be much more pleasant to watch.

The Royals have a few players being mentioned in trade rumors. Sanders, Mientkiewicz, Elarton, and Redman may interest a few contenders. I'll weigh the pros and cons of dealing them in a future post.