(Best E Casino) - For a young team like the
Kansas City Royals, these things are bound to happen.
After an encouraging stretch in which the Royals won six of seven games, they went into Fenway Park this week and were swept away in four games by the Red Sox, owners of the best record in the majors.
And just like that Kansas City (21-26) shuffles back down to fourth place in the American League Central.
The Royals battled hard during Thursday's 11-8 loss in the series finale, but they were ultimately done in by a rough outing from starter Brian Bannister, who was tagged for seven runs and 12 hits. Jose Guillen (4-for-5, three RBI) and Miguel Olivo (two doubles, HR, five RBI) did all they could to keep the team hanging around, but to no avail.
"We lost," Guillen said. "I know it's good to come up and hit and put up these numbers, but when you've lost it's not always fun. You always want to win when you hit like that. It's nice to get four hits, but it'll be much better if we come up with a win."
The previous day, Royals starter Brett Tomko was chased in the fifth inning after giving up five runs and handing the lead back over to Boston. The Red Sox bullpen took care of the rest, as it held on for a 6-3 win.
Gil Meche had a brilliant outing on Tuesday, scattering five hits and two runs over seven innings. He also fanned eight batters. However, the offense was not able to provide any support, and the Red Sox claimed a 2-1 victory. The silver lining in that loss, if there ever is any, is that Meche is starting to come around after a slow start.
"I think maybe it was the best (outing) of the year," Meche said of his 118- pitch performance on the team's website. "I felt like I had control of the strike zone from the beginning. I got away from it a little bit in the second, got some offspeed pitches up that they could handle.
"The last four starts, my stuff is really coming back. I'm pretty pleased with the way I pitched, but I want to win games."
It was the second straight game in which the Kansas City offense was stifled. The first, of course, was the Jon Lester no-hitter on Monday night. Only two Royals managed to reach base via base on balls against the southpaw, who became just the second pitcher ever to no-hit Kansas City.
The Royals will wrap up their season-long 11-game road swing with another four-game set in Toronto this weekend. And now that the offense has picked it up, the Royals are hoping their starting staff is able to keep them in games.
LINEUP SHIFT FORTHCOMING?
Mark Teahen's move to first base on Wednesday may be a sign of things to come, as Royals manager Trey Hillman tries to find the best lineup combination.
Essentially, Hillman likes the idea of having an outfield of Joey Gathright in center, Jose Guillen in left and David DeJesus in right.
"I like the possibilities of that lineup for run production," Hillman told the Kansas City Star. "And I like the defense. It gives us a little more speed.
"Joey is a true center fielder for the ballpark we play most of our games in. That doesn't mean that I've given up on David, but having Joey out there with David, as good as Mark Teahen is, gives us better coverage."
WHO'S HOT
It doesn't seem to matter where Guillen plays. At the plate, he is hitting .323 over the last 25 games. During that span, he has belted five homers, knocked in 25 runs and is sporting a .583 slugging percentage.
WHO'S NOT
Over that same time frame, Tony Pena is hitting a pedestrian .182.
A LOOK AHEAD
Zack Greinke (5-1, 2.18) will take the hill in Toronto tonight opposite Roy Halladay (4-5, 3.38), who pitched 2 1/3 innings of relief in a rain-delayed game against the Phillies on Sunday. Luke Hochevar (3-3, 4.29) will face Jesse Litsch (5-1, 4.22) on Saturday. On Sunday, Meche (3-6, 5.58) will square off with Dustin McGowan (2-4, 4.21), and on Monday, Tomko (2-5, 5.76) will close out the series against Shaun Marcum (4-3, 2.80).
The Royals then return home on Tuesday to face the Twins.
