Billy Beane may have some sort of long-term plan for success, building towards a championship club for the Athletics when they begin play in San Jose or Fremont or Pocatello, Idaho. But as for right now this is a very, very bad baseball team that dropped their ninth game in a row in a 2-0 loss to the Royals. The A's have scored just twelve runs over that nine game losing streak. The Royals tossed just their second shutout of the year (the other coming against...the Oakland Athletics), and it marked the sixth time Oakland has been shut out in their last sixteen games. Billy Beane never should have written that book.

The Royals scored two runs in the first inning, with Yuniesky Betancourt triumphant in his return from the disabled list. The Yummiest drove in a run with a double, later scoring on Moustakas' bloop single. The Royals then wasted some prime scoring opportunities after that, but honestly, they could have taken a nap at the plate the rest of the game because Oakland hitters were just not going to hit. The A's had just seven baserunners all game, and wasted two on the basepaths with Royals-esque baserunning gaffes.

Felipe Paulino has emerged as the ace of this ballclub and its all the more amazing that he even had to fight for a rotation spot this spring. But hey, Dayton has an eye for these kind of things.