The good times are officially over as the Royals returned to form with a disspiriting 8-1 loss to Texas at the K. Greinke, with no support from his defense, had his worst outing of the season, giving up 7ER, 10 hits in 4.1 innings. Greinke has all the tools, and is still, literally years ahead of the development curve, but needs to develop a strikeout pitch that can fully take him to the next level. Two or three extra strikeouts a game is the only thing preventing him from becoming Roy Halladay.
Buddy Bell clearly didn't read Royals Review after the game, as he rewarded Super Joe for his positive attitude with a pointless token start against Rogers. Granted, McEwing did go 3-3, and Bell did complete the circle with a pointless pinch hitting move with Teahen in the 9th (is there a team solidly more "Little League" than the Royals in this regard?).
After the fire, Nunez, Sisco and Stemle pitched fairly well, attoning a bit for Saturday's disaster. I'm not sure there is a rhyme or reason to the Royals bullpen however, as these guys who get mop-up duty appear just as good, if not better, than the Affeldt-Mac-Burgos cocktail thats been featured at the end of games. Good to see J. back however, although I'm not waiting on his effectiveness.