Honestly, is there even a shred of hope left? Struggling on all cylinders, the Royals look to the tattered remains of Zach/k Greinke (3-14, 6.09 ERA) to end a franchise crushing 16-game losing streak. The Royals face-off against Joel Pinero, who's a lifetime 2-0 (0.60 ERA) in three starts against the Royals.
As for last night, what can be said? (Heard that before?) The lineup looked completely hopeless against the much-ballyhooed King Felix, and the limp Mariner offense pounded the Royals for 11 runs. One team showed off a young pithcer with promise, while another turned to an increasingly enigmatic scuffler who once referred to a 15-start half-season in 2003 as "vintage Runelyvs Hernandez"...
At least the Royals can rest easy that newly self-annointed Baseball Morality Sheriff Ryne Sandberg (see his HOF speech) doesn't think Buddy Bell is to blame:
And with the way the game's economics are these days, small-market teams are going to struggle. They can't compete with big-market teams when it comes to paying big salaries. In fact, teams like the Royals are often forced to trade their star players as they did with Carlos Beltran last year. They had no choice but to deal him to Houston, which was in the NL wild-card race.Great analysis Ryan err Ryne, I'm impressed with your invocation of the Beltran trade to explain events over a year later. Don't forget about the Damon and Dye deals completed in the first Bush administration either.
Did you know the Royals only have 38 wins? Just wondering. Looking forward to another loss tonight; I'm just not sure how this lineup can score more than 2 runs at Safeco Field... and we know what Greinke will do.