Drifting into oblivion, the Royals turn to Jose Lima (4-9, 6.58 ERA) to stem the tide of an eight-game losing streak. In the hallowed Worst Team Standings the Royals are now 4 games behind the Devil Rays and 2 games behind the Rockies. Suffice to say, being 4 games behind the Devil Rays is never a good thing.
For Oakland, its Joe Blanton (6-9, 4.29 ERA), who's making his career debut against the feared Royals. On the road, Blanton's a lifetime 1-6, with a 4.50 ERA in 12 starts, including a complete game. Against Oakland, Jose Lima's 0-3, with a 11.93 ERA, his worst ERA against any individual team.
Clearly, this will be an awesome game, and under the leadership of Buddy Bell, the Royals will most certainly triumph. Regarding last night... of course we lost, but the individual Ws and Ls don't matter anymore. It was nice to see Greinke have a semi-decent outing, allowing just 3 ER in 7 IP, lowering his ERA to 6.02. It was less encouraging to watch Affeldt have his first meltdown of the year, but at least the Royals aren't in a pennat race or anything.