The Royals look to avoid an ignominious home sweep at the hands of the Mariners this afternoon at the K. With yesterday's victory the Mariners have already assured themselves of a victory in the 2007 Battle for Grass Creek, Wyoming, leading the Royals 4-1, with only one game left to play. (In case you missed my chat with a past resident of Grass Creek, click here.)
Since winning eight-of-ten, the Royals have completely collapsed, getting outscored 29-6 in the last three games (3-10, 2-10, 1-9) and falling back to 19-31. Hmmm... what a great way to deflate things, eh? Worse still, the man Dayton Moore supposedly emailed Buddy Bell about (Buddy uses email?) is now headed to the DL. With everything melting down again , I can understand grduz's call for change.
Now, only Odalis Perez (2-4, 5.20 ERA) stands in the way of a four-game losing streak and the continued humiliation of the fanbase. He'll face noted tough-guy poser Jarrrrrod Washburn (4-4, 3.15 ERA), who remarkably has made over $24 million dollars in his big league career. I guess pitching as if your openly disgusted by everything around you works after all.
Finally, Happy Pentecost! Oddly enough, the Royals faced the Mariners last Pentecost as well, defeating the Mariners 9-4 at Safeco behind ALl-Star Mark Redman. Odder still, the Mariner pitcher that day? Jarrrrrrod Washburn, who surrendered homers to Buck and Brown, along with doubles to Berroa, Teahen and Graffanino. Happy times.