Royals Lose 5 - 3, Split Four-Game Series in Baltimore

Well, it was a big day for Greek baseball at Camden Yards with both Mike Moustakas and Nick Markakis hanging majestic Grecian dong. That's about all that happened, though.

From a Royals fan's perspective, this game complete bore. Bruce Chen and Tommy Hunter both pitched well for them, which means they didn't record the hallowed "Quality Start" but didn't do anything to raise their putrid ERAs.

The Royals had the lead for about 30 seconds when they went ahead 3 - 2 in the top of the fifth when Mike Moustakas grounded into a double play with no outs and Gordon standing on third. With two outs in the bottom of the fifth, Nick Markakis decided to match the feat that his fellow Greek-American Mike Moustakas did when leading off the fourth and clubbed a Sino-Panamanian "fastball" into the seats in right.

Bruce Chen would assure himself of the loss when he came back out to start the sixth and promptly walked the first two batters he faced before getting the hook. Louis Coleman limited the damage to one run allowed, but that was the lead and ultimately the ballgame as the Orioles would tack on an insurance run off of Aaron Crow and suppress any feeble attempts at oppositional rallies with a calm and control only exhibited when teams are lulled into a sense of security by seeing Ned Yost standing at the steps of the opponent's dugout.

For those wondering, yes, the Royals did bunt a lead-off single over to second in the first inning. It'd be a shame to have a full complement of 27 outs used to the best of their worth. You have to play for a run in the first when the opportunity presents itself. That's how it was done in the Deadball Era.