Game XXX: Royals V. Tigers

The #Royals are 18-11 for the first time since the last time they were 18-11, which was when they went 18-11. @royalsreview

— J.K. Ward (@J_K_Ward) May 9, 2015

It felt fated. Right around the time the Royals were dropping the second game of last weekend's Tigers series, the prospect of 18-11 came squarely into view. And here we find ourselves, with all of our statistical propriety alluding us, in the vestibule of that fabled beginning once again.

In 2009, the Royals rode a six-game winning streak, having won eight of their last nine, to reach the Elysian fields. This time around, they've gone 11-11 over the last three-plus weeks, having opened the season on a 7-0 run.

In 2009, the Royals found themselves atop the AL Central by three games. This year, they trail the Tigers by a half game.

In 2009, the Royals followed up their six-game winning streak by losing six in a row. They also lost twenty of their next twenty-five after the summit of Zion, and on June 5th, twenty-eight days after glimpsing the far flung shore, they were 7.5 games out of first. After starting 18-11, the Royals finished the rest of the season 57-86.

What this year brings remains to be seen.

Jeremy Guthrie (1-2, 6.52 ERA) faces off against Anibal Sanchez (2-3, 5.11 ERA) in the shadow of the Divine. The future is not set. There is no fate but what they make. However, the last time the Royals found themselves on the precipice of Valhalla, they nosedived into the black waters of the abyss, never seen nor heard again for five years to come.

The time to strut and fret our hour upon the stage has arrived. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.