Royals hope worst is behind them as they gear up for I-70 Series against Cardinals
By BOB DUTTON
The Kansas City Star
ST. LOUIS | Optimism is again seeping through the Royals on the eve of this year’s initial installment of the I-70 Series. Two lopsided victories in Arizona worked wonders on the psyche of a still-fragile team.
“After what we’ve been through,” catcher John Buck said, “it’s good to have one of those games. To have two, where everybody is having good at-bats … that really helps.”
The Royals have won three of their last four as they enter tonight’s series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Their offense shows signs of awakening after producing 20 runs and 31 hits over the last two games.
“It doesn’t really feel like we went through a bad stretch,” outfielder David DeJesus said. “I mean, we did. But it’s different. Before when we’d have those bad stretches, you could feel it, that things were bad.
“This year hasn’t felt like those other times. This year, every day when we come to the park, we feel we have a chance to win.”
Feelings aside, it’s been a grim 29 days since the Royals rolled into Boston in a feisty mood after winning five of six games and pulling to within one game of .500 at 21-22.
That night, May 19, they suffered a no-hitter for the first time in nearly 35 years. Red Sox lefty Jon Lester sent the Royals into a funk.
Three more losses followed in Boston. Then four straight losses in Toronto. Then three more losses at home to Minnesota, including a soul-sapping collapse in blowing a five-run lead in the ninth inning.
That give-back prompted José Guillen’s memorable postgame tirade in which he charged the Royals have “too many babies” who “don’t know how to play the game and how to win games.”
It didn’t have any immediate impact.
The Royals’ skid reached 12 before Kyle Davies, just up from Class AAA Omaha, beat the Indians. By then, .500 was receding in the distance. The Royals currently stand 28-42 and anchored, all too familiarly, at the bottom of the American League Central Division.
“I can tell you this,” said one scout from an opposing team, “they’re not as bad as their record. Their pitching is too good to have the record they have.”
If so, what happened over the last month?
Start with Lester’s no-hitter, which pushed an already run-challenged offense into the abyss for several games. The Royals scored fewer than four runs in eight of nine games — including zero or one in five of those games.
An injury to Leo Nuñez, the club’s primary setup reliever, then forced a shuffling of bullpen roles that exposed deficiencies.
Blowing that five-run lead to the Twins put rookie manager Trey Hillman under the microscope, even within the clubhouse, for some decisions that backfired. That second-guessing is what prompted Guillen’s tirade.
“This is all on us,” he raged. “It has nothing to do with any move our manager made. He cares. He wants to win more than anyone, and we’ve been letting him down.”
Next, the rotation sprung leaks for a few cycles, which exacerbated problems within the now-leaky bullpen. The Royals blew numerous leads in a four-game series against the Yankees but still managed to salvage a 2-2 split.
The rotation finally regained its equilibrium when rookie Luke Hochevar held the Yankees to two runs in six innings June 9 in the series finale. But the bullpen threw away fine starts last week from Gil Meche and Davies by blowing 5-1 leads in losses to Texas.
Next page >
To reach Bob Dutton, Royals reporter for The Star, call 816-234-4352 or send e-mail to bdutton@kcstar.com
Join the discussion
Share your observations and experiences about news. Lively, open debate is the goal, but please refrain from personal attacks or comments that are racist, vulgar or otherwise inappropriate. If you see an inappropriate comment, please click the "Report as violation" link to notify a KansasCity.com editor. Thanks for your feedback.