No, I'm not talking about the White Sox.
Yup, the friggin Kansas City Royals, 8-2 in their last 10 (tied with Tampa and Colorado for best current 10 game stretch). Winner of three straight, and five out of six, which strikes me as astonishing given that (a) the Royals usually suck on the road, and (b) the game we lost was on national television by an 11 to 0 ass kicking. Usually teams that get routed in prime time like that, take a day or two (or fifteen) to recover. Instead, the Royals went out the very next night, and won in extra innings at Seattle, before taking the last two relatively easily.
So the question now becomes ... can we reverse 2003? Can this lovable gang of losers undo the unthinkable collapse in 2003?
To refresh your memories ... courtesy si.com ... only one team in baseball in the Wild Card era, has entered the All Star Break with a lead of five games or greater, and failed to make the playoffs. Care to take a guess who that team was?
Yup, the Royals. Who had an incredible 7 1/2 game lead come All Star Tuesday 2003.
Tonight, the Royals enter the final weekend of the first half eight games out of first place. They sit in fourth place in the division. And yet ... you can kind of see it coming together, can't you?
The starting pitching, Sunday excluded, has been rock solid the last two weeks. Check out the lines:
("major league" groundskeepers voices) "these guys aren't sh*tty!"
In the last 13 games the Royals have played, they've gone 10-3. They've only been a non-factor in one of those games (the 11-0 July 4 Salute to Ineptitude). When you post these types of number over a two and a half week stretch (aka "three times through the rotation"), you have to believe in the stats. And the stats say this patchwork pitching staff, missing 3/5 of the rotation ... has been among baseball's best.
The AVERAGE start the last three weeks is 6 1/3 innings, 3 runs allowed, 5 hits, 2 walks, 4 K's. Our entire rotation is averaging a "quality start", loosely defined as 6 IP or more / 3 ER or fewer.
Tonight, the Royals send Bruce Chen, who's won his last two starts in fairly convincing fashion, to the mound. Tomorrow, its Brian Bannister, who has been maddeningly inconsistent, but still has decent stats in this latest run. And Sunday, its the Messiah, Zack Greinke, who's won three straight, two of them not allowing an earned run.
8 games back at this point should be "season over". But if the Royals can stay hot this weekend ... with the Tigers and Twins battling each other at Target Field, meaning the potential to gain ground is definitely in play ... well, remember 2003. If the Royals can blow a huge lead, why can't they make it up?
I'll be camped out tonight on the Elk River, ready to float the day away tomorrow. But you can bet your ass there's gonna be a radio tuned in to tonight's adventures. Weird. Three weeks ago, hell three months ago, when this season began, I had no interest. But as Michael Corleone noted after Joey Zaza's attempt to off the heads in Atlantic City, "Just when I think I'm out, somebody PULLS ME BACK IN!"
Beat Chicago!
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