Well, fans of the Boyz N Blue, effectively ... this is it. The next three weeks will determine if the Royals have any shot at playing meaningful baseball into late August and September. Yes, I know -- three weeks in late May and early June rarely determine the season. But in this case, it kind of does. Once the Blue Jays leave on June 9th, the Royals will have played 64 games. 41 of those will have been at the K. Meaning 58 of our last 98 are on the road. Suffice it to say, the Royals need some home wins in these next couple weeks, as 17 of our next 23 are at home (and 3 of the roadies are at cellar-dwelling Baltimore).
Before I get to what needs to happen this weekend, and what I hope happens this weekend, let's take a second to look back on last night's game. Because if this team is still in contention six weeks from now, last night might be the game we point to and say "that's what triggered the turnaround".
The Royals got a brilliant start out of Luke Hochevar. They got perfect relief from Greg Holland, making his major league debut, going 1 2/3 innings, bailing out Hochevar in the ninth, and picking up the win. Most importantly, when the bats had to produce, they did. Hosmer's single to lead off the ninth could have decapitated someone if it was hit a little higher. Francouer follows with a single. (Fun fact, courtesy of Royals Authority: Frenchy has now had 15 plate appearances in the ninth inning this year. He has four hits, five walks, and 2 sacrifice flies, with only four outs. Uuh, that's clutch). And then Mike Aviles, who was 0 for the homestand, battles off pitch after pitch before dribbling one up the middle to plate Hosmer and tie the game. (Only a great defensive play by Elvis Andrus prevented it from plating Francouer and winning the game). And then of course, the Royals do it all over again in the tenth, plating the winning run and ending the losing streak at five. Job well done.
The Royals will (hopefully) take the field tonight against the NL Central leading cardinals only six games out of first. (I say "hopefully", because it's a dreary, miserable day here in South KC. It's been raining since 8 this morning, and more is on the way.) With a win tonight, the Royals move back to .500. The last time the Royals were at .500 after 44 games was 2009, when ironically, a victory against the Cardinals on a Sunday propelled them to 22-22. It would be the last time that team would see .500 until 2010 (when they last saw .500 in game 4. Yikes).
More importantly, with a win tonight, the Royals can re-establish some positive momentum that the last week pretty much destroyed. Look it, nobody was higher than me after we absolutely bitch-smacked the Yankees at the Stadium last Thursday. (Well, ok, I can think of one reader of this site who might have been "higher", but you know what I mean). Then came the tough loss on Friday. The tough loss on Saturday. The rainout on Sunday. The beatdown of the season on Monday. Another disasterous outing on Tuesday. Four straight losses, none of which the Royals had led for even a pitch. Then came Wednesday, losing in cruel fashion in the 11th after Hosmer tied the game in the 9th. (Sad fact: the Royals have taken the mound with the lead only twice in the last 57 innings they have played -- the 3rd and 4th inning against Texas on Wednesday. Call me crazy, but when you're playing from behind (or tied) for 55 of the last 57 innings you've played, (jim mora sr. voice) you're not gonna beat anybody I just talked about, anybody.)
Finally, last night, a win. The bleeding for now is stopped. For twenty some odd hours at least, we can deflate the crisis mode to "pessimistic" from the "aw sh*t!" level it's been at for a week. Now it's time to bury the last week, and push forward. The Royals have a tough but winnable stretch upcoming. Three against the dirty birds from across the state this weekend. Then three winnable roadies at reeling Baltimore, followed by a three gamer in Texas. Then an 11 game homestand that for all intents and purposes will probably determine if there is any hope of playing meaningful baseball in September this year.
I think the Royals need to take two of three this weekend, and ideally sweep. No, it won't be easy, but nothing is going to come easy for these guys. Hopefully the stadium is filled with blue tonight and tomorrow. I will do my part on Sunday (I can't make it tonight or tomorrow, or else I'd be there) by showing up for Mass. Provided I can convince at least one person to go with me (and apparently, my bribe of "ok, I'll buy the tickets" worked last night!), I plan to be drinking in the parking lot by 11am. It's gonna be 86 and sunny (Fox 4), 83 and sunny (Channel 5), or 85 and sunny (weather.com). I like those forecasts!!! Feel free to join me for the first, uuh, what should Tailgating be called. "Sunday School"? I like it, it works. Feel free to join me for "Sunday School" prior to "Mass". (Who says I can't turn any post into a mockery of the sham that is organized religion!)
This is a really key stretch for the Royals. Ideally, they take 2 of 3 in the next two series, manage to win one in Texas (5-4 stretch) that gets them to 26-26 on Memorial Day, entering that eleven game homestand against the Angels (3), Twins (4), and Blue Jays (4). That's where you have to make your move. Tread water for the next ten days, hope you don't lose too much ground or if you're lucky, you might gain a game or two on the Indians. And then use the last lengthy homestand of the season to begin a push.
(Even sweeter about that home stand? Four day games! Including two during the work week! You're damned right I'm taking PTO if the weather's even remotely decent! I mean, take June 9th, a Thursday. 3pm first pitch. Against the Blue Jays. So you're telling me that I conceivably (if I could convince at least one other person to blow the day off), I conceivably could be drinking in the parking lot by 11, be down three games to none at washers by noon, be noticeably buzzed by 12:30, be wondering where the hell I left my t-shirt by 1, AND boo the Canadian National Anthem, all BEFORE a single pitch is thrown? Sign me up!!!)
The beauty of this team, as I've said so many times now that I'm sure people are tuning it out, but it's true -- the worst the Royals are going to be for the next six, seven, eight years is right now. This team taking the field tonight is the worst team we're going to see until 2018. Admit it, Wednesday night, when Hosmer drilled Feliz' offering over the right field wall, you had to be a little excited, right? That's what this team hasn't had in nearly a decade -- someone who, with the game on the line, you know will come through. And Lord knows I was getting a little excited watching Danny Duffy pitch. No, he wasn't spectacular ... but he wasn't awful. He certainly was better than Kyle Davies, and that's what has me so optimistic about this team -- every time one of these crappy retreads goes down, a talented youngster is getting called up. Is the Royals rotation better with Danny Duffy in it than Kyle Davies? Absolutely. Is our lineup better with Eric Hosmer in it instead of Kila Ka'aihue? Absolutely. Next up is likely to be Mike Montgomery, probably in the homestand coming up in two weeks. Does it really matter who he bumps out of the rotation? Is bumping Sean O'Sullivan (who to be fair, has been shockingly decent) for Mike Montgomery an improvement? You betcha.
Let's hope this weekend sparks the turnaround, to keep the little season that could chugging along the tracks. Because God knows I'd love nothing more than this scene to unfold come 4pm Sunday afternoon:
(weather) (88 and not a cloud in the sky)
(steve) (.25 and deteriorating rapidly)
(steve) (in his favorite rolling rock chair)
(steve) (no shoes, no shirt, no problems)
(steve) (frosty cold shiner bock in one hand)
(steve) (waving a broom in the other)
(steve) (taunting every cardinals fan that walks by ...)
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