The Royals only could muster 1 win over the weekend against the Red Sox and they are tied for last in the A.L. Central with the Indians & White Sox with a 2-4 record. The Royals have been outscored 36-23 this season as they are having big time bullpen problems and they aren’t scoring enough runs. The Royals hit the road this week playing three games at Detroit starting today and then they travel to Minnesota over the weekend for a 3-gamer. Hopefully the Royals get some runs this week and the pen can hold some leads.

The Royals were 1-2 against the Tigers getting outscored 17-10. The offense and the bullpen sabotaged the fact that the Royals should have been 2-1 in this series. The Royals really need to play small ball because they can’t just stand still and beat teams up with the offense they have put together. At the same time the Royals need the starting pitchers to work deep into games due to the lack of decent bullpen pitchers outside of closer Joakim Soria.

Zack Greinke has been outstanding in the 2nd half of the season for the Royals.  He has pitched in 21 games (5 starts) in the 2nd half of the season and he is 2-2 with a 2.54 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP.  Greinke’s overall numbers are also looking good for the 2007 season.  He has now worked in 50 games (12 starts) for the Royals this season and he is 6-6 with 1 save, a 3.88 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP.  In 109 innings this season, Greinke has allowed 113 hits, walked 34 batters and whiffed 90.  The Royals are now 65-85 on the season which has them in 4th place in the A.L. Central, 23.5 games behind the Indians and only 1/2 a game better than the White Sox.

The Royals had been playing pretty good baseball most of the second half of the season but they have now lost 7 games in a row and they are only 1.5 games ahead of the White Sox for 4th place in the American League Central.  The Royals need to get their bats going if they want to improve on their 62-82 record and stay out of the basement.

The Royals’ offense has issues but the pitching staff has really improved this season.  The Royals are 62-75 this season which has them in 4th place in the American League Central, 17 games behind the Cleveland Indians.  Three pitchers added in the off-season are the foundation of a good pitching staff in the future for the Royals.  Free-agent signee Gil Meche should have a much better record based on how he has pitched but he hasn’t gotten much run support this season.  He is 7-12 this season despite having a nice 3.85 ERA.  Brian Bannister was brought in with a trade with the New York Mets and he has been outstanding this season as he is 12-7 with a 3.16 ERA.  Rule 5 Draft Pick Joakim Soria has been outstanding all season for the Royals as he is now their full-time closer after the trade of Octavio Dotel to the Braves.  Soria is 1-3 with 14 saves and a 2.61 ERA this season.  David DeJesus has been steady again this season with the bat and the mitt for the Royals.  He is hitting .269 with 94 runs scored, 6 homers and 54 RBIs.  Rookie Alex Gordon is having a great second half of the season to improve his overall numbers.  He is now hitting .252 with 14 homers, 54 RBIs and 14 stolen bases.