What, no Royals bashing threads this morning?

[Deberg_1990]

The song continues.....skid reaches 7

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansas...s/14358319.htm

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Swept in Tampa Bay. The last time this happened, the Royals went on to lose 19 in a row. That was last year, of course. It only seems like yesterday.

The Royals ran their current skid to seven games Sunday afternoon in a 9-5 loss to the Devil Rays at Tropicana Field. And the way things are going, mounting a challenge to that 19-game horror show no longer seems far-fetched.

Not with three games coming up in Chicago with the White Sox before returning home for nine games against the Indians, Twins and A’s. Not after losing successive games started by Seth McClung and Jason Hammel.

“It doesn’t feel the same as the last two years,” said Matt Stairs, one of just four current players who endured the 210 losses in 2004-05.

“The last couple of years, we lacked confidence. That’s not the case this year. It’s just a matter of people trying to do too much. That’s the biggest thing — hitting and pitching — some guys don’t realize how good they can be.”

This sweep follows three losses in New York, and Sunday marked the fifth time in six games that the Royals, 2-9, coughed up a lead.

Reliever Steve Stemle, who got a roster reprieve earlier in the day, blew a save and took the loss when he allowed six runs in 2 1/3 innings after replacing starter Mark Redman.

That reprieve could be short-lived. Club officials planned to discuss possible personnel moves Sunday night on the charter flight to Chicago.

Stemle, 0-1, figured to lose his roster spot Sunday when the club activated Redman from the disabled list. Instead, the Royals chose to put right-hander Denny Bautista on the disabled list because of soreness in his right pectoral muscle.

“Nothing is going the way we wanted it to go,” manager Buddy Bell said.

Redman labored at times through his five innings but limited the damage to three runs and seven hits in an 87-pitch performance. He gave up a two-run homer to Jonny Gomes in the first inning and a leadoff blast to Damon Hollins in the second.

“That first inning,” Redman said, “I was just rushing a little bit. I just had to make some adjustments to find what was working and slow my body down. Physically, I was fine.”

He also handed a 4-3 lead to the bullpen.

It didn’t last long.

Stemle served up a one-out double to Hollins in the sixth that turned into the tying run when Tomas Perez’s two-out single hopped through the middle.

A four-pitch walk to pinch hitter Joey Gathright moved Perez to second before Carl Crawford ripped a two-run triple into the left-center gap for a 6-4 lead.

“It’s one of the funnest plays in all of sports,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said, “watching C.C. hit a triple. He runs hard and runs fast, and, gosh, he’s intense.”

The Devil Rays didn’t stop there.

Ty Wigginton’s two-run homer in the seventh boosted the lead to 8-4. Stemle departed after yielding Jorge Cantu’s one-out RBI single in the eighth.

The Royals have now allowed 82 runs in their 11 games, which translates to a nightmarish 7.45 earned-run average. The bullpen is even worse: 42 runs in 38 2/3 innings.

“I don’t know what to say,” Bell said. “When you don’t get innings out of your rotation, it’s always going to come back to haunt you. That’s been the case the last couple of days.”

Former Royal Brian Meadows, 1-0, got the victory despite allowing the go-ahead run in his only inning. Tampa Bay finished with 14 hits — two apiece from seven players. Crawford, Gomes and Wigginton each drove in two runs.

Mark Teahen had two singles and a triple in the Royals’ nine-hit attack. Shane Costa hit a two-run homer, but double-play grounders by Mike Sweeney in the third and David DeJesus in the eighth torpedoed scoring threats.

Hammel rebounded from a rocky big-league debut Tuesday, when he allowed seven runs to the Orioles in just 3 1/3 innings. This time, he made it through five innings and held the Royals to three runs and four hits.

Even so, the Rays optioned him back to Class AAA Durham immediately after the game.

Losing successive games started by Hammel and McClung, who has a 6.52 career ERA, amounts to an enormous missed opportunity by the Royals in a rugged 54-game opening stretch that includes 40 games against teams that won 83 games or more.

“I’m hoping we can learn from our mistakes,” Stairs said. “It is frustrating. We’re playing hard — but that doesn’t get you very far. We’ve lost seven in a row.”

And counting.

[ChiefsfaninPA]

Who would've thought that the Royals would suck?

[vckcchiefs04]

Is there much point to bashing them? Eventually, you get bored of beating on the slow kid in class.

[StcChief]

Originally Posted by vckcchiefs04

Is there much point to bashing them? Eventually, you get bored of beating on the slow kid in class.

I would, but folks here would just bring up their old standby 1985...

Would be better to start a poll on how many over 100 they will loss again this year

[Cochise]

huh huh, royals suck.

huh huh, glass is cheap.

Come on. If you're going to bash the Royals, bring something that isn't old hat and lame. There are plenty of things to attack without using the dumbass angles. How about some insight or originality for a change?

[Demonpenz]

19 more years and they will be the chiefs of baseball

[MVChiefFan]

On a lighter note, I live in Springfield and yesterday the Springfield Cardinals played Wichita. They showed highlights on the local news and man did Alex Gordon look good. He had some nice hits and he was making all sorts of diving plays at third. Aaaahhhh, who the hell cares.

[Skip Towne]

Yep, the Royals suck. Glad to help.

[Sully]

They have already beat me down.
I ws so excited for the start of the season. I didn't think they would be world beaters or anything, but I did think they'd be, at least, competetive. But they fold like a lawn chair in close games.
Like I said, I'm already beat down by them.

[leviw]

Originally Posted by Matt Stairs

“It doesn’t feel the same as the last two years. The last couple of years, we lacked confidence. That’s not the case this year. It’s just a matter of people trying to do too much. That’s the biggest thing — hitting and pitching — some guys don’t realize how good they can be.”

I'm so tired of BS quotes like this. Of course it doesn't feel the same as the last two years...YOU GUYS ARE WORSE! Maybe guys are trying to do too much, but in the end, they're still not doing anything. And of course guys don't realize how good they can be when their potential is maxed out in AA Wichita and now they're in the Majors.

What a joke. I'm so tired of guys like Stairs and Sweeney offering up these stupid excuses and cliches after every game. Get some fire under your ass and start calling people out. If you're not going to compete, at least act like you want to.

[ChiTown]

What's left to say?

[vckcchiefs04]

Originally Posted by ChiTown

What's left to say?

Wait til the T-Bones start!!!! Woohoo!!!

[SCTrojan]

Originally Posted by MVChiefFan

On a lighter note, I live in Springfield and yesterday the Springfield Cardinals played Wichita. They showed highlights on the local news and man did Alex Gordon look good. He had some nice hits and he was making all sorts of diving plays at third. Aaaahhhh, who the hell cares.

If he could also be an effective starting pitcher, we might have something.

[Sure-Oz]

I say don't talk and just play, maybe next year the butlers, gordons and hubers can show the rest of the offense how its done. Hopefully Zack can come back and show something as well.

[Ari Chi3fs]

coughing up leads late in games, sure is fun to watch. I enjoy it immensely. They have to add some value to the entertainment... since we dont win many, lets come up with creative ways to blow games!! yeah!!