This Could Be Your Chance To Pitch For The Royals

The young man you see here delivering a 79 mph fastball is Royals shortstop Tony Pena Jr., and I don't mean to mock, because he's certainly a better pitcher than me. Or Barry Zito. But what's he doing on the mound in a regulation game? The answer can be found in this morning's Kansas City Star, with the headline: Royals’ rally comes up 15 runs short against Tigers. Great Googly Moogly.

So you thought that Pittsburgh's Yoslan Herrera had a bad outing on Saturday against the Rockies? At least he got a groin massage. The Royals lost to the Tigers 19-5 on Monday, most of the damage coming against reliever Jimmy Gobble:

The Tigers stretched their lead to 7-0 in the fifth and 9-0 in the seventh before pummeling Jimmy Gobble in a 10-run eighth inning that extended the lead to 19-0. All 10 runs were charged to Gobble, whose ERA spiked to 11.31. “Everything feels good,” Gobble insisted. “My velocity is there. The ball is down for the most part. … You can’t hope for change. You’ve got to go out and do it.”

So needing a pair of 10-run rallies to win, the Royals decided to save their bullpen for that September division pennant run and go to the position players to finish the game. And damned if Pena, the shortstop, didn't throw a one-two-three ninth. In all the confusion barely anyone noticed that the Tigers moved above .500, at 50-49.

Poor Gobble; there can't be a lonelier feeling in the world than to be down by 10 runs, 11 games out of first in late July, and being mercilessly shelled. Ain't no bullpen cart in your immediate future, my friend. The only saving grace is that attendance at Kauffman that day was only 14,157.

Royals' Rally Comes Up 15 Runs Short Against Tigers [Kansas City Star]