Missed It By That Much

When entering the ninth trailing by two, do the Royals try to score only one run?

Notes from another one run loss, the thirteenth of the season:

• The last person I want up at the plate in a “clutch” situation is Angel Berroa. Until this guy figures out what exactly the strike zone is, and where it's located, he’s a liability.

• Not to pick on Berroa too much, (it’s so damn easy) but did you see his steal of second base in the third inning? The only, and I do mean only, reason he was safe was due to a terrible throw from Rangers catcher Rod Barajas. Berroa gets a horrible jump and has no power in his first few strides. Really if the throw was anywhere close, he was out by five steps. For the love of Willie Wilson, someone sit this kid down and tell him to please never, ever steal a base.

• Here’s a stat that is rather meaningless but interesting: After Terrence Long’s pinch-hit single in the ninth, Royal pinch hitters are now 2-27. (.074) Not surprisingly, that's the worst in the league.

• Once again, it’s the missed opportunities that come back to bite this team. The Royals had runners on base all night but failed to ever break through for any kind of big inning. The worst was failing to capitalize on Matt Diaz’ one-out triple in the fourth.

Team batting average with runners in scoring position (Bottom 5):
TEX .248
KCR .248
CHI .243
CLE .235
OAK .230

See, it only seems like the Royals are the worst team in the league with runners in scoring position.

Minnesota is the best in the AL with a .315 average. I’m really surprised to see the White Sox so low on this list. Enjoy your stay in first Sox fans. I don’t think we’ll be seeing you there in September.

• Starter Runelvys Hernandez had a typical night. Struggle early, settle down in the middle, and finish with a whimper. Sometimes, he just seems to labor out there. I get tired just watching him. And it seems 90 pitches is about his limit before the serious trouble starts. He was lucky to finish his start with only three earned runs.

• The home run WTP Favorite Andy Sisco gave up to Richard Hidalgo in the eighth, and was the difference in the game, was a no-doubter. I don’t know much about physics, but I do know that when maximum velocity squarely meets maximum force, it’s better to have no one on base.

Zack Greinke goes for his first win of the season tomorrow. Again.