Wash, Rinse, Repeat

Same old story Wednesday night in Texas.

Zack Greinke pitches, the Royals don't score, the Royals lose.

Well, maybe that's a bit too simplistic.

• Pedro Astacio? Damn, that’s really depressing.

• For the second game in a row, Greinke has not looked sharp. In a bizarre role reversal, Greinke threw more like you would expect Pedro Astacio to pitch. Meanwhile, Astacio looked Greinke-esque. Here are Greinke’s numbers from his last two starts:

5/20 5 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
5/25 5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 4 K

He’s had rough patches like this already in his brief career. I’m sure this is just a minor speed bump on his road to excellence, but it still has to be noted.

• So much for that “selectively aggressive” theory I floated out there on Monday. It was like the Pena era where Royal batters would go up to the plate with the intent of working the count, only to fall behind and expand the strikezone. Wednesday, the Royals looked at a first pitch strike in 13 out of 35 at bats, struck out seven times and walked only once.

Clark, over at the Royals OP-ED Page ran some numbers from Tuesday’s game on this very topic. Wednesday’s game looks almost to be a mirror image.

THE SEARCH

Allard Baird is more secretive than the Colonel guarding his secret recipe. Here's what we know:

• He interviewed his first candidate Wednesday.

• It wasn’t Gene Lamont, who somehow figured out he wasn’t on the Royals’ list. Maybe it’s because Allard never called him.

• Buddy Bell is rumored to be on the double-secret short list. I just don’t see that happening.

• I’m bumping the odds lower on Terry Collins. Collins has had some time away from the managerial hot seat to reflect and figure out how to be a better manager. In a business where you’re hired to be fired, the ability to learn from your mistakes and to adapt, seems really crucial.

Collins moves past Art Howe into second place on the odds board.