After a solid April, the Royals hit the skids in May and they’re now six games under .500 after a 10-17 May. They’re nine games back, which isn’t insurmountable, but the team has plenty of problems. One of their biggest trading chips, Joakim Soria, has been awful and he’s no longer the closer.
One of the bright spots has still be Alex Gordon. He’s hitting .288 although now that he’s an outfielder, he’s not nearly as valuable. He went three for four with two runs in the Royals win yesterday.
Jeff Francis improved to 2-5 yesterday and while his record is pretty bad, his numbers aren’t horrible and they might be able to get something for the left hander at the deadline if the Royals are sellers. Blake Wood threw two shutout frames to close out the game.
The Royals and Angels have their rubber game this afternoon. Felipe Paulino is trying to pick up his first win and the Angels have Tyler Chatwood on the mound.