Cut N Dry; Lima up, Sweeney down

Borrowing from what a good writer once wrote, Wednesday's Royals game was the best of times and the worst of times for Kansas City. Jose Lima had his best start of the season and the Royals won their 4th straight, 3-1. On the flip side, "Cap'n" Mike Sweeney finally got injured, this time in the 4th when Jayson Werth ran into his glove arm and sprained his elbow and wrist. The shoe finally dropped on Sweeney this season. This seriously hampers my plans for him, which was trade bait. His so-far-so-good defensive season aside, the team doesn't need another DH. Hopefully it'll just be a 15-day DL stint and back to the lineup for him. His annual injury has finally happened.

Lima went 8 strong innings and only allowed 1 run. The inevitable collapse I'm sure most fans watching were expecting didn't come tonight, for a change. Must be the new blonde hairdo. MacDougal also mowed thru the Dodgers in the 9th for another esteem-building save. Emil Brown continued his strong play with a 2-4 night that included 2 of the 3 RBI. Not much else remarkable about tonight's game. Nobody (other than Lima) played above their heads and the team got a win. Of course, all this makes Buddy Bell look pretty good to many people. I'm not sold yet. I attribute this more to absence of Pena more to presence of Bell. Crap, maybe the team would have played well in 2004 if RahRah wouldn't have been the manager. Anybody else is a breath of fresh air. If there's anything good to say about Bell, he hasn't tinkered too much. You don't think about many of his managing tactics during the game because he hasn't taken a great deal of risks thus far. I was surprised he left Lima in so long, since Jose usually implodes around inning 5 or 6 and he was living on borrowed time taking him into the 8th. I also have wondered at times about his leaving a pitcher in to get beaten around without at least a pitcher warming up. If a guy can't perform on the mound because he knows somebody is warming up in the bullpen he needs to find a different job. It doesn't mean you're not confident, it's called insurance. Get the job done and the guy warming up isn't needed. If the other team starts pounding away, bring in some fresh meat. Bell's best moves so far may have been staying the hell out of the way and letting things play out. The bats and arms have awoken. Let's ride it however long it lasts.

Tomorrow night Gas Can Greinke takes the mound. Will he show up or the supposed "phenom" Zack? He goes up against one of the former reigning world champs, Derek Lowe. We'll see if Lowe's sinkerball is working to effect Thursday. He's pitched decently thus far for LA. We'll also have to wait and see with Sweeney. Is this the time for Justin Huber's call? It very well may be.