24-32

Biggest Contribution: Jamie Moyer, +60.9%
Biggest Suckfest: Yuniesky Betancourt, -14.3%
Most Important Hit: Lopez homer, +20.7%
Most Important Pitch: Berroa DP #1, +8.4%
Total Contribution by Pitcher(s): +60.9%
Total Contribution by Hitters: -10.9%

(What is this?)

I'm trying to get back into the habit of writing huge daily recaps, I really am, but it's a difficult routine to re-establish, so it'll take a little time. Be patient. Until then, Lightning Rounds!

• Watching the game, I kept finding myself saying things like "Jamie looks great, but this is Kansas City, so we should probably take his performance with a grain of salt." Now that I think about it, I don't really know why that would be the case. The Royals suck, yes, but coming into today their lineup was sporting a perfectly respectable .758 OPS against lefties on the year, which was right in the middle of the pack (#15 in baseball). It's not like Jamie was shutting out the Cubs or, say, the Mariners tonight. He was legitimately terrific, staying down in the zone all game long and letting Jeremy Reed chase butterflies to keep himself occupied.
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• I was all set to write a little something about how Jose Lopez was due for a slump, and how we shouldn't be discouraged by a string of bad games because he's still incredibly young and incredibly talented, but then he went and drove in three runs off a homer and a double, leaving me no choice but to write this instead.
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• In the bottom of the second inning, Dave Niehaus said, and I quote:
  
  People always ask me how I tell the difference between a two-seam and a four-seam fastball.
  
  I can't think of anyone less qualified to give a lecture on pitch identification than Dave, who confuses fastballs with changeups and curveballs with infield pop-outs. The people asking him to describe the difference between a two-seamer and a four-seamer are almost certainly doing it for purposes of their own amusement.
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• Joel Pineiro and Jamie Moyer combined to strike out exactly two hitters in their complete game victories.
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• Carl Everett's left-handed sock is slugging .404.
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• A surprisingly high attendance of 28,382 got to see the quickest game in Safeco Field history - two hours on the nose. They also saw the first start of Bobby Keppel's Major League career, which probably would've been good enough for a win if he pitched for anyone else. Said Keppel: "A lot of guys came up to me and said, 'Great job.' But I'll walk away from this saying I pitched well but still got the loss." Said Jeff: "Get used to it."
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• The 2-through-6 hitters in Kansas City's lineup tonight were Mark Grudzielanek, Reggie Sanders, Emil Brown, Tony Graffanino, and Esteban German. Including the minor leagues, Grudzielanek has worn 12 different teams' jerseys in his career, Sanders 14, Brown 13, Graffanino 12, and German 11. Now, I don't know of any research on the topic, so I could very easily be wrong, but I'm pretty sure it's not good when the core of your lineup is composed entirely of journeymen. David DeJesus has a lot of work to do, because I don't think his 3 is going to cut it.