Royals now 0-3 in games I've attended this year

And 22-36 in games I haven't.

***

Jacobs Field is a lovely ballpark. Really, I mean it. Here's proof:


But if it came down to, oh, a puppy's life, I would still choose Kauffman Stadium, and that's just the way it's going to be. Sorry Clevelanders.

Now that that's out of the way...

They love their Travis Hafner in Cleveland.
Poor Cleveland.
Hasn't Jim Thome taught you anything?

For the ninth time in 13 starts, Odalis Perez allowed either three or four runs in 5-6 innings (if you picked three in five and a third in your office pool... you win!). You gotta love that consistency, as opposed to someone like Fausto Carmona, Perez's counterpart today, who any day now will give up eight runs in two and a third. Trust me, this will happen sooner than later -- but hopefully soon enough to end this ridiculous talk of him being an All-Star over Gil Meche; you know how traditionalists love win-loss records, and Carmona has Meche beat 7-1 to 3-5 in that category. Unfortunately for Fausto, Meche still owns him in (He-)manliness and conquered nations.

The Royals lost 8-3, but the good news -- potentially great news, if this keeps up -- is that Alex Gordon and Joey Gathright both had sizzling days at the plate. Let's start with Gordon, since we've been waiting for this kind of offensive outburst from him since Day 1. He went four-for-four and came up to bat in the 9th with the chance for a cycle, prompting the guy next to me to say, kind of disgustedly, "He's up for the cycle... and he's batting .170."

.190, thank you very much.

In order, Gordon's hits:

2nd: Double to deep right center
4th: Single to deep right
7th: Triple to deep center
9th: Single to right

Here's a picture of his 4th inning single:


There's been little talk of Gordon lately, besides the standard murmuring about how he should be sent down, so who knows if he's finally on track. But if he is having confidence issues, he should do himself a favor and watch the video of today's game on loop, because he looked great standing up there, self-assured and purposeful. Maybe I haven't seen enough of him live to say for sure, but I'm really heartened by what I saw today.

Gathright, meanwhile, picked up three hits, including one on a bunt single. Maybe someone who's seen him live can answer me this -- doesn't he remind you of a young Willie Mays Hayes, the Indians' great? Maybe Hayes was a little taller, had more swagger, but I really see resemblances. Gathright's been hitting better than "like shit" lately, that's for sure. He's now batting .714 for the season, with two stolen bases in two tries.

And now -- I've put this off for too long -- here's a pic of the throw from Mark Teahen that John Buck fumbled in the 8th of a 3-1 game. There were two outs, and Jhonny Peralta would have been out by a mile. Instead, he scored to make it 4-1, and the Tribe went on to score four more in the inning.


So it goes.

Now go enjoy yourself some draft coverage. And Mike Moustakas -- please fire your agent and join us in Royal Nation. Doesn't quite have the ring as "Red Sox Nation," we know, but you'll come to like it.

POSTSCRIPT: A foul ball off the bat of Franklin Gutierrez -- who hit his second HR of the series today, which is the second of his season and third of his career -- ricocheted my way in the 8th, but this man pictured to the right picked it up, about six feet from where I stood. I couldn't complain, however, and not just because he was kind enough to let my aunt take a picture: it was the first foul ball he's ever gotten, and he's been going to games since 1957. Needless to say, there was some congratulating going around.

POSTSCRIPT 2: Thanks to reader Tom A, who reminded me that Gathright can jump over Mitsubishi Galants.