Royals avoid sweep with exciting win

A tough night for Leo Nunez, not because of his pitching -- on the contrary, his stuff was sharp as usual, with his three-inning, one-run performance actually bumping his ERA up to 1.96 -- but because the fates conspired to knock him off his pedestal. Conspiring fates, by the way, are the scourge of man, along with air horns and Texans with too much state pride.

First a thunderstorm caused a 22-minute delay, then a liner off the back of Nunez's knee made him buckle with pain. Finally, he was unable to continue... due to a ripped callous. Cruel, Fate, that's what you are. Later in his hotel room, we think Nunez wrestled a rattlesnake and suffered a near-mortal wound to the cheek before he subdued the serpent. Then, delirious by the venom, he flung himself out of his 13th-story window and fell into the hotel pool, where a few conscionable guests quickly dragged him out. On the way to the hospital, EMTs suctioned the poison out of his face, and he is not expected to miss his next start in Chicago.

Here's how Yahoo described this series of events in its "Game Notes" section:

KANSAS CITY PITCHER LEO NUNEZ LEFT THE GAME IN THE BOTTOM OF THE FOURTH INNING WITH AN UNDISCLOSED INJURY.

KANSAS CITY PITCHER LEO NUNEZ LEFT THE GAME IN THE BOTTOM OF THE FOURTH INNING WITH AN APPARENT RIGHT LEG INJURY.

KANSAS CITY PITCHER LEO NUNEZ LEFT THE GAME IN THE BOTTOM OF THE FOURTH INNING DUE TO A TORN CALLOUS ON HIS RIGHT THUMB.

The never-followed axiom of journalism: it's not that you get it fast, it's that you get it right.

Nunez's departure left the door open for Ryan Braun to earn his first Major League win. Alex Gordon tied the game at two with a solo home run -- his 11th -- in the 7th, and Mark Grudzielanek, who had three hits, gave the Royals the lead with a head-first slide into home in the 8th. The Royals tacked on three more that inning to secure the victory, 6-2. Consider this series salvaged.