Ribbie Reporter -- Royals get clutch hits!

NL swept by AL
Ok, so that's a bit extreme... not every AL team swept this weekend.
But Tampa, Baltimore, New York, Kansas City, Minnesota and Chicago all swept an NL team this week. In contrast, only two teams: Toronto and Cleveland, got swept. And that cost Toronto's manager his job. So, Nachoman, what's wrong with your league?
Let's take a look at the Royals vs. Cardinals tilt.

No, they're not rivals
But thanks for asking. Some tensions do linger from the 1985 World Series (i.e. Don Denkinger, Cards Game 7 meltdown and the tarp eating Vince Coleman as a pre-game snack). And yes, both teams often sell out when the other comes to town. And yes, the Royals faithful (all 8 of us) regret that Albert the Great was snatched out of a K.C. junior college by the Cards in the 13th round of the draft. But we're not really rivals. We're just neighbors who get together six times a year to play each other.

In any event, this was a good week to catch the Cards. Yadier Molina is hurt. Albert is hurt too. And I think Tony LaRussa and Dave Duncan would me start if I showed up at Busch Stadium.

But hey, a sweep is a sweep. And you can't argue with only allowing four runs in three games.

The pitching
I discussed the work done by Kyle Davies in my post earlier this week. But Brian Bannister followed that up by allowing just two runs over seven innings the next night. He gave up nine hits but didn't walk a soul. He also, it's interesting to note, only struck out one. Bannister relies on guile and command. It's not enough to throw strikes; he has to throw strikes in the right places. And he managed to do that Wednesday night.
And finally, Zack Greinke was simply dominant, nasty, filthy, etc. on Thursday afternoon. You really can't argue too much with this line: 7 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K. The run came on a Rick Ankiel homer.
And, of course, there was closer Joakim Soria (we need a nickname for him) who's now got 18 saves in 19 chances and a 1.40 ERA. He pitched a perfect ninth in all three games, throwing only eight pitches Wednesday (all strikes, incidentally) and 12 pitches Thursday. Now that's efficiency!

And clutch hitting too!
A go ahead homer from new SS Mike Aviles in the 8th inning of the first game of the series gave K.C. a 2-1 win. Solo shots in the 8th inning of game two by David DeJesus and Alex Gordon were the decisive blows in a 3-2 victory. And Mark Teahen gave the Royals some breathing room in the finale with a two-run, 9th inning homer (they led 2-1 at the time).

Next up
Nine more games against the senior circuit! And might we add that they're playing like senior citizens too these days! They Royals will be home for the next few weeks against the Giants, Rockies and Cards. Let's keep our fingers crossed for more happy news.