P.M. Cleveland Indians links: Tribe takes sole possession of last place after loss to Royals

Indians fall victim to good, solid starting pitching ... from a team with a 50-69 record.

"Solid starting pitching" and "Kansas City Royals" aren't words normally paired in the same sentence. But they are, in a blog post from cbssports.com describing the Royals' latest victory, a 2-1 win over the Indians Tuesday night.

That win puts the Royals in the passenger seat, right along the Indians behind the wheel, in the drive to last place in the AL Central. The Indians are 49-70 as of right now; the Royals, 50-69. The teams have 12 more games against each other, including tonight's contest at Kauffman Stadium, and 43 in toto before the 2010 season comes to an end. Plenty of time for the draaaaaaaama to unfold.

Kansas City (50-69) has totaled three runs but allowed one while winning its last two games. The Royals have won three consecutive games four times this season.

"We kind of go in spurts," said ace Zack Greinke, who pitched six solid innings in a 2-1 win over Cleveland on Tuesday night. "We've been pitching good lately. Most of the year, we've been hitting and not really pitching good. Right now, we're pitching good."

After Brian Bullington allowed two hits over eight innings in a 1-0 win over the Yankees on Sunday, and Greinke's effort in Tuesday's series opener, the Royals turn to Chen (7-6, 4.50 ERA) to help secure their first winning series since taking three of four from Baltimore July 29-Aug. 1.

The responsibility for that third win rests on the left arm of Bruce Chen. He gave up three runs in five innings in a 4-3 loss to the Yankees in his last start. Overall, his ERA is 4.50, but in August, it's 3.18. Chen, whose season record is 7-6, is up against Fausto Carmona, whose record is 11-10 with a 3.87 ERA.

Hit me, Meat
When you're mired in a season like the one the Kansas City is, you find fun wherever you can. Think of "Bull Durham," when Kevin "Crash Davis" Costner figured out a way to have a rainout and turn the field into a Slip 'n' Slide.

That's what starter Zack Greinke and closer Joakim Soria did, even before beating the Tribe Tuesday night.

Here's how Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star tells it:

The running joke between Zack Greinke and Joakim Soria resumed Tuesday night after Soria secured another victory for Greinke when the Royals beat the Cleveland Indians 2-1 at Kauffman Stadium.

"I always tell him how bad he is," Greinke said. "About how he's not good enough to be a starter and stuff like that. How he doesn't throw hard, and he signed a bad contract. I never give him credit for anything."

Not even, apparently, for saving seven of Greinke's eight victories this season.

. . . Soria hears this and laughs.

"We always mess around with each other," he said. "He got me into the game (by pitching well), so I can't complain about it. He's a great pitcher. We just mess around all of the time. That's why he says stuff like that."

You know, Starting Blocks would love to be around the Old Pitchers Home in, say, 2065, when the story changes. We can just hear the conversation:

"Aren't you Zack Greinke?" wheezes an 86-year-old Joakim Soria.

"Cranky? No, I'm fine, regular as a clock," bellows his 87-year-old ex-teammate.

"No! I said GREINKE. You used to tell me all the time how bad I was. Big talk for a guy who went from a 16-8 Cy Young year to an 8-11 year where he could only beat Cleveland."

"Cleveland? They're in last place. Why?"

Acta dishes over off-the-plate strikes

MLB.com for some reason is covering the Indians-Royals series. Maybe they have to. Maybe it's part of someone's community service. Anyway, the story on Tuesday's game centered on Joakim Soria back-to-back strikeouts of Shin-Soo Choo and Travis Hafner to put away the Tribe.

Now (Michael) Brantley was at second base with the tying run and coming up were the Nos. 3-4 hitters in the Indians' order. The 13,258 fans at Kauffman Stadium stirred uncomfortably, but still, Soria was on the mound and he zipped a called third strike past Shin-Soo Choo. That brought out Royals manager Ned Yost for consultation: pitch to Travis Hafner or walk him?

"He asked me what I wanted to do -- if I wanted to walk the guy because [Jayson] Nix was on deck," (Joakim) Soria said. "But we chose to face Hafner and try to make good pitches to him. If I walk him, I walk him."

There would be no walk. Soria got the count to 2-2 and also threw a called third strike past Hafner. Game over and Soria had his 34th save.

Those called strikes, though, did not rest well with Indians manager Manny Acta.

"Both were way off the plate," Acta said. "[The umps] do a good job and you aren't supposed to criticize them, but sometimes you wonder. It's the No. 3 and cleanup hitters. Basically, you feel like they took the bat out of their hands. They should let those two guys battle -- the closer against one of those guys. I hope [home-plate umpire Kerwin Danley] sees it after the game. ... It's not fair."

You hope he sees it after the game? Gee, Skip. Are you suggesting he didn't see it DURING the game?

From The Plain Dealer
Beat writer Paul Hoynes' Indians Insider talks about how thrilled the Tribe is about the draft – and more to the point their ability to sign the players they drafted. The Indians spent nearly $10 million on their top picks, including Ole Miss pitcher Drew Pomeranz and St. Ed's catcher Alex Lavisky.

Columnist Terry Pluto also tackles the draft, looking ahead to what Pomeranz, Lavisky and their draft classmates can do while noting the success of the draft choices of Brad Grant's picks since he took over draft responsibilities in 2008. Tribe fans just may have some reason to hope.