MacDougal blows save, proves vincible...

[sweaver]

Mike MacDougal blew his first save of the year for the Royals, at the tail end of a loss to the Blue Jays. In the privacy of the SkyDome, the bullpen gave back the big lead the Royals' offense had built.

He didn't do it by being wild, though, his supposed Achilles heel. No walks, but three hits in 1/3 of an inning Sunday.

[KCBOOMER]

Brutal loss for the Royals. Lopez, Bukvich, and MacDougal all sucked in relief of Rnning Elvis, who pitched a strong seven innings.

[sweaver]

And now he's blown two in a row. Is this the beginning of the Royals' implosion?

[Craig S.]

Originally posted by sweaver
And now he's blown two in a row. Is this the beginning of the Royals' implosion?

I hope not, but that was my first thought. They need to turn this around quickly, to get the memories of this past week out of their minds. That division is just asking for someone to take control, and they Royals need to stay focused on that.

[satchel]

Originally posted by sweaver
And now he's blown two in a row. Is this the beginning of the Royals' implosion?

I witnessed his second blown save firsthand, at Fenway, and I had exactly the same thought - I nearly started a thread on it here, actually.

It was a great month for the Royals, and a fun ride for their fans I'm sure, but they just aren't as good a team as they looked like in April. However, when a young team wins like that you just have to hope it's a taste of things to come, like the Twins a couple of years back (when they rocked the AL in the first half and then faded after the break).

On MacDougal, for example, he has live, live stuff. Every pitch he threw in the game I saw was 95 mph or hotter. He just couldn't keep his pitches from hitting the Red Sox (not the other way round, minf you). As he matures if he gets control of that heat, look out.

[gyb13]

i still think they'll finish fourth