Why “Caveat City”? Because I think there is a federal law which states that one can never take any satisfaction or comfort in beating the Kansas City Royals.  Every blog’s game recap must end with the some variation of words “but it was against the Kansas City Royals”, or else the FCC will send men in black suits to your house to smash in your computer monitor and enslave your children.

Here, let me try.

• The Red Sox scored 8 runs last night, the highest road total since June 28th in Houston.  But, it was against a Kansas City Royals pitching staff which is 12th in the American League in ERA.
• Josh Beckett won his first game in four starts by going 6 2/3 strong innings, allowing only 2 runs on 4 hits while striking out 7. But, it was against an anemic KC offense which ranks 12th in the AL in runs per game.
• Jacoby Ellsbury stole two bases, his first two steals since trilobites became extinct.  But, it was against Royals catcher John Buck, who has a strand of overcooked linguine for a throwing arm.

You know, I might be getting the hang of this.  On a serious note, however, I don’t really think the caveats are warranted here.  The Royals just aren’t as bad as our senses and memories tell us.  I do understand the difficulty in stifling the reflexive visceral outburst of “THEY SUCK” every time our eyes spot those blue and white uniforms.

After all, this is a team that is 10-7 in the second half of the season.  They are 4-3 against the Yankees this year, and 13-5 in interleague play.  They have a guy who would be in the running for ROY had he more plate appearances after jettisoning the anemic Tony Pena at SS, along with one of the best late-inning relief tandems in the game.  This isn’t a “good” team, but they aren’t terrible this time around.  The win is what it is: a much-needed road victory with several encouraging individual performances.

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