The Royals Would Never Make It To Omaha

Sports by the Numbers MLB Stat of the Week

12 The Royals, Mariners, and Rockies are battling it out as the second full month of the season draws to a close to see who can play the worst baseball - the Rockies have the lowest winning percentage in baseball, but the Royals get the prize after having lost (12) straight as action begins on the final day of May. This is a team that blew a five run lead in the ninth on Wednesday, and then made a huge base-running blunder on Friday that cost them a chance to tie the game - the team deserves to be 21-34, but the Royals' fans who remember better days with guys like Brett, White, Balboni, Quisenberry, Saberhagen, Black, and McRae deserve better.

1 Giants relief pitcher Keiichi Yabu came on against the Padres in the eighth inning on Friday night with runners on first and second and no outs - but he used only (1) pitch to get out of the inning. Padres 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff hit a sharp grounder on Yabu's first pitch that third baseman Jose Castillo fielded near the bag. Castillo stepped on third to force out Brian Giles, fired to second to force out Adrian Gonzalez, and then second baseman Ray Durham relayed the ball to first baseman John Bowker for a 5-4-3 triple play. Yabu later said, "I was thinking groundball and double play, then we turned the triple play - unbelievable"

118 The Braves have a (.118) winning percentage after posting a paltry 2-15 record in games decided by a single run so far this season. Atlanta is doing a great job playing at home - they are 22-7 at Turner Field, which is the best home record in baseball - but they have no hope of contending if they do not start playing better on the road, where they are only 7-19, and if they do not start winning one run ballgames.

176 We like Joe Mauer, and we hate for it to seem like we keep picking on the guy - but the Twins' catcher has now batted (176) times this season and he has yet to hit a homerun. He is batting .318, but Joe, you are a 6' 5" 230 lb catcher - swing harder.

409 Chipper Jones is baseball's leading hitter with a (.409) average as May comes to a close - but he still needs two big flies for career homerun number 400. He has 12 on the season, and Braves' fans hope he stays healthy because his numbers this season so far are mind-boggling: among N.L. leaders he is 1st in average, 1st in on-base percentage, 4th in slugging, 2nd in OPS, 1st in hits, 3rd in times on base, and 6th in total bases.

625 The Chicago Cubs will begin June with a (.625) winning percentage after posting a 35-21 record during the first two months of the season - the best in baseball. The Cubs got some help on Friday when they came back from an 8-0 deficit against the Rockies, rallied for six runs in the seventh inning, and escaped with a 10-9 victory over the team with the worst winning percentage in baseball for the first two months of the season.