Up next: Royals

By MARC TOPKIN
Published May 12, 2005

WHAT'S NEW: A woeful 8-25 start led to manager Tony Pena's resignation after Tuesday's game. Bench coach Bob Schaefer took over Wednesday on an interim basis, though GM Allard Baird will seek a permanent replacement.

INJURIES: The Royals aren't deep to begin with, and they have three pitchers on the disabled list, Scott Sullivan, Jeremy Affeldt and Brian Anderson. Plus, Denny Bautista left Wednesday's game with tightness in his right shoulder.

STREAKS: The Royals are 0-24 when scoring five runs or fewer. ... The Royals have gone 74 straight series without a sweep, the longest stretch since the Phillies went 79 from 1996-97.

WHO'S HOT: Mike Sweeney has seven homers in his past 10 games and has an 11-game hitting streak, with a .429 average (18-for-42) during that stretch.

WHO'S NOT: Pretty much everybody else. John Buck is in a 2-for-25 skid, Alberto Castillo 1-for-18, David DeJesus 10-for-51, Ruben Gotay 4-for-37, Tony Graffanino 6-for-34, Ken Harvey 3-for-26 and Terrence Long 0-for-18.

SERIES: The teams are fairly even, with the Royals holding a 30-29 overall advantage. At Kauffman Stadium, the teams are 14-14.

KEEP IN MIND: If the Royals get down, they tend to stay down. They are 2-17 when the other team scores first and 1-19 when trailing after seven innings and have lost nine of 12 one-run games. THEY SAID IT: "It's tough to go to the ballpark and lose game after game. I haven't been eating. I haven't been sleeping. I don't want to get sick." - Tony Pena, after resigning as manager, to the Kansas City Star.

[Last modified May 12, 2005, 00:31:16]