Alex Gordon has sparked a Royal Revolution, sort of. (AP Photo)

And speaking of which, so are the Kansas City Royals.

Hello again, readers, once again I must apologize for that extended leave of absence. I’m a working nine-to-fiver these days, so posts will primarily come before and after those times. But I’ll squeeze some into my lunch break If I can.

Anyway, the Royals are set for their first winning month since 2003. I repeat, The Royals have not had a record above .500 since the 2003 season.

This says two things: first, the Royals have been really bad for a really long time; second, the Royals have built an offense just good enough to manage a month that most teams could be reasonably proud of.

I did everything in my power to figure out what caused this anomaly. The stats are surprising.

Entering today, Royals starters had a June ERA of 5.89, but the bullpen tallied a stellar 2.21 mark.

The offense had three players — John Buck, Alex Gordon and Mark Grudzielanek — post a slugging percentage over .500 during the month. I don’t really have the inclination to check every other team, but I imagine that’s hard to do.

I think one of those players is the key difference in this team: Gordon. The blue chip has increased his season average to .235 — not bad considering he was never on the right side of the Mendoza Line until June 14.

Can this team contend for the division in three years? Probably not. But it’s nice to see that they’re at least being competitive.

And despite the June boon, it makes me cringe that they sit just two games behind the White Sox in the AL Central.

Good to be back readers. I’ll have Cubs and Sox posts later.

Just, out.

Sorry folks, Just Baseball has been quiet the last couple days as I have been out of town.

I will be moving in a few days and once I get my computer up and running, the posts will go up faster than a Peavy fastball.

See you then.

Just, out.

Chris Capuano got hurt before Wednesday’s start against the Tigers, so the Brewers will call on top prospect Yovani Gallardo to take the hill in the near future.

Gallardo has upside on the level of Phil Hughes, Homer Bailey and Tim Lincecum, so grab him now in fantasy leagues.

The 21-year-old is 8-3 with a 2.90 ERA in 13 starts for Triple-A Nashville.

Just, out.

One of the funniest things I heard last weekend was that Francisco Cordero’s nickname in Texas is 24/7. Why? Because he never closes.

That was the case last weekend against his former team. Cordero blew two saves to the Rangers, giving up five runs in two games. He had allowed only one run to that point all season.

The frustrating part for Cordero was that he had a 3-0 lead and 2 outs in the ninth when the floodgates opened. Cordero allowed four runs, capped off by a Michael Young RBI single to end the game and hand him his first blown save of the year.

On Wednesday, Cordero worked a perfect ninth against the Tigers to earn his MLB-leading 23rd save.

Just, out.

After losing his job for pitching so poorly in April, Astros skipper Phil Garner has given the closer duties back to Brad Lidge.

In May and June, when Lidge was assigned to middle relief duty, Lidge has allowed only three earned runs. He’s also struck out 30 hitters against 9 walks, two of which were intentional.

But in the 9th inning on Tuesday, Lidge was given the ball in his first save situation since losing his job. He allowed a home run to Mark Kotsay, which just so happened to be his first of the year. Kotsay had never faced Lidge before.

So what’s next for Lidge?

I think Garner will continue to use him as closer, and I think that’s right. You can’t reward his performance by giving him his job back and take it away at the first sign of trouble. That would be like… well one of those guys who gives something and asks for it back.

If Lidge blows his next opportunity, though, and the one after that, there just won’t be a place for him as a closer in Houston.

We know he’s good, he just needs to figure out the mental aspect of baseball right now.

Just, out.

The Yankees have won eight straight on nine of their last 10. It was only a matter of time.

The Mets, meanwhile, have lost four straight and eight of 10. They now hold only a 2.5 game lead over the Braves and Phillies, who just swept the dreadful White Sox.

The Yankees’ revival can be attributed, in part, to the teams they’ve played. They, too, have beat up on the White Sox, taking three of four from them. Since the opening game of that series, the Yankees haven’t allowed more than six runs in a game.

Their starters have been going longer into games and giving their bullpen a chance. Bobby Abreu is also doing his part, hitting .488 in the month of June.

The Mets are having the exact opposite occur. Their brilliant starting pitching of April and May feels like it was a long time ago. To their credit, they’ve had to face the Phils, Tigers, and Dodgers in their last three series.

The Yankees will face the Mets this weekend and we’ll all get to watch on ESPN no doubt.

Just, out.

I had the pleasure of spending a weekend in the fine town of St. Louis this past weekend and even got to see a ball game while I was there.

Cardinals fans are an interesting lot. My goal at Busch Stadium was to find one person wearing a Bo Hart jersey. I was unsuccessful.

I did see a fan wearing a Bartman jersey, though. Crazy Cubs fans.

I learned from the fans there that Jason Marquis is one of the most-hated players in baseball. Meanwhile, the Cardinals sent out Todd Wellemeyer to the mound on Sunday. I’m not sure about this, but I have a feeling Cubs fans don’t mind seeing their NL Central rival starting Wellemeyer.

Sunday morning’s Post-Dispatch listed baseball’s power rankings, and if you don’t know how anti-Cub the city of St. Louis is, this should give you a hint. The Cubs were ranked 23rd and the Cardinals were 18th. This was when the Cubs held a two-game lead over the Cardinals, of course.

Anyway, back to the game: The loyalty to David Eckstein was a bit of a shock too. I actually saw him get his 1,000th hit. It was a single, of course. He was competing with Darin Erstad for Grinder of the Year. Eckstein has walked only eight times compared to Erstad’s 13, so Eckstein has a sizable lead.

There was a lot to admire about new Busch Stadium. I loved how the suites were named after current and former Cardinals players. I also thought the concourse was very nice.

But, there was also a lot not to like. For example, you can’t see the field from the concourse. It’s all closed off. So the only way to follow the game is to watch it on the TV’s.

I also hated how when the Cardinals came to bat the scoreboard would list four players “due up.” Do the operators just assume a Cardinal hitter is going to reach base? That was weird.

The highlight of the game was seeing Albert Pujols hit two home runs. Oh, and our 10-minute chat with a beer vendor was entertaining.

Just, out.

So much to talk about in baseball after this past weekend. Let’s get right into it.

Crede’s back

White Sox third baseman Joe Crede went under the knife on Tuesday to fix his oft-injured back, and he may miss the entire season.

I’ve heard reports that White Sox management asked Crede to do this before the season, and he declined — most likely so his free agent contract would be uneffected.

You know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men.

Roger Clemens debut

The Rocket made his debut on Saturday and looked pretty sharp. He struck out seven hitters in six innings, walking only two and allowing three runs.

He’ll face the Mets on Friday.

Homer Bailey debut

Forget about the aging Clemens, we want to be in the Homer Bailey fan club.

Bailey debuted against the Indians last Friday and squeaked out a win. He finished the fifth with a strikeout while the bases were loaded. He walked four and struck out only three.

As far as debuts go, this isn’t too bad, and the win can only help his confidence.

He’ll face the Angels on Thursday.

White Sox — unlikable on AND off the field

I was listening to 670 The Score today and heard rumors that two White Sox players were involved in some boorish behavior at a restaurant in Philadelphia.

Apparently Jim Thome was able to help smooth the situation after the manager asked the unidentified players were asked to behave themselves.

It’s one thing for us to hate having to watch these guys, but once they become unlikable off the field, that pretty much seals the deal.

Streaking Cubs

I heard on ESPN radio’s morning show Mike and Mike that Carlos Zambrano is 5-1 with an ERA in the 2’s when not being caught by Michael Barrett this year. He’s 2-4 with an ERA in the 5’s when he is being caught by Barrett.

Not sure if that means anything, but it sure is interesting.

Zambrano tossed a gem on Monday, going eight innings and allowing no runs. He also struck out eight hitters.

Right now, he might be the key to the Cubs turnaround. They’re also getting terrific production from rookie Felix Pie.

Look out Brewers.

Just, out.