A Royal Rout. Kansas City, with last Thursday's 26-5 stomping of Detroit fresh in their minds, sent 15 men to the plate in the 5th inning against the Yankees last night, scoring 10 times en route to a 17-8 rout. It was the biggest inning against New York since Boston scored 11 times in a 13-7 win on May 31, 1998. ... The Royals' rout cut the Yankees' AL East lead down to 3 games.

Dial-up problems have forced me to post from the library in Stoneridge, New York. And thanks to its cable connection, I can check the daily stories. ... Art Martone says the Red Sox have had a much tougher schedule than the Yankees this season. ... The Red Sox will wage an all-out battle for the East division crown. Boston is 8-5 against New York so far this season, holding them to a .240 batting average (only the Devil Rays have a lower average against the Sox (.224)). ... With two days off to rest his shoulder, David Ortiz should be ready to go tonight, but it is not certain.

Garry Sheffield will get two cortisone shots in his left shoulder tomorrow night. Although Sheffield missed three games (June 22-24) the last time he had a shot, New York has a day off on Thursday, and he believes he'll be ready for the Red Sox series on Friday. Sheffield said he did not know why the Yankees were not flying their team physician to Kansas City to inject Sheffield earlier.

Pitchers for the Tampa Bay series:

Tuesday: Pedro Martinez (16-5, 3.44) vs. Scott Kazmir (1-1, 5.63), 7:05 pm
Wednesday: Tim Wakefield (11-9, 4.64) vs. Dewon Brazelton (6-7, 4.33), 7:05 pm
Thursday: Curt Schilling (19-6, 3.35) vs. Mark Hendrickson (8-14, 4.93), 7:05 pm

And then the Yankees ....