Not according to plan

(Photo from Yahoo! Sports)

Riddle me this one, kids. Does Brad Penny pitch every day or does it just feel like that because seemingly whenever I have time to actually sit in front of the TV and take in an inning or two, Brad Penny's on the mound. Is that what's happening here or is there some sort of space-time continuum vortex thingie that stops time or telescopes it or something (I don't really understand all the Battlestar Galactica terminology), so that only Brad Penny's starts are visible on my TV?

Because, and I don't mind telling you this, I am getting kind of sick of Brad Penny. Especially since we're allegedly trading him? Or not. Or maybe if someone wants him enough? No one tells me anything.

However, despite my mild fatigue with Brad Penny, last night's loss to the Royals wasn't even his fault. The bullpen, in troubling fashion, went all borky and started serving up runs to the Royals. This displeases me. Not least of which because they're, you know, the Royals and while their fans are lovely people and I've heard delectable things about Kansas City barbecue and I really like that they get all attitudinal about calling a "New York strip steak" a "Kansas City strip steak" because, like, why should New York have everything named after it? Just because it thinks it's so great?, I still am not fond of losing to what has been (save for the existence of the Pirates), kind of the punching bag of the AL. I mean, it wasn't even Zack Greinke pitching, which loss I would have been able to stomach better. But I suppose, sometimes, the nerd fights back.

Of course, what I'm really not pleased about is the way in which this loss has dropped the Red Sox into a tie with the Yankees atop the AL East. Because I know we have read this book before and there are a few ways it could end but each of them involves me developing an ulcer, swearing at the television more than is healthy and drawing a line of demarcation down the middle of the couch as HJ and I take in the games from opposite sides of the living room. Not like we didn't know this was coming, but personally, I was hoping the Yankees would continue to have chemistry problems for a bit longer and A-Rod would do something stupid again. Though I suppose there's always time.