It is the 5th inning of this afternoon's Royals-Rays game. There is no score; I was inspired to tune in because James Shields has a no-hitter through five innings, though Brian Bannister has been almost as good.

Shields walked the leadoff batter in the 6th. Up came Yuniesky Betancourt... Yuni has been the subject of some scrutiny on the interweb, because (1) he was acquired in a trade by the Royals, in a move that appears to be the opposite of what the Royals should be doing*, and (2) he has stunk like a skunk.

Joe Posnanski has been doing a "Yuni Watch" on his blog; I guess this will be my one and only addition. Yuni tried to lay down a bunt; he fouled the first pitch, and completely missed the second. With two strikes, he bunted again - and fouled out. The next batter grounded into a double play, and the no-no is alive through six.

* the same was true, of course, of the Mike Jacobs / Coco Crisp / Willie Bloomquist / Kyle Farnsworth / Sidney Ponson moves. The Royals are dead last in runs scored - no great surprise there. They are also 12th in runs allowed - despite the continued excellence of Zack Greinke. There are hopeful signs of course, as always - Luke Hochevar has looked very good lately. GM Dayton Moore wants fans to "trust the process" - though you have to wonder about a process that needs both Willie Bloomquist and Ryan Freel on the roster at the same time. The Royals are a muddled blah - one hopes that Moore's process has "less muddled blah" somewhere on the flow chart.

In the bottom of the 6th, B.J. Upton smashes a liner right at Betancourt, who snags the ball while falling down. He gets up and throws to first, but the speedy Upton is safe. The Rays' announcers praise Yuni for snaring the hard liner - which I guess is fair, though it should be noted that at the major league level, throwing the runner out is easier if you don't fall on your butt.

On the out-of-town-scoreboard, the Red Sox take a 7-0 lead over Baltimore - the Orioles storm back and score six runs, but now Boston leads 14-6. In Chicago, neither C.C. Sabathia nor Mark Buerhle can get anybody out - now 6-4 Yankees . I think I'll stick with this game.

Upton then steals second, and Jason Bartlett singles up the middle, but Upton is thrown out at home plate by Mitch Freakin' Maier. Dude! Shields cruises through the top of the 7th - the no-no is still alive. But Bannister cruises through the bottom of the inning.

Elsewhere, the Angels lead the Twins 8-2 - which I only mention because the Angels lead the AL in runs scored, something that is almost impossible to believe, given Vlad Guerrero's lost season, and the recent Torii Hunter injury. Also, Kendry Morales has hit his 22nd homer - he has been almost as productive as Mark Teixeira.

The Angels also now have the best won-loss record in the league - this despite losing Guerrero, and a pitching staff that has been beset by injuries, ineffectiveness and death. Jason Bulger (?) has taken over as the bullpen workhorse, 21-year-old Sean O'Sullivan and 30-year-old Matt Palmer are a combined 12-1.

I've rarely had anything bad to say about Mike Scioscia's managing skills, and I generally appreciate that he is among the better managers in the game... but if the Angels keep this going, then, wow - that's all I have to say at this time. (except to note that Morales just homered again)

Well... the no-hitter is broken by a blooper to right field by John Buck. The next pitch is bunted in front of home plate... and catcher Navarro throws the ball into centre field. Maier drives a hit through the drawn-in infield to drive in the game's first run. How quickly things can change - now, a pinch-hitter for Betancourt.

The Royals then try to steal a run, and are successful when Bartlett throws the ball away. Shields is out of the game - and unless you're a big Brian Bannister fan, this game suddenly got a whole lot less interesting.

But the Jays game starts shortly... actually, I just flipped over to see Aaron Hill hit his 26th homer. Jeebus... there's not much to root for in Toronto right now, but now that the Halladay drama is over, we may as well refocus on something.

I have been meaning to address the trade deadline at some point, but don't really have anything to say that hasn't been said. Doc is still in Toronto and most everyone here is happy; Scott Rolen was traded, which was disappointing - but although I'm on record as a big Scott Rolen fan, I also understand that the dude marches to the beat of a different drummer and that's the way it is.

The more interesting aspect of the Rolen deal is the bullpen shenanigans that ensued. Jeremy Accardo was once the Jays' closer, saved 30 games in 2007. But last year he had forearm problems, and this has been as popular as syphillis. He was finally called up a few weeks ago, and has been OK - but was sent down when the Jays acquired two kids in the Rolen deal.

Apparently he isn't too happy with his role with the team - but Scott Downs hurt his toe again last night. Downs is back on the DL, Accardo has been recalled. Many players have refused demotion because they don't want to return to the minors - but I wonder if anyone has ever refused promotion, on the grounds that they don't get no respect.