the All-Star break, the Royals boasted a record of 43–53, an improvement compared to their 38–50 record from 2007 and 31–56 record in 2006. On July 21, the Royals suffered their worst defeat of the season, and the Tigers registered their first victory over Kansas City in 2008 with a score of 19-4. By the seventh inning, it was 9-0 in favor of Detroit. The Tigers' 10-run eighth inning mostly came against Jimmy Gobble, who was charged with all 10 runs. At one point in the inning, Gobble allowed six straight hits, the last being a home run by Gary Sheffield. His ERA spiraled from 7.99 to 11.31. Gobble faced 12 hitters in the inning before Hillman finally called for Leo Núñez to substitute. The Royals, behind 19-0, finally broke through with four runs in their half of the eighth. They had five straight hits, including Billy Butler's two-run single. Manager Trey Hillman said following the game: Hillman decided to enlist shortstop Tony Peña Jr. to pitch the ninth inning for the Royals. Peña, who lost his starting shortstop job to Mike Avilés, pitched a one-two-three inning and registered 90 mph-plus on the radar gun. This was his first competitive pitching since high school in the Dominican Republic. Peña was the first position player pressed into pitching service by the Royals since July 17, 1998, when infielder Shane Halter took a turn in an 18-5 loss at Seattle. On July 29, ESPN Deportes reported that José Guillén expressed his wish to be traded due to a bad relationship with manager Trey Hillman. When Guillén signed with Kansas City he knew the team wouldn't be a contender in 2008, but he was promised that moves would be made to build a winning team in 2009. Kansas City had not shown any interest in trading Guillén. The source said Guillén was ready to defer his salary for 2009 and 2010 if it were to help increase his value on the trading block. A "visibly upset" Guillén met with Hillman and denied the report. The trade deadline passed on July 31 and the Royals made no trades. August The Royals recorded a season-high 19 runs against the Chicago White Sox on August 2 in a 9-7 win. The following day, Kansas City closed out the series against Chicago by winning 14-3. In two days, the Royals recorded 38 total hits for the first