Glass proud, thrilled during Royals' first-place run

DETROIT -- Royals owner David Glass was an eyewitness as the Royals' winning streak got into double figures at Comerica Park, and no one could be happier.

"They have really been fun to watch, and they're playing their best ball of the year. They're playing with confidence, and it's just very exciting," Glass said.

Glass was in Detroit as Kansas City took the first three games from the Tigers but returned home before the series finale on Thursday. Everything was going the Royals' way during Glass' visit.

"Sometimes, though, you make your own breaks," he said Thursday morning by phone. "Our players have played really well defensively. Just like the catch that [Alex] Gordon made yesterday that took an RBI from the Tigers -- you make the plays, and you make a lot of your own luck. I've watched most of the games this year, and sometimes it goes our way and sometimes it goes their way, but when you get on a roll, you have the tendency to generate your own luck."

Glass lauded general manager Dayton Moore and manager Ned Yost for their perseverance during the uncertainty of the season's first two months.

"Dayton and Ned deserve a lot of credit because they never wavered," Glass said. "They know more about the ability of this team and what they can do than the rest of us -- and they never wavered. They've hung in there and said that they're going to get it together.

"Our pitching has been good all year, our defense has been good all year, it's our offense that has lagged. And that's starting to come together now, and we beat two of the best pitchers in baseball [Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer] the first two games. And this [Drew] Smyly kid pitched a great game yesterday. The Tigers have an outstanding team -- I don't care if people are beating up on them a little bit now or not -- they have a really good team, so winning there the first three games is really special."

Glass will be on hand on Friday night, when the Royals tangle with the Mariners' Hisashi Iwakuma, who's been tough on them. And he's looking ahead, too, to the Dodgers series next week in Kansas City.

"All they've got is [Clayton] Kershaw, who pitched a no-hitter last night, and [Zack] Greinke, who's a Cy Young winner, and they've got [Josh] Beckett and really good players," Glass said.

"It doesn't get any easier. ... We didn't play well in May, and when we looked at June we thought it would be tough because we're playing a lot of really good teams. But the guys have risen to the occasion and have played really well against really talented teams. So I'm really proud of them, they're fun to watch."

If the Royals continue to do well, Glass said he's keeping "an open mind" about additional spending if help is needed down the stretch.

"It all depends on where you are and what's available to you," Glass said. "Doing deals just to be doing a deal doesn't make much sense, but it depends on what your needs are and what's available and where you are at the time. Who knows what it'll be like at the Trade Deadline?"

Glass paused and chuckled.

"But, I tell you what. It's fun right now, and we just need to keep this thing going," he said.