The KC Royals started the week by winning two of three out in LA, but then were swept in Oakland over the weekend. So, they went 2-4 as they are in Houston for three games starting tonight. They are four games out of first place in the American League Central, behind the hot Cleveland Indians (and Detroit).

Omaha split their most recent series at home versus Las Vegas and went 2-4 over the week. The Storm Chasers are still in second place in the Pacific Coast League’s American Northern Division at 21-20. They begin a four-game home series tonight against Tuscon.

NW Arkansas won just one game last week (1-6), which dropped them further back in the Texas League’s North Division (ten games back). The Naturals are the worst team in the league and finished their home series with Tulsa this afternoon with a loss. With an off day tomorrow, they head to Corpus Christi and San Antonio for three games each.

Wilmington went 3-4 last week. The Blue Rocks are 20-23 overall, four games back in the Northern Division of the Carolina League. They have today off before welcoming first place Lynchburg to town for three games beginning on Tuesday night.

Lexington went 5-2, the only Royals affiliate to have a winning record last week. However, the Legends are still in sixth place in the Southern Division of the South Atlantic League (just 3.5 games back). They return home for three games beginning tonight against Asheville.

Now to the awards…

Hitter of the Week

Majors: It is a tie between Billy Butler and Alex Gordon. Both went exactly 12-for-25 (.480) in six games. They both also hit three doubles. Butler drove in ten runs. Gordon scored five runs.

Minors: Alex Hudak, Wilmington. He went 7-for-20 (.350) with three doubles, a homerun, and four RBIs. One of the newest Blue Rocks had his five-game hitting streak come to an end on Sunday.

Honorable Mention: Irving Falu, Omaha. He went 7-for-21 (.333) with a double, two triples, and three runs scored.

» Continue reading “Royals Weekly Awards”

In a typical pitcher’s duel when James Shields is on the mound, the KC Royals once again gave him little run support and lost to Oakland, 2-1.

The Royals led 1-0 until the A’s scored single runs in the seventh and eighth innings. Josh Donaldson hit a solo homerun to lead off the seventh to tie the game and Adam Rosales hit a go ahead solo homerun to lead off the bottom of the 8th inning off Shields. That homerun by Donaldson must have made Shields mad because he struck out the side on 13 pitches.

He threw 122 pitches, 76 for strikes. Remember when fans were mad that Ned Yost didn’t leave him in that 1-0 game that the bullpen lost when he was at 102 pitches? Now they’re begging for Yost to pull him before he allows late runs.

But you cannot fault Shields. He was great tonight.

David Lough

He allowed two runs on six hits and one walk over eight innings (a complete game). He struck out nine. The A’s only had multiple base runners in the 2nd inning.

Outfielder David Lough made an impact in his first game of the 2013 season. He batted leadoff in the ever-changing Royals lineup. In the 3rd inning, he gave the Royals a 1-0 lead with a two out RBI double. In the bottom of the fourth, he threw Brandon Moss out at second base when he tried to stretch a single into a double. In the 7th inning, he singled with one out after a seven pitch at-bat. Unfortunately, Alcides Escobar grounded into an inning ending double play one pitch later.

The rest of the Royals lineup only collected three hits.

The two teams continue their series tomorrow, as Ervin Santana gets the start against lefty Tommy Milone for the A’s.

In another well pitched game, the KC Royals lost to the NY Yankees, 3-2.

James Shields took the loss, as he allowed a two-run home run to Vernon Wells in the 5th inning to give the Yankees the lead for good.

The Royals had just given Shields the lead when Billy Butler homered off Yankees starter Andy Pettitte in the bottom of the fourth. He only allowed one base runner after that and it was erased on a double play ground out.

Shields threw a lot of pitches (116), but not a ton of strikes (68). He walked two and struck out five.

In the third, Mike Moustakas’ sixth error of the season allowed the Yankees first run of the game to score.

Meanwhile, the Royals offense was shut down by the Yankee veteran, and then the bullpen duo of David Robertson and Mariano Rivera (who recorded his 14th save). The Royals only collected six hits, two coming from Salvador Perez. Their first run of the game scored on Lorenzo Cain’s ground out in the third (the same inning the Yankees scored).

The two teams finish the series on Sunday, with Ervin Santana getting the start for the Royals against Hiroki Kuroda.

The KC Royals lost their series finale to the Chicago White Sox, 2-1 in 11 innings in Monday’s makeup game.

The Royals offense had White Sox starter Chris Sale on the ropes early, as he needed 57 pitches to get through two innings. Then they got all antsy and started swinging early and often. Next thing you know, Sale makes it into the 8th inning on 119 pitches.

Meanwhile, James Shields did not allow a hit until Dewayne Wise led off the 6th inning with a single. He threw 102 pitches through eight innings, struck out nine, and Ned Yost decided to pull him for closer Greg Holland. Big mistake.

Wasn’t Shields‘ nickname with TB, “Complete Game James” (to go along with “Big Game James”)? So why take him out when you acquired him in a trade to FINISH games?

Well, everyone is debating this question as I type this because Holland allowed three straight singles to load the bases with no outs in the top of the ninth. He looked like a magician when he got Paul Konerko to hit into a 1-2-3 double play. It looked like Holland might escape and get another save, but for some reason, the Royals chose to walk youngster Conner Gillaspie to load the bases to face Alexei Ramirez. Ramirez singled up the middle to tie the game. Fellow youngster Jordan Danks thought he might score too on the hit, but Chris Getz had knocked down the ball and Danks was out.

Danks would redeem himself in the 11th inning.

For some reason, Yost decided to send Kelvin Herrera out for another inning. He was saved with one out in the 11th when Salvador Perez threw Alex Rios out trying to steal second base (after he singled). Danks then hit a solo homerun to give the White Sox the lead. That is the fifth homerun Herrera has allowed six this season in just 14.1 innings. YIKES!

The Royals then went down quietly against White Sox closer Addison Reed in the bottom of the 11th. It was hardly just that inning. The last time they did not go down 1-2-3 was the 7th inning when Perez doubled with two outs.

The Royals now head to Baltimore for three games beginning tomorrow night. I’ll be at Camden Yards on Tuesday night for the series opener and hopefully the rain holds off. Unfortunately, it’ll be another cold one.

*For more on the White Sox, check out South Side Hit Girl.

The KC Royals began their series with the visiting TB Rays with an 8-2 win.

James Shields got the best of his former teammates. He made one mistake on Tuesday night when he allowed a two-run homerun to Matt Joyce in the top of the first inning. Three of the Rays hits came in that opening inning. Shields only allowed five hits over seven innings (and did not allow a base runner after the 4th inning). He retired the final 13 Rays batters he faced.

Meanwhile, the Royals offense finally bust out, though it took five innings to get warmed up.

Finally, in the sixth, the offense went to work on Rays starter Alex Cobb with two outs and no one on base. Eric Hosmer hit his fourth double of the season to get the rally started. Lorenzo Cain followed with an RBI single before Mike Moustakas hit his first homerun of the season to give the Royals the lead. After Jeff Francoeur doubled, the Rays made a coaching visit. That did not help, as Salvador Perez singled Frenchy home. Elliot Johnson singled to chase Cobb from the game.

The Royals were not done, as they ripped Rays reliever Brandon Gomes in the seventh. Moose drove in another run with a sac fly with the bases loaded. On Cain‘s stolen base, Rays catcher Jose Molina made a bad throw, allowing Hosmer to score (it was the Royals second stolen base of the inning). Frenchy then tripled Cain in to finish that inning’s scoring.

Five of their seven RBIs came with two outs.

Hopefully, they didn’t score all their runs for the entire series. Luis Mendoza is scheduled to start on Wednesday (just his third of the season). The weather forecast is not real good over the next two days in Kansas City.

Alex Gordon‘s first career grand slam to dead center field in the rain gave the KC Royals the 8-3 win over Detroit in ten innings. The Royals scored five runs in the 10th inning after only scoring three single runs to that point.

It was a battle of the two team’s aces, with James Shields matching up against Justin Verlander. Neither was on top of their game. Verlander left after seven innings due to cracked skin on his thumb (that got alot of talk going on Twitter). Prior to exiting, he scattered eight hits while allowing two runs (one earned). Shields was wild, as he walked three and threw three wild pitches.

In the 4th inning after the Royals had taken a 2-1 lead (on a Salvador Perez sac fly), Shields walked Prince Fielder to lead off the inning and then threw two wild pitches to put him on third base. With one out, Jhonny Peralta tied the game with a sac fly.

In the fifth, Omar Infante singled with one out and was wild pitched to second base. After a walk to Austin Jackson, Torii Hunter singled to give the Tigers the 3-2 lead. Shields was helped out by two double plays.

But what the game really came down to was the bullpens and the Royals shined on Thursday afternoon.

Bruce Rondon, who was supposed to start the season as the Tigers closer but did not, made his Major League debut in the 8th inning. Billy Butler singled to lead off the inning (he went 3-for-3), but was pinch-run for by Jarrod Dyson. He stole second base and moved to third base on Eric Hosmer‘s ground out. Lorenzo Cain delivered the tying run with a sac fly.

Rondon went back out to start the ninth and allowed a lead off single to Perez. He was replaced by Phil Coke and Perez was replaced by Elliot Johnson. After a Chris Getz sac bunt, Coke worked out of trouble.

Lefty Tim Collins replaced Shields, who had settled down late in the game (he retired the Tigers in order over his final three innings). Collins had every count go full, but had a 1-2-3 inning. That sent the game into extra innings.

» Continue reading “Gordon’s First Slam Gives Royals the Win”

There were all kinds of emotions flowing at Fenway Park this afternoon. It ended with Boston beating the KC Royals in somewhat dramatic fashion, by a 4-3 score.

The B Strong patch that both teams wore.

With a pregame ceremony to honor the Boston Marathon runners, volunteers, victims, and law enforcement officials, there was not a dry eye in the ballpark or sitting at home on the couch. Red Sox slugger David Ortiz concluded the ceremonies with a “This is our F***ing City” as he addressed the crowd in his first game of the season. The Red Sox wore special home uniforms with “BOSTON” across (instead of Red Sox) that are being auctioned off. Both teams wore “B Strong” patches.

All in attendance joined in as the Fenway Park organist played the national anthem, much like they did at the Boston Bruins game earlier in the week.

Then the game got underway.

Clay Buchholz and James Shields were matched up in a classic pitcher’s duel. The Red Sox did not collect a hit off Shields until Big Papi fittingly singled in the 4th inning. Shields only lasted six innings mainly because he threw a ton of pitches early on (he walked three). He allowed a run in his final inning of work.

The Royals got on the board first when Jeff Francoeur delivered an RBI single in the top of the fifth. With the game tied at 1-1, the Royals came right back to re-take the lead in the 7th inning on a Salvador Perez two out RBI triple (yup, triple).

After Shields left, the Royals bullpen was shaky but did not break in the seventh. Aaron Crow entered and hit Daniel Nava to lead off the inning. Will Middlebrooks singled, moving Nava to second base. Crow was then saved when Perez picked Nava off second base. Stephen Drew reached on a Mike Moustakas error (which would have loaded the bases with nobody out). That brought in lefty Tim Collins, who escaped the jam.

» Continue reading “Royals Lose at Fenway on Emotional Day”

In a matchup of a CY Young winner and a CY Young hopeful, the former winner got the better of the hopeful. RA Dickey, last season’s National League winner and new ace for the Toronto Blue Jays, beat KC Royals ace James Shields, 3-2. It was Dickey‘s first win as a Blue Jay.

Shields took the loss in a complete game effort. He allowed just two hits and walked three while striking out six. The big hit came with two outs and one on base in the 6th inning. It was a two-run blast from the slumping (.194 average) but powerful Jose Bautista. That gave the Blue Jays a 3-0 lead. Shields had six innings where he retired the side in order.

If only he could get some run support.

To say the Royals had their chances was an understatement. They collected eight hits, three of which were doubles. Billy Butler walked three times. They had runners on base in every inning but the fourth, but could not come up with a big hit.

In the very first inning with Butler on first base and two outs, Salvador Perez doubled. But Butler could not score from first base. Chris Getz doubled with one out in the fifth and did not advance. In the 6th inning, Perez singled and moved to second base on a passed ball and did not move off the base.

Alex Gordon and Perez each picked up two hits, while Getz went 3-for-4.

These were the games that haunted the Royals over the last two seasons (at least). They need to figure out how to make all of those hits amount to some runs. Or Shields will end up with a ton of losses this season. He’s already lost two of his three starts.

Ervin Santana will pitch the finale on Sunday against Brandon Morrow of the Blue Jays.

*Eric Hosmer has a tight quad and missed his second straight game. It is the same issue he had in spring training, but he is expected to play on Sunday.

With the way the game started for the second time in three days, you would be surprised by the headline. But the KC Royals fought back and beat the host Philadelphia Phillies, 9-8.

It was not easy.

Holding on to a 9-4 lead in the bottom of the 9th inning, manager Ned Yost went with JC Gutierrez out of the bullpen. He allowed a three-run homerun to Jimmy Rollins while recording just one out. That quickly ended Gutierrez‘ day, as the Phillies cut the deficit to 9-7. Yost went to closer Greg Holland, one day after his implosion. But you have to get right back on the horse right?

Yeah, it didn’t go so well. When he fell behind the first batter he faced, Chase Utley, Dave Eiland immediately went to the phone to get Kelvin Herrera up in the ‘pen. Holland got Utley to fly out for the second out. However, he then gave up back-to-back singles, which prompted Yost to pull Holland (I’m sure fans in KC were cheering loudly).

In came Herrera, who struck out pinch-hitter Laynce Nix on Saturday night, but who is also a dead-fastball hitter. Herrera got ahead with changeups, but the one fastball he threw was ripped up the middle for an RBI single to cut the lead to 9-8. A wild pitch put the winning run on second base with two outs and Erik Kratz at the plate. After fouling off a ton of pitches, Herrera dropped in a nasty changeup for strike three to thankfully end the game.

As the players headed out onto the field to shake hands, Billy Butler kept shaking his head like, “I can’t believe we almost blew that”. He single-handedly gave the Royals the lead.

In the third, Butler drove in their second run with a ground out that cut their deficit to 4-2. In the fifth, after Phils starter Cole Hamels walked Alcides Escobar to load the bases. Butler promptly took the second pitch (a hanging fastball) into the flower beds at Citizen Bank Park (though the flowers are not out yet). Three runs scored and Butler stopped at second base. After the umpires reviewed the play, Butler was rewarded with his first career grand slam.

With the bases loaded yet again in the 6th inning after another Escobar walk, Butler singled back up the middle on the second pitch of the at-bat thrown by reliever Chad Durbin. That drove in two more runs, giving him seven RBIs on the day (which is a franchise high).

It was the second time in three days that the Phillies took a 4-0 lead early against the Royals and blew it (it happened on Friday afternoon). James Shields started and struggled throughout, though he escaped damage except for the first. He allowed three straight singles to start the game before getting an out (a strikeout of Ryan Howard). After two more singles to give the Phillies a 3-0 lead, the Royals made a coaching visit. Shields allowed a sac fly to Kratz to finish the Phils first inning scoring.

Now to the home opener on Monday afternoon against the Minnesota Twins. Ervin Santana will get the start.

*The Royals got another great two inning relief effort from lefty Tim Collins. He struck out the side in relief of Shields in the 7th inning. He struck out another in his perfect 8th inning.

**The Phillies announcers seem to think that the Royals will change closers, much like the Chicago Cubs already have. Will we see Herrera anointed as the new closer?

In a battle of two true aces, Chicago‘s Chris Sale out-dueled KC‘s James Shields and the White Sox won, 1-0.

With a scoreless game in the fifth, Tyler Flowers led off the bottom of the inning with a solo homerun. Sale and the White Sox bullpen made it stand up.

Not like the Royals didn’t have their chances.

They had the bases loaded and one out in the third, but Billy Butler struck out and Mike Moustakas popped up to end the inning. In the 8th inning with runners on the corners and two out, Moose struck out against lefty reliever Matt Thornton to end another inning.

Meanwhile, these were the games I was afraid Shields would lose this season. The close games where he pitched well, but his offense was stagnant. He allowed eight hits over six innings and struck out six. He threw 102 pitches, 66 for strikes with temperatures around 40 degrees. But his offense couldn’t come through in the clutch (just 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position).

Alcides Escobar and Jeff Francoeur went 2-for-4 and Esky stole a base. However, Frenchy also hit into a double play.

The Royals will enjoy a chilly day off on Wednesday before taking on the White Sox on Wednesday afternoon. Ervin Santana will make his first start in a Royals uniform against the White Sox Jake Peavy.