I was a happy girl this afternoon, as MLB Network picked up the KC Royals-Atlanta Braves game on Wednesday afternoon. It’s not too often that the baseball network airs Royals games, so today was a great day. It was made even greater with a Royals win.

The win was great for many reasons:

1. Wade Davis looked very good. He mixed in his off speed pitches very well, especially in the later innings. He only allowed five hits while striking out seven. Davis did not issue a walk and threw 62 of his 92 pitches for strikes.

Davis took a line drive off his butt that resulted in an out. He was helped out in his final inning by Chris Getz. With Juan Francisco on first base and two outs, Chris Johnson blooped a ball down the right field line. Getz dove to try and make the catch, but it rolled behind the tarp. Getz quickly got to his feet and threw a one hopper home to get Francisco at the plate by about two steps. That play kept the shutout and lead in place.

2. Kelvin Herrera recovered from last night’s home run barrage to pitch a scoreless 8th inning. He faced Jason Heyward again and got him to ground into a force out to end the inning.

3. Greg Holland is BACK. His fastball had movement, as did his off speed pitches. He struck out the Braves middle of the order (Justin Upton, Evan Gattis, and Dan Uggla) on 14 pitches.

4. The Royals ended the Braves winning streak at ten games and gave them just their second loss of the season.

5. Jeff Francoeur was the offensive hero in his return to Atlanta. He even received a good amount of cheers from the sparse Braves crowd. I’m sure they wish they had changed their tune when he delivered the game’s only RBI single in the 4th inning. That came with two outs.

Alcides Escobar scored the game’s only run, as he went 2-for-4 and Lorenzo Cain went 3-for-4.

The Royals have another day off on Thursday before playing in Boston for three games over the weekend. It will be the Red Sox first time back at Fenway since the Boston Marathon bombing.

As Greg Holland entered from the bullpen for the bottom of the 9th inning, I was so excited. Over half of the under 40,000 fans at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia had already left with the hometown Phillies losing 3-1. I was looking forward to another KC Royals victory. I left disappointed, as the Phillies rallied and won 4-3.

Holland could not pitch as well as the three pitchers who came before him did on this chilly evening. He couldn’t throw strikes, which resulted in three straight walks to lead off the ninth. After two strikeouts where the batters got themselves out, he faced pinch-hitter Kevin Frandsen. Frandsen watched what Holland did to the previous two hitters: grooved a fastball on the first pitch. So Frandsen jumped all over that first pitch fastball and ripped it into the right-center field gap to clear the bases and set off a frenzy both on the field and in the stands. It was his first at-bat of the season.

The ninth inning negated the solid start from Luis Mendoza and the relief outings from Aaron Crow and Kelvin Herrera.

Mendoza only allowed two hits (and one run) over six innings. He walked two and struck out seven. Three of those strikeouts came over his final two innings. The negative was how bad he looked at the plate. It was awful to watch.

Crow followed with one strikeout in his perfect inning of relief. Herrera struck out two in his perfect inning.

It was a pitcher’s duel, as Mendoza and John Lannan matched zero for zero. In his first start in a Phillies uniform, Lannan had a perfect game before Chase Utley‘s error in the fourth. Lannan lost the no-hitter and the lead in the 5th inning, when Jeff Francoeur doubled with a man on base. Miguel Tejada followed with an RBI ground out and Elliott Johnson drove in another with an RBI single.

The Royals added what they thought was insurance in the seventh when Francoeur and Tejada hit back-to-back doubles to lead off the inning.

The two teams finish the series on Sunday afternoon as aces James Shields and Cole Hamels face off. Both are looking for their first wins on what is expected to be a beautiful day.

Last season, left fielder Alex Gordon had a breakout season for the KC Royals, both offensively and defensively. He won the Gold Glove for left field in the American League, as he had 20 outfield assists.

In 2012, he turned his offensive season around after hitting less than .200 over the first month of the season. He once again was great on defense (17 assists to just two errors) and is one of three finalists for the Gold Glove Award in the AL for left field.

Gordon‘s competition is Tampa Bay’s Desmond Jennings (who did not commit an error but had just four assists in only 129 games) and Texas’ David Murphy (who played in 133 games and made one error with four assists). Gordon played in 160 games for the Royals and was second in baseball in outfield assists to teammate Jeff Francoeur.

Francoeur is one of three finalists for the Gold Glove in right field in the AL. He played in 147 games for the Royals and committed four errors. He tallied 19 assists. His competition for the award: Cleveland’s Shin-Soo Choo (who had just seven assists in 154 games with two errors) and Oakland’s Josh Reddick (who was third in the AL in assists with 15 in 144 games but he committed six errors).

Despite his awful offensive season, first baseman Eric Hosmer is one of three finalists for the Gold Glove Award in the AL. He committed nine errors in 1295 total chances. He also turned 132 double plays, which was second in baseball to his competition, Adrian Gonzalez.

Not sure how Gonzalez is in the running considering he was traded to the National League during the summer and his stats are combined between the two leagues (he committed three errors in 1404 total chances while turning 134 double plays). Hosmer‘s other competition is NY Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira. He has the top fielding percentage in all of baseball (just one error), but he only turned 91 double plays and only had 1055 total chances. His range factor (8.86) is better than Hosmer‘s (8.69).

» Continue reading “Will a Royal Win a Gold Glove?”

LA Angels slugger Mark Trumbo hit a three-run homerun in the 2nd inning off KC Royals starter Will Smith to give them a 4-0 lead. The Royals went on to lose 4-3.

Smith allowed six hits over the first two innings. He allowed just one more over the next three.

The Royals chipped away, with single runs in the second, third, and fourth innings. In the third, Tony Abreu hit his first homerun as a Royal. In the other two innings, Jeff Francoeur drove in the runs (with a ground out and a single).

After that though, the Royals didn’t really do much on offense. Mike Moustakas singled in the bottom of the 9th inning with one out and Jarrod Dyson pinch-ran for him. He was caught trying to steal second base and Frenchy flied out to end the game.

Check out what manager Ned Yost had to say about the injury-riddled seasons of Dyson, Chris Getz, and Lorenzo Cain. Is he hinting about them not really being in the Royals’ plans for the future?

Yost used the same relievers: Louis Coleman, Aaron Crow, Kelvin Herrera, and Greg Holland. Those four combined to give up three hits over four scoreless innings. They also struck out six.

Jake Odorizzi with the Blue Rocks

*With Triple-A Omaha being eliminated Saturday night, the Royals called up a few reinforcements (and no Wil Myers was not one of them). Unfortunately, none of them got into the game. Those called up were: pitchers Nate Adcock, Tommy Hottovy, and Jake Odorizzi, catcher Adam Moore, and infielder Irving Falu.

Odorizzi is expected to begin his Major League career in the bullpen, as Yost mentioned they do NOT want him to make a start against a contending club. The Royals do play two series against Cleveland and they are looking to get him a start then. For more on Odorizzi‘s promotion, click HERE.

The KC Royals took another series from first place Chicago with a 2-1 win in ten innings.

The game was scoreless into the top of tenth.

Alcides Escobar singled to lead off the inning. After Alex Gordon struck out, Escobar was caught trying to steal second base. So a possible threat was averted, right?

Wrong.

Billy Butler walked and was pinch run for with Jarrod Dyson. Salvador Perez singled to send Dyson to third base. Mike Moustakas broke the scoreless tie with an RBI single. Jeff Francoeur then singled in another run to give the Royals a 2-0 lead.

It could have been more, but Eric Hosmer struck out to end the inning. The way the bottom of the inning was going, it looked like that K would come back and haunt them.

Greg Holland entered yet again and immediately walked the first batter he faced. After recording an out, he walked the next hitter.

A coaching visit didn’t help, as Holland allowed an RBI double to Gordon Beckham to cut the Royals lead to 2-1. The winning run was standing on second base.

That’s when Holland bared down. He struck out the next two hitters on just seven pitches to secure the victory.

Jeremy Guthrie continued his dominance since returning to the American League. He pitched eight shutout innings. He scattered six hits while striking out four. 69 of Guthrie’s 97 pitches were thrown for strikes.

Guthrie was helped out by some great outfield defense. Gordon threw a runner out at the plate. Frenchy threw two runners out, one at second base and one at third.

The Royals offense collected nine hits, with Escobar, Perez, and Frenchy having two each. As a team, they stole five bases.

*Despite the fact that the White Sox continue to stay in first place, their attendance hasn’t been great. Less than 20,000 were at US Cellular Field on Sunday afternoon.

Baseball America‘s Best Tools issue has come out and there is a bit of a KC Royals feel to it. None of the Royals players were on top of any of the American League categories, but there were a few who cracked the top three.

Outfielder Jarrod Dyson was ranked the AL’s third fastest baserunner. He finished behind LA Angels outfielders Mike Trout and Peter Bourjos.

Mike Moustakas working on some second base.

The Royals corner infielders were also ranked third in terms of defense in the AL. Mike Moustakas was ranked third among AL third baseman (behind Texas’ Adrian Beltre and Tampa Bay’s Evan Longoria). Eric Hosmer, despite all the struggles on offense, was named the third best defensive first baseman in the AL. He ranked behind NY’s Mark Teixeira and Boston’s Adrian Gonzalez.

Another of the Royals infielders was honored, shortstop Alcides Escobar. He is considered to have the third best infield arm in the AL, behind Beltre and Oakland’s Cliff Pennington.

After almost winning a Gold Glove in 2011, outfielder Jeff Francoeur is considered to have the third best outfield arm in the AL. He ranks behind Toronto’s Jose Bautista and Cleveland’s Shin-Soo Choo.

The Royals weren’t so lucky in the minor leagues (their four full season affiliates). Uber prospect Wil Myers is considered to be the best power prospect in the Pacific Coast League (with Triple-A Omaha). That was a no-brainer, as he has a total of 34 homeruns, 21 in Triple-A.

Pitcher Jake Odorizzi was considered as one of the best pitching prospects in the PCL, but Reno’s Trevor Bauer (Arizona) won that honor. Another starter, Yordano Ventura, was also considered for the best pitching prospect in the Carolina League, but ultimately, Dylan Bundy won that honor (Baltimore).

*There were no best tools given out to Royals affiliates in the Texas League (NW Arkansas), Carolina League (Wilmington), or Midwest League (Kane County).

The game took less than three hours to complete, but it took the KC Royals until after one in the morning to defeat Baltimore, 7-3.

The game was delayed for over three hours at Camden Yards due to an on and off rain that started around 6:30pm. When it was announced that the game would begin at 9:30pm and the grounds crew already had the tarp off, it began pouring again and they had to scramble to get the tarp back on again.

When the game finally got started at 10:15pm, the Royals made sure to start it with a bang. For the second time in two days, Alex Gordon led off with a homerun.

Royals starter Luis Mendoza got into a bit of a jam in the bottom of the first inning with two outs (he allowed back-to-back singles). But he got Matt Wieters to fly out to end the inning. Mendoza really didn’t get into trouble again until later.

The Royals offense went right back to work against Orioles starter Chris Tillman. Lorenzo Cain started the 2nd inning with a single and Salvador Perez followed with a homerun (his second in two games).

With two outs in the 3rd inning, Billy Butler homered (his second of the series).

Tillman seemed to settle down after that until there were two outs in the 6th inning. He hit Cain and warnings were issued (it was the third hit batter of the game). He then walked Jeff Francoeur (I know, I was just as shocked). That ended Tillman’s night.

In came Miguel Socolovich, who allowed an RBI single to Eric Hosmer. With Francoeur on third base, Hosmer stole second base. Wieters’ errant throw hit Hosmer and went into centerfield, allowing Francoeur to score.

Gordon struck again in the 7th inning with a leadoff homerun to increase the Royals lead to 7-0.

Then Mendoza started to run out of gas. He walked Wilson Betemit to start the inning and three hits later, the O’s had cut the deficit to 7-3. Kelvin Herrera entered and escaped.

Herrera allowed just one hit in two innings of work. Lefty Tim Collins pitched a perfect ninth with two strikeouts, including Nick Markakis looking to end the game.

After sitting through the rain delay, I was hoping for a tarp slide, or at least a good game. Well, I got the good game.

The Royals look to take the series in less than 12 hours, as Bruce Chen faces Tommy Hunter. Maybe they can get out of last place (the Royals and Minnesota are now tied)?

*The Orioles honored Hall of Famer Eddie Murray with the unveiling of his statue beyond the CF wall during BP. The onfield ceremony was delayed until the rains had finally stopped. Cal Ripken, Jim Palmer, Ozzie Smith, Earl Weaver, and Brooks Robinson were in attendance. 

The O’s did have a large attendance, but by the time the game started, about half had left. After rookie Manny Machado’s first plate appearance (an inning ending double play), many began leaving.

Nine days of rest and on the tenth day, the Chicago White Sox received dominance from their young starter Chris Sale. Sale improved to 13-3 after the extended rest as the White Sox beat the visiting KC Royals, 4-2.

The only bumps in the game for Sale were the two solo homeruns he allowed: one to Jeff Francoeur in the 5th inning and one to Billy Butler in the 7th inning that gave the Royals a 2-1 lead.

Luis Mendoza

Meanwhile, Royals starter Luis Mendoza matched Sale inning for inning. He gave up an AJ Pierzynski RBI double in the 2nd inning and a Paul Konerko solo homerun to lead off the bottom of the 7th inning that tied the game at 2-2.

Then the 8th inning happened. 

The Royals had runners at the corners with nobody out and Alex Gordon lined out. Alcides Escobar then tried the squeeze play, but Sale pounced on it and tagged Tony Abreu out before he even got near the plate to slide. Lorenzo Cain struck out and the threat was over.

Mendoza went back out for the bottom of the 8th inning, but with one out, Gordon Beckham hit a homerun to give the White Sox the lead. Manager Ned Yost stuck with Mendoza and he gave up another run after a walk and an RBI double by Kevin Youkilis. Lefty Tim Collins finally came in and got out of the jam.

The Royals had their chance in the 9th inning against closer Addison Reed. They had runners at first and second base with Eric Hosmer at the plate. Instead, he tried to pull a down and outside pitch, only to ground into the game-ending double play.

The Royals out-hit the White Sox, but went just 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

*Bye, bye Mijares. The Royals said good-bye to lefty reliever Jose Mijares, as he was claimed off waivers by the SF Giants. He will join former outfielder Melky Cabrera in St. Louis. Fellow left reliever Francisley Bueno was recalled to take his place.

**Yost had a closed door team meeting prior to tonight’s opener, but obviously it din’t help. He voiced displeasure on Sunday of the losing culture attitude.

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

The KC Royals salvaged the series at home against Texas, 7-6 in ten innings. There were three games that lasted ten innings in Major League Baseball on Sunday (as of me writing this).

It was a sloppy game, as the two teams combined for five errors. In the bottom of the 10th inning, Billy Butler led off with a walk against Rangers reliever Michael Kirkman. Eric Hosmer pinch-ran and moved to second base on a fielding error by Rangers shortstop Alberto Gonzalez. A throwing error on Jeff Francoeur’s ground ball by rookie third baseman Mike Olt allowed Hosmer to score the winning run.

Francoeur homered in the crazy 4th inning. The Rangers, who trailed 2-0 heading into the inning, led 5-2 when they were done batting.

Adrian Beltre drove in the first run with a single. With two on and nobody out, Butler (yes he was playing first base) threw the ball away on a ground ball, allowing another run to score. Olt drove in the go ahead run with a sac fly and Elvis Andrus (who would get hurt later) drove in two more with a triple.

All of that Rangers offense came against Royals starter Luke Hochevar. He allowed five runs (one earned) on four hits and a walk over six innings.

Butler made up for his error with a two out RBI single in the 5th inning before Brayan Pena gave the Royals a 6-5 lead with a six inning two-run homerun.

Michael Young tied the game up in the 7th inning with an RBI double, but a strong relay throw home got Andrus at the plate (where he injured his shoulder). That came against reliever Aaron Crow.

Greg Holland picked up the win after pitching two shaky innings of relief (three hits and two walks).

*Following the win, the Royals designated Yuniesky Betancourt for assignment. He wanted more playing time, but manager Ned Yost liked the play of Chris Getz more at second base. Infielder Tony Abreu was called up from Triple-A, where he was hitting .322.

Not a whole lot went right for the KC Royals in their afternoon finale against the LA Angels. They lost 11-6, despite chasing Angels starter Jered Weaver from the game after five innings (101 pitches).

It all started with the first inning, when four of the first five Angels hitters collected hits off Royals starter Luke Hochevar. The first run scored on a wild pitch.

In the second inning, the Royals defense was terrible. Alcides Escobar booted a ground ball at shortstop, but it was ruled a hit (Peter Bourjos was the hitter). Eric Hosmer bobbled a sac bunt. Mike Moustakas threw wildly to first base after getting a force out at third base. Hochevar threw another wild pitch.

Then Hochevar forgot how many outs there were on a Mark Trumbo tapper to the mound. He lobbed the ball to first base for the out as Hunter raced home to score another run.

The home plate umpire ended Hochevar’s day in the 4th inning. After allowing a homerun to Bobby Wilson, Hochevar hit Trout with a 3-0 pitch. Hochevar was ejected and in came the good portion of the game: Everett Teaford.

Teaford pitched four scoreless innings of relief before leaving in the 8th inning with a man on base. Unfortunately, that run would score, as Louis Coleman allowed back-to-back homeruns to Trout and Hunter to cap the Angels scoring.

Billy Butler hit a two-run homerun in the 5th inning for the only runs the Royals would get against Weaver.

Jeff Francoeur connected for a three-run homer in the 8th inning, breaking out of an 0-for-15 skid. That cut the Royals deficit to 8-5, but the Angels came back against Coleman.

*Next up, the Royals head to Seattle. The Mariners won three out of four last week in Kansas City by scoring 31 runs on 50 hits. Luis Mendoza will get the start in the opener on Thursday (he did not face the Mariners last week). Jason Vargas will oppose him (he has won three straight starts).