Mother Nature was not kind to the big league KC Royals or their farm system last week. There were a total of six games postponed.

The Royals had two more games postponed last week, with them only playing five (4-1). Their four-game winning steak came to an end with a heartbreaking loss in Monday’s makeup game against Chicago. The lack of games pushed them into second place behind Detroit. The Royals head to Baltimore for three games beginning tonight (hopefully the rain holds off because I will be there).

Omaha also had two games postponed last week. The Storm Chasers went 2-3, but are still in first place in the Pacific Coast League’s American Northern Division at 16-12. They finished up their series at home yesterday afternoon (an extra inning loss) and now are out on the road for eight games in Reno and Colorado Springs.

NW Arkansas had back-to-back games postponed last week and went 2-3. The Naturals are still the worst team in the Texas League at 10-18. They finish up their series at home today against Arkansas before heading out on the road for nine games.

Wilmington went 4-3 last week and enjoyed a day off on Monday. The Blue Rocks are just 13-17 and in last place in the Carolina League’s Northern Division. They welcome Potomac to town for three games beginning tonight and could move out of last place with a sweep.

Lexington has now won six in a row (including last night’s win over Lakewood) and went 5-1 last week. The Legends are moving up in the South Atlantic League Southern Division standings at 14-16. They finish up their series in Lakewood today before heading home for seven games.

Now that you are up-to-date on the teams, let’s hand out some awards.

» Continue reading “Royals Weekly Awards”

On Labor Day, the KC Royals welcomed the American League West leading Texas Rangers to town. The Rangers weren’t gracious guests, as they won 8-4. They led 6-0 before the Royals got on the board in the 6th inning.

The Royals were baffled by Rangers rookie Yu Darvish, who carried a perfect game into the 6th inning. He had six strikeouts over the first five innings. With two outs in the sixth, Johnny Giavotella worked a walk to end that bid and David Lough followed with a pop up that fell in to break up the no-hitter. Tony Abreu then followed with a two-run triple and Alex Gordon drove him in with a double.

Meanwhile, Bruce Chen was not baffling the Rangers hitters. Four of their six hits off him left the ballpark. With two outs in the 2nd inning, Geovany Soto hit a three-run homerun. With two outs in the 3rd inning, Josh Hamilton hit a solo homerun. In the 6th inning, Adrian Beltre and Nelson Cruz went back-to-back (on back-to-back pitches). Between Hamilton’s homerun and Beltre’s homerun, Chen had retired eight of nine.

Louis Coleman entered in relief in the 7th inning and retired six in a row (including striking out the side in the eighth inning), before he hit Cruz (and the benches cleared) and Michael Young followed with a homerun.

The Royals had their shot in the 9th inning against Rangers closer Joe Nathan. They picked up two hits with one out, but Lorenzo Cain grounded into the game ending double play.

The Royals had eight hits, but just two went for extra bases. They also hit into two DPs.

The Royals and Rangers continue their four-game series at Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday night as Jeremy Guthrie faces All-Star Matt Harrison.

*The Royals haven’t brought up uber prospect Wil Myers, but did bring up outfielder David Lough. Lough has batted leadoff for three straight days (while playing right field) and has gone 5-for-13 in his big league debut. He also has at least one hit in all three of those games.

**For more on the Rangers, check out Big Game Claws.

KC Royals starter Will Smith had another rough outing and the bullpen faltered yet again, as the Royals lost to Boston, 8-6.

Smith had two clean innings, but around that got smacked around a bit. In the first inning, he gave up three straight one out hits (which resulted in a run) before getting James Loney to ground into an inning ending double play in his Red Sox debut.

In the 2nd inning, Smith allowed two more hits and a walk, but escaped with just one run allowed.

Lorenzo Cain

The Royals offense went to work in the top of the 4th inning against Red Sox starter Felix Doubront, who was just activated off the DL. They erupted for four runs, three coming on a Lorenzo Cain homerun. The rally started with two outs and nobody on base.

It looked like Smith had settled down, as he retired nine in a row before Pedro Ciriaco hit a solo homerun in the 5th inning. With runners on the corners and two outs, Loney tied the game at 4-4 with an RBI single.

In the bottom of the 6th inning, the Red Sox put two men on base with nobody out to chase Smith from the game (the one base runner reached on an error). Lefty Tim Collins entered and recorded two quick outs before allowing an RBI single by Jacoby Ellsbury to give the Red Sox the lead (it was off Eric Hosmer’s glove). Aaron Crow recorded the final out.

The Royals bullpen has been overworked all season long due to the ineffectiveness of their starting staff. That has led to the recent struggles. With the extra inning win on Saturday night, those relievers were back out on the mound again.

Except for Jeremy Jeffress, who entered in relief in the 7th inning and the Red Sox loaded the bases with one out. After striking out Mike Aviles, Scott Podsednik hit a sharp grounder to Alcides Escobar, who booted it for his second costly error of the game. A run scored. Another run scored on Ciriaco‘s grounder to third base.

» Continue reading “Smith, Bullpen Falter in Royals Loss”

The pitching has been so good for the KC Royals as of late. However, nothing went right in the series finale in Tampa, as they lost 5-3.

Luis Mendoza

Starter Luis Mendoza did not have one clean inning, as he threw 81 pitches over just 4.1 innings. He walked four, hit a batter, and balked. The good news was that he limited the damage with all of those base runners.

The only inning the Rays scored against Mendoza was in the 3rd inning. With the bases loaded and one out, Ben Zobrist drove in a run with a sac fly. Jeff Keppinger followed with an RBI single, but Mendoza got Carlos Pena to pop out in foul territory to end the inning.

Meanwhile, the Royals collected just one run early on against Rays starter James Shields. In the 2nd inning, Jeff Francoeur delivered a two out, RBI single.

Shields retired 12 in a row before issuing a two out walk to Mike Moustakas in the 7th inning.

Louis Coleman allowed a leadoff walk to Pena in the 6th inning and Ryan Roberts followed with an RBI double. Lefty Tim Collins entered with runners at the corners and two outs and induced a ground out by Matt Joyce to escape.

In the 7th inning, Kelvin Herrera allowed a leadoff single to Evan Longoria, who was then pinch run for with Sam Fuld. Zobrist then doubled into the right field corner. Francoeur came up with a strong throw to second base, but Escobar flat out missed it, allowing Fuld to score.

Just when the Royals got back into the game, the bullpen again faltered. The Royals scored two runs off Shields in the top of the 8th inning. Alcides Escobar drove in one run with a two out triple. That hit chased Shields from the game and lefty Jake McGee entered. He allowed an RBI single to Alex Gordon to cut the deficit to 4-3.

Aaron Crow entered in relief for the Royals, but allowed a leadoff homerun to Jose Lobaton (his second of the season). It was a fastball right down the middle. After taking a seat on the Rays bench, Lobaton was presented with ice cream from teammate Luke Scott.

Rays closer Fernando Rodney retook the MLB lead in saves on Wednesday, as he retired the Royals in order. Salvador Perez swung at the first pitch and grounded out. Moustakas had a 3-0 count, but Rodney battled back to get Moose to fly out. Francoeur grounded right back to Rodney to end the game. Rodney then proceeded to use his bow and arrow to shoot out something in the Tropicana catwalks.

The Royals have Thursday off before heading to Boston to play the struggling (and controversial) Red Sox.

*For more on the Rays, check out Cowbell Clankers.

Once again, KC Royals starter Jonathan Sanchez did not reach the 6th inning. Well, he didn’t make it out of the 2nd inning tonight, as he and the Royals lost to the visiting Seattle Mariners, 9-4.

Three batters into the game, the Mariners led 3-0 on a Casper Wells three-run homerun. Two batters after that, the Mariners led 5-0 with nobody out on Justin Smoak‘s two-run homerun.

It was 7-0 Mariners when Sanchez was FINALLY taken out in the second inning with a runner on third base and just one out. Wells chased Sanchez from the game with a two-run triple.

The Royals and Mariners both collected the same amount of hits (11). Problem is, the Royals were just 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position and hit into two double plays (both by Alcides Escobar). They made two errors and Yuniesky Betancourt was thrown out at third base to end the 4th inning on a Alex Gordon fly out to left.

The 3rd inning capitalized all of their offense’s problems. After Salvador Perez homered to lead off the inning, Gordon walked. Then came one of Escobar‘s DP’s. Eric Hosmer then followed with a walk and Billy Butler drove him in with a homerun. Lorenzo Cain and Mike Moustakas put together back-to-back singles, but Jeff Francoeur flied out to end the inning.

The Royals scored three runs in that inning to cut the deficit to 7-3, but they could have gotten back into the game with some clutch hitting.

» Continue reading “Royals Sanchez Bombed Again”

It was a tough week to be affiliated with the KC Royals.

They went 2-5 this past week and have lost three in a row heading into the All-Star break. That stretch has pushed the Royals further back in the American League Central (37-47). They fell to 9.5 games back and just 1.5 games ahead of Minnesota for last place. The Royals start their second half push against first place Chicago on Friday.

Omaha has also lost three straight heading into their All-Star break. They went 3-4 this past week, but are still 16 games up in the American Northern Division of the Pacific Coast League (56-35). The Storm Chasers hold the best record in the PCL and return to action at home against Iowa on Thursday (I think they play the Cubs too much in a small amount of time).

NW Arkansas went 0-7 last week and fell into last place in the Texas League’s North Division. The Naturals are just 4-12 in the second half and continue play tonight at home against San Antonio looking to break their losing streak.

Wilmington went 2-5 this past week and are in last place in the Northern Division of the Carolina League at 7-11 (three games back). The Blue Rocks finish up their three-game home series tonight against Myrtle Beach (they have lost the first two games).

Kane County was the only affiliate with a winning record last week. They were 4-3 and are sitting in a four-way tie for first place in the Western Division of the Midwest league (10-7). The Cougars finish up their series in Wisconsin this afternoon.

Even with the tough week record-wise, some players had great individual performances.

Hitters of the Week

Majors: Salvador Perez has been nothing short of impressive since returning from knee surgery. He is hitting way better than many expected and this past week was no exception. In six games, he went 9-for-22 (.409) with two homeruns and three RBIs. He also scored six runs. His 11-game hitting streak game to an end on Saturday (when he went 0-for-4 in Detroit), but he has a hit in 12-of-13 games since returning from the DL.

Minors: Brian Fletcher, NW Arkansas. He struggled right out of the gate when he was promoted to Double-A and I was hoping for a big break out because he is too good of a hitter. This past week, he has done just that. Fletcher is in the midst of a six-game hitting streak, where he is 9-for-25 (.360).

Honorable Mention: Jose Bonilla, Wilmington. The catcher is getting a chance to catch more often in the second half and has taken full advantage. This past week, he went 8-for-21 (.381).

Power hitter of the week: Matt Fields, Wilmington. Fields came over from independent ball, leading his league in homeruns. I figured he would struggle at Frawley Stadium hitting the ball out (like every other hitter). He has taken advantage of his opportunities on the road though. This past week, Fields hit five homeruns, four of which came on the road. Overall, he has six homeruns, five coming on the road.

» Continue reading “Royals Blue Aid Weekly Awards”

The KC Royals offense was shut down by the Toronto Blue Jays on July 4th up in Canada, as they lost 4-1.

What is it about Carlos Villanueva? I have seen him lit up many times in the past, but just four hits off a guy filling into the rotation? That is all the Royals could muster against Blue Jays starter Villanueva, who has moved from the bullpen to the rotation with all the starter injuries. He struck out seven and did not walk a batter.

The Royals lone run came via a two out RBI triple by Jeff Francoeur in the 7th inning against Jason Frasor.

Meanwhile, Luis Mendoza was solid, but took the loss. He allowed three runs on nine hits over six innings. He walked one while striking out nine. All three runs came via sac flies.

Mendoza only allowed two hits after the 3rd inning while striking out six.

Alcides Escobar, Mike Moustakas, and Francoeur each had two hits in the loss. Eric Hosmer saw his average drop to .230 with three strikeouts.

The Royals and Blue Jays finish their series on Thursday as Luke Hochevar takes the mound against Henderson Alvarez, who has been the Blue Jays best starter.

*Vin Mazzaro was sent back to the minors following yesterday’s miserable start and reliever Louis Coleman was recalled to take his place. Outfielder Mitch Maier was designated to make room for Nate Adcock, who frequently makes the drive back and forth from Omaha to Kansas City. Maier played in just 32 games this season for the Royals, including pitching a scoreless inning of relief.

Check out the article on royals.com to hear all the good things manager Ned Yost and his teammates had to say about him. Maier spent 10 years in the system/big leagues.

**Don’t forget you have until tomorrow to vote for closer Jonathan Broxton for the final spot on the American League’s All-Star roster.

For the first time this season, KC Royals starter Jonathan Sanchez reached the 6th inning. However, the Royals lost to Houston, 9-7.

It was actually a pitcher’s duel between Sanchez and the Astros JA Happ. Both teams got on the board in the first inning. The Royals scored a single run on a Jeff Francoeur two-out RBI single. The Astros scored two runs, one on a Brian Bixler solo homerun and the other on a failed pickoff attempt by Sanchez.

The Astros got to Sanchez again in the 4th inning on his wildness. He hit Chris Johnson and threw yet another pickoff throw away. With one out, Chris Snyder drove him in with a single. With two outs, Sanchez hit another batter and allowed a single to load the bases for Justin Maxwell. He walked him to force in the fourth run.

When the two starters left the game, the score was 4-2 Houston after six innings. Sanchez: 6IP, 6H, 4R, 3ER, 4BB, 3K, 2HBP. Happ: 6IP, 4H, 2R, BB, 3K.

The Astros scored a ton of insurance against Royals reliever Louis Coleman in the bottom of the 8th inning. Five runs to be exact (two homeruns). Every one of those runs was needed as the Royals came storming back in the top of the 9th inning against Astros closer Brett Myers.

With one out, the Royals strung together three straight singles to load the bases and Jarrod Dyson drove in one run with a single. Pinch-hitter Mitch Maier drove in a run with a sac fly. Alex Gordon loaded the bases again with a single. Yuniesky Betancourt followed with a two-run single and Billy Butler followed with an RBI single. After a Francoeur single loaded the bases yet again, Myers was finally taken out.

So the Royals had the bases loaded, two outs, trailing by two runs with Mike Moustakas coming to the plate against Xavier Cedeno. Moose popped out in foul territory on the fourth curveball of the at-bat to end the game.

It was another night that the Royals offense out-hit their opponent (13-11), but still lost the ballgame. Yuni continued his hot-hitting with a 2-for-5 night. Francoeur and Alcides Escobar also collected two hits. Gordon went 3-for-5 from the leadoff spot to get his average up to a respectable .262.

*Coleman returned to the Royals as Chris Getz was placed on the DL and Nate Adcock was again sent back to Triple-A. Lefty reliever Tommy Hottovy joined Coleman with a promotion.

**For more on the Astros, check out Tales from the Juicebox.

Just when you thought the KC Royals had found their stride, especially after shutting down the hot Texas Rangers, the Baltimore Orioles went into Kauffman Stadium and swept the short two-game series. The Royals lost today’s game 5-3.

The Royals took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the 3rd inning on five hits. The big hit came via Humberto Quintero‘s two-run double off O’s starter Brian Matusz. Matusz had been perfect prior to that inning. The Royals had baserunners in each inning after (except the 8th inning against Pedro Strop), but could not muster anything else.

Adam Jones struck again in the top of the 4th inning with a two-run homerun off Luke Hochevar to cut the Orioles deficit to 3-2.

Hochevar started the 7th inning, but gave up back-to-back singles, which scored a run. In came Aaron Crow, who didn’t fare much better. He retired the first two hitters he faced before walking the next two (both of which are rookies). JJ Hardy delivered the big blow, a two-run single that gave the O’s the lead they would not relinquish.

The bottom of the Royals order (Alcides Escobar, Irving Falu, and Quintero) went 6-for-9 with two RBIs and three runs scored. As a team, the Royals only collected nine hits. They went just 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position, but did not hit into a double play.

» Continue reading “Royals Swept by O’s in Two-Game Series”

The KC Royals welcomed back Felipe Paulino to the team and to the starting rotation with a win Saturday night. Paulino allowed just four hits over six shutout innings in picking up his first victory of the season, a 5-1 win over the NY Yankees. He walked two while striking out six.

The Royals took a 2-0 lead in the first inning against Yankees starter Hiroki Kuroda and never looked back. That inning all started with an error by Derek Jeter that allowed Jarrod Dyson to reach leading off the bottom of the first inning.

All of the Royals offense came from Alex Gordon (who has seen his average climb to .265) and Billy Butler. Gordon went 4-for-5 with two runs scored and Butler went 2-for-4 with three RBIs.

Overall, the Royals had eight hits and six walks, but went just 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position.

*With Paulino coming off the FL, right-handed reliever Louis Coleman was sent back to Triple-A Omaha.

**For more on the Yankees, check out Second Place is Not an Option.