The KC Royals couldn’t end their season with a win, as they lost to the visiting Detroit Tigers, 1-0. The Tigers continue their season on Saturday in Detroit against the American League West winning Oakland A’s.

I know this is a Royals site, but it was all about Miguel Cabrera tonight.

They did get to watch a little history though. Third baseman Miguel Cabrera was officially crowned the Triple Crown winner in the AL. He finished first in batting average (.330), homeruns (44), and RBIs (139). He didn’t need to play on Wednesday night, as he already held a sizable lead in all three categories but homeruns (and Josh Hamilton did not hit a homer in his day game). However it was nice for the over 30,000 fans in attendance to get to see him play. Cabrera picked up two at-bats and was replaced in the field in the bottom of the 4th inning.

Now onto the game.

The game’s lone run was scored with one out in the 5th inning on Austin Jackson‘s RBI double.

Other than that inning, Royals starter Luis Mendoza pitched very well. He escaped a few jams by inducing double play ground outs. He allowed six hits and three walks over seven innings. He struck out six.

On the Tigers side, it was back-and-forth of who was going to make the start. It ended up being Max Scherzer in his final tuneup before the playoffs. He had turned his ankle during Monday night’s celebration and was dealing with some arm issues. Scherzer was solid, as he allowed just three hits and two walks over four shutout innings. He only struck out three, but threw 53 of his 75 pitches for strikes.

On offense for the Royals, it was their double play combination that picked up the hits. Shortstop Alcides Escobar went 2-for-5 and second baseman Johnny Giavotella went 2-for-4.

For the Tigers, AJax and Omar Infante each collected two hits in the win.

*For more on the Tigers, check out Motown Lowdown.

One day after the Detroit Tigers clinched the American League Central, the KC Royals ruined their hangover with a 4-2 win on Tuesday night. The Royals have now won one more game than last season (72 and counting?).

Alcides Escobar

It was all about Alcides Escobar in this win.

He hit a homerun (his fifth of the season) in the first inning that gave the Royals a 1-0 lead. In the Royals’ two-run 5th inning, he singled to tie the game at 2-2.

Escobar also made some great plays at shortstop (as usual).

That made a winner of Jeremy Guthrie, who only had REAL trouble with one Tigers player: Triple Crown leader Miguel Cabrera. He went 2-for-3 (two of the Tigers’ six hits) and drove in the Tigers’ lone runs in the 3rd inning with the bases loaded.

The back end of the Royals bullpen, Kelvin Herrera and Greg Holland, didn’t have trouble tonight with the Tigers. Herrera struck out two in the 8th inning (all ten of his pitches were strikes) and Holland pitched a 1-2-3 ninth.

*In injury news, Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer will sit out tomorrow’s game with their injuries. Moose re-aggravated his groin on Monday night.

Joakim Soria threw for the first time since having Tommy John surgery this spring. He threw a baseball 25 times at 45 feet at the Royals spring training complex in Surprise.

**For more on the Tigers, check out Motown Lowdown.

The KC Royals had the chance to keep the Detroit Tigers from clinching the American League Central. Instead, Triple Crown leader Miguel Cabrera made sure that the Tigers were victorious. The Tigers won 6-3 and clinched the AL Central.

The Royals received a typical pitching performance by their crafty lefty Bruce Chen. However he was hurt by a David Lough fielding error in the top of the 6th inning which cost him four runs.

The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the 5th inning on a Jhonny Peralta solo homerun. The Tigers blew the game open in the sixth when they scored five runs off Chen.

After getting a strikeout to start the inning, Chen allowed a solo homerun to Cabrera and then a double to Prince Fielder (who went 4-for-5). After getting Delmon Young to fly out, he got Peralta to hit a fly ball to centerfielder David Lough. Instead, Lough couldn’t haul it in and a run scored.

Two batters later with the bases loaded, Gerald Laird cleared the bases with a double. That ended Chen‘s evening.

After cutting the deficit to 6-2, the Royals had their chance to really get back into the game. With runners on the corners and one out, Mike Moustakas struck out. Then, Jeff Francoeur singled to drive in a run. As Salvador Perez hustled to third base, Frenchy tried to take second base. Instead, he was thrown out to end the inning.

After getting Cabrera out in his first at-bat (a ground out on four pitches), the Royals could not shut him down. He singled in the fourth, homered in the sixth (to take over the AL lead), singled in the seventh, and singled in the ninth. That upped his AL-leading batting average to .329 and picked up his 200th hit of the season.

*Lefty reliever Tim Collins has earned the Ben Mondor Award, given to the New England Player of the Year. He will be presented with the award in January of 2013. Collins has set the Royals‘ franchise record for strikeouts with 93.

**First baseman Eric Hosmer remained out of the lineup with a partial tear of his rotator cuff. He was expected to take some swings on Monday and see how he felt. It’s uncertain if he will play in the final two games of the season. I say sit him. He’s more important to the team in the long haul than for these unimportant games.

***Strikeouts keep climbing: the Royals single season record for strikeouts by pitchers keeps growing and with two more games to be played, it will only grow larger. Their strikeout total sits at 1,163.

****For more on the Tigers, check out Motown Lowdown.

The KC Royals out-hit the host Detroit Tigers, but couldn’t defeat the playoff pushing Tigers. They lost 5-4. As I am writing this, the Cleveland Indians have tied the Chicago White Sox in the 7th inning. If the White Sox lose, the Tigers will have sole possession of first place in the American League Central.

With runners on the corners and one out in the 8th inning, Jhonny Peralta grounded to third base. Mike Moustakas fired to second base to try and turn the double play (something Peralta is known to do). However the wipe out slide by Andy Dirks at second base kept Alcides Escobar from making a throw to first base. Pinch runner Don Kelly scored the go ahead run.

That made a loser of reliever Kelvin Herrera, who regularly hit the upper 90s with his fastball (and a few 100s), but allowed back-to-back singles that led to Peralta‘s ground ball.

Tigers closer Jose Valverde needed 12 pitches to finish off the Royals in the top of the 9th inning.

Royals starter Jeremy Guthrie gave up less hits than last night’s starter Bruce Chen, but wasn’t as impressive. Four of the seven hits he allowed went for extra bases.

Two of those hits were homeruns, which he allowed in the 4th inning. After a one out walk, Alex Avila hit a two-run homerun. Two batters later, Austin Jackson hit a solo shot to tie the game at 4-4.

That came after the Royals had given Guthrie the 4-1 lead in the 3rd and 4th innings. With one out in the third, back-to-back doubles by Irving Falu and David Lough scored the Royals first run. With two outs, Alex Gordon doubled in a run and Billy Butler drove him in with a single. Jeff Francoeur hit a solo homerun to cap the scoring in the fourth.

After giving up the homerun in the 4th inning, Guthrie retired ten of the next 11 batters to end his night.

Gordon didn’t make any friends in Detroit. He went 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. But what made Tigers fans dislike him was his catch in the 5th inning. He reached over the left field wall to rob Triple Crown threat and MVP candidate Miguel Cabrera of a homerun. Cabrera went 0-for-4 in the win.

*For more on the Tigers, check out Motown Lowdown.

You read that headline it right. The KC Royals swept the Detroit Tigers with a 2-1 victory. It was a game that the Tigers really needed with Chicago losing earlier in the day.

Yup, that’s a three-game sweep!

Instead, the Tigers were flustered by Jeremy Guthrie.

He scattered ten hits over 7.1 innings. He did not walk a batter. The lone run he allowed came in the 8th inning after he left the game. The Tigers got on the board when Jhonny Peralta singled with two outs off lefty reliever Tim Collins (who had just blown away Jeff Baker on three pitches for the second out).

Guthrie threw 99 pitches, 69 for strikes.

Tigers starter Rick Porcello matched Guthrie zero for zero until the 5th inning. The Royals scored their first run on a force out with the bases loaded by Johnny Giavotella. In the 6th inning, Alex Gordon led off the inning with a solo homerun. The inning was killed when Billy Butler (who doubled in the inning) tried to score on a wild pitch. He was thrown out by a few steps by Tigers catcher Gerald Laird.

In the 9th inning (with Greg Holland unavailable), Kelvin Herrera got his chance to close out the game. With a runner on first base and no outs, Austin Jackson hit a line shot to centerfield. Lorenzo Cain did his best impression of AJax and made a diving catch. However, Andy Dirks blooped a single just out of the reach of a sliding Jeff Francoeur, to put runners at first and second base.

That brought up MVP candidate Miguel Cabrera. On the very first pitch from Herrera, he grounded into a game-ending double play. It was tailor made but Dirks got to second base quickly to break it up and Alcides Escobar hesitated and threw while in the air. Cabrera wasn’t running very hard and was just beat to the bag.

Next up are the last place Minnesota Twins.

*For more on the Tigers, check out Motown Lowdown.

Leave it to Detroit Tigers closer Jose Valverde to make it interesting in the 9th inning. Down 8-4, the KC Royals mounted a rally. With the tying run on second base, Jeff Francoeur struck out to end the game, as the Royals lost 8-7.

With the bases loaded and nobody out, Billy Butler ripped a two-run single. Two batters later, Mike Moustakas brought home another run with a sac fly. Jason Bourgeois pinch-ran for Butler and put himself into scoring position with a stolen base.

However Valverde and the Tigers escaped with the W.

What is wrong with Bruce Chen? After starting the season 0-4 (though only two of those six starts were poor), he got back on track (for the most part). He had that June start in St. Louis when he didn’t get out of the 2nd inning, but rebounded with two straight wins. Chen struggled against Minnesota in his last start and today was pretty awful.

Today, he lasted just 3.1 innings. After the Royals gave him a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning, he quickly gave it back on a Prince Fielder homerun. Then in the bottom of the 2nd inning, Chen allowed five straight hits, with Gerald Laird driving in two with a double. Austin Jackson followed with an RBI single and the Tigers led 5-2.

Chen exited in the 4th inning with the bases loaded, one out, and Miguel Cabrera coming to the plate. Nate Adcock got Miggy to fly out to right field. Though a run scored, Francoeur threw Laird out trying to tag and move to third base to end the inning.

The only thing Chen did well today was get Tigers slugger Miggy out (0-for-2 with a strikeout).

Once the Royals most consistent starter, it seems that all of the other pitchers have rubbed off in a bad way on Chen. If the Royals are to make any movement towards the top of the American League Central following the All-Star break, the starting pitching will need to vastly improve.

» Continue reading “Royals Rally Falls Short in Motown”

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Before heading to the All-Star break, the KC Royals play a three-game series in Detroit. The Royals sit three games back of the Tigers for third place in the American League Central. Every time the Royals get close to taking over third place, they fall back. Both teams have similar offenses (near the top in overall team batting average) and pitching staffs (in the middle of the pack).

The Tigers are NOT where many felt they would be in the standings (41-42), because on paper, they are probably the best team in the AL Central. Austin Jackson has put up All-Star caliber numbers (.332 which is third in the AL). Minor league veteran Quintin Berry has come up and shocked everyone (.295 with 12 stolen bases). Miguel Cabrera (.325 with 25 doubles, 18 homeruns, and 70 RBIs) and Prince Fielder (.298 with 58 RBIs) keep doing what they normally do.

Justin Verlander hasn’t been as dominant as he was last season, but he’s still pitching like a staff ace (9-5 with a 2.58 ERA with 128 strikeouts). Thankfully the Royals will not have to face him this weekend. However, the rest of the rotation has been an inconsistent mess and the bullpen tends to cough up leads. It’s tough to be perfect in consecutive seasons, isn’t it Jose Valverde? (Just ask Brad Lidge.)

» Continue reading “Royals @ Tigers Preview”

The KC Royals dropped their seventh in a row, as they were swept for the second consecutive home series (they have yet to win a home game). The Detroit Tigers took the series finale, 4-3 in comeback fashion.

They Royals had their chance in the bottom of the 9th inning against Tigers closer Jose Valverde, who lost the strikezone for a bit. With one out, Humberto Quintero walked. Jason Bourgeois followed with a single, putting the tying run in scoring position. That brought up Alcides Escobar, who hit into a game-ending double play.

Escobar had given the Royals a 2-1 lead in the 3rd inning with a two-run homerun, his first of the season off Tigers starter Max Scherzer.

The 9th inning wasn’t the Royals only chance to put runs on the board:

• In the 4th inning when they scored their third and final run of the game on a Quintero RBI double, they had runners at second and third base, but Mitch Maier struck out.
• In the 5th inning, Alex Gordon was thrown out trying to steal third base with one out and another runner on first base. Eric Hosmer then grounded out.
• In the 6th, 7th, and 8th innings, the Royals had the leadoff batter on base. Only once did that base runner even reach second base.

There was a testy moment in the 7th inning when Scherzer hit Quintero to leadoff the inning. The benches cleared, order was restored, and Scherzer was replaced by lefty Phil Coke. Coke quickly put away the Royals in order.

» Continue reading “Royals Drop 7th in a Row”

The kid went toe-to-toe with the veteran tonight in Kansas City, as Detroit Tigers rookie Drew Smyly matched Royals veteran Bruce Chen inning for inning. Chen deserved better, as the Tigers won 3-1.

The only run Smyly allowed came in the 3rd inning on an Alex Gordon RBI single. The run was unearned because Smyly’s throwing error allowed Alcides Escobar to advance to second base with two outs.

Chen allowed a run in the 2nd inning on a Ramon Santiago sac fly.

The game stayed tied until the 8th inning. Chen was still in the game, but allowed a leadoff single to Andy Dirks. That was all for Chen and in came Greg Holland. He struck out Austin Jackson for the first out. Then things fell apart.

Brennan Boesch singled and Miguel Cabrera followed with an RBI single. Prince Fielder then followed with an RBI single to increase the Tigers’s lead to 3-1. Holland struck out Delmon Young (who was his last batter). Tim Collins entered to strike out Alex Avila to end the inning.

In the bottom of the 8th inning, Joaquin Benoit came in for the Tigers and struck out both Eric Hosmer and Billy Butler (who ended the game 3-for-4) before giving up a Jeff Francoeur triple. Benoit rebounded to strike out Mike Moustakas to end the inning.

Chen allowed two runs on six hits over 7 innings. He struck out seven. Smyly allowed the unearned run on seven hits and a walk over six innings. He struck out four. The Tigers bullpen pitched three shutout innings while striking out four.

*The Royals had nine hits, but were just 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position. Francoeur hit into a double play in the 2nd inning. Jason Bourgeois was picked off in the first inning with Hosmer at the plate.

**For more on the Tigers, check out Motown Lowdown.

The sun was out bright at Comerica Park, but the Detroit Tigers were sloppy from the start. In the 1st, Chris Getz led off the game with a single. With one out, Tigers starter Rick Porcello tried to pick Getz off first base and threw the ball away. It rolled to the right field tarp, with second baseman Will Rhymes hustling after the ball, and first baseman Miguel Cabrera and right fielder Brennan Boesch jogging after it. Getz went all the way to third base. Luckily for Tigers, Porcello struck out Alex Gordon and got Billy Butler to ground out. No damage done.

The Royals jumped on Porcello in the third inning. Melky Cabrera singled, moving Getz to third base. However left fielder Ryan Raburn’s throw to second base missed everyone and sailed to the right field tarp. Getz scored with Cabrera moving to third base. Gordon followed with an RBI ground out. Butler followed with a double, extending his 22-game hitting streak against the Tigers. Jhonny Peralta leads off the Tigers 3rd with a solo homerun to cut the Royals lead to 2-1.

Every time the Tigers scored, the Royals came back with more runs.

In the bottom of the 6th, Alex Avila hit a homerun, but did the fan reach over the right field wall? Umps left to check the replay and re-entered, ruling the long fly ball a homerun. However the Royals came back with two runs in the top of the 7th. After Jeff Francoeur singled with one out, Wilson Betemit hit a deep fly ball (he trotted like it was out of the park) that Tigers right fielder Brennan Boesch made a nice try on. The ball rolled back towards the infield, allowing Francoeur to score. Boesch really showed no hustle after the ball.

Leading 7-2, Boesch strikes out, but the pitch gets away from catcher Matt Treanor and his throw is high to first, allowing Boesch to reach base. Miguel Cabrera clobbered the pitch from Luke Hochevar into the left field seats to cut the Royals lead to 7-4.

However the Royals scored single runs in both the 8th and 9th innings to take a 9-4 lead into the bottom of the 9th, thus giving closer Joakim Soria a day off…

Kanekoa Texeira came in to finish off the Tigers, but two straight singles, a sac fly, and another single. A run was in with one out and runners at first and second. Manager Ned Yost had seen enough and called on Soria for the save. Soria induced two straight ground outs. GAME OVER.

The Royals took the series, two games to one and improved to 6-3 on the season. Just one game back of the surprising AL Central leading Cleveland Indians.

Check out more on the Royals win:

Betemit Leads Balanced Attack in Royals’ 9-5 win over Tigers The Kansas City Star

Royals Tame Tigers, Take Two of Three Royals Review

Butler extends hitting streak against Tigers KC Royals.com