All four Division Series played win-or-go home Game 5’s, so every series was interesting and down to the wire.

The first team to punch their ticket to the Championship Series was the SF Giants. All four former KC Royals played integral parts to their advancement.

Lefty reliever Jeremy Affeldt pitched in just about every game. In Game 1, he walked one in 2/3 of an inning (12 pitches, five for strikes). In Game 3, he allowed one hit over two scoreless innings of relief (22 pitches, 14 for strikes). In the Game 5 clincher, he pitched another scoreless inning (the seventh). He was pulled after that one inning after a scary incident in the dugout on a foul line drive (he should be okay for the National League Championship Series).

Left fielder Gregor Blanco started every game for the Giants. In Game 1, he went 2-for-3. In Game 2’s blowout loss, he went 0-for-2, but the Giants only collected two hits. He went 0-for-1 with a run scored in Game 3. He showed off his surprise power in Game 4 with a two-run homerun in the 2^nd inning that gave the Giants the lead they would not relinquish. In the Game 5 clincher, he went 1-for-4 with a run scored in their six-run 5^th inning.

Shortstop Joaquin Arias didn’t start, but made an impact off the bench. He pinch-hit in Game 1 and picked up a single and scored a run in the bottom of the 9^th inning of the Giants 5-2 loss. He hit the eventual game-winning ground ball in the 10^th inning of Game 3’s 2-1 victory. Arias went 2-for-3 off the bench in Game 4 with two doubles and two runs scored.

Lefty reliever Jose Mijares had the worst series. In Game 2, he allowed three runs on two hits and a walk, but did not record an out. He rebounded in Game 4 and struck out the only batter he faced (Joey Votto) on five pitches in the 4^th inning.

One former Royal saw his season come to an end with the Cincinnati Reds. That was former closer and Reds setup man Jonathan Broxton. Broxton took the loss in Game 3 when a Ryan Hanigan passed ball moved base runners up in the top of the 10^th inning and Scott Rolen’s error scored the winning run. He pitched in three of the five games and allowed that unearned run on four hits over three innings. Broxton walked one while striking out four.

» Continue reading “Former Royals Help New Teams to Championship Series”

The MLB Postseason begins in just a few hours, as Wild Card Friday kicks off for the first time.

St. Louis, the defending World Series champions, are in Atlanta to face the Braves. That game will be televised on TBS at 5pm ET.

The surprising Baltimore Orioles are in Texas to face the disappointed Rangers, who lost the American League West division title on the season’s final day. That game will also be televised on TBS at 8:30pm ET (or following the National League Wild Card game).

Sure the KC Royals had yet another disappointing season (maybe more so than 2011). However there are a few former Royals participating in the postseason.

Let’s start with pitcher Chad Durbin.

Despite a rough start to his 2012 season with his newest team, the Braves, he rebounded to have a respectable season. He allowed just one run over his final ten appearances (7.1 innings).

Though I am not sure the Braves would want to bring him into this afternoon’s game versus the Cardinals with runners in scoring position. During the regular season, Durbin allowed 12 earned runs in 18.2 innings. Opponents only hit .222 in those situations, but he walked 13.

One of my many Carlos Beltran cards from his time with the Royals.

The big name former Royal in the entire postseason is outfielder Carlos Beltran. With the Cardinals for his first season in 2012, he was putting together MVP-caliber numbers in the first half before his bulky knees hurt him in the second half.

In the first half, he hit .296 with 20 homeruns and 65 RBIs. He walked 41 times to just 60 strikeouts. However, he hit just .236 with 12 homeruns and 24 RBIs. He also only played in 69 games in the second half (compared to 82 games in the first half).

Overall, he hit .289 with 32 homeruns and 97 RBIs. He scored 83 runs and hit 26 doubles. Even though he struck out 124 times, he did walk 63 times.

Beltran will be batting second and playing right field for the last team to clinch a playoff spot in the NL. The Cardinals hope that he can relive the magical postseason that he had back in 2004 with the Houston Astros.

As I am typing this, the Orioles have yet to release their Wild Card roster (which was supposed to be submitted at 10am ET this morning). Their end of season roster had two former Royals on it. Whether they make the playoff roster remains to be seen.

» Continue reading “Wild Card Friday: Royals Connection”

After looking so good earlier in the week, the KC Royals were swept by the visiting St. Louis Cardinals. They lost the Sunday series finale, 11-8.

It was homerun derby Sunday at Kauffman Stadium and the Royals won that battle 4-2. Mike Moustakas hit two of them to drive in three runs (he had three hits to up his average to .280).

Even though Jonathan Sanchez got into the 6th inning, he had another ugly start. He allowed six runs on four hits and six walks over 5.2 innings. He also allowed two homeruns (one to Carlos Beltran).

It got ugly for the Royals in the 8th inning. With lefty Tim Collins on the mound for his second inning of work (doesn’t it seem like he pitches every day?), the Cardinals scored five runs.

Collins left with two outs in the inning and the bases loaded. Aaron Crow entered and allowed all three to score, two on an Allen Craig single and one on Matt Holliday’s sac fly.

The Royals had 14 hits, but went just 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. Every starter had a hit except Irving Falu.

The Royals did prove that Cardinals starter Lance Lynn is human. They tagged him for six runs on nine hits over 5.1 innings. The Royals hit three homeruns off him.

*Interleague Play is complete, as the Royals will welcome Tampa Bay to town Monday for a three-game series. As I write this, the Rays are playing the second game of a doubleheader.

Another day, another home loss for the KC Royals. They also received another short outing from a starter, as the Royals lost to St. Louis, 8-2.

Luis Mendoza lasted longer than Friday night’s starter, but was pulled with two on and one out in the 5th inning. One of those runs scored and Mendoza ended up allowing four runs on seven hits and two walks.

The Royals bullpen was once again overworked, as five relievers were needed to finish the game. Newly promoted lefty, Francisley Bueno, allowed one run in his one inning of work.

The offense was shut down by Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright. He allowed just six hits. Alex Gordon and Alcides Escobar collected two hits each. Gordon drove in one run and scored the other.

Every Cardinals starter had at least one hit, except backup catcher Tony Cruz. The top six hitters in their order had multi-hit games.

The two teams finish the I-70 series on Sunday afternoon.

The KC Royals welcomed catcher Salvador Perez back to the lineup, but were thumped by the visiting St. Louis Cardinals, 11-4.

The Royals also welcomed back Carlos Beltran to Kauffman Stadium, his first time since 2004. He unfortunately hit like he had never left. With the bases loaded in the first inning, Beltran ripped the first pitch he saw from Vin Mazzaro off the left field wall for a two-run double. The Cardinals never looked back.

That wasn’t Beltran’s only hit. He went 2-for-5 with two runs scored and four RBIs as the DH.

Mazzaro only recorded four outs, but allowed seven runs and six hits. After the second inning, the Cardinals scored just one run off the Royals bullpen.

The Royals collected 11 hits, as every starter had at least one hit except Jeff Francoeur. However, they went just 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

Perez returned to the lineup with a bang. He collected two hits in his 2012 debut, including a two-run homerun off Cardinals starter Joe Kelly in the 4th inning. He caught all nine innings, but the Cardinals did steal two bases off him.

Billy Butler and Alcides Escobar also had two hits in the loss.

The KC Royals won a five hour, 15 inning marathon over the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-3. The win gave the Royals their second straight series victory.

Yuni via Keith Allison/Flickr

It could have been over after 14 innings if Royals closer Jonathan Broxton could close out a game. Yuniesky Betancourt, who came on for the injured Chris Getz back in the first inning, doubled in Alex Gordon (who walked to lead off the inning) with nobody out. But in the bottom of the inning, Broxton walked the leadoff man (Allen Craig), who came around to score on Yadier Molina‘s pinch-hit RBI single.

Eduardo Sanchez went back out for the 15th inning for the Cardinals and got right back into trouble. Jarrod Dyson singled to lead off the inning and was sacrificed to second base. After Sanchez got Gordon to fly out, Betancourt struck again. This time he gave the Royals a two run lead with a two-run homerun.

Apparently, something clicked with Broxton when he went back out for the bottom of the 15th inning. He struck out two (including Carlos Beltran) before getting Rafael Furcal to ground out to end the game. He threw just ten pitches.

The reason the game went into extra innings was because Billy Butler came off the bench and hit a homerun with two outs off Cardinals closer Jaosn Motte in the 9th inning. That tied the game at 2-2.

The marathon makes you forget how well the two teams’ starters pitched. Luis Mendoza made two mistakes over six innings, as he allowed back-to-back solo homeruns to Matt Holliday and Craig in the 6th inning. For the Cardinals, Adam Wainwright allowed one run on five hits over seven innings. He struck out eight.

The Royals bullpen was OUTSTANDING. Until Broxton gave up the 14th inning run, six pitchers combined to allow just three hits and two walks over seven shutout innings. Tim Collins pitched three scoreless innings while striking out three.

The Royals had 13 hits. Mike Moustakas had three of them, while Yuni and Dyson had two each. They had plenty of chances to score in extra innings, but overall went just 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position. Bruce Chen pinch-hit in the 13th inning and picked up a single.

For more on the Cardinals, check out Aaron Miles’ Fastball. 

*The Royals now travel to Houston to continue Interleague Play for three games. Maybe there will be a roster move for a fresh arm? They used their entire bullpen.

**With the Getz injury, Johnny Giavotella was pulled from his game with Omaha.

It was another crazy day in St. Louis, but the KC Royals couldn’t hold off the Cardinals offense, as they lost 10-7.

Starter Bruce Chen was LIT UP. He registered just five outs and allowed six runs on seven hits over just 1.2 innings. With one out, former Royal Carlos Beltran singled and Matt Holliday followed with a two-run homerun. After an out and a David Freese double, Yadier Molina followed with another two-run homerun.

In the second inning, Beltran and Holliday got to Chen again, with Beltran driving in a run with a single and Holliday following with an RBI double. That end Chen‘s afternoon.

That came after the Royals took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning against Cardinals rookie starter Joe Kelly on a Mike Moustakas RBI single. That all came after Cardinals manager Mike Matheny was ejected after a controversial call. Kelly turned a triple-play, but after Royals manager Ned Yost came out to argue, the umpires overturned the call, giving the Royals just one out.

The Royals offense kept chipping away, so much so that they took the lead in the top of the 7th inning. In that 7th inning, the Royals scored three runs. Mike Moustakas delivered an RBI single and Alcides Escobar drove in two runs with a single.

» Continue reading “Wild Game Goes to Cardinals”

There was a crazy ending, but the KC Royals held on for the 3-2 win over St. Louis.

With pinch-hitter Rafel Furcal at the plate and two outs, Tyler Greene (who had singled) stole second base. The throw from catcher Humberto Quintero hit Greene as he was sliding and kicked into the outfield. Greene jumped up and took off for third base. Chris Getz picked up the ball and threw wide of third base. Greene then headed for home. Mike Moustakas hustled after the ball and made a perfect throw home to get Greene to end the game.

That crazy ending gave Jonathan Broxton his 16th save of the season. It also made a winner of Vin Mazzaro, who was spotless over six innings. He allowed just five hits and a walk while striking out four.

The Royals bullpen got smacked around a bit in the bottom of the 7th inning. Newly added to the roster Roman Colon (he’s baaack) allowed a leadoff single to David Freese and a one out RBI double to Matt Adams. After striking out Greene, Colon allowed a pinch-hit RBI single to Shane Robinson to cut the Royals lead to 3-2.

Aaron Crow got into trouble in the 8th inning, as he allowed two hits, but induced a double play ground out from Freese to end the threat.

So how did the Royals score their runs you ask?

Jarrod Dyson delivered a two out RBI single in the 2nd inning against Cardinals starter Kyle Lohse. Jeff Francoeur drove in a run with a single in the 3rd inning. Frenchy drove in another with a sac fly in the 7th inning.

Alex Gordon, Getz, and Dyson each had two hits.

*For more on the Cardinals, check out Aaron Miles’ Fastball.

 @ 

The I-70 series begins on Friday night, as the KC Royals travel to Busch Stadium to face the reigning World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals. The Interleague matchup is just one 3-game series this season (instead of a home-and-home matchup like last year).

The Royals are coming off a series sweep at home versus Milwaukee, while the Cardinals won their series against the Chicago White Sox. The Cardinals moved into a tie for second place in the National League Central with Pittsburgh (three games back of Cincinnati).

Friday: Vin Mazzaro (2-1, 3.60 ERA) @ Kyle Lohse (6-1, 2.90 ERA)

Mazzaro is coming off a bad start against the Pirates (just three innings). How long he stays in the rotation will depend on how he continues to pitch.

Lohse has been dominant so far in June (0.66 ERA and a .106 opponent’s abtting average). He has allowed more than three earned runs in just two starts in 2012.

Saturday: Bruce Chen (5-6, 4.44 ERA) @ Joe Kelly (0-0, 1.80 ERA)

I feel like I write this every fifth day, but Chen has been the Royals most consistent starter.

Kelly made his Major League debut last Sunday and did not disappoint (one run on seven hits over five innings).

Sunday: Luis Mendoza (2-3, 4.89 ERA) @ Adam Wainwright (4-7, 4.75 ERA)

Mendoza hasn’t won a game since May 13th, but carried a no-hitter against the Brewers into the 7th inning in his last start.

Wainwright has gotten better and better with each start as the season has progressed. It is his first year back after Tommy John surgery.

Let the battle for Missouri begin!

*For more on the Cardinals, check out Aaron Miles’ Fastball.

You can talk all about the heroes for the St. Louis Cardinals: David Freese, Lance Berkman, Chris Carpenter, but without a certain reliever the Cardinals would not have won the World Series last night (let alone make the playoffs).

Via Max Faulkner/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/MCT

Former KC Royal Octavio Dotel, who was acquired at the trading deadline from the Toronto Blue Jays (with fellow reliever Marc Rzepczynski), came into big situation after big situation and repeatedly came out unscathed. He shut down the mighty Philadelphia Phillies lineup. He shut down Milwaukee Brewers stud Ryan Braun. Finally, he shut down the powerful Texas Rangers lineup.

It all came to fruition in Game 7 last night. With the Cardinals leading 5-2 in the 7th inning, Dotel entered the game with one out and David Murphy on second base. He proceeded to strike out Ian Kinsler and get Elvis Andrus to fly out to end the inning.

It wasn’t just his performance out of the bullpen that made Dotel such a huge addition. It was what he brought to the clubhouse: his attitude, confidence, and veteran presence. He and Rafael Furcal brought the phrase “Happy Flight” to St. Louis and they could be heard chanting it after winning it all last night (and after winning each series prior).

That confidence was on display after Game 6. Dotel calmly sat at his locker and declared the World Series over. And why wouldn’t the Cardinals think that? They had just come back from the brink, down to their final strike, twice, with Freese’s walk-off homer in the 11th inning sending them to a Game 7. It had to be a demoralizing loss for the Rangers, no matter what they said.

So congrats to the former Royal and all the Cardinals for giving us a great World Series!