Chiefs Fall To Rams, 31-17

After a hot start to their preseason, the Chiefs looked sloppy last night in a 31-17 loss to the lowly St. Louis Rams. Kansas City's defense struggled, giving up two quick touchdowns against the Rams' first-string offense and 17 total first half points.

The defensive performance has to be worrisome for Chief fans. Kansas City gave up a quick touchdown on St. Louis' opening possession, then allowed the Rams to score only a few minutes later after a costly Jonathan Baldwin fumble. The Rams, who were one of the worst offensive teams in all of football last year, gained 151 yards in the first quarter alone. The Chiefs' D looked great against Arizona, but the Cardinals have some of the worst quarterback play in the league. The Chiefs have a very talented defense, and they are missing their best cornerback, so this may have simply just been a random poor showing.

Offensively, Kansas City didn't fare much better. Cassel played the entire first half, and he put up decent numbers as the Chiefs mustered 10 points. However, turnovers plagued the team all night, as the Chiefs committed four turnovers - three of them fumbles. With the Rams' offensive clicking early, the turnovers proved to be the difference in the game. The team's backups didn't play very well either, as the Chiefs only score in the second half came late in the game, when Brady Quinn hit Jeremy Horne for a 38 yard touchdown.

Many have predicted the Rams to make some improvements this season under new head coach Jeff Fisher, and St. Louis looked sharp last night after getting blown out by the Colts in their first preseason game. The facts are what they are, however, and St. Louis is coming off a dismal 2-14 season in which they averaged 12 points a game. Hopefully this loss will get the attention of the Chiefs' younger players and will help the team get focused with the regular season only a couple weeks away.

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Royals Fall To Cardinals, Lose 1-70 Series

After winning game one of the 1-70 series, the Royals lost two consecutive heart-breakers to their Missouri rival. Kansas City lost two straight games by a 5-4 score to the Cardinals, falling in each game due to late St. Louis home runs.

Sunday night was a back and forth affair, and appeared to be heading towards extra innings thanks to more hot hitting from Alcides Escobar. Escobar tied the game up at 4 in the ninth inning with his first home run of the season, continuing a unprecidented offensive performance from the plate. Escobar's batting average has skyrocketed over the past few weeks, and it appears that Kansas City has finally found a shortstop that can both play defense and hit. Escobar's heroics were not enough, however, as St. Louis' Skip Schumaker hit a solo shot in the bottom of the ninth to give the Cardinals the win.

The game was eerily similar to saturday's game, in which Kansas City lost another 5-4 game due to a late home run. On saturday, the Royals actually held a late lead, thanks to Alex Gordon's home run in the seventh inning. Kansas City would fall behind in the eighth inning due to Matt Holliday's two run blast and was unable to recover. A disappointing end to two games the Royals were in position to win.

The Royals will continue their interleague portion of the schedule tomorrow, hosting the Arizona Diamondbacks. Game one starts at 7:10 p.m., and Luke Hochevar will get the start for Kansas City.

Royals Win Game One of the 1-70 Series

The Royals held on to beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-4 in the first game of the annually-hyped 1-70 series. Alcides Escobar continued to stay hot at the plate, contributing two hits and a run for Kansas City. Escobar is now 14 of 24 from the plate over the past seven games, with eight runs scored.

Escobar was also involved in the game's deciding play during the eighth inning. Escobar hit a hard ground ball towards gold-glove first baseman Albert Pujols, however Pujols was unable to make the stop. Mike Moustakas scored the go-ahead run, and Pujols was charged with an error. Pujols had a chance to get revenge on the Royals in the ninth, as he faced closer Joakim Soria with the tying run on first. However, Soria was able to get the out, and Kansas City stole game one of the series.

Kansas City raced out to an early 3-0 lead thanks to RBI hits from Jeff Francoeur and Alex Gordon, only to watch St. Louis roar back and take a 4-3 lead in the third. Game two of the series starts tonight at 6:15 p.m., and Vin Mazzaro will get the start for the Royals.

Royals Drop Series to Cardinals in Wild Fashion

The Royals dropped a wild 9-8 game to the Cardinals, losing the 1-70 series and falling to 22-24 overall. The loss moves Kansas City to eight games back of Cleveland in the AL Central.

The Royals pitching yesterday was downright terrible at times, as Kansas City walked 13 batters. However, St. Louis was called for only walk, which upset catcher Matt Treanor and manager Ned Yost so much that they both were ejected during the seventh inning. Kansas City had fallen behind by as much as six runs, but was able to battle back and tie up the game before eventually losing in extra innings. Kansas City's poor pitching and defense (the team's streak of 11 games without an error was broking) wasted a terrific offensive effort from the Royals, as Alex Gordon, Wilson Betemit and Jeff Francoeur all homered during the comeback.

The Royals have an opportunity to get a once promising season back on track in its next series against Baltimore. Danny Duffy has showed some promise, and he will get the start tonight against the Orioles.