Showing posts with label Alcides Escobar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alcides Escobar. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Royals Offense Stalls, Team Drops Series To Rays

After sweeping the white sox over the weekend, the Royals came back down to earth a bit, dropping two out of three to the Tampa Bay Rays. Kansas City’s lone win came in an epic, extra-innings pitching duel between Like Hochevar and David Price.

David Price is one of the best pitchers in baseball, but on Tuesday, Kansas City’s Luke Hochevar went toe-to-toe with the All Star. Hochevar only allowed one hit while striking out ten, absolutely dominating the Rays and looking like the player the Royals thought they were getting when they selected him first overall in the 2006 MLB draft. Price was nearly as effective, striking out eight while only allowing three hits. The game was scoreless until the 10th inning, when Eric Hosmer hit a two-out single to score Jeff Francoeur. From there, Kansas City’s Kelvin Herrera held the lead, giving him his first victory in the major leagues.

Unfortunately for the Royals, their bats never quite woke up in this series, as they scored only five times over the three game span against the Rays. On Monday, the team only mustered one run off of Jeremy Hellickson, and today, the team got only three on the scoreboard against James Shields. The Rays are the best pitching team in the American League, boasting a 3.27 team ERA, and Kansas City may just have to be thankful they picked up one win thanks to Hochevar’s dominating performance. The team didn’t have many highlights from the plate, but Alcides Escobar did hit an RBI triple in the eighth inning.

The team’s upcoming schedule should provide the Royals with an opportunity to pick up a few more wins, as the team heads to Boston for a four game series with the struggling Red Sox. Game one in the series will be Friday night at 6:10 p.m. Bruce Chen (9-10) will start for Kansas City, and Jon Lester (7-10) will start for Boston.

Kansas City News, official kc news site with breaking stories on The Kansas City Royals, Chiefs, charity events, the 2012 MLB All Star Game, weather, sports, MU, KU, ufo sightings, dui checkpoints, Kansas City neighborhoods, nightlife, concerts, the Sprint Center, the Power and Light District and current Kansas City news articles.

Monday, August 20, 2012

Guthrie Flirts With No-Hitter, Royals Sweep White Sox

Jeremy Guthrie has been on fire lately, and that trend continued yesterday. Guthrie took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, and the Royals defeated the White Sox 5-2. The win gave Kansas City a sweep over their AL Central rival, and the team has been playing winning baseball over the past two weeks.

The hit that broke up Guthrie’s no-hitter attempt has been a controversial subject. Paul Konerko hit a ground ball that shortstop Alcides Escobar had to dive for. Escobar was able to make an accurate throw to first baseman Eric Hosmer, however the throw took a bounce that Hosmer was unable to field. It appeared the play should have been an error on Hosmer, however the official scorer Del Black decided that Escobar had to make too tough a play which resulted in an infield single. As a result, Guthrie didn’t even get a victory, as Chicago tacked on two runs later in the 8th inning. Luckily, Kansas City got some great hitting from Salvador Perez, who drove in runs in the 6th and 8th to twice give Kansas City the lead.

Dayton Moore has taken some heat this year, particularly for trading Melky Cabrera to the Giants for Jonathan Sanchez, who was a complete disaster for the Royals. However, he should be commended for trading Sanchez for Guthrie, who has been absolutely lights-out over his past several starts. Guthrie has likely earned a permanent spot in the Royals’ rotation, and could be part of the team’s future plans. With some key pitchers returning from injury next season, suddenly one of Kansas City’s biggest weaknesses – starting pitching – has a potentially bright future.

Kansas City’s sweep of Chicago improved the team’s record to 54-66 on the season, and the team will look to continue its winning ways when it travels to Tampa Bay for a three game series with the Rays. The first game starts tonight at 6:10 p.m., and Will Smith (4-4) will start for the Royals. Jeremy Hellickson (7-8) will be the starting pitcher for the Rays.

Kansas City News, official kc news site with breaking stories on The Kansas City Royals, Chiefs, charity events, the 2012 MLB All Star Game, weather, sports, MU, KU, ufo sightings, dui checkpoints, Kansas City neighborhoods, nightlife, concerts, the Sprint Center, the Power and Light District and current Kansas City news articles.

Friday, July 20, 2012

Royals Drop Series To Mariners, Resign Jason Kendall

On one of the hottest days of the year, the Royals had absolutely no answer for the red-hot Felix Hernandez, only producing one run in a 6-1 loss to the Mariners yesterday. The loss means that despite an easy post All Star break schedule, the team has yet to win a series since play resumed.

Hernandez worked through the eighth, only allowing a run when Chris Getz hit a single in the 5th to drive home Eric Hosmer. The Royals had a great chance to get back into the game in the eighth inning, when the team loaded the bases with only one out. Hernandez, who leads the league in strikeouts, fanned Alcides Escobar and got Billy Butler to ground out, ending any hope the Royals had for a comeback.

Seattle’s offense was led by Jesus Montero, who homered and drove in four runs of rookie Will Smith. Smith had pitched well in Triple-A Omaha before being called up due to the struggles the Royals have had in the bullpen, and despite his poor performance yesterday, he will likely get several more chances to earn a permanent spot in the rotation.

The Royals were busy making some deals as well, most notably their resigning of catcher Jason Kendall to a minor league contract. Kendall played for Kansas City in 2010 before missing all of 2011 due to injury. At 38, it is hard to imagine that Kendall has much left in the tank, but he played well for the team in 2010 and is a former three-time All Star. If the injury bug that has bitten the Royals pitching staff hits Kansas City’s offense, we may very well see Kendall called up sometime before the season ends.

Kansas City begins a three game series with Minnesota tonight to conclude the team’s ten game home stand. Luke Hochevar (6-8) will start for the Royals, and Nick Blackburn (4-5) will start for the Twins. Game one begins tonight at 7:10 p.m.

Kansas City News, official kc news site with breaking stories on The Kansas City Royals, Chiefs, charity events, the 2012 MLB All Star Game, weather, sports, MU, KU, ufo sightings, dui checkpoints, Kansas City neighborhoods, nightlife, concerts, the Sprint Center, the Power and Light District and current Kansas City news articles.

Monday, July 2, 2012

Billy Butler Named To 2012 MLB All Star Roster

Billy Butler won’t have to travel very far to attend his first MLB All Star game. The Royals DH was named to the American League squad for the 2012 MLB All Star game held in Kansas City.

Butler has been the Royals’ best offensive weapon this season, and is a big reason why KC is 35-42 and only a couple of games out of first place. Butler currently has a .297 average with 16 HR and 48 RBI for the season, and he has consistently provided the Royals with clutch hitting late in games. Butler is the only Royals player to make the team, despite strong seasons from players such as Jonathan Broxton, Mike Moustakas and Alcides Escobar.

Broxton still has an opportunity to play for the AL Central, although his fate is in the hands of the fans. Broxton is one of this year’s Final Vote candidates for the AL, joined by Yu Darvish, Jason Hammel, Jake Peavy and Ernesto Frieri.

Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton received 11,073,744 votes, easily breaking the previous record of votes for a player that was held by Jose Bautista. Giants catcher Buster Posey received the most NL votes with 7,621,370.

Butler’s AL teammates also include C Mike Napoli, 1B Prince Fielder, 2B Robinson Cano, 3B Adrian Beltre, S Derek Jeter and DH David Ortiz as the starters. Apart from Ortiz, Adam Dunn of the White Sox is the other AL Designated Hitter on the All Star roster.

Kansas City News, official kc news site with breaking stories on The Kansas City Royals, Chiefs, charity events, the 2012 MLB All Star Game, weather, sports, MU, KU, ufo sightings, dui checkpoints, Kansas City neighborhoods, nightlife, concerts, the Sprint Center, the Power and Light District and current Kansas City news articles.

Monday, June 20, 2011

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.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

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.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Billy Butler Hits Game Winning Home Run, Royals Beat Angels

Billy Butler hit his first walk off home run to give Kansas City a 2-0 win over the Los Angeles Angels. The victory gave Kansas City a much-needed series win, and improved the Royals' record to 25-30 on the season.

Butler's ninth inning blast was originally ruled a double, as the ball bounced off some padding past the outfield wall and landed back in play. Officials later correctly ruled that Butler had hit a home run after watching a video replay of the at bat.

While Butler won the game with his homer, the Royals' Alcides Escobar kept Kansas City in the game with a tremendous defensive play in the eighth. Los Angeles loaded the bases, and former Royal Alberto Callaspo hit a hard grounder that appeared out of Escobar's reach. However, the shortstop not only made the stop but threw Callaspo out at first, preventing the Angels from scoring and keeping Kansas City in the game. Escobar has been brutal at the plate this season, but his defense has earned him a spot in Kansas City's starting lineup.

While Butler and Escobar made the big plays, Kansas City's pitching staff deserves most of the credit. Since being aquired from the Colorado Rockies, Felipe Paulino has pitched extremely well. He only gave up four singles in five scorless innings yesterday, and has yet to give up a run as a Royal. Kansas City's pullpen finished off what Paulino started, and Tim Collins picked up the win.

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