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.

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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.

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Royals Shut Out A's - Jeremy Guthrie Continues To Dominate

Almost a month ago, the Royals traded the struggling Jonathan Sanchez for Jeremy Guthrie, a pitcher who was also in the middle of a bad season. At first it appeared that the Royals failed to gain anything from the trade, as Guthrie struggled in his first start in Kansas City. Now, that trade appears to be a steal, as the new Royals pitcher is in the middle of an incredible pitching streak and could become a mainstay in Kansas City’s rotation.

Last night against the A’s, Guthrie completely shut down an Oakland team that has been one of the biggest surprises in baseball this season and is currently fighting for a playoff spot. Guthrie only allowed three singles in seven innings, adding a season-high eight strikeouts to completely dominate Oakland. The Royals would use a hot fifth inning to put the A’s away and wound up winning 5-0, improving the team’s record to 50-65 on the season.

It appears that Guthrie is coming into his own in Kansas City, as the pitcher currently has a 15 inning scoreless streak and three strong consecutive starts. He will be a free agent after this season, but it appears that the team may have plans to resign him and offer him a starting position next year. A change of scenery may have been all that Guthrie needed, and he claims that working with Royals pitching coach Dave Eiland has given his game a significant boost. For the moment, it appears that he has impressed both general manager Dayton Moore and manager Ned Yost, and may be part of the team’s future, even though Kansas City will be getting several talented pitchers back from injury next season.

The Royals face the A’s again tonight at home in the second game of the teams’ three game series. Will Smith (3-4) will start for Kansas City, while Brandon McCarthy (6-3) will start for the A’s. The game starts at 7:10 a.m.

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Royals Win Third Straight Game

The Royals have been playing some pretty good baseball lately, winning their third straight game last night with a dominating 8-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. Kansas City has now won seven out of its past 10 games, and has improved its record to 48-63 on the season.

One big reason the team is winning games is due to a suddenly hot offense, led by Billy Butler and Alex Gordon. Both players homered in the first inning last night, giving the Royals a commanding 4-0 lead early on. Butler has three homers in the past week, and has raised his average to .303 for the season with 23 home runs and 72 RBI. Gordon has also cranked up the offensive production, raising his season average to .294. Gordon is batting .347 since the All-Star break, and while he has failed to provide the Royals’ offense with power, his ability to get on base in front of players like Butler has been very valuable, as has his defense in the outfield.

The Royals have also gotten some strong pitching performances recently, only giving up five total runs over the past three games. The biggest surprise was the recently-acquired Jeremy Guthrie, who was dominate in an eight-inning performance against the White Sox. Guthrie was acquired when Kansas City traded Jonathan Sanchez, and it appeared as if the team had merely swapped one struggling pitcher for another. If Guthrie can turn things around and continue to pitch well, he could find a permanent spot in Kansas City’s rotation entering next season.

The Royals will be back in action tonight, facing the Orioles in game two of the teams’ four-game series. Luke Hochevar (7-9) will start for Kansas City, while Miguel Gonzalez (3-2) will start for Baltimore. The game will begin at 6:05 p.m.

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Royals Avoid Sweep With Extra Innings Victory Over Rangers

The Royals pulled off an improbably comeback today, beating the Texas Rangers in extra innings, 7-6. The game winning run was scored by Eric Hosmer, who scored on a costly throwing error by rookie Mike Olt to end the game. With the win, Kansas City moves to 45-62 on the season.

With the scored tied up at 6 in the bottom of the 10^th, the Rangers made several critical mistakes that allowed the Royals to steal the game. Olt’s error lead to the end of the game on Jeff Francoeur’s grounder, but Texas had shot itself in the foot previously in the inning to put themselves in that position. Alberto Gonzalez botched a routine ground ball only three pitches earlier which allowed Hosmer to advance.

It appeared as if the Royals were on the verge of being swept all game, as Texas took a three run lead in the fourth inning. After Kansas City regained the lead thanks to home runs by Francoeur and Bryan Pena, Olt tied the game up for the Rangers on a double from Michael Young. Elvis Andrus attempted to give the Rangers the lead on the same play, but was thrown out at home. Texas would have another opportunity to win the game in the top of the tenth, when they loaded the bases with only one out. Alcides Escobar made a great diving catch for the second out of the inning, and Greg Holland struck out Olt to keep Kansas City alive.

The Royals start a seven game road trip tomorrow, when they travel to Chicago to take on the White Sox. Luis Mendoza (5-7), who has been pitching well of late, will take the mound for Kansas City.  Chris Sale (12-3), in the midst of one of the best pitching seasons in the majors this year, will start for Chicago.

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Royals & Chiefs Caught In Taxpayer Scandal

Information has recently been leaked out suggesting that both the Kansas City Royals and the Kansas City Chiefs have been misusing Jackson Country residents’ tax dollars. Both teams have a fund set up for stadium renovations; however, it has recently been discovered that the Chiefs and Royals are using these funds for many non-repair subjects.

Both teams currently get reimbursed through a fund for RMMO (repairs, maintenance, management and operations) expenses. This fund was designed to be used first to pay debt service on a $500 million bond approved for the recent upgrades and renovations for both Kauffman and Arrowhead stadiums. Rather than focus on repairs and maintenance, the two organizations are taking advantage of an amendment added to the stadium’s lease agreement that allows the RMMO funds to be used for “event day operations.”

According to documents, the Royals have used only nine percent of the $17 million RMMO funds they’ve requested from taxpayers over the last five years for maintenance, while some of the money has been used to cover payroll taxes. The Chiefs have used just 33 percent of the 27.3 million they have requested.

The main issue here is that both the Chiefs and Royals are using taxpayer money to reduce the cost of running their teams. Taxpayers funds are going towards payroll taxes, something that these funds were not originally designed to do. It will be interesting to see what the Kansas City public’s reaction to this news will be, and if it has any effect on attendance or support during the remainder of the Royals’ season or the upcoming Chiefs season. At this point, no official statements have been issued by either organization to respond to these allegations, but Royals owner David Glass has had contact with County Executive Mike Sanders regarding the team’s spending.

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Royals Trade Jonathan Broxton To The Reds For Two Minor League Players

The Royals made a move to improve their future yesterday, trading closer Jonathan Broxton to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for minor league pitchers J.C. Sulbaran and Donnie Joseph. Greg Holland is expected to fill Broxton’s role as closer for the Royals for the remainder of the regular season.

Sulbaran, a 22-year-old right-hander, was the Reds 30th round draft pick in 2008. The Plantation, FL native is 25-24 with a 4.68 ERA in the minor leagues. While these numbers won’t wow Royals fans, he does have 449 strikeouts in 413 professional innings. Also interesting to note is that Sulbaran was a high school teammate of Kansas City’s Eric Hosmer. Joseph, a 24-year-old left, was the Red’s third round pick in the 2009 draft. He is 16-14 with a 3.50 ERA in four minor league seasons, and has converted 54 saves.

Broxton has pitched well for the Royals this season, but will be somewhat expendable next season with the return of former All Star Joakim Soria. Broxton will likely be used as a set-up man for closer Aroldis Chapman, similar to the role he was original slated to do in Kansas City. Reds manager Dusty Baker may use Broxton for save situations when Chapman could use some rest. Broxton gets to go from a team that is 41-60 and in last place to the Reds, who have the second-best record in the majors and currently sit in first place.

For the Royals, this move makes sense. The team will not have much of a need for Broxton after the season, and he would be expensive to resign as a free agent after pitching at an All Star level for much of the 2012 season. The team did what it could to replace Broxton with two young arms, and hopefully either Sulbaran or Joseph develops into a capable major league pitcher. Kansas City didn’t have many options, so stocking up with two young players for the future seems like a steal, given the situation.

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What Will The Royals Do At The 2012 MLB Trade Deadline?

The 2012 MLB trade deadline is only hours away, and some talk has been heating up regarding Kansas City making a deal. Now that the team is almost 20 games under .500 and is officially heading towards another horrendous final record, it is time for Kansas City to consider its future and shed some dead weight.

Perhaps the player that has gotten the most trade consideration lately is closer Jonathan Broxton, who has resurrected his career this year with 22 saves and a 2.34 ERA. Broxton’s numbers were good enough to merit All Star consideration, and teams in the playoff hunt or missing a closer may take a flyer on the right-hander. The Yankees, Angels, Giants and Rangers have all expressed interest. With Joakim Soria returning next year and the Royals out of contention, there really is no need to hang on to Broxton, as good as he has been. Hopefully the team can get some young arms in return, as Broxton has demonstrated strong value all season long.

Kansas City also has two veteran hitters that have become some dead weight to the organization in Jeff Francoeur and Yuniesky Betancourt. After putting together a solid season at the plate last year, Francoeur has struggled this season, batting only .247 with eight home runs. He is a good option defensively, and is a leader in the club house, so Kansas City may be able to find looking for a veteran presence. Betancourt has similar numbers to Francoeur – a .245 average and seven home runs – although he is a bit of a liability defensively.

The final player mentioned in trade rumors is pitcher Jose Mijares, who despite some recent struggles has had a pretty good season. Mijares has posted a 1.72 ERA in 46 appearances, and could be attractive for a team looking for some bullpen help.

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Royals Swept By Mariners

The Royals have been in a total funk since the 2012 MLB All Star break, and their poor play has lead to another embarrassing sweep. This time, the Royals were downed by the lowly Mariners, losing game four in heartbreaking fashion, 7-6. The loss dropped the team to 41-60 on the season, and Kansas City is now dead last in the AL Central.

Today's game featured a furious rally late, but the Royals once again were undone by some poor pitching late in the game. After Seattle raced out to a 5-2 lead, Kansas City tied it up with clutch hits from Billy Butler and Eric Hosmer. However, the team quickly gave up runs due to some poor pitching and fielding from Jose Mijares, who committed a throwing error after allowing several players to get on base.

The sad news for Royals fans is that the season is essentially over now, as the team has continued to dig a hole it cannot get out of. The team has gone 4-13 since play resumed, despite several series against easy opponents. Kansas City has continued to get some great play from several of its players, most notably All Star Billy Butler, but injuries to the pitching staff has been too damaging to overcome.

The team has two upcoming home series next, hosting the Cleveland Indians and the Texas Rangers. Game one against Cleveland will be Tuesday, July 31st, and Luke Hochevar (6-9) will get the start for Kansas City.

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Walks Once Again Doom Royals In Loss To Angels

The Royals’ pitching staff has struggled all season long, particularly with allowing walks. The team leads the American League with 344 walks this season, and two key walks ended up being difference makers in the team’s 6-3 loss to the LA Angels last night.

Midway through the game, Kansas City was locked in a tight 2-2 draw, thanks to RBIs early in the game from Alex Gordon and Lorenzo Cain. However, once the sixth inning hit, the Royals’ shaky pitching once again reared its ugly head. Howie Kendrick drew a leadoff walk, and then scored on a single by Maicer Izturis. After the Royals tied the game again when Bryan Pena drove in Eric Hosmer, Kansas City’s Greg Holland sunk the team’s chances with an awful walk in the eighth. The Royals had already gotten two outs in the inning, and Holland faced Peter Bourjos, who entered the at-bat with a measly .223 batting average. Holland walked Bourjos on four straight pitches, and then gave up a three-run single to Kendrys Morales that essentially was the ball game.

The Royals have been walking batters an alarming rate this season, and once it again it came back to haunt them in a crucial situation. Holland’s mistake wasted a decent outing from Chen, who gave up three runs and give hits in 5 1/3 innings. Chen is now 0-2 with a 9.25 ERA in his last five starts, after a hot streak in which he went 7-2 over his previous 10 outings.

Kansas City will face the Angels in LA again tonight at 9:05 p.m. Will Smith (1-3) will start for the Royals, while Garrett Richards (3-1) will take the mound for the Angels.

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Royals' Guthrie Poor In Debut Against Twins

During the offseason, the Royals made one of the worst trades in recent baseball history. The team sent Melky Cabrera packing, trading the future 2012 All Star game MVP to the Giants for pitcher Jonathan Sanchez. This season, Cabrera has been one of the better hitters in baseball, while Sanchez was a complete disaster - a 7.76 ERA in 12 starts, one win and six losses. The trade could very well spell the end for Dayton Moore in Kansas City. The Royals finally cut ties with Sanchez, trading him on Friday for Jeremy Guthrie.

Unfortunately for Kansas City, Guthrie really hasn't been any better than Sanchez this season, and his debut today mirrored his results from earlier this year. Guthrie lasted only five innings, giving up five runs in a 7-5 loss to the Twins and falling to 3-10 on the season with a 6.49 ERA. Hopefully a change of scenery pays off for Guthrie, but his career as a Royal currently got off to a rocky start.

Starting pitching has been a huge problem for the team since the All Star break. On the Royals 10 game homestand, the team's rotation had a 7.38 ERA, a big reason why Kansas City is 3-7 despite facing an easy schedule. Injuries have really decimated this group, and its hard to see the team ever getting back in contention now.

The lone bright spot for the Royals was Billy Butler, who belted his 19th homer of the season. Alex Gordon and Mike Moustakas have continued to hit and get on base as well, and the team's young core has steadily produced runs since the All Star break. We'll see if the Royals pitching can improve enough to support the team's offense.

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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.

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Billy Butler's Walk Off Gives Royals Much-Needed Win Over Mariners

After losing four of its first five games since the All Star break, the Royals desperately needed something to give the team hope as it tries to crawl back in contention in the American League. Leave it to the team’s All Star, Billy Butler, to come up huge when the team needed him most. Butler hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth last night, giving the Royals a much needed 8-7 victory over the Mariners. With the win, Kansas City moved to 39-51 on the season, 10.5 games out in the AL Central.

Butler’s heroics saved what could have been a disaster for the Royals, as Kansas City blew a four run lead late in the game thanks to some horrendous pitching from its bullpen. Bruce Chen provided the team with a quality start, and Kansas City’s offense was rolling early thanks to big hits from Alex Gordon and Mike Moustakas. The team also got a two run homer from the hot-hitting Lorenzo Cain, who is now 10-20 in the midst of a six game hitting streak. However, after building what seemed to be an insurmountable lead, Kansas City’s Jose Mijares and Aaron Crow gave up three runs in the seventh. Had Butler not saved the day with his walk-off, this would have been an extremely tough loss for Royals fans.

Kansas City’s entire pitching staff struggled all series long, giving up 26 runs over three games and wasting a pretty good offensive series from the Royals. With the troubles on the mound, the Royals have called up lefty Will Smith, who is 3-0 with a 1.30 ERA in his last four starts at Triple-A Omaha. To make room for Smith, the team optioned Ryan Verdugo, who struggled in his major league debut on Tuesday.

Smith will pitch for the Royals today in the team’s final game of its series with the Mariners. He will face Felix Hernandez (7-5). The game will begin at 1:10 p.m. at Kauffman Stadium.

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Royals Drop First Series After All Star Break To White Sox

The 2012 MLB All Star game has come and gone, and the Royals kicked off the second half of the 2012 MLB season with a home series against the Chicago White Sox. Unfortunately, Kansas City dropped two of three in the series, falling to 38-49 for the season.

It was an up and down series for Kansas City, as the team first lost a 14 inning marathon Friday night before rallying for a 6-3 victory Saturday. In today's rubber match, the Royals faced one of the best pitchers in the league in Chris Sale, and could only muster a single run in a 2-1 loss. The poor offensive performance wasted a strong pitching effort from Luis Mendoza, who only allowed two runs and four hits in over seven innings of work.

While the series loss is disappointing, the team has a great opportunity to pick up some wins and get back into contention with its upcoming series. The Royals' next seven games are all at home, against the struggling Seattle Mariners and Minnesota Twins. The team hits the road for a three game series with the Angels before beginning another four game series with the Mariners in Seattle. If there was ever a stretch in the season in which the Royals could make a move, it is the next couple of weeks. We will see if the team can take advantage of the weak schedule or if Kansas City is once again heading towards a mediocre final record.

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Previewing The Upcoming 2012 MLB All Star Futures Game

The 2012 MLB All Star Futures Game is right around the corner, featuring the top minor league players in Major League Baseball. The game will be a part of the Taco Bell All-Star Sunday lineup, and is scheduled to take place at 4:00 p.m. ESPN2 and MLB.TV will carry the broadcast of the game.

The futures game is a great opportunity for baseball fans to see the next wave of the league’s stars, and to also catch a glimpse of the top minor league prospects in their organization. Current Royals stars such as Eric Hosmer participated in the event before being called up the major leagues, and some of the league’s top young talent, including players such as Bryce Harper, have participated in the past. The Royals have three players participating in the game – more than any other MLB team. Will Myers, Jake Odorizzi and Yordano Ventura will be representing Kansas City in the exhibition.

There are 31 players on MLB’s top 100 prospects list on the two rosters. The 3-8 prospects on the list - Manny Machado, Jurickson Profar, Jameson Taillon, Trevor Bauer, Dylan Bundy and Gerrit Cole - will be participating, and nearly half of the Top 50 are on the roster.

The World Team features players from 11 different countries and territories outside the United States. The Dominican Republic has eight players, followed by Venezuela with six, Cuba with two and Puerto Rico with two. There are also players representing Aruba, Canada, Curacao, England, Panama, Taiwan and South Korea.

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Who Will Represent The Royals In The 2012 MLB All Star Game?

The 2012 MLB All Star Game is approaching, and online voting for MLB fans ends tonight at midnight. Royals fans will have to wait several days to find out which Kansas City player will be representing the team in the All Star Game, although there are two strong possibilities as to who will get the Royals’ All Star selection.

Billy Butler has made a strong case to be selected as Kansas City’s All Star. The 26-year-old slugger has hit for a .296 average this season, with 15 homers and 46 RBI. Not only has Butler been Kansas City’s most consistent offensive player, he has several clutch home runs that have helped the Royals win some close games. Without Butler’s performance at the plate, it is safe to say that Kansas City would not be sitting at 34-39 on the season and only a couple of games out of first. Despite another solid year, Butler may get passed over in favor of designated hitters like David Ortiz, and his position is loaded with players with similar, if not better, numbers.

Another possibility is Jonathan Broxton, who has slowly turned into one of the better closers in the American League this season. Broxton boasts a 1.52 ERA and 19 saves this season, and is another reason why the Royals are still in contention midway through the season. Due to the number of pitchers selected, Broxton has to be the favorite to grab Kansas City’s All Star spot.

Fresh off an impressive sweep of the Rays, the Royals will begin a series in Minnesota tomorrow against the Twins. Minnesota is one of the worst teams in baseball, and the Royals have a great opportunity to bring their record closer to .500 on the season.

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MLB Releases Rosters For 2012 All-Star Futures Game

The 14th annual Sirius XM All-Star Futures game has released its rosters, compromising of the top minor league players in Major League Baseball. The game will be a part of the Taco Bell All-Star Sunday lineup, and is scheduled to take place at 4:00 p.m. ESPN2 and MLB.TV will carry the broadcast of the game.

The futures game is a great opportunity for baseball fans to see the next wave of the league’s stars, and to also catch a glimpse of the top minor league prospects in their organization. Current Royals stars such as Eric Hosmer participated in the event before being called up the major leagues, and some of the league’s top young talent, including players such as Bryce Harper, have participated in the past. The Royals have three players participating in the game – more than any other MLB team. Will Myers, Jake Odorizzi and Yordano Ventura will be representing Kansas City in the exhibition.

There are 31 players on MLB’s top 100 prospects list on the two rosters. The 3-8 prospects on the list - Manny Machado, Jurickson Profar, Jameson Taillon, Trevor Bauer, Dylan Bundy and Gerrit Cole - will be participating, and nearly half of the Top 50 are on the roster.

The World Team features players from 11 different countries and territories outside the United States. The Dominican Republic has eight players, followed by Venezuela with six, Cuba with two and Puerto Rico with two. There are also players representing Aruba, Canada, Curacao, England, Panama, Taiwan and South Korea.

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Royals Swept By Cardinals

Just when the Royals had crawled back into contention and found themselves only a few games out of first place, disaster struck. Kansas City’s starting pitching was dreadful all weekend, and the Royals were swept by the St. Louis Cardinals.

The sweep highlights why Kansas City will once again have a sub .500 season – the Royals simply do not have capable starting pitching. Against St. Louis, the Royals gave up 41 hits and 30 runs over three games. The poor pitching performances wasted a great offensive output from the Royals on Sunday, when Mike Moustakas hit two home runs and both Jeff Francoeur and Billy Butler went yard as well.

Injuries have completely decimated the rotation, forcing the team to start players that really have no business pitching in the major leagues. At the moment, Bruce Chen is the team’s best pitcher who is not on the disabled list, and he is sporting a 4.81 ERA for the season. Chen is who he is, a decent option for a fourth of fifth starter, but he shouldn’t be the Royals best option at this point. Luke Hochevar has made it official that he is never coming close to living up to his first overall draft status as well, meaning that Kansas City is going to have to score a lot of runs night in and night out to have a shot. That is simply too much pressure on the offense, and it appears that it will likely be downhill from here for the rest of the season.

The Royals will try to get back on track tonight, when they start a three-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays. Hochevar (4-7) will start for the Royals, while Alex Cobb (3-3) will take the mound for the Rays. Game one is tonight at 7:10 p.m. at Kauffman Stadium.

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.

MLB Releases Crown Statues For All-Star Game, Royals Make Roster Moves

Major League Baseball has unveiled their All-Star Crown Statues to celebrate the 2012 MLB All-Star game and activities held in Kansas City. MLB teamed up with licensee Forever Collectibles to design a series of All-Star crown statues to celebrate baseball in Kansas City. A total of five statues, each weighing more than 1,000 pounds, will be positioned around the Kansas City area. MLB will announce the specific locations at a later date.

The statues will be uniquely decorated to celebrate the 2012 All-Star Game, the Royals, and each of MLB’s 30 clubs. Artist Charles Fazzio designed and painted one of the statues.

Collectible versions of the statues are now available as well at the MLB.com shop. The statues are 6.5 inches tall, and should be available through team shops and local retailers sometime next week. Each statue is currently $24.99 through the MLB.com shop.

In Royals news, Kansas City has announced that Catcher Salvy Perez will return for this weekend’s I-70 series against the St. Louis Cardinals. Perez missed the season’s first 67 games, but has been playing extremely well in Class AAA ball in Omaha. However, the Royals will be losing the best pitcher on their staff, as Felipe Paulino’s injury will require him to have season-ending Tommy John surgery. The injury is similar to the one that Danny Duffy suffered several weeks ago, and Paulino will be the fourth Royal pitcher to be forced to undergo Tommy John surgery this season.

The Royals will face the Cardinals tonight at 7:10 p.m at Kauffman Stadium. Vin Mazzaro (3-1) will start for Kansas City, while Joe Kelly (0-0) will take the mound for St. Louis.

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Ned Yost Named To AL Coaching Staff in 2012 MLB All Star Game

Royals Manager Ned Yost and Head Athletic Trainer Nick Kennedy have been named members of the AL coaching staff for the upcoming 2012 MLB All Star game, July 10 at Kauffman Stadium. The two will join AL manager Ron Washington’s staff, who will be coaching his second consecutive All Star game. Oakland Manager Bob Melvin will join Yost and Washington. Washington has told the media that he picked Yost due to the impressive job he has done with a young Kansas City team this season.

The National League will be managed by Tony La Russa, who lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a world series championship last year. La Russa’s staff also includes Ron Roenicke of the Milwaukee Brewers and Terry Collins of the New York Mets.

This will be Yost’s fifth All Star game appearance; he also was included on the staffs in the 1996, 1997, 2000 and 2005 games. This will be the first All Star appearance for Kennedy, who is now in his third season as the Royals’ head trainer. Kennedy will be joined by Lonnie Soloff of the Cleveland Indians.

Yost is the 10th Royals manager to serve on the AL staff. Dick Howser was manager in 1986 after the Royals won the 1985 World Series, and was a coach in 1982 and 1985. Other Royals coaches who participated include Bob Lemon, Jack McKeon, Whitey Herzog, Hal McRae, Bob Boone, Tony Muser, Tony Pena and Trey Hillman. Kennedy is the fourth Royals trainer to be included on an All Star game staff, joining Jim Dudley, Mickey Cobb and Nick Swartz.

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.