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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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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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 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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Royals Win 15 Inning Marathon Against Cardinals

Yuniesky Betancourt blasted a two-run home run in the 15th, giving the Royals a 5-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. The win improved Kansas City’s record to 29-35 on the season, and the Royals have now won five of their last six games and trail the Chicago White Sox by only five games in the AL Central standings.

Betancourt wound up the hero, despite not even starting the game. He was forced into action when Chris Getz suffered a leg injury in the first inning. Betancourt nearly ended the game in the fourteenth inning, when his RBI double gave Kansas City a 3-2 lead. However, Jonathan Broxton blew the save and the game continued.

Before Betancourt’s heroics, Billy Butler had the game’s biggest hit. Butler hit a pinch-hit home run to tie the game in the ninth inning, his 12th blast of the season. Kansas City also got a bizarre contribution from Alex Gordon, who drew a franchise record five walks in the game. Gordon has now drawn five walks in a game twice, the only Royal in club history to achieve this feat.

While Betancourt and Butler stole the headlines with their homers, Kansas City would not have been in the game if it wasn’t for some strong pitching. Luis Mendoza pitched six strong innings, only allowing two runs while striking out five and only allowing one walk. The Royals’ bullpen also pitched well, as the Cardinals did not record a run between the sixth and fourteenth inning.

The Royals continue their interleague schedule tonight, when they will travel to Houston to begin a series with the Astros. Jonathan Sanchez (1-2) will start for Kansas City, while J.A. Happ (4-7) will start for Houston. The Royals have won seven of their last ten games against the Astros.

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