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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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.

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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.

Royals Lose In Record-Setting Fashion

Just when things had started looking up for Kansas City, disaster struck. Vin Mazzaro made major league history in the worst way imaginable - giving up 14 runs in less than three innings - and the Royals were mauled by Cleveland 19-1.

No major league pitcher has given up 14 runs in as few of innings as Mazzaro did, which means he now owns a major league record. His horrible performance also cost him a spot on the team, as the Royals sent him back down to the minors after the debacle was over. It is hard to imagine that Mazzaro - who know boasts a 22.74 ERA - will get another major league shot anytime soon.

As bad as Mazzaro was, the Royals coaching staff has to shoulder some blame here. One has to wonder what on earth they were thinking while they stood there and watched the young pitcher get absolutely shelled. Was it to send a message? Did they hope to kill as much of his confidence as they could? The guy gave up ten runs in the fourth inning, so naturally we should bring him back out for the fifth, right?

It is nights like last night and coaching decisions such as leaving in a guy getting tormented that make the Kansas City Royals what they are. Just baffling.