Royals Face Indians with First Place on the Line

The Royals had a productive weekend, winning a series against lowly Seattle and pushing its record to 10-5 for the season. However, the Royals currently sit in second place behind the surprising Indians. Naturally, Kansas City begins a four game home series with Cleveland tonight.

The Royals had a great opportunity to sweep Seattle and pull even with Cleveland; however they came short against Seattle’s young Michael Pineda. Pineda was able to contain the Royals’ offense and limit Kansas City to only two runs. Before Sunday, the Royals’ bats had been red hot, and they will need to find their offense in a hurry with a tough upcoming schedule. Kansas City has a series with Cleveland, Texas and then Cleveland again.

Tonight’s game provides a golden opportunity for both Cleveland and Kansas City to prove they are for real. Both teams had terrible seasons last year, and have become the biggest stories in baseball. Most experts and fans still aren’t sure how legit the Royals are, but we will have a real good idea after this series.

Royals Fall to Twins in Extras

After starting the season with a couple of thrilling wins in extra innings, the Royals have now been on the wrong side of two extended games. Last night, Kansas City fell to Minnesota, 4-3. As a result, the Royals are no longer in first place, trailing the White Sox by a half-game. Chicago grabbed the division lead with its own extra-inning magic against Oakland. The Royals were in a dogfight all night, and were forced to manufacture runs off of sacrifices and infield singles. The weak offensive output wasted another solid start from Jeff Francis, who now has three straight no decisions despite only giving up six runs in his first 20 2/3 innings as a Royal.

The difference in last night’s game was the performance of the bullpens: Minnesota’s relievers were absolutely lights out, retiring 12 consecutive batters and never allowing KC to pose a threat. Robinson Tejeda struggled, loading the bases before Danny Valencia won the game with a single.

Kansas City has a bad habit of dropping close slugfests like last night’s game, especially against the Twins. If it wants to continue to win games and be a contender, it has to start beating Minnesota consistently.

Royals Win In Extra Innings Again

The first place Royals (no that is not a misprint) won its second consecutive thriller, beating the White Sox 7-6 in extra innings. This is the second straight win for the Royals in extra innings, as Kansas City came back to beat the Angels on Sunday.

The Royals have now won four straight games for the first time since September of 2009. The team has used some late-game magic in all four of its wins - and its only loss came when an Alex Gordon blast fell just inches short of a game-winning home run. The Royals' late-game heroics should have relief pitchers and closers around the league terrified, as this team has proved it will go down swinging every night.

This time, Melky Cabrera was the hero, singling home Chris Getz to give Kansas City another walkoff win. The Royals' offense is producing, with new players such as Cabrera and Matt Treanor mixing well with Billy Butler (on pace for another strong season) and Alex Gordon (finally playing like the player we thought he could be).

This feels a bit like the 2003 season, the last time the Royals finished with a winning record. That year, Kansas City had an endless supply of late-game heroics and breakout seasons from several players. While still early, the Royals start may signal that the team could be ready to contend sooner than most expected.

Royals Beat Angels in Marathon, Improve to 3-1

After a dismal start to the season on opening day, the Royals have now won three straight games in dramatic fashion. Sunday's series-clinching win against the Los Angeles Angels was the craziest of all, as the Royals rallied in extra innings to prevail, 12-9.

Kansas City's offense finally woke up, as the Royals jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead. However, Los Angeles continued to climb back into the game, and eventually took a 9-7 lead off a home run by former Royal Alberto Callaspo. When it looked like Kansas City was just about finished, the Royals were able to load up the bases thanks to some terrible pitching from the Angels. Wilson Betemit then doubled to tie up the game, a ball that was nearly caught by a diving Vernon Wells. After three terrific innings from new relief pitcher Tim Collins, another new Royal - catcher Matt Treanor - ended the game with a three run home run in the bottom of the 13th inning.

After relying on solid pitching and some timely hits to win its first two games, the Royals offense exploded against the struggling Scott Kazmir. Alex Gordon woke up and had a monster game, as did Jeff Francoeur. The Royals now find themselves two games over .500 for the first time since May of the 2009 season, and in first place. It may not last long, but so far, the Royals' season is off to a great start.