KC Royals - May

[SubGod22]

A heck of a weekend for the Royals with a sweep of the Twins!

Eight-run, two-out explosion makes history

KANSAS CITY -- History lesson: When the Royals scored all eight runs against the Twins with two outs in the eighth inning during Saturday's 11-2 win, it marked their biggest two-out explosion in 18 years

Gordon, Crow chosen for April awards

KANSAS CITY -- Rejuvenated left fielder Alex Gordon and rookie reliever Aaron Crow were selected for the Royals' monthly awards for April in a vote of Kansas City media.

Gordon, the Player of the Month, batted .338 and knocked in 19 runs with 12 doubles, two triples and two homers as he rebounded from a .215 season. He had a 19-game hitting streak and led the Majors with five outfield assists.

Crow, the Pitcher of the Month, had a 2-0 record and didn't give up a run in 11 appearances covering 13 2/3 innings. He stranded all nine runners he inherited and struck out 14 while allowing seven hits and five walks.

Adcock earning increased role in 'pen

KANSAS CITY -- Nate Adcock, one of the Royals' rookie right-handers, is getting tested as a Rule 5 player. So far he's earned passing grades.

Adcock had never pitched above Class A, and he has to be kept on the Royals' big-league roster all year because of his Rule 5 status, so manager Ned Yost has worked him in gradually. After being thrown into the Opening Day fray, Adcock made only four more appearances through Saturday night's 11-2 victory over the Twins.

Kansas City is currently 15-13 and in 2nd.

[SubGod22]

Stats of interest. Listed in order of number of at bats:

Melky Cabrera - .283, 8 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR
Alex Gordon - .339, 13 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 20 RBI
Alcides Escobar - .222, 5 2B, 5 SB
Jeff Francoeur - .308, 9 2B, 1 3B, 6 HR, 21 RBI
Billy Butler - .320, 8 2B, 3 HR, 20 BB
Chris Getz - .244, 1 2B, 2 3B, 12 BB, 5 SB
Kila Ka'aihue - .205, 4 2B, 2 HR, 12 BB
Mike Aviles - .250, 5 2B, 1 3B, 5 HR, 21 RBI, 6 SB
Wilson Betemit - .333, 8 2B, 1 HR
Matt Treanor - .204, 1 2B, 2 HR, 10 BB
Brayan Pena - .238, 2 2B, 1 HR
Jarrod Dyson - .188, 7 SB
Mitch Maier - .375, 1 2B, 1 3B

Listed in order of innings pitched:

Luke Hochevar - 3-3, 5.48, 44.1, 24/12 (K/BB)
Bruce Chen - 3-1, 4.04, 1 CG, 35.2, 19/12
Jeff Francis - 0-3, 5.03, 34.0, 17/4
Kyle Davies - 1-3, 7.98, 29.1, 23/10
Sean O'Sullivan - 1-1, 3.43, 21.0, 14/13
Tim Collins - 1-1, 4.32, 16.2, 20/16
Aaron Crow - 2-0, 0.00, 14.1, 14/5
Joakim Soria - 1-0, 4.63, 11.2, 6 SV, 5/6
Nate Adcock - 1-0, 2.45, 11.0, 4/3
Jeremy Jeffress - 1-0, 3.38, 10.2, 1 SV, 12/8
Blake Wood - 1-0, 3.86, 9.1, 8/2
Kanekoa Texeira - 0-0, 2.84, 6.1, 0/3
Louis Coleman - 0-0, 1.59, 5.2, 7/5
Robinson Tejeda - 0-1, 5.06, 5.1, 1/2

[SubGod22]

Royals' scouting catching up to the times

KANSAS CITY -- The advance scout is a wise, somewhat battered baseball vagabond who bangs around the country, sizing up the opponent that his own team will play next. He's been a part of the game's fabric for decades.

Except, starting this year, the Royals don't have one.

"You don't need an advance scout anymore, in my opinion," manager Ned Yost said. "You've got everything at your fingertips. Everything I need or we need to see is on the video."

So that's why Kelly Heath, who had been "advancing" for the Royals since the 2007 season, has come home. Heath is still listed as the advance scout, but this year he's staying with the Royals, at Kauffman Stadium and on the road, and doing his sleuthing through video machines and computers.

The system has been in place for a full month now, and it gets a thumb's up from both Yost and Heath.

"After a while, you've just got to accept the fact that I've got more information at my fingertips right now," Heath said, "than I could ever get by jumping on a plane and checking in a hotel room and getting a taxi and working on three hours' sleep, and watching a guy in six at-bats or 10 at-bats and trying to make a decision after getting a limited view."

[RoyalShock]

Another walk-off win. Gordon walks, Butler singles him to 2nd and Frenchy gets the sac fly in the 10th.

Four in a row.

[kcshocker11]

Another walk-off win. Gordon walks, Butler singles him to 2nd and Frenchy gets the sac fly in the 10th.

Four in a row.

How bout that! :good: 8)

[SubGod22]

Winning at home is a big step in the right direction for KC. If they can continue to do that this year I'll be happy. Butler singling Gordon over to 3rd was huge and Frenchy knew what he needed to do. Wasn't sure it got deep enough but a poor throw helped. It's slowly coming together.

[SubGod22]

Royals call up Hosmer: 'The time is now'

"We feel the time is now," Royals general manager Dayton Moore said.

Hosmer hit .439 (43-for-98) for Omaha with an on-base percentage of .525. He had five doubles, three home runs and 15 RBIs in 26 games.

Manager Ned Yost said Hosmer will go into the lineup immediately.

"He's in a league of his own, the time is right," Yost said.

The promotion comes sooner than expected. The Royals had expected to have Hosmer get about 200 or 250 at-bats in the Pacific Coast League before calling him up. But his hot start accelerated their plans.

"He's ready, it's as simple as that," Yost said. "The kid's hitting .440 and he's ready to come up."

Ironically, third baseman Mike Moustakas had been expected to be the first hitting prospect promoted this season. But Moustakas is off to a slow start for Omaha, batting .235, although he has 20 RBIs along with four homers. He and Hosmer are ranked sixth and seventh, respectively, on MLB.com's Top 50 Prospects list.

I'm excited and will have to record the game as I'm headed to Springfield right after work.

Yost praises performance of young bullpen

KANSAS CITY -- Nate Adcock boils down the reason for the Royals' bullpen's recent success succinctly.

"We've just been pounding the strike zone," Adcock said. "That's really the key -- limiting the walks and pounding the zone. Make them make mistakes and let our guys field the baseball."

Going into Thursday's series finale against Baltimore, the young relievers had an impressive streak going -- 23 consecutive scoreless innings and 26 straight innings without an earned run over the previous week.

SOS takes the mound tonight and Tejeda is expected to start his rehab assignment.

[XManCometh]

Hosmer debut report follows:

*Spoiler Alert*

Hosmer ends his debut 0-2 with 2 walks, 2 K's and a stolen base. 3 of his 4 ABs were great, with two of them going to full counts before he worked walks. Looked confident at the plate and had some great swings, but since the A's trotted out 3 very good lefties tonight, he was at a slight disadvantage..

Looked wonderful fielding, starting and finishing a 1st inning 3-6-3 Double play. Kila wouldn't have turned it for sure and I doubt Billy could have finished it.

Overall it was a pretty solid debut for such a hyped player with so much pressure on him.

9,800 extra tickets sold today, basically to see Hosmer play. #EricHosmer was trending worldwide on twitter even. Baseball is alive and well in KC.

Oh, and on a side note: Royals lost 3-2.

[lostshocker]

hosmer picks up his first hit in his second game. then is intentionally walked in the ninth. pretty impressive they followed the book on him instead of pitching to the kid playing in only his second game.

[SubGod22]

Gregor Blanco has apparently been dealt to the Nationals. No word on anything else involved with that one. He was batting .194 in Omaha but had 9 stolen bases in 10 attempts.

[RoyalShock]

Should we consider changing the title of this topic to "Eric Hosmer - May"?

;)

[SubGod22]

Should we consider changing the title of this topic to "Eric Hosmer - May"?

;)

It sure is exciting to see the first young hitter get his chance. And now he gets to face the yankees.

[Awesome Sauce Malone]

His first K was about the only AB he looked completely beat on. Other than that he has looked good at the plate and worked the count.

Defense has been good as well.

[RoyalShock]

Wins are all that matter. KC is .333 with Hosmer in the lineup against mediocre competition.

He's a bust.


;)

[SubGod22]

My brother recently turned me on to Royals Authority and it's a pretty nice site with good info and reporting. The Line Between This Year and Next s worth a read. Could Duffy be called up as soon as June 1?