Kansas City and the Month of June

[SubGod22]

Alice Cooper rocks Kauffman Stadium with first pitch - I love this guy.

Duffy's Tommy John surgery successful

KANSAS CITY -- Left-handed pitcher Danny Duffy underwent successful Tommy John surgery by Dr. Lewis Yocum on Wednesday in Los Angeles, according to the Royals.

"Dr. Yocum was very pleased with it," said team spokesman Mike Swanson.

Swanson said that Duffy was already getting antsy and was filling his time by Tweeting and texting teammates -- with his right hand, of course.

Hopefully he makes a full recovery and is back in action before we know it.

Frenchy, Yost ejected in separate incidents

KANSAS CITY -- Frenchy Quarter Thursday turned out to be short for the principal celebrant, Jeff Francoeur, and for his manager, Ned Yost, as both were ejected. But when the Royals beat the Brewers, 4-3, with a ninth-inning comeback on Thursday night, they were celebrating like it was Mardi Gras.

"I tried to tell everybody I was the spark plug tonight," Francoeur said. "I got everybody fired up, and Ned finished it off, and we came up with a big win. It was a huge win."

Francoeur was called out on strikes in the second inning, and expressed some objections with plate umpire Dan Iassogna. His tone apparently didn't please Iassogna, who quickly ejected Francoeur.

In Frenchy's defense, that third strike was well inside. May have even been in the batters box inside...

Royals rally, walk off in ninth to sweep Milwaukee

KANSAS CITY -- Jarrod Dyson's catch phrase of a response might have sounded rehearsed, but it didn't make it any less true.

"That's what speed do."

Dyson's fleet feet were the reason the Royals walked off winners for the second straight night on Thursday, this time a 4-3 victory that completed an Interleague sweep over the Brewers.
Things weren't looking good for the Royals, as they trailed, 3-2, heading to the bottom of the ninth inning, but they took advantage of some Brewers mistakes and one big hit to turn things around on closer John Axford and Milwaukee.

Sweeep

Mitch Maier leads off the inning against John Axford and makes like a cricket batsman.


Axford threw a wicked googly. A little too wicked.

Really, no clue what Maier was doing, but whatever… Down a run in the ninth you have to do whatever it takes to reach base. That qualifies.

Mike Moustakas follows with a rocket down the first base line that first baseman Cody Ransom kicks and his only play is at first. Not an error because he got an out, but it had the makings of a 3-6-3 double play. Moose hit it hard enough and Ransom could have stepped forward to make the throw – he’s left handed, so it would have been a quick transfer – and returned to the bag in time to get Moose. Maybe, maybe not.

Friday Notes

I don’t know how much of this season I can take from the perspective of my health. This team is up and down and they can’t seem to win a game with any kind of ease. But hey, the way they’ve been playing over the last 30 or so games has been a lot more fun to watch than the monstrosity that was the first couple weeks of the season. The thing we have to remember is that this is a thoroughly mediocre team. I think I’ve said this before, but I’ll go over this again. And it’s more for my own good than for yours. Mediocre teams plod along winning 3 and losing 4 and then winning 5 and losing 3 and then winning 2 and losing 6 and then winning 6 and losing 3 and you get the point. Young mediocre teams go 3-14 and then go 10-3 and then go 6-11 and so on and so forth. We just have to ride the Royals rollercoaster this season.

• Anyone have walk-off fever? Two in a row for the Royals and a perfect home stand. I know it was only three games, but boy were those last two games fun for the Royals. I said this on Twitter after Wednesday night’s game, but the last two days just felt a little bit more like the Royals of last season who were the masters of scoring late and coming back to win games, especially early in the season. Maybe things got started on Tuesday when Billy Butler hit an eighth inning single to break the tie and give the Royals a win in the first game of the series. Either way, a sweep is so incredibly sweet.

The Kids Are Alright

Over the past couple of nights, I saw something happen out at Kauffman Stadium that has been missing in 2012. It wasn’t necessarily the fact that the Royals won. It wasn’t even the fact that they came from behind to do so. They showed that they were capable of having something that has been collectively missing since last September.

Fun.

No, not the band. They didn’t have a post-game concert or anything like that. Although, their anthem (if you haven’t heard it, turn on any radio station for 10 minutes & you will) might be or should be wildly appropriate for the 2012 Royals. “Tonight, we are young. So let’s set the world on fire. We can burn brighter than the sun.” I like it actually. This team IS young and they ARE so capable of doing great things. Think about what would happen if the Royals were to make the playoffs – it might actually set the world on fire.

[RoyalShock]

That was a crazy ninth inning. I counted at least four mistakes:

- Meiar's 3-rd strike swing. I'm sure he was expecting a fast ball and had his mind made up. At least he took off without hesitation.
- Brewer's first-basement bobbling the grounder that could have been a double-play.
- Pena trying to take 2nd, prompting the cutoff throw, which . . .
- was bobbled by Weeks allowing Dyson to score.

It's just funny that the Royal's mistakes ended up helping them win.

[SubGod22]

I'll take it. I'll feel better about this team when Dyson is no more than a pinch runner and Sal is back. If they could find a second baseman not named Getz or Yuni that they could trust it'd be even better.

[SubGod22]

Unfortunately, Rex Hudler found his way back into the booth tonight.... I can't watch this

[newshock1234]

pretty crazy ending last night!!!

[SubGod22]

I did watch the 9th. Shortstop Jesus with an amazing play and Hos with a great dig. Then they try to give it away and Moose says NO!

Escobar to Hosmer

Q to SS Jesus....Getz to somewhere semi close to 3rd. Moose to Q for the win

[RoyalShock]

2nd game in a row where their mistakes actually lead to winning the game. I'm not sure I've seen three consecutive games with unlikely endings, except for that 3 or 4 game streak of walk-off homeruns back in the Ken Harvey days.

[SubGod22]

Royals hold on after Mazzaro's strong outing

ST. LOUIS -- Sometimes you just need a visit from Lady Luck. And, on Friday night at Busch Stadium, she called on the Royals.

A wild throw that seemed headed into the yawning mouth of the third-base dugout instead hit a post and spared the Royals. Instead of St. Louis tying the score, the Royals held on to a 3-2 Interleague victory over the Cardinals.

It was the fourth straight victory for the Royals, all of them by one run.

Calf issue isn't likely to hold back Mazzaro

ST. LOUIS -- Right-hander Vin Mazzaro, taken out after six innings Friday night because of a tight calf muscle, is likely to make his next start as scheduled.

"He's going to be fine," manager Ned Yost said before Saturday's game against the Cardinals. "It wasn't stiff and tight [Saturday] morning, so that's a good sign."

Mazzaro shut out the Cardinals for six innings of the Royals' 3-2 win and boosted his record to 3-1, while lowering his ERA to 2.57. He's scheduled to pitch on Wednesday at Houston.

Royals still buzzing about Moustakas' throw

ST. LOUIS -- If there were any "Mooooooose!" calls in Busch Stadium at the end of the Royals' 3-2 win on Friday night, they were drowned out by the collective groan of a full house of Cardinals fans when Mike Moustakas' throw ended the game.

Royals manager Ned Yost was even more impressed by Moustakas' game-saving throw after reviewing the video on Saturday morning.

"Until I saw the replay, I didn't realize how dynamic that throw was," Yost said.

Royals fall to Cards despite Moustakas' big day

ST. LOUIS -- Everything seemed to be going right for the Royals. They got a triple play reversed in their favor. They wiped out a five-run deficit.

In the end, however, they left Busch Stadium with a grueling 10-7 Interleague loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on a boiling Saturday afternoon with 42,018 fans fanning themselves at Busch Stadium. The loss snapped Kansas City's four-game winning streak and evened the I-70 series at one game apiece.

The usually reliable bullpen, notably Tim Collins, Greg Holland and Kelvin Herrera, had an off-day. That negated an unusually productive day by the offense, spurred by Mike Moustakas' four RBIs.

Royals haven't set date on Perez's return

ST. LOUIS -- Catcher Salvador Perez's rehabilitation assignment with Triple-A Omaha continues to go well, but there's no date set for him to join the Kansas City club. He's missed all of the regular season following left knee surgery in March.

"Probably won't see him during this trip," manager Ned Yost said before Sunday's series finale against the Cardinals. Perez, in his first nine games for Omaha, batted .333 (13-for-39) with two doubles and seven RBIs.

As I've been telling my brother for a week or so, he'll be called up when they return to KC.

Tying blast makes Butler look like a pro in pinch

ST. LOUIS -- Maybe now Billy Butler is getting the hang of this pinch-hitting gig. Nothing like a last-ditch, game-tying home run to help the learning curve.

With the designated hitter eliminated on National League turf, Butler found himself in a pinch-hitter's role for the Royals in St. Louis. (Moving Eric Hosmer from first base to right field for two games at Pittsburgh and keeping Butler in the lineup at first base exposed defensive shortcomings, so manager Ned Yost decided to platoon the two at first base in NL cities.)

"It's new. I do a little bit each year. It's definitely not an easy job. You get one chance to do it and you've just got to act like it's a normal at-bat," Butler said before the Royals' 15-inning, 5-3 victory over the Cardinals on Sunday.

Getz exits with leg strain on Beltran single

ST. LOUIS -- Chris Getz's Sunday afternoon at second base for the Royals ended in the first inning with a left lateral lower leg strain.

Getz was going to his right as the Cardinals' Carlos Beltran hit a bouncer up the middle of the infield. As he neared shortstop Alcides Escobar, approaching from the opposite direction, Getz tumbled to the turf and stayed there for a few moments.

After consulting with assistant athletic trainer Kyle Turner and manager Ned Yost, Getz limped off the field and was replaced by Yuniesky Betancourt. Getz will be reevaluated on Monday.

Betancourt clutch twice as Royals top Cards in 15

ST. LOUIS -- Billy Butler saved the Royals in the ninth inning. Yuniesky Betancourt gave them the victory -- twice actually, in the 14th inning and again in the 15th. The second time it took.

Betancourt's two-run homer in the 15th for Kansas City dealt St. Louis a crushing defeat, 5-3, in a classic marathon on Sunday with relatively few of 41,680 fans remaining at Busch Stadium until, what was for Cardinals fans at least, the bitter end.

"It was like throwing jabs. We'd take a step forward and they'd fight right back," Butler said. "We'd get ahead again and they'd fight right back."

[SubGod22]

The Royals Beat St. Louis Using Every Adjective

I have to be totally honest. My Sunday started before seven o’clock with a two and one-half hour drive, followed by seven hours of watching girls’ tennis (with bad cell service so no MLB Gameday), followed by a two and one-half hour drive home and immediately continuing on for four more hours into the bowels of Iowa for a business meeting Monday morning. I know, I hear you: shut up, we don’t care about your personal life.

Fair enough. All I was getting to in a roundabout way was that I missed the entire 15 inning Royals’ win today. In doing so, I missed what has to be one of the most exciting, excruciating, maddening, thrilling, bizzare and euphoric of the past five years. Pick an adjective, any adjective, and I bet you can make it apply to this game.

Let’s start with the fact that the Royals, after asking for seven plus innings out of their bullpen on Saturday, needed a good start from Luis Mendoza. They got exactly that, as Luis went six innings and allowed just two runs (back to back homers to Halladay and Craig when he was ahead in the count – I consider 2-2 to be ‘ahead for the pitcher’). All that and the bullpen still had to toss nine innings!

The Case For Leaving Wil Myers In AAA ... Sort Of ... But Not Really

This is going to sound crazy. It kind of sounds crazy to me. But I’m going to make the case for why Wil Myers should not be brought up.

Let me start by stating that I believe it’s time to bring Wil Myers up. I think the Royals are still close enough in the race, only six back, to compete, and I think Myers is probably as ready as he’s going to be and a better option than Jarrod Dyson in center. His development can only continue at the major league level … more on that later.

But there are concerns I have that I wonder if others are noticing, and the best way for me to express those concerns is to imagine a reasonable argument for leaving him in AAA for the time being. This argument is based on the assertion that he will struggle when he gets to the major league level for the reasons I’m about to present. So, here it goes.

I’ve watched a number of Myers’ games this year via MiLB.tv. During these games, there were at bats where Myers’ looked incredible—I’m talking perennial All-Star good. But there were also at-bats where the trademark patience wasn’t there. He was chasing pitches from both AA and AAA pitchers. I saw him strike out on three pitches, I think, in a game with the Storm Chasers, and it looked like he was hell bent on swinging and hitting the ball out of the park.

The Pen Is Mightier.

As I write this, as Saturday afternoon’s ballgame gets underway, the Royals rank 5th in the American League in runs allowed.

That may be somewhat deceptive. The Royals have allowed 263 runs, just two fewer than the Rangers and seven fewer than the White Sox. (The Rays have allowed 262 runs; if I had written this yesterday, the Royals would have ranked 4th in the league in runs allowed.) All three teams have played 64 or 65 games, while the Royals have played only 62 – if we lined teams up by runs allowed per game, the Royals would rank 7th.

But the point here isn’t whether the Royals rank 4th or 5th or 7th. The point here is that the Kansas City Royals, who were widely assumed to have one of the worst rotations in the league before the season – and whose rotation has played to form and then some – are better than average when it comes to run prevention.

Before the season, I said that while I didn’t expect the Royals to contend, that I also didn’t think their rotation automatically disqualified them from consideration. If the Royals could just get mediocre production from their starting five, the rest of the team was good enough to vault the Royals into contention. Basically, the rotation was to the Royals what Matt Cassel is to the Chiefs.

As I saw it, the Royals looked like they had an above-average offense, an above-average defense, and a well-above-average bullpen. With starting pitchers throwing fewer and fewer innings every year throughout baseball, their relevance was also declining with each season, and the Royals were strong enough in other areas to compensate.

[SubGod22]

Getz, Adcock out; Coleman, Hottovy in for KC

HOUSTON -- The Royals placed infielder Chris Getz on the 15-day disabled list Monday with a lateral strain in his lower leg and optioned right-handed reliever Nate Adcock to Triple-A Omaha.

Kansas City recalled right-handed pitcher Louis Coleman and left-hander Tommy Hottovy from Omaha. Both will be available for Monday's series opener with the Astros at Minute Maid Park. The transactions give the Royals a 14-man pitching staff.

Getz left Sunday's game against the Cardinals in the first inning after going down while trying to field a ground ball. Getz had come off the disabled list six days ago after missing 17 games with a left ribcage contusion. He will be eligible for reinstatement on July 3.

[SubGod22]

Getz lands on disabled list with lateral strain :sorrow:

Royals' ninth-inning rally falls short in Houston

HOUSTON -- Trailing by seven runs in the ninth and facing Astros closer Brett Myers, it looked like the Royals might endure their first boring ninth inning in weeks.

But their bats came to life, plating five runs on eight singles and bringing Mike Moustakas to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded. Summoned to stop the bleeding, reliever Xavier Cedeno got Moustakas to pop out to first, and the Royals fell, 9-7, on Monday at Minute Maid Park to take their second loss in seven games.

"You're down 9-2 and you put the tying run on second base in the ninth inning against their closer, that just shows you what kind of heart this team has," manager Ned Yost said. "They don't quit. They stay after it. Good things will come because of it."

[RoyalShock]

Hochevar somehow doesn't give up any runs in spite of allowing 9 to reach base. I'll go out on a limb and guess he's next 2-3 starts will not be good.

But I'll take the win.

[SubGod22]

On a positive note he went a little over 7 and only threw 92 pitches I believe

[SubGod22]

Royals ride Hochevar's arm to win over Astros

HOUSTON -- When Luke Hochevar pitches like he did on Tuesday, his less-than-stellar season statistics don't make much sense.

Sputtering with an ERA well over six through May and June, Hochevar put together one of his finest outings in 2012, going 7 2/3 scoreless innings and outdueling Astros ace Wandy Rodriguez as the Royals evened the Interleague series with a 2-0 win at Minute Maid Park.

"He was as good as he could be tonight," manager Ned Yost said.

The Royals are now 4 1/2 games back of the Indians in the American League Central -- the first time they are within that many games of the division lead since May 15.

The Royals are like a 17 year old golfer

I didn’t watch much of the game last night. I briefly turned it on and saw a ball go past Billy Butler and the man on first score while Butler stopped and had some popcorn with fans and watched. My wife asked me if I’d prefer to watch a movie. It was then I realized that I hate National League ball, I hate Jonathan Sanchez and there was a 100% chance Ned Yost was going to make an asinine decision which would infuriate me. I saved my anger and watched a pretty good movie. Nick 1 – Royals 0.

What I missed seemed to be a mildly boring game until a 10 run outburst in the last two half-innings. What is most amazing about this team is how coordinated the pitchers and hitters seem to be. I’m not sure who exactly to give the credit to. Does Seitzer tell the batters to try and hit weak grounders just until the pitchers begin to collapse? And just at the moment where the pitchers have given up enough runs to lose the game, then storm back and score just enough to come up short. At least that’s the way it all plays out in my head.

The Luke Show

Knowing that Luke Hochevar was on the mound for the Royals in their second game of the Astro series, I prepared two leads:

Luke Hochevar was awful on Tuesday.

Or…

Luke Hochevar was brilliant on Tuesday.

It just seems like there’s no middle ground with this guy.

And by now, you know he was brilliant. Brilliant, as in, best start of the season, brilliant.

His curve was just outstanding. While his fastball was averaging 92 mph his curve was the perfect compliment, coming in at 79 mph with a ferocious break. Hochevar weaved both pitches in and out, throwing 33 fastballs and 32 curves. He got 22 strikes with each pitch. Excellent. Just excellent.

Hochevar is featuring his curve more than ever. It’s accounted for 16 percent of his pitches this year, compared to around eight percent two seasons ago.

In his post game presser, Yosty said that Hochevar was “getting back to being the pitcher we know he can be.” Yosty stressed Hochevar has three “core” pitches: Fastball, change and curve. And with those three working, Hochevar can be nasty.

[shockmonster]

This pitching staff is definitely like riding a roller coaster. 10 runs one game and a shut out the next. Triple A one day and the majors the next. Chen knocked out in the first one game and he probably shuts them out this game. Injury after injury. Hang on and hopefully enjoy the ride.