Check out this video of a fan dashing onto the field at Kauffman Stadium during the Royals’ 5-4 loss to the Angels on Thursday night. He eludes a police officer with a slide across the pitcher’s mound and steals the rosin bag. He ran off, but eventually was caught.
The Royals sent their ace, James Shields, to the mound in Wednesday’s finale and, as usually happens when he pitches, their attack turtled and resulted in a 3-1 loss to the Houston Astros.
Belying its reputation as a pitcher’s park, the math shows a trend toward the hitters at Kauffman Stadium. That ought to be good news for the home team, which has labored at the plate for much of this season. The Royals are scoring and allowing slightly fewer runs at home than on the road, but the advanced metrics indicate that Kauffman shouldn’t take the blame, or credit.
Mike Moustakas termed it “a relief” when he broke a zero-for-18 slide with an RBI single Tuesday night, but he also recognized it for what it was. “One hit is not going to do anything. It’s not going to completely turn anything around, but it was a hit in a big situation for us.”
The Royals rallied Tuesday for a 7-3 victory at Minute Maid Park by scoring all seven runs against the Astros’ bullpen and with the aid of some atrocious defense. So what? The Royals ended their four-game losing streak, pulled back to .500 at 21-21 and avoided the possibility of getting swept by the Astros.
The day-after news Tuesday on Royals catcher Salvy Perez was mostly positive: He has a deep bruise to his right hip but no structural damage or other longer-term issues.
The Royals came out of Tuesday's eighth inning with a lead and won the game against the Astros 7-3, but this one could have gone the other way because of poor pitch selection. Too many times on this road trip, Royals fans have seen hitters take when they should be swinging and swing when they should be taking.
Monday’s depressing 6-5 loss to the Astros makes four straight one-run losses and 11 losses overall in the last 14 games. The Royals now are looking up at .500 — they are 20-21 — for the first time since the season’s first week.
The bigger issue Monday for the Royals, beyond a 6-5 loss to Houston, was the status of catcher Salvy Perez’s right hip. Perez left the game shortly after slamming into a post at the Houston dugout while pursuing a foul pop by J.D. Martinez in the fifth inning.
The Royals suffered their fourth straight one-run loss Monday night — they’re now one game under .500. After the game, manager Ned Yost said that starter Jeremy Guthrie had struggled with command, finding the right arm slot and keeping the ball down. Guthrie walked three, two of them scored, and the Royals lost this one 6-5.
Forty games in, approximately one-fourth of the way through the season, and the Royals are 20-20 after suffering a weekend sweep in Oakland. Let’s get this out of the way: It was a brutal weekend. Three one-run losses after holding early leads in each game. The quarter point in the season is when teams traditionally step back and take a hard look at themselves. And if Bob Dutton’s latest Q&A is any indication, fans are doing that, too.
Ervin Santana's mastery of the strike zone against his former teammates was incomplete.
Ron Gardenhire has never made a secret of his admiration for Prince Fielder.
The Toronto Blue Jays are glad to see sluggers Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion hitting well at the same time.
Runs and hits have become difficult to come by for the Washington Nationals and perhaps a return home will ignite a team that's supposed to make a deep run in the playoffs.
After losing the final six games of their recent road trip, the Seattle Mariners should be happy about playing at home for the next week. That excitement may be a bit dampened, though, as their first opponent will be the first-place Texas Rangers.
Pittsburgh ace A.J. Burnett tries to end a three-start skid on Friday night when the Pirates open a three-game series at Miller Park against the Milwaukee Brewers.
During various junctures of his career, John Danks has been compared to former White Sox ace Mark Buehrle.
Jed Lowrie will do everything possible to be in the lineup when the Oakland Athletics return to Houston for a three-game series beginning Friday night. Despite enduring a 107-loss season with the Astros last year, the Athletics' shortstop maintained playing there will always be significant to him.
Could the seventh time be the charm?
Three's a crowd atop the NL West standings, but the Colorado Rockies and San Francisco Giants will both try to change that as they meet up Friday at AT&T for the opener of a three-game series.
