Here’s some much needed good news for the Royals as they look to pull out of their May slide: lefty Danny Duffy is ready to start his minor-league rehab assignment in his recovery from Tommy John surgery.
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.
A 14-year-old girl was taken to Children's Mercy Hospital after fainting Thursday night at Kauffman Stadium during the Royals' 5-4 loss to the Angels. A member of the K-Crew was the first to treat the girl. No details were available on the girl’s condition late Thursday night.
It wasn’t a total shake-up, but the Royals made one roster move on Thursday. The Royals optioned right-handed reliever Kelvin Herrera to Class AAA Omaha, recalling Louis Coleman to take his spot in the bullpen.
There is a lot of apocalyptic talk from fans, and it all comes from an honest place. The Royals have taken their fans down this path many times before, a free-fall that either turns hope into hopelessness or twists the knife of suck a little bit more. Are you mad? Tell us how mad in our poll.
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.
Brett Gardner, Lyle Overbay and Jayson Nix each drove in two runs, and the New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays 9-4 on Friday night.
Chris Davis hit his major league-leading 16th home run, Nick Markakis had three hits and three RBIs and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays 10-6 on Friday night.
Miami Marlins pitcher Alex Sanabia said he didn't know it was illegal to spit directly onto a baseball.
Ervin Santana's mastery of the strike zone against his former teammates was incomplete.
Joey Votto extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a homer, and Ryan Hanigan and Brandon Phillips also homered on Friday night, powering the Cincinnati Reds to their fourth straight win, 7-4 over the Chicago Cubs.
Jordan Zimmermann became the National League's first eight-game winner, and the Washington Nationals followed a calamitous road trip with a winning start to a homestand, beating the Philadelphia Phillies 5-2 on Friday night.
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.
PITTSBURGH - Manager Dale Sveum had one word Thursday morning for the statistical oddity of the Cubs' start.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Finding a suitable low-note encore for losing a series at Houston is no easy task, but the Royals pulled it off Thursday night by becoming the first club to roll over for Angels right-hander Joe Blanton.
