Two years ago, first baseman Kila Ka&#8217;aihue looked closer to concluding his baseball career in some obscure Independent League rather than ever putting on a Royals uniform. Ka&#8217;aihue hit just .199 in Class AA Wichita and had only six home runs with 45 RBIs.</p><p>The fact that Ka&#8217;aihue was in Class AA last year, spent most of this season with Class AA Northwest Arkansas and is now in a Royals uniform shows just how big a breakout season he had this year.</p><p>Ka&#8217;aihue was one of the September call-ups, a reward for hitting 26 home runs in Northwest Arkansas and 11 at Omaha. He also totaled 104 walks.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m extremely happy to be here,&#8221; Ka&#8217;aihue said. &#8220;It&#8217;s been a long road.&#8221;</p><p>Ka&#8217;aihue attributes his breakout season to hard work and staying healthy, which allowed him to play every day.</p><p>&#8220;I think that &#8217;06 season, having that bad of a season was maybe a wake-up call and showed me just how much more work I needed to put in,&#8221; Ka&#8217;aihue said.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Grud&#8217;s season is over</span></strong></p><p>Veteran second baseman Mark Grudzielanek&#8217;s time with the Royals likely came to an end Tuesday when he was shifted to the 60-day disabled list while he recovers from a torn deltoid ligament in his right ankle.</p><p>Grudzielanek suffered the injury Aug. 1 in a collision with first baseman Ross Gload while chasing a pop-up. The season will be over before Grudzielanek is eligible to return. He will be a free agent this winter and is unlikely to return for a fourth season with the Royals.</p><p>The club also recalled three injured minor-league players on its 40-man roster and shifted them to the 60-day list: shortstop Angel Sanchez, outfielder Shane Costa and pitcher Carlos Rosa.</p><p>Players on the 60-day list do not count against the 40-man roster.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Other changes</span></strong></p><p>Moving players to the 60-day list allowed the Royals to purchase the contracts of Ka&#8217;aihue and pitchers Devon Lowery and Yasuhiko Yabuta from Class AAA Omaha.</p><p>The Royals also recalled first baseman Ryan Shealy from Omaha and reinstated pitchers Ron Mahay, Jimmy Gobble and John Bale from the disabled list.</p><p>Major-league rules permit rosters to expand from 25 to 40 players in September, but all additions must be placed on the 40-man roster.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Happy homecoming</span></strong></p><p>Oakland reliever Brad Ziegler, who pitched at Odessa High School and Missouri State, has a reason to smile that goes beyond his stunning start for the A&#8217;s.</p><p>Ziegler has been to Kauffman Stadium many times, but Tuesday night was the first time as a major-league player.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s exciting,&#8221; Ziegler said. &#8220;I grew up coming to this park all the time. I always kind of dreamed about it, but I never thought it would be a reality until I realized I was going to be able to make this trip.&#8221;</p><p>Ziegler comes to Kansas City with a 0.57 ERA and began his big-league career by throwing 39 straight scoreless innings.</p><p>The A&#8217;s have a couple of other players with Kansas or Missouri connections. Oakland called up lefty Josh Outman, who played at Central Missouri. Right-handed pitcher Joey Devine is from Junction City, Kan.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Shealy happy to be back</span></strong></p><p>It took an entire season at Class AAA Omaha for Shealy to make it back to the Royals.</p><p>&#8220;Anytime you get to be in the big leagues, it&#8217;s a good thing,&#8221; Shealy said. &#8220;To get called up in September, I wasn&#8217;t sure that was going to happen or not, so to get called up is great.&#8221;</p><p>Shealy finished with 22 home runs, 65 RBIs and a .283 average in 111 games in Omaha.</p><p>&#8220;I got off to a bad start and hurt my hamstring for a few weeks again, same as last year,&#8221; Shealy said. &#8220;On the whole, I stayed right around the same all year, .280, nothing spectacular, but a solid season, something to build on.&#8221;