Royals’ May in review

By the numbers

*includes March

May awards

(Selected by The Star)

PLAYER OF THE MONTH

▪ Eric Hosmer: Led the team in hits (29), home runs (four), batting average (.296) and slugging percentage (.520). Hosmer hit .367 over a 12-game stretch during May 3-15.

PITCHER OF THE MONTH

▪ Chris Young: The long reliever turned starter on May 1 and went 3-1 with a 1.45 ERA for the month. Young ranked third in the American League in opponents’ batting average (.179).

BEST INDIVIDUAL GAME

▪ Kendrys Morales: In his first plate appearance against the Cardinals on May 22, Morales drove a Lance Lynn pitch 404 feet into the right-field stands. In his second appearance, the blast went 14 feet farther. Morales drove in all Royals runs in a 5-0 victory.

BEST DEFENSIVE PLAY

▪ Alex Gordon: On May 20, the Reds’ Todd Frazier powered a Jeremy Guthrie pitch to the wall in left field, but Gordon raced back, leaped and made the catch before crashing into the fence.

BEST TEAM GAME

▪ The Royals lugged a four-game losing streak to Chicago to meet the Cubs on May 29, and they also brought fans by the thousands. When Alcides Escobar opened the game with a first-pitch home run, the cheers were so loud the Royals thought they were in Kauffman Stadium. Alex Gordon and Salvador Perez added solo home runs that helped construct an 8-4 victory.

Three schedule facts

▪ May brought the beginning of interleague play, and the Royals picked up where they left off last season, when they had baseball’s best record against the other league at 15-5. The Royals took two of three from the Cardinals, swept a two-game set with the Reds and split two games against the Cubs, with the third game rained out and rescheduled for Sept. 28 at Wrigley Field.

▪ The Royals completed a season series against one American League opponent, the Yankees. All six of their meetings were played over a 14-day period, with the Yankees winning the series 4-2. New York is the only AL East team the Royals will have played this season until the Red Sox visit on June 19.

▪ Despite the sixth-wettest May in recorded Kansas City weather history, no home games were postponed, although the Royals’ 3-2 victory over the Cardinals on May 23 was shortened to 5 1/2 innings.

Three May trends

▪ A week to remember: On May 17, the Royals behind Edinson Volquez beat the Yankees 6-0 to begin an amazing week on the mound. Royals pitchers combined to toss 24 consecutive scoreless innings, tying a franchise record established in 1976. The Royals hadn’t accounted for a shutout this season until that Yankees game, and starting that day the staff combined for three in the next four games.

▪ A week to forget: Following that remarkable pitching week, Royals bats went cold. In the final six games of May, the Royals scored one run four times, and hit .199 during that stretch.

▪ Fans, and votes, by the millions: The Royals continue to ride record paces for attendance and television ratings. An average of 34,729 attended 14 home games, and the May 31 finale against the Cubs drew a 14.3 rating on Fox Sports Kansas City, improving the season rating to 12.3 and a 128 percent increase over the first two months of last year. The Royals’ ratings in Kansas City rank first among 30 teams in their home market. The first All-Star Game ballot was released on May 26, and the Royals dominated the voting. Salvador Perez, Lorenzo Cain, Mike Moustakas and Alcides Escobar led the voting at their positions, and Alex Gordon ranked third among outfielders, giving the Royals five leaders at nine positions. The second batch of votes was released on June 1, and the leads grew, with Perez the top vote-getter among all American League players with nearly 2.7 million votes.

This story was originally published June 4, 2015 at 4:23 PM with the headline "Royals’ May in review."