Christian Colon gets first career start at third base in Royals’ victory

Christian Colon spent his Sunday in a lonely position. He handled third base on a day when Royals starter James Shields did not allow an Oakland Athletic to stand there.

“Pretty good day to have a debut at third base,” Colon said. “I didn’t see a runner.”

The lone Oakland runs in a 4-2 Royals victory were a pair of homers by Josh Reddick. So Colon hung out by himself, for the most part. Recalled last week, Colon made his first big-league start at the hot corner on Sunday. With southpaw Scott Kazmir on the mound for Oakland, he replaced Mike Moustakas at third base.

Colon went 1-for-4 at the plate, but looped a leadoff double in the fifth to begin a four-run rally. He executed a few awkward plays in the field, though, as his more natural positions are shortstop and second base. He failed to field a grounder toward him in the eighth, which bounced into left field for a hit.

Like Danny Valencia, Moustakas’ former platoon mate, Colon bats from the right side. But Royals manager Ned Yost was reluctant to partner this new duo.

“We’ll just go day to day with it,” Yost said. “If Mike gets going, then Mike’s the best guy. He gets some hits against lefties.”

Only a few: Moustakas is hitting .128 against lefties, and .203 against righties. The team opted for the utility of Colon, who can spell both shortstop Alcides Escobar and second baseman Omar Infante, than Valencia’s ability to hit left-handed pitchers.

“That’s why we brought him back,” Yost said. “That’s why we traded Valencia. To get that extra guy to play the middle.”

Rangers nab first-base option

With first baseman Eric Hosmer sidelined for as long as six weeks, the Royals at least had preliminary talks about claiming Mike Carp, who was designated for assignment by the Red Sox on Friday. The team never appeared to have a chance at him, anyway. Ahead of the Royals in the waiver queue, the Rangers claimed Carp and acquired him in a trade from Boston on Sunday.

The Royals still are holding out on deciding whether to add a bat for Tuesday’s game against the Diamondbacks. With Eric Hosmer on the disabled list, Yost chose to play these last two games against Oakland with an eight-man bullpen and a three-man bench.

The initial expectation was Kansas City would find another hitter for Tuesday. Yost said they may wait until a player who fits the profile they seek — a right-handed swinger who can pinch-hit with confidence — emerges.

This story was originally published August 3, 2014 at 7:48 PM with the headline "Christian Colon gets first career start at third base in Royals’ victory."