Kansas City Royals

Royals Late Inning Magic Is Used Against Them; Fall To White Sox

After jumping out to an early 5-0, many Kansas City Royals fans probably had hopes of a 5-1 start. That hope certainly became rock solid theory as the Royals held a three run lead with two out in the top of the ninth inning over the visiting Chicago White Sox, but the White Sox prevailed in the end, claiming a 10-7 12-inning victory of Kansas City this afternoon at Kauffman Stadium.

Kansas City jumped on the Mark Buehrle and the Sox early, benefiting from less than stellar defense by leftfielder Lastings Milledge to take a 2-0 lead in the first. Melky Cabrera, last nights hero, singled with one out paving way for Alex Gordon to double and drive in the runner. Billy Butler then singled to score Gordon and the Royals were off and running. Gordon once again showed marked improvement at the plate the last few days, going 2-for-5 with a walk.

The Royals scored three times in the bottom of the third, highlighted by an Alcides Escobar double off the wall in left that scored Jeff Francouer.

Things looked very promising for the home team as Royals starter Jeff Francis was cruising along for much of his outing until seemingly hitting fatigue in the seventh inning. On the day Francis went 6.2 innings, allowing two runs on eight hits, while striking out four. Needless to say, it was the best start by a Kansas City starter thus far on the young season.

Probably the biggest surprise of the season from the Royals end of things so far had been the steller play of the bullpen, and today they seemed to hit the wall after having been so rock steady through five games. When you have played so many extra inning games in just a short time, things like what happened today may rear their ugly head.

Up 6-3 and with two out, Royals closer Joakim Soria four hits and a walk, allowing the White Sox to take a 7-6 lead on a Carlos Quentin double which scored Alex Rios from third.

The Royals once again showed the fight we have grown accustom to seeing from them so far though, as Kansas City scored a run to tie it in the bottom of the ninth off White Sox closer Matt Thornton. The key hit was a Kila Ka`aihue double which scored Jarrod Dyson, who had pinch ran and stole second base previously.

Kansas City had their chances in the bottom of the 11th, as the Royals had a first and third situation with only one out, but Chris Sale was able to strike out Francoeur and Escobar grounded out to third basement Brent Morel.

Morel was the one who came through in the clutch for the White Sox in the 12th, singling to drive in two runs after Royals reliever Sean O'Sullivan ran into trouble with the bases loaded and only one out. Chicago added on more run on a Juan Pierre sacrifice fly to make it a 10-7 final.

Chicago moves to 3-2, while Kansas City is now a bittersweet 4-2. A week ago had you told asked any Royals fan if they would have been happy with a 4-2 homestand, most would be ecstatic; however a loss like this stings more than the norm.

Kansas City is faced with an off day tomorrow as the travel to Detroit to take on the Tigers in a Friday through Sunday set of afternoon games.

http://kansascity.sbnation.com/kansas-city-royals/2011/4/6/2095512/royals-late-inning-magic-is-used-against-them-fall-to-white-sox


Royals showing late-game heroics

Typically, even at this early point in the season, Kansas City Royals fans are already getting sour looks on their faces: Picture Dennis Leonard after accidentally swallowing his chewing tobacco. The very best the Royals could do last season was three consecutive wins. Granted, Kansas City strung together that victory trifecta on six different occasions, but three straight was the point at which Royals momentum peaked on the way to a 67-95 finish. It was as if this payroll-challenged outfit had not a salary cap, but a consecutive wins cap.

This year's Royals, however, have changed their walk-up music.

It takes a Marty Pattin-bulldog mentality to begin a season like this. Tuesday's walk-off win over the White Sox made the Royals just the third team in the past 20 seasons to have its first four wins come in the last at-bat and the first AL team to do so since the 1989 Royals. That win, following Sunday's 12-9 win over the Angels that ended on Matt Treanor's three-run homer in the 13th inning, gave the Royals consecutive wins in games lasting longer than 11 innings for the first time since April of 1969.

Yes, K.C. blew a ninth-inning lead Wednesday afternoon against Chicago. But the Royals tied it in the bottom of the ninth and had the winning run on third base with one out in the 11th. Jeff Francoeur struck out and Alcides Escobar grounded out to strand that winning run. The result wasn't there but at this point it's more about the mentality -- the Royals were a base hit away from five straight last at-bat wins.

Joakim Soria blew the save Wednesday, but he failed to convert only three save opportunities last season and is among the game's best closers. This season, for the first time in quite a while, there may be more in that Royals bullpen than just their All-Star closer. Kansas City's last three wins have all been recorded by rookie relief pitchers.

Saturday's victory went to Aaron Crow, the Royals' first-round draft pick in 2009, who signed with K.C. one year after the Nationals couldn't sign him after drafting him in the first round in 2008. Tim Collins, meanwhile, wasn't drafted at all. Collins is 5-foot-7 and perhaps 170 pounds. He can light up a radar gun near 97 mph and throw a curveball that buckles major league knees. He'd previously been with the Blue Jays and Braves and earned a place in the Royals bullpen this spring after arriving in camp as a non-roster invitee. Collins' path to the Kansas City bullpen could not have been more different than Crow's, but after three innings of two-hit relief Sunday, Collins had earned his first major league victory. Tuesday's rookie reliever winner was Jeremy Jeffress, who was the Brewers' first-round pick in 2006 and came to the Royals as part of the haul received from Milwaukee in the Zack Greinke trade.

The offense has been there, too. Alex Gordon, the University of Nebraska hero who hit just .232 and .215 the previous two seasons, may be one more slumping season away from officially becoming a hometown bust, but is 11-for-21 with five RBIs in his past four games. He's hitting .379 overall, with five doubles, a homer and a 1.075 OPS. Gordon, Melky Cabrera, Francoeur, Billy Butler and Chris Getz are all batting north of .290. Treanor's weekend included two brilliant defensive blocks of home plate for outs and the walk-off home run that beat the Angels.

From here the Royals play three games at Detroit and two at Minnesota. Then it's back home for eight games against the Mariners and Indians. There's a fair chance given their energetic start and remaining April schedule, that Kansas City could still be a first-place team entering May.

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/8646/royals-showing-late-game-heroics

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