Royals Swept in Anaheim

Game Date: May 10, 2009  
Kansas City @ Anaheim
Angels 4, Royals 3 / Box Score
WP: Shields (1-2), LP: Wright (0-1), SV: Fuentes (9)
KC Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 18-14 / Record in May 6-4

Too many defensive problems late in the game were costly for the Royals in this one. Jose Guillen failed to come up on a ball he could have caught—letting it fall in for a single. Jamey Wright tossed a ball into center field in what should have been a double play to end the seventh inning. Miguel Olivo dropped a throw to home plate that should have produced an out. When the smoke cleared, the Angels scored three runs in the seventh inning to take the lead. Torii Hunter made a beautiful catch in the ninth inning—going over the wall to pull a home run ball back. Tomorrow seems like the perfect time for a day off. The Royals begin a new two-game series in Oakland on Tuesday.

Saunders Outduels Greinke

Game Date: May 9, 2009  
Kansas City @ Anaheim
Angels 1, Royals 0 / Box Score
WP: Saunders (5-1), LP: Greinke (6-1)
KC Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 18-13 / Record in May 6-3

I still like pitchers’ duels. Of course, I’d like to see the Royals on the winning end of them, but they are still fun to watch. Zack Greinke wasn’t quite as good as he’s been this season, but he was good enough to only allow one run. At the plate, Hillman played for the big inning early and that didn’t work out. When he played small ball, the Royals didn’t execute. They Royals will try to prevent the sweep in Anaheim tomorrow afternoon.

Lack of Offense, Guillen Mistake Costly

Game Date: May 8, 2009  
Kansas City @ Anaheim
Angels 4, Royals 1 / Box Score
WP: Palmer (3-0), LP: Meche (2-3), SV: Fuentes (8)
KC Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 18-12 / Record in May 6-2

Matt Palmer kept Royals hitters off balance all night while Gil Meche kept it close. In the bottom of the sixth, with the Angels leading 2-1, Jose Guillen simply missed a fly ball he should have caught and Howie Kendrick ended up with a two-run inside the park home run (which should have been an error instead) and that seemed to seal the Royals fate. If you are looking for a positive, Kyle Farnsworth pitched two scoreless innings—his sixth straight outing without giving up a run. You know what comes next—Zack Greinke Day. Go Zack.

Royal Reflections Podcast #2 with Johnny Gibson

Lee Warren hosts Kansas City Royals fan Johnny Gibson. Gibson discusses how he became a Royals fan, some of his favorite Royal memories, and his thoughts about the current roster.

• Listen to this episode
• Download this episode (right click and save)
• Subscribe to the Royal Reflections podcast in iTunes
• Visit the Royal Reflections podcast archives
  

Here's a link to the article referred to in the podcast about Mike Sweeney stealing home during a game in 2002 against the Yankees.

Royals Win Sixth Straight; Bannister Strong

Game Date: May 7, 2009 
Seattle @ Kansas City 
Royals 3, Mariners 1 / Box Score
WP: Bannister (3-0), LP: Washburn (3-2), SV: Soria (7)
KC Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 18-11 / Record in May 6-1

Brian Bannister is beginning to look like the Banny of 2007—the one that everybody was so high on. He pitched six scoreless innings this afternoon and had a season high seven strikeouts. Add some timely hitting by Billy Butler and Mike Aviles and the Royals took a 3-0 lead into the ninth inning. Joakim Soria struggled, giving up a run and allowing four guys to reach base, but he finally shut the door on the Mariners and the Royals won their sixth straight game. By the way, how eerie was it to see Mike Sweeney wearing number five in Kauffman Stadium?

Ponson Gets First Win; Teahen Goes Deep

Game Date: May 6, 2009 
Seattle @ Kansas City 
Royals 9, Mariners 1 / Box Score
WP: Ponson (1-4), LP: Silva (1-3)
KC Home Runs: Teahen (4)
Royals Record: 17-11 / Record in May 5-1

I tuned in to this game in the fourth inning—just in time to see the Royals go up 8-0. Then, I sat back and watched them cruise to an easy win. Looking at Ponson’s numbers, he had a good outing. Probably just in the nick of time for his sake. Mark Teahen was 3-for-5 with a home run and 3 RBI. Billy Butler and Willie Bloomquist had nice nights as well. This was the fifth straight win for the Royals and with the Detroit vs. Chicago postponement, it gives the Royals a full 2.0 game lead in the AL Central.

Royals Sweep White Sox

Game Date: May 5, 2009 
Chicago @ Kansas City 
Royals 8, White Sox 7 (11 inn.) / Box Score
WP: Cruz (2-0), LP: Broadway (0-1)
KC Home Runs: Jacobs (4), Callaspo (2)
Royals Record: 16-11 / Record in May 4-1

In contrast to last night, this one wasn’t pretty. The Royals fell behind by four runs in the third inning. Davies was struggling and the White Sox looked to be on the verge of blowing the game wide open. Then Mike Jacobs hit a three-run bomb to center field to pull the Royals to within a run. The White Sox countered with two more runs, but the Royals clawed their way back with some great plate appearances (they drew 11 walks for the night) and they tied the game 7-7 at the end of seven. Jamey Wright did an outstanding job to keep the White Sox scoreless for the eighth, ninth, and ten innings. And then in the eleventh inning, John Buck singled in the winning run.

Hochevar is 5-0 with Omaha

While Zack Greinke is the talk of baseball, the Royals have another starting pitcher in their system that is putting together quite a season: Luke Hochevar.

Hochevar is 5-0 in his first five starts for the Omaha Royals with a 1.13 ERA and 1.03 WHIP. In an article published in the Omaha World Herald this morning, he says he knows what he is doing on the mound now and that he’s comfortable, confident, and prepared.

You have to wonder how much longer Trey Hillman will continue to go with Sidney Ponson when Hochevar finally seems to be ready.

Something Special Going on in KC

Game Date: May 4, 2009 
Chicago @ Kansas City
Royals 3, White Sox 0 / Box Score
WP: Greinke (6-0), LP: Colon (2-2)
KC Home Runs: DeJesus (3)
Royals Record: 15-11 / Record in May 3-1

Part six of the Zack Greinke show. Another complete game shutout. Twice Ryan Lefebvre and Frank White were silent in the broadcast booth after Greinke ended an inning. The first time happened at the end of the eighth when Greinke struck out Wilson Betemit. The fans were standing and cheering and nothing needed to be said. The second time happened after Greinke got the final out. The silence was a great way to avoid stepping on the moment.

Royals Twitter Directory

Here’s a working list of Royals players, media, bloggers, and fans. Just click the links and then click on the follow button once you get to each Twitter account page:

Players:

• Billy Butler
• Chris Hayes (pitcher for the Omaha Royals) 
• Joakim Soria

Former Royals:

• Jeremy Affeldt
  
• Coco Crisp
• Chad Durbin
  
• Brent Mayne
• Brian McRae 
  
• Mark Teahen

Ballclub:

• Around the Horn in KC (Official Royals blog)
• Adam Cain (Inside Sales and Special Events, KC Royals)
  
• Debi Teter (Director of Marketing, KC Royals)
• Royals Charities
  

Minor Leagues:

• Burlington Bees
  
• Eric Edelstein (GM of the Naturals)
• Northwest Arkansas Naturals
• Omaha Royals
• Wilmington Blue Rocks
  

Media:

• Nate Bukaty
  
• Bob Dutton
  
• Joel Goldberg
• Sam Mellinger
• Joe Posnanski
• Greg Schaum

Bloggers:

• Wally Fish (Kings of Kauffman)
  
• Minda Haas (Royal Blues)
• Rany Jazayerli (Rany on the Royals)
  
• Will McDonald (Royals Review) 
• Brian McGannon (Royals Kingdom) 
• Jeff Parker (Royally Speaking)
• N. Scott (Broken Bat Single)
  
• Ray Wachter III (Royals on Radio, etc.)
• Lee Warren (Royal Reflections)
• Darin Watson (Tangled up in Royal Blue)
• Royals Authority
• Royals Primacy

Fans:

• Tammy Brizendine
• Hillary Davis, RN
• Johnny Gibson
  
• Shawn Hartley
• Matt Klaassen
  
• Dwayne Martin
• Roxanne Martin 
• Andrew Riggs
• Lana Royer
  
• Dale Schaeffer
• Aaron Stilley
• KCSportsPodcast

I have no way of knowing the legitimacy of any of these Twitter account names. I have interacted with some of the people listed here, but not all of them. Just want you to know that up front.

If you’d like to be added to this list, please leave a comment with your real first and last name, your Twitter name, and tell me which list you’d like to be added to. I’ll check out your account. I will not add any accounts that look like spam and I also will not be adding any aggregator type accounts. I reserve the right to reject requests for any reason.

Comments are on moderate. Just leave your request once and I’ll get to it as soon as I can. Thanks!

Royals Fun on Twitter

If you aren’t familiar with Twitter, then here’s a good reason to become familiar with it—there’s a group of Royals fans who meet there during games and we have fun, polite, running conversations about the events of each game. We guess when Hillman might be considering a pitching a change, when he might pinch hit, who he might bring into the game defensively, etc.

Today would be a great time to join us since Zack Greinke is pitching tonight. Here are the steps to signing up for Twitter, if you aren’t familiar with it:

1. Sign up for a free account at Twitter.com.
2. Click here and begin to search for an “follow” other Royals fans. (Follow them by click on their Twitter name and then click on the “follow” button on their Twitter page.) Or see below for the list of people you can follow.
3. Some of the Royals fans you are following will begin to follow you.
4. From the main Twitter page, begin to comment about the game in the “What are you doing” box. Your followers will see your comments and they can either reply to you (allowing everyone else to see it) or they can send you a direct message (that only you can see).
5. I’d love to have you follow me. Just click here and click on the follow button.
6. Have fun!

If you want to enjoy Twitter a little more, you can install one of these desktop or smart phone applications:

• Twhirl (the desktop application I use)
• Tweetdeck (another popular desktop application)
• HootSuite (another popular desktop application)
• Twitterberry (for Blackberries only)
• Twitter apps for the iPhone

Royals Come Back to Win Another Series

Game Date: May 3, 2009 
Kansas City @ Minnesota 
Royals 7, Twins 5 / Box Score
WP: Meche (2-2), LP: Baker (0-4), SV: Soria (6)
KC Home Runs: Guillen (3)
Royals Record: 14-11 / Record in May 2-1

If the Royals do make any noise in the AL Central this year, this might be the game people remember. Scott Baker took a 4-0 lead and a no-hitter into the seventh inning. Before the inning was over, the Royals scored five runs and took the lead. The big blow was a three-run home run by Jose Guillen. The Royals still have some defensive issues to work out (they made three errors), but you can see their overall confidence building by the game.

Tony Pena’s One-handed Swing Explained

Over the years, I’ve learned that if something looks odd, there’s usually a good reason. Last night, in the Royals half of the eleventh inning, Tony Pena Jr. took a one-handed swing at a ball, hitting a dribbler back to the pitcher, prompting broadcasters and fans alike to say, “What in the world was that?”

Turns out that he’d broken a bone in his left hand earlier in the at bat. I can’t understand why he wouldn’t have taken himself out of the game at that point though. How could he expect to play defense in the bottom half of the inning? I don’t know why he didn’t take himself out, but he ended up turning a double play to end the game, so he must have known his body.

Pena was placed on the 15-day DL and Luis Hernandez was called up from Omaha to take his place. In 20 games, Hernandez was hitting .292 in Omaha with 0 HR, 13 RBI.

Willie Bloomquist Has Breakout Night

Game Date: May 2, 2009 
Kansas City @ Minnesota 
Royals 10, Twins 7 (11 inn.) / Box Score
WP: Soria (1-0), LP: Breslow (0-1)
KC Home Runs: Bloomquist (1)
Royals Record: 13-11 / Record in May 1-1

If you saw this game, you know how ugly it was: 17 runs, 29 hits, and 4 errors. Through it all, Willie Bloomquist was the unlikely hero, going deep once (his first HR since 2007), stealing two bases, and going 3-for-5 with a walk and two runs scored. John Buck drew a bases loaded walk in the top of the eleventh to give the Royals a lead. The Royals scored twice more and Joakim Soria pitched the final 1.2 innings to pick up the win.

Ponson Hit Hard in Royals Loss

Game Date: May 1, 2009 
Kansas City @ Minnesota 
Twins 7, Royals 5 / Box Score
WP: Slowey (4-0), LP: Ponson (0-4), SV: Nathan (4)
KC Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 12-11 / Record in May 0-1

This was not Ponson’s night. In fact, at 0-4 with an ERA over 7.00, you have to wonder if Ponson might be this season’s Brett Tomko, but on a shorter lease. Tomko was 2-7 with a 6.32 ERA when he pitched his last game with the Royals last season on June 11. With Luke Hochevar 4-0 with a 1.44 ERA in Omaha, my guess is, Ponson’s days in Royal blue are limited.