Tag: Kansas City Royals

Photo credit: @Athletics

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Thursday, August 29, 2019

Jurickson Profar homered and drove in three runs, leading a potent offensive charge on getaway day as Oakland held off Kansas City 9-8 Thursday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium.

Everyone in the A’s starting lineup had a hit or drove in a run. Oakland, which took three of the four games in Kansas City, remains in the second American League Wild Card berth, leading Tampa Bay by one game – up two in the loss column.

Neither starting pitcher lasted past the fifth inning. A’s starter Chris Bassitt worked 4 2/3 innings, giving up seven earned runs on nine hits. Whit Merrifield led off with a hit off Bassitt in the first, preceding a Jorge Soler home run, his 37th of the season.

Royals starter Glenn Sparkman (3-10) allowed seven runs on nine hits and a walk, plus two batters hit-by-pitch. One of those hit batters – Profar – drove in Oakland’s first run of the game.

Yusmeiro Petit (4-3) picked up the win in relief after Oakland relievers Jake Diekman and Liam Hendriks surrendered back-to-back run-scoring singles by Nick Dini and Nicky Lopez in the eighth inning, then Hendriks gave up a two-out RBI single to Ryan O’Hearn in the ninth.

Hendriks then struck out Bubba Starling and collected his 17th save.

Profar’s home run and an RBI single from Josh Phegley sparked Oakland’s three-run fourth inning. The A’s added three more runs in the fifth off Sparkman, taking a 7-2 lead.

Bassitt struggled with the big lead, hitting a batter, giving up a hit, and walking the bases loaded. Cheslor Cuthbert followed with a two-run double, pulling the Royals within 7-5.

Oakland took an 8-6 lead in the eighth before Kansas City closed the gap to 8-7 in the bottom of the eighth.

The A’s added what became the winning run in the top of the ninth when, with runners on second and third, Corban Joseph fouled out to third baseman Cuthbert, who made the catch while falling into the third base dugout. By rule, both runners are allowed to advance one base in that situation, allowing Seth Brown to score from third.

Off the field, the A’s called up infielder Sheldon Neuse from Triple-A Las Vegas. He replaces Khris Davis, who is on paternity leave. Also, Matt Chapman, who took a pitch off his helmet on Wednesday, was not in the starting lineup, but served as a defensive replacement in the ninth.

Oakland’s road trip continues Friday, when the A’s visit the New York Yankees for a three-game series. On Friday, Brett Anderson (10-9, 4.08 ERA) is on the hill for the A’s, while the Bronx Bombers counter with CC Sabathia (5-8, 4.99 ERA).

Photo credit: sports.yahoo.com

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Wednesday, August 28, 2019

The Kansas City Royals defeated the Oakland Athletics 6-4 on Wednesday at Kauffman Stadium, but the A’s still remain one game ahead of Tampa Bay in the American League Wild Card race.

Aside from the loss, there was a scary moment for the A’s when third baseman Matt Chapman took a pitch off his left ear. He left the game after lining out in the second inning.

Chapman was plunked by a 90.7 mph sinker from Royals pitcher Jakob Junis. The pitch knocked Chapman’s helmet off, but he briefly remained in the game.

If Chapman has concussion symptoms, the A’s can place him on the seven-day injured list. However, Chapman reportedly was able to avoid concussion protocol.

NBC Sports California reports that Oakland is prepared to call up third baseman Shelden Neuse. If Neuse is called up, the A’s need to make a corresponding move to place him on the 40-man roster.

After losing the first two games of the series, Kansas City won its first home game since Aug. 16. Hunter Dozier and Ryan O’Hearn each homered for the Royals, and teammates Nicky Lopez and Whit Merrifield each extended hitting streaks and scored a run.

The A’s will try to make it three out of four on Thursday.

During their win, the Royals took their first lead in the series after 24 innings. Kansas City scored a pair of runs off A’s reliever Blake Treinen to break a 4-4 tie. The Royals surged ahead on an RBI single by Dozier, followed by a bases-loaded ground ball that allowed Merrifield to score while the A’s turned a double play.

Kansas City’s left-handed reliever Tim Hill threw two scoreless innings to pick up the victory. Ian Kennedy pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his 23rd save.

Oakland took an early 2-0 lead off Junis in the first inning on Marcus Semien’s leadoff home run and Seth Brown’s bases-loaded RBI groundout.

Mark Canha belted a two-run blast to center in the fifth inning (estimated 411 feet) that put the A’s back in front. Kansas City tied the game in the sixth.

Right-hander Chris Bassitt (9-5, 3.59 ERA) will start Thursday’s game for the A’s, while Kansas City counters with right-hander Glenn Sparkman (3-9, 5.52 ERA).

Photo credit: @Athletics

By Jerry Feitelberg

What a difference a day makes. On Monday night the A’s routed the Kansas City Royals 19-4. The A’s pounded out 22 hits to trounce KC.  On Tuesday night, it was a different story. The A’s had just five hits, none after the second inning, and two runs. The A’s starter Mike Fiers went 5 1/3 innings and gave up only one run to earn his 13th win of the year and helped the A’s beat the Royals 2-1.

The late Joaquin Andujar had a saying; “You never know.” That is so true in baseball as one never knows what is going to happen in any particular game. You never know when you go to the park what you are going to see. One night it’s a blowout. The next night it’s a pitcher’s duel.”

That was what happened in Kansas City Tuesday night. The A’s, fighting for a playoff berth, need to put as many games as possible in the win column. They entered the game tied for the second Wild Card with Tampa Bay. They trailed the Cleveland Indians by 1/2 game for the first Wild Card. The Indians trounced the Detroit Tigers 10-1, and the Houston Astros clobbered the Tampa Bay Rays 15-1. The A’s now lead the Rays by one game and trail the Indians by 1/2 game. The first Wild Card hosts the one-game playoff between the first and second Wild Cards.

The A’s scored a run in the top of the first. Marcus Semien reached on an infield single. Royals starter, lefty Mike Montgomery, who entered the game with a 3-6 record, struck out Matt Chapman and Matt Olson swinging. A’s center fielder Mark Canha reached on Royals third baseman Cheslor Cuthbert’s fielding error. Khris Davis reached on an infield single to load the bases. Chad Pinder walked to drive in Semien with the A’s first run.

The A’s put another run on the board in the top of the second. With one out, A’s catcher Josh Phegley doubled to deep left center field. Marcus Semien followed his second hit of the night to drive in Phegley. Semien was caught stealing as he tried to advance to third base. That may have cost the A’s a run as Matt Chapman followed with a double. Matt Olson struck out to end the inning. The A’s led 2-0

Mike Fiers escaped jams in the second, third and fourth innings to keep the A’s ahead. In the bottom of the sixth, the Royals scored their only run of the game. Royals right fielder Hunter Dozier led off the sixth with a single. Left fielder Alex Gordon doubled to deep right-center field to drive in Dozier. Fiers retired Cuthbert for the first out. Fiers walked Ryan O’Hearn and that was the last batter he faced. A’s manager Bob Melvin went to the bullpen and brought in Yusmeiro Petit for the 66th time this year. Petit got Bubba Starling to fly out to center then struck out Meibrys Viloria looking for the third out, The A’s led 2-1.

There was no more scoring in the game. The A’s bullpen of Petite, Joakim Soria, and Liam Hendriks pitched 3 2/3 innings of scoreless ball and allowed one hit. The Royals’ bullpen did its job, too. Royals manager Ned Yost pulled Montgomery from the game with one out in the seventh. Kevin McCarthy, Scott Barlow, and Ian Kennedy did not allow a hit and kept the A’s scoreless. The A’s managed to hold on to win 2-1.

Game Notes: Mike Fiers won his 13th game of the year. It was a career-high for him. He started the season 2-3, but he has not lost since the beginning of May and has won his last 11 decisions. He is now 13-3.

Montgomery took the hard-luck loss, and his record drops to 3-7.

Fiers’ line was 5 1/3 innings of work, eight hits, and one run. Montgomery’s line was 6 1/3 innings, five hits, and two runs (one unearned).

Joakim Soria pitched in his 61st game this year. Soria was with the Royals from 2007 to 2011 and recorded 162 saves for Kansas City. He is third on the save list in Royals history.

The A’s scored runs in the first and second innings Tuesday night. They scored in the last eight innings Monday night. The 10 consecutive innings scoring a run set a new Oakland franchise record.

Mark Canha failed to get a hit, and his 10-game hitting streak came to an end.

The A’s sparkled on defense. Left fielder Seth Brown made two outstanding defensive play. Brown threw out Meibrys Viloria trying to score from second on a single by Whit Merrifield. He also made a great diving catch. He left his feet and threw out his glove to keep the ball from going to the wall for at least a double. Matt Chapman mad at least three sterling defensive gems to help out his team One of the plays was a bunt by Merrifield that went right down the line. Chapman barehanded the ball and threw to first to nail Merrifield. Merrifield, who has excellent speed, could not believe he was thrown out.

Up Next: Game three of the four-game series will be played Wednesday night at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. The game will start at 5:15 pm PDT.

The A’s will have Tanner Roark handle the pitching chores. Roark is 8-8 with a 3.95 ERA. His opponent will be the Royal’s Jakob Junis. Junis is 8-12 with a 4.89 ERA. Junis labored in his last start against the Cleveland Indians last Friday. He threw 94 pitches in just four innings of work and allowed all four runs in the 4-1 loss to Cleveland.

Photo credit: @Athletics

By Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s pummeled the Kansas City Royals 19-4 to start the seven-game, two-city road trip. The A’s went down in order in the first inning. They scored in every inning after the first. A’s starting pitcher Homer Bailey, who was acquired from the Royals in July, faced his old team for the first time in his career. Bailey had now faced 29 of the 30 teams in the MLB. The only team he hasn’t met is the Cincinnati Reds. He played for them for 12 years before coming to the Royals at the start of the 2019 season.

Bailey improved his season record to 12-8, He is now 5-2 in eight starts for the A’s. The Royals’ starter Brad  Keller was tagged with his 14th loss of the season. The A’s put five on the board in the second inning. Keller went 1 1/3 innings and allowed five runs and three hits.

The A’s scored five runs in the second and five in the third. In the second, Mark Canha, who was named as AL Player of the Week, singled. A’s left fielder Seth Brown, making his Major League debut, singled in his first at-bat as a bi-leaguer. The big left-handed hitter from Oregon was hitting .297 with 37 homers and 104 RBIs at Triple-A Las Vegas. The 6-foot-2, 225 pound Brown was a sixth-round draft choice in 2016. Several members of his family were seen cheering him when he made his first hit. Keller walked Khris Davis to load the bases. He walked Jurickson Profar to drive in Canha with the A’s first run. Phegley walked to plate Brown and the A’s led 2-0. A’s shortstop Marcus Semien blasted a triple to deep right-center field, which cleared the bases. The A’s led 5-0. The Royals scored two in their half of the inning. With two out, Bubba Starling singled. He scored on Brett Phillips home run. The A’s led 5-2 after two.

The A’s put five more on the board in the third. Matt Olson got things going with a long single to right field. Mark Canha singled to send Olson to second. Brown singled again, and Olson scored on the play. It was Brown’s first Major League RBI. Josh Phegley reached on a swinging bunt. The ball could not be fielded cleanly by either the pitcher or the catcher. Canha scored on the play. Marcus Semien then hit his 23rd bomb of the season to make it 10-2 midway through the third inning.

The A’s added one in the fourth, and three in the fifth to make it 14-2.  The Royals got one back in the fifth. In the sixth, Profar hit his 16th of the season. In the seventh, Matt Chapman blasted his 30th. The A’s continued to pour it on. They scored two more in the eighth, and Khris Davis homered in the ninth to put the A’s way ahead 19-3. Lou Trivino pitched the ninth for Oakland, and he gave up the Royals fourth run of the night. The A’s won by a score of 19-4.

Game Notes: The A’s, as mentioned above, brought up Seth Brown to help in the outfield. The A’s needed another outfielder as Stephen Piscotty was placed on the 10-day IL with a high ankle sprain. The A’s had to make room on the 40-man roster. The team designated Nick Martini for assignment. If Martini clears waivers, he can go back to the A’s Triple-A club in Las Vegas.

The A’s had a long list of hitting stars Monday night. Josh Phegley and four hits and three RBIs. Marcus Semien had a triple and a home run and drove in seven runs. It was quite a night for Marcus. Matt Olson had three hits and two ribbies. Mark Canha had three hits and extended his hitting streak to 10 games. Seth Brown had two, hits, one RBI, and he scored two runs. Khris Brown had three hits, one of which was home run, and he had two RBIs. Profar’s line was the same as Davis. Three hits, two RBI’s and a home run.

Homer Bailey went six innings and allowed eight hits and three runs. Lefty A.J. Puk pitched two scoreless innings and allowed one hit.

The A’s line score was 19 runs, 22 hits and no errors. The Royals’ line was four runs, 11 hits and no errors.

The A’s improved to 75-55. They are now in a virtual tie with the Tampa Bay Rays for the second Wild Card. They also picked up 1/2 game on the Cleveland Indians in the race for the first Wild Card. They trail the Indians by 1/2 game. The Rays play three with the Houston Astros this week. Houston can help the A’s if they can handle the Rays. The A’s, in the meantime, Oakland must not let the Royals beat them. They have three more in Kansas City this week with and then in September when the Royals visit Oakland for three starting on September 16th.

The A’s have 32 games left on the schedule. They will finish the suspended game with Detroit on September 6th when the Tigers arrive in Oakland for three. The A’s were ahead when the game was suspended.

Up Next: Game two of the four-game series will be played Tuesday night in Kansas City. Mike Fiers (12-3, 3.46 ERA) will go for Oakland, and he will be opposed by lefty Mike Montgomery (3-6, 4.99 ERA). Montgomery had a rough outing against the lowly Baltimore Orioles last week. Game time will be at 5:15 pm.