Royals Recap: Jeremy Guthrie K’s 9; Offense Still On Hiatus; 1st Win

The Kansas City Royals avoided a disastrous 3-game losing streak to start the 2013 season, despite an anemic offense. The Royals out lasted the Chicago White Sox 3-1 Thursday for their first win of the season.

October 02, 2012; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Jeremy Guthrie (33) delivers a pitch during the fifth inning of the game against the Detroit Tigers at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

On the Mound

Thursday was all about Jeremy Guthrie. The bulldog righty went 6 tough innings, allowing just 1 hit on 5 hits. He walked 1 and struck out 9, to continue his dominance over the White Sox since coming over from the Rockies last July. In 5 starts against Chicago since joining the Royals, Guthrie has only allowed 2 run in 35 2/3 innings.  He looked in control the whole game and was hitting his spots when he needed to and staying ahead of the hitters. Aaron Crow, Kelvin Herrera, and Greg Holland allowed four base runners but no runs in their 3 innings of relief.

At the Plate

Royal hitters continued their struggles at the dish. KC only managed 5 hits on the day and only scored in one inning. Luckily, those three runs were enough for the victory. The Royals runs were all scored in the 5th when Hosmer walked and Ned Yost bravely put the hit and run on with Jeff Francoeur at the plate. Frenchy shot a single between first and second and Hosmer scampered the third. Jarrod Dyson bounced once over first but Gordon Beckham fielded it and threw Dyson out at first. Hoss scored on the play. Chris Getz and Alex Gordon followed with hits and Francoeur and Getz scored.

This and That

Kansas City pitchers struck out 29 and only walked 5 in the three games series but the hitters struck 23 times and only walked 6 times. The latter ratio needs to improve for the offense. Kansas City only scored in 3 separate innings in the series. The Royals and White Sox combined to score 11 runs in the 3 games. The Blue Jays and the Indians scored 28.

Player of the Game

This one has to go to Guthrie for his stellar work on the day. His performance kept the Royals in it long enough for the Royals to muster some runs. James Shields and Miguel Tejada won the first 2 POG awards.

The White Sox

Chicago really need to work on their defense, especially their out field defense. They committed 4 errors in the series. They received terrific pitching throughout the series, both starting and in relief.

Up Next

The Royals travel to Philadelphia today to take on the Phillies in one of these ridiculous, inexplicable early April inter league match-ups. The Royals’ struggling offense will be required to lose one of their best hitters because MLB continues to force feed these worthless games done our collective throats. Wade Davis makes his Royals’ debut and faces off against Kyle Kendrick.

AL Central

Detroit Tigers: The Tigers signed former closer and ridiculous showboat Jose Valverde to a minor league contract. After the Detroit bullpen gave up 5 more runs yesterday to the Twins, it is obvious they need the help.

Cleveland Indians: Starter Brett Myers gave up 7 runs to the Toronto Blue Jays in their 10-8 loss Thursday. The Indians staff surrendered 5 home runs on the day, 4 by Myers.

Minnesota Twins: The Twins are in first place in the division after taking down the Tigers again. Mike Pelfrey allowed 2 runs, both unearned, in his 5.1 innings of work.