Royals Recap: Billy Butler Has 5 Hits, 5 RBI In Win Over Angels

Just when fans are ready to give in to the conditioned fear of failure by the Kansas City Royals (19-16) after 27 years of futility, the team does something to get us excited again, like scoring double digit runs in an 11-4 victory on the road against the Los Angeles of Anaheim Angels (14-24). Billy Butler came out of an early season funk in a big way to spark an offense that has been sputtering of late.

May 13, 2013; Anaheim, CA, USA; Kansas City Royals designated hitter Billy Butler (16) slides beneath the tag of Los Angeles Angels catcher Chris Iannetta (17) to score in the fifth inning at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

On the Mound

Luis Mendoza was solid, if unspectacular, in his 6 innings of work. He allowed 3 runs on 6 hits and no walks. He struck out 6 on the night. Luke Hochevar pitched three innings to earn the classic 3-inning save. Hochevar allowed one run.

At the Plate

There were many hitting heroes Monday, something we haven’t been able to claim lately. Billy Butler was the star, going 5-5 with 2 runs and 5 RBI. Two of his base knocks were doubles. Lorenzo Cain, Salvador Perez, Alcides Escobar each added 3 hits to the parade, all producing at least 3 runs. Alex Gordon and Jarrod Dyson pitched in two hits each to the cause. It was not all rosy though. Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, and Chris Getz combined to go 1-15 on the night.

This and That

The Royals had 19 hits, 5 of which were doubles. Those were the only extra base hits on the night.

Monday’s 13 runs was the first time the Royals have scored double digits runs since the 4th game of the season when they tallied 13 on April 5 in Philadelphia.

KC Kingdom Player of the Game

Five-hit, 5-RBI performances will almost guarantee a player a KC Kingdom POG. Billy Butler, who raised his batting average 33 points to .261 was an easy selection.

The Angels

The Angels were held to just 1 hit by Chris Sale on Sunday and only 6 hits on Monday. It is easy to see they are slumping even harder than the Royals. Their record stands at just 14-24. Albert Pujols (.234) and Josh Hamilton (.212) are tying up a lot of cash and not producing much. These two are taking home $33 million in salary in 2013 and the Angels have to be nervous about all the money they have committed to these two aging players in the future. It could get very ugly in LA.

Up Next

Jeremy Guthrie (5-0, 2.28 ERA) will try to extend his streak of starts without a loss to 19 against Jason Vargas (1-3, 4.26 ERA) tonight at 9:05.

AL Central Notes

Detroit Tigers (21-15): The Tigers get three days off. Well, not really, but they are playing the Astros. In the first game, Anibal Sanchez earned his 4th win of the season in the 7-2 victory. Andy Dirks and Victor Martinez each homered. The Tigers reclaimed first place by half a game.

Cleveland Indians (21-16): In game one of a rain make up double header against the Yankees, Justin Masterson continued his dream season by pitching a 4-hit, complete game, 1-0, shutout. He is now 6-2 with a 3.14 ERA. The Yankees turned around and shutout the Indians 7-0 in the game two. Jason Kipnis scored the only run on the day for the Indians with a home run in game one.

Minnesota Twins (18-17): The Twins stayed on pace by routing the White Sox 10-3. Rookie Aaron Hicks homered twice for Minnesota while Justin Morneau had 3 hits and 4 RBI.

Chicago White Sox (15-21): The White Sox continued to scuffle along with another loss. They only scored 3 runs despite the fact that the top two hitters in their batting order, Alejandro De Aza and Alex Ramirez, each had 3 hits. The rest of the team had 4 total.

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