Royals Recap: Offense Wastes Solid Start From Santana

May 17, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Kansas City Royals designated hitter

Billy Butler

(16) throws his bat after popping out against the Oakland Athletics during the ninth inning at O.Co Coliseum. The Oakland Athletics defeated the Kansas City Royals 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

The Royals had the bases loaded with nobody out in the second inning and ended up scoring no runs. Oakland’s offense was non-existent for most of the game except for a few key hits in the sixth inning that resulted in their only two runs, which ended up being one more than the Royals would score. 2-1, Royals lose.

That is all you need to know.

What a frustrating game.

On the Mound

Ervin Santana did his thing even without the run support, striking out five, and allowing just the two runs in seven innings. He wasn’t as dominant as James Shields was last night, but he certainly did enough to deserve a win. Alas…

Collins came in to pitch the eighth inning and did so effectively. He allowed one single and struck out two.

At the Plate

Nothing happened here.

This and That

Billy Butler and Salvador Perez each had two hits, with Billy having the team’s only RBI.

Kansas City walked four times in the game. It is the ninth time this season the team has walked four times or more in a game. None of those walks scored. Additionally, the Royals also had the leadoff batter on in six innings. None of them scored.

In an attempt to throw more gasoline on the fire, Alcides Escobar is now mired in a terrible slump. He is batting .170/.170/.191 with one extra-base hit and no walks in his last 11 games. Throw this in with Mike Moustakas .185 batting average, Eric Hosmer‘s .313 slugging percentage, and the abyiss that is Chris Getz and Jeff Francoeur and you’ll understand why the offense has been so bad this season.

The loss drops the Royals to 20-19 and three games out of first place.

KC Kingdom Player of the Game

Alex Gordon doubled, scored a run, and threw out a guy from left field. Billy Butler had the team’s only RBI and had two hits. Salvador Perez had two hits, including a double. Ervin Santana had a very solid start today as well. But the KC Kingdom Player of the Game goes to Gordon for his all around play.

The Athletics

I’m not entirely sure how the Athletics won this game. Starter Tommy Milone threw 63 pitches in the first two innings, loading the bases in the second inning with nobody out and allowing a two-out run in the first to dig an early hole for the A’s. Yet, somehow, he escaped and ended up going six inning to record the win.

Oakland’s bullpen went three innings, striking out two, walking one and allowing no hits or runs. Their bullpen is just too dominant for the Royals to mount any kind of rally against.

Up Next

Kansas City will wrap up the series Sunday with Luis Mendoza (1-2, 6.00 ERA) going up against A.J. Griffin (4-3, 3.48) at 3:05 p.m. before leaving for a three-game series against Houston beginning Monday.

AL Central Notes

Detroit Tigers (23-18): For the second time in the series, Texas pitching ripped a Detroit starer early and cruised to an easy win. This time Texas scored six runs, five earned, off of Anibal Sanchez, who allowed runs in each of the three innings he pitched. Mitch Moreland homered and Elvis Andrus went five-for-five and a homer short of the cycle for the Rangers. The loss drops Detroit in to second place in the AL Central.

Cleveland Indians (24-17): Cleveland needed another walk-off hit in order to get past the Seattle Mariners on Saturday. Chris Perez lost a two-run lead in the ninth by allowing solo home runs to Raul Ibanez and Justin Smoak, but the Indians pulled out the win on a bases loaded infield single by Mark Reynolds. Cleveland is now 13-4 in the month of May.

Minnesota Twins (18-21): David Ortiz homered twice and drove in six runs in Boston’s 12-5 romping over the Twins. Minnesota was able to chase Boston starter Ryan Dempster in less than five innings, scoring five runs on eight hits and five walks. But Twins pitching managed to be worse than Dempster and the Red Sox bullpen proved too much for Twins bats.

Chicago White Sox (19-22): Angels bats came alive in a slugfest in Anaheim which ended in a 12-9 Angels victory. Mark Trumbo homered and scored three runs, Alberto Callaspo homered and drove in five runs, and five Angels had two hits in the game. White Sox pitching walked 10 batters while the offense struck out 15 times in the loss. Alex Rios and Adam Dunn each drove in two runs and Hector Gimenez hit a three-run homer to account for the majority of Chicago’s offense.

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