Royals Recap: Ervin Santana Stalwart; Bullpen, Offense, Defense Fail
By Joel Wagler
The past four weeks have been miserable for the Kansas City Royals (23-31) and their fans. After the defense, offense, and bullpen failed in a 3-1 loss to the Texas Rangers (35-21) on Sunday, the Royals are 6-21 over those four weeks.
Jun 2, 2013; Arlington, TX, USA; Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Ervin Santana (54) throws a pitch in the first inning of the game against the Texas Rangers at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
On the Mound
Again, Ervin Santana had a terrific day. He kept the ball in the park against a potent Rangers’ offense. The lone hitter to score in Santana’s 7 innings was lead off Elvis Andrus, who reached on a throwing error by Alcides Escobar. Andrus took second on the error, then advanced to third on a line drive out to center. He scored on a ground out. That’s it. Santana gave up just 3 hits and 2 walks while mowing down 5. J.C. Gutierrez, who has pitched well of late, got 2 quick outs in the 8th before serving up a gopher ball to rookie Jurickson Profar and a single to Andrus. Tim Collins replaced Gutierrez and allowed the inherited runner to score by dishing up a single to David Murphy. Game over.
At the Plate
Very little positive happened at the plate, as usual. Alex Gordon got 2 hits for his 24th multiple hit game, and Mike Moustakas scratched out 2. Lorenzo Cain had the only other hit. Keep running the same guys out there, Dayton. We see how that’s worked so far.
This and That
It is hard to believe but two AL teams have scored fewer than the Royals’ 210. The Mariners are at 206 (in 3 more games) and the White Sox only have 186.
No team is even close to the Royals in fewest home runs. Kansas City has 29 and the next lowest in the AL are the Twins win 50. Crazy enough, in the NL, the Miami Marlins only have 28. Chris Davis and J.J. Hardy of the Orioles have 32 combined.
KC Kingdom Player of the Game
Santana, like Shields the day before, deserve to pitch on better teams. Ervin earned his 4th KC Kingdom POG.
- James Shields – 6
- Alex Gordon – 9
- Wade Davis – 2
- Lorenzo- Cain – 4
- Luis Mendoza – 2
- Billy Butler – 5
- Ervin Santana – 4
- Miguel Tejada – 3
- Jeremy Guthrie -3
- Eric Hosmer
- Chris Getz
- Mike Moustakas – 3
- Aaron Crow
- Jarrod Dyson
- David Lough – 3
- Alcides Escobar – 2
- J.C. Gutierrez
- Jeff Francoeur
The Rangers
Yu Darvish matched Santana stat for stat. His defense did not give away a run, but other than that, and 1 more strikeout, his line matched Santana’s. Joe Nathan has never lost to the Royals and has 40 saves against them over his long career.
Up Next
Kansas City has a much needed off day (no recap tomorrow). Hopefully, the hitters will be required to report to work today to get some time in with their new hitting instructors. Luis Mendoza (1-2, 4.63 ERA) will go up against Samuel Deduno (1-1 5.11 ERA) and the Twins Tuesday at Kauffman Stadium at 7:10.
AL Central Notes
Detroit Tigers (30-25): The Tigers fell to the hard hitting Orioles 4-2. Prince Fielder homered for the second consecutive day.
Cleveland Indians (30-26): The Rays pounded the Indians and Zach McAllister 11-3 on Sunday despite piling up 11 hits. Carlos Santana went 3-4 with a run scored.
Chicago White Sox (24-30): Chicago was shutout for the 3rd time in their last 6 outings and lost 2-0 to the A’s. Chris Sale was the victim of his poor offense, losing his 3 game on the year.
Minnesota Twins (25-29): The Twins, the Royal’s next opponent, were the only AL Central team to win on Sunday, crushing the Mariners 10-0. Scott Diamond went 6 scoreless. Josh Willingham, Ryan Doumit, Brian Dozier (the third HR for this light hitting middle infielder), Chris Herrmann, each homered on the day. It was Herrmann’s first of his career.