Royals Recap: Streak Extends To 6 Behind Jeremy Guthrie & Salvador Perez

The Kansas City Royals (29-32) extended their current winning streak to 6 games Monday with a 3-2 victory over the AL Central leaders, the Detroit Tigers (35-27). Combined with a loss by the Cleveland Indians, the Royals are now tied with the Indians for second place in the division, 5 1/2 games behind the mighty Tigers.

Jun 10, 2013; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez (13) celebrates with manager Ned Yost (3) after the game against the Detroit Tigers at Kauffman Stadium. Kansas City won the game 3-2. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

On the Mound

Jeremy Guthrie really only made one major mistake on the night and that was to hang a breaking pitch to MVP Miguel Cabrera that was meaty enough for him to crush. When throwing to the likes of Miggy and Prince Fielder, it doesn’t take a very big mistake for a pitcher to get crushed. Luckily, that 2-run homer was the only damage Guthrie allowed in his 6.1 innings. Guthrie served up 6 hits and 3 walks, and strangely enough, didn’t strikeout a hitter. The Royals bullpen extended their own streak of scoreless innings to just over 20.

At the Plate

The theme for this streak is “just enough”. They have had just enough offense to win. They have only scored more than 4 runs in one of the 6 wins. Their hitting is pretty much where it was when they were losing 11 games in a row at home. Luckily, the pitching, which has been fine all year, has been even better this past week. Salvador Perez did all the damage on Monday., hitting a 2-run triple in the bottom of the third, then scoring on a Lorenzo Cain single later in the frame.

This and That

While it is absolutely fine to be excited about a 6-game winning streak, expectations still need to be tempered. While not putting a damper on anyone’s enthusiasm, it must be pointed out that this winning streak is just fool’s gold. The Royals regularly play 5 guys who have an On Base Percentage under .271. Those same 5 players all have an OPS’ under .583. This team will not be a consistently winning ball club, let alone a divisional contender, with so many hitters with such low numbers. Until Dayton Moore, the Royals organization as whole, Ned Yost, and the players themselves, start appreciating the fact that you have to get on base to score runs, this team will not score enough to win a lot of ball games. They can’t keep running Chris Getz, Jeff Francoeur, Elliot Johnson, Mike Moustakas, and Alcides Escobar (or some combination of these 5) out there every single day and expect to challenge the Tigers over the long haul. Fool’s gold.

KC Kingdom Player of the Game

Sal Perez had a hand in all the scoring so he is our POG for this game. It’s good to have Salvy back in the line-up.

The Tigers

Doug Fister went the distance Monday, surrendering the 3 runs on 9 hits. He struck out three and didn’t issue any walks. Cabrera’s homer was his 18th. He has 69 RBI and is batting .361 on the season. Torii Hunter was the only Tiger to get 2 hits on the night.

Up Next

Here is the tough match-up for the Royals. Wade Davis (3-5, 5.66 ERA) against Max Scherzer (8-0, 3.24 ERA) at 7:10.

AL Central Notes

Cleveland Indians (30-33): The Indians only produced 5 hits on the night, but did squeak out 3 runs on those 5 hits despite no home runs. Three of the hits were in the 3rd inning, and accounted for all the Indians’ scoring in the contest.

Chicago White Sox (28-34): The White Sox broke out of their offensive funk in a big way, They scored 7 runs on 10 hits over 5 innings against Blue Jay starter R.A. Dickey. The scored 10 in the game in the 10-6 win. Adam Dunn went 4-4 with 2 home runs, 3 runs scored, and 5 RBI. Dunn’s batting average is basically the same as Mike Moustakas’, yet he has 12 more home runs and 25 more RBI. A team can live with an atrocious batting average if the guy can hit a few over the fence and drive in some runs.

Minnesota Twins (27-32): Did not play.

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