Royals Recap: No Sweet Music For Chen

Regression can be a painful thing. The Kansas City Royals (64-59) have experienced regression this week as a team and Bruce Chen suffered through his fair share on Sunday in the Royals 6-3 loss to the Detroit Tigers (73-51).

Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

On the Mound

Bruce Chen, who was absolutely brilliant over his previous six outings, which covered 6 starts and 38.2 innings, producing a .93 ERA, came crashing back to reality on Sunday. Chen lasted 5.1 innings, getting touched up for 6 runs on 8 hits, and getting tagged with his first loss on the season.

Louis Coleman threw 1.1 scoreless innings to maintain his 0.00 ERA. Luis Mendoza made his appearance since August 18th, throwing a perfect inning in the 8th.

At the Plate

The Royals scraped together all of 7 hits on the day and they did not walk even once. Billy Butler produced two of the hits, including his 12th home run in the 9th, after the game was pretty much decided. No one else had more than 1 hit.

This and That

The Royals pretty much eliminated themselves from contention in the AL Central for sure, and in all probability, from the wild card race, by going 2-5 since their win on Monday. In those 7 games, Kansas City scored just 16 runs. Considering injuries and lack of above replacement level players on offense, this is not a surprising development.

The Royals are 8.5 games behind the Tigers in the Central, and 6 behind the Athletics for the last wild card spot. That doesn’t even include the Orioles and Indians, whom the Royals would have to leap frog for the last wild card berth, or the Yankees, with whom they are tied.

KC Kingdom Player of the Game

Billy Butler with his homer in the POG on a day with few candidates.

Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

• James Shields – 10
• Alex Gordon – 14
  
• Wade Davis – 5
• Lorenzo Cain – 8
• Luis Mendoza – 3
• Billy Butler – 10
• Ervin Santana – 9
• Miguel Tejada – 5
  
• Jeremy Guthrie -5
• Eric Hosmer – 12
• Chris Getz – 3
• Mike Moustakas – 6
  
• Aaron Crow
• Jarrod Dyson – 3
  
• David Lough – 8
• Alcides Escobar – 5
• J.C. Gutierrez
• Jeff Francoeur
• Bruce Chen – 4
• Salvador Perez – 5
• Will Smith – 1
  
• George Kottaras
• Louis Coleman – 2
  
• Bruce Chen – 2
  
• Justin Maxwell – 2
• Greg Holland -2
  
• Danny Duffy

The Tigers

Max Scherzer won his 18th game of the year by going 8 frames and only yielding 2 runs on five hits to the Royals.

Miguel Cabrera homered yet again, his 40th, and drove in 3 runs on the day. He is hitting .360 with 120 RBI on the year.

Up Next

Monday, Kansas City has their first, much needed, day off since July 29th. Tuesday, Ervin Santana (8-6, 3.19 ERA) will try to get the team back on track when the White Sox come to town. John Danks (2-10, 4.54 ERA) will go for Chicago at 7:10.

AL Central Notes

Cleveland Indians (66-58): Scott Kazmir had a hard time on Sunday with the Oakland Athletics. He allowed 5 runs on 10 hits and 2 walks while taking the loss in the 7-3 defeat. Ryan Raburn hit his 15th home run in just 195 at bats.

Minnesota Twins (54-68): The Twins piled up 10 hits but only 2 runs in their 5-2 loss to the White Sox. Justin Morneau and Ryan Doumit each left 5 on base.

Chicago White Sox (49-74): Alex Ramirez went 3-4 with a home run, 2 runs scored, and 3 RBI in the 5-2 to loss against Minnesota. Hector Santiago allowed just 2 runs (1 unearned) despite giving up 9 hits and 2 walks in just 6 innings.

Wild Card Standings

Tampa Bay Rays (70-52, 0 GB)

Oakland Athletics (70-53, 0 GB)

Baltimore Orioles (67-56, 3 GB)

Cleveland Indians (66-58, 4.5 GB)

Kansas City Royals (64-59, 6 GB)

New York Yankees (64-59, 6GB)