Royals Vs Mariners: KC Blanked To Fall 4 Games Back

The glimmer of hope for the Kansas City Royals’ (83-74) playoff chances dimmed a little further Tuesday as the Royals were shutout 4-0 by rookie James Paxton and the Seattle Mariners. The loss coupled with a Cleveland walk off victory, put the Royals 4 games back in the wild card. Any combination of 2 wins by the Indians or 2 losses by the Royals will eliminate Kansas City from the playoff picture.

Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

On the Mound

Bruce Chen was Bruce Chen. He went 5 unimpressive innings, allowing 4 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks. He struck out 5 on the evening. The big blow came in the fifth on a Justin Smoak line drive home with 2 on. Game over!

At the Plate

It was about as bad of an offensive game as the Royals have had all season. They mustered only 5 total hits, 2 by Eric Hosmer, and no walks – none. They struck out 11 times. Once again, the Royals made some no-name pitcher into a superstar, at least for one game. (See Sam Deduno, Andrew Albers, etc.)

This and That

The Royals playoff dreams are all but over. The Royals cannot lose another game, and Cleveland and Texas are going to have to go on losing streaks against bad teams.

KCKingdom Player of the Game

Nope!

Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

• James Shields – 15
• Alex Gordon – 18
• Wade Davis – 5
• Lorenzo Cain – 8
• Luis Mendoza – 3
• Billy Butler – 12
• Ervin Santana – 12
• Miguel Tejada – 5
• Jeremy Guthrie -6
• Eric Hosmer – 15
• Chris Getz – 3
• Mike Moustakas – 7
• Aaron Crow
• Jarrod Dyson – 3
• David Lough – 8
• Alcides Escobar – 7
• J.C. Gutierrez
• Jeff Francoeur
• Bruce Chen – 5
• Salvador Perez – 13
• Will Smith – 2
• George Kottaras
• Louis Coleman – 2
• Bruce Chen – 2
• Justin Maxwell – 3
• Greg Holland -2
• Danny Duffy – 2
  
• Luke Hochevar – 2
• Yordano Ventura

The MARINERS

James Paxton is 3-0 in 4 starts for the Mariners. He sports a sparkling 1.50 ERA and a .917  WHIP. He has struck out 21 and walked 7 in 24 innings of work.

In addition to Smoak’s big hit in the fifth, Seattle’s other run came in the first on a Kendrys Morales RBI single, one of three hits on the night for Morales.

Up Next

Ervin Santana (9-9. 3.16 ERA) will try to keep the Royals alive for at least one more day. If the Royals can beat Hisashi Iwakuma (13-6, 2.76), Kansas City will still be alive going into Thursday, no matter what anyone else does.

AL Central Notes

Detroit Tigers (92-66): Doug Fister gave up 2 runs on 8 hits in 6.1 innings while earning his 14th win of the year. Austin Jackson, Victor Martinez, and Omar Infante all homered in the 4-2 win over the Twins.

Cleveland Indians (87-70): 42-year old Jason Giambi hit a pinch hit 2-run home run in the bottom of the 9th inning to walk off with a 4-3 win over the White Sox. It doesn’t get more dramatic than that.

Minnesota Twins (66-91): Ryan Doumit hit his 14th home run of the season in the 4-2 loss to the Tigers. Chris Parmelee had 3 hits in the game.

Chicago White Sox (62-95): Sox closer Addison Reed has 39 saves on the season but on Tuesday, he blew his 8th save when he surrendered a pinch hit walk off homer to Jason Giambi. Alejandro De Aza and Dayan Viciedo each homered in the loss.

WILD CARD STANDINGS

1. TAMPA BAY RAYS (88-69, 0 GB)
2. CLEVELAND INDIANS (87-70, 0 GB)
3. TEXAS RANGERS (86-71, 1 GB)
4. KANSAS CITY ROYALS (83-74, 4 GB)
5. NEW YORK YANKEES (82-75, 5 GB)