Kansas City Royals Scott Downs Exploited For Critical Home Run in Loss

Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost pushed the wrong button when he put reliever Scott Downs into the game in the 6th inning with one runner on base. Red Sox manager John Farrell countered by sending pinch hitter Jonny Gomes to the plate, who hit a two-run home run to put Boston ahead 5-4.

The Red Sox ended up winning Friday night after making the lead hold up over these final 3 innings.

The loss drops the Royals to 1 game over .500 at 48-47.  The Royals remain 6.5 games behind Detroit in the American League Central.

On the Mound

Starter James Shields continued his unimpressive run by going 5.2 innings, allowing 8 hits, 1 walk, and 4 runs (3 earned) with 3 strikeouts. Shields left after throwing 112 pitches in 5.2 innings, which allowed Boston to beat up on reliever Scott Downs.

Scott Downs entered in the 6th to pitch to left-handed batter Jackie Bradley, but Red Sox manager John Farrell pinch hit with lefty-kryptonite Jonny Gomes. Gomes smacked a 2-run home run to center. Downs pitched .1 innings, allowing the critical home run.

Kelvin Herrera and Aaron Crow followed with scoreless single innings, but the damage was already done.

At the Plate

The Royals offense did yet another great job of minimizing their opportunities, by scoring 4 runs on 12 hits. In particular, the Royals let Boston starter Clay Buchholz off the hook in the 4th inning by failing to score any further runs after going up 3-1 with runners on 1st and 3rd with no outs.

Eric Hosmer continued his hot hitting in the 2nd half, going 3-5 with 2 singles, a double, 1 run scored, and 2 RBI’s.

Omar Infante also went 3-5 with a double, and scored 2 runs.

Both Alex Gordon and Salvador Perez chipped in by going 2-4 with 1 RBI.

This and That

Manager Ned Yost lamely explained that he didn’t think Red Sox skipper John Farrell would pinch hit so early when he pulled James Shields in favor of Scott Downs in the 6th. Yost admitted he made a mistake after the game.

First baseman Eric Hosmer extended his hitting streak to 14 games. Hosmer has a hit in every July game, plus a hit on June 30th. Hosmer is hitting a scorching .442/.508/.673 in July.

That’s the player we expected to see all year.

The Royals suffered from some rare bad play in the outfield in the 6th. First Alex Gordon failed to hold the ball after attempting a diving catch in left, and Lorenzo Cain took a bad route to a ball that fell in the gap to give Stephen Drew a ground rule double.

KC Kingdom Player of the Game

Eric Hosmer gets our nod in what amounts to a booby prize. Hosmer is carrying the Royals offense in July, such as it is. While better late than never, you can’t help but wonder where this guy has been all year.

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• Billy Butler – 2
• Danny Valencia
• Christian Colon
• Raul Ibanez
• Jarrod Dyson – 2
• Lorenzo Cain – 6
• Johnny Giavotella
• Wade Davis
• Norichika Aoki
• Salvador Perez – 6
• Jeremy Guthrie  – 5
• Jason Vargas – 6
• Alex Gordon – 9
• Bruce Chen
• James Shields – 8
• Yordano Ventura – 4
• Mike Moustakas
• Danny Duffy – 6
• Omar Infante – 4
• Mike Moustakas – 5
• Alcides Escobar – 5
• Eric Hosmer – 12
• Michael Mariot

The Red Sox

Pinch hitter Jonny Gomes turned the game around for Boston after entering the game as a pinch hitter for Jackie Bradley in the 6th. Gomes went 1-2 on the game, hitting his 6th home run on the season along with 2 critical RBIs.

Up Next

The Royals continue their series in Boston by sending Danny Duffy (5-9, 2.76 ERA) to the mound against Rubby De La Rosa (2-2, 2.89) for the Red Sox. Game time is 6:10 PM CST at Fenway Park in Boston.

Box

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table.

2B: O Infante 2 (11, 1 off C Buchholz, 1 off K Uehara); E Hosmer (27, off C Buchholz).
TB: O Infante 5; E Hosmer 4; A Gordon 2; S Perez 2; B Butler; N Aoki.
RBI: E Hosmer 2 (44); A Gordon (45); S Perez (37).
2-out RBI: E Hosmer.
Team LOB: 8.
With RISP: 4 for 13.
Fielding
DP: 1. O Infante-A Escobar-E Hosmer.
E: A Escobar (8).
Baserunning
SB: N Aoki (8, 2nd base off C Buchholz/D Ross).
CS: E Hosmer (2, 2nd base by C Buchholz/D Ross).
Pickoffs: A Gordon (1st base by J Tazawa).

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table.

2B: S Drew (4, off J Shields); D Ortiz (19, off K Herrera).
HR: X Bogaerts (7, off J Shields, 6th inn, 1 on, 1 out to Deep CF); J Gomes (6, off S Downs, 6th inn, 1 on, 2 outs to Deep CF).
SH: D Ross (2, off A Crow).
TB: J Gomes 4; X Bogaerts 4; S Drew 3; D Ortiz 2; M Napoli 2; D Pedroia; B Holt; D Nava.
GIDP: D Ortiz (11).
RBI: J Gomes 2 (32); X Bogaerts 2 (24); B Holt (22).
2-out RBI: J Gomes 2; B Holt.
Team LOB: 8.
With RISP: 2 for 10.
Fielding
PB: D Ross (3).
E: X Bogaerts (14); J Tazawa (1).

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table.

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table.

Balks: None.
WP: None.
HBP: None.
IBB: None.
Pickoffs: J Tazawa (1; A Gordon, 1st base).