Kansas City Royals ninth inning Rally falls Short

The Kansas City Royals offense fails James Shields once again as they suffered a disappointing 2-1 loss to the Twins Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium.

Shields allowed only 2 runs in 6 innings, but the Kansas City Royals 9th inning rally only plated the single run. Minnesota starter Kyle Gibson befuddled the KC lineup, allowing only 2 hits and 2 walks in 7 innings to earn the win.

The loss dropped the Royals to one game over .500 at 53-52. However, Kansas City remained 5 games behind Detroit in the American League Central.

On the Mound

James Shields was good, pitching 6.0 innings while allowing 8 hits, 4 walks, and 2 earned runs with 5 strikeouts. Though he dropped his ERA to 3.50, Shields still got tabbed for the loss to go 9-6 on the season.

Jason Frasor pitched a scoreless 7th inning, allowing1 hit and notching 1 strikeout.

Aaron Crow pitched a clean 8th inning.

Kelvin Herrera held the Twins scoreless in the 9th, walking 1 hitter and ringing up 1 strikeout.

At the Plate

Overall, the Royals managed 5 hits and 2 walks on the night, with 2 doubles and 1 earned run.

No Royal got more than one hit. Lorenzo Cain hit a double in the 8th inning against reliever Casey Fien, but ended up stranded at 2nd base. Cain went 1-3 on the day.

Omar Infante led off the 9th inning against Twins closer Glen Perkins with a double, and scored on Eric Hosmer‘s single. Infante went 1-4, with 1 run scored on the night. While Hosmer also went 1-4 and picked up the team’s only RBI.

After Hosmer’s hit, Perkins got Salvador Perez on a hard liner to left, a fly to center by Alex Gordon, and a line out to second by Billy Butler to end the game.

This and That

The Royals continue to struggle at home. Kansas City is now 25-27 in Kauffman Stadium.

One of the runs allowed by James Shields was unearned due to his own throwing error on CF Danny Santana‘s bunt single in the 3rd inning. Shields wild throw to first put Santana at second. He eventually scored on Josh Willingham‘s sacrifice fly to center.

Tuesday night was Mizzou night at the K. Minnesota starter Kyle Gibson (a MU alum) got the win, while former MU pitcher Aaron Crow tossed a scoreless inning in the 8th. Gibson and Crow were teammates at Missouri, with both ending up as 1st round picks in the MLB draft (Crow 2008 and Gibson 2009).

KC Kingdom Player of the Game

I  guess I’m going to go with James Shields who battled all night to keep his team in the game. Shields didn’t have his best stuff, but held the Twins to 1 earned run—including wiggling out of a 1-out, runners on 2nd and 3rd jam in the 5th inning.

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• Billy Butler – 5
• Francisley Bueno
• Danny Valencia
• Christian ColFon
• Raul Ibanez
• Jarrod Dyson – 2
• Lorenzo Cain – 6
• Johnny Giavotella
• Wade Davis
• Norichika Aoki – 2
• Salvador Perez – 6
• Jeremy Guthrie  –
• Jason Vargas – 6
• Alex Gordon – 10
• Bruce Chen7
• James Shields – 9
• Yordano Ventura – 4
• Danny Duffy – 7
• Omar Infante – 4
• Mike Moustakas – 8
• Alcides Escobar – 5
• Eric Hosmer – 12
• Michael Mariott

The Twins

Kyle Gibson dominated the Royals Tuesday night with an impressive 7.0 innings pitched, 2 hits, 2 walks, and 0 earned runs with 7 strikeouts. Gibson ran his record to 9-8 on the season with a 3.94 ERA.r

Up Next

The Royals continue their series against the Twins Wednesday night. Kansas City will send Danny Duffy (5-10, 2.47 ERA) to the mound against Phil Hughes (10-7, 4.10 ERA) for Minnesota. Game time is 7:10 PM CST at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

Box

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

2B: D Santana (12, off J Shields); B Dozier (19, off J Shields).
SF: J Willingham (5, off J Shields).
HBP: J Willingham (6, by J Shields).
TB: B Dozier 3; D Santana 3; J Willingham; S Fuld; E Nunez.
GIDP: E Nunez (3); C Parmelee (1).
RBI: B Dozier (48); J Willingham (30).
Team LOB: 8.
With RISP: 2 for 9.
Baserunning
SB: T Plouffe (1, 2nd base off J Shields/S Perez); E Nunez (4, 2nd base off J Shields/S Perez).
CS: B Dozier (6, 2nd base by J Frasor/S Perez).
Pickoffs: D Santana (1st base by J Shields).

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

2B: L Cain (19, off C Fien); O Infante (13, off G Perkins).
TB: O Infante 2; L Cain 2; E Hosmer; N Aoki; A Escobar.
RBI: E Hosmer (46).
Team LOB: 5.
With RISP: 1 for 5.
Fielding
DP: 2. O Infante-A Escobar-E Hosmer; A Escobar-O Infante-E Hosmer.
E: S Perez (4); J Shields (3).
Baserunning
SB: N Aoki (9, 2nd base off K Gibson/K Suzuki).
Pickoffs: A Escobar (1st base by K Gibson).

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

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

Balks: None.
WP: J Shields (6).
HBP: J Shields (9; J Willingham).
IBB: None.
Pickoffs: K Gibson (1; A Escobar, 1st base); J Shields (3; D Santana, 1st base).