Royals Recap: James Shields Loses 2-Hit Complete Game; Eric Hosmer Hurt?

Thursday’s off day seems to have sapped the Kansas City Royals‘ (6-5) momentum they gathered during their 3-game sweep on the Minnesota Twins earlier this week. Saturday, Kansas City dropped their second straight to the Toronto Blue Jays(5-6), this time by just one run, 3-2.

Apr 07, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Kansas City Royals pitcher James Shields (33) delivers to the plate during the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

On the Mound

For the second time in his three starts, James Shields saw a terrific performance wasted by a lackluster offense. Shields only allowed 2 hits while going the distance against the Jays. He struck out 6 but did allow his first three walks of the season. one of those walks came right before Jose Bautista‘s home run in the 6th. Shields threw 114 pitches in the outing.

At the Plate

The Royals struggled to string any offense together against the knuckle baller R.A. Dickey. Kansas City produced 8 hits on the night but they all came from just 4 Royals. Alex Gordon and Salvador Perez each had 2 hits, and Chris Getz had 3. Jarrod Dyson added a double to the cause and Billy Butler walked 3 times on the night. When so few batters are producing, it is very difficult to string enough offense together to win ball games.

This and That

Is it time yet to worry about the underachieving corner infielders for the Royals? Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas have combined for only 5 RBI and 6 runs in 64 at bats. More importantly, they only have 3 extra base hits between them, none of which are home runs.

If Hosmer does have a quad issue, as reported by Steve Physioc Friday on 610 radio, maybe he should be placed on the DL since he isn’t playing and the Royals have to go to a National League park this week when they travel to Atlanta. The Royals’ bench is thin enough without carrying a guy who is hurt on the active roster. UPDATE: Hosmer played in Sunday’s game a had 1 hit.

Player of the Game

Although Getx had 3 hits and produced 2 of the runs, James Shields’ 2-hit effort deserves the nod for last night. Shields is the first Royal to win the POG twice in the young season. Ironically, Shields was the losing pitcher each time he won the KC Kingdom POG.

Here is the list of the winners thus far:

• James Shields – 2
• Miguel Tejada
• Jeremy Guthrie
• Eric Hosmer
• Luis Mendoza
• Billy Butler
• Ervin Santana
• Alex Gordon
• Wade Davis
• Lorenzo Cain

The Blue Jays

Maicer Izturis was the only other Blue Jay besides Bautista to get a hit when he doubled in the third. He scored the first run of the game when he tagged up on Munenori Kawasaki‘s sacrifice fly to right. Salvador Perez appeared to have blocked the plate but Izturis was called safe. Kawasaki was called up yesterday to replace the injured the injured Jose Reyes, who will be out for approximately 3 months with an ankle injury.

Up Next

The Royals will try to salvage the final game of the series when Ervin Santana (1-1) takes on Brandon Morrow (0-1) at 1:10

AL Central Notes

Detroit Tigers ( 6-5 ): Shortstop Jhonny Peralta drove in three with a home run in the 4th inning of the Tigers’ 7-3 win at Oakland.

Cleveland Indians ( 5-5 ): Mark Reynolds, Nick Swisher, and Yan Gomes each homered in the Indians’ 9-4 victory of the the White Sox. Zach McAllister won his first game of the year.

Chicago White Sox (4-7 ): Chris Sale had a bad day in Cleveland, giving up 8 runs in 4.1 innings, losing his first of the season.

Minnesota Twins (4-6 ): First baseman Justin Morneau‘s home run off Matt Harvey was one of just 4 hits on the day for the Twins in the 4-3 loss to the Mets.