KC Headlines: Royals Swept, Sporting Ties, Miguel

May 17, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Kansas City Royals left fielder

(4) reacts after striking out against the Oakland Athletics during the sixth inning at O.Co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

ABOUT LAST NIGHT…

Okay, this is getting bad. Really bad. The Royals have lost 10 of their last 13 games after being swept by the Oakland Athletics this weekend and are at .500 for the season after being seven games over .500 just two weeks ago. The decline is due almost entirely because of an awful offense. Kansas City managed only five runs, stranded what felt like 700 base runners, and hit zero home runs in the series. This isn’t a problem that has just cropped up in the last week, but has been a season-long issue. Roster moves need to be made. What will happen? Well, I’m not sure what Dayton is willing to do. But if this season is about winning, as Moore has said it is, then heavy changes need to be made soon. Either that or we need to petition to have Alex Gordon bat for everybody.

Royals Nugget: Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Alcides Escobar, Chris Getz, and Jeff Francoeur are a combined 33-for-208 (.159 batting average) with seven walks since May 6. In that span the Royals are 3-10. Not stunning. Remove Hosmer from the list and Moose, Esky, Getz, and Frenchy are a combined 21-158 (.133) with two walks. Ouch.

KC has a 20-20 record and is four games behind first place Cleveland and two games behind Detroit.

Continuing on the disappointing front, a bad offsides call cost Sporting KC two points in a 1-1 draw against D.C. United. Ike Opera thought he gave Sporting a 1-0 lead in the 30th minute but he was declared offsides even though he was more than a yard in front of the United defender. Sporting had plenty of chances to get the goal back but were denied. SKC will return to Kansas City on Sunday to face the Houston Dynamo.

In good news, Kansas State locked up their first conference baseball championship since 1933 over the weekend and in turn swept the major men’s conference championships – football, basketball, baseball- to earn the Big 12’s first triple crown since 2005-2006. With a good showing at the Big 12 tournament, KSU could end up host a regional in next month’s College World Series.

IN OTHER NEWS…

– Michael Engel breaks down the Royals weekend. (Kings of Kauffman)
– Miles Yi takes a look at the Chiefs playoff chances. (Arrowhead Addict)
– Breaking down the recruitment of Andrew Wiggins. (Capital-Journal)
– Phil Pressey hopes teams see him as a difference maker. (Post-Dispatch)

ELSEWHERE AND EVERYWHERE…

– Someone just won a lot of money in Florida. $590.5 million.
– It didn’t take Justin Timberlake long to get back into acting. Coen Brother movie.
– Iron Man 3 is now the third highest grossing movie of all-time. Battlefield Earth just missed the cut.
– Hey, it is not entirely your fault that you’re fat. Well, if you’re a rat that is.
– A 1,000 year old coin along with a treasure map was found in Australia. Treasure hunt!

GIF OF THE WEEK

Miguel tried to jump over the crowd at the Billboard Music Awards. He almost made it. Almost…

ONE MORE THING…

Wilt Chamberlain on Wilt Chamberlain. (PBS)