Royals Recap: David Lough Goes 4-4 With 10 Total Bases

Defense and the bullpen tried to blow this one for the Kansas City Royals (38-41) on Sunday against the Minnesota Twins (36-42), but the offense got a boost from some unexpected sources to hold down a 9-8 win.

Jun 26, 2013; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals right fielder David Lough (7) connects for a single in the tenth inning of the game against the Atlanta Braves at Kauffman Stadium. The Royals won 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

On the Mound

Ervin Santana struggled with his control for most of the day, walking 4 and serving up 5 hits in 6 frames. Four runs scored against him, alth0ugh 1 was unearned. He struck out 5. The bullpen really struggled behind him. Tim Collins got rocked for 3 runs on 2 walks and two hits in just a third of an inning. Aaron Crow put out the fire with a scoreless 1.2 innings.

Greg Holland allowed a lead off home run to Trevor Plouffe to start off the 9th before closing out the game by striking out the next 3 batters on 9 pitches to gain his 17 save.

At the Plate

Johnny Giavotella made his 2013 debut Sunday and it could not have gone better for him. He went to 3-4, with a double, a run, and 2 RBI. Plus, Gio played some pretty good defense to make things even better.

As good as Giavotello was, David Lough was even better. How about 4-4 with 3 doubles and a home run? Throw in 4 runs scored and 3 RBI, and Lough had quite the day.

Eric Hosmer pounded out a home run in the 9th, which turned out to be a much needed insurance run.

This and That

Lough became just the 5th Kansas City Royal in team history to tally 4 extra base hits in one game. George Brett, Hal McRae, Johnny Damon, and Lonnie Smith are the others.

The left side of the infield had a rough 5th inning. Both Alcides Escobar and Mike Moustakas made errors in that frame. Those errors resulted in an unearned run for Santana.

This has nothing to do with baseball but on the radio this morning, they were talking about how Sporting Kansas City now sells plates of bacon at the ball park at one of their concession stands, including a couple different flavors. How awesome is that?

KC Kingdom Player of the Game

Despite some strong competition Sunday, David Lough ran away from the other contenders with his 10 total bases and 6 runs produced. It is Lough’s 5th POG this season.

The Twins

Kevin Correia was not at his best Sunday. He gave up 5 runs, 7 hits, and 3 walks in 5 innings. The bullpen didn’t improve things much, surrendering 4 more runs. The Twins had three home runs in the losing effort. Clete Thomas, Justin Morneau, and Trevor Plouffe each homered. These 3 players have 14 combined home runs on the season, and 5 of those were hit in this series.

Joe Mauer went 0-15 in the series, although he did walk 3 times.

Up Next

The Royals are off Monday before traveling to Cleveland to take on the first place Indians. Luis Mendoza (2-4, 4.16 ERA) takes on Corey Kluber (6-5, 4.16 ERA) at 6:10 on Tuesday.

AL Central Notes

Detroit Tigers (43-37): Miguel Cabrera‘s 25th home run was the only run the Tigers could put on the board in a 3-1 loss to the Rays. Rick Porcello gave up 3 runs in 6 innings to take the loss.

Cleveland Indians (44-38): The Indians moved into a virtual tie with the Tigers with a 4-0 blanking of the hapless White Sox. Justin Masterson pitched a complete game shutout, allowing 6 hits and a walk while striking out 8. It was his 10 win of the season. Yan Gomes had 3 hits, and Michael Brantley had 2, plus 2 runs scored on the day.

Chicago White Sox (32-47): The White Sox are in a tailspin right now. They have lost 5 in a row and are now 15 games under .500 and 10 1/2 games back of the Indians and the Tigers in the AL Central. Chris Sale pitched well in this game but again got little run support. It will probably not be long before the Sox begin dismantling and rebuilding.

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