Kansas City Royals Win Home Opener Against Chicago White Sox
By Joel Wagler
Kansas City Royals left fielder Alex Gordon (4) Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
The Kansas City Royals (1-2) sent their sell out crowd home happy Friday with a 7-5 victory over the Chicago White Sox (2-2) in the Kauffman Stadium season debut. The Royals scored three more runs on as many hits as they mustered in two game in Detroit.
On the Mound
It was a typical Jeremy Guthrie start in the home opener. Guthrie went 5.2 innings and was probably left in too long by manager Ned Yost. Guthrie didn’t particularly sharp throughout the outing but he allowed just 2 runs in the first 5 frames. He labored through the 5th and should have been done but Guthrie pitched into the 6th before leaving with 2on and two outs. He threw 111 pitches.
Kelvin Herrera let both of the inherited scored before recording a strikeout to end the inning. Francisley Bueno and Aaron Crow limped through the 7th before Wade Davis‘ perfect 8th, and Greg Holland closed out the game with a perfect 9th fro his first save of the season. Both Davis and Holland struck out 2 of the 3 batters they faced.
At the Plate
The Royals bats finally woke up as they scored 7 runs on 13 hits. Norichika Aoki got his first three hits of the season plus he walked once. Omar Infante also produced 3 hits, scored a run, and had one RBI.
The hit that really got things going though, was a bases loaded double in the first inning that scored 3 runs. The Royals struggled to produce hits with runners in scoring position in Detroit but this big knock got things going in the right direction early.
Lorenzo Cain also had a nice day, going 2-4 with a double, a run scored, a stolen base, and 2 RBI.
This and That
The Royals walked 6 times on the afternoon but only struck out 3 times.
Mike Moustakas and Alcides Escobar remain hitless on the season, harkening memories of a horrid 2013. They combined to go 0-8 on the day, though Moustakas walked once. Th two are 0-23 on the year.
While the Royals did score some runs, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Billy Butler and Moustakas each left 5 runners on base, and Alex Gordon 4. These 3 guys will need to come through more often for the Royals to meet there full potential.
KC Kingdom Player of the Game
There were several candidates today, which is a good thing. Infante and Aoki did a great job setting the table for the middle of the line up. Cain’s big day deserved consideration as well. However, we are going with Alex Gordon for that big hit early as the at bat that got the Royals out of the scoring funk and started the game off right.
The White Sox
It was a rough day for rookie Erik Johnson. he got tagged for all 7 runs and 10 of the hits in just 4.2 innings.
Catcher Tyler Flowers went 3-4, and is now hitting .571 in the early season. Adam Eaton got 2 hits on the day.
Up Next
Bruce Chen will go for the Royals on Saturday, with John Danks pitching for Chicago. It is the first start of the season for both pitchers. The game is at 1:10 Central.
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adam Eaton CF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .313 | .838 |
| Marcus Semien 2B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .111 | .533 |
| Conor Gillaspie 3B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .333 | .944 |
| Jose Abreu 1B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .313 | .963 |
| Adam Dunn DH | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .188 | .863 |
| Avisail Garcia RF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .167 | .333 |
| Alejandro De Aza LF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .267 | 1.133 |
| Alexei Ramirez SS | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .429 | 1.029 |
| Tyler Flowers C | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .571 | 1.214 |
| Team Totals | 34 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 8 | .265 | .665 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
2B: M Semien (1, off J Guthrie); T Flowers (1, off J Guthrie).
SF: C Gillaspie (1, off J Guthrie); J Abreu (1, off J Guthrie).
HBP: A Eaton (1, by J Guthrie).
TB: T Flowers 4; A Eaton 2; M Semien 2; A Dunn; C Gillaspie; A Ramirez.
GIDP: A De Aza (1).
RBI: A Eaton 2 (4); J Abreu (6); A Garcia (1); C Gillaspie (1).
2-out RBI: A Eaton 2.
Team LOB: 9.
With RISP: 2 for 11.
Fielding
DP: 1. M Semien-A Ramirez-J Abreu.
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norichika Aoki RF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .231 | .641 |
| Omar Infante 2B | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .385 | .813 |
| Eric Hosmer 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .364 | 1.007 |
| Billy Butler DH | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .200 | .585 |
| Jarrod Dyson PR-DH | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Alex Gordon LF | 5 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .182 | .503 |
| Salvador Perez C | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .600 | 1.567 |
| Mike Moustakas 3B | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | .077 |
| Lorenzo Cain CF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .667 |
| Alcides Escobar SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .083 |
| Jeremy Guthrie P | ||||||||
| Kelvin Herrera P | ||||||||
| Francisley Bueno P | ||||||||
| Aaron Crow P | ||||||||
| Wade Davis P | ||||||||
| Greg Holland P | ||||||||
| Team Totals | 36 | 7 | 13 | 6 | 6 | 3 | .361 | .910 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
2B: N Aoki (1, off E Johnson); E Hosmer (2, off E Johnson); A Gordon (1, off E Johnson).
IBB: S Perez (1, by S Downs).
HBP: E Hosmer (1, by E Johnson).
TB: N Aoki 4; O Infante 3; E Hosmer 3; A Gordon 2; L Cain 2; S Perez; B Butler.
GIDP: A Gordon (2).
RBI: A Gordon 3 (4); L Cain 2 (3); O Infante (2).
2-out RBI: O Infante.
Team LOB: 12.
With RISP: 4 for 16.
Fielding
DP: 1. E Hosmer-A Escobar-J Guthrie.
E: N Aoki (1); M Moustakas (1).
Outfield Assists: A Gordon (A Ramirez at home plate).
Baserunning
SB: S Perez (1, 2nd base off S Downs/T Flowers); J Dyson (1, 2nd base off S Downs/T Flowers); L Cain (2, 2nd base off E Johnson/T Flowers).
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | BF | Pit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erik Johnson, L (0-1) | 4.2 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 13.50 | 28 | 98 |
| Jake Petricka | 2.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | 10 | 41 |
| Scott Downs | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 5 | 27 |
| Team Totals | 8 | 13 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 7.88 | 43 | 166 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | BF | Pit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeremy Guthrie, W (1-0) | 5.2 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 6.35 | 27 | 111 |
| Kelvin Herrera, H (1) | 0.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 11 |
| Francisley Bueno, H (1) | 0.1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 | 10 |
| Aaron Crow, H (1) | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 9 |
| Wade Davis, H (1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2.70 | 4 | 17 |
| Greg Holland, S (1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 | 13 |
| Team Totals | 9 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 4.00 | 41 | 171 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table