Kansas City Royals Shellacked By The Minnesota Twins

Kansas City Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas (8) Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

The Kansas City Royals (4-5) did not start off on the right foot on this 9-game stretch of games against the Twins and Astros. Friday night, the Minnesota Twins (4-6) throttled the Royals 10-1.

On the Mound

When there is a big strike zone, Bruce Chen is an effective pitcher. When it is a tight zone, like it was in this game, for both teams, Chen is going to have issues. So it went. Chen was forced to pitch more to the middle of the plate, and he got rocked. He went just 3.2 innings, the shortest stint by any Royals starter yet. He surrendered 6 runs on 7 hits, striking out 3 and walking 2.

Three ineffectual pitchers finished out the game, all giving up at least one run. Louis Coleman, Michael Mariot, and Kelvin Herrera all struggled. Mariot, making his major league debut, pitched one scoreless frame before giving up 2 runs in his second.

Royals hurlers walked 7 on the night, and struck out 8.

At the Plate

It was another abysmal night at the plate for the Royals. They scored one run on 2 hits and a walk in the first, then managed just 3 more hits the rest of the game.

Mike Moustakas had his first multiple hit game of the season, as he 2-4 on the night, raising his average to .100 on the season. His double was the only extra base hit for Kansas City.

Billy Butler recorded an RBI in the first on a grounder to short but went 0-3 on the night. He is hitting just .194 on the year.

This and That

The Royals were 0-9 with runners in scoring position in the game.

Kansas City has a Slugging Percentage of .313, 46 points behind the next lowest in the American League. The mark of .313 is a terrible number for On Base Percentage, let alone Slugging. The Royals OBP is .321, 8th in the AL

No other team in the majors has a SLG lower than their OBP. The Royals only have 15 extra base hits.

KC Kingdom Player of the Game

The pickings were slim indeed in this game but we are going to go with Mike Moustakas for his (hopefully) slump busting 2 hits, including an extra base hit.

The Twins

Kyle Gibson went 6.1 innings Friday, scattering 5 hits, and allowing just the one run. He struck out 3 and walked 4. Two relievers combined to go 2.2 perfect innings.

The Royals were taken down by some of the biggest names in baseball. Chris Colabello went 2-3 with a run and 3 RBI. Josmil Pinto had 2 hits in 3 at bats, with a home run, 2 runs scored, and a RBI. Kurt Suzuki went 2-5 with a run and 2 RBI, and Trevor Plouffe was 3-4 with 2 runs and 1 driven in. The Twins had 11 hits and 7 walks on the night.

Up Next

James Shields (0-1, 2.70 ERA) will take the mound for the Kansas City Royals on Saturday. The Twins will counter with their big off-season signing, Ricky Nolasco (0-1, 9.00 ERA). Nolasco has allowed the 10 runs in 10 innings. First pitch is at 1:10 Central.

Batting	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OPS
Norichika Aoki RF	4	0	0	0	0	1	.303	.846
Omar Infante 2B	3	1	1	0	1	0	.346	.779
Eric Hosmer 1B	4	0	1	0	0	1	.273	.685
Billy Butler DH	3	0	0	1	1	0	.194	.491
Alex Gordon LF	2	0	1	0	1	0	.281	.771
Justin Maxwell LF	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000
Salvador Perez C	4	0	0	0	0	0	.393	1.063
Mike Moustakas 3B	4	0	2	0	0	0	.100	.315
Lorenzo Cain CF	3	0	0	0	1	1	.286	.619
Alcides Escobar SS	3	0	0	0	0	1	.167	.394
Team Totals	31	1	5	1	4	4	.161	.451

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

2B: M Moustakas (1, off K Gibson).

TB: M Moustakas 3; A Gordon; E Hosmer; O Infante.

GIDP: A Gordon (3).

RBI: B Butler (4).

Team LOB: 7.

With RISP: 0 for 9.

Fielding

E: A Escobar (1).

Batting	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OPS
Brian Dozier 2B	4	1	1	0	1	1	.175	.745
Joe Mauer 1B	5	1	1	1	0	1	.244	.660
Trevor Plouffe 3B	4	2	3	1	1	0	.375	.954
Chris Colabello RF	3	1	2	3	0	1	.308	.854
Darin Mastroianni RF	1	1	0	0	1	1	.000	.167
Jason Kubel LF	5	0	1	1	0	2	.412	1.121
Josmil Pinto DH	3	2	1	1	2	0	.211	.844
Kurt Suzuki C	5	1	2	2	0	0	.333	.845
Aaron Hicks CF	3	1	0	0	1	2	.176	.545
Pedro Florimon SS	3	0	0	0	1	0	.080	.259
Team Totals	36	10	11	9	7	8	.306	.946

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

2B: K Suzuki (2, off M Mariot); C Colabello (5, off L Coleman); T Plouffe (4, off B Chen).

3B: J Kubel (1, off B Chen).

HR: J Pinto (2, off B Chen; 4th inn, 0 on, 0 outs to Deep LF-CF).

TB: T Plouffe 4; J Pinto 4; J Kubel 3; K Suzuki 3; C Colabello 3; B Dozier; J Mauer.

RBI: C Colabello 3 (14); K Suzuki 2 (8); J Pinto (3); J Mauer (1); J Kubel (7); T Plouffe (8).

2-out RBI: C Colabello 3; J Kubel; J Mauer.

Team LOB: 9.

With RISP: 5 for 14.

Fielding

DP: 1. B Dozier-P Florimon-J Mauer.

Pitching	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA	Pit	Str
Bruce Chen, L (0-1)	3.2	7	6	6	2	3	1	6.30	87	48
Louis Coleman	1.1	1	1	1	1	1	0	6.75	25	14
Michael Mariot	2	2	2	2	2	2	0	9.00	50	21
Kelvin Herrera	1	1	1	0	2	2	0	4.15	29	13
Team Totals	8	11	10	9	7	8	1	10.12	191	96

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Pitching	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA	BF	Pit	Str
Kyle Gibson, W (2-0)	6.1	5	1	1	4	3	1.59	27	100	56
Brian Duensing	1.2	0	0	0	0	1	0.00	5	29	19
Anthony Swarzak	1	0	0	0	0	0	10.80	3	10	7
Team Totals	9	5	1	1	4	4	1.00	35	139	82

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Balks: None.

WP: L Coleman 2 (2); M Mariot (1); K Gibson (2).

HBP: None.

IBB: None.

Pickoffs: None.

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