Kansas City Royals Power Up Early, Bullpen Falters Late
By Joel Wagler
Kansas City Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas (8) Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
The Kansas City Royals (10-10) showed some rare power early with back-to-back in the second inning but the bullpen struggled in the 5-3 loss to the Cleveland Indians (10-11) Wednesday night.
On the Mound
Jason Vargas had a bad second inning and it cost him. Two singles and a triple plated 2 runs, the only scores Vargas surrendered until the 6th, when Salvador Perez and Jarrod Dyson made errors on the same play, allowing Michael Brantley to score on a from first on a steal attempt of second. Vargas pitched well again overall, but it wasn’t good enough.
Kelvin Herrera pitched one inning, giving up a run on 3 hits. Wade Davis followed with one of the more silly lines you see. In one inning, he gave up a run, 2 hits, and 2 walks, but struck out the side. He threw 31 pitches in the inning.
At the Plate
Salvador Perez and Mike Moustakas hit consecutive home runs in the second in to stake the Royals to a 2-0. It was Perez’ first of the season, and Moustakas’ 4th, all in the last 8 games. Moustakas also hit in Eric Hosmer in the 6th.
Hosmer was 2-5 and raised his average to a team high .316. Jarrod Dyson went 3-4, and is batting .313. Alcides Escobar, who had been red-hot, went 0-4 and dropped to .299.
Royals were 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position on the night.
Again, the Royals did little damage to the opposing bullpen, garnering 2 hits and no runs in 2.2 innings against the relievers. Tuesday night’s outbreak of offense late in the game, did not carry over to Wednesday night’s game.
This and That
Nori Aoki only struck out 40 times last year in 674 plate appearances. In 83 plate appearances this season, he has 15. Last year, he had 15 more walks than whiffs; this season, he has less than half as walks as strikeouts.
The Royals were 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position on the night.
Jarrod Dyson has 2 errors in 10 games, and 19 chances.
KC Kingdom Player of the Game
Let’s go with Mike Moustakas in this one. He went 2 for 4 with a homer, a run, and 2 batted in. It is great to see Moustakas get a little hot. This is the first time in 5 games that Jason Vargas started but didn’t get the Player of the game.
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- Salvador Perez
- Jason Vargas – 4
- Alex Gordon – 3
- Bruce Chen
- James Shields-3
- Yordano Ventura – 2
- Mike Moustakas
- Danny Duffy
- Omar Infante
- Mike Moustakas – 2
- Alcides Escobar – 2
- Eric Hosmer
The Indians
Justin Masterson was especially sharp, giving up 3 runs (1 unearned) on 8 hits and 2 walks in 6.1 innings, but he did strike out 6 and he held the Royals when he needed to.
Michael Bourn was 3 for 5 with 2 RBI, but he struck out twice and was caught stealing twice. Jason Kipnis and Asdrubal Cabrera each had 2 hits.
Up Next
Bruce Chen (1-1, 6.60 ERA) has struggles his last two games out. He would like nothing more than to pitch well today, and help the Royals earn a split with the Indians. Corey Kluber (1-2, 5.40 ERA) wants to prove 2013 wasn’t fluke, and good game against KC today could get him on track. First pitch is at 11:05 am Central.
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nori Aoki RF | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .267 | .689 |
| Omar Infante 2B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .278 | .717 |
| Eric Hosmer 1B | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .316 | .757 |
| Billy Butler DH | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .205 | .510 |
| Alex Gordon LF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .289 | .763 |
| Salvador Perez C | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .213 | .636 |
| Mike Moustakas 3B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .159 | .600 |
| Alcides Escobar SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .299 | .780 |
| Jarrod Dyson CF | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .313 | .665 |
| Team Totals | 37 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 9 | .270 | .740 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
HR: S Perez (1, off J Masterson; 2nd inn, 0 on, 1 out to Deep CF); M Moustakas (4, off J Masterson; 2nd inn, 0 on, 1 out to Deep RF Line).
TB: M Moustakas 5; S Perez 4; J Dyson 3; E Hosmer 2; A Gordon; N Aoki.
GIDP: E Hosmer (6).
RBI: M Moustakas 2 (11); S Perez (6).
2-out RBI: M Moustakas.
Team LOB: 9.
With RISP: 1 for 9.
Fielding
E: S Perez (3); J Dyson (2).
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Bourn CF | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .258 | .626 |
| Nick Swisher 1B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .214 | .635 |
| Jason Kipnis 2B | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .243 | .799 |
| Carlos Santana DH | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .130 | .513 |
| Ryan Raburn RF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .191 | .433 |
| David Murphy PH-RF | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .288 | .850 |
| Michael Brantley LF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .295 | .875 |
| Asdrubal Cabrera SS | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .224 | .661 |
| Yan Gomes C | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .266 | .752 |
| Mike Aviles 3B | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 | .645 |
| Lonnie Chisenhall PH-3B | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .432 | 1.070 |
| Team Totals | 33 | 5 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 5 | .333 | .845 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
2B: J Kipnis (5, off K Herrera).
3B: M Bourn (1, off J Vargas).
HBP: A Cabrera (2, by J Vargas).
TB: M Bourn 5; J Kipnis 3; A Cabrera 2; Y Gomes; L Chisenhall; N Swisher; M Brantley.
RBI: M Bourn 2 (3); J Kipnis (10); L Chisenhall (1).
2-out RBI: M Bourn 2; J Kipnis.
Team LOB: 9.
With RISP: 3 for 11.
Fielding
DP: 1. J Masterson-A Cabrera-N Swisher.
E: J Kipnis (3).
Baserunning
SB: M Brantley (4, 2nd base off J Vargas/S Perez); A Cabrera (1, 2nd base off J Vargas/S Perez).
CS: M Bourn 2 (3, 3rd base by S Perez POCS, 2nd base by K Herrera/S Perez).
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | Pit | Str |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jason Vargas | 6 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1.54 | 100 | 63 |
| Kelvin Herrera, L (0-1) | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.38 | 19 | 11 |
| Wade Davis | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3.48 | 31 | 18 |
| Team Totals | 8 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 4.50 | 150 | 92 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | Pit | Str |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Justin Masterson | 6.1 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 4.50 | 98 | 64 |
| Marc Rzepczynski | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.96 | 6 | 4 |
| Bryan Shaw, W (1-0) | 0.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.86 | 12 | 9 |
| Cody Allen, H (6) | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | 6 | 4 |
| John Axford, S (8) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.79 | 14 | 10 |
| Team Totals | 9 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 2.00 | 136 | 91 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Balks: None.
WP: None.
HBP: J Vargas (1; A Cabrera).
IBB: None.
Pickoffs: None.
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