Astros Humiliate Kansas City Royals with Sweep

The Houston Astros finished off a humiliating 3-game sweep of the Royals in Kansas City by winning 9-3 Wednesday afternoon. Losing three straight games to the worst team in the American League has to be the low point of the Royals season.

The Astros started wtih a two-run home run in the 1st off starter Danny Duffy, and continued to batter Kansas City Royals pitchers the rest of the day. For the series, the Astros outscored the Royals 21-5, after coming into Kansas City riding a 6-game losing streak.

This is known as hitting rock bottom. Even Washington Generals might win a game if they could play Kansas City.

The Royals now lost 4 straight games and fallen to 24-28 on the season. The Royals remain 6.5 games behind Detroit in the A.L. Central.

On the Mound

Danny Duffy was awful. He gave up 7 hits, 5 walks, 6 runs, and 5 earned runs in 4.0 innings. He gave up two home runs with only 3 strikeouts. He struggled with his control the entire game.

Kelvin Herrera pitched the 5th inning and temporarily stopped the bleeding by holding the Astros scoreless, despite allowing a walk.

Louis Coleman entered in the 6th. He allowed the Astros to completely put the game out of reach by giving up a 3-run home run to Chris Carter.

Tim Collins, Mike Mariot, and Greg Holland followed with 3 innings of scoreless relief to finish out the game.

At the Plate

Reserve catcher Brett Hayes collected his first two hits of the season, with a single in the 5th and a home run in the 7th. Hayes went 2-4 on the day, with a run scored and 1 RBI. He raised his batting average to a scintillating .067.

Eric Hosmer also went 2-4, with a double and a run scored.

No other Royal had more than one hit. Overall, the team had 7 hits, 4 walks, and scored 3 runs. It was yet another tiresome showing of Kansas City’s pop-gun offense.

Maybe the whole team belongs in AAAA.

This and That

Houston’s George Springer set an Astros rookie record with 9 home runs in a month, breaking Glenn Davis‘ mark of 8 set in 1985.

The Royals fell under .500 at home at 13-14. Right now, it looks like Kansas City just might be poised to repeat last year’s May implosion.

Perhaps the team needs to make some sacrifices to Jobu to stave off failure at the plate. Right now, their bats seem very afraid.

KC Kingdom Player of the Game

Our nod has to go to Brett Hayes for his first two hits of the season. Not only did he get a single, the entire house stood in awe as he hit the ball over the fence. This rare event so confused the Royals fanbase, they weren’t exactly sure how they were supposed to react.

911 reported a rash of fainting spells at Kauffman Stadium due to shock at the rare event. Just in case you have never seen such a thing, it’s called a home run. Hitting them is a good thing.

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• Billy Butler – 2
• Lorenzo Cain
• Johnny Giavotella
• Wade Davis
• Norichika Aoki
• Salvador Perez – 2
• Jeremy Guthrie  – 3
• Jason Vargas – 5
• Alex Gordon – 5
• Bruce Chen
• James Shields – 5
• Yordano Ventura – 3
• Mike Moustakas
• Danny Duffy – 3
• Omar Infante
• Mike Moustakas – 3
• Alcidese Escobar – 3
• Eric Hosmer – 6
• Michael Mariot
• Casey Coleman
• Danny Valencia

The Astros

Houston hit 3 home runs on the day, for a 9-run outburst that gave them 21 runs scored over the 3 game series in Kansas City.

Chris Carter hit two dingers, going 2-4, with 2 runs scored, and 4 RBI’s.

George Springer also wore out the Royals, going 1-3 with 2 runs scored, 2 RBIs, a home run, and two walks.

Reserve catcher Carlos Corporan went 3-4, with a double, two singles, 1 run scored, 1 RBI, and 1 walk.

Up Next

The Royals are scheduled to continue embarrassing themselves by traveling to Canada to take on the Blue Jays in Toronto. The Royals send James Shields (6-3, 2.95 ERA) to the mound against knuckleball specialist R.A. Dickey (5-4, 3.95 ERA). Game time is 6:07 CST at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

Don’t worry Royals fans, I’m sure Dayton Moore will tell us how it really takes 12 years to turn a franchise around.

Box

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

2B: C Corporan (1, off D Duffy).
HR: G Springer (9, off D Duffy, 1st inn, 1 on, 0 outs to Deep LF-CF); C Carter 2 (8, 1 off L Coleman, 6th inn, 2 on, 1 out to Deep LF, 1 off D Duffy, 5th inn, 0 on, 0 outs to Deep LF).
HBP: G Springer (3, by L Coleman).
TB: C Carter 8; C Corporan 4; G Springer 4; J Guzman; M Dominguez; D Fowler; J Altuve; R Grossman.
GIDP: D Fowler (4).
RBI: C Carter 4 (21); G Springer 2 (27); D Fowler 2 (16); C Corporan (8).
2-out RBI: D Fowler 2; C Corporan.
Team LOB: 13.
With RISP: 2 for 14.
Fielding
DP: 1. J Villar-J Altuve-J Guzman.
E: J Altuve (1); J Villar (7).
Baserunning
SB: J Guzman (2, 2nd base off K Herrera/B Hayes).

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

2B: E Hosmer (18, off J Cosart); A Escobar (13, off J Cosart).
HR: B Hayes (1, off J Williams, 7th inn, 0 on, 1 out to Deep LF).
SF: O Infante (2, off J Cosart).
TB: B Hayes 5; E Hosmer 3; A Escobar 2; A Gordon; P Ciriaco.
GIDP: A Escobar (3).
RBI: O Infante (20); B Hayes (1); A Escobar (18).
2-out RBI: A Escobar.
Team LOB: 8.
With RISP: 1 for 6.
Fielding
DP: 1. A Escobar-O Infante-E Hosmer.
E: E Hosmer (4).
Baserunning
SB: J Dyson 2 (9, 3rd base off J Williams/C Corporan, 3rd base off J Cosart/C Corporan).

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

D Duffy faced 2 batters in the 5th inning.
Balks: None.
WP: None.
HBP: L Coleman (1; G Springer).
IBB: None.
Pickoffs: None.