Mark Buehrle Shuts Out Kansas City Royals
By John Viril
Major-league baseball wins leader Mark Buehrle shut out the Kansas City Royals to help the Blue Jays take 4-0 victory Sunday afternoon in Toronto.
Buehrle went 8 innings, allowing 6 hits, 1 walk, and no runs with 3 strikeouts. He won his 10th game of the season, and is the first pitcher in either league to hit that mark.
The defeat puts the Royals 4 games under .500 and in last place in the American League Central. The team remains 6.5 games behind A.L. Central leader Detroit.
On the Mound
Starter Jeremy Guthrie pitched well enough to win on most days. He lasted 7.0 solid innings, allowing 8 hits, 2 walks, and 2 earned runs with 5 strikeouts. He allowed a solo shot by Dioner Navarro to open the scoring in the second and an RBI single to Brett Lawrie in the 4th following Juan Fransico’s double. The loss drops Guthrie to 2-5 on the season.
Aaron Crow relieved Guthrie in the 8th and gave up a 2-run home run to Edwin Encarnacion.
At the Plate
There’s not much of a story to tell when your team gets shut out. Overall, the Royals only managed 6 hits and 1 walk despite only striking out 4 time on the day.
The only extra hits on the day belonged to Omar Infante and Eric Hosmer with doubles. Only Salvador Perez and Alcides Escobar reached base twice: Escobar on two singles and Perez on a single and a walk.
It was the 5th time that Kansas City has been shut out this season.
This and That
Encarnacion finished May with 16 home runs, 1 shy of Barry Bonds‘s record for home runs in a month. He started June with another blast on Sunday. Encarnacion did, however, tie Mickey Mantle‘s American League record. I have to wonder if any Royal will exceed Encarncion’s 1 month total in the entire season.
Jeremy Guthrie has now made 10 consecutive starts without recording a win.
KC Kingdom Player of the Game
Our pick is Jeremy Guthrie for his 7 strong innings despite piling up his 5th loss. Guthrie’s ERA is a solid 4.00 in the second year of his contract after GM Dayton Moore gave him a controversial 3-year $24 million deal. So far, he’s been worth the money.
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- Billy Butler – 2
- Lorenzo Cain – 2
- Johnny Giavotella
- Wade Davis
- Norichika Aoki
- Salvador Perez – 2
- Jeremy Guthrie – 5
- Jason Vargas – 5
- Alex Gordon – 5
- Bruce Chen
- James Shields – 5
- Yordano Ventura – 3
- Mike Moustakas
- Danny Duffy – 3
- Omar Infante – 2
- Mike Moustakas – 3
- Alcidese Escobar – 3
- Eric Hosmer – 6
- Michael Mariot
- Casey Coleman
- Danny Valencia
- Tim Collins
The Blue Jays
Edwin Encarnacion went 2-3, with 1 run scored, 2 RBI’s, and 1 walk along with his home run. The knock was his 19th on the season.
Buehrle’s 8 shut out innings lowered his season ERA to an outstanding 2.10 along with his sparkling 10-1 record.
Up Next
The Royals continue their road trip by going to St. Louis to take on cross-state rival Cardinals. The Royals send Danny Duffy (2-5, 3.57 ERA) to the mound against Shelby Miller (6-4, 3.94 ERA) for the Cardinals. The game is a key one for Duffy, who is making his first start since suffering a “dead arm”. All eyes will be on his velocity early on in hopes that it will rebound to his normal mid-90’s. Game time is 7:00 CST at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
Box
| Royals Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OPS | Pit | Str |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nori Aoki RF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .264 | .644 | 8 | 7 |
| Omar Infante 2B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .255 | .676 | 10 | 7 |
| Eric Hosmer 1B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .271 | .682 | 13 | 9 |
| Billy Butler DH | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .249 | .609 | 17 | 8 |
| Alex Gordon LF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .276 | .754 | 17 | 12 |
| Salvador Perez C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .254 | .720 | 12 | 6 |
| Lorenzo Cain CF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .328 | .802 | 19 | 12 |
| Mike Moustakas 3B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .148 | .531 | 6 | 5 |
| Alcides Escobar SS | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .265 | .677 | 8 | 5 |
| Team Totals | 33 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .182 | .479 | 110 | 71 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table.
2B: O Infante (5, off M Buehrle); A Escobar (14, off M Buehrle); E Hosmer (20, off M Buehrle).
TB: A Escobar 3; E Hosmer 2; O Infante 2; S Perez; N Aoki.
Team LOB: 7.
With RISP: 0 for 6.
Fielding
DP: 1. A Escobar-O Infante-E Hosmer.
E: J Guthrie (5)
| Blue Jays Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OPS | Pit | Str |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jose Reyes SS | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .250 | .726 | 10 | 8 |
| Melky Cabrera LF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .308 | .831 | 19 | 13 |
| Kevin Pillar LF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .281 | .656 | ||
| Jose Bautista RF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .311 | 1.000 | 12 | 8 |
| Adam Lind DH | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .357 | 1.004 | 23 | 16 |
| Edwin Encarnacion 1B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .271 | .974 | 14 | 8 |
| Juan Francisco 3B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .277 | .963 | 6 | 5 |
| Steven Tolleson 2B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .294 | .937 | 3 | 3 |
| Brett Lawrie 2B-3B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .239 | .692 | 13 | 9 |
| Dioner Navarro C | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .273 | .670 | 9 | 6 |
| Anthony Gose CF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .265 | .706 | 10 | 7 |
| Team Totals | 32 | 4 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 6 | .312 | .915 | 119 | 83 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table.
2B: J Francisco (7, off J Guthrie); E Encarnacion (15, off J Guthrie).
HR: D Navarro (3, off J Guthrie, 2nd inn, 0 on, 1 out to Deep RF); E Encarnacion (19, off A Crow, 8th inn, 1 on, 1 out to Deep LF).
TB: E Encarnacion 6; D Navarro 4; J Francisco 2; A Lind 2; M Cabrera; J Reyes; J Bautista; B Lawrie.
GIDP: J Bautista (8).
RBI: E Encarnacion 2 (50); A Gose (4); D Navarro (22).
Team LOB: 6.
With RISP: 1 for 6.
Baserunning
Pickoffs: A Gose (1st base by J Guthrie).
| Royals Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | Pit | Str |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeremy Guthrie, L (2-5) | 7 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 4.00 | 104 | 71 |
| Aaron Crow | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3.04 | 15 | 12 |
| Team Totals | 8 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 4.50 | 119 | 83 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table.
| Blue Jays Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | Pit | Str |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Buehrle, W (10-1) | 8 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2.10 | 102 | 64 |
| Aaron Loup | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.60 | 8 | 7 |
| Team Totals | 9 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0.00 | 110 | 71 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table.
Balks: None.
WP: None.
HBP: None.
IBB: None.
Pickoffs: J Guthrie (2; A Gose, 1st base).