Nori Aoki’s Grand Slam highlights Kansas City Royals Win

Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

The Kansas City Royals smashed 3 home runs against the hapless Arizona Diamondbacks, including a grand slam by Nori Aoki that capped an 8-run 5th inning in KC’s 12-2 win at Phoenix’s Chase Field Tuesday night.

The Royals were down 1-0 when Salvador Perez broke the ice the a 3-run shot in the 3rd, followed by  Kansas City’s 8-run 5th that featured home runs by Billy Butler (3-run shot) and Nori Aoki (grand slam).

The win puts Kansas City 5 games over .500 at 58-53. The Royals remained 4.5 games behind Detroit in the American League Central, and now trail Toronto by .5 games for the 2nd A.L. Wild Card spot.

On the Mound

Danny Duffy only lasted 5.0 innings, but held the Diamondbacks to 3 hits, 1 walk, and 1 earned run with 7 strikeouts. Duffy ran his record to 6-10 on the year with an outstanding 2.39 ERA.

Jason Frasor pitched a scoreless 6th inning, allowing 1 walk and notching 1 strikeout.

Francisely Bueno followed with 2.0 innings, and allowed 1 run on 2 hits.

Aaron Crow finished off the Diammonbacks with a clean 9th inning with 1 strikeout.

At the Plate

Boy did the Royals have fun on Tuesday night. Overall, Kansas City hitters pounded out 15 hits and drew 3 walks. However, they scored 10 of their 12 runs on 3 home runs.

Billy Butler was the big dog, going 4-5 with 2 singles, a double, a 3-run home run (6), 2 runs scored, and 3 RBI’s on the day.

Salvador Perez was almost as good, finishing 3-5, with 2 singles, a 3-run home run (13), 2 runs scored and 3 RBI’s.

Nori Aoki finished the trifecta, going 1-4 with 1 home run (1), 1 walk, 2 runs scored, and 4 RBI’s.

Every Royals starter got a hit, except for pitcher Danny Duffy.

This and That

Nori Aoki certainly didn’t get cheated on his first home run as a member of the Royals, hitting a grand slam to right.

Danny Duffy, who got 12 runs Tuesday night, has the lowest average run support for any pitcher in MLB baseball with over 100 innings pitched at 2.34 runs per start. Duffy has allowed 1 run or less in 11 of his 16 starts despite his losing 6-10 record.

Alex Gordon became the 10th player in club history to get 1,000 hits by stroking a single in the the 5th inning. It was also Gordon’s 1,000th hit of his career, which have all come for Kansas City.

KC Kingdom Player of the Game

Billy Butler gets our nod for his 4-5 performance with 2 extra base hits, including his 6th home run of 2014. Kansas City will need more games like that from Butler if they are to make a 2nd-half playoff charge.

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• Billy Butler – 6
• Jason Frasor
• Francisley Bueno
• Danny Valencia
• Christian ColFon
• Raul Ibanez
• Jarrod Dyson – 2
• Lorenzo Cain – 6
• Johnny Giavotella
• Wade Davis
• Norichika Aoki  – 3
• Salvador Perez – 6
• Jeremy Guthrie  – 2
• Jason Vargas – 6
• Alex Gordon – 10
• Bruce Chen   – 5
• James Shields – 10
• Yordano Ventura – 5
• Danny Duffy – 7
• Omar Infante – 4
• Mike Moustakas – 8
• Alcides Escobar – 5
• Eric Hosmer – 12
• Michael Mariott

The Diamondbacks

Arizona only managed 5 hits in the game. Former Los Angeles Angel Mark Trumbo was the only Diamondback with more than 1 hit, including his 1st inning double that drove in 1 of Arizona’s 2 runs on the night. Trumbo went 2-3, with 1 single, 1 double, 1 walk, and 1 RBI.

Up Next

The Royals continue their series against the Diamondbacks. Kansas City will send Yordano Ventura (8-8, 3.50 ERA) to the mound against Josh Collmenter (8-5, 4.05 ERA) for Arizona. Game time is 8:40 PM CST at Chase Field in Phoenix.

Box

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table.

2B: B Butler (22, off B Schultz).
HR: S Perez (13, off W Miley, 3rd inn, 2 on, 2 outs to Deep LF-CF); B Butler (6, off W Miley, 5th inn, 2 on, 1 out to Deep LF-CF); N Aoki (1, off B Schultz, 5th inn, 3 on, 2 outs to Deep RF Line).
SF: L Cain (3, off B Schultz).
SH: D Duffy (1, off W Miley).
IBB: A Escobar (1, by W Miley).
TB: B Butler 8; S Perez 6; N Aoki 4; A Gordon 2; O Infante 2; L Cain; M Moustakas; A Escobar.
GIDP: S Perez (18); A Gordon (9).
RBI: N Aoki 4 (23); S Perez 3 (44); B Butler 3 (44); L Cain (38).
2-out RBI: N Aoki 4; S Perez 3.
Team LOB: 5.
With RISP: 4 for 10.
Fielding
E: M Moustakas (11).
Baserunning
SB: L Cain (16, 2nd base off W Miley/M Montero).

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table.

2B: J Pacheco (9, off D Duffy); M Montero (17, off D Duffy); M Trumbo (6, off F Bueno).
TB: M Trumbo 3; M Montero 2; J Pacheco 2; E Inciarte.
RBI: M Trumbo (24); D Gregorius (14).
2-out RBI: M Trumbo.
Team LOB: 6.
With RISP: 1 for 7.
Fielding
DP: 2. A Marte-D Gregorius-J Pacheco; A Hill-N Ahmed-J Pacheco.

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table.

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table.

Balks: None.
WP: D Duffy (5); W Miley 2 (8).
HBP: None.
IBB: W Miley (2; A Escobar).
Pickoffs: None.