Around the Kingdom: Yordano Ventura, Duffy, Thomas, Kelce
By John Viril
Looking Around the Kingdom, the Kansas City Royals seized the 2nd wild card position in the A.L. with their 6-2 win over the Diamondbacks in Phoenix Thursday night. The Royals cruised to victory behind a complete game from starter Jeremy Guthrie and 4 extra-base hits that included a 2-run shot from Alex Gordon that put Kansas City ahead 2-1 in the 2nd.
More from Kansas City Chiefs
- How to Bet on the Chiefs vs. Cardinals in NFL Preseason Week 2
- The 3 Most Intriguing Games on the Chiefs’ Schedule
- DraftKings + FanDuel Kansas Promos: INSTANT $150 Bonus Plus Two Chances to Win!
- Fan-Favorite Locks Up Chiefs Roster Spot With Stellar Preseason Performance
- DraftKings NFL Kansas Promo: Bet $5 on Chiefs vs. Saints, Win $150 Bonus!
After all the angst of their relatively do-nothing trade deadline, the Royals find themselves in a pennant race after going 5-1 so far in the month of August. Kansas City does not only hold the wild card by 1/2 a game over the Blue Jays and Yankees, they have also pulled within 2.5 games of Detroit in the American League Central.
The Chiefs opened their pre-season with a 41-39 win over the Bengals at Arrowhead Stadium. De’Anthony Thomas and Travis Kelce put on a display of speed with long touchdowns. First, Thomas returned a punt 80 yards for a touchdown. In the 2nd quarter, Kelce took a medium pass from backup QB Chase Daniel then turned on the jets to leave the Cinci secondary in the dust for a 69 yard TD.
Maybe, just maybe, Kelce (who is coming back after missing most of his rookie season with microfracture surgery on his knee) and Thomas will bring some much-needed home-run speed to the offense.
Now that Sporting KC has retained national team players Graham Zusi and Matt Besler by signing them to extensions, transfer rumors have now begun to swirl around forward Dom Dwyer—who is enjoying something of a breakthrough season.
KANSAS CITY ROYALS
- Kings of Kauffman – saving Danny Duffy and Yordano Ventura‘s arms down the stretch:
"While the Royals have stated that they do not plan on putting an innings cap on either Duffy or Ventura this season, that does not mean that they may not find ways to limit the amount of innings each pitcher throws. In fact, one of those situations happened on Tuesday night, when Duffy was pulled after five innings with the Royals holding an 11-1 lead"
- Royals Review – possible waiver wire trades for August:
"How is this possible? July 31 was simply the non-waiver trade deadline, the last date a player may be traded without having to clear waivers. Players may still be traded after this date, but they must go through the convoluted waiver process"
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
- Arrowhead Addict – De’Anthony Thomas flashes some serious speed on his 80-yard punt return for a TD (video)
- Arrowhead Pride – Travis Kelce turns on the jets to run away from the Cincinnati defense (video):
"That’s a tight end. A tight end listed at 6’6, 260 pounds who just outran the entire Cincinnati secondary featuring guys much smaller who should be much faster than Kelce."
SPORTING KC
- SportingKC.com – Sporting coach Peter Vermes denies rumors linking Dom Dwyer to Brentford:
"“I’m not wasting time with these clubs that think that they can come and bargain-basement shop here and get guys for free,” Vermes said on Thursday during the club’s weekly news conference ahead of Sunday’s away date with Vancouver (7 pm CT on KMCI-TV 38 The Spot and SKCTV). “Because our guys are just as valuable as so many players around the world, and sometimes even more valuable. And we’re not just going to give guys away for little money."
KANSAS STATE WILDCATS
- KStateSports.com – Katie Brand named to preseason Big 12 volleyball team
There you have it KC fans—the news Around the Kingdom.