Royals rally late to top Twins in home opener

Published April 08, 2013

Sports Network

Kansas City, MO –  The Kansas City Royals rallied to score three runs in the eighth inning and defeated the Minnesota Twins, 3-1, in their home opener Monday.

Alcides Escobar, Billy Butler and Alex Gordon had an RBI apiece for the Royals, who saw starter Ervin Santana (1-1) pitch eight innings of one-run ball. Aaron Crow pitched a scoreless ninth to earn the save.

Ryan Doumit drove in the Twins' lone run in the first inning. Starter Kevin Correia (0-1) allowed three runs on eight hits over 7 1/3 innings in defeat.

In the first, Doumit brought Joe Mauer home with a two-out single to left. Next up was Trevor Plouffe, and he also hit a single to left, but Doumit was thrown out at second while attempting to advance.

It was a pitching duel between the starters until the eighth inning. Gordon hit a one-out single, bringing Lorenzo Cain home. Escobar doubled in the next at-bat plating Gordon. Jared Burton entered from the bullpen and threw a wild pitch with Butler batting, allowing Escobar to reach third. Butler then singled to easily plate Escobar.

Crow came in the ninth for the Royals. He was able to strike out Plouffe. Then, after walking Chris Parmelee, he forced Brian Dozier to hit into a double play, ending the game.

Game Notes

Gordon was the only Kansas City player to strike out ... The Twins were 2- for-5 with runners in scoring position and left seven on base ... Santana is three wins away from having 100 for his career ... The Royals celebrated 40 years of baseball at Kauffman Stadium, the sixth-oldest active park in the majors. It first opened on April 10, 1973.

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White Sox hit four homers, down Royals

Chicago, IL –  Alexei Ramirez, Adam Dunn and Tyler Flowers each hit solo homers as the Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-2, in the middle installment of a three-game series.

Dayan Viciedo added a two-run homer for the White Sox, who saw starter Jake Peavy (1-0) last six innings and strike out six batters while allowing two runs -- one earned -- on four hits.

Peavy finished with a 11-12 record with 194 strikeouts over 32 starts last season and was rewarded with his third All-Star campaign of his career.

"We've got guys one through nine who can hit the ball out of the park," Dunn said. "I guess it doesn't really matter how you score runs, only that you score them."

Billy Butler had an RBI and Alex Gordon hit a double and scored a run for the Royals, who have dropped the first two games of this series. Starter Ervin Santana (0-1) picked up the loss after allowing four runs on five hits -- including three homers -- but did strike out eight batters in defeat.

The 29-year-old righty, who went 9-13 with a disappointing 5.16 earned run average over 30 starts for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim last season, was acquired this past offseason to help bolster an improving Royals pitching staff. Santana had spent his entire eight-year major league career with the Angels.

Dunn led off the second inning with a solo home run to right field that gave the home team an early 1-0 lead.

The Royals, though, responded in the third, as a single from Alcides Escobar turned into a run after Viciedo bobbled the grounder in left field and Chris Getz scored from first base to make it a 1-1 contest.

Flowers, who provided the only run with a solo homer in Monday's victory over Kansas City, added his second homer of the year -- another solo shot -- over the right-field fence on an 0-0 pitch to give the White Sox a 2-1 lead.

Viciedo made up for the error with a two-out, two-run homer in the fourth inning. Gordon made things interesting when he attempted to bring back the long fly by climbing up the wall in left. The ball cleared, though, before going off the tip of Gordon's glove and giving Chicago a 4-1 advantage.

"If I could've just done it over again, I wish I could," Gordon said, "because I was right there in position, ready to make the play."

Kansas City closed the gap in the sixth, as Gordon led off the inning with a double and moved to third on an Escobar groundout. Butler then plated Gordon on a fielder's choice to the shortstop to make it 4-2.

The Royals loaded the bases with one out in the seventh, but Chicago relievers Donnie Veal and Matt Lindstrom produced consecutive flyouts to end the inning and Kansas City's last real threat.

Ramirez added some insurance for the White Sox in the bottom of the seventh, leading off Chicago's half of the frame with a solo shot.

Game Notes

Peavy was 0-6 with a 5.56 ERA in his last seven starts versus Kansas City ... It was Dunn's 407th career home run ... The three-game series comes to a close on Thursday ... The Royals finished with five hits and went 1-of-8 with runners in scoring position ... Chicago reliever Addison Reed picked up his second save of the season with a scoreless ninth.

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Chris Getz has 6 hits for Royals in 9-9, 10-innings tie with Cubs

Published March 28, 2013

Associated Press

SURPRISE, Ariz. –  Chris Getz went 6 for 6, James Shields pitched five strong innings and a Kansas City Royals split squad and the Chicago Cubs played to a 9-9 tie in 10 innings Wednesday night.

Getz doubled, tripled and drove in two runs, raising his average to .450. Lorenzo Cain, Mike Moustakas, Salvador Perez and Alex Gordon homered for the Royals, who are 23-7-2.

Shields, who will start Monday against the Chicago White Sox on opening day, held the Cubs to three singles and two runs over five innings, walking one and striking out four while throwing 37 strikes in 57 pitches.

Cubs right-hander Scott Feldman gave up seven runs on 12 hits. Feldman, who is penciled in as the Cubs' No. 4 starter, has an 11.25 ERA in six spring training starts, allowing 25 runs and 38 hits, including seven home runs, in 19 innings.

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Hayes gets 4 hits, Royals set team record with 23rd spring training win, 9-6 over Mariners

Published March 26, 2013

Associated Press

PEORIA, Ariz. –  The Kansas City Royals set a team record for spring training wins with their 23rd victory, beating the Seattle Mariners 9-6 Tuesday behind Brett Hayes' four hits.

Hayes tripled and drove in two runs.The Royals had 18 hits, including seven doubles.

Lorenzo Cain, Jarrod Dyson and Miguel Tejada added two hits for Kansas City. The Mariners took a 4-1 lead before a six-run seventh for Kansas City.

Mariners starter Jeremy Bonderman gave up seven runs and 11 hits in 5 1-3 innings.

Franklin Gutierrez and Michael Morse homered for Seattle in the seventh.

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