The Sports Xchange
MLB Team Report – Kansas City Royals – INSIDE PITCH
Tuesday it is on to Cleveland. And Friday it will be Minnesota. And May 8 begins a stopover in Detroit.
The Royals are eager to be anywhere but Kansas City, where they’ve been the past 12 days and 10 games, all of them losses. They open a nine-game, three-city trip Tuesday night against the Indians.
The Royals finished off their horrific homestand with a 4-1 loss Monday night to the Blue Jays, who swept a four-game series in Kansas City for the first time.
“A change of scenery might help,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “A change of scenery, I don’t think it can hurt. Obviously, we’ve been banging our heads against the wall here. We love this place. We love our fans, but right now we just completed this homestand and didn’t win a game. Obviously, a change of scenery is going to help. Come back in nine or 10 days and be playing a lot better.”
After seven weeks of spring training and the first six games on the road, the Royals were more than eager to come home April 12 for a practice prior to the April 13 Kauffman Stadium opener with the Indians. Cleveland scored seven runs in the first inning, and it was all downhill from there.
“I do feel like we’re close,” Yost said of turning it around. “It’s important we stay calm, stay the course.”
Right fielder Jeff Francoeur said he’s never experienced such a bad homestand, especially at the beginning of a season.
“It’s just so disappointing because there was so much excitement,” Francoeur said. “You heard the fans (booing) at the end tonight. They’re not happy. They deserve not to be happy. We’re not playing up to our ability.
“Talk to us at the end of May and see what our record is. I still believe we’ve got plenty of talent in this room to turn it around, and that’s what we plan on doing. I wanted to get this one bad tonight just to get one at home. At the same time, we just need to get out of here.”
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MLB Team Report – Kansas City Royals – NOTES, QUOTES
–2B Chris Getz became the Royals’ fourth different leadoff hitter in the four-games series against the Blue Jays as manager Ned Yost continues to tinker with the lineup. He had LF Alex Gordon batting first Friday, 2B Yuniesky Betancourt on Saturday and CF Jason Bourgeois on Sunday. Getz became the fifth leadoff hitter used in the team’s first 16 games. CF Jarrod Dyson hit in the No. 1 slot for two games before being optioned to the minors.
“He’s got a table-setter’s mindset,” Yost said of Getz. Getz’s seventh-inning double was the first hit Blue Jays LHP Luis Perez had allowed against a left-handed hitter this season, and the Getz finished 1-for-3 with a sacrifice.
–CF Lorenzo Cain, who began a rehab assignment Sunday with Class AA Northwest Arkansas, likely will rejoin the big-league team Friday in Minnesota and be activated if he has no setbacks, manager Ned Yost said. Cain, who went on the disabled list retroactive to April 11 with a strained left groin, is 1-for-8 through two games for Northwest Arkansas.
–RHP Felipe Paulino is scheduled to make a rehab start Wednesday for Class AA Northwest Arkansas to get up pitch count up the 65 to 70 range. He likely would join the Kansas City pitching staff after that. He pitched in two games in extended spring training in Surprise, Ariz., getting his pitch count up to 50-plus. Paulino began the season on the disabled list with a right forearm strain.
–DH Billy Butler went 0-for-4 Monday, grounding out in his final three at-bats, and was 0-for-14 in the four-game series against the Blue Jays. Butler entered the series with an eight-game hitting streak.
–RHP Jonathan Broxton worked the ninth inning for only his third appearance and third inning in the 10-game homestand. He had not pitched since Wednesday. Broxton gave up a run on two hits.
BY THE NUMBERS: 0-for-10 — The Royals’ results with runners in scoring position Monday night in a 4-1 loss to the Blue Jays. They went 5-for-40 with men in scoring position during the four-game series.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “These 10 or 11 games have felt like a lifetime. I’m not going to lie to you. It’s felt like three summers this homestand alone. But you can’t get caught up in 10 or 11 games over the course of a 162-game season. That’s an experience I learned in Milwaukee. When times get tough, you have to stay positive. You have to continue to lead, and you have to stay the course. It’s really important especially as a manager, when everybody is losing their head, you have to keep yours. And you’ve got to maintain stability on that team.” — Manager Ned Yost, on the Royals’ 0-10 homestand and 11-game losing streak.
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MLB Team Report – Kansas City Royals – ROSTER REPORT
MEDICAL WATCH:
–CF Lorenzo Cain (left groin strain) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to April 11. He began a rehab assignment with Class AA Northwest Arkansas on April 22. Barring a setback, he’ll be activated April 27.
–RHP Felipe Paulino (right forearm strain) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 26. In mid-April, he pitched in extended spring training, and he is scheduled to make a rehab appearance for Class AA Northwest Arkansas on April 25. He might be able to rejoin the Kansas City pitching staff after that outing.
–RHP Luke Hochevar (bruised left ankle) was struck by a line drive April 13. His next start was pushed back from April 18 to April 20, but he came out of that start after five innings because he was limping.
–RHP Blake Wood (elbow bruise) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 26. He is not expected to pitch again until late April.
–RHP Greg Holland (left rib stress reaction) went on the 15-day disabled list April 21. He might be able to return in mid-May.
–RHP Joakim Soria (Tommy John surgery in April 2012) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 26. He will miss the season.
–C Salvador Perez (left knee surgery in March 2012) went on the 60-day disabled list March 20. He is expected to be out until June.
–C Manny Pina (right knee surgery in February 2012) went on the 60-day disabled list March 20. He is expected to be out until at least June.
ROTATION:
LHP Bruce Chen
RHP Luke Hochevar
LHP Jonathan Sanchez
RHP Luis Mendoza
LHP Danny Duffy
BULLPEN:
RHP Jonathan Broxton
RHP Aaron Crow
LHP Jose Mijares
RHP Kelvin Herrera
LHP Tim Collins
LHP Everett Teaford
RHP Louis Coleman
RHP Jeremy Jeffress
CATCHERS:
Humberto Quintero
Brayan Pena
INFIELDERS:
1B Eric Hosmer
2B Yuniesky Betancourt
SS Alcides Escobar
3B Mike Moustakas
INF Billy Butler
INF Chris Getz
OUTFIELDERS:
LF Alex Gordon
RF Jeff Francoeur
OF Jason Bourgeois
OF Mitch Maier
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