Royals Offense Falters, Warriors Win 5-4

The Royals finally got the pitching they expected pre-season, only to see their bats go cold in the 90 degree heat of Arcadia.  They managed only 6 hits against the 8-man defense of the Warriors to lose 5-4.

After a quiet top of the 1st, Tom Herbert would take the mound for the Royals.  A pair of leadoff walks would come back to bite him, as both runners would score.

The Royals would answer right back in the second.  Erik Kowalski would walk and score from first on an error off the bat of Chris Miller to make it 2-1.

But the Warriors would put up 2 more in the 2nd (1 unearned.)  This game would be close all day, as the Royals would respond with 1 in each of the next 2 frames.

In the 3rd, Herbert would double and score on a botched pick off throw (pinch runner extraordinaire Austin Simmons would get the stolen base on the play, but unfortunately not the RBI.)  In the 4th, Jay Wasserman would blast a double off the wall in right, later scoring on a sac fly to short off the bat of catcher Chris Miller.

The Warriors would plate another in the bottom of the 4th, and that would close the book on Herbert's day on the mound.  The Royals would bring in Dennis King III, and he would throw 4 dominant innings of relief, allowing only 1 hit over the span.

Unfortunately for the Royals, the Warriors bullpen was nearly as dominant.  Heading into the 8th, it was still a 5-3 Warriors lead.  Knowing they were running out of outs, the top of the lineup stepped up.  Ryan Elliott would reach on an error, moving to second on a bad throw.  Pinch runner Simmons would move to third on a deep fly ball to the gap off the bat of Chris Powell (his second fly out of the day that would have been extra bases had the Warriors played with 3 outfielders instead of 2), and Mike Miller would come through with a clutch base hit up the middle to bring the Royals within 1.  But that was as close as they'd get, as the Warriors would retire the next 5 hitters and hang on for the victory.

Good luck to the Warriors, as they battle the rest of the season in a very competitive AA division.

Pitching

Tom Herbert - L, 4IP, 4ER, 8H, K, 2BB

Dennis King III - 4IP, 0ER, H, 3K, BB

Batting

Jay Wasserman - 2-4, 2B, R

Ryan Elliott - 1-4, 3B, R

Tom Herbert - 1-4, 2B, R

Mike Miller - 1-4, RBI

Tracey Warren - 1-3, 2B
Chris Miller - 0-3, SACF, RBI

Erik Kowalkski - 0-1, R, BB

Chris Powell - 0-2, BB, HBP

Austin Simmons - 0-0, SB

Brewers Rally Late, Royals Steal a Tie in 9th

In a game that the Brewers led for 8 innings and included a HUGE 2-run home run in the top of the 9th that saw the Brewer's hitter get ejected after crossing home plate, the Royals would rally with 4 runs in the bottom of the inning, capped off by leading MVP-candidate Sean Spires stealing home with 2 outs, to tie the game.  While the Royals offense AND defense were absent the first half of the day, timely pitching kept them within striking distance.

Tom Herbert took the mound in his first start for the Royals.  A pair of errors led to 2 unearned runs in the first, but he would settle down after that.

Heading into the 4th, it was still a 2-0 game, as the two squads were locked in a pitchers' duel.  A pair of walks and an rbi single would add to the Brewers lead.  In the bottom of the 4th, Ryan Elliott would single to break up the no-hitter, but the Royals wouldn't score.

After a quiet 5th, the Royals would turn the ball over to Randy Casey Jr, who would hit the first batter he faced with his first pitch.  This would, of course, start some drama between the teams (in a close game, it makes perfect sense for a pitcher to hit a speedy leadoff batter in the late innings, right?), but things would soon (temporarily) quiet down.

That incident would, however, awaken the sleeping giant - the Royals' bats.  Sean Spires would single and swipe 2 bags, scoring on a Tom Herbert single.  Josh Miranda would pound a single and Chris Powell would walk to load the bases.  That would bring in a relief pitcher, and Mike Miller would immediately follow with an rbi-walk.  2 batters later, Casey Jr would help his own cause working a full-count walk to tie the game.

Working on a torn blister on his foot (Curt Schilling-inspired photo to the right), Casey would struggle a little over the next 2 frames.  The Brewers would take full advantage with 1 run in the 7th, and 2 unearned runs in the 8th to take a 6-3 lead.  But fueled by near-constant trash talk, the Royals would continue to chip away at the lead.  Herbert and Miranda would each walk to lead off the 8th.  Powell would single home one, and after a Mike Miller ground out to move both runners into scoring position, Jay Wasserman would ground out and plate another, making it a 1-run game heading into the 9th.

Chris Powell would come in to relieve, but ran into trouble with the bottom of the Brewer's lineup.  A walk and an error would lead to an unearned run, then came more drama.  A home run to right would start more trash talk, this time with the home plate umpire, who would promptly toss the Brewer's hitter as he crossed home plate (never seen that before!)  Powell would calm down and finish the inning, but those 3 runs loomed large as the Royals trailed by 4 heading into the bottom of the 9th.

That's when - to paraphrase Vin Scully -  the impossible happened.  With more talk coming from across the diamond (despite warnings) and the bottom of the lineup due up, the Royals would come together and truely play as a team for the first time this season.  Casey Jr and Erik Kowalkski would lead off with back-to-back singles, and pinch hitter Chris Middleton would bloop a single over the second baseman's head to load the bases.  After a strikeout, Sean Spires would hit what would appear to be a game-ending ground ball to short, but an error would plate 2 and leave 2 runners on with 1 out.  Tom Herbert would fly out to second, but a bad throw to third would somehow entice the Brewer's third baseman to THROW HIS GLOVE at the ball, tipping the ball and costing his team a 2-base error, plating another and moving the speedy Spires to 3rd.  First-year Royal Austin Simmons, who had come in as a pinch runner the inning before, would come up - for what would be his second career plate appearance - with the game on the line - 2 outs and the tying run on third.  With a 3-0 count and the pitcher throwing from the full wind-up, Spires broke from third and easily swiped home to tie things up!  Simmons would eventually walk, but be left on first, ending the game in a tie.

The Royals, finally with some momentum on both sides of the ball, look forward to building on a successful second-half of the game when they face the Warriors next week!

Pitching

Tom Herbert - 5IP, ER, 5H, 4K, 2BB

Randy Casey Jr  - 3IP, ER, 3H, K, 2BB, 2HBP

Chris Powell - Tie, IP, 2ER, 2H, 2K, BB

Batting

Tom Herbert - 1-3, 2R, RBI, 2BB

Sean Spires - 1-5, 2R, 3SB

Randy Casey Jr - 1-2, R, RBI, 2BB

Chris Powell - 1-3, R, RBI, 2BB

Josh Miranda - 1-2, 2BB

Erik Kowalkski - 1-4, R

Ryan Elliott - 1-4

Chris Middleton - 1-1, R

Mike Miller - 0-3, RBI, BB

Jay Wasserman - 0-3, RBI, BB

Austin Simmons - 0-0, R, BB

Red Sox Surprise Royals 19-4

The Royals, fresh off their opening weekend win over the Bombers, were surprised by a potent Red Sox lineup, falling 19-4.

The Sox drew first blood, putting up 3 against Royals starter Randy Casey Jr.  But the Royals would respond right away.  Sean Spires would lead off with a triple, scoring on a Jay Wasserman groundout.  Chris Powell would single, and with 2 outs, Tom Herbert would walk and Ryan Elliott would line a hard single through the shortstops outstretched glove, make it 3-2 Sox after 1.

Casey would settle down and strike out 4 over the next 2 innings, but the Sox would score 4 more in the 4th to take a 7-2 lead.

But back come the Royals.  In the 4th, Mike Miller, Tom Herbert and Elliott would load the bases with back-to-back-to-back singles.  Erik Kowalkski would plate 1 with an infield single, but the Sox would escape the jam.  In the 5th, Spires would get hit by a pitch, swipe second and third, and score on a scorching ground out by Chris Powell, making it a 7-4 game.

Unfortunately, that was as close as the Royals would get.  Dennis King III would make his Royals debut, striking out 4, but the Sox would eventually get to him in his third inning of work, batting around in the 7th.  12 runs would score as the Royals pitching and defense would fall apart.  Jay Wasserman and Chris Powell would each strike out a batter to get out of the inning, but the damage was already done.  Aside from a Tracey Warren double, there would be little else for the Royals to cheer about this day.

Congrats to the Red Sox - they earned this win playing with a short squad (including a player loaned by the overly-generous Royals.)  The two teams face off again in the last week of the regular season, most likely with playoff implications.

Pitching

Randy Casey Jr - L, 4IP, 5ER, 7H, 7K, 4BB

Dennis King III - 2.1IP, 7ER, 4H, 4K, 4BB, HBP

Jay Wasserman - .1IP, 0ER, 5H, BB, K

Chris Powell - .1IP, 0ER, K

Batting

Ryan Elliott - 2-3, RBI

Sean Spires - 1-2, 3B, 2R, 2HBP, 3SB

Mike Miller - 1-2, R, BB

Chris Powell - 1-3, R

Tom Herbert - 1-2, BB

Erik Kowalkski - 1-3, RBI

Tracey Warren - 1-3, 2B, SB

Royals Match Spring Win Total!

After a dismal, injury-ridden spring that saw the Royals put up their worst win percentage in their 22 season history, they got off on the right foot this fall by defeating the reigning single A champion Bombers 13-9 in the 100 degree heat of Cleveland High School.  Sean Spires, Josh Miranda and Chris Powell each scored 3 times to lead the offense, while the Royals showed off their deep bullpen by running out 4 pitchers to stifle the Bombers' bats.

Returning Fall 2013 Cy Young winner Randy Casey Jr took the mound for the Royals - his first time pitching since the birth of his son (and the Royals' youngest fan) Jaxon earlier this year.  The rust would show early, as an error, 2 walks and a sac fly would plate 2 in the top of the first.  But the Royals spent all offseason addressing their hitting woes, and it would show today.

Sean Spires would start the day off with a single, moving to second on a wild pitch and third on a fielder's choice.  Chris Powell would walk to put runners on the corners for catcher Mike Miller, who would drop a double into right for an rbi.  Tom Herbert would start his Royal's career off on the right foot by lining a 2-run single to right to make it 3-2 after 1.

Casey would strike out a pair to work around another error in the 2nd (unfortunately, the bad defense from spring still plagues the Royals), and the offense would pick things up again in the 2nd.  Casey Jr would help himself out with a leadoff double.  Tracey Warren would walk and swipe second, and Spires would single in both runners.  After swiping second, Spires would score on an error off the bat of Josh Miranda.  Chris Powell would blast a double to straight-away center to plate Miranda and give the Royals a 7-2 lead.

But the Bombers just came off a championship, and it showed over the next 2 innings.  2 runs in the 3rd would end Casey Jr's day, and a pair of unearned runs off reliever Akash Shah would make it a 7-6 game heading into the bottom of the 4th.  The top of the order would answer again for the Royals.  Spires would be hit by a pitch, and swipe both second and third on consecutive pitches, after which Jay Wasserman would single him home.  Miranda would walk, and both runners would move up on a passed ball, bringing up Mr. Go himself - Chris Powell.  Powell would blast a ball to deep right, and the right fielder would drop the ball on the warning track, allowing both runs to score.  2 outs later, Erik Kowalkski would drive a ball off the wall in left for an rbi-double, giving the Royals an 11-6 lead.

Shah would work a quiet 5th, handing the ball off to Herbert.  The Bombers would greet Herbert with an error (again) and a home run, but the Royals would answer again right away.  2 walks and a hit batsman would bring Mike Miller up with the bags juiced.  After fouling a ball off his foot in his last at bat, Miller would summon all his strength to hit a ground ball in the hole at third.  While the Bombers would get one out at home, a run would score on a throwing error trying to double up the "speedy" Miller.  Herbert would ground into a fielder's choice to plate another, and the Royals would have a 13-8 lead after 6.

On a 100 degree day, both offenses somehow went cold, as Herbert would work 2 quiet innings, and Powell would come in for the 9th and give up an unearned run (2 more Royal errors), but finish things off and get the Royals their first win of the year.  One thing to note was Travis Buff's first career hit in the 7th inning - way to go!

Congrats to the Bombers, who are in the AA division for the first time!  They fought hard, and will definitely be a team to watch out for when we face them again in late October.

And finally, congrats to Akash Shah.  While he's thrown some great games for the Royals in his 2 partial seasons with the team (including a pair of no-hit bids past the 5th inning), this ended up being his first victory with the club!

Pitching

Randy Casey Jr - 3IP, 2ER, 2H, 3K, 5BB, HBP

Akash Shah - W, 2IP, 0ER, 2H, K, BB, HBP (first win)

Tom Herbert - 3IP, ER, 3H, 4K, BB

Chris Powell - IP, 0ER, H

Batting

Sean Spires - 2-4, 3R, 2RBI, HBP, 3SB

Tom Herbert - 2-4, 3RBI (first career hit and rbi)

Chris Powell - 1-1, 2B, 3R, 2RBI, 2BB, HBP, SACF

Josh Miranda - 1-3, 3R, BB, HBP

Mike Miller - 1-5, 2B, R, RBI

Jay Wasserman - 1-4, R, RBI, BB

Randy Casey Jr - 1-4, 2B, R

Erik Kowalkski - 1-4, 2B, RBI

Travis Buff - 1-1 (first career hit)

Royals No Match for First Place Jays, Fall 15-1, 13-1

The Royals knew it would probably be a long day against the first place Blue Jays, but came ready to play both games.  Unfortunately, it wouldn't take long for the Jays to put each game out of reach.

2013 first round draft pick Duke Cooke took the hill for the Royals in game 1, and would promptly be met with a leadoff home run to give the Jays an early 1-0 lead.  After working out of trouble, he would load the bases in the second on a walk and a pair of hit batsmen.  Feeling his arm tightening up, he would play it safe and leave the game, bringing in veteran reliever Mike Miller.  Miller would look every bit the All-Star he has this season, striking out the first two Jays and retiring the third on a groundout, getting out of the jam unscathed.

However, baseball is a funny game, and as quickly as Miller became the hero, he would soon become the goat.  3 of the first 5 hitters in the 3rd would go yard off the right-hander, and another hitter would go deep in the 4th, accounting for 8 runs and giving the Jays an 9-0 lead after 4.

Miller would give way to Sean Spires in the 5th, and the rookie side-armer would allow a run on a walk, a pair of hit batsmen and a sac fly.  He would settle down after that, allowing 5 more runs over his final 3 innings (including ANOTHER Blue Jay home run.)

Offensively, the Royals would only pound out 4 hits over the first 6 innings.  In the 7th, Chris "Mr. Go" Powell would single, and after a passed ball, would score on Josh Miranda's rbi-single.  That would be all the Royals would muster against Cy Young leader Eric Anderson, and the Blue Jays would take the first game 15-1.

Game 2 would play out much the same.  Chris "Mr. Go" Powell would take the hill and work around trouble in the first 2 innings to keep the score 0-0.  After scoring twice in the 3rd, the Jays offense would take over in the 4th.  Combined with 2 blown pickles (courtesy of the Royals' inconsistent defense), the Jays would put up 10 runs in the 4th to take a 12-0 lead and put the mercy in place.

The Royals offense would finally make a little noise in the 5th.  Richard Lizarraga would lead off with a double - his 3rd hit of the day.  Chris "Mr. Go" Powell would single him home, and move to third on a Josh Miranda double.  But Mike Miller would ground out to short, and a debatable call at the plate would turn it into a double play, effectively ending the rally.

All-Star Knuckleballer Ryan Elliot would come in and work a quiet bottom of the 5th, but the Jays would eventually walk off with a mercy-inducing single in the 6th to send everyone home early.

Congrats to the Jays for taking care of business and clinching the top seed in the major division playoffs!

Pitching (combined)

Duke Cooke - L, IP, ER, H, 3BB, 2HBP

Mike Miller - 3IP, 8ER, 2K, 9H, 3BB

Sean Spires - 4IP, 6ER, K, 7H, 3BB, 2HBP

Chris Powell - L, 3.1IP, 7ER, K, 9H, BB

Erik Prentice - .2IP, 3ER, H, 2BB, 2HBP

Ryan Elliott - 1.1IP, ER, 2H, BB

Batting (combined)

Richard Lizarraga - 3-5, 2B, R

Chris Powell - 2-4, R, RBI, HBP

Josh Miranda - 2-5, 2B, RBI

Ryan Elliott - 1-5

Chris Middleton 1-5

Sean Spires - 1-5

Royals Offense Finally Shows, Falls Just Short to Marlins 17-14

The Royals defense cost the team again, as the offense pounded out a season-high 14 runs against a strong Marlin's squad.  Unfortunately 6 errors leading to 6 unearned runs over the final 2 innings cost the team the win.

The offense finally looked like it was drawn out on paper pre-season, even without the Royal's top 2 rbi men at the game.  Sean Spires reached in the top of the 1st on an error, and moved into scoring position on a sac bunt by Dominic Archey.  Chris Powell pulled a ground ball to the right side to move him into scoring position, and Mike Miller blasted a towering double to bring home Spires.  Geoff Verheyen took the mound for the Royals and worked around a 2-out single to keep the score 1-0 after 1.

Chris Middleton led off the 2nd with a single, and following a Chris Miller walk, Tracey Warren singled home Middleton.  Tyler "Mr, Big Hit" Norman, in his first action of the season, was hit by a pitch to load the bases for latecomer DJ Chomyk.  WIth a 1-0 count, Chomyk blasted a grand slam to right center - his first home run as a Royal!  2 outs later, Chris Powell would walk, and Mike Miller would single him into scoring position.  Injured all-star Ryan Elliott would cap off the scoring by smashing a double to center, giving the Royals a 7-0 lead after one and a half.

The Marlins would get one back in the bottom of the inning, and after a quiet 3rd, the Marlins would storm back in the bottom of the inning.  Elliott would take the mound but his knuckleball would have trouble finding the strike zone, knocking him out of the game after 5 straight batters reached.  Chris "Mr. Go" Powell would come in and eventually stop the bleeding, but not before the Marlins would regain the lead 8-7.

The Royals offense would continue to thrive over the next 2 innings.  With 2 outs in the 4th, Archey would single and swipe second.  After working the count full, Powell would blast a 2-run no-doubter (his first home run as a Royal) to right to retake the lead and earn his new Mr. Go nickname.  In the 5th, the bottom of the lineup would come through again.  WIth 2 outs, back-to-back-to-back singles by Warren, Norman and Chomyk would plate 1.  Leadoff man Spires would single home another, and Archey would double home another.  But the Marlins would score a pair of unearned runs in the 5th to cut the Royals lead to 12-10.

The Marlins offense wasn't done, as they would plate 4 in the 6th (1 earned), chasing Powell from the game, and 3 in the 7th off Mike Miller (on 4 errors and no hits), the Royals would enter the 8th and final inning down 17-12.

Spires would walk to lead off the 8th (reaching base for the 3rd time on the day) and move into scoring position on pinch hitter Geoff Verheyen's ground out.  WIth 2 down, Mike Miller would single home Spires for his 3rd hit on the day (reaching base for the 4th time), and would score from first 1 pitch later on Elliott's second double of the day.  Unfortunately, that was all the offense the Royals could muster.

Congrats to the Marlins, and good luck as they finish the regular season and move into the playoffs!

Pitching

Geoff Verheyen - 2IP, ER, 2H, 3BB

Ryan Elliott - 0IP, 4ER, 2H, 3BB

Chris Powell - L, 4IP, 4ER, 3K, 6H, 4BB

Mike Miller - IP, 0H

Batting

DJ Chomyk - 2-4, HR (GS), 2R, 5RBI

Chris Powell - 1-3, HR, 2R, 2RBI, BB

Mike Miller - 3-5, 2B, R, 2RBI

Ryan Elliot - 2-5, 2-2B, 2RBI

Dominic Archey - 2-4, 2B, R, RBI

Chris Middleton - 2-4, R

Tracey Warren - 2-4, 2R, RBI