The Royals know what they’d be getting with Valencia, and he’d definitely be the type of guy who could start games frequently. Gordon took 20 swings and will do the same Friday.
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The Johnny Cueto era began with, like last night, an offensive outburst in the first inning.
While Royals owner David Glass has been willing to increase their payroll to franchise-record levels, Kansas City may have only a couple of years to make another run at a title before finances force the organization into rebuilding mode.
Cueto took the hill with a three-run cushion.
After a promising top half of the first inning, the Kansas City Royals bats became silent. 296 with seven homers and 31 runs batted in. He struck out seven and walked two. Cain and Hosmer opened the frame with infield singles, but Donaldson airmailed the latter’s chopper into foul territory. He also hit a sacrifice fly to finish with two RBIs in the 7-6, 11-inning loss to the Blue Jays.
They come to Toronto for four contests, 22 games over.
When he arrived in Kansas City in 2006, Moore established three questions that had to be answered of all prospective Royals leaders. He was well liked by Royals fans in his short time here, and it was disappointing when he was traded. He allowed hits to all four hitters he faced.
Kansas City is lauded for their exceptional defense and they have the fourth-highest OPS (.735) in Major League Baseball, but the pitching staff lacked a leader. We can run. We can score runs. Tulowitzki went 2-for-5 in his third game with Toronto.
Hutchison lasted only one batter into the sixth. He has allowed eight hits and seven runs. The 25-year-old Lamb, a fifth-round pick in 2008, is 9-1 with a 2.67 ERA in 17 starts for Omaha. Luke Hochevar blew through the heart of the Toronto order on six pitches in the ninth. Their lockdown bullpen quartet of Ryan Madson, Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and closer Greg Holland has a combined 1.68 ERA over 160 innings this year.
Hochevar continued to roll into the 10th, working around a one-out single to keep the Toronto bats at bay.
Troy Tulowitzki ripped a one-out single off Franklin Morales to start the rally, advanced to second on a balk and the scored as Donaldson ripped a ball over the head of Alcides Escobar at short for his third walk-off hit of the season.
After a big win over the Blue Jays, it was slow jam time in the Kansas City Royals clubhouse. Former Royal and 2014 AL Champion ring recipient Liam Hendricks (3-0) earned the win.
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Zobrist hit solo home runs from both sides of the plate, Eric Hosmer singled home the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and the Royals beat Toronto 7-6 on Saturday to snap a three-game losing streak. Nothing in Morales’ delivery was abnormal than any lefty’s move to first base. The Red Sox have struggled mightily this season and continue to do so, as they find themselves in last-place of the American League East division. But they still needed a fortified rotation with the injury to Vargas, and the less than stellar play of Yordano Ventura. Already in possession of the American League’s best record (only the St. Louis Cardinals have more wins in baseball), the Royals filled the only glaring hole on their roster Sunday.
