Daily Clips
May 23, 2018
LOCAL
Hammel baffles Cards for first win in I-70 tilt
Righty fires 7 strong innings as Gordon, Salvy launch HRs
May 22, 2018By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
Adam's stock 'trending up' in Royals' bullpen
Right-hander discovers balance between family, baseball
May 22, 2018By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
Royals' skid ends at three as Jason Hammel beats Cardinals for his first win of year
May 22, 2018By Maria Torres/KC Star
Royals pitchers have a variety of reasons why they wouldn't use a bullpen cart
May 22, 2018By Pete Grathoff/KC Star
Ex-Royals lefty Tim Collins pitches in majors for first time since 2014 World Series
May 22, 2018By Pete Grathoff/KC Star
Mellinger Minutes: Moose, Mahomes, Moore, Zenger out and the NBA in?
May 22, 2018By Sam Mellinger/KC Star
Alcides Escobar had a vintage night, and the Royals claimed a victory over the Cardinals
May 23, 2018By Rustin Dodd/The Athletic
MINORS
Storm Chasers Take The 'Cakes 9-2
Fillmyer fires seven strong, Gallagher collects three knocks in win
May 22, 2018By Scott Popp/Omaha Storm Chasers
Naturals rally late for fourth straight home win
Northwest Arkansas scored four runs in the eighth in the 5-3 win over the Frisco RoughRiders
May 22, 2018By NW Arkansas Naturals
A Wild Ninth Leads Rocks to Win
Wilmington Snaps Four Game Skid
May 22, 2018By Wilmington Blue Rocks
Lexington Legends Fall in Game Two Facing Rome Braves
May 22, 2018By NBC 18 Lexington
NATIONAL
How Kansas City native David Cone became the stat-nerd king of New York baseball
May 22, 2018By Rustin Dodd/The Athletic
The making of Manaea: How A’s ace has found the confidence to match his talent
May 22, 2018By Martin Gallegos/San Jose Mercury-News
From Princeton and the Padres to M.L.B. Headquarters
Pitcher Chris Young became a vice president for the league, working under Joe Torre, within weeks of playing in the Padres’ spring training camp.
May 19, 2018By Tyler Kepner/New York Times
What does legalized sports gambling mean for baseball?
May 23, 2018By Jerry Crasnick/ESPN.com
Mariners' Gordon to DL with fractured toe
Vogelbach recalled from Triple-A to fill roster spot for Mariners
May 22, 2018By Greg Johns & Michael Wagaman/MLB.com
The Rays’ Sergio Romo experiment is probably not the future. Here’s why
May 22, 2018By Eno Sarris/The Athletic
How legalized sports betting will impact MLB, the players’ union and labor relations
May 22, 2018By Katie Strang/The Athletic
Bautista's day starts in Fla., ends in Mets' lineup
Veteran slugger joins NY club in need of right-handed power, doubles in 1st AB
May 23, 2018By Anthony DiComo/MLB.com
MLB TRANSACTIONS
May 23, 2018 •.CBSSports.com
LOCAL
Hammel baffles Cards for first win in I-70 tilt
Righty fires 7 strong innings as Gordon, Salvy launch HRs
May 22, 2018By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
The Royals needed their veterans to step up in a big way. And that's exactly what happened on Tuesday night at Busch Stadium.
Right-hander Jason Hammel authored the Royals' best outing by a starter in nearly three weeks, tossing seven innings of one-run ball, and Salvador Perez and Alex Gordon each homered in a 5-1 win over the Cardinals in Game 2 of the I-70 Series. The Royals had lost three straight and eight of nine coming in.
Hammel, who had given up 25 runs in his last four starts, scattered nine hits, walked none and struck out six. The last Royals start this good was Ian Kennedy throwing six shutout innings against the Tigers on May 4.
"I've been working hard on the side trying to figure out what I've been doing wrong," Hammel said. "I'm really trying to incorporate my lower half and use my legs instead of my arm. My last bullpen, I really worked on executing down. It really worked tonight."
Hammel got his first win since Sept. 6, 2017.
"I honestly feel like I forgot how to celebrate a win afterward," he said. "It feels pretty good."
Perez also was superb defensively, throwing out two runners on strike-'em-out, throw-'em-out double plays that squelched potential rallies.
"I think that's just part of the game," Perez said. "If they give me a good time to home plate, I think I can do my job."
Added Royals manager Ned Yost,"Salvy had a fantastic game, and those were big spots. I mean, when he threw those two runners out, ended the inning with a double play. Those were huge spots for us."
Gordon snapped a 2-for-23 skid with three hits, including his fourth home run in the second inning that tied the score at 1.
MOMENT THAT MATTERED
Hammel looked like he was out of the first inning with no damage but a rare misplay by third baseman Mike Moustakas cost him a run. With two out, Jose Martinez and Marcell Ozuna singled, with Martinez taking third. With Tyler O'Neill batting, Ozuna started to take off for second base. Perez pump-faked a throw to second, and Martinez got trapped off of third base. Perez threw to Moustakas to start the rundown, and Martinez should have been an easy out. But Moustakas dropped Perez's throw and Martinez made it home safely.
HE SAID IT
"When you abandon one side it's easy to hit through. I'm completely against the shift, as of today. Very frustrating. You're expected to make pitches and when you make a pitch, you expect someone to be there to field it. If I had a whole side to hit through I could do it, too … I'm probably going to get backlash tomorrow, but I'm tired of it." -- Hammel, on several soft singles that went through open spots of the shift
UP NEXT
Royals right-hander Jakob Junis (5-3, 3.51 ERA) will take the mound for the Royals at 12:15 p.m. CT on Wednesday in the I-70 Series finale at Busch Stadium. Right-hander Michael Wacha (5-1, 3.08) starts for the Cardinals. Junis got the win on Friday over the Yankees as he went 5 1/3 innings and gave up seven hits and two runs.
Adam's stock 'trending up' in Royals' bullpen
Right-hander discovers balance between family, baseball
May 22, 2018By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
Amid the Royals' disappointing 14-33 start entering Tuesday's game against the Cardinals, there actually have been some pleasant surprises, such as rookie relievers Brad Keller and Tim Hill, and the continued development of outfielder Jorge Soler.
And another surprise is impressing manager Ned Yost and his coaching staff: Right-hander Jason Adam, who made his debut on May 5 and through six outings posted a 3.52 ERA.
Adam's story is now well-documented, how he was drafted by the Royals, traded to the Twins, endured four elbow surgeries, and at age 26 found his way back to his hometown team, the Royals.
Though Adam gave up a home run in relief on Monday night to Matt Carpenter, he also struck out four of the five hitters he faced in the I-70 Series opener. With each outing, Adam is validating to himself he belongs here, and that his 96-mph heater and plus-curveball can play at this level.
"I know my stuff can play here," Adam said. "But in the Minors, you can out-stuff guys. That's not the case here. You have to be aware of pitch selection and location, too."
Adam found that out the hard way with Carpenter, who was heater-hunting and jumped on a first-pitch fastball and blasted it into the seats in right.
"I gave it to him right down the middle," Adam said. "If I executed it better it's a pop-fly out. But middle-middle doesn't play up here."
Yet Adam didn't get down on himself, as he admits he used to over such failures in the Minors. The agony of four surgeries taught him, he said, to put baseball in perspective.
"It's still baseball up here," Adam said. "But I think I've got my priorities in order now and it's not worshipping baseball. I think I've learned there are bigger things in life than baseball. I'm still pouring everything I got into baseball, but at the end of the day there are bigger things in the world.
"I used to make baseball a lot bigger than it needed to be. It's still huge and it's fun, but it's not my life. It's a part of my life, but it's not my God. I think that just relieves the pressure for me. You can play free that way.
"I mean, I hate giving up home runs. But I go back and look at the film and see what I did wrong and that's it. I don't dwell on it anymore."
Not that Adam doesn't step back and appreciate the moment.
"Every once in a while it just hits me, like, 'Wow, I'm in the big leagues,'" he said. "Like here I am in Busch Stadium. This is the big leagues."
But Adam has a life outside of baseball that means the most to him. His wife, Kelsey, is expecting their first child, a girl, on June 24.
"Coming out hot," Adam said, smiling.
It's that balance of family and baseball that keeps Adam composed, he said. And that's something Yost has noticed with Adam on the mound.
"I see what a rookie's composure is when they step on the mound, to see if they can handle it," Yost said. "There's been no trepidation, no wide-eyed, no vibration when he steps on the mound. He just steps on the mound and attacks.
"I've seen guys in the past get a little nervy. Been none of that with him. Now it's just about giving him assignments. You're getting evaluated all the time. The better you are, the more high-leverage assignments you get.
"He's been trending up."
Royals' skid ends at three as Jason Hammel beats Cardinals for his first win of year
May 22, 2018By Maria Torres/KC Star
For weeks, Royals starting pitchers have struggled to both give manager Ned Yost length and their offense a chance to breathe.
They’ve dug themselves into early ruts, allowing 19 first-inning runs through 20 games in May after allowing just 16 first-inning runs in the first 28 games of the season. They've often labored just to get through five innings.
But on Tuesday at Busch Stadium, Jason Hammel bucked the trend as the Royals beat the Cardinals 5-1.
Hammel hadn’t seen a digit entered into his personal win column since Sept. 6. In 13 starts since he beat the Tigers in Detroit late last season, he’d amassed an 0-8 record and a 7.28 ERA.
“I honestly feel like I forgot how to celebrate a win afterward," Hammel said. "I feel pretty good."
For the Royals, the desperation that accompanies a losing streak only lasted a few days. They last led in a game on Friday, when Jakob Junis and the bullpen held the Yankees to two runs in a 5-2 win.
But Alcides Escobar remedied the situation in the fourth inning Tuesday, shooting a two-out RBI double into the left-field corner to send home Whit Merrifield with the go-ahead run.
Outfielder Alex Gordon supplied the Royals’ first bit of offensive energy. In his first at-bat against Cardinals starter Luke Weaver, Gordon barreled a first-pitch fastball left over the plate and crushed it 417 feet into the lawn beyond the center-field fence. The homer tied the game 1-1 in the second inning.
After Escobar's double, Salvador Perez extended the Royals’ lead to 3-1 with a solo homer leading off the sixth inning.
Hammel, meanwhile, worked around two-out trouble — he allowed six base-runners after getting two outs in three separate innings — and limited Jose Martinez, the former Royals farmhand who entered the game ranked ninth in the National League in batting average (.311), to one hit.
The outing, which lasted seven innings as he yielded nine hits and struck out six, provided Hammel his fifth quality start of the year. He threw 89 pitches and didn't allow much hard contact. Defensive shifts continued to plague him on Tuesday, however, as several hits went through gaps.
“When you abandon one side it’s easy to hit through," Hammel said. "I’m completely against the shift, as of today. Very frustrating. You’re expected to make pitches and you make a pitch, you expect someone to be there to field it. If I had a whole side to hit through I could do it, too."
Other notes from the game:
Old friend alert: Former Royals closer Greg Holland, who's struggled since signing a one-year contract with the Cardinals on opening day, loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth inning. Two pitches later, Jon Jay smacked a two-run single into center field to increase the Royals' lead to four runs and Holland was booed as he was removed from the game.
"He’s one of the best that I’ve ever seen in my life," Yost said. "He pitched his heart out for me for years and years and years and he’s gonna do it here in St. Louis too."
What was that? In the first inning, Perez jumped out of his crouch, ready to pump a throw to catch Marcell Ozuna off the bag at first. But when Ozuna retreated, Martinez, who had singled with two outs, charged up the third-base line in an attempt to steal home. Perez threw to Mike Moustakas so they could try to catch Martinez in a rundown. Moustakas, however, couldn’t cleanly remove the ball from his glove, allowing Martinez to dive and tumble home for the Cardinals’ first run and Ozuna to reach second base.
In the scorebook, the play went down as a double steal.
But Perez made up for the wacky play later, catching a runner trying to steal second base to end both the fourth and sixth innings.
"Salvy had a fantastic game — and those were big spots," Yost said. "I mean, when he threw those two runners out, backed the inning into a double play. Those were huge spots for us."
Snapping streaks: While the Royals snapped a three-game skid, Gordon and Escobar each broke streaks of their own. Gordon had gone 0 for 14 with seven strikeouts before he hit the second-inning homer.
Escobar hit a two-out single in the second to bust an short 0 for 9 slide.
They combined for six hits on Tuesday night.
Up next: The Royals, who improved to 15-33, will conclude the road portion of the I-70 Series at 12:15 p.m. Wednesday. Jakob Junis will make his 10th start of the season.
Royals pitchers have a variety of reasons why they wouldn't use a bullpen cart
May 22, 2018By Pete Grathoff/KC Star
Royals pitchers watched with great interest when Houston relief pitcher Collin McHugh entered a game at Arizona earlier this month.
It was the manner in which McHugh left the bullpen in Phoenix that was so intriguing: he was the first pitcher to use the Diamondbacks' bullpen cart.
“That very first ride, we were watching McHugh and were like, ‘Man, I hope he does well.’ He’s the example," Royals pitcher Kevin McCarthy said. "He was the first one to do it and if it doesn’t go well ... but he did well, so now some more guys are going on it. I think it’s one of those things that as it catches on it won’t be as big a deal."
Once a staple in the 1970s, the carts were ditched sometime in the following decade. In the past few years, there has been a buzz to bring them back. In fact, one former Royal was an early proponent.
“I remember when (Luke) Hochevar was here, he was plugging to get it put back. Back in '16, he was calling for it," McCarthy said.
While the Royals don't play at Arizona this season, I asked members of the pitching staff if they'd use the cart if it was available again in Kansas City.
"Probably not as a rookie," Jason Adam said with a laugh. "Maybe if I had five or six years, I’d think about it. Seems nice, though. Saves the jog."
Nathan Karns, who is on the disabled list, didn't think he'd use it. He referenced how Mariano Rivera would run to the mound while "Enter Sandman" played at Yankee Stadium.
“I think it’s kind of weird, but that’s just because I’ve never seen it," Karns said. "I like to jog in. I like when you see a bullpen guy coming in during a game, especially to start a fresh inning, like you see (Kelvin) Herrera come in and it’s just like everyone knows it’s the ninth inning. You can just see the guy's face.
“I don’t know if the fans feel the same way about it. I don’t know if they care about seeing a guy jog 250 feet to the mound."
Nationals closer Sean Doolittle used the bullpen cart and said it helps conserve energy. McCarthy said that argument makes sense, but said there might be a greater expectations as well.
"I think it’s a lot more pressure to go in and pitch well if you’re cruising in on a bullpen cart," McCarthy said. "Until it’s a little more accepted, I feel like there’ll be a little more pressure to finish well."
Ex-Royals lefty Tim Collins pitches in majors for first time since 2014 World Series