Daily Clips
April 9, 2018
LOCAL
Hammel strong, but Royals fall on walk-off
Offense unable to generate more support despite 10 hits
April 8, 2018By Jeffery Flanagan/MLB.com
Royals let one get away late in 3-1 loss to Indians
April 8, 2018By Maria Torres/KC Star
MINORS
Missions Claim Series Opener Over Naturals
Third baseman Corey Toups hit his first home run of 2018 in the 8-4 loss to San Antonio
April 8, 2018By Northwest Arkansas Naturals
Rocks Lose Heartbreaker to Split Series
Blue Rocks Suffer First Walk-Off Defeat of Season
April 8, 2018By Wilmington Blue Rocks
Legends Split Double Header with RiverDogs
The Lexington Legends and Charleston RiverDogs split the double header in the series finale. The Legends won game one, 7-4, but fell in game two, 2-1. The Legends are now 3-1 for the season and the RiverDogs are 1-3.
April 8, 2018By Lexington Legends
NATIONAL
Yelich lands on DL; Williams up, Houser down
April 8, 2018By Adam McCalvy/MLB.com
Chisenhall off to DL; Indians recall Naquin
April 8, 2018By Jordan Bastian/MLB.com
MLB TRANSACTIONS
April 9, 2018 •.CBSSports.com
LOCAL
Hammel strong, but Royals fall on walk-off
Offense unable to generate more support despite 10 hits
April 8, 2018By Jeffery Flanagan/MLB.com
The Indians walked off on the Royals, 3-1, with a one-out, two-run home run from Yan Gomes off reliever Brandon Maurer in the ninth inning on Sunday.
But the frustration inside the Royals clubhouse afterward clearly geared more toward a bizarre run that the Indians scored in the eighth that tied the score, 1-1.
Jon Jay's booming RBI triple in the fifth had given the Royals a 1-0 lead. And after starter Jason Hammel fired six shutout innings, and rookie left-handed reliever Tim Hill pitched a scoreless seventh, Hill walked Bradley Zimmer to lead off the eighth on four pitches. But at least two of the pitches appeared noticeably inside the strike zone, and that had several Royals pitchers groaning and shaking their head afterward.
"But what can you do?" Royals manager Ned Yost said of the calls.
Yost brought in reliever Justin Grimm. After a stolen base and a sacrifice bunt, Grimm got Jason Kipnis to roll a comebacker. Zimmer held at third base, but Grimm threw wildly to first baseman Whit Merrifield, and Kipnis was safe.
"The Kipnis ball kind of soured me a little bit," Grimm said. "The throw to first was unfortunate. That's my fault. It was right at [Merrifield] but then it brought him off the bag. ... I can make that play 10 plays out of 10."
With runners at the corners, Grimm then threw inside to Jose Ramirez, who tried to check his swing. The ball hit the bat and rolled down the third-base line. Grimm retrieved it and got the out at first -- which would have been the third out -- but Zimmer scored the tying run.
"The ball by Ramirez, I thought about going home, but that's how big innings happen," Grimm said. "Thought I'd get the out and keep us in the game. He couldn't have bunted it any better. Perfect placement ... We should have gotten a win."
Without the walk or the error by Grimm, the Royals could have taken a 1-0 lead to the bottom of the ninth with closer Kelvin Herrera coming on and potentially closing the game out.
"That run changed the whole complexion of the game," Yost said.
Yost opted for Maurer on the road in the ninth, and Maurer battled Gomes for eight pitches before Gomes ripped a 3-2 96-mph fastball into the seats in left.
"He just beat me," Maurer said. "Must have been a good pitch to hit."
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Hammel works out of trouble: The Indians' biggest threat against Hammel came in the fifth when Yonder Alonso singled to lead off, and with one out, Tyler Naquin singled. But Hammel came back and struck out Zimmer on a 3-2 fastball that just nicked the outside corner. Then with the shift on, Francisco Lindor grounded out to the right side, and Hammel preserved a 1-0 lead.
"I made some really good pitches, got a couple ground balls and Lindor's kind of been my thorn that's always come back and got me," Hammel said. "We pitched Lindor well today. That's what I feel best about, is keeping that guy off the bases. He can do some damage."
Don't run on Zim: Throughout his rookie campaign last year, Zimmer flashed a strong arm from center for the Tribe. That has continued this season and it cost Kansas City a run on Sunday. With two outs in the third, Jay tried to score from second on a single up the middle by Mike Moustakas. Zimmer gloved the ball and fired it 233 feet on the fly (per Statcast™) to catcher Gomes, who applied the tag for an impressive inning-ending out.
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
The announced temperature at first pitch for Sunday's game was 32 degrees, marking the coldest regular-season game on record at Progressive Field (1994-present). The previous record of 33 degrees occurred twice (April 5 and 7 in 1996).
MITEL REPLAY OF THE DAY
The Royals challenged a safe call in the eighth inning when Ramirez tapped a check-swing grounder down the third-base line and the throw to first seemingly pulled Merrifield off the bag. The call was overturned and Ramirez was ruled out.
WHAT'S NEXT
Right-hander Jakob Junis (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will make his second start of the season as the Royals return to Kauffman Stadium to open a three-game series with the Mariners on Monday at 7:15 p.m CT. Junis was superb in his first outing Tuesday in Detroit, allowing just three hits and one walk with six strikeouts over seven-plus innings.
Royals let one get away late in 3-1 loss to Indians
April 8, 2018By Maria Torres/KC Star
On Sunday morning, on the last day of a six-game road trip thwarted repeatedly by frigid weather conditions, Royals relievers Burch Smith and Justin Grimm quietly played arcade games on opposite ends of the visiting clubhouse and starting pitcher Jason Hammel watched some television coverage of the Masters on a muted monitor at Progressive Field.
While others lounged at their lockers, outfielder Jon Jay napped on a black leather couch.
For the first time in this 9-day-old season, the Royals were finally able to play the third game of a series. Snow, or the threat of it, postponed both of their previous series finales in Kansas City and Detroit.
It would probably be unfair to fault Jay for the pregame snooze.
Especially since Jay's fifth-inning, RBI triple against Indians starter Mike Clevinger set him up to become the Royals’ next hero.
Then, an afterthought of a swing by Indians third baseman Jose Ramirez resulted in a weakly-tapped ground ball that produced a run in the eighth inning. The play set up the Royals calling on Brandon Maurer in the ninth inning and the Indians walking off with a 3-1 win.
Instead of escaping the cold and heading back to Kansas City with three wins on this road trip, the Royals fell to 2-5. They tallied 10 hits — three off the bat of Jorge Soler, who was 0 for 11 with four walks to start the season — but they left six runners on base. Unable to find a groove in the cold, they have gone 6 for 34 with runners in scoring position over seven games.
On a day when even Jay’s hit defied the 10-mph winds coming off Lake Erie, Indians catcher Yan Gomes barreled a 96 mph fastball offered as the ninth pitch of his at-bat against Maurer and deposited the heater over the fence in left-center field for a two-run homer.
"He just beat me. Must have been a good pitch to hit," Maurer said. "He put a good swing on it. Anything can happen if you put a good swing on it."
Maurer was charged with his second loss of the season. His performance and Justin Grimm's errant throw to first base in the eighth spoiled Hammel's six scoreless innings, in which he allowed only three hits and kept his pitch count at 88 despite working around a pair of base runners in the first and fifth innings.
"It would have been nice to have that one." Hammel said. "This is a game that we need to have right now, especially when (the Indians) are not swinging the bats as well as they can. We can capitalize there."
Alas, the Royals seemed fated not to take advantage.
Before Maurer even began to warm in the bullpen, Tim Hill put Indians outfielder Bradley Zimmer on base with a four-pitch walk to start the eighth inning. Two of those four pitches caught the top of the zone, according to both MLB.com and Fox Sports pitch-tracking systems.
But home-plate umpire and crew chief Ted Barrett called each a ball.
Grimm was called in immediately to face the top of the Indians' order: Francisco Lindor, Jason Kipnis and Jose Ramirez. By that point, their bats had gone as cold as the 32-degree game-time temperature, which was the coldest first-pitch temperature recorded in the 24-year history of Progressive Field. The trio had combined to go 0 for 8 with a walk in the first seven innings.
But the Indians didn't need the bats to warm up. They just needed Zimmer to steal a base, which he did with ease. The play allowed Lindor to lay down a sacrifice bunt and Kipnis to reach on a throwing error by Grimm, who picked up a grounder in front of the mound and missed just wide of hitting Whit Merrifield's glove at first base.
Later, Grimm was spared a second error. Ramirez placed his ground ball in a similar spot and Grimm charged it, thinking he might attempt to throw home to get Zimmer, who wound up scoring. Instead, Grimm tossed to first base to stop the inning from unraveling. First-base umpire Lance Barksdale called Ramirez safe, but his call was overturned on the Royals' challenge.
"(The eighth-inning run) changes the whole complexion of the game," Royals manager Ned Yost said.
It shouldn't have. The Indians were 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position, and they left six runners on base. The Royals' pitching staff hadn't allowed a run since the first inning of a 3-2 loss on Friday — the streak ended at 23 innings, which tied a club record set in 1976 and repeated in 2015.
In the end, a poor fielding job by Grimm and a fastball left low over the plate by Maurer will take the fall for this loss, the Royals' fifth to open the season.
"(Maurer) hasn’t pitched in six days so it’s way too early to start dissecting," Yost said. "The weather’s been brutal. We’ve been missing games. It’s too early for all that."
MINORS
Missions Claim Series Opener Over Naturals
Third baseman Corey Toups hit his first home run of 2018 in the 8-4 loss to San Antonio
April 8, 2018By Northwest Arkansas Naturals
Northwest Arkansas welcomed San Antonio to Arvest Ballpark to begin a 3-game series on Sunday afternoon but saw the Missions (3-1) race out to a quick lead to claim the series opener over the Naturals (1-3) by a 8-4 final.
Trailing 1-0 after a Michael Gettys leadoff homer to start the game, Northwest Arkansas answered back with a run of their own in the home half of the first. The Naturals used three consecutive singles combined with an error to plate their tally. Jecksson Flores got it started with a single up the middle while Erick Mejia followed suit. That brought up Samir Duenez and he chopped a ball to first for an infield single, which caused an errant throw that allowed Flores to come in to tie the ballgame at 1-1.
It was all Missions after that as the visitors would add two runs in the second on a Josh Naylor RBI single and a Fernando Tatis, Jr. sacrifice fly for a 3-1 advantage. Naylor was at it again in the fourth as the power-hitting lefty lifted a 2-0 pitch over the wall in right for a two-run homer for a 5-1 lead. Two doubles in the fifth contributed to another run before San Antonio would tack on two in the sixth to take a commanding 8-1 lead on a Tatis run-scoring single and a defensive miscue by the Naturals.
The Naturals would show some fight late as they'd plate three runs in the bottom of the ninth. Third baseman Corey Toups hit his first home run of the season while Erick Mejia polished off a 3-for-5 day with a two-run triple to set the final score at 8-4.
LHP Jerry Keel (1-0) earned the win by tossing 5.0 innings of one-run baseball while LHP Emilio Ogando (0-1) took the defeat on Sunday afternoon. The back half of the Naturals bullpen performed well in the loss as LHP Sam Selman and RHP Jake Newberry combined to strike out five Missions in 3.2 innings. The Naturals pitching staff on the whole fanned 11 batters in the game.
Northwest Arkansas will continue their opening 6-game homestand tomorrow night - Monday, April 9 - with Game 2 of this 3-game set against the San Antonio Missions (Double-A San Diego Padres) at Arvest Ballpark. First pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m. for an Ozarks Electric Monday Night Lights featuring Dollar Hot Dogs by Tyson Foods, Inc. and Indigo Sky Casino Baseball Bingo. The Naturals will send RHP Glenn Sparkman to the mound while the Missions will counter with RHP Jesse Scholtens . Catch all of the live play-by-play action with the Voice of the Naturals Benjamin Kelly on KQSM 92.1 The Ticket beginning at 6:45 p.m. for the Indigo Sky Casino Pregame Show leading up to first pitch against the Double-A San Diego Padres at Arvest Ballpark.
Rocks Lose Heartbreaker to Split Series
Blue Rocks Suffer First Walk-Off Defeat of Season
April 8, 2018By Wilmington Blue Rocks
Just four outs away from a wire-to-wire victory, the Wilmington Blue Rocks (2-2) suffered a heart-breaking loss to the Potomac Nationals (2-2) by the score of 3-2 Sunday afternoon at Pfitzner Stadium. The Blue Rocks committed a pair of errors with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning to allow Potomac back in the game and ultimately fell in the bottom of the ninth inning on a Jack Sundberg game-winning single. Gerson Garabito shined in his Wilmington debut and tossed six shutout innings, allowed one hit and tied a career-high with nine strikeouts in a no-decision.
Leading 1-0 in the eighth inning with two outs, the Blue Rocks committed two errors, one of which allowed two runs to score to give the Nationals a 2-1 lead. Wilmington rallied in the top of the ninth. Kort Peterson drew a one-out walk, D.J. Burt reached on an infield bunt single and Rudy Martin worked a walk to load the bases. Shortstop Angelo Castellano skied a sacrifice fly to centerfield to score Peterson and tie the game at 2-2. In the bottom of the ninth, Tres Barrera led the inning off with a double and Sundberg delivered with a game-winning single to centerfield to end the game.
The Blue Rocks took a first inning lead thanks to a pair of two-out extra-base hits. Khalil Lee tripled before Emmanuel Rivera laced a double to score Lee to make it a 1-0 game. That score would hold until the eighth inning. Garabito and P-Nats' righty Tyler Mapes exchanged scoreless innings from the second to the sixth inning. Garabito dazzled in his Wilmington debut while Mapes worked five innings and allowed the single tally, walked four and struck out two.
The Blue Rocks travel to Salem, Virginia to begin a three-game set with the Salem Red Sox starting Monday, April 9. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. and RHP Arnaldo Hernandez (0-0, -.--) will make the start for Wilmington while Salem counters with RHP Bryan Mata (0-0, -.--). Fans can listen to the game as Matt Janus will have the call on 89.7 WGLS-FM.
PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:
Outfield prospect Khalil Lee turned in a solid performance at the plate in his first series at the Advanced-A level. The 19-year-old went 6-for-14 (.429) with a double, triple, home run, drew four walks, scored four runs and also stole a base. He reached base four times in Sunday's loss. First baseman Chris DeVito is also off to a fast start at the dish, hitting .357 (5-for-14) with one double, two RBI and three walks.
The one-run loss by the Blue Rocks Sunday marked the second straight one-run affair the Blue Crew played in after the first two games of the season were decided by two and seven runs, respectively. Wilmington won 5-4 Saturday night before dropping Sunday afternoon's game. Last year, Wilmington played in more one-run games than any other team in the Carolina League. They posted a 25-25 record in 50 one-run games.