KANSAS CITY ROYALS NOTES:
COMEBACK FALLS SHORT: The Royals suffered an 8-5 loss in the Bronx yesterday, despite out-hitting the Yankees 12-11 and recording a season-high-tying 4 home runs…they played from behind from the 1st inning on, as Jordan Lyles allowed hits to four of the first five batters he faced in a 4-run 1st inning…Salvador Perez snapped a 19-game homer drought with an opposite-field blast in the 4th inning off Luis Severino, and Michael Massey hit a 2-run homer in the 6th to pull the Royals within 2 runs…but the Yankees got 3 runs back in the 8th, including a pair on a groundball that took a funny spin on Nick Pratto, who was charged with a throwing error when he flipped the ball toward first base…the Royals refused to go quietly in the 9th, as Freddy Fermin and Kyle Isbel hit solo home runs, but they still came up 3 runs short en route to their 10th series sweep of the year.
The Royals have lost 14 of 17, falling to 45 games under .500 for the first time since Sept. 28, 2019 (58-103).
DINGER PARTY: After being held homerless in their 4-game series vs. the Tigers last week at Kauffman Stadium, the Royals hit 7 home runs in 3 games last weekend at Yankee Stadium, including a season-high-tying 4 dingers in yesterday’s 8-5 loss…in fact, 10 of the 11 runs scored by the Royals over the weekend came via home runs (90.9%), including all 5 runs yesterday…for the season, Kansas City has scored 119 of its 374 runs via home runs (31.8%), which is the 3rd-lowest rate in the Majors, ahead of Cleveland (27.9%) and Washington (31.4%).
Michael Massey hit 3 home runs over the weekend in the Bronx, including his 1st career multi-homer game on Friday night and a 2-run blast yesterday…he’s the fifth Royal to record 3 HR in a 3-game series vs. the Yankees, following John Mayberry (1975), George Brett (1980 and 1987), Bo Jackson (1990) and Chili Davis (1997)…of Massey’s last 6 hits, 5 have gone for extra bases, including 3 HR, 1 triple and 1 double.
Salvador Perez’s opposite-field homer yesterday was his 1st in exactly one month, since June 23 at Tampa Bay, but he remains stuck on 199 career HR as a catcher…with his next HR from behind the plate, he will become the 10th player all-time to record 200 HR as a catcher, a list that’s led by Mike Piazza (396).
Freddy Fermin continued his breakout season yesterday with a double and a solo home run to mark his 3rd straight multi-hit game, a stretch in which he’s batting .636 (7-for-11)…in 40 games with the Royals this season, Fermin is batting .293 (34-for-116) with 12 extra-base hits and 21 RBI for an .830 OPS.
Royals catchers have hit 19 home runs this season, which rank 2nd in the Majors behind only Atlanta (26).
Kyle Isbel hit a 403-ft. solo HR in the 9th inning yesterday and is batting .278 (10-for-36) in his last 11 games with 6 extra-base hits for an .871 OPS…in fact, 17 of Isbel’s 32 hits for the season (53.1%) have gone for extra bases, which is the highest rate on the team (min. 30 hits) and the 7th-highest rate in the AL.
BLOWN LEADS: The Royals took a 3-1 lead in the top of the 4th inning Friday night on Michael Massey’s 3-run home run, but the Yankees responded with their own 3-run blast by Billy McKinney in the bottom half of the frame…the Royals fell short in their comeback attempt to mark their Major League-most 35th blown lead loss of the season, ahead of the White Sox (33), Athletics (32) and Cardinals (31), and it was their 4th blown lead loss in 10 games since the All-Star break…the Royals 35 blown lead losses for the season are only 1 shy of their total from all of last season, when they suffered 36 blown lead losses, and are 18 shy of the franchise record of 53, set during their 103-loss 2019 campaign…the Royals have held a lead in 48 of their last 72 games (66.7%) since the start of May, but they’re 21-51 (.292) during that stretch with 27 blown lead losses. Ê They’re 7-23 when scoring in the 1st inning and have lost 13 of their last 15 games when scoring in the 1st.
VS. CLEVELAND: The Royals are visiting Cleveland this week for the second time this month, after losing 3 of 4 here before the All-Star break…the Royals played 78 games this season before their first meeting with the Guardians, but this series will cap a run of 10 games vs. them within a span of 26 games dating back to June 27.
The Royals are 2-5 vs. the Guardians this year, have been outscored 39-17 (-22) and have scored 1 or 0 runs in 4 of 7 games…the Royals have lost four straight series to the Guardians since they won 2 of 3 from July 8-10, 2022 at Kauffman Stadium, and they’re winless in their last six series at Progressive Field since they won 3 of 4 from Sept. 7-10, 2020…they’re 6-16 here since with four series losses and two splits.
Royals first-year Manager Matt Quatraro was Terry Francona’s Asst. Hitting Coach here in Cleveland from 2014-17, a four-year run in which the Guardians offense ranked 1st in the Majors in doubles and 5th in OPS.
Prior to being named Royals Pitching Coach last offseason, Brian Sweeney spent five seasons here in Cleveland from 2018-22, including the last three as Bullpen Coach…during his three-year run in that role, the Guardians finished 5th, 6th and 4th in the Majors in bullpen ERA, including a 3.02 ERA last season.
COMING IN HOT!: MJ Melendez ended the 1st half in an 8-for-56 slump (.143) with no multi-hit efforts over 15 games…he altered his batting stance over the break and has hit safely in 9 of 10 games since, during which he’s batting .297 (11-for-37) with 5 extra-base hits for an .820 OPS…since the break, MJ’s average exit velocity of 96.8 mph on 28 batted balls leads the Majors (min. 25 batted balls), ahead of Fernando Tatis Jr. (96.0 mph).
Since the start of the Dodgers series on June 30, Maikel Garcia is batting .324 (24-for-74) in 19 games, which ranks 10th in the American League during that time…since his recall on May 2, Garcia’s .279 average (69-for-247) ranks 2nd among American League rookies, trailing only Boston’s Masataka Yoshida (.325).
ARMS RACE: The Royals enter tonight with a Major League-most 22 outfield assists this season, which are 2 more than the Tigers (20) and 3 more than the Cardinals (19), who rank 2nd and 3rd, respectively…the Royals 22 outfield assists match their total from all of last season, as they attempt to lead the Majors in this category for the first time since 2011 and 2012, when they had 51 in both seasons, which were the most by any team since Cleveland had 51 in 1993.
Nine different Royals have recorded an outfield assist this season, led by MJ Melendez, whose 6 outfield assists are tied for 6th most in the AL.
TRIPLE THREAT: The Royals enter tonight with 25 triples, which are 3 more than the Diamondbacks (22) for the Major League lead and 6 more than this week’s opponent, Cleveland (19) for the American League lead…the Royals are attempting to lead the Majors in triples for the second straight season, after pacing the league with 38 in 2022…that was the first time they led the Majors in triples since 2009 (51), but the Royals 2,227 triples since their inception in 1969 are by far the most in t
the Majors, 138 more than the Pirates (2,089) and 291 more than the Tigers (1,936), the next closest AL team.
TONIGHT’S STARTERS: LHP RYAN YARBROUGH (2-5, 5.21)
RYAN YARBROUGH (YAHR-bro) is making his 13th appearance (6th start) of the season and 140th outing (65th start) of his career tonight vs. Cleveland…he was originally selected by Seattle in the 4th round of the 2014 Draft out of Old Dominion University (Va.)—the same school that Matt Quatraro and Vinnie Pasquantino attended—and he signed a one-year contract with the Royals on Dec. 13, 2022.
Yarbrough was activated off the 60-day Injured List on July 9 after missing a total of 55 games…he made 4 rehab appearances with the ACL Royals (1) and Triple-A Omaha (3), going a combined 0-1 with a 2.55 ERA (5 ER in 17.2 IP), 20 K’s.
INHERITED A LOSS: Despite falling just 1 out shy of a quality start in his most recent outing last Wednesday vs. the Tigers, he took his 5th loss of the year after registering 5.2 innings and allowing 3 runs on 6 hits (1 home run) with 4 strikeouts and 1 walk in a 3-2 defeat at Kauffman Stadium…Yarbs allowed the Tigers to jump out to a 1-0 lead in the 2nd inning as Javier Báez connected for a solo home run, and that deficit held until the bottom of the 5th inning when Michael Massey drove in a run with a double and later scored on a 2-out double by Kyle Isbel…the Tigers immediately tied the game on a 1-out single from Kerry Carpenter in the 6th, and after retiring Jake Rogers, he exited with a cramp in favor of Jose Cuas, who walked Báez and allowed an RBI single to Miguel Cabrera, plating Carpenter
and flipping the lead in favor of Detroit, who held on for the 3-2 win.
2023, SO FAR: Ryan has appeared in 12 games (5 starts) for the Royals after signing as a free agent last offseason, and has allowed 22 runs on 39 hits and 9 walks in 38.0 innings, with 23 strikeouts…he had scoreless relief outings in 3 of his 1st 5 appearances with the Royals, but was charged with a season-high 4 runs in 2.1 innings on April 15 vs. Atlanta…following Kris Bubic’s season-ending injury, Yarbs was inserted as the Bulk Pitcher for Opener Taylor Clarke on April 21 in Anaheim, where he allowed 2 runs in 4.0 innings…on the next turn in the rotation, Yarbrough got his 1st start, and has since gone 2-3 with a 3.96 ERA (11 ER in 25.0 IP), with 5 of those 8 runs coming in 1 inning on May 2 vs. the Orioles.
CLEVELAND GUARDIANS NOTES:
GUARDS RALLY, BUT FALL IN EXTRAS TO PHILLIES
After taking the first 2 games of the series, the Cleveland Guardians conceded Sunday afternoon’s finale to the Philadelphia Phillies by an 8-5 final across 10 innings at Progressive Field…still signaled the Guardians’ second straight series victory after taking 2 of 3 in Pittsburgh…Cleveland has gone 10-5-1 over last 16 series (28-22 record since May 26). » After DAVID FRY connected for a 2-out, game-tying (4-4) solo homer (3) in the bottom of the 9th to hand closer Craig Kimbrel his first blown save of the season and send the contest to extras, the Phillies posted a 4-run rally in the top of the 10th to depart Cleveland with a victory…the Guardians plated one more run in the bottom of the 10th on a STEVEN KWAN RBI-single and had the bases loaded with nobody out before Yunior Marte came on in relief to retire 3 straight batters and end the game…Cleveland connected for 2 additional homers earlier in the day, as Kwan opened the bottom of the 1st with his second career lead-off homer (4) before ANDRÉS GIMÉNEZ added another one-out solo blast in the 2nd…a pair of singles and a sac bunt in the 3rd set the table for an RBI-groundout from JOSÉ RAMÍREZ…XZAVION CURRY worked the first 3.0 frames (3.0IP, H, R-ER, 3BB, 3SO, BK, 42 pitches) of a starter-by-committee effort from the Cleveland bullpen, which saw 8 different arms appear.
Cleveland (49-50) sits in 2nd place in the AL Central standings, 3.0 games behind 2nd-place Minnesota (53-48) and 4.0 games ahead of 3rd-place Detroit (-7.0G, 45-54)…club entered the All-Star break in 1st place for just the fourth time across Terry Francona’s tenure (2013-23), as Cleveland also did so in 3 consecutive campaigns from 2016-18…the Guardians have won 4 of 6, 17 of 29, 24 of 42 and 27 of last 48, though have also dropped 43 of last 83 overall since starting the year 9-6.
HEAVY IS THE HEAD
The Cleveland Guardians are scheduled to take on the Kansas City Royals for a 3-game set from Monday to Wednesday, the third of 4 series between the divisional opponents in the 2023 campaign…this season, the Guards took 2 of 3 in Kansas City from June 27-29 and 3 of 4 in Cleveland from July 6-9, giving them a 5-2 record against the Royals heading into this series…with 2 more wins against KC, the Guards will have won or tied 8 straight season series vs. Kansas City since 2016, tied for the club’s longest stretch of season series victories against the Royals (2004-11).
During the Terry Francona era, Cleveland is 115-73 (.612) overall and 63-33 (.656) at Progressive Field against Kansas City, the club’s most overall wins and home wins against any opponent over that span…Francona is 150-95 against the Royals, his most wins against any opponent in his managerial career ahead of Detroit (146-98)…the Clevelanders have lost just one season series to Kansas City under Francona (2015, 9-10).
GUARDIANS OF THE HISTORY BOOKS
Entering this series, JOSÉ RAMÍREZ, EMMANUEL CLASE and Terry Francona are all approaching milestones…after passing Bill Bradley (1,231) for 18th-most games played in Cleveland history in yesterday’s contest, Ramírez (1,232) is 3 games from tying and 4 games from passing Larry Doby (1,235) for 17th-most in club history…with his next run scored, Ramírez will pass Hal Trosky (758) for 11th-most runs scored by a Clevelander, and with his next game-winning RBI, he will tie Jim Thome (104) for most in club history since at least 1974…he is also 2 hits from passing Bradley (1,265) for 17th-most in franchise history…Clase (93) is 2 saves away from passing Mike Jackson (94) for 6th-most in club history…Francona (1,923) is 3 wins from tying and 4 wins from passing Hall-of-Famer Casey Stengel (1,926) for 13th-most wins by a manager in MLB history.
TOUGH AS NAYLS
JOSH NAYLOR has not missed a beat to start the second half… since the All-Star break, he’s hitting .324 (11-for-34) with 3 doubles, 4 home runs and 12 RBI…post All-Star break, he ranks among MLB hitters in home runs (4, T2nd in AL/T4th in MLB), RBI (12, T2nd in AL/T6th in MLB) and extra-base hits (7, T3rd in AL/T7th in MLB)…he has been one of MLB’s most effective hitters since May 30, ranking in BABIP (.410, 1st), batting average (.382, T1st), RBI (44, T1st), AB/RBI (3.86, 2nd), hits (65, 2nd), singles (40, T2nd), OPS (1.032, 4th), doubles (17, 4th) and SLG (.624, 5th)…he is currently the only MLB player with a .305-or-better batting average and 75+ RBI…with a .307 average and 76 RBI entering today, he is the first Cleveland hitter to produce such numbers through the team’s first 99 games since Victor Martinez in 2007 (.323, 77 RBI).
LEADIN’ WITH STEVEN
In yesterday’s game vs. Philadelphia, STEVEN KWAN went 4-for-5 and drove in 2 RBI, marking his second such game in one week (July 16 at TEX, 4-for-5, 3RBI)…Kwan started the game with his second career leadoff home run…after a 260-game stretch without a leadoff home run leading up to July 16, Kwan hit Cleveland’s second leadoff home run in a 6-game span…the 4-hit performance was the sixth of his career.
Since making his MLB debut in 2022, Kwan ranks among MLB leadoff hitters in leadoff triples (2, T2nd), leadoff singles (38, 3rd) and leadoff hits (52, T4th)…he also ranks among all MLB hitters since 2022 in pct. of swings put in play (50.2%, 1st), PA/SO (9.94, 2nd), swing-and-miss rate (9.8%, 2nd-lowest), singles (208, 3rd), infield hits (38, T4th), 3+hit games (24, T4th), 4+hit games (6, T4th), triples (9, T8th), hits (277, T8th), pitches faced (4,419, 10th) and times on base (391, T10th).
LET’S GET IT STARTED
Cleveland’s starting pitching has had a strong start to the second half, holding opponents to 2-or-fewer earned runs in each of the rotation’s 9 outings…Cleveland’s starters have lasted 5.0-or-more innings in 6 of their 9 starts since the All-Star break…the rotation’s 2.08 ERA (10ER/43.1IP) to start the second half is the lowest in MLB, 111 points lower than the next-best team (Detroit, 3.19)… Guardians starters also rank among MLB rotations post-All-Star break in batting average (.191, 1st), hits allowed (29, 1st), SLG (.276, 1st), WHIP (1.06, 3rd) and OBP (.275, 3rd).
STAND FOR THE LAND: A WEEKEND RECAP
This past weekend’s series against Philadelphia generated a 3-game attendance of 108,003…the club’s last 100,000+ attendance for a 3-game series was August 25-27, 2017 vs. Kansas City…marked the highest 3-game series attendance in Cleveland since June 27-29, 2008 vs. Cincinnati (111,429)… the 38,260 attendance on Friday night registered as Cleveland’s highest attended home game since July 4, 2014 vs. Kansas City (39,020) and eclipsed 1,000,000 fans in 46 home dates/47 home games at Progressive Field this season…the club also had backto-back sellouts on Friday and Saturday for the first time since July 13-14, 2018 vs. New York-AL…the 2-game attendance of 76,197 on Friday and Saturday was the highest at Progressive Field since August 26-27, 2011 vs. Kansas City (76,707)…Progressive Field’s attendance of 1,092,972 through 49 home games in 2023 is 45.8% higher than the same point in 2022 (749,437).
TODAY’S STARTER – #41 LOGAN ALLEN LHP
ALLEN AT HOME
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 1-1 3.94 6 6 32.0 38 15 14 11 29
Career 1-1 3.94 6 6 32.0 38 15 14 11 29
ALLEN’S MLB CAREER
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 4-2 3.21 13 13 67.1 67 25 24 25 71
Career 4-2 3.21 13 13 67.1 67 25 24 25 71
TONIGHT’S START
The 24-year-old southpaw is making 14th career MLB start, seventh at home, in the opener of this 3-game set with the Kansas City Royals…marks his sixth start against the AL Central, owning a 1-1 record with a 2.67 ERA (8ER/27.0IP).
Despite not working more than 5.0 innings in each of his last 3 starts, he has not allowed an earned run during that stretch… seeking his first 5.0+ inning start since June 9 against Houston.
Allen was originally selected by Cleveland in the 2nd Round (56th overall) of the 2020 MLB Draft out of Florida International University…entered the season as Cleveland’s #8 prospect according to MLB.com…is starting on extended 5 days’ rest; owns a 4.08 ERA (16ER/35.1IP) in 7 starts on 5 days’ rest.
LAST TIME OUT
Allen’s last start was on Tuesday in a 10-1 victory at Pittsburgh… the rookie earned his 4th career win after twirling 5.0-inning shutout innings, allowing one hit with 8 strikeouts and one walk on just 77 pitches (48 strikes)…powered behind 8 runs of support while he was on the mound, he only allowed 2 baserunners across is 5.0 innings…marks his 4th start this season with 8+ strikeouts… has made 2 starts this season with 5.0+ scoreless innings and 8+ strikeouts (also 5/29 at Baltimore, 7.0IP, 10SO).
GETTING IN THE EARLY WORK
Allen has had success the first time through the lineup…the lefty is holding opposing hitters to a .173 (18-for-104) average the first time through the lineup compared to a .294 (30-for-102) mark the second time through the order and a .333 (19-for-57) average the third time through…through the first 3 innings in his starts this season, opposing teams are hitting .191 (27-for-141) against Allen, compared to a .328 clip (40-for-122) in the 4th-7th innings.
RISP-Y BUSINESS
Opposing teams are hitting .172 (10-for-58) against Allen with runners in scoring position, the lowest of any starter on the roster (min 30.0IP), and .120 (3-for-25) with runners in scoring position and 2 outs…the .172 RISP average ranks 8th among AL pitchers (min. 50AB) and .120 average with RISP and 2 outs ranks 8th among AL pitchers (min. 25AB)…comparatively, with no runners on base, opposing hitters are hitting .279 (43-for-154).
LIMITING LEFTIES
Opposing left-handed batters own a .205 (8-for-39) batting average against Allen this season, with 12 strikeouts…however, of the 13 opposing lineups he’s faced, only one has had 4-ormore true left-handed hitters in the starting lineup (Boston, 4/30) and seven has had one-or fewer true lefties in the starting lineup…16.8% of the batters he’s faced this season have been lefthanded hitters…conversely, right-handed hitters are hitting .263 (59-for-224) against him with 5 of the 6 home runs he’s allowed this season.
THE ALLEN WRENCH
Started his MLB career with 8 straight starts of 3-or-fewer runs allowed and became the third Cleveland pitcher with 8-ormore such outings to begin a career, joining AARON CIVALE (9, 2019) and Cliff Lee (10, 2002-03)…is one of 3 Cleveland pitchers with 43+ strikeouts in their first 7 career starts, joining Danny Salazar (45) and Herb Score (66)…joined Score (1955) as the only 2 pitchers in franchise history with 8+SO in their first 2 career starts…became the third pitcher in Cleveland history with 6.0+IP, 8+SO and 1-or-fewer earned run in an MLB debut, joining
TRISTON McKENZIE and Luis Tiant…his 8 strikeouts rank T4th in a Cleveland MLB debut.
