DETROIT TIGERS NOTES:
No team release available.
KANSAS CITY ROYALS NOTES:
EXTRAORDINARY: The Royals pounded out 8 extra-base hits—1 shy of their season high—in last night’s 11-10 win over the Tigers…they fell behind in the 1st inning on Spencer Torkelson’s 2-run home run—his 1st of 2 dingers—but Kansas City tied the game with a pair of runs in the 3rd…the first seven Royals reached vs. Tarik Skubal to begin their 5-run 4th inning, which included 4 consecutive run-scoring hits, capped by an RBI bunt single by Dairon Blanco, who stole the show with a career-high 4 hits, 3 runs and 3 RBI…his RBI double in the 8th— which proved necessary in a 1-run win—traveled 395 ft., according to Statcast and fell just shy of what would’ve been his 1st career HR, and would’ve completed the Royals first cycle since George Brett last did it in 1990.
The bottom four players in the Royals lineup combined to go 9-for-14 (.643) with 9 runs, 7 XBH and 7 RBI.
The Royals completed their 12th comeback win of the season—9 of which have seen them overcome multi-run deficits—and 6 of their last 10 wins have been comeback victories dating back to June 17.
Last night was the seventh time in Royals history that they had at least 8 extra-base hits but no HR, and the first time in 18 years, since Sept. 15, 2005, a 7-5 win vs. the White Sox in which they had 8 XBH.
GETTING OFFENSIVE: There were 16 games in Major League Baseball yesterday—including a doubleheader between the Giants and Reds—and 11 different teams scored at least 10 runs, including the Royals and Tigers… according to Elias, yesterday was the first time since July 4, 1894—129 years ago—that at least 11 teams hit double digits in the runs column on the same day…there were 4 games yesterday in which both teams scored at least 10 runs, including the Tigers (10) and Royals (11), White Sox (10) and Mets (11), Diamondbacks (16) and Braves (13) and Giants (11) and Reds (10)…the 4 such games on the same day match a Major League record, according to Sarah Langs, done only twice before, on July 4, 1894, and five days later on July 9, 1894.
The Royals won last night despite allowing at least 10 runs for just the 31st time in franchise history and the first time since last Sept. 25 vs. Seattle, when they matched a club record by overcoming a 9-run deficit to win 13-12…four of the Royals 31 wins when allowing 10 runs have come since the start of last year.
BIG BLANCO: Dairon Blanco came a few feet short of hitting for the cycle last night, and instead settled for career highs across the board with 3 runs, 4 hits, 3 extra-base hits (2 doubles) and 3 RBI…he had an RBI triple in the 3rd inning, an RBI bunt single in the 4th, a double in the 6th and an RBI double in the 8th, after which he stole third base…he’s the first player in the Majors to record at least 2 doubles, 1 triple and 1 stolen base in the same game since Christian Yelich did it five years ago on July 20, 2018 during his NL MVP Award-winning season…Blanco is only the third Royal to accomplish the feat, joining a pair of Royals Hall of Famers in Frank White and Amos Otis, who did it seven days apart on June 3, 1981 and June 10, 1981, respectively.
Blanco has 15 career hits, 8 of which have gone for extra bases (53.3%), including 5 doubles and 3 triples… he’s appeared in 27 games but has recorded an at-bat in 19 games…his 3 triples through 19 games with an at-bat are tied with Carlos Beltrán and Carlos Febles for the 3rd most by a Royal to begin a career, trailing only Paulo Orlando (5) and Johnny Damon (4)…Blanco is the second player in the Live Ball Era (since 1920) to record at least 3 triples, 5 doubles and 8 stolen bases within his 1st 27 career games, following Bernard Gilkey, who had that exact same combination through 27 games with the Cardinals from 1990-91.
TRIPLE THREAT: Drew Waters and Dairon Blanco tripled last night to mark Kansas City’s 3rd game this season with multiple triples—including its 2nd in the last 3 games—matching the Mets and Reds for the most such games in the Majors…the Royals enter tonight with 25 triples, which are 6 more than the Reds, Guardians, Diamondbacks and Phillies (19 each) for the Major 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 the Majors, 138 more than the Pirates (2,089) and 293 more than the Tigers (1,934), the next closest AL team.
Bobby Witt Jr.’s 6 triples this season are 2nd most in the Majors, 1 behind Shohei Ohtani (7)…his 12 career triples are tied with Brian McRae for the most by a Royal through a player’s first two seasons.
VS. TIGERS: The Royals are hosting the Tigers this week for the second time this season, after Detroit took 2 of 3 here in May, including the series-deciding game…that pattern held true again last month in Detroit, where the Tigers won the rubber match to clinch their fourth straight series win vs. the Royals dating back to last season.
With a win tonight or tomorrow, the Royals would secure no worse than a 4-game split, and would snap a streak of four consecutive losing series to the Tigers since their last win from Sept. 2-4, 2022 at Detroit.
Over the last four seasons (since 2020), 41 of the 56 games between the Royals and Tigers (73.2%) have been decided by 3 runs or fewer, including 22 1-run games (39.3%)…through 8 games this season, the Royals and Tigers have played 7 games decided by 3 runs or fewer, including all 5 games in Kansas City.
ROSTER MOVES: The Royals announced today that left hander Daniel Lynch IV has been placed on the 15-day Injured List with a left shoulder strain…in a corresponding move, left hander Austin Cox has been recalled from Triple-A Omaha…this marks Cox’s third stint with the Royals this season, after allowing just 7 runs on 13 hits in 8 appearances (2 starts) and 20.2 innings over his previous two stays with the Royals…in 2 outings since returning to Omaha, Cox allowed 1 run on 4 hits in 5.0 innings and last pitched last Saturday.
Infielder Matt Beaty, who has been on the 7-day Concussion Injured List since June 23, will begin a rehab assignment tonight with Triple-A Omaha…he last played on June 21 in Detroit, where he collided in the outfield with Samad Taylor…Beaty is one of nine Royals currently on the IL.
DRAFT SIGNINGS: The Royals announced this morning that they have agreed to terms with 19 of their 21 selections from the 2023 First-Year Player Draft…the only exceptions are outfielder Donovan LaSalle and shortstop Blake Wilson, a pair of high school players who were selected in the 19th and 20th rounds, respectively…earlier this week, the Royals signed local undrafted free agent Noah Barber, the son of former NFL linebacker Sean Barber…Noah, 18, is a recent graduate of Blue Valley North High School just outside of Kansas City, and was committed to play football at KU in 2023.
STEADY FREDDY: Freddy Fermin has filled in admirably while Salvador Perez is nursing a strained left hamstring, going 5-for-10 in 3 games since Salvy exited Sunday’s game vs. Tampa Bay…that includes a career-high 3 hits on Monday night vs. the Tigers, plus 2 hits and a walk in last night’s win…in his last 17 games over the last month dating back to June 18, Fermin is batting .385 (20-for-52) with 6 extra-base hits for a .946 OPS and 13 RBI, which rank tied for 2nd on the team during that span, trailing only Bobby Witt Jr. (16)…he’s 11-for-21 with runners in scoring position over the last month, and his 11 hits are tied for 2nd most in the American League behind only Josh Naylor (14)…Fermin’s .524 batting average with runners in scoring position since June 18 ranks 2nd in the American League, trailing only teammate Maikel Garcia, who is 9-for-16 in scoring situations for a .563 average.
Fermin made his Major League debut last season, but played in just 3 games with Kansas City…last offseason, he was named Most Valuable Player of the Venezuelan Winter League and was unanimously selected as the league’s Rookie of the Year, after he led the league with a .404 batting average (67-for-166) and ranked 2nd in hits, on-base percentage (.482) and OPS (1.048) and 3rd in slugging percentage (.566).
Fermin, 28, signed with the Royals eight years ago in 2015 out of Venezuela, and in 2019 was named the organization’s Carlos Fortuna Award winner, an honor given annually to the Royals minor league player who is most dedicated to improving his English, genuine work ethic and conduct.
TONIGHT’S STARTERS: LHP RYAN YARBROUGH (2-4, 5.29)
RYAN YARBROUGH (YAHR-bro) is making his 12th appearance (5th start) of the season and 139th outing (64th start) of his career tonight vs. the Tigers…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 strikeouts.
ON A GOOD NOTE: Ryan earned his 2nd consecutive victory in his last start on July 9 in Cleveland as he spun 6.0 innings of 1-run ball, scattering 6 hits and 5 strikeouts with just 1 walk, as the Royals triumphed 4-1…Yarbrough was solid through the first 3.0 frames, as he allowed just two baserunners on an error in the 1st and a single in the 2nd…the Guardians scratched their lone run across off him in the 4th on an Andrés Giménez single, which at the time gave Cleveland a 1-0 advantage, but Kyle Isbel homered in the top of the 5th to tie the game at 1-1, and the Royals erupted for 3 runs on 3 hits in the 6th, including a 2-run, 2-out triple by Michael Massey that made the score 4-1 Kansas City…Carlos Hernández (2.0 IP) and Scott Barlow (1.0 IP) slammed the door, as Kansas City closed the 1st half with a win.
HIGHS AND LOWS VS. BALTIMORE: Yarbrough began his outing on May 2 vs. the Orioles by setting down the first 10 batters he faced, including 5 consecutive strikeouts to begin the game, which not only set a career high, but also tied a Royals franchise record, joining Brady Singer on Sept. 16, 2020 at Detroit and Gil Meche on June 21, 2008 vs. San Francisco…however, after he retired the 1st batter of the 4th inning (his 10th in a row), things completely unraveled as the next 8 hitters he
faced reached base, including a double, home run, walk, single, single, walk, walk and single, and although one runner was caught stealing, the final hit he allowed
was enough for Royals Manager Matt Quatraro, who pulled Yarbrough at 3.2 IP.
The 5 straight strikeouts set a career high for Yarbs, after he entered with 39 career outings (25 GS) with 5 total strikeouts…it also tied a Royals record to begin a game, with Brady Singer (Sept. 16, 2020) and Gil Meche (June 21, 2008).
2023, SO FAR: Ryan has appeared in 11 games (4 starts) for the Royals after signing as a free agent last offseason, and has allowed 19 runs on 33 hits and 8 walks in 32.1 innings, with 19 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 2-2 with a 3.72 ERA (8 ER in 19.1 IP), with 5 of those 8 runs coming in 1 inning on May 2 vs. the Orioles.
