KANSAS CITY ROYALS NOTES:
DON’T GET SAD, GET EVEN: The Royals suffered a 6-1 loss on the tilted stage of Progressive Field last night, falling to 0-4 on this trip…Kansas City’s first three batters reached, a streak capped by Nick Pratto’s RBI single that gave the Royals an early 1-0 lead…but the Royals left two on in that inning, stranded the bases loaded in the 2nd, two more in the 4th and one in the 5th vs. Guardians starter Tanner Bibee…the 6th marked the spot where it fell apart, as José Ramírez and Josh Naylor welcomed Amir Garrett into the game with back-to-back homers (why you gotta be so mean?) to begin a 4-run frame…the Royals were held to 2 hits over the final 4.0 innings by Cleveland’s bullpen, and the offense went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11 baserunners.
Rain delayed first pitch by 1 hour and 21 minutes, but after the storm the game was born on the 6th of July.
KANSAS SWIFTY: As the Royals close out the 1st half with a 4-game series this weekend in Cleveland, Kansas City is enchanted to be hosting Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour tonight and tomorrow night at Arrowhead Stadium.
There are 10 active big league players whose first or last name is Taylor, and the Royals have two of them in Taylor Clarke and Josh Taylor, who is on the 60-day IL…if you count all players on 40-man rosters, the Royals lead the league in Taylors including Samad Taylor, who was optioned to Omaha on Tuesday.
CRUEL SUMMER: Royals fans know all too well the reality of this year, one so casually cruel in the name of being honest…the Royals enter today a season-high 38 games under .500 for the first time since the end of the 2019 season…they’re 0-4 on this road trip—in which they’ve been outscored 28-8 (-20)—and are batting .186 (24-for-129), including 3-for-17 (.176) in scoring situations…Royals pitchers have surrendered 28 runs on 40 hits and 9 HR through the 1st 4 games of this trip, after holding the Dodgers to 14 runs and 2 HR last weekend.
Last night marked Kansas City’s 31st blown lead loss of the season, as their 1-run lead in the 1st lasted a single frame before Cleveland tied it in the 2nd and broke the game wide open with a 4-run 6th… the Royals 31 blown lead losses are the most in the Majors, ahead of the White Sox (29), Athletics (27) and Cardinals (27)…the Royals have held a lead in 41 of their last 59 games (69.5%) since the start of May, but they’re a Major League-worst 18-41 (.305) during that stretch with 23 blown lead losses.
The Royals 31 blown lead losses are 5 shy of their total from all of last season, when they suffered 36 blown lead losses, and are 22 shy of the franchise record of 53, set during their 103-loss 2019 season.
They are 6-23 when scoring in the 1st inning and have lost 13 of their last 14 games when scoring in the 1st.
THIRTEEN (SALVY’S VERSION): Royals All-Star catcher Salvador Perez and Taylor Swift have a weird but beautiful connection with the No. 13…Salvy has worn No. 13 during his 12-year career with the Royals, and Swift was born on Dec. 13, turned 13 on Friday the 13th and her first No. 1 hit, “Our Song” had a 13-second intro.
Salvy will represent the Royals in next Tuesday’s All-Star Game at T-Mobile Park in Seattle…this season marks his eighth All-Star selection, 2nd most in Royals history behind George Brett (13!), and the most among active catchers…the Royals Captain leads American League catchers this season (min. 60% games at the position) with 15 home runs and ranks 2nd among American League catchers with 40 RBI.
Perez, who is mired in a 3-for-37 slump over his last 10 games, remains stuck on 499 career extra-base hits, which is tied with Royals Hall of Famer Mike Sweeney for 6th most in franchise history…with his next extra-base hit, he will become one of six Royals to record 500, and will join Hall of Famer George Brett (1,119), Hal McRae (681), Frank White (625), Amos Otis (623) and Alex Gordon (573) (that’s a real legacy to leave)…he’ll become one of 28 active players with 500 extra-base hits, a list that’s headed by Miguel Cabrera (1,142), who has 291 more than Nelson Cruz (851), the next-closest player.
His 499 extra-base hits rank 21st all-time among primary catchers (min. 75% games played at the position), 5 shy of Jason Kendall (504) for 20th…that list is headed by Hall of Famer Iván Rodríguez (934).
GETAWAY CAR: Royals First Base Coach Damon Hollins all year has been screaming, “Go, go, go!” at Royals baserunners, who rank 6th in the Majors and 3rd in the American League with 75 steals…Bobby Witt Jr. was one of three Royals to swipe second base last night, and has had the green light of freedom on his face all season, as his 26 stolen bases rank 4th in the Majors behind Esteury Ruiz (43), Ronald Acuña Jr. (41) and Wander Franco (28)…his 26 steals are the most by a Royal before the All-Star break since Adalberto Mondesi had 28 in 2019.
The Royals also allowed 3 stolen bases last night, all by Andrés Giménez, who became the first player with a 3-steal game against the Royals in four years, since Jonathan Villar did it with the O’s on Aug. 30, 2019.
HITS DIFFERENT: Bobby Witt Jr.’s combination of 26 stolen bases and 13 home runs are matched by only one other player in the Majors this season: Ronald Acuña Jr., who has 41 steals and 21 homers…Witt Jr. is only the second player in Royals history with that combination (13 HR, 26 SB) before the All-Star break, joining Royals Hall of Famer Amos Otis, who had 14 home runs and 27 stolen bases at the break in 1971, a season in which he was an American League All-Star and finished 8th in the American League Most Valuable Player voting.
He’s the fourth player with at least 13 HR and 26 steals before the break in his age-23 season (or younger), following Hanley Ramírez, who had 14 HR and 27 steals at the break in 2007, César Cedeño, who did it in three straight years from 1972-74 and Bobby Bonds, who had 20 HR and 27 steals at the break it in 1969.
I GOT SOME BIG ENEMIES: The Royals are closing out the 1st half of the season with a 4-game series this weekend in Cleveland…they are 1-4-1 in their last six completed series vs. Cleveland since the start of last year, a stretch in which they’ve been outscored 130-70 (-60), including last night’s 6-1 defeat…we knew it was trouble when Cleveland’s bullpen walked in last night beginning in the 6th, as Guardians relievers—who are tied with the Yankees for the Majors lead with a 3.08 ERA—signaled end game with 4.0 scoreless innings.
After playing 78 games before their 1st meeting, the Royals and Guardians are playing 7 games over 13 days, including a 3-game set in Kansas City last weekend, when the Royals lost 2 of 3…they salvaged the finale with a 4-3 win in 10 innings, overcoming a 2-run deficit in the 8th and a 1-run deficit in the 10th.
The Royals are nearing the end of a stretch in which they’re playing 23 games in 24 days through Sunday.
THIS IS WHY WE CAN’T HAVE NICE THINGS: Injuries have rained on the Royals parade this year, as 17 players have spent time on the IL, including 10 who are currently on it, five of whom were on the Opening Day roster…the 10 current injuries include eight pitchers—six of whom have made at least 1 start—and one position player who was in the Opening Day lineup in Vinnie Pasquantino, who is out for the year after having shoulder surgery last month.
Brad Keller made his 3rd rehab appearance (2nd start) with Omaha Wednesday night and allowed 1 run on 2 hits and 3 walks in 2.0 innings…he was placed on the 15-day IL on May 19 with a right shoulder impingement, and in 3 rehab outings, he’s allowed 3 runs on 3 hits and 9 walks in 4.1 innings.
Ryan Yarbrough continued his rehab assignment Tuesday night with Triple-A Omaha and allowed just 3 hits and 1 walk over 6.0 scoreless innings with 6 strikeouts…through 4 rehab starts (including 3 with Omaha), Yarbrough has pitched to a 2.55 ERA (5 ER in 17.2 IP) with 2 walks allowed and 20 strikeouts…it’s now been more than eight weeks since he was struck in the head by a comebacker on May 7 vs. the Athletics.
Angel Zerpa continued his rehab assignment Monday night with Triple-A Omaha and allowed 4 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks in 4.1 innings, with 7 strikeouts…Zerpa, who was placed on the 60-day IL on March 15 with left shoulder tendinopathy, has a 3.78 ERA (7 ER in 16.2 IP) in 5 rehab starts.
TONIGHT’S STARTERS: LHP DANIEL LYNCH (2-3, 4.14)
DANIEL LYNCH is making his 8th start of the year and 50th of his career tonight vs. the Guardians…it’s his 6th career start vs. Cleveland…Lynch, 26, was selected by the Royals in the 1st round of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Virginia.
Lynch was reinstated from the Injured List on May 28, after missing the first 53 games of the season due to a rotator cuff strain.
DUBS OVER DODGERS: Lynch earned his 2nd win of the year last Saturday vs. the Dodgers with 5.0 innings of 3-run ball as the Royals triumphed over Los Angeles, 6-4, at Kauffman Stadium…in what ended up being a very top-heavy game, Lynch was spotted a 5-0 lead after the 1st inning, in which he stranded men on first and third base in the top half, but he faltered in the 2nd frame, allowing the Dodgers to scrape 3 runs across via a series that went walk, single, RBI double, sac. fly, RBI single…following the RBI single by Freddie Freeman that capped the 3-run 2nd, Lynch scattered 1 single and 1 walk through his final 3.0 innings of work, and exited with a 5-3 lead after 5.0 innings…the combination of Carlos Hernández (2.0 IP), Taylor Clarke (0.2 IP) and Scott Barlow (1.1 IP) slammed the door as the Royals drew even in the series, 1-1, before ultimately winning the series with a 9-1 drubbing on Sunday.
Lynch threw a career-high 108 pitches in the winning effort, surpassing his previous high of 107, done on July 30, 2021 at Toronto (6.0 IP).
He’s completed at least 5.0 innings in each of his 7 starts, 1 shy of matching Jordan Lyles (May 20-last night) for the longest streak by a Royal this season.
HAWAII 5-0: Daniel is making his 50th career start tonight in Cleveland, making him the 52nd pitcher in club history to reach that threshold, and just the 17th left
hander…Paul Splittorff holds the lefty starts record for the Royals (392), and Kris Bubic (60), who will miss the rest of the season due to Tommy John surgery, is the most recent left hander to reach the 50-start mark, doing so on Aug. 20, 2022 at TB.
SOUTHPAW STORY: Lynch has faced 1,086 batters in his 49 career starts, but only 132 of them have been left-handed batters (12.2%), a group that he held in check through his first 33 starts, in which lefties were 11-for-61 (.180) with only 2 extra-base hits for a .246 slugging percentage…the tide has turned in his last 15 starts, during which left handers have gone 22-for-53 (.415) with 5 extra-base hits for a 1.003 OPS…however, he has faced a total of five left-handed hitters since June 10.
Daniel hasn’t faced a left-handed batter in 15 of 49 career starts (30.6%).
Only 2 of the 36 home runs he’s allowed have been hit by lefties: Boston’s Alex Verdugo on Aug. 6, 2022 and Minnesota’s Nick Gordon on Sept. 15, 2022.
On the other hand, right handers are hitting .282 (240-for-851) with 34 HR in his career, including a .287 clip (135-for-470) and 19 HR last year…but through 7 starts this season, he’s held righties to a .213 average (30-for-141) with 6 HR.
STRIKEOUT STORY: Despite recording 2 strikeouts on June 25, Daniel reached the 200-strikeout threshold with his inning-ending K to Randy Arozarena in the 1st inning, making him the second left hander in Royals history to reach 200 strikeouts through 48 appearances or fewer, joining Bill Butler, who reached 200 strikeouts
in his 46th career appearance in 1970, and had 213 strikeouts through 48 games.
Daniel will need to strike out a career-high 12 Guardians to match Butler’s record for most strikeouts by a Royals lefty through 50 career games (217).
SEEKING SUPPORT: Lynch ended last season with 11 consecutive winless starts, in which he went 0-6 with a 5.73 ERA (35 ER in 55.0 IP) and received only 22 runs of support, for an average of 3.60 runs per 9.0 innings…despite riding a 3-start, 2-game winning streak, the poor run support trend has continued in 2023, in which he’s 2-3 in 7 starts with 14 runs of support in his 41.1 innings of work.
FIRST THING’S FIRST: He allowed 79 runs in 27 starts (131.2 IP) last year, and 19 of those runs came in the 1st inning (24.1%)…this trend was an improvement from 2021, when he allowed 20 1st-inning runs in 15 starts, accounting for 43.5% of the 46 runs he allowed for the season…his 1st-inning woes have showed up just once in his 7 starts this season, on June 9 in Baltimore, where he allowed a leadoff HR to Austin Hays…of the 146 runs he’s allowed in 49 career starts, 45 have come in the 1st, in which he has a 7.58 ERA (41 ER in 48.2 IP)…from the 2nd inning on, he owns a 4.52 ERA (96 ER in 191.1 IP).
DOG POUND: Lynch has had a rough start to his career against Cleveland, as he is 0-3 with an 8.87 ERA against them in 5 starts, with all 3 losses coming in this ballpark, including 2 last year…he has eclipsed 5.0 innings against them just once, on Sept. 21, 2021 when he allowed 4 runs over 6.0 innings in his Progressive Field debut…in his next 2 starts here on May 31 and Oct. 4 of last year, he combined to allow 11 runs on 17 hits in 8.2 IP.
TRAVELIN’ MAN: In 15 starts on the road last season, Daniel was 3-8 with a 4.58 ERA (38 ER in 74.2 IP) and 78 strikeouts…he has reversed course in 2023, as he has recorded 3 consecutive quality starts on the road to begin this season, (L, 6.0 IP, 3 ER on 6/9 at BAL…W, 7.0 IP, 0 ER on 6/20 at DET… ND, 6.0 IP, 1 ER on 6/25 at TB)…he is the first Royal to register 3 consecutive quality starts on the road since Brady Singer notched 3-in-a-row from Sept. 10, 2020-April 24, 2021, but he is the first to do so in a single season since Jakob Junis recorded 4 straight from July 7-Aug. 11, 2019.
His road K% of 22.9% in 2022 ranked 8th in the American League, and was the 4th-highest by any left hander in the Majors (min. 15 road starts), trailing Carlos Rodón (31.1%), Sean Manaea (25.3%) and Julio Urías (24.8%).
CLEVELAND GUARDIANS NOTES:
3 HOME RUNS POWER GUARDS PAST ROYALS
The Cleveland Guardians opened a 4-game set against the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night at Progressive Field with an explosive 6-1 victory that saw the club homer three times… coming off a 4-2 road trip, the Guardians are 2-2 on current 7-game homestand against Atlanta (1-2) & Kansas City (1-0, three-to-play)…Cleveland is 7-4-1 over club’s last 12 series since May 26 (22-16 record), while the club is looking to return to the .500 mark for the first time since April 28 (13-13).
The Royals and Guardians traded early single runs, as Nick Pratto’s RBI-single in the 1st inning was nullified by an ANDRÉS GIMÉNEZ solo homer (7) in the 2nd off Jordan Lyles (5.0IP, 6H, 1R-ER, 0BB, 5SO, HR, 87 pitches)…the 1-1 deadlock remained in place until the bottom of the 6th, when Cleveland rallied for 4 runs, all charged to southpaw Amir Garrett…JOSÉ RAMÍREZ led off the frame with a solo blast (14) off the facade of the LF Home Run Porch, his sixth of the season from the right side…JOSH NAYLOR also sent Garrett’s very next pitch into the seats for the club’s third pair of back-to-back homers in 2023…Giménez then drew a walk and stole both 2nd and 3rd base – 2 of his 3 steals on the night to match a career-high – and later scored the first of 2 unearned runs on a fielder error; BO NAYLOR drove in the second with a 2-out RBI-double to snap an 0-for-19 skid…Giménez also singled to lead off the 8th and scored the Guardians final run on an RBI-single by MYLES STRAW…Kansas City’s 1st-inning tally was the lone blemish permitted by TANNER BIBEE (5.0IP, 4H, 1R-ER, 4BB, 4SO, 91 strikes), though ELI MORGAN earned his fourth relief win after fanning a pair in a scoreless 6th inning.
Cleveland (43-44) sits in 2nd place in the AL Central standings, 1.5-games behind 1st-place Minnesota (45-43) and 4.5 games ahead of 3rd-place Detroit (-6.0G, 38-48)…Guardians have won 11 of 17, 18 of 30 and 21 of last 36, though have also dropped 38 of last 72 overall since starting the year 9-6.
DYNAMIC DUO
JOSH NAYLOR and JOSÉ RAMÍREZ hit back-to-back home runs last night to give the Guardians a 3-1 lead in the 6th inning… marks the third time this season that Cleveland has hit back-to-back home runs and the first instance since Naylor and JOSH BELL hit back-to-back homers on April 28 against Miami…the duo has combined for 114 of Cleveland’s 325 RBI this season, accounting for 35.1% of the Guardians run production…the 35.1% rate is the highest of any MLB combo of 2 teammates for their respective team, ahead of New York-NL’s Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor (30.73%)…the pair is also currently tied for the MLB lead with 19 go-ahead RBI.
HOME, WHEN WE COME HOME
TREVOR STEPHAN and ELI MORGAN each provided a scoreless inning in relief for the Guardians in last night’s contest… Stephan has not allowed an earned run at home since May 9, a streak of 14 appearances at home without allowing an earned run, the 2nd-longest active streak in MLB behind MIN’s Caleb Thielbar… Stephan has given up just two earned runs in 18.2 innings at home this season, good for a 0.96 ERA, T7th in MLB with Bal’s Felix Bautista.
Morgan has not given up an earned run at home in 12 appearances, T3rd-longest active streak in MLB with San Diego’s Luis García…Morgan has given up one earned run at home dating back to September 2 of last season (25G)…prior to allowing a home run on May 8 against Detroit, Morgan had another 12-appearance streak without allowing an earned run at home…since September 2, 2022 Morgan has a 0.27 ERA (1ER/33.2IP) at Progressive Field, the lowest home ERA by a reliever during that span (min 25.0IP), ahead of SD’s Josh Hader (0.71 ERA)…Morgan’s 0.45 ERA at home this season is T1st among MLB relievers with SD’s Tim Hill… the Guardians 2.23 bullpen ERA (40ER/161.2IP) at home leads MLB ahead of Philadelphia (2.88 ERA).
A ROYAL PAIN IN THE SIDE
JOSÉ RAMÍREZ went 2-for-4 with one home run last night, along with his MLB-leading 11th game-winning RBI…since the start of last season, he’s hitting .373 (31-for-83) with 6 home runs and 28 RBI in 22 games against the Royals…in 143 career games against Kansas City, Ramírez has a slash line of .276/.356/.508 with 26 HR and 88 RBI…among MLB hitters against Kansas City since 2013, he leads in runs (89), extra-base hits (66), doubles (37) and stolen bases (18)…he also ranks top 3 in RBI (88, 2nd), total bases (265, 2nd), go-ahead RBI (27, 2nd), multi-hit games (39, 2nd), home runs (26, T2nd), game-winning RBI (15, T2nd), hits (144, 3rd) and walks (62, 3rd).
In 4 games against the Royals this season, Ramírez is 6-for-13 (.462) with 5 runs, 2 home runs, 7 RBI and 3 stolen bases…one of his home runs was a grand slam and one of his stolen bases was a steal of home…he has recorded a hit in each of his last 9 games against Kansas City, the 3rd-longest active streak in MLB behind TOR’s Alejandro Kirk (10) and DET’s Riley Greene (18)…over this 9-game streak against the Royals, he is batting 15-for-34 (.441) with 9 runs, 3 home runs, 14 RBI and 5 stolen bases.
MYLES STRAW (.325, 39-for-120), ANDRÉS GIMÉNEZ (.320, 31-for-97) and AMED ROSARIO (50-for-162, .309) are each hitting .300-or-better against Royals pitching since 2019…the trio of Cleveland bats are 3 of only 9 hitters to play 30-or-more games against the Royals and bat .300-or-better since 2019.
TONIGHT’S STARTER – 43 AARON CIVALE RHP
CIVALE AT HOME
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 1-1 4.50 4 4 24.0 24 12 12 8 19
Career 14-12 4.26 33 33 183.2 179 95 87 49 176
CIVALE’S MLB CAREER
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 2-2 2.96 8 8 45.2 38 15 15 16 35
Career 26-23 3.95 71 71 398.2 365 186 175 101 347
TODAY’S START
The 27-year-old right-hander is set to take the mound Sunday afternoon for his ninth start of the season, fifth at home, in the second contest of this 4-game set with the Kansas City Royals… is 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA (11ER/33.0IP) in 6 starts since returning from the Injured List with a strained left oblique…is making this start on 4 days’ rest; is 12-11 with a 4.67 ERA (85ER/163.2IP) in 30 career starts on 4 days’ rest…is his second start this season on 4 days’ rest, last done on June 25 vs. Milwaukee (6.0IP, 6H, 4R/ ER, 2BB, 5SO).
LAST TIME OUT
He did not factor into the decision in his last start on July 2 at Chicago-NL, throwing 6.0 innings with 3 hits, one run (earned), 2 hit batters, a walk, and 2 strikeouts on 94 pitches…Civale tossed a hitless first two innings with a walk and 2 hit batters…his first hit allowed came from a Christopher Morel infield single in the 3rd… following a 1-2-3 4th, Yan Gomes and Trey Mancini opened the 5th with back-to-back singles…a Mike Tauchman ground out plated the Cubs’ only run off Civale…following a 1-2-3 6th inning, Civale’s outing was complete…joins TANNER BIBEE as the second Guardians hurler to toss 6.0+ innings in 3 consecutive starts, but not factor into any of the decisions…with another 6.0+IP nodecision, he would tie the franchise record set by Lary Sorensen (4, 5/18-6/4/1983) and Ken Schrom (4, 4/29-5/15/1986).
KEEPIN’ UP WITH KC
In 7 previous starts against the Royals, Civale holds a 2-1 record with a 4.12 ERA (18ER/39.1IP) with 35 strikeouts and 9 walks… he has allowed 8 home runs against the Royals, tied for his most against any opponent (Chicago-AL, 8)…he has earned the win in each of his last 2 starts against the Royals, both of which took place in the last homestand of the 2022 season on September 30 and October 5…on September 30, he went 6.0 innings, allowing 3 runs (2 earned) on 3 hits with 5 strikeouts, then on October 5, he twirled another 6.0-inning performance, allowing 2 runs (earned) on 5 hits with a walk and 9 strikeouts…marks his 36th career start against the AL Central, owning a 14-8 record with a 3.49 ERA (76ER/196.0IP)…he has thrown 5.0+IP and allowed 2-or-fewer earned runs in 9 of his last 10 starts against the division…the lone start in which he didn’t came on July 13, 2022 vs. Chicago-AL when his start ended prematurely after 1.0 inning due to a finger injury.
3 IS THE MAGIC NUMBER
For his career, Civale is 24-1 with a 3.22 ERA (82ER/229.0IP) in games when he receives 3-or-more runs of support; Cleveland is 33-5 in such contests…on the contrary, he has a 2-22 record with a 4.96 ERA (93ER/168.2IP) in games receiving 2-or-fewer runs of support; Cleveland has gone just 7-26 in those games.
TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE
Civale’s curveball is holding hitters to a .151 (8-for-53) clip this season…in 2022, Civale’s curveball held hitters to a .124 (13- for-105) clip, the 2nd-lowest average against any MLB pitcher’s curveball (min. 100 PA), behind TRISTON MCKENZIE, who held hitters to a .120 clip (19-for-158).
The pitch has 61.2 inches of vertical drop, 6.3 inches more than MLB average of curveballs thrown at his velocity…its 11.7 inches of horizontal break are 5.7 inches better than league average or 95% break vs. the average curveballs at the same velocity…he ranks in the 96th percentile of curveball spin rate in MLB, typically boasting 24.1 revolutions (2992 RPM) from hand to plate, and throws it in the strike zone 46% of the time (Baseball Savant).
PRESSURE MAKES DIAMONDS
Is holding opposing hitters to a .182 average (6-for-33) with 9 strikeouts and 3 walks with runners in scoring position…over his last 4 starts, opposing batters are .133 (2-for-15) with RISP…with runners on base, he’s holding opposing clubs to a .206 clip (14- for-68), compared to a .235 average (24-for-102) with no one on.
