KANSAS CITY ROYALS NOTES:
GAME OF INCHES: The Royals suffered a heartbreaking 10-6 loss to the Guardians last night in Cleveland after nearly completing a remarkable comeback…they trailed 5-0 after the 4th inning as Brady Singer was charged with 6 runs on a career-high 13 hits in 5.0 innings, but the Royals rallied to score in the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th innings, and fell inches of tying the game in the 8th, when Maikel Garcia’s RBI double scored Matt Duffy from second and sent Nicky Lopez from first to home, where he was thrown on an 8-4-2 relay that cut down the tying run…Cleveland scored 3 runs in the bottom half of former Guardian Nick Wittgren to put the game out of reach.
ROSTER MOVES: The Royals announced this morning that left-handed pitcher Ryan Yarbrough was returned from his rehab assignment and reinstated from the 60-day Injured List…today marks exactly nine weeks since Yarbs was struck by a comebacker on the mound on May 7 vs. the Athletics…in 4 rehab starts (including 3 with Triple-A Omaha), Yarbrough recorded a 2.55 ERA (5 ER in 17.2 IP) with only 2 walks and 20 strikeouts.
In a corresponding roster move, the Royals designated left-handed pitcher Amir Garrett for assignment.
The Royals also announced that outfielder Edward Olivares was placed on the 10-day Injured List with a left oblique strain…infielder/outfielder Samad Taylor was recalled from Triple-A Omaha…in 4 games with the Storm Chasers since being optioned last Tuesday, Taylor went 4-for-12 (.333) with 3 runs and 4 steals.
DUAL THREAT: The outcome of last night’s game sadly overshadowed the brilliant performance of Bobby Witt Jr., who singled and stole second base in the 1st, had an RBI triple in the 5th and a solo home run in the 7th…it marked his team-high 8th 3-hit effort of the season as he fell a double shy of hitting for the cycle…it also marked his 7th career game with a homer and a stolen base, matching three National League players in Francisco Lindor, Mookie Betts and Ronald Acuña Jr. for the most such games in the Majors since the start of last season.
Witt Jr.’s 27 steals rank 4th in the Majors behind Esteury Ruiz (43), Acuña Jr. (41) and Wander Franco (28) and are the most by a Royals player before the All-Star break since Adalberto Mondesi had 28 in 2019.
Bobby’s combination of 27 steals and 14 homers are matched by only Acuña Jr, who has 41 steals and 21 homers…only one other Royals player has matched Witt Jr.’s combination of homers and steals before the break: Royals Hall of Famer Amos Otis, who also 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 AL MVP voting.
Witt Jr. is the fourth player since 1901 with at least 14 homers and 27 steals before the break in his age23 season (or younger), following Hanley Ramírez, who did it in 2007 (14 HR, 27 SB), César Cedeño, who did it in consecutive seasons from 1973-74 and Bobby Bonds, who did it in 1969 (20 HR, 27 SB).
Through 90 team games, Bobby is on pace for 25 HR and 48 steals, a combination that has never been matched in a single season in Royals history…in fact, that combination has been matched only 13 times in Major League history and most recently by Mike Trout during his Rookie of the Year 2012 campaign.
1ST HALF RECAP: The Royals enter today’s 1st half finale 40 games under .500 (25-65) for the first time since they ended the 2019 season 44 games under (59-103)…their 65 losses are 2nd most before the All-Star break in franchise history, trailing the 2018 season, when they went 27-68 in the 1st half en route to a 58-104 finish.
The Royals enter with 1 fewer loss than the Athletics (25-66), who own the worst record in the Majors.
The Royals have been outscored 491-333 (-158) to mark the 2nd-worst run differential to the A’s (-247) and have the 3rd-worst ERA (5.32) behind only the Rockies (5.77) and A’s (6.07)…on offense, they have scored the 2nd-fewest runs in the Majors (333) behind only the Tigers (326) and rank 2nd-to-last with a .663 OPS.
BLOWN LEADS: Thursday 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), Cardinals (28) and Athletics (27)…the Royals have held a lead in 41 of their last 61 games (67.2%) since the start of May, but they’re a Major League-worst 18-43 (.295) 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’re 6-23 when scoring in the 1st inning and have lost 13 of their last 14 games when scoring in the 1st.
SERIES SPEAKING: Last night’s loss clinched another series setback for the Royals, who fell to 4-23-2 in series play this season, including 2-11-2 on the road…they’re just 1-12-2 in their last 15 series since mid-May, including 12 consecutive winless sets (0-10-2), a drought that was snapped when they won 2 of 3 vs. the Dodgers last weekend…the Royals have been swept nine times this season—all in 3-game sets—and are seeking a win today to avoid what would be their first 4-game sweep since June 28-July 1, 2021 at Fenway Park…they’ve been swept in 4 games by Cleveland four times, most recently from May 3-6, 2021 at Kauffman Stadium.
TRIP TRACKER: The Royals are 0-6 on this road trip that began with 3 losses in Minnesota, and they are seeking a win today to avoid what would be their longest winless trip in six years, since they went 0-7 at Texas (0-4) and at the White Sox (0-3) from April 20-26, 2017…it would be their second winless trip this season, following an 0-6 trek to Miami and Baltimore from June 5-11…the Royals have been outscored 41-14 (-27) through the 1st 6 games of this trip and have been shut out twice, as the offense is batting .196 (38-for-194)…this 6-game slide marks their 3rd longest this year, behind a 10-game drought from June 5-16 and a 7-game skid from April 14-21.
ON DECK: Following today’s 1st half finale, Major League Baseball will turn its attention to the First-Year Player Draft, which begins tonight at 6:00 p.m. CT…the Royals have the 8th overall pick, which will mark their 1st of 3 selections tonight, including a 2nd-round pick (44th) and a Competitive Balance Round B selection (66th).
The Draft will continue with rounds 3-10 tomorrow and 11-20 on Tuesday…the All-Star break will run through Thursday before the Royals begin the 2nd half of the season on Friday with a 7-game homestand from July 13-20, including 3 games vs. the AL-leading Rays (57-35) and 4 games vs. the Tigers (39-49)
TODAY’S STARTERS: LHP RYAN YARBROUGH (1-4, 6.15 ERA)
RYAN YARBROUGH (YAHR-bro) is making his 11th appearance (4th start) of the season and 138th outing (63rd start) of his career today vs. the Guardians…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 today 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 and just 2 free passes…most recently, he spun 6.0 shutout innings at Gwinnett (Braves) with 6 strikeouts in an eventual 3-1 loss on the road.
LAST START: Ryan earned a victory in his last start on May 7 vs. the A’s as he spun 5.2 innings of 1-run ball, scattering 3 hits and 2 strikeouts without a walk…he was spotted to a 1-0 lead courtesy of a Salvador Perez homer in the 1st inning, but he allowed the A’s to tie the game in the 4th on an infield single by Ramón Laureano… the Royals took the lead back in the bottom half, as Maikel Garcia plated Perez with a 2-out single to center field…Yarbs exited with 2 outs in the 6th inning as a line drive off the bat of Ryan Noda struck him in the side of the face, resulting in facial fractures that ultimately landed him on the 15-day and 60-day Injured Lists…the combination of Carlos Hernández, Aroldis Chapman and Scott Barlow worked 3.1 scoreless frames and allowed just 1 hit as the Royals went on to seal the 5-1 victory at Kauffman Stadium.
HIGH’S 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 Yarbrough, after he entered with 39 career appearances (25 starts) with 5 total strikeouts.
2023, SO FAR: Ryan has appeared in 10 games (3 starts) for the Royals after signing as a free agent last offseason, and has allowed 18 runs on 27 hits and 7 walks in 26.1 innings, with 14 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 allowed just 1 run over 4.0 innings on April 26 in Arizona…he began his 2nd start on May 2 with 5 straight strikeouts, tying a Royals record to begin a game, but was then tagged for 5 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks in the 4th inning, ending his day, and most recently started on May 7 vs. Oakland, but exited early after being struck in the side of the face by a line drive off the bat of Ryan Noda.
CLEVELAND GUARDIANS NOTES:
SEASON-HIGH 18 HITS PROPEL GUARDS TO VICTORY
The Cleveland Guardians re-claimed 1st place in the AL Central and reeled off their third consecutive victory over Kansas City, downing the Royals by a 10-6 final on Saturday afternoon at Progressive Field…coming off a 4-2 road trip, Guardians are 4-2 entering the finale of this 7-game homestand against Atlanta (1-2) & Kansas City (3-0)…Cleveland is 8-4-1 over club’s last 13 series since May 26 (24-16 record since 5/26). » The Guardians offense pounded out a season-high 18 hits to move one game above the .500 mark, most base knocks for Cleveland in a home game since June 28, 2021 vs. Detroit (19)…Cleveland got multi-hit efforts from six different players on Saturday, including 3-hit games by AMED ROSARIO (3-for-5, 2R, RBI), JOSH NAYLOR (3-for-5, 2B, 2RBI), JOSH BELL (3-for-3, 2B, 2RBI, 2BB, R) and BO NAYLOR (3-for-4, 2B, 2RBI, R) – second time this season for the Guardians to see four separate 3-hit games in a single contest (also May 31 at Baltimore)…Cleveland’s lineup plated runs in 6 different frames, finally putting the game away with a 3-run rally in the 8th…the offensive support helped deliver GAVIN WILLIAMS his first career MLB win (5.2IP, 8H, 3R-ER, BB, 7SO, 94 pitches)…the 23-year-old right-hander delivered 4.0 scoreless frames to start his outing, scattering 3 singles and a walk, before Bobby Witt Jr. put KC on the board with a 2-out RBI-triple in the 5th…Williams gave up 3 straight hits to start the 6th, which helped plate 2 more runs for the Royals…with the Guardians holding a tenuous 7-6 lead in the top of the 8th, MYLES STRAW and ANDRÉS GIMÉNEZ executed a tremendous relay throw sequence to [Bo] Naylor, nabbing Nicky Lopez at the plate to end the frame.
Cleveland (45-44) sits in 1st place in the AL Central standings, one half-game ahead of 2nd-place Minnesota (45-45) and 5.5 games ahead of 3rd-place Detroit (-5.5G, 39-49)…Guardians have won 3 straight, 13 of 19, 20 of 32 and 23 of last 38, though have also dropped 38 of last 74 overall since starting the year 9-6.
GOING FOR A ROYAL STRAIGHT
The Guardians enter Sunday looking to complete their second sweep of the season (Oakland, 6/20-22) and their first 4-game sweep since June 14-17, 2021 vs. Baltimore…during the Terry Francona era, Cleveland is 115-72 against the Royals, the club’s most wins against any opponent since 2013…the Guardians have won each of their last 5 games against Kansas City at Progressive Field, dating back to October 4, 2022…the last time Cleveland completed a 4-game sweep of the Royals was May 3-6, 2021 at Kauffman Stadium, and their last 4-game sweep of Kansas City in Cleveland took place June 2-5, 2016…a win today would match Cleveland’s longest winning streak of the season (4 games, 3/31-4/3 and 6/18-22).
A PAIGE OUT OF THE HISTORY BOOKS
On this date 75 years ago, during Cleveland’s 1948 World Championship season, 42-year-old Satchel Paige made his MLB debut in front of 34,780 fans at Cleveland Municipal Stadium against the St. Louis Browns…he became the seventh Negro League player to don a MLB uniform and the second to do so for Cleveland, joining teammate Larry Doby…Paige relieved Bob Lemon in the 5th inning and retired 5 of the 7 hitters he faced… Paige hurled 2 scoreless innings, allowed 2 hits, and threw his first MLB strikeout in the outing…Cleveland eventually lost the game 5-3, but the bigger story was the history that had been made with Paige’s debut…Paige went on to pitch in 6 different Major League seasons; 1948-49 with Cleveland, 1951-53 with St. Louis-AL and 1965 in a 3-inning spot start with the Kansas City Athletics when he was 59 years old…in his 2 seasons with Cleveland, he went 10-8 with a 2.78 ERA (48ER/155.2IP), tossed 4 complete games and 2 shutouts, and tallied 97 strikeouts against 55 walks…Paige was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971.
CAN WE GET AN INSTANT REPLAY ON THAT?
For the second straight season, Cleveland is 45-44 through 89 games…with a victory today, Cleveland would hold a 46-44 record heading into the All-Star break for the second straight season…after the 2022 All-Star break, the Guardians went 46-26 on their way to a 92-70 overall record, AL Central title, AL Wild Card victory, and ALDS berth…this marks the 7th straight season that Cleveland will be .500-or-better heading into the All-Star break (see table).
CLE PRE-ALL-STAR BREAK RESULTS, 2016-2023 (excl. 2020) Year Record Win%
2023* 45-44* .506*
2022 46-44 .511
2021 45-42 .517
2019 50-38 .568
2018 52-43 .547
2017 47-40 .540
2016 52-36 .591
*one game remaining » Given the similarity in record heading through the first half of the season, the table below provides a look at the 2022 vs. 2023 teams at the All-Star Break.
CLE 2022 VS. 2023 PRE-ALL-STAR BREAK COMPARISON
Category 2022 2023*
Fewest Strikeouts (Hitting) 630 (1st) 631 (2nd) Triples 17 (T4th) 19 (T2nd) Doubles 165 (T6th) 164 (8th) Singles 505 (11th) 519 (5th) Stolen Bases 54 (T11th) 72 (7th) Batting Average (Hitting) .249 (9th) .251 (15th) Hits 758 (14th) 762 (14th) OBP (Hitting) .314 (16th) .315 (22nd) Batting Average (Pitching) .240 (14th) .243 (13th) Inherited Runner Score % 29.2% (11th) 20.4% (1st) Earned Run Average 3.87 (T14th) 3.81 (8th) WHIP 1.24 (10th) 1.26 (14th) OBP (Pitching) .307 (12th) .308 (7th) BABIP (Pitching) .284 (10th) .284 (6th) *one game remaining, parentheses include MLB Rank
DRAFT DAY
The 2023 MLB Draft is set to begin tonight at 7PM ET on ESPN/ ESPN+ and MLB Network/MLB.com…rounds 1 and 2 will take place tonight with Cleveland selecting #23 in the first round, #58 in the second round, and #62 in Competitive Balance Round B… Cleveland receives a Competitive Balance selection due to having one of MLB’s 10 smallest markets or 10 smallest revenue pools… rounds 3-10 will take place on Monday and rounds 11-20 will take place on Tuesday, both broadcasted via live stream on MLB.com.
In the 2022 MLB Draft, Cleveland’s first 3 selections were OF CHASE DeLAUTER (1st Round, #16 overall), RHP JUSTIN CAMPBELL (CB-A, #37 overall) and LHP PARKER MESSICK (2nd Round, #54 overall)…the Guards drafted 8 hitters and 13 pitchers in the 2022 MLB Draft, and Cleveland signed each of their 21 draft selections last season.
TODAY’S STARTER – #57 SHANE BIEBER RHP
BIEBER AT HOME
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 4-2 3.02 8 8 47.2 40 16 16 21 42
Career 24-17 3.61 59 58 352.0 338 151 141 92 397
BIEBER’S MLB CAREER
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 5-5 3.66 18 18 110.2 104 46 45 33 89
Career 59-31 3.24 131 129 813.2 722 313 293 186 920
TODAY’S START
The 2020 Cy Young winner is scheduled to make his 19th start of the season, ninth at home, in the finale of this 4-game set with the Kansas City Royals…is starting on 4 days’ rest; is 32-13 with a 3.38 ERA (155ER/412.1IP) in 66 career starts on 4 days’ rest… is 2-1 with a 4.06 ERA (20ER/44.1IP) in 7 starts on 4 days’ rest this season.
LAST TIME OUT
He last took the mound on July 4 against the Atlanta Braves, making his first career start on the Fourth of July…he did not factor into the decision, working 4.2 innings, allowing 6 hits, 4 runs (earned), a career-high 5 walks, and 4 strikeouts on 97 pitches/58 strikes…after a pair of walks and a catcher’s interference, Bieber escaped a 1st-inning bases-loaded jam with a pair of strikeouts and a lineout…he then faced the minimum in the 2nd and 3rd innings… he worked the 4th inning without any damage before facing the majoirty of his trouble in the 5th…after a lineout to start the inning, the Braves reached base in each of their next 5 at-bats…after a Ronald Acuña Jr. single and stolen base, Ozzie Albies hit a 2-run home run to tie the game at 2-2…then after an Austin Riley single and a walk, Travis d’Arnaud hit an RBI-single to give Atlanta a 3-2 cushion…after another lineout, former Clevelander Eddie Rosario hit an RBI-double that gave the Braves a 4-2 advantage and ended Bieber’s night on the rubber.
A ROYAL FLUSH
This will be his 15th career start against Kansas City…Bieber holds an unblemished 6-0 record in 14 career starts against the Royals…his last start against the Royals was June 29, twirling 6.0-scoreless innings with 8 strikeouts and 2 hits allowed…his most recent start against Kansas City at Progressive Field was October 2, 2022 (5.0IP, 7H, 2R/1ER, 1BB, 3SO)…since 2018, he ranks among MLB pitchers vs. Kansas City in W% (1.000, T1st, min. 6 dec.), SO/9 (10.76, 1st, min. 190 BFP), SO (96, 2nd), SO/ BB (4.36, 2nd, min. 190 BFP), IP (80.1, 4th), ERA (2.80, 4th, min. 55.0IP) and wins (6, T4th).
This will be his 61st career start against the AL Central, owning a 30-10 record with a 2.80 ERA (118ER/379.1IP)…since 2018, he ranks among MLB pitchers vs. the AL Central in wins (30, 1st), IP (381.1, 2nd) and SO (451, 2nd).
THREE AND FOUR ARE MAGIC NUMBERS
Dating back to the start of 2019, Bieber has held opponents to 3-or-fewer earned runs in 41 of his last 50 home starts…he has a 3.24 ERA (109ER/303.0IP) with a 10.40 strikeouts-per-9.0IP in that span…he has allowed 4 earned runs in each of his past 2 home starts but did not allow 3-or-more in his 6 starts at home prior.
Since the start of 2022, Bieber is a perfect 14-0 with a 2.29 ERA (32ER/126.0IP) when provided with 4-or-more runs of support… over that span, the Guardians are 18-1 in such games…when Cleveland scores 3-or-fewer runs, he is 3-13 with a 3.75 ERA (77ER/184.2IP)…the club’s record is 9-21 when providing 3-orfewer runs during that stretch…the Guardians possess a 50-3 record when scoring 4-or-more runs of support during Bieber’s career…Bieber is 3-0 with a 4.11 ERA (14ER/30.2IP) with 4-ormore runs of support in 2023…the Guards are 4-1 in such games.
