KANSAS CITY ROYALS NOTES:
ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Royals suffered a 5-1 loss in Cleveland last night in which they were held to 5 hits— all singles—by Guardians starter Aaron Civale, who kept Kansas City in check in his 8.0 innings…the Royals only run came on a game-tying RBI single by Nicky Lopez in the 5th…at that point, Zack Greinke had retired 12 of 13 batters, the only exception being a solo home run by Bo Naylor in the 3rd…but Greinke was charged with 3 runs on 3 hits in the bottom of the 5th, including a 2-run homer by Naylor…the Royals had runners at the corners with no outs in the 8th for the top of the lineup, but Maikel Garcia grounded into a double play and Bobby Witt Jr. lined out to shortstop on the first pitch, as they went 1-for-4 with runners in scoring position.
Royals pitchers did not issue a walk last night for the eighth time this season, tied for the 4th most such games in the American League behind only Seattle (12), Tampa Bay (9) and Minnesota (9).
WHERE RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD: After splitting the 1st 2 games of this series, the Royals will play their 9th rubber game of the season today in Cleveland…the Royals are 2-6 in their previous 8 series-deciding games, including a win in their most recent game on July 2 vs. the Dodgers…the Royals won their most recent series-deciding game vs. the Guardians on July 10, 2022 at Kauffman Stadium, but they haven’t won a rubber game in Cleveland in 10 years, since Sept. 11, 2013, a 6-2 victory in which James Shields allowed just 2 runs over 8.0 innings…since then, the Royals have lost 8 consecutive series-deciding games at Progressive Field.
The Royals are winless in their last six series in Cleveland since they won 3 of 4 from Sept. 7-10, 2020.
The Royals are 3-6 vs. the Guardians and must win all 4 remaining games to clinch the season series…these teams will meet again for a 3-game series during the season’s penultimate homestand from Sept. 18-20.
PACE OF PLAY: Last night’s 1-hour, 59-minute game was the 11th 9.0-inning game in the Majors this season that was completed in 2 hours or fewer…the Royals have been involved in 4 of those 11 games (36.4%), 2 of which have come here in Cleveland…these two teams played a 1-hour, 51-minute game on July 7, which remains the 2nd-fastest 9.0-inning game in the Majors this season…the Royals average game time of 2 hours, 34 minutes is the fastest in the Majors this season and would be their fastest average game time since 1978 (2:32).
AFTERNOON DELIGHT: Today’s 1:10 p.m. ET game marks the end of a stretch in which the Royals have played 4 day games in seven days and is their 45th day game of the season…the Royals are scheduled for 65 day games this year, which would mark the 2nd most in club history behind only last year, when they played 69 matinees.
The Royals are batting .246 with 49 homers in 44 day games and .222 with 42 homers in 59 night games.
DINGER PARTY: After being held homerless in their 4-game series vs. the Tigers last week at Kauffman Stadium, the Royals have hit 9 home runs through the 1st 5 games of this trip, including a season-high-tying 4 homers on Sunday in the Bronx…in fact, 13 of the 17 runs scored on this trip (76.5%) have come via home runs, which is a sharp increase from the norm…for the season, Kansas City has scored 122 of its 380 runs via home runs (32.1%), which is tied with Washington for the 2nd-lowest rate in the Majors, ahead of Cleveland (28.1%).
Royals catchers have hit 20 homers this season, which rank 2nd in the Majors behind only Atlanta (26).
ON DECK: Following today’s road trip finale in Cleveland, the Royals will return to Kansas City for an off day tomorrow, which will snap a run of 13 consecutive days with a game since the All-Star break…today marks Kansas City’s 104th game of the season, which is tied for the 2nd most in the Majors, 1 behind Tampa Bay (105)…tomorrow will mark Kansas City’s first of nine off days over the last 67 days of the regular season, including another break in the schedule on Monday, after a 3-game series this weekend with the Twins and before the Royals welcome the Mets to Kauffman Stadium for 3 games next week for the first time since 2019.
The 2023 Trade Deadline is just six days away, next Tuesday, Aug. 1 at 5:00 p.m. CT/6:00 p.m. ET.
CLEVELAND CONNECTIONS: Today marks Kansas City’s final game in Cleveland this season and they won’t return until June 4-6, 2024…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.
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.
ARMS RACE: The Royals have not recorded an outfield assist in 12 games since the All-Star break, but still lead the Majors with 22, which are 2 more than Detroit and Colorado (20)…the Royals 22 outfield assists match their total from all of last year, as they attempt to lead the Majors 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 lead the Majors with 25 triples, which are 1 more than the Diamondbacks (24) and 5 more than this week’s opponent, Cleveland (20) 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 the Majors, 138 more than the Pirates (2,089) and 291 more than the Tigers (1,936), the next closest American League team.
A Majors-most 11 different Royals have a triple, a group led by Bobby Witt Jr., whose 6 triples are 1 behind Shohei Ohtani and Ketel Marte (7 each) for the Majors lead…Witt Jr.’s 12 career triples are tied with Brian McRae for the most by a Royal through his first two big league seasons.
BLOWN LEADS: The Royals took a 3-1 lead in the top of the 4th Friday night on Michael Massey’s 3-run HR, 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 en route to a 5-4 defeat to mark their Majors most 35th blown lead loss of the season, ahead of the White Sox (33), A’s (32) and Cardinals (32)…the Royals 35 blown lead losses 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… they have held a lead in 49 of their last 74 games (66.2%) since the start of May, but they’re 22-52 (.297) during that stretch with 27 blown lead losses.
TODAY’S STARTERS: RHP ALEC MARSH (0-4, 6.20)
ALEC MARSH is making his 5th career start today and his 1st against the Cleveland Guardians…he was selected by the Royals in the 2nd round of the 2019 First-Year Player Draft out of Arizona State University.
NEW YORK SLUGFEST: Marsh made his 4th career start last Friday night in the Bronx, where he suffered his 4th straight loss after allowing a career-high-tying 5 runs on 5 hits (3 home runs) and 2 walks in 5.1 innings of a 5-4 Royals defeat…he allowed just 1 hit through the first 3.0 innings—a solo home run to Franchy Cordero in the 2nd—but he allowed three straight batters to reach with 2 outs in the 4th, the last of which being Billy McKinney, who sent a 3-run, 361-ft. homer to right-center field which flipped the lead and gave the Yankees a 4-3 edge…he was struck for another home run in the 5th, this time a solo shot from Gleyber Torres, and he exited with two on and 1 out in the 6th in favor of Taylor Clarke, who stranded both runners.
His 3 HR allowed set a career high, and all 9 runs in the game scored via homers.
STRUCKKKKKKKKKKK HIM OUT: Marsh made his 3rd career start on July 15 in Game 1 of the Royals split doubleheader vs. the Rays, in which he set career highs in innings pitched (6.0) and strikeouts (11)…his 11 strikeouts marked the most by a Royal since Brady Singer had 12 on July 23, 2022 vs. the Rays…it was the most strikeouts by a Royal within a player’s 1st 3 career outings, breaking the previous mark set by Runelvys Hernández, who had 9 in his 2nd start on July 20, 2002 (Game 1).
Alec became just the sixth American League pitcher in this century to record an 11-strikeout game within his 1st 3 career outings, following Kyle Bradish (May 10, 2022), Shohei Ohtani (April 8, 2018), Chris Archer (Sept. 8, 2012), Matt Moore (Sept. 22, 2011) and Félix Hernández (Aug. 15, 2005).
He has 24 strikeouts in 20.1 innings to start his career (10.6 K/9, 26.4 K%), which are the 2nd most by a Royal through 4 career appearances, behind only Steve Busby, who struck out 27 over his first 4 games in 1972…Busby also holds the club record through 5 career appearances with 31 strikeouts.
BAD PITCHES OR BAD LUCK?: Alec has surrendered 8 home runs in just 20.1 innings, however those homers have averaged just 386 ft., which is the 8th-shortest average distance allowed by any American League pitcher this season (min. 8 HR), according to Baseball Savant…he fell victim to the short porch in right field at Yankee Stadium in his most recent start last Friday, where he yielded a career-high 3 home runs, which registered at 373 ft. (Franchy Cordero), 361 ft. (Billy McKinney) and 383 ft. (Gleyber Torres)…the homer hit by McKinney would have only been a home run in two other ballparks: Citizens Bank Park and Great American Ball Park.
His 8 home runs allowed through 4 career appearances are a club record, ahead of Will Smith, who allowed 7 homers in his first 4 career games in 2012.
NEW KID ON THE BLOCK: On June 30, he became the fourth Royal to make his Major League debut this year, following right-handed pitcher James McArthur on June 28 vs. Cleveland, infielder/outfielder Samad Taylor on June 17 vs. the Angels and left hander Austin Cox on May 4 vs. Baltimore…he was the first Royals pitcher to start in his Majors debut since Angel Zerpa did so on Sept. 30, 2021 vs. the Guardians.
With his debut, he became the 15th different starting pitcher the Royals have employed this season, and two weeks later, Cole Ragans made his Royals debut in Game 2 of the July 15 doubleheader vs. Tampa Bay to become the 16th different starter…this marks the most different starters by any Royals team since the 2006 club used a franchise-record 17 different starting pitchers.
MAJOR LEAGUE DEBUT: Alec opposed the Dodgers in his Majors debut on June 30 at Kauffman Stadium and he suffered the loss after allowing 5 runs on 6 hits—including 2 home runs from Mookie Betts—in 4.0 innings (plus 2 batters)…he surrendered 10 baserunners in those 4.0 frames, and half of the 6 hits he allowed were to Betts, while the rest of the Dodgers lineup went just 3-for-15 against him…Betts hit a leadoff home run in the 1st inning, a 1-out homer in the 3rd, before capping the scoring in Los Angeles’ 2-run, 37-pitch 4th with a 2-out RBI single…Marsh yielded a triple and a walk to begin the 5th inning and exited in favor of Amir Garrett, who allowed 1 inherited runner to score on a sacrifice fly.
He recorded 5 strikeouts, which were the most by a Royal in his Majors debut since Brady Singer had 7 strikeouts in his debut on July 25, 2020.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Marsh is making his 3rd career road start this afternoon and his 2nd straight start away from home after his outing last Friday at Yankee Stadium…Progressive Field will become the second American League Central ballpark he’s pitched in, joining Minnesota’s Target Field, where he made his 2nd career start on July 5…in that outing, he limited the Twins to 3 runs (2 earned) on 3 hits and 3 walks in 5.0 innings of a 5-0 shutout loss.
CALM BEFORE THE STORM: He opened the season in Double-A, where he made 11 starts for Northwest Arkansas and went 3-3 with a 5.32 ERA (28 ER in 47.1 IP) and 56 strikeouts (10.6 K/9)…his ERA was inflated by 3 starts on April 28, May 27 and June 8, in which he allowed a combined 15 ER in 11.0 IP (12.27 ERA), however he limited opponents to 3 earned runs or fewer in each of his remaining 8 starts, over which he recorded a 3.22 ERA (13 ER in 36.1 IP).
Marsh earned a promotion to Triple-A Omaha on June 13, where he made 3 starts and recorded 5.0 innings with no more than 2 runs allowed in each of his outings…over those 3 starts, he recorded 19 strikeouts in 15.0 innings (11.4 K/9), but issued a total of 7 walks (4.2 BB/9).
At the time of his promotion to the Majors on June 30, he ranked among Royals farmhands in games started (T-1st, 14), wins (T-4th, 5), strikeouts (5th, 75), innings (5th, 62.1), ERA (9th, 4.62), opponents’ average (9th, .266) and WHIP (9th, 1.52)…boasted a 10.8 K/9 in 14 minor league starts
CLEVELAND GUARDIANS NOTES:
BO NAYLOR’S 3-RBI PUSH GUARDS PAST ROYALS
The Cleveland Guardians evened the series with a 5-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night at Progressive Field…Cleveland is 3-2 on 6-game homestand vs. Philadelphia (2-1) & Kansas City (1-1)…Guardians enter today’s rubber match looking to win a third consecutive series for first time since ending 2022 regular season with 5 straight series wins…club is 8-7 in rubber matches/18-14 in series finales…Cleveland has gone 10- 5-1 over last 16 series (29-23 Record since May 26). » AARON CIVALE matched a season-high for Cleveland starters, turning in 8.0 exemplary frames (8.0IP, 5H, 1R-ER, 2BB, 5SO, WP, 93 pitches) to spell the Guardians bullpen for a second straight game and earn his fourth victory…only other starter to work 8.0IP this season has been SHANE BIEBER (2x, May 3 at NYY & May 21 at NYM)…Kansas City’s lone tally scored in the 5th on a Nicky Lopez RBI-single…BO NAYLOR turned in his first career multi-homer game (3, 4), drilling a solo shot in the 3rd to break a scoreless tie before adding a 2-run shot to cap Cleveland’s 3-run 5th inning, which also included WILL BRENNAN’s RBI-single to plate JOSH BELL (one-out double)…both homers came off Zack Greinke (5.0IP, 4H, 4R-ER, 0BB, SO, 2HR, 71 pitches)…AMED ROSARIO greeted reliever Austin Cox with a lead-off triple (6, T2nd in AL) in the 6th and scored on an RBI-single from JOSÉ RAMÍREZ to make it 5-1.
Cleveland (50-51) sits in 2nd place in the AL Central standings, 3.0 games behind 2nd-place Minnesota (54-49) and 4.0 games ahead of 3rd-place Detroit (-7.0G, 46-55)…club entered the AllStar 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 5 of 8, 18 of 31, 25 of 44 and 28 of last 50, though have also dropped 44 of last 85 overall since starting the year 9-6.
WHO’S UP FOR BURNING SOME RUBBER?
With one more win against Kansas City, the Guardians 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 (also 2004-11)…the Guards have won or tied each of their last 4 series against Kansas City since dropping 2 of 3 from July 8-10, 2022…the Guards last dropped a home series against the Royals on September 20-21, 2021 when KC took 2 of 3…the last rubber match between the clubs took place July 10, 2022 in Kansas City where the Royals earned a 5-1 victory…the last rubber match at Progressive Field against Kansas City was exactly 3 years ago today on July 26, 2020 in which Cleveland won 9-2… the Guards are 8-7 in rubber matches this season, including a 5-5 record at home…the Guardians are also 9-7 in home series finales and 18-14 overall this season, but have dropped each of their last 5 series finales since defeating Chicago-NL on July 2.
GUARDIANS OF THE HISTORY BOOKS
Entering today’s game, JOSÉ RAMÍREZ, EMMANUEL CLASE and TERRY FRANCONA are all approaching milestones… Ramírez (1,234) is one game from tying and 2 games from passing Larry Doby (1,235) for 17th-most in club history…with his next run scored, he 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 one hit from passing Bill Bradley (1,265) for 14th-most in franchise history…Clase (93) is 2 saves away from passing Mike Jackson (94) for 6th-most in club history…Francona (1,924) is 2 wins from tying and 3 wins from passing Hall-of-Famer Casey Stengel (1,926) for 13th-most wins by a manager in MLB history.
WHO’S UP FOR BURNING SOME RUBBER?
BO NAYLOR has played 11 games against the Royals in his young career, 9 more times than any other opponent he has faced…after going 0-for-8 in 5 games in 2022 against KC, he is hitting .474 (9-for-21) with 6 runs, 3 home runs and 8 RBI in 6 games against the Royals this season, including a 2-home run performance last night…Naylor has tallied 3 home runs in his last 5 starts…per Sarah Langs, at 23 years and 154 days old, he is the 3rd-youngest Cleveland player with a multi-HR game as a catcher, older than only Ray Fosse (23 years, 50 days; 5/24/1970) and Hank Ruszkowski (21 years, 269 days; 8/6/1947)…Naylor is the 18th instance in Franchise history where a 9-hitter recorded a multiHR game, first since Ernie Clement on August 13, 2021 at Detroit and the first to do so at Progressive Field since George Kottaras on May 4, 2014 vs. Chicago-AL.
THE CITY OF ROCK ‘N ROLL PLAYING THE HITS
Since June 1, Cleveland has out-hit their opponents in 33 games, 6 more than any other MLB team (Texas and Boston, 27)…the Guardians 23 wins in those 33 games are tied with Boston for most in MLB…however, Cleveland’s 10 losses when out-hitting their opponents since June 1 are more than any other MLB team, ahead of Texas (9).
The Guardians lead MLB with 26 double-digit hit games in 48 games since May 30, ahead of Boston (24)…in Cleveland’s 53 games before May 30, the club had just 10 double-digit hit games… the club’s 476 hits since May 30 are most in MLB during the stretch, ahead of Texas (473)…the Guards also have an MLB-high .279 batting average since May 30, ahead of both Atlanta and Texas (.276)…Cleveland is also the only team with 4 players ranking in the top-15 in hits since May 30, no other team has more than 2… JOSH NAYLOR (66) is 2nd, behind MIA’s Luis Arraez (71)…JOSÉ RAMÍREZ (58, T8th), AMED ROSARIO (56, T14th) and STEVEN KWAN (56, T14th) round out the foursome in the top 15…Kwan also ranks among AL hitters post-All-Star break in hits (16, T2nd) and extra-base hits (6, T7th).
NO STRIKEOUTS HERE
The Guardians struck out just one time in last night’s contest, marking the first time this season the club has accomplished the feat…the club last struck out one-or-fewer times in a game on June 3, 2022 at Baltimore (once)…after only striking out twice on Monday night, the Guards have struck out 3 times in a 2-game span for the first time since July 17-18, 2005…Cleveland has struck out 699 times in 2023 and has a plate appearance per strikeout rate of 5.46, both the best marks in MLB ahead of Washington (713, 5.32)… JOSÉ RAMÍREZ (10.33, T2nd) and STEVEN KWAN (9.10, 4th) both rank in the top-5 in PA/SO rate, while JOSH NAYLOR (6.39) ranks 25th.
RUMBLE, YOUNG MAN, RUMBLE
Cleveland is the only MLB team to have 6 different rookies throw 30.0+ innings this season, ahead of Oakland (5); TANNER BIBEE (83.0IP) LOGAN ALLEN (74.1IP), XZAVION CURRY (53.1IP), PEYTON BATTENFIELD (34.2IP), GAVIN WILLIAMS (33.2IP), and HUNTER GADDIS (31.1IP)…37.99% of Cleveland’s innings pitched this season 344.1IP/906.1IP) have come via rookies, 2nd in MLB behind Oakland (41.68%)…the Guards rookies have 17 wins this season, the most in MLB ahead of Oakland (16)…Williams’ outing today will mark the Guardians 50th start by a rookie arm in 2023, tied for most in MLB with Oakland (50) entering today…the Guards 313 strikeouts from rookies this season trails just Oakland (368)…Cleveland possesses the youngest average age of pitchers (26.1) among MLB clubs this season, ahead of Miami (27.2).
TODAY’S STARTER – #63 GAVIN WILLIAMS RHP
WILLIAMS AT HOME, MLB
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 1-1 4.98 4 4 21.2 24 12 12 10 16
Career 1-1 4.98 4 4 21.2 24 12 12 10 16
WILLIAMS’ MLB CAREER
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 1-2 3.74 6 6 33.2 29 14 14 14 26
Career 1-2 3.74 6 6 33.2 29 14 14 14 26
TODAY’S START
The 6-6, 250-pound 23-year-old right-hander is making his seventh career start, fifth at home, in the finale of this 3-game set with Kansas City and the final game of this 6-game homestand.
The rookie has allowed 3-or-fewer runs in each of his past 3 outings…has walked a career-high 4 batters in back-to-back starts.
Williams is the organization’s #1 prospect, MLB’s #5 pitching prospect and the #13 prospect overall (MLB.com)…he was selected in the first round, #23 overall, out of East Carolina University by Cleveland in the 2021 MLB Draft…became the 7th different rookie to make their Major League debut for the Guardians this season…
is starting on 4 days’ rest for the second time in his career…he won his sole start on 4 days, allowing 3 earned runs over 5.2 innings on July 8 against Kansas City.
LAST TIME OUT
Williams opened up the homestand against the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday…he did not factor into the decision, falling shy of completing 5.0 innings for the first time in his career…after retiring the side in order in the 1st frame, 2 walks and a single led to a bases-loaded jam with 2 outs in the 2nd inning…he escaped by getting Jake Cave to pop out…Trea Turner tripled with one out in the 3rd frame and scored on a groundout from Nick Castellanos, Williams’ only mark on the day…the rookie saw more traffic in the 4th inning but did not see any damage, partly due to MYLES STRAW throwing out Alec Bohm at home trying to score from 2nd base.
HEY, I KNOW YOU?
Marks his third start against Kansas City…through his first two starts against the Royals, he’s 1-0 with a 2.13 ERA (3ER/12.2IP) with 13 strikeouts and 2 walks…worked a gem in his second start at Kansas City, twirling 7.0-shutout innings of one-hit ball with 6 strikeouts and one walk…became just the second pitcher in franchise history to throw 7.0+ innings with one-or-fewer hits allowed within their first two Major League games…the other was Addie Joss in 1902 (9.0IP, 1H)…earned his first career win on July 8 against the Royals.
