Wil Myers finishes the weekend 0-9.

Dodgers finish the sweep of the Rays. Your Welcome

Dodgers sweep the Rays!

Royals now 4.5 games back from both wild card spots.

They're going to get one. It's really happening.

If they don't play down to Miami and can take three of five at least from Detroit I can see this happening.

Every time I watch Jarrod play. It always hits me how small he really it. 5'9 160 :O

In his last 10 games, Hunter Dozier has a slash line of .520/.667/1.187 for Idaho Falls. He has 11 walks and seven strikeouts in that time.

Another write-up on ESPN:

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/po...rtunity-to-win

Royals enjoying rare opportunity to win
August, 11, 2013


The baseball season is a lot more interesting in Kansas City than it was two weeks ago, when general manager Dayton Moore assessed the limited options at his disposal and turned Kauffman Stadium into a news-free zone at the trade deadline.

Sure, the Royals made a minor deal on July 31 to acquire outfielder Justin Maxwell from Houston for minor league pitcher Kyle Smith. More notably, they decided not to trade away starter Ervin Santana, who will be eligible for free agency in November. Santana could have fetched a prospect or two in return, but moving him would have sent a signal that the Royals were ready to punt on the 2013 season. With no directive to shed salary from Royals owner David Glass, Moore simply wasn’t ready to make that step.

And that's a good thing for Royals fans: Contending for a playoff berth is far more entertaining than the alternatives -- like obsessing over the 30th anniversary of the Pine Tar Game, keeping a daily vigil to monitor manager Ned Yost’s job security or busting out in tears every time Wil Myers’ name appears in a Tampa Bay Rays box score.

While the Pittsburgh Pirates are bound for the playoffs despite a rough weekend in Colorado, the Royals are suddenly crafting their own upbeat, small-market narrative in the American League Central. They’ve won 18 of 23 since the All-Star Game, and they made a major statement over the weekend by taking three of four from the Boston Red Sox.

Although one of the games at Kauffman Stadium was a sellout, the Royals averaged 25,180 for the other three -- a sign that the locals are not yet ready to go full-fledged bonkers over their team. At 61-54, the Royals are 4½ games out in the wild-card race and have a 22 percent chance of making the playoffs, according to coolstandings.com. The next few weeks will determine if they’re a team coming of age at the optimal time or just a temporary diversion from the Los Angeles Dodgers, Max Scherzer and Alex Rodriguez’s Biogenesis suspension appeal.

Regardless of the duration, Kansas City’s recent run has to be gratifying to Moore, who bet big on this team when he sent Myers and Jake Odorizzi to Tampa Bay in that daring December trade for James Shields. And it has to be heartening for prospect watchers who root for young, homegrown players to overcome obstacles and become fantasy-league heroes.

You can cite a lot of reasons for the Royals’ surge. Closer Greg Holland has converted 25 straight save opportunities and is averaging 14.5 strikeouts per nine innings, and Kansas City’s other relievers come at opponents in hard-throwing waves. Shields, Santana, Jeremy Guthrie and Kansas City’s starters go deep enough into games that the Royals bullpen has logged a mere 320 innings, the lightest workload in the majors.

But the Royals wouldn’t be here if not for a welcome revival by their young, marquee position players. First baseman Eric Hosmer ranks second to Yasiel Puig among major league hitters with 84 hits since June 1 and resembles the confident prospect who finished third in the American League Rookie of the Year balloting at age 21. After George Brett resigned as Kansas City’s interim hitting coach three weeks ago, he downplayed his acumen as a Mr. Fix-it type. But Brett and assistant hitting coach Pedro Grifol apparently did a nice job ingraining more confidence in Hosmer, who slugged .465 in 2011 before slipping to a Yuniesky Betancourt-like .359 in his second season.

“He’s getting back to the swing he had two years ago,” an AL scout said of Hosmer. “He was using that inside-out approach, and he had gotten so contact-conscious, and now, he’s back to letting the bathead go and driving balls.”

Third baseman Mike Moustakas is also back among the living. He’s raised his average from .177 to .231 since June 9, although Royals people say he's still fighting a penchant to be overly hard on himself and take bad days to heart.

Yost takes his share of dings in Kansas City -- and occasionally invites criticism when he’s in a mood to tangle with the media -- but he and the Royals deserve credit for running the kids out there day after day until they figured things out. Major league teams have to determine if their young players are mentally strong enough to handle failure on the biggest stage, and Hosmer and Moustakas are trying to pass the same test that Alex Gordon passed on his way to becoming an All-Star at age 29.

Lo and behold, the seemingly minor trade that Moore swung at the deadline has had a positive impact; Maxwell has three homers and a .900 slugging percentage in his first eight games with Kansas City. And when you look around the field, the Royals are doing it precisely the way major league teams should. In Sunday’s game against Boston, seven of the nine players in Yost’s batting order were drafted and developed by Kansas City. The only exceptions were shortstop Alcides Escobar and second baseman Elliot Johnson, both of whom came over in trades.

The Royals took another step forward in an eventful week for the division. When last week began, the Cleveland Indians stood three games behind the Detroit Tigers with a four-game series on the docket at Progressive Field. Chris Perez blew a ninth-inning lead Monday, and the Indians dropped six straight before rallying to salvage the finale of their homestand with a 6-5 win against the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday.

It’s not going to be easy for either Cleveland or Kansas City to make a playoff push with Detroit so far ahead in the AL Central, the Texas Rangers and Oakland A's both playing well in the West and Boston, Tampa Bay and Baltimore all sporting better records in the East.

But, as the Indians begin a monster nine-game trip to Minnesota, Oakland and Anaheim on Monday and the Royals take on Miami in a three-game series Tuesday, Detroit's two pursuers are both still part of the conversation. Moore even made a trade Sunday, acquiring veteran infielder and strong character guy Jamey Carroll in a deal with the Twins.

The Royals have to feel good being a buyer in August, regardless of the magnitude of the transaction. After nine straight losing seasons, it’s nice just to be relevant.

Wierd obsession with attendence and will cryers.

I was a little disappointed by the attendance over the weekend, and am fully preparing for a sub 20,000 crowd for the Miami series.

But let's paint the whole picture. Ratings in KC are through the roof and just seem to be growing. The fans are buying in...there's just a new dynamic of HD and the comfort of home that saves a lot of money for a lot of middle class people who don't have much discretionary income. I'm confident that if we get to September and we're still there, the crowds will continue to grow.

No oxford comma = I thought Max Scherzer was busted for PEDs in above article

Standings for tonight.

Division
http://i.imgur.com/weo0Rvz.png

Wildcard
http://i.imgur.com/O31WeIY.png

Disappointed w the attendance? The place was packed. Ppl arent going to come back overnight. We r still talking about the Royals here

Disappointed w the attendance? The place was packed. Ppl arent going to come back overnight. We r still talking about the Royals here

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/12/sp...f=sports&_r=1&

I've always wondered why teams weren't doing this. The Orioles are converting some of their failed pitching prospects into knuckleball pitchers. Its a pretty low-risk high-reward strategy. It won't work for most of them, but if you just hit on one, the upside is tremendous.

Royals also featured on ESPN's MLB page right now.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/

EDIT: Here too: http://espn.go.com/boston/

According to baseball prospectus, the Royals now have a 6.9% chance of making the playoffs. (0.4% Division, 6.5% Wild Card, 0.2% chance of winning the world series)

Shit is real bitches. Welcome to relevance!

I think the Royals proved over the weekend that if they could snag a wildcard spot, they could win a playoff series. The buzz surrounding the Detroit series will be off the charts.

"They're hot," Gomes said. "We've been hot. They gave us their best bullet and beat us by one run. It wasn't our best bullet. You saw that, but we're still hanging in there."

Eff Gomes. I hate Boston.

First things first, let's sweep the Miami traffickers.

I hope their collective Duck Dynasty beards catch on fire and spread like an AID's tree throughout that Franchise.

ROFL

Those look ridiculous.

What's funny is that I don't think we're playing our best baseball yet, either. We left the bases loaded with 1 out in the 8th. Still having baserunning mistakes. We're down 2 starters. Our ace is a little off right now.

That's preposterous. We aren't likely to win the division, but we have better than a 1 in 250 shot it.

Their monte carlo simulations believe that the Royals are really a 78-84 team, and presume that they will play like one the rest of the way. They also presume that the Tigers will play like a 97-win team. If thats the case, then its easy to see how they get those small odds.

The playoff odds from ESPN probably presume that every team will continue to play like their current record, which is why they give the Royals a better chance.

That's a legit way to look at it, especially given the history of the two clubs.

That said, it doesn't matter. The games are all played inside the white lines - not a computer. Just keep winning and let the chips fall where they may. In the mean time, this is just fun as shit to be discussing these topics in August. I hope we have this same legit opportunity in September.

Alright, so here are the games that matter today, all times Central:


Florida at Kansas City (7:10 PM)
Koehler (3-7, 4.40) vs. Davis (5-9, 5.42)

Oakland at Toronto (11:37 AM)
Strally (6-6, 4.41) vs. Happ (2-2, 5.84)

Detroit at Chicago White Sox (7:10 PM)
Fister (10-5, 3.50) vs. (Sale 7-11, 2.77)

Baltimore at Arizona (8:40 PM)
Feldman (2-3, 5.70) vs. Miley (9-8, 3.56)

Cleveland at Minnesota (7:10 PM)
Salazar (1-0, 3.29) vs. Albers (1-0, 0.00)

Tampa Bay Idle

Meaning that with a win tonight, we would guarantee at least a half-game pickup on Tampa Bay, who could be moved into the 2nd WC spot today.

Go Jays, White Sox, D-backs, and Twins...
and of course, GO ROYALS!!!!!!!!

The Royals have played their py-thag hypothetical on the dot, 61-54. There is no luck here. They went 5-2 vs. Boston. They're also 5-3 vs Detroit already this year including 2-1 vs them before Detroit's 12 game streak. Royals as of today don't resemble a 78-84 team at all so I'm not sure what their analytics say. Do they take into account Frenchy and Getz being in there 2 months or do they factor the lineup as currently slated?

Dozier got promoted to Lexington. Hope he keeps it up.

Alex Avila on the 7-day DL. Won't be seeing him in the series with the Royals, too bad.

Gomes needs to remember how to play routine fly balls before he decides to talk weak shit.

Hey Gomes - KC went 5-2 against you this year. Eat a ****.

I hope we get a chance to meet them in the Playoffs.

I still think the fix was in on that loss after the bombings. Herrera comes in walks a batter on four pitches and then gives up a bomb to Daniel Nava.

Nava

I'm a little worried about this next series, not so much out of fear of overlooking the Marlins, but because of the pitching.

Wade Davis always scares me, and then we have to face Fernandez tomorrow.

I'm going to the game tomorrow because I want to see Fernandez pitch. His season has been outstanding and he just turned 21.

Hope the Royals bomb him though.

So with Cain out for a few weeks Lough needs to be playing basically everyday. When Maxwell plays Lough should be in center and Maxwell in RF and when Dyson plays he can be in center and Lough in RF. There is no reason for Lough to not be playing 5-6 games a week.

Ervin didn't have his slider for the first time this year, Shields wasn't in top form, Cain got hurt, Salvy only played one game of the series ---- see, excuses are fun and everyone has them. You either win or you lose Gomes, and you're a loser.

It's a lot of fun to see these types of articles:

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/ey...ontinue-rising

Ahh, the perennial regurgitated lame excuse . . . . .

Well, no sh*t, Sherlock, of course it wasn't your best game . . . you lost!

The Royals have had at least 54 of their 'not best bullets' so far this year.

Dumbass.


I hate Boston. Go run in a marathon, Jonny.

David Ortiz comments after the game yesterday:

“Man, they would be tough to play for somebody in the playoffs,” he said. “They have a lot of talent. Those young guns are coming after people. Look at what they did to us.”

This means way more to me than anything journeyman jonny gomes says.

(Raises a telephone Ortiz's way)

careful now.

I agree with your assessment b/c school is starting in most of the metro area this week and that usually drives attendance down.

We couldn't even get 30K on a beautiful friday night for Boston's only trip to KC, them leading MLB in wins and us on a major hot streak. This market is questionable at best supporting MLB

I think televising the game has something to do with it. Though, why anyone would want to torture themselves listening to Hudler is beyond me......

This has alot to so with it and I keep saying it over and over. Back when the Royals were really good every year, the home games were rarely televised. its a different era now. Teams rely alot on tv contracts.
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Guys, if we're managing to snag record attendance for KC sporting, I think this market has proven that it will show up in droves to see a winner. If The Royals prove that they can be a contender come September, we will see attendance continue to rise.

27 years of futility is not going to be undone by 20 games.

Plus, of course Atlanta, New York and LA can still draw big crowds even in the televise everything era. Much larger group of people to pull from.
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A lot of people wanted to stay at home and watch the Chiefs or go to a bar and watch both.
Posted via Mobile Device

Location location location

I suppose that had nothing to do with the Chiefs playing. :rolleyes:

And it was only about 500 being short of 30K.

Per Bob Dutton

Nothing official from #Royals but hearing 2B Chris Getz is on his way to Kansas City. Suggests he's likely to be activated tonight from DL.

Muther **** You Dayton Moore!

Bye Bye Elliot.

At this point, i'm ok with Getz over EJ.... with the assumption Mr. Getz is GONE when Tejada returns.

Kansas City Royals ‏@Royals 2m

#Royals announce roster moves: INF Chris Getz activated from 15-day DL, while INF Irving Falu and LHP Will Smith have been optioned to AAA.

I wonder who's dick Johnson is sucking? Yost or Dayton

I'm sure he has no trouble fitting both in his mouth at once.

If the people here would rather watch a worthless preseason game where the starters play 1 meaningless series instead of seeing the best record in MLB on a perfect night outside.....then I stand by my point: not a baseball town.

Three Red Sox Players Spent Their Off Day At The Blue Jays Game

http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18wt.../ku-bigpic.jpg


This made me laugh

Per Bob Dutton

#Royals vs. Mia RHP Koehler: Lough 7, Hosmer 3, Butler DH, Perez 2, Moustakas 5, Maxwell 9, Getz 4, Escobar 6, Dyson 8 and Davis 1.

If he's driving, we need to close down I-29. Flying? Well, that's a little more drastic.

We must be keeping Johnson for the one-game makeup against Tampa on the 26th before giving him the DFA.

I always thought Setsuna was black.

So does this mean Gordon's wife is in labor?

Yes

:thumb:

Do you realize what country you live in? Towns haven't been "baseball towns" in decades. You think the same thing didn't happen in the other cities with both a NFL team and a MLB team?

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Haven&#39;t heard any word on Alex Gordon but his wife was expecting their second child today.</p>&mdash; Joel Goldberg (@goldbergkc) <a href="https://twitter.com/goldbergkc/statuses/367013616186179584">August 12, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Chris Getz could murder George Brett, burn down Kauffman Stadium, have an affair with Dayton Moore's wife, and still be our 2nd baseman.

25 years

Elliot is our backup SS. He can't go anywhere because Getz and Tejada can't play SS worth a damn. I guess if we activate Jamey Carroll then he'd be expendable.

Or call up Colon.....

Darvish throwing a no no in the 8 th inning vs Houston


EDIT: Haha, jinxed the **** out of that. Houston with a solo shot right when I submitted that. 2-1 Texas now.

Should that one actually count?

If Lester's against the Royals counted, this one should have as well.