Umpires. . .

Wow. I really don't hardly ever complain (well, OK, just a little) about the umpires. I mean I can understand a bad call, when it is a bang-bang play it is a tough call to make. But it's when umpires start making the game about themselves more than the player.

Take for instance last night after a close call on a check swing on Mike Aviles. After a two strike pitch it was ruled that Aviles went around on the pitch. Ok fine. Whatever. Then after Aviles is called out to end the game the homeplate umpire (not the ump that made the call on the check swing) initiates a conversation to Aviles, clearly creating a scene between the two. I don't know how long the two had the conversation (possibly 15-30 seconds), but the key to the point is why?

The game is already over, why does the umpire feel the need to initiate something with a player after the game. Constantly through out the series with Chicago every close call has gone against the Royals, which isn't necessarily uncommon, but since they are the home team it is said they get the calls.

On Tuesday night umpire Bill Hohn misses a call on a clear runner interfernce call, to me it isn't the fact that he missed the call, but after Hillman came out to argue and asked him to conference with other umpires. Hohn refused to conference and that turned to be a very critical part of the game, not the only reason the Royals lost but a definite turning point. Anyway, first pitch tonight at 7:10, Greinke vs. Buehrle.

Later,

1RW

Royals drop a to Chigago in 13 innings

Leading and having most of the game in control, the Royals fell apart down the stretch and lost to the division-leading White Sox 8-7. After an apparent no call on runner interference in the 11th provided a scoring chance for Chicago. A.J Pierzynski hammered one to right-center and was caught by Joey Gathright on a diving catch. This scored 2 runners. The Royals responded with a Mike Aviles RBI and an Alex Gordon RBI double with 2 outs. In the 13th a perfect hit and run that scored Alexi Ramirez from first. After loading the bases in the bottom half with one out Mark Grudzielanek grounded into a 6-4-3 DP to end the game. It was a brutal game for the Royals to lose, but they get another chance at them tonight.

Royals take 2 out of 3 agaisnt O's...

First of all Happy 4th of July. Hope you have a good one.

The Royals used a 7 run sixth inning to get out to a 10-7 lead.

From Yahoo:

- J. Guillen walked

- B. Butler doubled to deep center, J. Guillen to third

- M. Olivo struck out swinging

- M. Teahen safe at first on first baseman K. Millar's fielding error, J. Guillen scored, B. Butler to third

- A. Loewen relieved G. Olson

- R. Gload singled to right, B. Butler scored, M. Teahen to second

- T. Pena Jr. singled to shortstop, M. Teahen to third, R. Gload to second

- D. DeJesus singled to right, M. Teahen scored, R. Gload to third, T. Pena Jr. to second

- C. Bradford relieved A. Loewen

- M. Grudzielanek singled to right, R. Gload scored, T. Pena Jr. to third, D. DeJesus to second

- A. Gordon hit sacrifice fly to deep left, T. Pena Jr. scored, D. DeJesus to third, M. Grudzielanek to second

- J. Guillen singled to center, M. Grudzielanek and D. DeJesus scored

- B. Butler grounded out to shortstop

7 runs, 6 hits, 1 errors

Kansas City 10, Baltimore 7

It was nice to see about everybody get in the action as 8 of 9 Royals drove in a run.

STOP THE PRESSES!!

Tony Pena Jr. just hit a homerun. To add on to that, Billy Butler hit a homerun as well.

Interesting note:

Splittorff: "Maybe Pena sees this as a opportunity to get his starting job back."

Really?? Pass the stuff Paul.

Royals on hot-streak...

With the Royals on their recent hot streak with 11 wins in their last 14 times out. With this recent streak they have gotten back to 8 games under .500 and are 9.5 games out of first. Whether it was interleague play or just the Royals playing well, I don't know. I just hope it transfers over to American league games.

Butler is back up now after being down in Omaha for awhile, he was called up after Alberto Callaspo went on a drunk driving escapade. Listening to Royals Live right now, Butler is in the lineup tonight as the DH.

Hopefully the Royals can win in Baltimore, they haven't won there in the last 2 years. Greinke vs. Burres tonight.

Mike Aviles

This dude has been raking so far. His three HR's so far in is 45 at bats, are the only three HR's by a Royals shortstop this year. Maybe Aviles is a fluke or is just on a total hot streak right now, but right now I really hope that Aviles can be a consistant player at a position that the Royals were awful at.

Royals take 2 out of 3 in Arizona: Head to STL

The Royals got off into the second round of interleague play with taking two out of three from the D-Backs. After being held scoreless in the first game of the series, the Royals went off for 20 runs in the last two games. The Royals were lead by David DeJesus, who in the final game of the set had a grand slam. DeJesus had a total of 5 RBI's in the series.


On to St. Louis:
The Royals will make a trip to their intrastate rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals, with a record of 42-29 and the current leader in the NL Wild Card Standings. The series starts on Tuesday with Kyle Davies going against Braden Looper.

Guillen is on a tear. . .

With Jose Guillen drilling 4 homeruns against the Yankees in a 4 game series, you would have to say that he is on a tear. Not to mention that 2 of the homeruns were off Mariano Rivera in the 9th. If Jose can manage to stay hot through the month he may very well find himself a spot in his first All-Star Game.

Feeling a Draft. . .

With the draft upcoming the Royals have a decision to make, draft a pitcher or get another bat. When you look at needs for the club the middle infield is an area of concern. With the Royals not having a long term solution at shortstop since... well you get the picture.. Tim Beckham seems to be the logical choice. Only problem with that is that it is projected that Beckham will probably be gone by pick 3. However, if Beckham is still around at 3 he looks to be the pick for the Royals.

If the Royals go with a pitcher they could reach to get area pitcher Aaron Crow, from the University of Missouri. The top rated pitcher in the draft is Brian Matusz from San Diego. Matusz has a frame ideal for a pitcher (6'4 190) and has an good fastball clocked around the low 90's, Matusz also has an above average curveball. His best pitch is his devasting changeup.

Another couple of names floating around the Royals are Pedro Alvarez, and Eric Hosmer. Alvarez (3B), from Vanderbilt, is considered the best hitter in the draft, from www.brewersfan.net "the best college hitter since Alex Gordon.” With the way the Royals have been struggling to score, if Alvarez is here he seems to be a slam dunk. Hosmer (1B) is another guy with a lot of potential to mash the ball. He is regarded as the best prep power hitter.

Should be an interesting draft, the Draft will be held on Thursday the 5th on ESPN2 starting at 2 pm EST.

Who do you think the Royals should take with the pick??

Feel free to take it over to 1RoyalWay Message Board in the Draft Thread: http://1royalwayboard.proboards83.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=17&page=1

Comment are also always welcomed.

Take care,

1RW.

Kyle Davies + upcoming series with the White Sox

Kyle Davies seems to be just what the Royals needed to break their long losing streak. Davies, who was just called up from Omaha, pitched 5 innings giving up 5 hits and a run along with three strikeouts. After acquiring Davies from Atlanta for Octavio Dotel, it was being wondered if it was a good move. So far, it hasn't been a bad move overall Dotel is now with the White Sox and the Royals have one of the top closers in the game with Joakim Soria. Davies next scheduled start is Friday against the Yankees.


The Royals open tonight with a series in Chicago against the White Sox. The first game of the three game set matches Zack Greinke against Gavin Floyd. The Royals are currently 7.5 games out of the lead in the AL Central, which the White Sox are currnetly leading in. If the Royals could take 2 out of 3 or seeep the White Sox it would be a major step in the right direction for the Royals.

Royals stop the losing streak, starts a winning streak. . .

After the Royals had lost 12 games in a row, winning a couple games was going to come. Eventually. After winning the series against Cleveland. (Gasp.) The Royals go on the road for a 2 town road trip to Chicago and New York. If can pick up some ground against Chicago and then just to split with the Yankees, I would consider this a successful trip.

With the Royals being 7.5 games out and interleague play about to start if they could get it down to under 5 games by the beginning of interleague I would be ecstatic.

Jose Guillen goes off. . .

http://entercomkc.com/kcsp/podcasts/RM/Guillen%20post%20w%20beeps.mp3

Wow. Jose Guillen is one of my new favorite Royals. Why you ask?? Is it because he cussed out the team for being soft and not caring? Or is it because he is being a big "meanie"?

No, the reason is because he cares, which is great to see. Now the Royals need to find 24 other guys that care that much.



Thoughts??

Report: Butler down: Aviles up

Really don't understand this move, when Gordon was struggling they didn't send him down. But what can you do, hopefully Bill is up in KC before too long.


KANSAS CITY -- Billy Butler, a fixture in the Royals lineup since last June, was optioned to Triple-A Omaha on Thursday.

Butler's spot on the roster was taken by infielder Mike Aviles, who was Omaha's hottest hitter with a .338 average and 42 RBIs. Aviles has never played in the Majors.

Butler was batting .263 and was not hitting with much power. He had just one home run along with 11 doubles and 18 RBIs.

A designated hitter and first baseman, Butler hit safely in his last five games, 5-for-18, but all five hits were singles with no RBIs. His only home run occurred on April 14 at Seattle.

Butler, 22, has been considered one of the Royals' rising stars, but with the club locked in a 10-game losing streak and run production lacking, he was sent out for more seasoning.

Aviles, 27, has played 32 games at second base and 18 at shortstop for Omaha and made six errors. With regular Mark Grudzielanek out of the past two games with a sore back, he could get a shot at second base. Or, with Tony Pena Jr. struggling at the plate, he might be tried at shortstop. He was in Thursday's lineup at short.

A right-handed batter, Aviles had 10 home runs, six triples and 21 doubles. In 213 at-bats, he had struck out just 23 times.

Aviles is in his third season with Omaha. Last year he batted .296 with 17 homers and 77 RBIs and was named Kansas City Minor League Player of the Year. He also did well last winter in Venezuela as he batted .299 with six homers and 27 RBIs in 56 games for Aragua.

After playing at Middletown, N.Y., High and Concordia, N.Y., College, he was selected by the Royals in the seventh round of the 2003 Draft. That summer he played for the Surprise Royals in the Arizona League and hit .363, leading the league in runs (51) and doubles (19) in 52 games.

Aviles' contract was purchased from Omaha.

Butler, after a successful Minor League career, was called up from Omaha on May 1, 2007, for a 16-day stay. He returned to Omaha for another month, was recalled on June 19 and thereafter hit .298 with eight homers and 48 RBIs in 82 games.

Butler is more of a gap plugger than a home-run blaster but the Royals obviously expected more punch that he's shown so far.

This year he was batting .302 on April 25, but in 31 games since, he has hit just .231 (24-for-104) with seven doubles and eight RBIs. With runners in scoring position, his average is .311 (14-for-45), fourth-best on the team.

Butler was held out of the lineup twice recently, on May 22 at Boston and on Tuesday night against Minnesota. In both games he was used as a pinch-hitter and singled each time.

Although he began the season as the regular DH, he worked hard at playing first base and was being used more frequently at that position this month. However, Mark Teahen has been playing first base, moving in from right field to make room for Joey Gathright in the outfield.

The Royals also made it official that right-hander Leo Nunez was placed on the 15-day disabled list. His bullpen spot was filled by left-hander Neal Musser, recalled from Omaha. The move was announced after Wednesday night's game.

http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080529&content_id=2794247&vkey=news_kc&fext=.jsp&c_id=kc

The Slide Continues

Run scoring wasn't the problem this time it was all a bout the late innings when the Royals gave up a three run homer to tie the game. The glimmer of hope that the streak would be ended was ended in extra innings as the Twins stole the game from right out of the lap of the Royals. This team proves more and more pitiful as the losing streak continues. Maybe young Luke can pull one out tonight.

Royals struggle to score runs. . .

With the Royals recent 7 game losing streak, one has to point to the lack of run production. Also the other team's "big inning" has really killed the Royals. They have given up 3 grand slams so far on the road trip.

The Royals play the Jays today and are trailing 1-0 as we speak.

Royals Youth Here To Stay?

As you all know the Royals have a illustrious history of not being able to hold on to talented young prospects such as Carlos Beltran, Jermaine Dye, and Johnny Damon all former Royals that started their career in the franchise. The question to me is will ownership spend enough money to keep the Royals young stars such as Alex Gordon and Billy Butler around? I believe under the leadership of Dayton Moore the Royals organization will make an asserted move to hold onto it's young talent and has already started to work on locking this talent up for awhile. This is apparent with the newly signed deal with Joakim Soria. This deal will extend his contract three more years giving us a reliable option in the late innings for the future. Only time will tell how this core of young Royals will turn out but let's hope that Royals administration can keep these youngsters together.

Royals Swept in Boston

Despite their late inning antics today the Royals came up short losing their fourth in a row 11-8 in Boston. There was no shortage of runs but rather pitching for the Royals, as the pitching core gave up two grand slam home runs today in Boston. The Royals stayed around today but just couldn't muster enough defense to keep them in it. The Royals have to be happy to get out of Fenway after the four game sweep they endured. The only good thing that came to my mind is at least their losing to the best in the league. The Royals move on to the Rogers centre in Toronto to face the Blue Jays tomorrow at 6:07 p.m. central on FSN. This series should prove a little easier as the Red Sox are probably the best team in Major League Baseball.

Royals @ Red Sox

The Royals suffer yet another loss, dropping them to a (21-25) record. After holding a 2-1 lead over the Red Sox. Brett Tomko's train derailed. The most interesting thing I took away from this game though is the fact that the Red Sox put up 6 runs without a single hit from Manny or Big Papi. It was truly a team effort tonight as the two superstars went 0 for 6 collectively. Once again the Royals were right on the doorstep and lacked the little push it takes to get over the proverbial scoring "hump". This is a recurring theme for this team that has been shaky at times with the bats. This leaves one last chance to take down the Sox tomorrow at noon in Fenway.

The Reaction

Well the Royals have given us their reaction and once again they just can't get it done as they lost 2-1 tonight. The Royals had the bases loaded in the latter stages of the game but lacked that one hit to score the tieing and potentially game wining runs. the Royals non production continued tonight as they had 1 run on five hits. The question now is what happened to the RBIs?

Royals No-hit

In light of the recent no hitter hatched on the Royals it's an obvious choice for my first post on 1 Royal Way. Not only were the Royals no-hit they were beat by 7 runs. The event is somewhat surprising as Jon Lester, the third pitcher in the Red Sox rotation is the man that pulled off the feat, Gaining his first complete game and of course first no-hitter. Lester's story is a remarkable one as he has just won a recent battle with cancer, and faced trade rumors that had him going to the Twins in a deal for Johan Santana. The BoSox wouldn't give up Lester and maybe for good reason as Lester is part of a promising rotation witch includes Beckett, Matsuzaka, and Bucholz. The intriguing thing to watch will be the Royals reaction to the sound beating they were dealt by the Sox young gun.

tghawk

Welcoming tgraff. . .

I recently asked my freind, and fellow Royals fan, tgraff to join the blog. He responed with a yes, and is now the newest member of 1RoyalWay. We plan on possibly opening a message board community within the next few weeks, but time will tell. If you have any interest in becoming a part of the message board, put down a comment.


Later,

1RW

Royals off to a good start. . .

First of all sorry for the long layoff in not blogging, with basketball, baseball, and school all in the way it was tough to gather the will to write. With that being said. . .

The Royals! A pleasant surprise so far, the last 4 years they hadn't had this good of April. Now that we are into the middle of May, with the Royals (20-21) only 1.5 games back, makes me think/hope that they Royals could be for real.

With the additions of Miguel Olivo and Jose Guillen starting to heat up, the Royals are starting to score some runs. With the solid pitching of Bannister and Greinke they Royals have managed pretty well. Here is a rundown of the positive and negatives so far this season:

+'s

Joakim Soria- Has only given up two runs all season, both of them last night. It finally appears that the Royals have a reliable man in the 9th.

Jose Guillen- As the weather has heated up Guillen has heated up. After starting the season so poorly, Guillen has risen his average to .238. He is also 3rd in the AL with 14 doubles.

Zack Greinke- Many wondered how he would handle getting moved back to the starting rotation, he seems to have responded pretty well by having 4 wins and having a tiny 1.93 ERA. Zack is really one of the better stories in baseball and I really hope he can keep it up.

Bullpen- Can't leave the guys in the bullpen out. They have been great so far, with Nunez and Ramirez pitching the 7th and 8th with Soria in to lock it up in the 9th. Gobble and Mahay have also been able to come in to face left handed hitters and have been successful.

-'s

Jose Guillen's start- He is notoriously a slow-stater but this was bad, really bad. Jose had just reached the Mendoza line list weekend. But with all of that aside, it seems that Jose is doing fine now after he was gotten "warmed up"

Gil Meche- Altohugh Gil is still not getting much run support, (3.59) he hasn't been pitching nearly as well as he did last year. His 5.98 ERA is a strong indication of that.



That's all for now, I hope to keep up with the blog a little better. If you have any comments feel free to drop a line.

1RW