Kansas City Royals

Kansas City Royals
OFFICIAL GAME NOTES
San Francisco Giants @ Kansas City Royals
Kauffman Stadium - Monday, October 20, 2014
World Series - Media Day
FOX, MLB International, KCSP Radio (610 Sports) & ESPN Radio
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
(Probables with Postseason statistics)
Game #1 - Tuesday, October 21 vs. San Francisco Giants: LHP Madison Bumgarner (2-1, 1.42) vs. RHP James Shields (1-0, 5.63), 7:07 p.m. (CDT), FOX, ESPN Radio & 610 Sports
Game #2 - Wednesday, October 22 vs. San Francisco Giants: RHP Jake Peavy (1-0, 1.86) vs. RHP Yordano Ventura (0-0, 4.85), 7:07 p.m. (CDT), FOX, ESPN Radio & 610 Sports
Thursday, October 23 - Off Day in San Francisco: Work Time TBA
Game #3 - Friday, October 24 @ San Francisco Giants: TBA vs. RHP Tim Hudson (0-0, 3.29), 7:07 p.m. (CDT), FOX, ESPN Radio & 610 Sports
Game #4 - Saturday, October 25 @ San Francisco Giants: TBA vs. RHP Ryan Vogelsong (0-0, 5.19), 7:07 p.m. (CDT), FOX, ESPN Radio & 610 Sports
This series is being broadcast on KCSP Radio (610 Sports) and the Royals Radio Network with Royals’ Hall of Famer Denny Matthews, Ryan Lefebvre, Steve Physioc
and Steve Stewart, while Don Free controls the dials as the producer/engineer...the World Series is being televised nationally on FOX with Joe Buck, Harold Reynolds,
Tom Verducci, Ken Rosenthal and Erin Andrews...each game is also being televised by MLB International with Gary Thorne and Kansas City’s own Rick Sutcliffe...
every game is also being broadcast nationally on ESPN Radio with Dan Shulman and Aaron Boone on the call.
THE 2014 KANSAS CITY ROYALS POST-SEASON GUIDE IS AVAILABLE ON-LINE AT MLBPRESSBOX.COM
Royals vs. Giants
The Royals capped their final Interleague home games with a
bang, sweeping San Francisco in a three-game set, August 8-10 at
Kauffman Stadium...KC leads the all-time series, 9-3, including
7-2 in games played at ‘The K’:
DateSite Score
WP
LP
Att.
8/8 KC
W 4-2
Frasor
Bumgarner 28,307
8/9 KC
W 5-0
Shields
Hudson
35,114
8/10 KC
W 7-4
Duffy
Lincecum
27,359
10/21 KC
10/22 KC
10/24 @ SF
10/25 @ SF
10/26 @ SF
10/28 KC
10/29 KC
World Series
(if necessary)
(if necessary)
(if necessary)
ROYALS SWEEP THEIR WAY TO THE WORLD SERIES--Kansas City advanced to the Fall Classic
for the first time in 29 years, completing a four-game sweep of the Baltimore Orioles with a 2-1 victory
here last Wednesday...the Royals will meet the San Francisco Giants in the franchise’s third World Series
appearance and first since claiming the title in 1985...this year’s Classic marks just the second time that two
Wild Card teams will meet in the World Series, joining the 2002 Series, when the Anaheim Angels knocked
off these Giants in seven games...in the American League Championship Series clincher, the Royals scored
twice in the opening frame on a fielder’s choice, where Alcides Escobar beat a throw home on a grounder
to first, while the ball got away from Orioles catcher Caleb Joseph, allowing Nori Aoki to score on the
play...KC’s pitching staff did the rest as lefty Jason Vargas earned his first playoff win, tossing 5.1 innings
and allowing only a solo homer to Ryan Flaherty in the third...the bullpen tandem of Kelvin Herrera, Wade
Davis and Greg Holland held the O’s scoreless over the final 3.2 frames on two hits and a walk...Holland
earned his fourth-straight save of the ALCS, matching Dennis Eckersley’s 1988 record, while his six saves
this postseason are one shy of the Major League record of seven, most recently done by Boston’s Koji
Uehara in last year’s postseason...the Royals’ sweep was the franchise’s first in a seven-game series and just
the third in the ALCS since 1991, joining Detroit’s four-game brooming in 2006 (vs. Oakland) and 2012
(vs. the New York Yankees).
MEDIA SCHEDULE--Major League Baseball will host World Series Media Day today, as both the San Francisco Giants and Kansas City Royals will make their
entire rosters available to the press. Below is today’s schedule for Kansas City:
12 p.m. – Credential pick at Ticket Windows outside of Gate C (10-13); windows will close tonight at 6:30 p.m.
1 p.m. – Royals Media Day in Hall of Fame Suites (Left Field); media should enter through the main entrance from the concourse
2 p.m. – Royals Work Out on the Field
4 p.m. – Royals Game 1 starting pitcher James Shields in the Interview Room on Level One
4:15 p.m. – Royals Manager Ned Yost in the Interview Room on Level One
STREAKING ROYALS--With their 2-1 series-clinching victory over the Orioles last Wednesday, Kansas City became the first team to win its first eight games of a
postseason in Major League history, passing the 1976 Cincinnati Reds and the 2007 Colorado Rockies, who both won their first seven playoff contests...another streak
has been 29 years in the making, as the Royals now have an 11-game postseason winning streak, the third longest in Major League history...the New York Yankees had
a pair of 12-game postseason streaks (1927-32 and 1998-99)...the Royals have trailed in only three of the last 72 innings they’ve played, including two innings in Game
3...Kansas City won its last three games of the 1985 World Series and then opened its return to postseason play on September 30 this season with the win over the A’s
in the Wild Card Game, and then took all three games of the ALDS over the Angels, two in extra innings, before sweeping the Orioles in four games.
SKIPPER STREAKING TOO...--Kansas City manager Ned Yost became the first manager in big league history to win his first eight playoff games, passing Clint
Hurdle, who led the Colorado Rockies to seven-straight wins at the outset of the 2007 postseason...the Yankees’ Joe Girardi is next with five...Yost’s eight postseason
victories are tied with Royals’ Hall of Famer Dick Howser, who won all 8 of his playoff games during the World Championship run in 1985.
TOMORROW’S STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Madison Bumgarner (2-1, 1.42) vs. RHP James Shields (1-0, 5.63)
Madison Bumgarner vs. Royals
James Shields vs. Giants
2014
0-1
1-0
2013
-
-
Career
2014
2013
0-1
Major League Record 18-10(2.98 ERA) 13-9
1-0
Major League Record 14-8 (3.21 ERA) 13-9
Career
67-49
114-90
JAMES SHIELDS will make his second World Series start, tenth career playoff start and fourth of this year’s postseason...the California native faced the Giants for the
first time on August 9, posting his ninth career shutout...he was acquired as the centerpiece of a 7-player deal from Tampa Bay on December 9, 2012.
NO DECISION IN ALCS OPENER--James will make his first start in 11 days
James’ 2014 Postseason Starts
tomorrow, having last pitched in Game 1 of the ALCS at Camden Yards...in that start, he DATE OPPONENT SCORE
IP
H R ER HR BB SO TP-K LEFT
allowed 4 runs, 10 hits, a walk with 3 strikeouts over 5.0 innings...he gave up 3 runs and 9/30 Oakland
ND, 9-8 (12) 5.0
5 4 4 1 2
6 88-56 3-1
10/5
Los
Angeles
W,
8-3
6.0
6 2 2 2 2
6 106-65 8-2
4 hits in his final frame as he exited the game leading 5-4...he did not record a decision as
10/10 at Baltimore
ND, 8-6
5.0
10 4 4 0 1
3 90-59 5-4
Baltimore tied the game at 5-5 with a run in the sixth...the score held until Alex Gordon 2014 Postseason
1-0 5.63 16.0 2110 10 3 5 15283-180
63%
2014
Regular
Season
14-8
3.21
227.022495812344180
3632-2350
65%
led off the 10th with a solo shot to right field...Mike Moustakas added a 2-run shot as the
Career Postseason
3-4 5.19 50.1 613029 713 40 -
Royals went on to an 8-6 victory.
VS. GIANTS--James posted his ninth career shutout in his first matchup with the Giants on August 9...he allowed just 4 hits in a 5-0 final, with Joe Panik’s eighthinning double the lone extra-base hit...he needed 109 pitches to toss his 22nd complete game, allowing a walk with 5 strikeouts...it was his first shutout as a Royal and
first since September 9, 2012 as a member of the Rays...Shields is the cousin of former San Francisco outfielder Aaron Roward, who played for the Giants from 2008-11.
FALL CLASSIC FACTS--James is the eighth different pitcher to start over Kansas City’s 14 World Series games and the first to have previously started for another
club in the Fall Classic as he tossed 5.2 shutout innings in 2008’s second game against Philadelphia, notching Tampa Bay’s only World Series win to date.
IN THE POSTSEASON--“Big Game” James becomes the third KC hurler to start 4 games in a single postseason, joining Charlie Leibrandt and Bret Saberhagen of the
1985 squad...Shields has 9 total starts in the postseason, having worked for Tampa Bay in 2008, 2010 and 2011...he started the first playoff game in Rays history on October
2, 2008, winning Game 1 of the ALDS over Chicago (6.1 IP, 6 H, 3 ER) and is 3-4 overall, posting a 5.19 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 50.1 innings (29 ER).
WORKHORSE--James made 34 starts for a second straight year, tying for the big league lead...he finished fourth in the A.L. with 227.0 innings, topping the 200.0
mark for an eighth consecutive season, which ties Justin Verlander for the second-longest active streak in the Majors, behind only Mark Buehrle (14-straight seasons)...
Shields leads the Majors with 1785.2 innings since the start of 2007, just ahead of Felix Hernandez (1785.1) and Verlander (1780.2).
AT “THE K”--The A.L. leader with 10 road wins, James made just 15 of 34 regular season starts here, going 4-6 with a 3.51 ERA (40 ER in 102.2 IP)...he recorded
11 quality starts, including his ninth career shutout on August 9 vs. these Giants...Shields received 3.16 runs of support per 9.0 innings here, compared to 5.43 on the road.
Shields vs. Giants
Player
Joaquin Arias
Gregor Blanco
Matt Duffy
Travis Ishikawa
Michael Morse
Joe Panik
Hunter Pence
Buster Posey
Pablo Sandoval
AVG. AB H HRRBI
.000
2
0
0
0
.571
7
4
0
3
.000
3
0
0
0
.000
3
0
0
0
.000
3
0
0
0
.500
2
1
0
0
.000
11
0
0
0
.000
4
0
0
0
.250
4
1
0
0
James’ Last Win:
October 5 vs. Los Angeles (G3 ALDS), (6.0 IP, 8-3 over C.J. Wilson)
James’ Last Loss:
September 20 vs. Detroit (6.2 IP, 1-3 to Max Scherzer)
James’ Strikeout High:
15, October 2, 2012 vs. Baltimore (9.0 IP, 1-0 loss to Miguel Gonzalez)
James’ Last Complete Game & Shutout:
August 9 vs. San Francisco (9.0 IP, 5-0 over Tim Hudson) - 22nd career CG & 9th shutout
Kansas City Royals • One Royal Way • Kansas City, MO 64129-6969 • www.royals.com • ©Kansas City Royals 2014
Royals Notes - San Francisco Giants @ Kansas City Royals - Monday, October 20, 2014
Pitching Notes
Wednesday’s Game 2 Starter - Yordano Ventura
= Yordano will make his fourth postseason appearance and third start, becoming the first Royals rookie to start a World Series game at any position...he will
be the 66th rookie hurler to start in the Fall Classic and first from the A.L. since 2007, when Daisuke Matsuzaka opened and won Game 3 for Boston.
= Yordano started Game 2 in both the ALDS and ALCS...he worked 5.2 innings on October 11 at Baltimore, allowing 4 runs, 5 hits and 3 walks with 3
strikeouts before leaving a 4-4 game due to right shoulder tightness...KC broke the tie in the ninth, winning 6-4 to take a 2-0 series lead.
= He finished the regular season at 14-10, ranking 10th in the A.L. with a 3.20 ERA...the 14 wins were the most by a Royals rookie since 1989.
= Ventura will oppose San Francisco for the first time...he was 2-0 in 3 Interleague starts, recording wins on June 5 vs. St. Louis and August 6 at Arizona.
= The 23-year old righty was 6-7 at Kauffman Stadium during the regular season, recording a 3.21 ERA over 17 outings (16 starts)...he pitched well here
down the stretch, going 3-1 over 5 starts from July 31 on, posting a 2.43 ERA, .193 opponents average and 32 strikeouts over 33.1 innings.
Starters
Relievers
Totals
Bullpen Totals:
G
W-L
SV
SVO
8
2-0
-
-
8
6-0
6
8
8
8-0
6
8
1st Batter Efficiency: 23/33 (70%)
2014 Postseason Pitching Lines
ERA
3.80
1.80
2.93
IP
H
R
45.0
39
19
35.0
22
7
80.0 61
26
Saves/Save Opp: 6/8 (75%) ER
19
7
26
HR
BB
SO
OPP AVG
7
15
33
.232
1
13
36
.179
8
28
69
.210
Inherited Runners/Runners Scored: 10/4 (40%)
This & That
PEN CONTINUES TO ROLL--The Royals are showing the nation what Kansas Citians came to appreciate this summer with one of the top bullpens in the game...
KC’s relief corps recorded 3.2 scoreless innings last night, allowing just two singles and a walk...the pen enters the World Series having rolled up 11.0 consecutive
blank frames since allowing a run in the 10th inning of Game 1 of the ALCS in Baltimore...all told, in the last six postseason games, the KC pen has allowed just three
runs in 28.0 innings for an 0.96 ERA...youthful southpaws Danny Duffy and rookie Brandon Finnegan each earned wins in the ALDS, while Wade Davis has worked
5.0 scoreless innings in this series to gain two wins and Greg Holland has recorded six saves, four in the last series to tie an LCS record...he’s tallied 52 on the year,
which includes his 46 regular season rescues...Davis is the first pitcher to win the first two games of a postseason series since Atlanta’s Alejandro Pena in 1995.
SHARPENING THE SHORT GAME--It should not be a surprise that the Royals used their short game to score their two runs in Game 4 of the ALCS, with Alcides
Escobar reaching on an infield hit and moving to third on Lorenzo Cain’s sacrifice in the first inning...the Royals finished the year second in the American League
with 158 infield hits and have registered a Major League-best 15 infield knocks in their first eight games of the postseason...Kansas City featured four in the Top 14
individually in infield knocks with Cain tied for third (28), Nori Aoki tied for sixth (27), Escobar tied for 12th (24) and Jarrod Dyson tied for 14th (22).
HOLLY HAS ANOTHER SOLID YEAR--Greg Holland finished the regular season with 46 saves, good for second in the A.L. in saves and is the first Royal to record
back-to-back 40-save seasons for Kansas City since Dan Quisenberry did it in 1983 (45) and ‘84 (44)...while postseason stats are not included in the regular season
total, with six saves to this point Holly has now made good on 52 of his 54 save tries this year, including 45 of the last 46 and 26 in a row after earning the rescue
in Game 4 of the ALCS...over a longer haul in regular season play, Holland has converted 87 of his last 90 attempts (96.7%) since May 30 of last season, the highest
percentage among closers with at least 40 opportunities in that span...since that date, Greg has five more saves than any other pitcher in baseball (Craig Kimbrel - 81)
and Holland has allowed just 14 earned runs in 113.1 innings for a 1.11 ERA...he recorded his 100th career save on August 8 and since posting his first career save on
August 3, 2011 vs. Baltimore, Holland has gone 113-for-123, the best save pct. at 91.9 among closers with at least 100 save opportunities.
HOME GROWN ROYALS--It was never a secret that for the Royals to contend, they’d have to do it with the combination of home grown talent and then enhance the
roster via the trade and free agent route...of the 25 players that were on the ALCS active roster, 13 were drafted or signed originally by the Royals...the group includes
(draft round-year): Terrance Gore (20th-2011), Jarrod Dyson (50th-2006), Alex Gordon (1st-2005), Mike Moustakas (1st-2007), Salvador Perez (non-drafted free
agent-2006), Billy Butler (1st-2004), Christian Colon (1st-2010), Brandon Finnegan (1st-2014), Yordano Ventura (non-drafted free agent-2008), Eric Hosmer (1st2008), Kelvin Herrera (non-drafted free agent-2006), Danny Duffy (3rd-2007) and Greg Holland (10th-2007).
AND THE REST OF THE SQUAD--The remaining dozen of the 2014 postseason squad arrived via trades and free agency...that group includes (how acquired):
Alcides Escobar and Lorenzo Cain (trade with Milwaukee-Dec., 2010), Josh Willingham (trade with Minnesota-2014), Jeremy Guthrie (trade with Colorado-July,
2012), Omar Infante (free agent-Dec., 2013), Wade Davis and James Shields (trade with Tampa Bay-Dec., 2012), Erik Kratz (trade with Toronto-July, 2014), Nori Aoki
(trade with Milwaukee-Dec., 2013), Jason Vargas (free agent-Nov., 2013), Jason Frasor (trade with Texas-July, 2014) and Tim Collins (trade with Atlanta-July, 2010).
FOUR NOT NECESSARY THIS TIME--The Royals were able to record a win with “just” two runs in each of the final two games of the ALCS, winning 2-1 in both
Game 3 and Game 4...Kansas City has put up some phenomenal numbers when the offense has been able to get at least four runs across the plate in a game over the
last two seasons, and this postseason has been no different...Kansas City is 8-0 to this point and has scored at least four times in five of those games...during the regular
season, KC was 69-14 when scoring at least four runs and combined with last year (64-14), the Royals are 105 games over .500 during the regular season when scoring
at least four runs (133-28).
ROAD WARRIORS--The 4-0 road mark this postseason is consistent with the regular season as the Royals saved their best work for the road this year going 47-34
away from ‘The K’, five wins better than Kansas City totaled at home this year (42-39)...the road year turned around in Chicago, as KC entered play on July 22 in
Chicago with a 26-25 record away from ‘The K’, but then reeled off a 21-9 record in road tilts, matching the Angels for the most road wins since that date...Kansas
City was 8-1-1 in its last 10 road series played...the 47 road wins were the third most in franchise history and one win behind the ‘77 club for second highest success
rate away from home.
BOMBS AWAY--Kansas City’s lack of power in the regular season has been well documented with a Major League least 95 home runs during the 162-game slate, but
the Royals are more than making up for it since the postseason kicked off...after going homerless in the 9-8, 12-inning Wild Card win over Oakland, KC has powered
eight home runs in its last six games...Mike Moustakas has homered four times already to tie the franchise record for most home runs in a single postseason, a mark
that was set by Willie Aikens in 1980...in franchise history, only George Brett clubbed most postseason home runs in his career with 10...Moose is also just the second
ninth-place hitter since 1903 to hammer four home runs in a postseason, tying Adam Kennedy from the 2002 Angels...Jason Varitek has four in his postseason career
from the nine-hole...Moose has gone deep in four of the last six games, clubbing the game-winner in the opener of the ALDS in Anaheim with an 11th inning shot, while
Eric Hosmer has hit a pair of home runs, one a game-winner in Anaheim in the 11th frame of Game #2 of the ALDS...Alcides Escobar and Alex Gordon joined the long
ball party on Friday night with their first of the postseason, Gordon’s the game-winner in the 10th.
RUNNIN’ ROYALS--The Royals swiped their 13th base of this postseason when Lorenzo Cain pilfered second base on Saturday...KC has used eight different thieves
to attain the 13 steals...KC opened the playoffs by tying an MLB postseason record with seven thefts in the win over Oakland, with seven different Royals recording
steals...for the second straight year, the Royals led the Majors in stolen bases with 153 both this year and last season...Jarrod Dyson, despite being a part-time player,
has swiped 30, 34 and now 36 in his last three seasons, totaling 100 bags in that span which is seventh among all big league thieves, most of whom play every day...KC
was the only big league club with three players with at least 25 thefts, as Dyson is joined by Alcides Escobar (31) and Cain (28), marking the first time for the franchise
since U.L. Washington, Willie Wilson and John Wathan each swiped at least 25 bags in 1983.
ON-THE-JOB TRAINING--This 2014 version of the Kansas City Royals entered the September 30 Wild Card Game with only five players who had previous
postseason experience with Wade Davis, Omar Infante, Jayson Nix, James Shields and Raul Ibanez...with Ibanez and Nix inactive for the ALDS and now the ALCS,
KC is down to three who have experience in October baseball.
A LOOK BACK AT ‘14--Kansas City snapped its postseason dry spell with an 89-73 season, capped a week ago today with a 6-4 win over the White Sox in Chicago
to finish one game behind the Detroit Tigers in the American League Central...the rollercoaster ride that was the 2014 season saw the Royals trail by as many as 6 1/2
games after play on June 1, only to reel off a 13-2 stretch to take a 1 1/2-game advantage in the Central on June 18...KC then fell into a 9-18 skid from June 19-July 21
to fall to eight games behind the Tigers, but a win in Chicago on July 22 jumpstarted a season-ending stretch in which the Royals were 41-23 and popped champagne
corks for the first time in 29 years on September 26 with a win over the White Sox in U.S. Cellular Field...the two combatants in the ALCS were the two winningest
teams in the American League from July 22 on, with the Royals posting 41 victories and the O’s 42...the 89-victory season marked the most by the Kansas City
franchise since winning 92 games in 1989...KC has coupled its last two seasons for a 175-149 mark for a .540 winning pct.
DAVIS SETS RELIEF STRIKEOUT MARK--The breakout bullpen year of Wade Davis ended with 109 strikeouts, breaking the team record for a reliever held by
fellow bullpen-mate Greg Holland, set last year, and Jim York, a reliever for KC in 1971 (103)...Davis attained his 109 K’s in 72.0 innings for a 13.6 strikeout to
9-inning ratio, the third best mark in the A.L. (minimum 60.0 innings).
NED LONGEST TENURED KC SKIPPER--Ned Yost has been at the helm for 775 regular season games as the Kansas City manager, surpassing Royals’ Hall of
Famer skipper Dick Howser (770) for the most games managed in franchise history, and becoming the first manager since Howser to lead the Royals to the postseason...
Yost has a 373-402 ledger as KC’s manager, including a 175-149 (.540) mark in the last two seasons...coupled with 457 wins in Milwaukee, Yost is tied for 73rd on
the all-time managerial win list with 830 over his 11-year career, matching Fred Hutchinson’s total in a 12-year career as a skipper of the Tigers, Cardinals and Reds.