Kansas City Royals News

Jason Heyward and Jason Kipnis each hit two-run home runs, Willson Contreras hit a solo shot, and the Chicago Cubs held on for a 5-4 win over the visiting Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night.Chicago won its fifth consecutive game and improved to 9-2 overall -- its best start after 11 games since starting the 2016 season 9-2. The Cubs won the World Series that season.Right-hander Kyle Hendricks (2-1) posted his second quality start in three outings for Chicago, which is 7-1 at Wrigley Field this season. He limited the Royals to two runs on seven hits in seven innings, walking none and striking out three.Royals right-hander Brady Singer (0-1) took his first career loss on his 24th birthday. The team's 2018 first-round pick out of the University of Florida gave up four runs on five hits in five innings. He walked two and struck out eight.It was Singer's third start of his debut season. The eight strikeouts marked the most of his young career.Kansas City opened the scoring in the second inning when Salvador Perez doubled, advanced to third on an infield single by Ryan McBroom and scored on a single by Adalberto Mondesi.Chicago quickly responded in the bottom of the second to grab a 2-1 advantage. Contreras singled to left field before Heyward ripped an inside pitch over the wall in right field for his first homer of the season.In the fourth, the Cubs increased their lead to 4-1. Heyward knocked a one-out single to right field, and Kipnis followed two batters later with a 423-foot shot to right-center field. It was Kipnis' second homer in five games.

Rookie Nick Madrigal scored the first run of the seventh inning and drove in the seventh of the frame, as the Chicago White Sox took a 9-2 victory over the host Kansas City Royals on Sunday to complete a sweep of a three-game series.It was the fourth straight win for the White Sox.Jose Abreu singled to score Madrigal with the go-ahead run to start the big rally, and Madrigal drove in Danny Mendick to finish it.Dylan Cease (1-1) picked up the win for the White Sox after allowing two runs and five hits over six innings. He struck out four and walked one.Royals reliever Scott Barlow (1-1) was charged with the first two runs of the seventh while Greg Holland gave up four runs (two earned) and three hits in two-thirds of an inning.Kansas City starter Jakob Junis made his season debut, after starting the season on the injured list because COVID-19. He lasted 4 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on six hits. He threw 64 pitches, 43 of them for strikes.The Royals turned double plays in each of the first two innings, with the second one rating a little odd. With one out and a runner on first, Eloy Jimenez lined one back at Junis. The ball caromed off Junis' foot and was caught at third by Maikel Franco, who threw to first to double off Edwin Encarnacion.

Alec Mills pitched a career-high seven innings as the Chicago Cubs defeated Danny Duffy and the Kansas City Royals 2-0 in an old-fashioned pitcher's duel Monday night at Wrigley Field.With weather conditions resembling a late-September game at Wrigley -- a game-time temperature of 67 degrees Fahrenheit and a gusty wind out of the north -- offense was hard to find.Mills picked up the win for the Cubs with seven scoreless innings. He allowed three hits, struck out four and walked three. He threw 63 of his 98 pitches for strikes. He retired 14 of the final 15 batters he faced.Rowan Wick recorded a four-out save.Duffy was the hard-luck loser for Kansas City. He gave up one run on three hits over six innings, with six strikeouts and three walks. He became the first Royals starter this season to complete six innings. The last team to start the season with 10 straight games without a starter going at least six innings was the 1995 Atlanta Braves, who won that year's World Series.Ian Kennedy gave up a solo home run to Kris Bryant into the teeth of the wind in the seventh inning for the Cubs' second run.

Eloy Jimenez's three-run home run keyed a four-run first inning as the Chicago White Sox defeated the Kansas City Royals 11-5 Saturday night.The White Sox, who collected 21 hits, will go for the three-game sweep Sunday.With White Sox starter Gio Gonzalez lasting less than four innings, right-handed reliever Matt Foster (1-0) picked up the win in his Major League debut. He allowed one hit in one inning.Ronald Bola�os (0-2) took the loss for Kansas City after allowing five runs on five hits in 1 2/3 innings. He had trouble finding the strike zone, throwing just 20 strikes in his 41 pitches. He walked two and struck out one.Bola�os got two outs in the first, but then allowed a single to Yasmani Grandal that moved Yoan Moncada to third. Moncada scored on a wild pitch on ball four to Edwin Encarnacion before Jimenez added a three-run shot.Jimenez's home run hit off the glove of Royals center fielder Bubba Starling and bounced over the fence.Bola�os also gave up a solo home run to Luis Robert in the second inning.

Adam Engel's three-run homer in the second inning provided all the offense for the Chicago White Sox in a 3-2 victory at Kansas City on Friday, ruining the Royals' home opener.Dallas Keuchel and a stingy Chicago bullpen kept the Royals at bay.Keuchel (2-0) worked out of trouble all night long. The veteran left-hander retired the Royals in order in only the first inning, but he just allowed two runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out two.Jimmy Cordero followed with 1 2/3 scoreless innings, and Evan Marshall blanked the Royals in the eighth. Alex Colome threw a perfect ninth to record his first save.Kris Bubic, making his major league debut for Kansas City, settled down after a wobbly start. He allowed three runs (two earned) on three hits with one walk and three strikeouts. Bubic (0-1) also hit James McCann twice with pitches.Bubic he escaped a jam in the first inning before the White Sox touched him for three runs in the second. An error allowed Eloy Jimenez to reach before he was retired on a fielder's choice. Bubic then hit McCann with a pitch, and Engel belted a 2-2 changeup into the White Sox's bullpen in left field.The Royals got one back in the third but left the bases loaded. Nicky Lopez got Kansas City's first hit on a slow roller to deep short with one out, and he advanced to second on Adalberto Mondesi's two-out infield single. Salvador Perez drove in Lopez with a single to left.

JaCoby Jones ripped three-extra base hits, including a go-ahead homer, and the Detroit Tigers rallied from a four-run deficit to top the visiting Kansas City Royals 5-4 on Wednesday.One night after getting hit in the head by a pitch, Jones supplied two doubles and his third homer of the season. Jonathan Schoop also homered and drove in three runs for Detroit, which has won two of three in a four-game series that wraps up on Thursday.Jones smashed an opposite-field solo homer off Ian Kennedy (0-1) with one out in the seventh to give the Tigers a 5-4 lead they wouldn't relinquish.Bryan Garcia (1-0) pitched an inning of scoreless relief to get the victory. Joe Jimenez notched his fourth save with a perfect ninth-inning appearance.Maikel Franco had three hits and drove in two runs for Kansas City while Whit Merrifield added two hits and scored twice. Merrifield has at least one hit against the Tigers in 16 consecutive games.Tigers starter Matthew Boyd labored through five innings, allowing four runs on nine hits and no walks while striking out six. Royals starter Danny Duffy gave up four runs on three hits and a walk while striking out eight in five innings.

Alex Gordon had three hits and scored two runs, Bubba Starling delivered a two-run double, and the visiting Kansas City Royals downed the Detroit Tigers, 5-3, on Thursday.Adalberto Mondesi and Jorge Soler each had three hits and scored a run for the Royals, who split the four-game series.Greg Holland (1-0) tossed a scoreless inning of relief and struck out two to pick up the victory. Trevor Rosenthal pitched the ninth for his first save this season.Miguel Cabrera hit a pair of solo homers for the Tigers. Jonathan Schoop homered for the third straight night. Jose Cisnero (1-1) gave up one run in an inning of relief and was tagged with the loss.Making his second major-league start, Royals right-hander Brady Singer gave up two runs on five hits and struck out three in five innings. Detroit starter Ivan Nova lasted 5 2/3 innings, giving up two runs on eight hits with three strikeouts.The Royals scored a run in the first on Soler's double and Ryan O'Hearn's two-out single. The Tigers tied it on Cabrera's second homer of the season, an opposite-field shot which snuck inside the foul pole.Kansas City regained the advantage in the second on Gordon's leadoff double and Franchy Cordero's single.

Christin Stewart hit a go-ahead two-run homer, and a handful of relievers combined for six scoreless innings as the Detroit Tigers edged the visiting Kansas City Royals 4-3 on Tuesday.Jonathan Schoop also smashed a two-run homer for Detroit, which bounced back after losing the opener of the four-game series on Monday.Tyler Alexander (1-0) was credited with the victory, giving up two hits in two innings of scoreless relief. Joe Jimenez notched his third save by pitching a shutout ninth.Detroit's Cameron Maybin added two hits, the only player on either team to record a multi-hit game.Whit Merrifield blasted a three-run homer to account for all of the Royals' runs. Merrifield has six RBIs in the series.Kansas City reliever Tyler Zuber (0-1) gave up three runs in his lone inning.Detroit starter Rony Garcia gave up three runs, two earned, in three innings in his major league debut. The 22-year-old right-hander got the nod when the originally scheduled starter, Dario Agrazal, was placed on the injured list due to a right forearm strain.Playing second base, Merrifield made a leaping catch to rob Austin Romine of a potential two-run hit in the second inning.

Maikel Franco smacked two of the Kansas City Royals' six homers, including a three-run blast to cap a six-run fourth inning, as they spoiled the Detroit Tigers' home opener, 14-6, on Monday.Franco, who played six seasons with Philadelphia, notched his first multi-homer game since July 26, 2018 against Cincinnati. Whit Merrifield had three hits, including a two-run homer, scored three runs and knocked in three more for Kansas City. Jorge Soler, Salvador Perez and Brett Phillips also homered in the victory.Foster Griffin got the win in his major league debut, tossing 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief before departing with a left forearm strain.JaCoby Jones hit a three-run homer for the Tigers, while Victor Reyes added a solo blast and drove in two runs.Tigers starter Michael Fulmer gave up four runs, including three homers, and five hits in 2 2/3 innings. He was making his first appearance since September 2018 after undergoing Tommy John surgery last spring.Kansas City starter Mike Montgomery gave up five runs, three earned, on five hits in two innings.The Royals took a brief lead on Franco's solo homer in the second. The Tigers then erupted with five runs in the bottom of the inning, highlighted by Jones' three-run blast.Jordy Mercer scored the first of those runs on Adalberto Mondesi's throwing error. One out later, Jones ripped his second homer of the season. Detroit added another run when Niko Goodrum tripled and scored on Jonathan Schoop's sacrifice fly.

Jose Ramirez hit two homers and drove in four runs on Sunday afternoon, powering the Cleveland Indians to a 9-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals and a series win over the American League Central rival.After being held to a total of four runs while splitting a pair of season-opening games, the Indians came alive offensively with 13 hits in the series finale, including three apiece by Ramirez and Domingo Santana, and two by Cesar Hernandez.Right-hander Carlos Carrasco (1-0) benefitted from the big-time support, coasting through six innings with 10 strikeouts. He allowed both Royals runs on five hits and one walk.Ramirez, one of five Indians with 20 or more homers last season with 23, smacked the club's first of the season, a three-run shot off Royals reliever Kevin McCarthy, in the fourth inning, increasing Cleveland's lead to 7-1.The two-time All-Star added a solo shot off Richard Lovelady in the sixth, giving him multiple homers in a game for the 13th time in his career. He also belted a pair against the Royals last season on July 4.Ramirez finished 3-for-5 and scored four times.Cleveland wasted no time jumping on Royals right-hander Ronald Bolanos (0-1), taking advantage of a throwing error by third baseman Erick Mejia to grab a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Franmil Reyes and Santana had two-out, RBI singles in the inning. Both runs were unearned.The 23-year-old Bolanos, making his Royals debut after having been acquired in July from San Diego, was pulled after two innings, having allowed three hits and the two unearned runs. He walked one and struck out one.

Maikel Franco's sacrifice fly plated Brett Phillips in the 10th inning to lift the visiting Kansas City Royals to a 3-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Saturday.Phillips, who was stationed at second base to start the 10th inning under rules installed for the 2020 season, advanced to third on a bunt from Erick Mejia. Phillips came around to score after Franco's sacrifice fly to deep center field off James Karinchak (0-1).Scott Barlow (1-0) was credited with the win after striking out back-to-back batters with the bases loaded in the ninth inning. Greg Holland fanned three in a row in the 10th to secure his first save of the season for the Royals, who won their first game under new manager Mike Matheny.Jorge Soler and Salvador Perez belted back-to-back homers in the first, and Brady Singer tossed five strong innings in his major league debut. Singer, who was the 18th overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft, settled for a no-decision after permitting two runs on three hits with seven strikeouts.Mike Clevinger, who entered the game with a 9-0 record and 1.93 ERA in 13 career appearances versus Kansas City, overcame a sluggish start in the first before shutting down the Royals over the next six innings. The 29-year-old allowed just those two runs on four hits and retired the final 10 batters he faced.Kansas City got the early jump on Clevinger and the Indians, with Soler depositing a 3-2 slider over the high wall in left field to open the scoring. Soler's homer was his first of the season after he went deep an American League-best 48 times in 2019.

Shane Bieber struck out 14 batters to set an Opening Day franchise record and lift the host Cleveland Indians to a 2-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Friday.Bieber (1-0), who was last year's All-Star Game Most Valuable Player, scattered four hits over six innings before exiting after 97 pitches. His strikeout total eclipsed the Opening Day club record of Gary Bell, who fanned 12 against Detroit on April 19, 1960.Oscar Mercado had a run-scoring single and Cesar Hernandez followed with an RBI double during a two-run fifth inning for the Indians, who won 12 of the 19 meetings against their American League Central rival in 2019.Danny Duffy (0-1) retired nine in a row at one point before running into trouble in the fifth inning for the Royals, who fell short in the debut of first-year manager Mike Matheny.Bieber struck out the side in the second and fourth innings and stranded Nicky Lopez at third base after fanning Adalberto Mondesi to end the fifth. Bieber struck out his final two batters in the sixth inning and two relievers bridged the gap to Brad Hand, who retired the side in the ninth for his first save.Cleveland found its offense in the fifth inning, with Jordan Luplow reaching base after being hit by a pitch from Duffy. Luplow scampered to third base after Roberto Perez singled sharply to center for the Indians' first hit since the second inning.

The Kansas City Royals, in need of pitching depth with two of their starters still getting up to speed because of COVID-19 infections, reportedly are close to a deal with veteran right-hander Matt Harvey.Multiple outlets reported Thursday that the club and Harvey are closing in on a minor league deal that likely would see Harvey start at Kansas City's alternate training site at T-Bones Stadium in Kansas City, Kan. The Kansas City T-Bones are an independent team, not affiliated with any major league club.Though the Royals open the season Friday at Cleveland, right-handed starters Brad Keller and Jakob Junis have yet to get up to speed after COVID-19 diagnoses earlier this offseason. Junis (31) and Keller (28) were the only Royals starters to make more than 23 starts last season.Against the Indians, the Royals are expected to start lefty Danny Duffy (7-6, 4.34 ERA in 2019) and righty Brady Singer on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Singer, 23, is the top-rated pitching prospect in Kansas City's system and would be making his major league debut.Since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2013, Harvey has struggled to recapture the dominance he displayed in the beginning of his career. Harvey, now 31, went 3-5 with a 7.09 ERA in a dozen starts with the Los Angeles Angels last season -- his fourth straight season with a losing record.Though he did go 13-8 with a 2.71 ERA in 2015 in his first season back from Tommy John surgery, he is 19-31 with a 5.65 ERA since.

Two days before the season opener, the Kansas City Royals placed third baseman/outfielder Hunter Dozier on the injured list Wednesday after he tested positive for the coronavirus."I'm disappointed to say the least," Dozier said in a statement. "I have been hit with a couple of symptoms that go with this virus, so I need to follow our medical team's direction, get well and then work on getting back on the field."Dozier, 28, batted .279 with 26 homers, 84 RBIs and a major league-leading 10 triples in 139 games with the Royals in 2019. He started 99 games at third, 17 in right field, 15 as the designated hitter and seven at first base.A first-round pick (eighth overall) by Kansas City in 2013, Dozier has a .258 average with 37 homers and 119 RBIs in 249 career games.

The Kansas City Royals placed starting pitcher Jakob Junis on the injured list as he works to regain his form after battling the coronavirus.Junis, a 27-year-old right-hander, tested positive for COVID-19 during the team's initial testing. He was cleared to return to the team a week ago."It's unfortunate, but I need to take a step back and get caught up before I'll be able to contribute the way I feel I'm capable to help this team," Junis remarked in a statement issued Monday. "My start in camp after the quarantine period was delayed to a positive COVID-19 test and while I've been cleared, I am not built up to be where I need to be to start the season."

The San Diego Padres added to their bullpen on Thursday by acquiring left-handed reliever Tim Hill from the Kansas City Royals in exchange for outfielder Franchy Cordero and right-hander Ronald Bolanos.Hill, 30, is entering his third season in the majors, having posted a 4.11 ERA with 81 strikeouts across 85 1/3 innings in 116 appearances since 2018.In 2019, Hill went 2-0 with a 3.63 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 39 2/3 innings, making 46 appearances, also spending time at Triple-A Omaha. He was drafted by the Royals in the 32nd round in 2014.Cordero, a 25-year-old from the Dominican Republic, has played a total of 79 games in the majors over three seasons, being limited by a series of injuries. He went 5-for-15 in nine appearances in 2019, while hitting .203 with three homers and 11 RBIs at the Triple-A level.

The Kansas City Royals said Saturday that catcher Cam Gallagher has tested positive for COVID-19."To say this caught me by surprise would be an understatement," Gallagher said, per MLB.com. "I played in last night's intrasquad game and felt great, then received the news this morning that my most recent test had come back positive."I am asymptomatic and will continue to work as hard as I can to stay ready while I quarantine. The first couple of weeks of workouts have just made me that much more excited about our ballclub and I can't wait to rejoin them and compete as soon as I'm allowed."

Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez was sent home from camp after testing positive for COVID-19, the team announced Saturday.The six-time All-Star missed the entire 2019 season following Tommy John surgery on his right elbow.Perez, 30, told reporters on a Zoom call that he was asymptomatic and has 12 days left in quarantine.

All Kansas City Royals employees, including minor-league baseball players, are safe from job cuts and furloughs during the coronavirus pandemic.ESPN reported no employees would be asked to take a pay cut or be laid off as baseball works through the COVID-19 crisis.Opening Day was scheduled for March 26, but spring training was shut down two weeks earlier due to the coronavirus.On Thursday, hundreds of minor-league players were released and more are expected to be let go as the minor league season approaches cancellation, according to ESPN.The Royals are not releasing any players from their minor league system and plan to pay them their usual stipend during the hiatus.