Daily Clips
May 27, 2017
LOCAL
Royals rally from 4-run deficit to beat Indians
May 27, 2017 By Jeffrey Flanagan and William Kosileski/MLB.com
Bonifacio stays hot with clutch go-ahead 2B
May 26, 2017By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
Vargas looks to bounce back against Indians
May 26, 2017By William Kosileski/MLB.com
Power ball lifts Royals to 6-4 victory over Indians
May 26, 2017By Blair Kerkhoff/KC Star
Sam Mellinger: Royals must be patient as they work on new TV deal
May 26, 2017By Sam Mellinger/KC Star
Royals reliever Scott Alexander begins rehab assignment
May 26, 2017By Sam Mellinger/KC Star
Royals’ TV ratings are down, but FSKC still is leader in prime time
May 26, 2017By Pete Grathoff/KC Star
MINORS
Friday's best: Perdomo, Funkhouser thrive in duel
May 27, 2017By William Boor/MLB.com
Junis Dominates, Chasers Win 8-3 in Extras
Chasers earn split in 11 after losing lead in the 9th
May 26, 2017By Omaha Storm Chasers
Naturals Plate Three In Ninth To Walk-off Winners
Donnie Dewees, Jr. delivers the game-winning hit as Northwest Arkansas defeats Midland, 11-10
May 27, 2017By Naturals PR Department
Rocks End Odd Day at Frawley with Win
A Resumption of Suspended Game and Seven Inning Contest Played on Friday
May 26, 2017By Wilmington Blue Rocks
Homers by Rivera, Lee send Legends to 5-2 win
May 26, 2017By Lexington Legends
MLB TRANSACTIONS
May 27, 2017 •.CBSSports.com
LOCAL
Royals rally from 4-run deficit to beat Indians
May 27, 2017 By Jeffrey Flanagan and William Kosileski/MLB.com
Rookie Jorge Bonifacio lined a go-ahead two-run double off Indians reliever Andrew Miller in the eighth inning as the Royals roared back for a 6-4 win on Friday night at Progressive Field.
Brandon Moss hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning and Mike Moustakas hit a solo shot in the fifth as the Royals overcame an early four-run deficit.
"It was a great job coming back from 4-0 down," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "[Indians starter Mike Clevinger] was throwing the ball really well and Mossy got us back in the game, and Moose tied it. Then a great at-bat by Boni."
Clevinger went five-plus innings and gave up eight hits and four runs. He struck out six and walked one.
"It's a shame because I thought he threw the ball pretty well," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "On two changeups that both of them he kind of yanked across the plate, kind of went right into Moss' swing path. And it's a shame because he really -- I think he had six strikeouts and only the one walk. That was the last hitter he faced. But you know, the damage was done."
Right-hander Ian Kennedy went five innings and gave up three hits and four runs. He walked two and struck out four. Kennedy allowed a solo home run to Jose Ramirez in the second, and then gave up three runs in the third. Francisco Lindor and Michael Brantley hit back-to-back RBI singles, and Lindor later scored on a fielder's choice.
The four runs of support for Kennedy were the most this season in 11 starts and the most for him since Sept. 16.
"It was nice seeing the boys pick me up," Kennedy said. "When Mossy hit that home run, it kind of pumped me up not to let them get anything else."
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Game changer: Clevinger was cruising until Eric Hosmer reached on an infield single with one out, and Bonifacio singled with two out in the fourth. That's when Moss launched a three-run homer that pulled the Royals within 4-3. Moss hit a changeup 108 mph, according to Statcast™, that traveled a projected 386 feet.
Uncharacteristic, painful error: The Royals' two-run rally in the eighth started with Lorenzo Cain's sharp single to right off Bryan Shaw. Miller replaced Shaw and Hosmer chopped one toward short that Lindor tried to backhand. The ball skipped under his glove and Cain headed to third. One hitter later, Bonifacio delivered his two-run double. Hosmer had been running on the pitch, allowing him to score easily.
"Just a great read by Hoz there," Yost said.
"I think he committed to the backhand and when it's over and looking back, he probably could've got around it," Francona said. "It's happening quick, then he went to the backhand and it didn't come up as high as he thought. It ends up being a really big play, obviously."
QUOTABLE
"When you jump out like that, you'd like to think that you're going to either, however you say it, put the foot on the gas, or step -- however you want to say it. But, they never took the lead until the eighth. I still felt like we were going to win. It's not like they came back and went ahead. We just, from the third inning on, didn't do a lot offensively." -- Francona, on blowing a 4-0 lead
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Moss' three-run homer in the fourth snapped an 0-for-35 streak for the Royals with runners in scoring position.
WHAT'S NEXT
Royals: Left-hander Jason Vargas (5-3, 2.30 ERA) takes the mound against the Indians in the middle game of the series on Saturday at 3:10 p.m. CT. Vargas bounced back from his worst start of the season by holding the Yankees to three runs over six innings on Monday in a 4-2 loss.
Indians: Right-hander Danny Salazar (3-4, 5.55) will start on Saturday against the Royals at 4:10 p.m. ET. Salazar allowed two home runs in his last start, but he held the Astros to three runs on four hits in 5 2/3 innings to earn his third win of the season.
Bonifacio stays hot with clutch go-ahead 2B
May 26, 2017By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.com
Back on May 6 when the Royals deemed outfielder Jorge Soler ready to be activated from the disabled list, they began debating the corresponding roster move.
Rookie Jorge Bonifacio's name immediately came up in discussions among manager Ned Yost and general manager Dayton Moore. Sending Bonifacio, who had options, back to Triple-A seemed logical.
It's a good thing the Royals didn't do the logical thing. Bonifacio has continued his amazing month with a clutch go-ahead two-run double on Friday night that steered the Royals to a 6-4 win over the Indians.
Bonifacio lined a 1-2 slider from Indians left-hander Andrew Miller into the gap in left-center, breaking a 4-4 tie. It came right after Salvador Perez popped up with runners on first and third and none out.
"The first pitch, I was sitting fastball," Bonifacio said. "After that, I was looking for his slider, his best pitch.
"It feels amazing. I hit in the winning run, that's great for us. I hit it off [Miller], one of the best in the game right now.
"I just feel like I had to pick Salvy up."
Since May 6, Bonifacio has hit .296 with an .870 OPS, including four home runs and 11 RBIs. Bonifacio basically has forced himself into the lineup ahead of Soler.
"We were really going to send Boni out," Yost said on May 6. "But then we decided we could mix him in enough."
The Royals instead optioned right-hander Miguel Almonte back to Double-A. Almonte since has been recalled.
Keeping Bonifacio was surprising. But fortuitous.
"I mean, it's true, it could have worked out that way, that we sent him back," Yost said. "But the main thing is, we wanted him to play.
"We started out this season with that same [four-outfielder] configuration, but it was Paulo Orlando [and Terrance Gore] before Paulo struggled. We were just mixing and matching.
"We knew [Boni] was going to play 3-4 times a week. We just didn't want to keep him to sit him on the bench ... but Boni has worked his way into more playing time."
As Lorenzo Cain said of Bonifacio, "He's just locked in, man. I wish I was locked in like that."
Alexander sent out
Left-hander Scott Alexander, recovering from a strained hamstring, was sent out on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Omaha on Friday. Omaha is playing at Nashville.
Alexander has thrown sides for the past week and he is expected to just have some tune-ups for Omaha before being activated.
"It will be good to get him back," Yost said. "He was able to take some pressure off [left-handers] Mike Minor and Matt Strahm in the back of the 'pen."
Vargas looks to bounce back against Indians
May 26, 2017By William Kosileski/MLB.com
Indians right-hander Danny Salazar will oppose Royals lefty Jason Vargas in the middle game on Saturday at Progressive Field.
Salazar will look to overcome his recent struggles with the long ball, as he has allowed 11 home runs in 47 innings across nine starts this season. Salazar has given up 10 homers in his last five starts, and six in his last two starts, after only allowing one round-tripper in his first four starts.
Despite allowing two homers in his last start, Salazar picked up his third win by holding the Astros to three runs on four hits while striking out seven in 5 2/3 innings. He will make his 14th career start vs. the Royals, against whom he is 7-6 with a 3.63 ERA and 84 strikeouts. In his only start against the Royals this season, Salazar was handed a loss after allowing two runs on eight hits in 4 2/3 innings.
Vargas is coming off back-to-back losses to the Yankees on May 17 and Monday. He allowed five earned runs through his first seven starts, but he was tagged for a combined nine runs in the two starts against New York. He will look to return to form against the Indians, whom he held scoreless on four hits in six innings on May 6.
In his career against the Indians, Vargas is 6-3 with a 4.33 ERA in 14 starts (79 innings) and has held their hitters to a combined .258 average.
Things to know about this game
• Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis and catcher Yan Gomes have both found success against Vargas in their respective careers. In 26 at-bats, Kipnis is batting .346 with nine hits -- two doubles and one homer -- and five RBIs. Gomes has gone 5-for-13 (.385) with a homer and three RBIs.
• Eric Hosmer will welcome the challenge of facing Salazar, as the Royals first baseman has hit .400 (12-for-30) against the right-hander in his career. Hosmer has connected for eight extra-base hits -- five doubles and three home runs -- against Salazar with eight RBIs and a 1.321 OPS.
• Although Salazar has struggled keeping the ball in the yard this season, he has been racking up strikeouts at a high rate -- 69 in 47 innings, giving him an MLB-leading 13.21 strikeouts per nine innings.
Power ball lifts Royals to 6-4 victory over Indians
May 26, 2017By Blair Kerkhoff/KC Star
The Royals’ 6-4 victory over the Indians on Friday proved the power of power ball.
The Royals trailed by four when Brandon Moss crushed a three-run homer in the fourth. The deficit remained, but the game had changed, at least for Royals starting pitcher Ian Kennedy.
“That three-run homer might have given me more of a boost,” Kennedy said. “I know I thought, ‘All right, you take this and run. You give up another run and it kind of deflates the whole offense and team. I was a little more motivated in that fourth inning.”
The Royals took it and ran to the victory in the series opener. Mike Moustakas’ solo homer for the Royals in the fifth tied it, and Jorge Bonifacio continued his hot hitting with a game-winning two-run double in the eighth.
The triumph ended the Royals’ eight-game losing streak at Progressive Field, dating to last year, and gave them a chance to turn a middling road trip into something positive with their third victory in seven games.
“Great job coming back from 4-0 down,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.
That was the score when Moss lined his three-run shot into the right-field seats for his fifth home run in his last eight games.
Moustakas’ solo shot was his team-leading 12th this season, and he’s the fastest Royals player to 12 home runs (47 games) since Jermaine Dye in 2000.
The game-winner didn’t go over the wall but was well-struck by Bonifacio against relief ace Andrew Miller, who got ahead in the count 1-2.
“First pitch, I was looking fast ball,” Bonifacio said. “After that, I was sitting on a breaking ball, his best pitch.”
Bonifacio drove Miller’s slider over the glove of left fielder Michael Brantley for his eighth and nine RBIs of the road trip.
The double scored Lorenzo Cain, who had singled and taken third when shortstop Francisco Lindor couldn’t handle a short hop after a high chopper off the bat of Eric Hosmer. The ball skidded into left field.
Miller got Salvador Perez to pop out to first base, adding to the importance of Bonifacio’s appearance.
“I just felt like I had to pick Salvy up,” Bonifacio said. “Try to do something to score from third base.”
Kennedy battled to make his previous outing an aberration. At Minnesota last Sunday, he lasted two innings while surrendering five runs.
That start was Kennedy’s first after a 10-day stay on the disabled list with a right hamstring strain. After the outing against the Twins, Kennedy worked on mechanics in a couple of bullpen sessions, but he got off to a rough start Friday.
Cleveland’s Jose Rameriz homered in the second inning, and Kennedy walked the eighth and ninth hitters to open the third. Both scored in the Indians’ three-run inning.
“I was just trying to grind through it,” Kennedy said.
Then came the Royals runs, a bounty to which Kennedy had grown unaccustomed. When he departed after five innings and the score 4-4, Kennedy had his greatest run support for an outing this season, the most in 11 starts dating to last season.
In his first seven starts this season, the Royals had scored a total of seven runs in his 37 2/3 innings on the mound.
“It was nice to have the offense and have the boys pick me up,” Kennedy said.
The Royals bullpen finished the job, with Mike Minor striking out three in two innings, Joakim Soria working out of of a jam in the eighth by striking out Edwin Encarnacion, and Kelvin Herrera working around a two-out single to collect his 10th save.
The evening started on a frustrating note for the Royals. Whit Merrifield opened the third inning with an infield single, extending his hitting streak to 11 games. But when he didn’t score, the Royals had gone 35 at-bats without a hit with a runner in scoring position.
That changed when Moss came to the plate in the next inning. So did the game.
Sam Mellinger: Royals must be patient as they work on new TV deal
May 26, 2017By Sam Mellinger/KC Star
The future of the Royals will be disproportionately shaped by what happens this season, in private settings and phone calls between executives, and for once this is not about the potential for trades of Eric Hosmer, Lorenzo Cain and other stars.
It’s about negotiating the financial ability to support the next generation of ballplayers, to best position the franchise to more freely spend on talent than its been able to do with one of the worst television contracts in major American professional sports.
That deal runs through the 2019 season. Officials from the Royals and Fox Sports have had preliminary discussions about the next deal, each expressing a desire to continue their partnership. Those talks will increase in frequency and seriousness.
We tend to focus on free-agent signings and trades, and make a big deal when a new manager or general manager is hired.
But with the notable exception of a change in ownership, a new television contract is the single most important move a Major League Baseball team can make.
This is the Royals in the beginning stages of replacing a deal that has left the franchise behind for the last decade, needing desperately to avoid a similar mistake hanging over it for the next decade or more.
Also, there’s this inconvenient fact: nobody is even a little sure what the value or distribution of cable sports programming will look like for most of the years of the Royals’ next television contract.
Multiple conversations with sources on both sides of these negotiations — baseball teams and in the television industry — detail the risks and strategies facing the Royals, as well as some reasons the club may again end up with a payout below market value.
TV contracts can be complicated. For instance, the Reds represent a comparable market, and signed a 15-year deal last fall, but it included a minority ownership stake in the local Fox Sports network for the Reds, so not all the cash will come through regular payouts.