Royals No Match for First Place Jays, Fall 15-1, 13-1

 

The Royals knew it would probably be a long day against the first place Blue Jays, but came ready to play both games.  Unfortunately, it wouldn't take long for the Jays to put each game out of reach.

 

2013 first round draft pick Duke Cooke took the hill for the Royals in game 1, and would promptly be met with a leadoff home run to give the Jays an early 1-0 lead.  After working out of trouble, he would load the bases in the second on a walk and a pair of hit batsmen.  Feeling his arm tightening up, he would play it safe and leave the game, bringing in veteran reliever Mike Miller.  Miller would look every bit the All-Star he has this season, striking out the first two Jays and retiring the third on a groundout, getting out of the jam unscathed.

 

However, baseball is a funny game, and as quickly as Miller became the hero, he would soon become the goat.  3 of the first 5 hitters in the 3rd would go yard off the right-hander, and another hitter would go deep in the 4th, accounting for 8 runs and giving the Jays an 9-0 lead after 4.

 

Miller would give way to Sean Spires in the 5th, and the rookie side-armer would allow a run on a walk, a pair of hit batsmen and a sac fly.  He would settle down after that, allowing 5 more runs over his final 3 innings (including ANOTHER Blue Jay home run.)

 

Offensively, the Royals would only pound out 4 hits over the first 6 innings.  In the 7th, Chris "Mr. Go" Powell would single, and after a passed ball, would score on Josh Miranda's rbi-single.  That would be all the Royals would muster against Cy Young leader Eric Anderson, and the Blue Jays would take the first game 15-1.

 

 

Game 2 would play out much the same.  Chris "Mr. Go" Powell would take the hill and work around trouble in the first 2 innings to keep the score 0-0.  After scoring twice in the 3rd, the Jays offense would take over in the 4th.  Combined with 2 blown pickles (courtesy of the Royals' inconsistent defense), the Jays would put up 10 runs in the 4th to take a 12-0 lead and put the mercy in place.

 

The Royals offense would finally make a little noise in the 5th.  Richard Lizarraga would lead off with a double - his 3rd hit of the day.  Chris "Mr. Go" Powell would single him home, and move to third on a Josh Miranda double.  But Mike Miller would ground out to short, and a debatable call at the plate would turn it into a double play, effectively ending the rally.

 

All-Star Knuckleballer Ryan Elliot would come in and work a quiet bottom of the 5th, but the Jays would eventually walk off with a mercy-inducing single in the 6th to send everyone home early.

 

Congrats to the Jays for taking care of business and clinching the top seed in the major division playoffs!

 

 

 

Pitching (combined)

Duke Cooke - L, IP, ER, H, 3BB, 2HBP

Mike Miller - 3IP, 8ER, 2K, 9H, 3BB

Sean Spires - 4IP, 6ER, K, 7H, 3BB, 2HBP

 

Chris Powell - L, 3.1IP, 7ER, K, 9H, BB

Erik Prentice - .2IP, 3ER, H, 2BB, 2HBP

Ryan Elliott - 1.1IP, ER, 2H, BB

 

Batting (combined)

Richard Lizarraga - 3-5, 2B, R

Chris Powell - 2-4, R, RBI, HBP

Josh Miranda - 2-5, 2B, RBI

Ryan Elliott - 1-5

Chris Middleton 1-5

Sean Spires - 1-5

Royals Offense Finally Shows, Falls Just Short to Marlins 17-14

 

The Royals defense cost the team again, as the offense pounded out a season-high 14 runs against a strong Marlin's squad.  Unfortunately 6 errors leading to 6 unearned runs over the final 2 innings cost the team the win.

 

The offense finally looked like it was drawn out on paper pre-season, even without the Royal's top 2 rbi men at the game.  Sean Spires reached in the top of the 1st on an error, and moved into scoring position on a sac bunt by Dominic Archey.  Chris Powell pulled a ground ball to the right side to move him into scoring position, and Mike Miller blasted a towering double to bring home Spires.  Geoff Verheyen took the mound for the Royals and worked around a 2-out single to keep the score 1-0 after 1.

 

Chris Middleton led off the 2nd with a single, and following a Chris Miller walk, Tracey Warren singled home Middleton.  Tyler "Mr, Big Hit" Norman, in his first action of the season, was hit by a pitch to load the bases for latecomer DJ Chomyk.  WIth a 1-0 count, Chomyk blasted a grand slam to right center - his first home run as a Royal!  2 outs later, Chris Powell would walk, and Mike Miller would single him into scoring position.  Injured all-star Ryan Elliott would cap off the scoring by smashing a double to center, giving the Royals a 7-0 lead after one and a half.

 

The Marlins would get one back in the bottom of the inning, and after a quiet 3rd, the Marlins would storm back in the bottom of the inning.  Elliott would take the mound but his knuckleball would have trouble finding the strike zone, knocking him out of the game after 5 straight batters reached.  Chris "Mr. Go" Powell would come in and eventually stop the bleeding, but not before the Marlins would regain the lead 8-7.

 

The Royals offense would continue to thrive over the next 2 innings.  With 2 outs in the 4th, Archey would single and swipe second.  After working the count full, Powell would blast a 2-run no-doubter (his first home run as a Royal) to right to retake the lead and earn his new Mr. Go nickname.  In the 5th, the bottom of the lineup would come through again.  WIth 2 outs, back-to-back-to-back singles by Warren, Norman and Chomyk would plate 1.  Leadoff man Spires would single home another, and Archey would double home another.  But the Marlins would score a pair of unearned runs in the 5th to cut the Royals lead to 12-10.

 

The Marlins offense wasn't done, as they would plate 4 in the 6th (1 earned), chasing Powell from the game, and 3 in the 7th off Mike Miller (on 4 errors and no hits), the Royals would enter the 8th and final inning down 17-12.

 

Spires would walk to lead off the 8th (reaching base for the 3rd time on the day) and move into scoring position on pinch hitter Geoff Verheyen's ground out.  WIth 2 down, Mike Miller would single home Spires for his 3rd hit on the day (reaching base for the 4th time), and would score from first 1 pitch later on Elliott's second double of the day.  Unfortunately, that was all the offense the Royals could muster.

 

Congrats to the Marlins, and good luck as they finish the regular season and move into the playoffs!

 

 

 

Pitching

Geoff Verheyen - 2IP, ER, 2H, 3BB

Ryan Elliott - 0IP, 4ER, 2H, 3BB

Chris Powell - L, 4IP, 4ER, 3K, 6H, 4BB

Mike Miller - IP, 0H

 

Batting

DJ Chomyk - 2-4, HR (GS), 2R, 5RBI

Chris Powell - 1-3, HR, 2R, 2RBI, BB

Mike Miller - 3-5, 2B, R, 2RBI

Ryan Elliot - 2-5, 2-2B, 2RBI

Dominic Archey - 2-4, 2B, R, RBI

Chris Middleton - 2-4, R

Tracey Warren - 2-4, 2R, RBI