Kansas City Royals OFFICIAL GAME NOTES Tampa Bay Rays (66-68) @ Kansas City Royals (65-66) Kauffman Stadium - Wednesday, August 30, 2017 Game #132 - Home Game #68 FOX Sports Kansas City (HD) & KCSP Radio (610 Sports) UPCOMING PITCHING PROBABLES Thursday, August 31: Travel day to Minnesota Friday, September 1 @ Minnesota Twins: RHP Jason Hammel (6-10, 4.76) vs. TBA, 7:10 p.m., FSKC (HD) & 610 Sports Saturday, September 2 @ Minnesota Twins: TBA vs. RHP Kyle Gibson (8-10, 5.59), 6:10 p.m., FSKC (HD) & 610 Sports Sunday, September 3 @ Minnesota Twins: TBA vs. RHP Ervin Santana (14-7, 3.27), 1:10 p.m., FSKC (HD) & 610 Sports Tonight’s game can be heard on KCSP Radio (610 Sports) and the Royals Radio Network with Royals Hall of Famer Denny Matthews, Steve Physioc and Steve Stewart on the call, while Don Free controls the dials as the producer/engineer…tonight is being televised in HD on FSKC with Ryan Lefebvre and Rex Hudler mikeside, while Joel Goldberg and Royals Hall of Famer Jeff Montgomery host the pre/postgame shows, Royals Live. Royals vs. Rays A STREAK SNAPPING NIGHT--The Royals brought a pair of futile streaks to an end with last night’s 6-2 The Royals evened this series with last night’s win, the 29th in win over the Rays, halting a 5-game slide and the club record setting scoreless inning streak at 45.0 innings... the last 39 meetings with the Rays, including a 17-2 mark in “The K” in that span...the recent stretch of success has allowed KC to Whit Merrifield will be the answer to the trivia question as to who finally snapped the drought when he climb out of a 48-65 all-time deficit into a 77-75 advantage...KC is clubbed a 2-out home run to left in the third inning to stake KC to a 1-0 lead...that would be the first of three 42-28 vs. the Rays in Kauffman Stadium. blasts on the night, as Jorge Bonifacio hit a solo shot in the sixth and then Eric Hosmer let the air out of the Date Site Score WP LP Att. game with a 3-run opposite field homer in the seventh...the 6-run outburst was more than enough for rookie 5/8 @ TB W, 7-3 Karns Snell 12,826 5/9 @ TB W, 7-6 (12) Junis Moreno 9,921 Jakob Junis and the bullpen, with Junis upping his record to 6-2 with 5.2 innings of 3-hit work, giving up one 5/10 @ TB L, 1-12 Archer Hammel 9,320 run while establishing a career-best with eight strikeouts...unfortunately, it was a successful night for most 5/11 @ TB W, 6-0 Vargas Odorizzi 9,340 8/28 KC L, 0-12 Pruitt Kennedy 21,866 of the Wild Card chase competitors as KC remained three out for the second slot, though did pick up a game 8/29 KC W, 6-2 Junis Cobb 25,204 on the Yankees for the hosting W.C. position and now trail by 5 1/2. DUPE RECORDS REPLAY FIRST--Kansas City replay guru Bill Duplissea had a record night on Tuesday, requesting and winning three replay challenges for a franchise first...twice he felt that Lorenzo Cain successfully beat out infield hits at first and each time was proved correct, then his eagle eye saw that Lucas Duda was actually hit by a pitch in the sixth inning while swinging at it and when New York agreed with that assessment, Kevin Kiermaier was sent back to first base since the ball was deemed dead...Duper is now a Major League best 21-for-28 for a 75% success rate, while based on the last MLB replay report that was released on Monday, the Yankees are the only other club above 70% by making good on 20-of-28 challenges...Bill closed 2016 as the best in baseball at his craft with a 69.2% success rate, converting 27 of 39 challenges, with the Mets next at 67.7% (21-for-31). JUNIS TOUGH IN AUGUST--Rookie right-hander Jakob Junis appears to be getting more comfortable with the big league lights with every outing as he delivered 5.2 strong innings last night against the Rays in a 6-2 win, a score that also matches his season record...the former 29th round pick from 2011 finished up his month of August with a 3-0 record and 2.96 ERA, spanning five outings (four starts) giving up nine earned runs in 27.1 innings...he was particularly effective as a starter during the month, going 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA, giving up only five earned runs in 25.0 innings with just one walk and 24 strikeouts, holding opposing hitters to a .194 average and compiling a WHIP of 0.76. RISP DROUGHT HALTED TOO--When Mike Moustakas drove home Eric Hosmer with a fourth inning single last night, he snapped Kansas City’s 0-for-20 dry spell with runners in scoring position...prior to last night, KC’s last hit in a RISP situation was Eric Hosmer’s walk-off 3-run homer a week ago tonight against the Rockies... KC finished last night 3-for-9 with runners in scoring position and despite the recent run of tough luck, the Royals have hit .297 in RISP situations since June 21, which is second only to Baltimore’s .298 mark in that span...KC’s .262 season mark with runners in scoring position is sixth in the A.L. ACE 30 REMEMBERING YO--The morning of January 22, 2017 will always be remembered as one of the most tragic days in franchise history when word was received that pitcher Yordano Ventura had his life cut short due to a car accident in his native Dominican Republic...signed as a 17-year old in 2008, the fireballing right-hander compiled a 38-31 during his abbreviated Major League career...among many highlights, “Ace” will be most remembered for blanking the San Francisco Giants over 7.0 innings in Game #6 of the 2014 World Series to force a seventh and deciding game, while pitching with a heavy heart himself due to the untimely passing of his friend Oscar Tavares...to honor the late Ventura, all uniforms in 2017 will be adorned with the ACE 30 patch. TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Jake Odorizzi (6-7, 4.82) vs. LHP Jason Vargas (14-8, 3.72) 2017 2016 Career 2017 2016 Career Jake Odorizzi vs. Royals 0-1 1-0 1-4 Major League Record 6-7 (4.82 ERA) 10-6 36-37 Jason Vargas vs. Rays 1-0 - 5-5 Major League Record 14-8 (3.72 ERA) 0-0 81-78 JASON VARGAS takes the hill for his 26th start of the season, the 222nd of his career, 242nd overall appearance...he’s facing the Rays for the second time this year and 13th time in his career (12th start)...the 34-year-old left-hander is in the final season of a four-year deal he signed with Kansas City on November 22, 2013. DEJA VU--For the second time in as many starts Jason fell to Cleveland with the Jason’s 2017 Starts Royals failing to score, dropping a 4-0 decision at Progressive Field last Friday, less than DATE OPPONENT SCORE IP H R ER HR BB SO TP-K LEFT 4/7 at Houston W, 5-1 6.0 6 1 1 0 1 6 93-62 2-1 a week after a 5-0 loss here...he was charged with four runs on six hits over 5.0 innings, 4/13 Oakland W, 3-1 7.2 4 0 0 0 1 8 98-66 3-0 with two walks and two K’s...he surrendered a pair of RBI hits in the third inning, then a 4/19 San Francisco W, 2-0 7.0 4 0 0 0 0 9 92-61 1-0 4/24 at White Sox L, 1-12 5.0 7 4 3 1 0 5 96-60 1-4 Francisco Lindor two-run shot in the fifth capped the scoring...it was Vargy’s fourth loss 5/1 White Sox W, 6-1 6.0 5 1 1 0 3 1 96-59 4-1 in five starts this month and the third time KC has been blanked in that span...since the 5/6 Cleveland ND, 1-3 6.0 4 0 0 0 2 6 92-61 1-0 5/11 at Tampa Bay W, 6-0 7.0 3 0 0 0 1 4 96-63 6-0 All-Star break, he has received 25 runs of support in his three non-losing starts (two wins 5/17 NY Yankees L, 7-11 4.0 7 6 6 1 2 4 91-56 0-6 and a no-decision) and just five runs in his five defeats. 5/22 at NY Yankees L, 2-4 6.0 4 3 3 2 3 6 102-63 2-3 5/27 at Cleveland W, 5-2 5.2 9 2 2 1 2 2 94-60 4-2 WINNER, WINNER--Despite his recent struggles, Jason’s 14 wins are tied with Ervin 6/2 Cleveland (CG) W, 4-0 9.0 7 0 0 0 1 3 103-69 4-0 6/7 Houston W, 7-5 5.0 6 2 2 1 1 5 89-53 7-2 Santana and Drew Pomeranz for second in the A.L.