Kansas City Royals
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Kansas City Royals OFFICIAL GAME NOTES Kansas City Royals (0-1) @ Detroit Tigers (1-0) Comerica Park - Wednesday, April 2, 2014 Game #2 - Road Game #2 Fox Sports Kansas City (HD) and KCSP Radio (610 Sports) UPCOMING PITCHING PROBABLES Thursday, April 3 @ Detroit Tigers: RHP Yordano Ventura vs. RHP Anibal Sanchez, 12:10 p.m. (CDT), FSKC (HD) & 610 Sports Friday, April 4 vs. Chicago White Sox: RHP Erik Johnson vs. RHP Jeremy Guthrie, 3:10 p.m., FSKC (HD) & 610 Sports Saturday, April 5 vs. Chicago White Sox: LHP John Danks vs. LHP Bruce Chen, 1:10 p.m., FSKC (HD) & 610 Sports Sunday, April 6 vs. Chicago White Sox: LHP Chris Sale (1-0, 3.68) vs. RHP James Shields (0-0, 4.26), 1:10 p.m., FSKC (HD) & 610 Sports Today’s game is being broadcast in Kansas City on KCSP Radio (610 Sports) and the Royals Radio Network with Denny Matthews, Steve Physioc and Steve Stewart, while Don Free controls the dials as the producer/engineer...today’s game is being televised in High Definition by Fox Sports Kansas City with Ryan Lefebvre and Rex Hudler...the pre and postgame show on FSKC, Royals Live, is hosted by Joel Goldberg, who is joined by Jeff Montgomery. Royals vs. Tigers KC WALKED OFF IN OPENER--The Royals had their Opening Day drought extend to 6 in a row The Royals dropped the season opener on Monday, the first with a tough 4-3 setback here on Monday, as Alex Gonzalez singled in the tie-breaking run off of Greg of 19 games between these clubs, 10 of which will be contested Holland with one out in the ninth...Kansas City, who hasn’t won a season opener since prevailing in in Kauffman Stadium, the first occurring on May 2...KC edged a 5-4 contest here in 2008, entered the seventh inning with a 3-1 lead over long time nemesis Justin out Detroit in 2013 by a 10-9 margin...the Royals possess a slim 305-303 advantage in the all-time work, but trail in Motown by Verlander...the Tigers rallied for a pair of runs in the seventh, both charged to starter James Shields, a 145-162 mark, including 58-70 here in Comerica. who handed the ball over with an out and two aboard...the KC offense was all about catcher Salvador Date Site Score WP LP Att. Perez, the only player entering today’s action here with a 1.000 batting average after going 4-for-4 3/31 @ Det L, 3-4 Nathan Davis 45,068 4/2 @ Det with a pair of doubles...he was in the middle of Kansas City’s 3-run fourth inning, driving home Alex 4/3 @ Det Gordon, who had walked, and then scoring on a Lorenzo Cain single...after a Detroit error, former 5/2 KC Tiger, Omar Infante walked with the sacks full to force in the third run. 5/3 KC 5/4 KC SALVY’S OFFENSE CAN’T SALVAGE WIN--Salvador Perez is already renowned for his glove 6/16 @ Det work, earning his first Rawlings Gold Glove in 2013, but he opened 2014 as a top offensive performer 6/17 @ Det 6/18 @ Det by tying a club record with four Opening Day hits...it was the fourth time in franchise history, the 7/10 KC first time in 35 years since Fred Patek opened the 1979 campaign with four knocks against Toronto... 7/11 KC Amos Otis (1977) and Lou Piniella also accomplished the feat with Piniella’s coming in the first game 7/12 KC in franchise history with him serving manager Joe Gordon as the centerfielder...half of Salvy’s hits on 7/13 KC 9/8 @ Det Monday were doubles, the sixth Royal in history to have two doubles in the season opener, first since 9/9 @ Det Ken Harvey on March 31, 2003...Monday’s effort also tied a personal career best, his fourth 4-hit game. 9/10 @ Det 9/19 KC OPENER ISSUES CONTINUE--Monday marked the third straight year the Royals have opened on 9/20 KC the road and the sixth consecutive season they’ve dropped their lid-lifter...Kansas City is now 15-31 9/21 KC in season openers with Monday the 24th time that Kansas City opened its year on the road, posting a 5-18 mark...Monday was the seventh time KC started vs. the Tigers, now 2-5 in those, including a 2-2 ledger in Motown. FINAL ROSTER--The final roster features 11 pitchers (lefthanders Francisley Bueno, Bruce Chen, Tim Collins and Jason Vargas, and righties Aaron Crow, Wade Davis, Jeremy Guthrie, Kelvin Herrera, Greg Holland, James Shields and Yordano Ventura); two catchers (Brett Hayes and Salvador Perez); seven infielders (Billy Butler, Pedro Ciriaco, Alcides Escobar, Eric Hosmer, Omar Infante, Mike Moustakas and Danny Valencia); five outfielders (Nori Aoki, Lorenzo Cain, Jarrod Dyson, Alex Gordon and Justin Maxwell)...Louis Coleman (right middle finger contusion) and Luke Hochevar (Tommy John surgery) being the year on the 15-day disabled list. KC STILL REVIEW-LESS IN 2014--Instant Replay is officially a part of baseball’s decision making process, but in the now six games in which the Royals could challenge, including a handful in spring training, the umpiring has not needed challenging...the “Cliff Notes” version is that each manager gets a challenge for the first six innings and if he challenges correctly, he’ll receive another...after the sixth inning, the umpires will initiate challenges...in the five replay affairs involving the Royals in Arizona, the umpires went 5-for-5 on calls. TRYING TO TAME A TWO-TIME TIGER--Kansas City is out to snap former Missouri Tiger and current Detroit Tiger, Max Scherzer’s 5-game winning streak vs. the Royals spanning 8 starts...KC’s last triumph over Scherzer was here on August 29, 2011, when Alex Gordon had 4 hits in a 9-5 win. TODAY’S STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Jason Vargas (9-8, 4.02 in ‘13) vs. RHP Max Scherzer (21-3, 2.90 in ‘13) 2013 2012 Career 2013 2012 Career Jason Vargas vs. Tigers - 2-0 2-1 Major League Record 9-8 (4.02 ERA) 14-11 51-58 Max Scherzer vs. Royals 3-0 2-0 9-4 Major League Record 21-3 (2.90 ERA) 16-7 73-45 JASON VARGAS makes his first regular season start in a Kansas City uniform today...this is his 175th career appearance, 155th start and sixth start against Detroit...he is a lifetime 51-58 in a career that has spanned stops with the Marlins, Mets, Mariners and Angels since debuting in 2005...Vargas signed a 4-year free agent contract last November 22. Jason’s 2014 spring appearances EXCHANGING RED FOR BLUE--Jason joins the Royals after spending 2013 with the Angels, where he went 9-8 with a 4.02 ERA in 150.0 innings...he DATE OPPONENT SCORE IP H R ER HR BB SO TP-K LEFT 3/1 vs. San Diego ND, 7-3 2.0 1 0 0 0 0 1 - - earned American League Pitcher of the Month honors last May before his season 3/6 vs. Chicago-AL ND, 6-6 3.0 5 0 0 0 0 1 - - was interrupted by a blood clot in his left arm, which caused him to miss 8 weeks... 3/11 vs. L.A.-NL ND, 5-7 4.0 4 1 1 0 1 2 - - 3/16 at San Diego ND, 9-6 5.0 4 3 3 2 1 4 - - he recorded 3 complete games and 2 shutouts, with both totals tying for third in the 3/22 vs. Texas W, 8-4 7.0 8 1 1 0 1 5 - - league. 3/28 at Milwaukee W, 5-4 3.0 2 3 3 1 2 1 - - 2014 Spring Totals 2-0, 3.00 24.0 24 8 8 3 5 14 - - SPRING STATS--Vargas won his final 2 spring starts to finish 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA over 6 starts (8 ER in 24.0 IP)...he last pitched on Friday at Miller Park, working around Ryan Braun’s 3-run homer to complete 3.0 innings in a 5-4 win... he tossed a spring-high 7.0 innings in his final Cactus League start on March 22, holding Texas to a run on 8 hits and a walk in an 8-4 win. STARTING STRONG --Today is the fourth consecutive season that Vargas has opened his year on the road, pitching well in the previous 3...he held opponents to a single run each time for a combined 1.45 ERA (3 ER in 18.2 IP), but received 3 no decisions, with his club going 1-2...last year, he limited Texas to a run on 8 hits and 2 walks over 5.2 innings, exiting in line for a win before the Rangers rallied to win 3-2. DEEP WORKER--Jason is tied for fifth in the Majors with 9 complete games and 5 shutouts since the start of 2011...he was 1 of 8 American League pitchers to toss at least 200.0 innings in 2011 and 2012, and led all A.L. lefties with 217.1 innings in 2012. VS. DETROIT--Jason is facing Detroit for the sixth time and first since 2012 while with Seattle...he’s 2-1 with a 4.60 ERA (15 ER in 29.1 IP), including 1-1 here at Comerica Park, where the Tigers have scored 10 runs in 10.1 innings...he won a 2-1 decision in his last matchup on May 9, 2012 at Safeco Field, holding Detroit to a run on 5 hits over 8.0 innings.