Kansas City Royals OFFICIAL GAME NOTES Kansas City Royals (65-67) @ Minnesota Twins (70-63) Target Field - Friday, September 1, 2017 Game #133 - Road Game #65 FOX Sports Kansas City (HD) & KCSP Radio (610 Sports) UPCOMING PITCHING PROBABLES Saturday, September 2 @ Minnesota Twins: LHP Onelki Garcia (0-0, 7.94) vs. RHP Kyle Gibson (8-10, 5.59), 6:10 p.m., FSKC (HD) & 610 Sports Sunday, September 3 @ Minnesota Twins: RHP Ian Kennedy (4-10, 5.47) vs. RHP Ervin Santana (14-7, 3.27), 1:10 p.m., FSKC (HD) & 610 Sports Monday, September 4 @ Detroit Tigers: TBA vs. TBA, 12:10 p.m. (CDT), FSKC (HD) & 610 Sports Tuesday, September 5 @ Detroit Tigers: TBA vs. TBA, 6:10 p.m. (CDT), FSKC (HD) & 610 Sports Wednesday, September 6 @ Detroit Tigers: TBA vs. TBA, 6:10 p.m. (CDT), FS 1 (HD) & 610 Sports Tonight’s game can be heard on KCSP Radio (610 Sports) and the Royals Radio Network with 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. Twins SOLO SHOTS SPOIL HOMESTAND FINALE--Fifth inning solo homers by Steven Souza Jr. and Kansas After starting the season 0-6 against the Twins, the Royals City product Logan Morrison snapped a 3-3 tie and handed the Royals a 5-3 loss to the Rays in the series have won four of the last six meetings, but still trail the season and homestand finale on Wednesday night...the defeat and yesterday’s action dropped KC to 4 1/2 games out work by a 4-8 margin...it’s a far cry from the 15-4 advantage KC had a season ago...the Royals trail the all-time series by a 372- of the second Wild Card slot in a logjam with seven other clubs vying for the two entries into the October 392 count, including a 173-207 deficit in the Twin Cities, but a dance...Jason Vargas fell to 14-9 allowing five runs on seven hits over 6.0 innings, his sixth loss in the last 36-35 advantage in Target Field. eight decisions after reeling off seven straight wins during May and June...Tampa Bay jumped out to a 3-0 Date Site Score WP LP Att. 4/3 @ Min L, 1-7 Santana Strahm 39,615 lead in the third, but the Royals came right back when Whit Merrifield clubbed his 17th home run of the 4/5 @ Min L, 1-9 Santiago Kennedy 15,171 year, a 3-run shot off of fomer KC farmhand Jake Odorizzi...unfortunately, those were the only runs scored 4/6 @ Min L, 3-5 Rogers Minor 16,078 by Kansas City, who closed August with a 10-18 record, the first losing month since April. 4/28 KC L, 4-6 Breslow Soria 27,911 4/30 KC L, 5-7 Hughes Hammel 32,685 NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK--With September baseball comes September call-ups from the minor leagues 5/19 @ Min L, 3-4 (10) Kintzler Alburquerque 23,553 5/21 @ Min (1) W, 6-4 Minor Hughes and the Royals have brought in a handful of reinforcements from the Omaha (AAA) club...among the @ Min (2) L, 4-8 Mejia Kennedy 27,852 newbies joining the big league club tonight are outfielders Terrance Gore and Paulo Orlando, infielder Raul 6/30 KC W, 8-1 Vargas Santana 34,332 7/1 KC (1) W, 11-6 Minor Duffey 25,571 Mondesi, catcher Cam Gallagher and right-handed pitcher Andres Machado...Gore, Orlando, Mondesi and KC (2) L, 5-10 Jorge Hammel 32,448 Gallagher were all recalls as part of the 40-man roster, while Machado’s contract was selected and placed 7/2 KC W, 6-2 Alexander Santiago 28,775 on the 40...to make room on the roster the Royals have transferred pitcher Brian Flynn to the 60-day DL... 9/1 @ Min 9/2 @ Min the club also reinstated righty Trevor Cahill from the 10-day DL (right shoulder impingement syndrome). 9/3 @ Min WAIVER CLAIM--Additionally, Kansas City claimed right-handed pitcher Sam Gaviglio (pronounced: guh- VEE-lee-oh) off waivers from Seattle...Gaviglio, 27, pitched in 12 games with the M’s this year, going 3-5 with a 4.62 ERA, including a victory over these Twins on June 14...he will join the club for tomorrow’s game...to make room on the 40-man roster, the Royals released right-handed pitcher Neftali Feliz, who was on the disabled list. AUGUST HONOREES--The Royals announced today that first baseman Eric Hosmer and right-handed pitcher Jakob Junis have been named Royals Player and Pitcher of the Month, respectively, for the month of August...this is Hosmer’s 11th career Royals Player of the Month honor (third this season), third most since the award was first given in 1995, trailing only Alex Gordon and Mike Sweeney (13 each)...Junis is the first rookie to win Royals Pitcher of the Months honors since Louis Coleman in July, 2011 and the first to do it as a starter since Brian Bannister in August, 2007. 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 are adorned with the ACE 30 patch. TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Jason Hammel (6-10, 4.76) vs. RHP Dillon Gee (1-1, 3.53) 2017 2016 Career 2017 2016 Career Jason Hammel vs. Twins 0-2 - 2-3 Major League Record 6-10 (4.76 ERA) 15-10 90-97 Dillon Gee vs. Royals - - 0-0 Major League Record 1-1 (3.53 ERA) 8-9 49-47 JASON HAMMEL takes the hill for his team-leading 27th start of the season, the 275th of his career and 333rd appearance...he faces Minnesota for the fourth time in 2017 and the 11th time in his career (10th start)...Hammel, who will turn 35 years old tomorrow, signed a two-year deal with the Royals on February 8. BLANKED IN “THE PRO”--Despite carrying a perfect game into the sixth inning, Jason’s 2017 Starts Jason suffered a 4-0 setback to the Tribe last Saturday in Cleveland...he retired the first DATE OPPONENT SCORE IP H R ER HR BB SO TP-K LEFT 4/6 at Minnesota ND, 3-5 5.0 6 3 3 0 4 2 95-59 3-3 16 he faced, but was charged with four runs on six hits over his final 1.2 frames (6.2 IP 4/12 Oakland L, 3-8 4.2 7 4 4 0 2 4 94-55 0-4 4/18 San Francisco ND, 1-2 6.0 6 1 1 0 1 3 87-58 1-1 total)...with one out in the sixth, Hammel gave up 3-straight hits, including Roberto Perez’s 4/23 at Texas L, 2-5 3.0 4 3 3 0 3 5 84-47 2-2 two-run homer...he also allowed a pair of solo home runs in the seventh, departing after 89 4/30 Minnesota L, 5-7 3.0 6 5 5 1 3 5 77-47 2-5 5/5 Cleveland W, 3-1 6.0 3 1 1 1 2 6 95-58 3-1 pitches...he’s been taken deep seven times in his last three starts (3.38 HR/9) after allowing 5/10 at Tampa Bay L, 1-12 7.0 13 7 6 2 1 6 107-75 0-7 5/16 NY Yankees L, 1-7 6.0 9 5 5 2 1 0 107-77 0-5 just one roundtripper in his previous five outings (0.30 HR/9), between July 19-August 5/24 at NY Yankees L, 0-3 6.0 6 3 3 1 2 7 98-64 0-2 10...it was his second loss since the All-Star break, after going 4-8 in his first 17 starts. 5/29 Detroit ND, 7-10 4.1 4 4 4 0 4 4 81-40 3-1 6/3 Cleveland W, 12-5 6.2 5 3 3 2 0 7 96-64 6-3 RISPY BUSINESS--Hammel faced just one situation with a runner in scoring 6/8 Houston ND, 1-6 7.0 4 1 1 0 0 4 85-59 1-1 position last Saturday, allowing a walk with a man on third before exiting the game...he’s 6/14 at San Francisco W, 7-2 6.2 8 1 1 0 1 4 98-66 5-1 6/19 Boston W, 4-2 7.0 7 2 2 1 0 4 91-66 4-2 still third in the American League, holding the opposition to a .202 average (22-for-109) 6/25 Toronto ND, 2-8 5.0 5 2 2 1 3 6 105-63 2-2 7/1 Minnesota (2) L, 5-10 5.1 9 7 6 1 2 5 107-71 2-6 with RISP, trailing only Drew Pomeranz (.184) and Ervin Santana (.200)...opponents have 7/7 at LA Dodgers L, 1-4 6.0 8 3 3 1 3 7 102-69 1-3 gone just 1-for-9 (.111) in scoring situations over Jason’s last four starts, with the one hit 7/14 Texas ND, 3-5 5.2 4 3 3 1 2 4 108-68 3-3 7/19 Detroit ND, 4-3 6.1 4 1 1 0 1 2 97-63 1-1 being a two-run homer by Francisco Lindor on August 20.