Kansas City Royals OFFICIAL GAME NOTES Kansas City Royals (52-100) @ Detroit Tigers (61-91) Comerica Park - Thursday, September 20, 2018 Game #153 - Road Game #76 Fox Sports Kansas City, KCSP Radio (610 Sports) UPCOMING PITCHING PROBABLES Friday, September 21 @ Detroit Tigers: RHP Ian Kennedy (2-8, 4.73) vs. LHP Francisco Liriano (5-10, 4.54), 6:10 p.m. (CDT), FSKC & 610 Sports Saturday, September 22 @ Detroit Tigers: RHP Jakob Junis (8-12, 4.42) vs. RHP Jordan Zimmermann (7-8, 4.41), 5:10 p.m. (CDT), FSKC & 610 Sports Sunday, September 23 @ Detroit Tigers: RHP Brad Keller (8-6, 3.17) vs. LHP Daniel Norris (0-5, 5.71), 12:10 p.m. (CDT), FSKC & 610 Sports Monday, September 24: Off day in Cincinnati Tuesday, September 25 @ Cincinnati Reds: LHP Eric Skoglund (1-5, 5.60) vs. RHP Matt Harvey (7-9, 4.92), 5:40 p.m. (CDT), FSKC & 610 Sports Wednesday, September 26 @ Cincinnati Reds: RHP Heath Fillmyer (3-2, 4.56) vs. LHP Cody Reed (0-2+ tonight), 5:40 p.m. (CDT), FSKC & 610 Sports Tonight’s game is being broadcast in Kansas City on KCSP Radio (610 Sports) and the Royals Radio Network with Steve Physioc and Steve Stewart mikeside…this entire road trip will be televised on FSKC, with Ryan Lefebvre and Rex Hudler describing the action...Joel Goldberg and Royals’ Hall of Famer Jeff Montgomery are on board for the pre and post-game shows, Royals Live. Royals vs. Tigers CLOSE CALLS, BUT STILL SWEPT--The Royals hit Detroit following a three-game sweep by the The Royals enter the final four of the year vs. the Tigers with Pirates in PNC Park, capped by a 2-1 loss last night...all three contests were one-run decisions, with the a 9-6 advantage...KC is a win away from its fourth straight win- Bucs walking off the Royals in the first two games, then riding an Adam Frazier fifth-inning solo homer last ning season series over Detroit, also taking the 2015-17 sets... Kansas City is 3-3 here this year and overall possesses a 353-345 night for what proved to be the deciding run...rookie Heath Fillmyer was outstanding in defeat, working 7.0 lead in all-time work but a 168-180 deficit in Motown. innings scattering eight hits and allowing two runs with no walks and five strikeouts...his mound opponent Date Site Score WP LP Att. and former A.L. familiar face, Chris Archer, was just a tad better working 7.0 innings allowing just a run 4/2 @ Det L, 1-6 Liriano Hammel 15,476 4/3 @ Det W, 1-0 Junis Boyd 15,083 on six hits while fanning eight...Adalberto Mondesi was the majority of KC’s offense, collecting a one-out 4/20-1 @ Det L, 2-3 (10) Jimenez Keller 15,406 double in the first, but was left stranded after a steal of third, and then putting the lone run on the board with 4/20-2 @ Det W, 3-2 Junis Greene 17,194 his 10th homer of the year in the third inning...the Royals didn’t have many scoring opportunities, going 4/21 @ Det L, 4-12 Fiers Duffy 19,302 4/22 @ Det W, 8-5 McCarthy VerHagen 19,034 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position...the loss was KC’s fourth straight...the last time the Royals were 5/3 KC W, 10-6 McCarthy Bell 28,866 swept in a three-game set with all one-run losses was May 15-17, 2013 during a visit to Oakland. 5/4 KC W, 4-2 Boyer Stumpf 24,648 5/5 KC L, 2-3 Zimmermann Hammel 20,708 LOSS TOTAL HITS A C-NOTE--The struggles of the 2018 season have brought the Royals to a 100-loss 5/6 KC W, 4-2 Junis Boyd 18,424 7/23 KC L, 4-5 Wilson Maurer 18,370 campaign for the fifth time in franchise history and the first time since 2006...Kansas City played its first 7/24 KC W, 5-4 Smith Zimmermann 25,957 33 seasons without hitting the century mark in defeats, but dropped 100 games in 2002, followed by three 7/25 KC L, 4-8 Boyd Duffy 17,382 consecutive 100-loss seasons in 2004 (104), 2005 (106) and 2006 (100)...since the last 100-loss season, 8/28 KC W, 6-2 Junis (C) Boyd 16,888 8/29 KC W, 9-2 Duffy Fulmer 17,091 Kansas City has won two American League titles (2014 and 2015) and were the World Champions in 2015. 9/20 @ Det 9/21 @ Det K’S PREVALENT IN PITTSBURGH--Kansas City’s recent run of offensive success hit a snag over the last 9/22 @ Det two nights in Pittsburgh, plating only two runs total in the last two defeats...contact was the biggest culprit 9/23 @ Det as KC fanned 27 times in the last two games, including a season-high 17 in Tuesday’s 11-inning defeat... despite the rugged offense the last two nights, KC leads the Majors in extra-base hits (101) and ranks second in slugging percentage (.466) since August 22...the long ball has been a big reason with Adalberto Mondesi’s shot last night the 33rd home run by a Royal since August 22, good for third in the A.L. in that span, behind only the Yankees (43) and Oakland (35)…it’s a huge turnaround from when KC ranked last in the Majors in homers (78) and 29th in slugging percentage (.368) prior to the break. ROAD STRUGGLES CONTINUE--Though the Royals have turned their home season around by winning 13 of their last 16 in Kauffman Stadium, things haven’t gone nearly as well away from “The K”...last night’s loss dropped KC to 3-17 in the last 20 road affairs and lowered the season ledger to 22-53...this nine-game journey is the final road swing of the season, with the Royals 0-3 after the visit to Pittsburgh, with this four-game set slated for Comerica Park starting tonight and then KC will wrap up the road schedule with the final pair of Interleague games in Cincinnati following an off day next Monday…the club has gone 3-5 in National League parks this year (0-3 in Pittsburgh, 2-1 in St. Louis and 1-1 in Milwaukee). TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Jorge López (2-4, 3.93) vs. LHP Matthew Boyd (9-12, 4.08) 2018 2017 Career 2018 2017 Career Jorge López vs. Tigers First career appearance Major League Record 2-4 (3.93 ERA) 0-0 3-5 Matthew Boyd vs. Royals 1-3 1-1 3-7 Major League Record 9-12 (4.08 ERA) 6-11 22-34 JORGE LÓPEZ makes his seventh start with the Royals and 17th Major League appearance of the season, the first 10 of which came with Milwaukee…it’s his ninth career start (20th appearance)…he’s facing Detroit for the first time in his career…he was acquired from Milwaukee on July 28 with Brett Phillips for Mike Moustakas…López was originally selected by Milwaukee in the second round of the 2011 First-Year Player Draft out of Puerto Rico. NO DECISION IN INJURY SHORTENED START--Jorge didn’t factor into Jorge’s MLB Starts with Kansas City DATE OPPONENT SCORE IP H R ER HR BB SO TP-K LEFT the decision of the Royals’ 8-4 walk-off win via Salvador Perez’s grand slam vs. 8/15 vs. Toronto L, 5-6 4.2 8 6 6 1 2 3 88-57 3-6 Minnesota last Friday…López exited after 4.1 innings, trailing 3-2, due to a left rib 8/20 at Tampa Bay L, 0-1 5.0 5 1 1 0 3 3 95-57 0-1 8/26 vs. Cleveland L, 5-12 4.0 5 5 5 0 3 4 79-48 2-5 contusion that he sustained earlier in the inning when he collided with Hunter Dozier 9/2 vs. Baltimore W, 9-1 7.0 5 1 1 0 0 8 99-68 5-1 9/8 at Minnesota W, 4-1 8.0 1 1 1 0 1 4 110-68 4-1 as they pursued a high chopper behind the mound…López was charged with three runs 9/14 vs. Minnesota ND, 8-4 4.1 9 3 3 1 1 1 71-52 3-2 on nine hits and no walks with one strikeout…he held the Twins scoreless through 4.0 2018 MLB Totals 2-4 3.93 52.2 49 23 23 3 22 38 856-539 62.7% innings, stranding four singles…he yielded hits to four of five batters in the fifth, the Career MLB Totals 3-5 4.18 64.2 67 30 30 3 28 48 - - last three of which produced runs…Whit Merrifield took López off the hook with a game-tying RBI single in the ninth, ahead of Perez’s walk-off grand slam, the sixth in the Royals’ 50-year history. PUERTO RICAN CONNECTION--Jorge’s last start on Friday vs. Minnesota was his second straight matchup vs. fellow countryman, José Berríos…they are the only two Puerto Rican-born pitchers to start a Major League game this season…according to Elias, prior to their matchups on Sept. 8 in Minnesota and Friday in Kansas City, the last time Puerto Ricans started against each other was July 21, 2010, when the Angels’ Joel Piñeiro met the Yankees’ Javier Vázquez.