Kansas City Royals
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Kansas City Royals OFFICIAL GAME NOTES Seattle Mariners (4-4) @ Kansas City Royals (3-5) Kauffman Stadium - Tuesday, April 10, 2018 Game #9 - Home Game #4 FOX Sports Kansas City, FOX Sports Go and KCSP Radio (610 Sports) UPCOMING PITCHING PROBABLES Wednesday, April 11 vs. Seattle Mariners: LHP James Paxton (0-1, 7.45) vs. LHP Danny Duffy (0-2, 7.45), 1:15 p.m., FSKC (HD) & 610 Sports Thursday, April 12 vs. Los Angeles Angels: TBA vs. RHP Ian Kennedy (1-0, 0.75), 7:15 p.m., FSKC (HD) & 610 Sports Friday, April 13 vs. Los Angeles Angels: TBA vs. RHP Jason Hammel (0-1, 4.09), 7:15 p.m., FSKC (HD) & 610 Sports Saturday, April 14 vs. Los Angeles Angels: TBA vs. RHP Jakob Junis (2-0, 0.00), 6:15 p.m., FS 1 (HD) & 610 Sports Sunday, April 15 vs. Los Angeles Angels: TBA vs. LHP Eric Skoglund (0-0+ tonight), 1:15 p.m., FSKC (HD) & 610 Sports Tonight’s game is being broadcast in Kansas City on KCSP Radio (610 Sports) and the Royals Radio Network with Royals’ Hall of Famer Denny Matthews, Steve Physioc and Steve Stewart...tonight is being televised on FOX Sports Kansas City and FOX Sports Go with Ryan Lefebvre and Rex Hudler calling the action...Joel Goldberg and Royals’ Hall of Famer Jeff Montgomery anchor the pre and post-game shows, Royals Live. Mariners vs. Royals OFFENSE AWAKENS AND JUNIS FIRES BLANKS, AGAIN--The Royals opened this week-long The Royals took the opener of this 3-game set last night... stay in “The K” with their best offensive night of the still young year while Jakob Junis continued putting after tomorrow, KC is slated for a 3-game stop in Seattle at the up zeroes and Kansas City prevailed by a 10-0 count of the Mariners...the 25-year old former 29th round end of June...the Royals were 5-2 vs. the M’s last year and dat- ing back to May, 2016, Kansas City has taken nine of the last draft selection picked up where he left off last Tuesday in Detroit, as he tossed 7.0 innings allowing 13 meetings...KC possesses a 230-211 advantage in the all-time only a single to former summer-ball teammate Daniel Vogelbach with one out in the seventh...control work, including a 126-100 mark in Kauffman Stadium. was a minor hiccup on the frigid night as Junis tied his own club mark with three hit batters while also Date Site Score WP LP Att. walking a pair and fanning three...Jakob has now worked 14.0 scoreless innings to open 2018...meanwhile 4/9 KC W, 10-0 Junis Gonzales 12,324 4/10 KC the offense, which had scored six runs in its previous five games, set season highs with 10 runs on 13 4/11 KC hits...KC scored three in the first, one in the third and blew the contest open with five in the fourth... 6/29 @ Sea everyone but Cheslor Cuthbert had at least one hit, while Cuthbert contributed by walking three times... 6/30 @ Sea Mike Moustakas was the catalyst, driving home two in the first with a double then adding an infield single 7/1 @ Sea before closing his night with a home run off of infielder Taylor Motter, Moose’s first of the year. ALL WINS VIA BLANKINGS--Last night was Kansas City’s third win of the year and each have come while keeping the opposition off the board...the first two, in Detroit and Cleveland, respectively, were hold-your-breath 1-0 triumphs, while last night’s was a big exhale with a 10-0 final...the last Major League team to start the year with their first three triumphs occurring as shutouts were the 2016 Los Angeles Dodgers, when they opened the campaign with three straight blankings in San Diego...Jakob Junis has been the hottest during KC’s early stretch of shutouts, working 7.0 innings a week ago today in Detroit in the 1-0 triumph, then flirting with history last night by tossing no-hit ball for 6.1 innings and leaving after 7.0 without allowing a run. ROLLING WITH THE STARTERS--Dating back to a week ago today in Detroit, Kansas City’s four-pack of starters, Jakob Junis, Danny Duffy, Ian Kennedy and Jason Hammel have posted a 0.85 ERA (three earned runs in 31.2 innings), with eight walks and 25 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .127 average (14-for- 110)...the stretch has seen bookend 7.0-inning shutout performances by last night’s starter Junis...dating back to Friday in Cleveland when Danny Duffy was solved for three runs in the first inning, the starters have an active streak of 23.2 consecutive scoreless innings entering tonight. DARE WE SAY HEAT???--The Royals returned home to a first pitch temp of 42 degrees last night, which was made it the third “warmest” start for the club this year, all taking place here...the average first pitch temperature for the first eight games has been 39 degrees, starting with a pair of 45 degree starts here to open the season before an April Fool’s Day snowstorm postponed the Sunday finale...since April 2 in Detroit, the Royals and their opponents played in temps of 36 and 40 in Motown before a Wednesday postponement and then 41, 34 and 32 in Cleveland...tonight’s announced estimated first pitch temperature of near 55 degrees will mark the warmest day for KC since leaving Arizona on March 25. DUPE STAYS PERFECT--One of the top replay reviewers in the game, Bill Duplissea has converted his first three opportunities this year, including one in each of the last two games...fresh off a correction on Sunday in Cleveland, Duper noticed immediately that Mike Moustakas had beaten the throw on a second inning infield hit and just 36 seconds into the review the much warmer New York crew agreed...in his four-plus years as the replay coordinator, Duplissea has made good on over 66% of his challenges, which ranks among the best, including a season mark of 69% (24-for-35) last year, which was second to the New York Yankees 74% (28-of- 38)...Duper closed 2016 as the best in baseball with a 69.2% success rate, converting 27 of 39 challenges. TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Felix Hernandez (1-1, 7.71) vs. LHP Eric Skoglund (1st start of ‘18) 2017 2016 Career 2018 2017 Career Felix Hernandez vs. Royals 0-1 1-0 5-6 Major League Record 1-1 (7.71 ERA) 6-5 161-115 Eric Skoglund vs. Mariners First career appearance Major League Record First start of ‘18 1-2 1-2 ERIC SKOGLUND makes his first start of the season, his sixth Major League start and eighth overall big league appearance...the 25-year-old left-hander is in his second season as a Royal after debuting last year on May 30...he was originally selected by the Royals in the third round of the 2014 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Central Florida. Eric’s 2018 Cactus League Starts DELAYED DEBUT--Due to inclement weather early in the season, Eric hasn’t DATE OPPONENT SCORE IP H R ER HR BB SO TP-K LEFT 2/28 vs. Cincinnati* ND, 3-2 2.0 1 1 0 0 0 1 - 1-1 pitched in a game since March 17, when he defeated the Texas Rangers, 7-6, in the 3/6 vs. San Diego ND, 4-5 2.0 1 0 0 0 0 2 - 2-0 first game of a Cactus League doubleheader...he was scheduled to start KC’s exhibition 3/11 vs. Cleveland ND, 1-3 2.2 4 1 1 1 0 2 - 0-3 3/17 vs. Texas* W, 7-6 4.0 4 3 3 0 0 6 - 5-3 finale at Werner Park in Omaha on March 26, however that game was cancelled due 2018 Spring Totals 1-0 3.38 10.2 10 5 4 1 0 11 - - to rain...he was also skipped in the rotation last week, when the Royals’ Easter Sunday 2017 Totals 1-2 9.50 18.0 30 30 19 2 12 14 387-245 63.3% *-Start contest with the White Sox was postponed. SOLID SPRING--Skoglund went 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA (4 ER in 10.2 IP) in four Cactus League outings, which included no walks and 11 strikeouts...the victory came in what wound up his final spring outing, March 17, when he bested the Rangers, 7-6...in that outing, he pitched around three first-inning runs and fanned a spring-high six hitters in 4.0 innings. DYNAMITE DEBUT IN ‘17--Eric debuted on May 30 of last season, earning a 1-0 victory over Detroit, tossing 6.1 scoreless frames to top two-time AL Cy Young Award winner, Justin Verlander...the lefty allowed just two hits and a walk, while racking up five strikeouts to become the 10th Royal to start and win his big league debut...his 6.1 scoreless frames marked the third-longest outing without a run by a KC pitcher in his first start, trailing only Rich Gale (1978) and Derek Botelho (1982), who both fired 7.0 shutout innings in their debuts...according to Elias Sports Bureau, Skoglund was also the third starting pitcher in Major League history to win 1-0 over a former Cy Young Award winner in his MLB debut, joining Steve Woodward (July 28, 1997 over Roger Clemens) and Lee Tunnell (September 4, 1982 over Fernando Valenzuela).