Kansas City Royals OFFICIAL GAME NOTES New York Yankees (31-30) @ Kansas City Royals (30-32) Kauffman Stadium - Sunday, June 8, 2014 Game #63 - Home Game #32 Fox Sports Kansas City (HD) & KCSP Radio (610 Sports) UPCOMING PITCHING PROBABLES Monday, June 9 vs. New York Yankees: LHP Vidal Nuno (1-2, 5.33) vs. LHP Jason Vargas (5-2, 3.28), 7:10 p.m., FSKC (HD) & 610 Sports Tuesday, June 10 vs. Cleveland Indians: RHP Corey Kluber (6-3, 3.23) vs. RHP Yordano Ventura (3-5, 3.41), 7:10 p.m., FSKC (HD) & 610 Sports Wednesday, June 11 vs. Cleveland Indians: RHP Trevor Bauer (1-2, 4.08) vs. RHP Jeremy Guthrie (2-6, 4.10), 1:10 p.m., FSKC (HD) & 610 Sports Thursday, June 12: Travel day to Chicago (Royals’ Father’s Day trip) Friday, June 13 @ Chicago White Sox: LHP Danny Duffy (3-5, 3.26 vs. TBA, 7:10 p.m., FSKC (HD) & 610 Sports Saturday, June 14 @ Chicago White Sox: RHP James Shields (6-3+ today) vs. TBA, 1:10 p.m., FSKC (HD) & 610 Sports Sunday, June 15 @ Chicago White Sox: LHP Jason Vargas (5-2+ tomorrow) vs. TBA, 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 on Fox Sports Kansas City with Ryan Lefebvre and Rex Hudler on the call, while Joel Goldberg and Jeff Montgomery anchor Royals Live. Royals vs. Yankees POWER SURGE EVENS SET--The Royals went the extra-base hit route last night to square this The Royals evened this series with a win last night and in series, posting an 8-4 win over the Yankees in the second game of this 4-gamer...half of KC’s 12 hits doing so snapped a 5-game home losing streak to the Yankees.. went for extra bases, the biggest blow a tie-breaking 3-run homer by Salvador Perez in the home this set concludes tomorrow and then KC will travel to the Bronx in early September...the Royals trail the all-time series by half of the sixth right after the Yankees had tied the contest at 3-3 in the top of the frame...Sal’s sixth a 184-269 margin, including a 107-123 deficit in Kansas City, roundtripper came after Billy Butler and Alex Gordon had each coaxed walks to open the inning... 96-111 in Kauffman. Butler and Gordon got the offense started in the second inning with consecutive doubles to produce Date Site Score WP LP Att. 6/6 KC L, 2-4 Whitley Guthrie 23,418 the game’s first run and ignite a 3-run inning...Eric Hosmer finished up the scoring with a towering 6/7 KC W, 8-4 Crow Phelps 26,991 solo homer in the seventh...Danny Duffy was the starter and came within an out of both a win and a 6/8 KC “quality start”, but the Yankees tied the game with a 2-out, 2-run single in the sixth...Aaron Crow came 6/9 KC 9/5 @ NY out of the pen to get the last out in the sixth and then worked a 1-2-3 seventh to record the victory. 9/6 @ NY GORDO STAYS HOT--A first-time All-Star a year ago, Alex Gordon has locked it in over the last few 9/7 @ NY weeks, entering today with a season mark of .291, the highest batting average among everyday players in the lineup (Lorenzo Cain is hitting .331 but has played in 22 fewer games)...Gordo has risen to his more lofty status by virtue of a .388 mark (26-for-67) in his last 20 games, with 16 runs scored, 5 doubles, 5 homers, 18 RBI and featuring 15 walks for an impressive on-base pct. of .523 in that span...since bottoming out at .242 back on May 5, the Royals’ Player-of-the-Month for May has batted .343 (37-for-108) with 21 runs, 19 RBI and an OBA of .458. WADE ON TOP OF HIS GAME--The Royals’ Pitcher-of-the-Month for May, Wade Davis, has had the last two nights off but was busy during the St. Louis series, working in three of the four games against the Cards, capped by a 1-2-3 eighth inning here on Thursday night...his work on Tuesday in Busch Stadium earned him a fifth win on the year, tied for most in the Majors by a reliever...Davis, 28, has not allowed a run in his last 14 appearances, totaling 17.0 innings while recording 26 K’s in that span...since surrendering a season-high 2 earned runs back on April 5, Wade has given up one tally over his last 20 outings (23.0 innings) for a 0.39 ERA with opponents hitting just .103 (8-for-77) while fanning 40. SALUTE TO #2--The Royals will join the rest of baseball in honoring shortstop Derek Jeter prior to the 7:10 game tomorrow with a video tribute and then present him a check for $10,000 for his Turn 2 Foundation...during his rookie year in 1996, Jeter established the Turn 2 Foundation to promote healthy lifestyles among youth...not only does it represent the role he plays on the field turning double plays, but it represents Jeter’s wish to promote healthy lifestyles among young people and enable them to “Turn 2” his foundation for guidance and the much needed help to avoid drugs and alcohol. TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Hiroki Kuroda (4-3, 4.27) vs. RHP James Shields (6-3, 3.68) 2014 2013 Career 2014 2013 Career Hiroki Kuroda vs. Royals - 1-0 1-2 Major League Record 4-3 (4.27 ERA) 11-13 72-73 James Shields vs. Yankees - 1-1 8-15 Major League Record 6-3 (3.68 ERA) 13-9 106-85 JAMES SHIELDS gets his team-leading 14th starting assignment of the year, his 265th career start and 266th overall appearance...this is his 29th career start vs. New York and third matchup since joining the Royals in a 7-player deal with Tampa Bay on December 9, 2012. DECISION-LESS IN LAST THREE--James has hit a mild rough patch in his last James’ 2014 Starts three starts, going without a decision while allowing 15 earned runs in 18.1 innings...the DATE OPPONENT SCORE IP H R ER HR BB SO TP-K LEFT good news to that is that the Royals have won each one of those contests,the most recent 3/31 at Detroit ND, 3-4 6.1 5 3 3 1 1 3 106-71 3-1 4/6 Chicago L, 1-5 7.0 5 1 1 0 0 6 102-65 0-1 on Tuesday night in his first career appearances in Busch Stadium, a contest the Royals 4/12 at Minnesota L, 1-7 5.2 6 7 1 2 3 5 115-69 1-7 rallied to win, 8-7...Shields was down early, allowing a second inning grand slam to 4/17 at Houston W, 5-1 8.0 4 1 1 0 2 12 107-64 5-1 4/22 at Cleveland W, 8-2 6.0 6 2 1 0 1 9 106-65 6-2 Kolten Wong, the youngster’s first big league home run...but the offense stepped up with 4/27 at Baltimore W, 9-3 7.0 3 2 2 1 2 6 101-69 8-2 a season-high tying 6-run fifth inning, to which Shields contributed with an RBI double, 5/2 Detroit L, 2-8 6.1 12 8 7 1 1 3 105-68 2-6 his second hit of the night...the lead was short-lived as the Cards plated 2 in the home 5/7 at San Diego W, 8-0 7.0 7 0 0 0 2 4 118-73 7-0 5/13 Colorado W, 5-1 7.0 5 1 1 0 0 8 98-75 4-1 half and then regained the lead when Peter Bourjos homered in the sixth...James exited 5/18 Baltimore W, 8-6 7.0 9 3 3 0 1 3 99-64 8-3 after 5.1 innings, allowing 7 runs (5 earned), 9 hits and a season-high 4 walks, striking 5/24 at Los Angeles ND, 7-4 (13) 6.0 9 4 4 2 2 4 112-71 4-4 5/29 at Toronto ND, 8-6 (10) 7.0 8 6 6 3 0 6 108-72 5-6 out 1...his 2 hits at the plate tied a career-best. 6/3 at St. Louis ND, 8-7 5.1 9 7 5 2 4 1 96-57 6-7 STREAKY SEASON--With the 3 straight no decision, James actually enters today 2014 Totals 6-3, 3.68 85.2 88 45 37 12 19 70 1373-883 64% Career Totals 106-85 3.79 1769.0 1742 815 744 216 427 1516 - - with a 3-game winning streak still alive...from April 17-May 18, he went 6-1 with a 2.79 ERA over the 7 starts prior to this 3-game drought. PICKY, PICKY--Shields picked off a pair on May 29 in Toronto, his third career 2-pick game...he became the first MLB pitcher to pick two runners in a game in 2014, the last to do it was former teammate David Price on Sept.