Kansas City Royals
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Kansas City Royals OFFICIAL GAME NOTES New York Mets (0-0) @ Kansas City Royals (0-0) Kauffman Stadium - Sunday, April 3, 2016 Game #1 - Home Game #1 ESPN (HD), KCSP Radio (610 Sports), KYYS Radio (1250 AM) and ESPN Radio UPCOMING PITCHING PROBABLES Tomorrow, April 4: Off day Tuesday, April 5 vs. New York Mets: RHP Noah Syndergaard vs. RHP Chris Young, 3:15 p.m., FSKC (HD) & 610 Sports Wednesday, April 6: Off day (Royals workout at 11:00 a.m. - clubhouse opens after workout for 30 minutes) Thursday, April 7:Off day (Royals workout at 11:00 a.m. - clubhouse opens after workout for 30 minutes) Tonight’s game is being broadcast in Kansas City on KCSP Radio (610 Sports) and the Royals Radio Network with Denny Matthews, Ryan Lefebvre and Steve Stewart, while Don Free controls the dials as the producer/engineer...tonight is also being carried in Spanish on KYYS Radio (1250 AM) with Jose Munoz on the call...tonight’s tilt is being nationally tele- vised in High Definition by ESPN with Dan Shulman, Jessica Mendoza, Aaron Boone and Buster Olney, while Baseball Tonight is also live on site with Karl Ravech, Tim Kurkjian and Dallas Braden...ESPN Radio is also carrying tonight’s action with Adam Amin and Chris Singleton...the first telecast on FOX Sports Kansas City will be Tuesday’s matinee. Mets vs. Royals LET THE GAMES BEGIN--For the second time in franchise history, the Kansas City Royals take the Tonight is the first of four games between last year’s World field as the defending World Series Champion, but this is the first time the club has opened the subsequent Series combatants, with the Mets here again on Tuesday and the campaign in Kauffman Stadium...the 1985 World Champs began the following season in Yankee Stadium... Royals traveling to Citi Field for a two-game road trip in June... KC opens 2016 as the two-time defending American League Champions, a franchise first, as the club went not including postseason play, the Royals hold a 5-4 lead in regular to a Game #7 in the 2014 World Series before succumbing to the San Francisco Giants...Kansas City’s season work against the Metropolitans, including a 2-1 advantage in Kauffman Stadium. A.L. Crown last year was the fourth in franchise history, joining the 1980, ‘85 and 2014...the Royals are Date Site Score WP LP Att. coming off a 95-67 regular season and their first American League Central crown, winning the division 4/3 KC by 12 games...the last division title won by Kansas City was the 1985 A.L. West, when the club parlayed 4/5 KC that triumph into its first World Series title...the 95 wins last year were the most by a KC squad since the 6/21 @ NY 1980 Royals went 97-65...dating back to the start of the 2013 season, Kansas City has a 270-216 record 6/22 @ NY for a .556 winning pct., the best mark in the American League. A MEETING OF CHAMPIONS--Tonight’s nationally televised contest marks a couple of firsts in Major League history...in a scheduling quirk, the Royals and Mets found out last July that they would be squaring off in Kauffman Stadium to open the 2016 season, but little did anyone know at the time that these two squads would meet for the World Series crown...thus, tonight marks the first time that the two World Series combatants from the previous year have opened the following season squaring off against each other...along those lines, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, tonight is the first time that the two starting pitchers from the final World Series game of the previous year have gone head-to-head in the opener of the following season with Game #5 starters Matt Harvey and Edinson Volquez doing battle tonight. A TOUCH OF GOLD--In honor of the World Series crown, the Royals are wearing specially designed Majestic jerseys and caps from New Era tonight and Tuesday... the front of the home white jerseys will feature the script ‘Royals’ embossed in gold with blue trim and blue numbers, with the players’ name in blue and their number embossed in gold on the back...the Royal blue caps will feature a gold ‘KC’ with white trim on the front with the 2015 World Series Champions logo on the side of the cap. AND A LITTLE MORE GOLD (AND SILVER)--Prior to tonight’s game, a quartet of Royals will pick up their individual honors from the 2015 season...representatives of Rawlings Sporting Goods are here to present Salvador Perez, Eric Hosmer and Alcides Escobar with their Rawlings Gold Gloves...this is the third straight for both Perez and Hosmer, while Esky won his first...also being presented tonight is the Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Award to designated hitter Kendrys Morales...K-Mo is the 11th Silver Slugger winner in team history, first since Billy Butler in 2012...both the Rawlings and Louisville Slugger awards are voted by league managers and coaches. A BANNER NIGHT, JEWELRY TUESDAY--Tonight’s pre-game celebration will be highlighted by the raising of the 2015 World Series Championship banner, which will fly on the Hall of Fame building in leftfield...on Tuesday, the Royals will receive their World Series rings in a pre-game ceremony that will begin at 2:30 p.m... the rings were designed by Josten’s, the same designers of the American League Championship rings awarded before last year’s season opener...the ring ceremony on Tuesday will be shown regionally on FOX Sports Kansas City as part of their pre-game show that begins at 1:30 p.m. TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHERS: Matt Harvey (13-8, 2.71 ERA in ‘15) vs. Edinson Volquez (13-9, 3.55 ERA in ‘15) 2015 2014 Career 2015 2014 Career Matt Harvey vs. Royals first regular season appearance Major League Record 13-8 (2.71 ERA) - 25-18 Edinson Volquez vs. White Sox - 1-0 2-5 Major League Record 13-9 (3.55 ERA) 13-7 79-68 EDINSON VOLQUEZ makes his second career Opening Day start, first as a Royal...he also received the Opening Day nod with the Reds in 2011...tonight is his 226th career appearance and 219th start, while it’s his 10th regular season outing against the Mets, not including starts in Games #1 and 5 in last year’s Fall Classic...he’s in the second year of a two-year free-agent contract he signed with KC on December 29, 2014...Volquez is the 24th different Opening Day starter in franchise history and seventh in the last eight years. Edinson’s 2015 spring appearances OUTSTANDING IN 2015--Edinson had a memorable first season in KC, winning DATE OPPONENT SCORE IP H R ER HR BB SO TP-K LEFT 13 games for the second-straight campaign and topping the 200.0 inning plateau for the 3/3 Texas L, 0-10 1.2 2 1 1 0 2 2 - - 3/8 Colorado W, 3-2 3.0 0 0 0 0 0 2 - - first time in his career...he also led the club in quality starts (19), matching his total from 3/13 Cleveland ND, 4-9 4.0 5 3 3 1 2 6 - - 2014...Volky ranked fifth among qualifying A.L. hurlers, holding the opposition to a 3/28 San Diego W, 11-3 5.0 5 2 2 0 2 4 - - .202 batting average (38-for-188) with runners in scoring position...he also allowed just 2016 Spring Totals 2-1, 3.95 13.2 12 6 6 1 6 14 - - nine extra-base hits with RISP for the second-lowest slugging percentage (.250), trailing only Baltimore’s Wei-Yin Chen (.239). DÉJÀ VU MATCHUP--For the first time in Major League history, the same pitchers who started the final game of the previous World Series will match up again in the first game of the following season...Volquez and Mets’ pitcher Matt Harvey both started Games #1 and 5 of the 2015 Fall Classic, with neither earning a decision as both contests resulted in extra-innings wins by the Royals. SPRING STATS--Volquez went 2-1 with a 3.95 ERA (6 ER in 13.2 IP), with five of his earned runs coming over his final two outings...he also made one start in a minor league game on March 23 vs. Seattle...he best outing was on March 8, when he tossed 3.0 hitless frames in a 3-2 win over Colorado. POSTSEASON WORK--Edinson’s outstanding 2015 campaign continued into the postseason, where he went 1-2 with a 3.77 ERA, holding the opposition to a .186 average...he set a club record, collecting 23 strikeouts in a single postseason and also threw the second-most innings (28.2) by a Royal in one playoff year...Volky earned his first career postseason win in Game #1 of the ALCS vs. Toronto, tossing 6.0 scoreless innings, allowing just two hits in a 5-0 triumph...he became the fourth KC hurler to record 6.0 shutout innings or more in a postseason game, joining Danny Jackson (1985), Bret Saberhagen (1985) and Yordano Ventura (2014). VS. METS--Volky makes his 10th career regular season start against the Mets, entering tonight with a 2-5 mark and a 5.70 ERA all-time...however, he’s won his last two decisions against New York’s N.L.