Kansas City Royals OFFICIAL GAME NOTES Kansas City Royals (26-33) @ San Diego Padres (23-38) Petco Park - Friday, June 9, 2017 Game #60 - Road Game #27 Fox Sports Kansas City (HD) & KCSP Radio (610 Sports) UPCOMING PITCHING PROBABLES Saturday, June 10 @ San Diego Padres: RHP Ian Kennedy (0-6, 5.33) vs. RHP Miguel Diaz (1-1, 7.50), 3:10 p.m. (CDT), FS 1 (HD) & 610 Sports Sunday, June 11 @ San Diego Padres: RHP Jakob Junis (1-0, 7.84) vs. RHP Dinelson Lamet (2-1, 6.92), 3:40 p.m. (CDT), FSKC (HD) & 610 Sports Monday, June 12: Off day by the bay Tonight’s game is being broadcast in Kansas City on KCSP Radio (610 Sports) and the Royals Radio Network with Ryan Lefebvre and Steve Stewart on the call, while Don Free controls the dials as the producer/engineer…tonight’s game is being televised in High Definition on Fox Sports Kansas City with Steve Physioc and Rex Hudler...the pre and post-game shows are hosted by Joel Goldberg and Royals’ Hall of Famer Jeff Montgomery. Royals vs. Padres A NINTH INNING CYCLE LEADS TO SPLIT WITH ‘STROS--Runs and hits were at a premium in the Tonight opens the first regular season work between these homestand finale last night, with Jason Hammel and Lance McCullers Jr. exchanging zeroes for a large clubs since the 2014 campaign when KC made a 3-game visit portion of the game, but a 5-run ninth inning staked the Astros to a 6-1 decision to split the series at two here, going 2-1...this stop marks the fifth 3-game series between apiece...Hammel fired 7.0 innings allowing only a run on four hits with no walks and four K’s, the lone tally these clubs over the years, the fourth in a row here in San Diego... the Padres have been to KC only once in 2002...due to a 7-game coming across on a balk with runners at first and third in the sixth...meanwhile, the Royals were kept out of losing streak that ran from 2004-14, the Royals trail the all-time the hit column by McCullers, whose dad got his start a few miles from here in old Jack Murphy Stadium in work by a 4-8 margin, including 2-7 here. the 80’s...Lorenzo Cain finally delivered KC’s first hit with one out in the seventh, then an out later, Mike Date Site Score WP LP Att. Moustakas tied the game with a single to right...the contest remained knotted until the ninth, when the Astros 6/9 @ SD 6/10 @ SD hit for the cycle to blow the game open, with four of the runs charged to closer Kelvin Herrera, who allowed 6/11 @ SD a walk, home run, triple and single to absorb his second loss of the year. TWO-OUT TALLIES--Kansas City’s lone run last night came on a 2-out single from Mike Moustakas in the seventh inning, which has been consistent with the offense in recent games...the last 13 runs scored by the Royals have come with two out a stretch that began with Whit Merrifield’s game-tying bases loaded double on Tuesday, followed by Moose’s 2-run walk-off homer...then on Wednesday, KC was a 7-5 winner with all seven runs scoring after two were out in the respective inning. HAMMEL TIME--Jason Hammel provided 7.0 strong innings last night, allowing only one run with four hits and his second consecutive no-walk effort, while fanning four...the lone miscue was when he fumbled the baseball during a pickoff attempt in the sixth inning that balked home the only run he surrendered...he matched a season- high with his 7.0-inning stint, while allowing only one run in 7.0 frames for the first time sinceAugust 16, 2016 vs. Milwaukee while with the Cubs. AN INTERLEAGUE INTERLUDE--Tonight jumpstarts a 5-game span of games against members of the N.L. West to open this 9-game excursion...after a weekend here in San Diego, the Royals will travel up the coast to face the other “San” as they reacquaint with the Giants in a 2-game set starting Tuesday...Kansas City is one of three clubs to only have played two Interleague games to this point, joining the Giants and Detroit Tigers...KC split a pair with San Francisco in Kauffman Stadium back in April...Kansas City enters tonight with an all-time 42-40 ledger against teams from the N.L. West, posting winning marks against the Giants (10-4), Colorado (12-10) and the Dodgers (5-4), while falling short against the Diamondbacks (11-13) and San Diego (4-8)...Overall, Kansas City has a 176-189 record since Interleague play began in 1997...in the last three-plus years, the Royals have compiled a 39-23 Interleague mark for a .629 winning pct. which is second only to Baltimore (44-24, .647). PITCHERS GO TO HACKING--Not a lot of offensive experience will get in the Petco Park batters’ box from the ninth spot in Kansas City’s batting order this weekend...only tomorrow’s starter, Ian Kennedy, has had any Major League experience with a bat in his hand, hitting .127 (40-for-127) with a home run and 18 RBI...the roundtripper was here on May 8, 2014, when he took Miami’s Jacob Turner deep for San Diego’s lone run in a 3-1 loss to the Fish...meanwhile, rookies Eric Skoglund and Jakob Junis, the starters tonight and Sunday, respectively, have only 18.2 big league innings combined entering this weekend and none against N.L. competition... since the arrival of Interleague play in 1997, Kansas City pitchers have hit .128 (50-for-392) with 10 doubles, a home run (Zack Greinke in 2005) and 46 sac bunts. 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 will be adorned with the ACE 30 patch. TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Eric Skoglund (1-1, 4.32) vs. RHP Jhoulys Chacin (4-5, 5.65) 2016 2015 Career 2017 2016 Career Jhoulys Chacin vs. Royals - - 0-1 Major League Record 4-5 (5.65 ERA) 6-8 50-62 Eric Skoglund vs. Padres First career appearance Major League Record 1-1 (4.32 ERA) - 1-1 ERIC SKOGLUND (pronounced SKOH-glund) is making his third Major League start tonight and first not in Kauffman Stadium...the 24-year-old left-hander, who had his contract selected from Omaha (AAA) on May 30, was originally a third round pick of the Royals in the 2014 Draft out of the University of Central Florida. RAIN-SHORTENED OUTING--Eric was saddled with his first defeat last Sunday Eric’s Major League appearances afternoon, pitching only 2.0 innings due to a one-hour, 50-minute rain delay in an 8-0 DATE OPPONENT SCORE IP H R ER HR BB SO TP-K LEFT setback to Cleveland...he yielded four runs on a pair of two-run doubles in the second 5/30 Detroit W, 1-0 6.1 2 0 0 0 1 5 90-62 1-0 6/4 Cleveland L, 0-8 2.0 4 4 4 0 2 2 46-28 0-4 inning, allowing four hits with two walks and two strikeouts...the four runs he allowed Major League Totals 1-1 4.32 8.1 6 4 4 0 3 7 136-90 66.2% were one fewer than he surrendered in his previous three starts combined (five) between Eric’s Last 3 appearances with Omaha Omaha (AAA) and his big league debut...Cleveland went 3-for-4 against him with two DATE OPPONENT SCORE IP H R ER HR BB SO TP-K LEFT outs in the start, after he held Detroit to 1-for-7 with two down in his debut...he threw first- 5/9 @ Salt Lake L, 1-9 5.0 9 7 6 1 1 7 92-60 0-7 5/17 Tacoma W, 4-2 7.0 3 2 2 2 2 4 92-58 4-2 pitch strikes to eight of the 11 batters he faced (72.7%), after going 17-for-22 (77.3%) in 5/22 Reno ND, 5-3 7.0 6 3 3 1 0 9 103-76 3-3 his first start (Major League average is 60.1%). 2017 AAA Totals 2-3 4.53 43.2 44 27 22 5 10 40 723-479 66.3% OUTSTANDING OPENING ACT--Skoglund made his Major League debut on May 2017 Minors Totals 2-3 4.40 47.0 49 28 23 5 13 41 785-519 66.1% 30 and enjoyed one of the best first starts in franchise history, blanking Detroit, 1-0, on two hits over 6.1 innings...he became the eighth Royal to start and win in his initial Major League outing and first since J.P.