Kansas City Royals OFFICIAL GAME NOTES Kansas City Royals (11-11) @ Baltimore Orioles (11-11) Oriole Park at Camden Yards - Saturday, April 26, 2014 Game #23 - Road Game #14 Fox Sports Kansas City (HD) & KCSP Radio (610 Sports) UPCOMING PITCHING PROBABLES Sunday, April 27 @ Baltimore Orioles: RHP James Shields (2-2, 1.91) vs. RHP Miguel Gonzalez (1-1, 5.40), 12:35 p.m. (CDT), FSKC (HD) & 610 Sports Monday, April 28: Off day at home Tuesday, April 29 vs. Toronto Blue Jays: RHP Dustin McGowan (1-1, 6.88) vs. LHP Jason Vargas (2-0, 1.54), 7:10 p.m., FSKC (HD) & 610 Sports Wednesday, April 30 vs. Toronto Blue Jays: RHP Drew Hutchison (1-1, 3.46) vs. LHP Bruce Chen (1-2, 7.45), 7:10 p.m., FSKC (HD) & 610 Sports Thursday, May 1 vs. Toronto Blue Jays: LHP Mark Buehrle (4-1, 2.16) vs. RHP Yordano Ventura (2-1, 1.80), 7:10 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 Ryan Lefebvre and Steve Stewart, while Don Free controls the dials as the producer/engineer...tonight’s game is being televised in High Definition by Fox Sports Kansas City with Steve Physioc and Rex Hudler...the pre and postgame show on FSKC, Royals Live, is hosted by Joel Goldberg, who is joined by Royals’ Hall of Famer Jeff Montgomery. Royals vs. Orioles ROYALS RIDE VENTURA HIGHWAY TO WIN--Kansas City claimed the series opener here last Kansas City earned its first shutout here at Camden Yards night on the right arm of rookie Yordano Ventura, who tossed 8.0 shutout innings in the Royals’ 5-0 in 10 years last night to open this three-game set, the first of 7 triumph...Ventura, KC’s 22-year old flame-thrower, scattered seven hits and strucks out a career-best meetings between KC and Baltimore this year...the Royals won eight hitters to earn his second victory of the young season...while he did not record a 3-up, 3-down the season series 4-3 last year, but dropped 2 of 3 here...the O’s lead the all-time series by a 257-199 count, including a 138-89 inning, he kept Baltimore’s offense at bay as the O’s did not put a runner in scoring position after record in Baltimore. the fourth...Greg Holland pitched a perfect frame in the ninth to combine with Ventura on KC’s first Date Site Score WP LP Att. shutout at Camden Yards since July 9, 2004, when Darrell May blanked the O’s on five hits in a 4/25 @ Balt W, 5-0 Ventura Jimenez 22,478 4/26 @ Balt complete game...KC’s offense gave their young righty an early lead and never looked back...Billy 4/27 @ Balt Butler and Alex Gordon recorded back-to-back RBI singles in the first inning, while Nori Aoki and 5/15 KC Omar Infante provided consecutive RBI hits in the seventh...Butler added an RBI double in the ninth 5/16 KC 5/17 KC for the final margin, recording his fourth multi-hit game in the last 7 days...Jarrod Dyson scored twice 5/18 KC with a pair of infield hits for his third-straight multi-hit game. “ACE” VENTURA HITS BALTIMORE--Yordano Ventura had an eventful night, in his first trip to Baltimore...making his seventh big league start, Ventura tossed 8.0 scoreless innings, fired a career-high 113 pitches and recorded eight strikeouts...his 8.0 shutout frames were the most by a KC rookie since Bryan Bullington tossed the first eight innings of a 1-0 shutout against the Yankees on August 15, 2010...Ventura’s eight strikeouts were the top total by a Royals rookie since June 19, 2011, when Danny Duffy fanned nine in St. Louis...he also became the first rookie in franchise history to K at least six in four-straight outings since 1975, when Dennis Leonard did it in four starts between August 20 and September 3. HITTING THE MARK--For the 11th time this season, the Royals scored four runs or more in a game, and were victorious for the 11th time...KC remained unbeaten when hitting the four-run target, while the team is 0-11 when plating three runs or fewer...last season, KC was an amazing 51 games over .500 (64-13) when it scored at least four times, while going just 22-63 with three or less. STAFF GETS A BOOST--Kansas City recorded its first shutout at Camden Yards in nearly 10 years last night to drop its season ERA to 3.15, good for second in the American League, behind Oakland’s 2.67 mark...Yordano Ventura recorded the 14th quality start by a Royals pitcher this year, which ranks third in the A.L...while the starting staff leads the league in innings pitched (137.1) and ranks second in ERA (3.08)...KC’s bullpen added a scoreless frame last night to drop its ERA to 3.34 for fourth-lowest in the Junior Circuit. KC CHALLENGE-LESS OF LATE--The Royals played their eighth-straight game without a replay challenge from either them or their opponent last night...the only thing resembling a review in the last week was instituted by the umpires themselves Thursday when they chose to see if catcher Brett Hayes had given Asdrubal Cabrera a path to the plate before tagging him out to end the first inning...KC was involved in 10 replay challenges in the first 14 games of the year, including 8 in its first 8 games...Ned Yost is 2-2 in replay challenges, while opposing managers are 3-3 under the new system...to review, each manager gets a challenge and for the first six innings and if he challenges correctly, he’ll receive another...calls will be defined as either a) Confirmed; b) Stands or C) Overturned. TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Jeremy Guthrie (2-1, 4.68) vs. LHP Wei-Yin Chen (3-1, 4.91) 2013 2012 Career 2014 2013 Career Jeremy Guthrie vs. Orioles 2-0 - 2-0 Major League Record 2-1 (4.68 ERA) 15-12 72-90 Wei-Yin Chen vs. Royals 0-0 0-1 0-1 Major League Record 3-1 (4.91 ERA) 7-7 22-19 JEREMY GUTHRIE makes his fifth start of the season and third consecutive appearance on the road...an Oriole from 2007 to 2011, Guthrie faces Baltimore for the third time in his 248th outing and 221st start...he signed a 3-year deal with KC on November 30, 2012 and was originally acquired July 20, 2012 from Colorado in exchange for Jonathan Sanchez. Jeremy’s 2014 Starts TWO SWINGS PIVOTAL IN FIRST LOSS--Jeremy was done in by a pair DATE OPPONENT SCORE IP H R ER HR BB SO TP-K LEFT of two-run homers in his last start, Monday at Progressive Field...Guthrie scattered 4/4 Chicago W, 7-5 5.2 7 4 4 0 4 3 111-68 7-2 4/9 Tampa Bay W, 7-3 7.0 4 1 1 1 1 4 109-70 7-1 10 hits over 6.1 innings, recording three strikeouts and allowing no walks against 4/16 at Houston ND, 6-4 (11) 6.0 6 4 4 2 2 4 103-64 4-4 4/21 at Cleveland L, 3-4 6.1 10 4 4 2 0 3 98-69 3-4 the franchise that drafted him in 2002...Michael Brantley’s fourth inning blast put 2014 Totals 2-1 4.68 25.0 27 13 13 5 7 14 421-271 64% the Tribe up 2-0...however, KC rebounded to take a 3-2 edge in the fifth, but a sixth Career Totals 72-90 4.25 1438.2 1482 732 679 203 420 852 - - inning shot by Jason Kipnis capped the scoring and resulted in Jeremy’s first April loss in over 2 years...Guthrie also fell to an A.L. Central foe for the first time since September 15 of last year in a 3-2 loss at Detroit. ENJOYING THE SUPPORT--Jeremy enters tonight ranking fifth in the American League in run support (7.56)...the Royals have scored 21 runs in his first 4 outings, going 3-1...conversely, KC has scored a combined 48 runs for their four other starting pitchers (3.85 runs per 9.0 innings). OUTSTANDING EARLY--Monday’s loss was Jeremy’s first in the month of April since 2012 at San Diego (April 16)...he’s 6-1 with a 3.50 ERA in April since that date (25 ER in 64.1 IP)...Guthrie made five April starts without defeat last season, helping him set a club record with 18 consecutive starts without a loss between the end of 2012 and the beginning of the 2013 season. BACK IN BALTIMORE--Jeremy is making his third career start against the O’s, the second of his 4 organizations...he won 47 games for Baltimore from 2007 to 2011, served as the club’s Opening Day starter 3 times and was 1 of 7 A.L. pitchers to compile at least 200.0 innings each season from 2009-11..he won both matchups last season, compiling a 1.50 ERA (2 ER in 12.0 IP), including his lone outing here as a visitor on May 9, when he fanned 3 and scattered 2 runs (1 earned), 7 hits and 3 walks over 6.0 innings in a 6-2 final...the victory brought his CamdenYards record to 23-34 in 81 outings (79 starts).