Royals Try to Check Emotions vs. Twins
KANSAS CITY, K.S., APRIL 21, 2015 – Tempers are probably still on simmer for the Kansas City Royals after a heated series versus the Oakland Athletics at Kauffman Stadium.
The Royals will have short memories when they get back to work Monday against the Minnesota Twins in the opener of a three-game set.
Kansas City took two of three meetings with the Athletics this weekend and recorded a 4-2 victory in Sunday’s series finale. Five Royals were ejected, including reliever Kelvin Herrera, who fired a 100-mph pitch behind Brett Lawrie in a tempestuous eighth inning. Herrera was tossed and pointed his index finger toward his head, a gesture he said meant, “Think about it.”
Lawrie wasn’t buying it.
“That’s what got me hot. That’s what got me mad. You don’t throw behind someone and then walk away, when you throw 100 mph, and say, ‘The next time I face you, I’m gonna hit you in the head.’ That’s (garbage). That’s some (garbage), and he needs to pay for that. That ain’t OK. This is a game. This isn’t going up there and trying to hurt people. This guy doesn’t throw 85 mph. He throws 100.”
Lawrie slid hard into the leg of Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar on Friday and the infielder needed assistance to get off the field. Several coaches and Royals manager Ned Yost were ejected as well on Sunday.
The Royals rallied for three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning for a 4-2 victory and improved to 9-3 on the season. Lorenzo Cain had an RBI double and scored on Kendrys Morales’ two-run double for Kansas City, which is 5-1 at home. KC starter Danny Duffy allowed two runs in five innings and Franklin Morales collected the win by getting the final out of the eighth inning.
“I’m very proud of the way they rallied,” Yost said. “There was a lot of stuff that happened today.”
Wade Davis struck out two in the ninth for his second save.
Edinson Volquez draws the start for the defending American League champions and is 1-1 with a 2.30 earned run average in two starts. The first-year Royal threw eight innings of one-run ball in his season debut on April 9 in a 4-1 win over the Chicago White Sox, then gave up three runs in 7 2/3 frames of a 3-1 loss at Minnesota last Wednesday.
Volquez has fanned 12 batters compared to two walks this season and will make his third career start against Minnesota. He is 0-1 with a 2.63 ERA against the Twins.
The Twins went 4-2 on a recent homestand and will play the next six games on the road against Kansas City and the Seattle Mariners. The Twins took two of three matchups from Kansas City and Cleveland on the stay and are coming off Sunday’s 7-2 victory over the Indians.
Torii Hunter clubbed a three-run homer, Shane Robinson went 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored and Trevor Plouffe ended with three hits and scored a run for Minnesota. Twins starting pitcher Trevor May held the Tribe to a run and four hits in six innings with four strikeouts and no walks.
“A lot of good things happened today,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said. “Trevor May was able to have a nice six innings against a predominantly left- handed lineup. He didn’t use his spinning pitches, but was able to use his changeup to be effective. He gave us an opportunity and we were able to get some runs early and keep adding on.”
Aaron Thompson tossed two scoreless innings of relief and J.R. Graham surrendered a home run in the ninth.
Toeing the rubber for the Twins Monday will be Kyle Gibson. The right-hander is 1-1 with a 6.10 earned run average in two starts and is coming off a solid outing versus the Royals. In a 3-1 win over KC at Target Field last Wednesday, Gibson was reached for just a run in 6 2/3 innings, struck out three and did not issue a walk. He did allow nine hits.
Gibson’s last outing was much better than his first, as he permitted six runs and eight hits in only 3 2/3 innings of a 7-1 loss at Detroit on April 9.
He has enjoyed success in his career against the Royals, going unbeaten in four starts to go along with a 1.38 ERA.
Kansas City won 11 of its 19 matchups with the Twins a year ago.
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