Daily Clips

June 24, 2017

LOCALDown 3 in 9th, Royals rally to stun Blue JaysJune 24, 2017 By Wilson Alexander and Robert Falkoff/MLB.comhttp://m.royals.mlb.com/news/article/238328664/royals-four-run-rally-in-9th-beats-blue-jays/

Walk-off Whit: Merrifield's 2B caps comebackRoyals snap 0-29 skid when trailing after 8 inningsJune 24, 2017 By Wilson Alexander/MLB.comhttp://m.royals.mlb.com/news/article/238328886/whit-merrifield-celebrates-first-walk-off-hit/

Royals agree to deal with Feliz; Young DFA'dJune 23, 2017 By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.comhttp://m.royals.mlb.com/news/article/238216218/royals-have-deal-with-neftali-feliz/

Vargas eyeing MLB-leading 11th win vs. JaysJune 24, 2017 By Robert Falkoff/MLB.comhttp://m.royals.mlb.com/news/article/238328034/vargas-eyeing-mlb-leading-11th-win-vs-blue-jays/?topicId=26688732

Big Slick celebrity softball game always a hitRudd, Sudeikis, Riggle, Stonestreet take swings for charityJune 23, 2017 By Wilson Alexander/MLB.comhttp://m.royals.mlb.com/news/article/238273738/big-slick-weekend-begins-with-softball-game/

Royals score four runs in ninth to stun Blue Jays, get record back to .500June 23, 2017 By Pete Grathoff/KC Starhttp://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article158009144.html

Vahe Gregorian: Royals back to the future with another great escapeJune 23, 2017 By Vahe Gregorian/KC Starhttp://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/vahe-gregorian/article158011889.html

With the game against Blue Jays on the line, Alex Gordon comes through for RoyalsJune 24, 2017 By Alec McChesney/KC Starhttp://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article158014314.html

Royals sign former Brewers closer Neftalí Feliz and drop Chris YoungJune 23, 2017 By Pete Grathoff and Alec McChesney/KC Starhttp://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article157888404.html

After nearly quitting baseball, Bubba Starling is closer than ever to the big leaguesJune 23, 2017 By Sam Mellinger/KC Starhttp://amp.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/sam-mellinger/article157870629.html

MINORSChasers Fall to Memphis 8-4 in Front of 7,936Stout fires 3.2 shutout frames in relief, Schwindel drives in 2June 24, 2017 By Andrew Green/Omaha Storm Chasershttps://www.milb.com/storm-chasers/news/chasers-fall-to-memphis-8-4-in-front-of-7936/c-238431812/t-196093384

Drillers Top Naturals, Snap StreakTulsa ends 6-game losing streak to Northwest Arkansas with 8-2 winJune 23, 2017 By Tulsa Drillershttps://www.milb.com/drillers/news/drillers-top-naturals-snap-streak/c-238395208/t-196093322

Bullpen Holds Strong as Rocks PrevailFour two-out, run scoring hits fueled the Rocks over SalemJune 23, 2017 By Wilmington Blue Rockshttps://www.milb.com/blue-rocks/news/bullpen-holds-strong-as-rocks-prevail/c-238423086/t-196097164

Legends rained out; doubleheader SaturdayJune 23, 2017 By Lexington Legendshttps://www.milb.com/legends/news/legends-rained-out-doubleheader-saturday/c-238346348/t-196097274

Mets Offense Too Much for Royals in Friday LossKingsport scores early and often in 16-1 winJune 23, 2017 By Matt Krause/Burlington Royalshttps://www.milb.com/b-royals/news/mets-offense-too-much-for-royals-in-friday-loss/c-238388450/t-196097136

MLB TRANSACTIONSJune 24, 2017 •.CBSSports.comhttp://www.cbssports.com/mlb/transactions

LOCAL

Down 3 in 9th, Royals rally to stun Blue JaysJune 24, 2017 By Wilson Alexander and Robert Falkoff/MLB.comhttp://m.royals.mlb.com/news/article/238328664/royals-four-run-rally-in-9th-beats-blue-jays/

Whit Merrifield's two-run double capped a wild ninth inning as the Royals rallied for a 5-4 win over the Blue Jays on Friday night at Kauffman Stadium. It was Merrifield's first career walk-off hit.

The Royals faced a 4-1 deficit entering the ninth before mounting a two-out rally, as they had previously been 0-29 when trailing after the eighth inning. Salvador Perez doubled with one out and then scored on a two-out single by Alcides Escobar. Alex Gordon followed with an RBI to score Brandon Moss, who had kept the line moving with a walk, to make it 4-3. After Gordon's hit, right-hander Jason Grilli replaced Aaron Loup.

Merrifield said his goal wasn't to win the game with one swing. He took the first two pitches then fouled off the third. After taking another ball, Merrifield squared up a 93-mph fastball and sent it over the head of left fielder Dwight Smith Jr. Escobar trotted home, and Gordon came around to score the winning run from first.

"I was just hoping [Perez] wouldn't run out on the field too soon," Moss said. "[Escobar] scored and Salvy was already on the way out and I was like, 'Wait, wait, wait, we've gotta make sure Gordo gets around, too.'"

The Royals, who improved to .500 for the first time since April 19, mobbed Merrifield in the middle of the field.

"I try to soak in those moments as long as I can," Merrifield said.

Though the Royals celebrated, the Blue Jays felt the pain of letting one slip away."We had it and couldn't get that final out," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "We missed a lot of [scoring] opportunities, too."

Blue Jays closer Roberto Osuna was unavailable to pitch in the ninth. Osuna, who has 19 saves, wasn't feeling good, according to Gibbons. Left-hander J.A. Happ worked 6 2/3 innings and allowed just four hits and one run. He has given up four runs over three straight quality starts.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED

Breaking out: The Blue Jays took the lead in the fourth inning when shortstop Troy Tulowitzki doubled to right-center after first baseman Kendrys Morales was hit by a pitch. Morales scored from first on the play. With Tulowitzki on third base three batters later, Junis uncorked a wild pitch. Tulowitzki scored easily for a 2-0 lead. Before his double, Tulowitzki only had four extra-base hits over a 22-game span since coming off the disabled list.

Evading trouble: The Royals threatened to tie it in the seventh inning before Happ and Barnes retired three straight batters to end the inning. Lorenzo Cain doubled and Eric Hosmer reached on an error by second baseman Ryan Goins to put runners on the corners with none out. Perez then singled to score Cain. But Happ induced a pop out from Mike Moustakas and struck out Moss. Barnes got Escobar to fly out to keep it 2-1.

QUOTABLE

"This game can rip your heart out and tonight was one of those nights." -- Happ

WHAT'S NEXT

Blue Jays: Right-hander Marco Estrada (4-5, 4.98 ERA) will make a club-leading 16th start on Saturday in the middle game of the series against the Royals at 2:15 p.m. ET. Estrada has allowed 14 home runs in 85 innings, but the spacious dimensions at Kauffman Stadium could work in his favor.

Royals: Left-hander Jason Vargas (10-3, 2.27) will look for his Major League-leading 11th win on Saturday at 1:15 p.m. CT. Vargas allowed three runs on eight hits in six innings in his previous outing, a win over the Angels.

Walk-off Whit: Merrifield's 2B caps comebackRoyals snap 0-29 skid when trailing after 8 inningsJune 24, 2017 By Wilson Alexander/MLB.comhttp://m.royals.mlb.com/news/article/238328886/whit-merrifield-celebrates-first-walk-off-hit/

Whit Merrifield did some quick math before the bottom of the ninth began in the Royals' 5-4 walk-off win over the Blue Jays on Friday night. Trailing 4-1 and Merrifield due up seventh, he knew if he was going to bat again, it would be with a chance to win the game -- and that's exactly what happened.

With runners on first and third and two out, Merrifield worked an at-bat against Blue Jays right-hander Jason Grilli to a 3-1 count. Grilli's next pitch, a 93-mph fastball middle-in, would be the last of the game as Merrifield sent it over the head of left fielder Dwight Smith Jr., and the Royals completed their first ninth-inning comeback of the season.

"You always want to get up with the game on the line," Merrifield said. "That's why you play the game. It's not always going to happen the way it did tonight, but it's fun when it does."

Before Merrifield's first Major League walk-off hit, he had flied out to right in the first inning and hit a line drive right at Josh Donaldson in the third. Statcast™ measured the ball's exit velocity at 105.6 mph. As Merrifield walked back to the dugout, he threw his bat into his opposite hand, knowing he couldn't have hit it much better."I felt like I had good at-bats all night so it was nice to come through when it mattered," Merrifield said.

Following a strikeout in the sixth, Merrifield hit a double under the glove of Smith, but the Royals, then trailing 2-1, couldn't drive him in. However, that eventually put Merifield in position for his ninth-inning heroics.

Down 4-1, the Royals mounted a two-out comeback as Brandon Moss walked and Alcides Escobar singled. At that moment, starter Jake Junis said the televisions inside the clubhouse cut out. When Alex Gordon singled to make it 4-3, the pitchers inside couldn't see it. The feed returned in time for Merrifield's at-bat, and they were confident he'd come through.

As the hit sailed over Smith's head, Escobar trotted home and Gordon sprinted around from first with the winning run. Moss said he was worried Salvador Perez would rush the field too soon. While Gordon slid headfirst into home, the Royals mobbed Merrifield. Jorge Bonifacio chest bumped him mid-air, knocking Merrifield to the infield grass. The crowd at Kauffman Stadium roared in approval as the Royals returned to .500 for the first time since April 19.

Said Merrifield: "I try to soak in those moments as long as I can."

Royals agree to deal with Feliz; Young DFA'dJune 23, 2017 By Jeffrey Flanagan/MLB.comhttp://m.royals.mlb.com/news/article/238216218/royals-have-deal-with-neftali-feliz/

Royals general manager Dayton Moore said the move to designate right-hander Chris Young for assignment was something discussed two weeks ago.

"It was very difficult," Moore said on Friday. "... As the season progressed, we thought we would perhaps have to make a move [like this]."

Then, when Moore was driving home after the Royals' dramatic 6-4 win over the Red Sox on Wednesday, he received a call from his staff that the club had reached a deal with right-hander Neftali Feliz, who recently had been DFA'd by the Brewers.

Moore called Young to his home on Thursday morning and delivered the news.

"It was hard," Moore said. "But it was the right thing to do."He was the MVP of our pitching staff in 2015 in my mind. He was one of the pillars of our team. He'll be missed. I know that I'm a better person for being around Chris. I'd like to partner with him in the future in some endeavor."

Royals manager Ned Yost said Young had the "heart of a gladiator."

But after Young's terrific season (11-6, 3.06 ERA) in 2015, he never was quite the same here. His ERA ballooned to 6.19 last season in 34 games. This season, he had a 7.50 ERA in 14 games.

Moore said Young, 38, expressed a desire to continue pitching for another club. The Royals will have seven days to trade Young or give him his outright release.

Young is owed over half of his $5.75 million contract this season, plus a $1.5 million buyout for 2018.

Meanwhile, the Royals believe they can get some production out of the 29-year-old Feliz, who still throws in the 96- to 97-mph range.

"Low risk, high reward," Yost said.

In 29 games for the Brewers this season, Feliz was 1-5 with a 6.00 ERA.

"I think he was better than those numbers," Yost said. "He was like 8-for-9 in save situations and had a lot of scoreless outings.

"[Pitching coach] Dave [Eiland] looked on video of him and saw some mechanical things he can tweak."

Moore was in the Braves' scouting department when Atlanta signed Feliz as a non-drafted free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2005.

"He was a skinny kid back then with a big arm," Moore said. "I thought, 'Mariano Rivera.'"

Yost, noting that Feliz hasn't pitched in nine days, said he will ease him into low-leverage situations at first.

"He can be a setup guy, for sure," Yost said.Feliz also has pitched for the Rangers, Tigers and Pirates.

Vargas eyeing MLB-leading 11th win vs. JaysJune 24, 2017 By Robert Falkoff/MLB.comhttp://m.royals.mlb.com/news/article/238328034/vargas-eyeing-mlb-leading-11th-win-vs-blue-jays/?topicId=26688732

Royals left-hander Jason Vargas has already built a strong case that he deserves to be on the American League All-Star team. On Saturday, he'll have the opportunity to provide more convincing evidence.

Vargas, the Major League co-leader in wins with 10, will take on the Blue Jays in search of a sixth consecutive victory. Showcasing pinpoint control and baffling hitters with change-of-speed deliveries, Vargas is tied with Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw as the only MLB pitchers to reach the double-figure victory mark thus far. After a thrilling 5-4 walk-off win over the Blue Jays on Friday, the Royals will seek their fifth straight series win on Saturday.

Vargas is 5-1 with an AL-best 1.81 ERA at home. That means Blue Jays starter Marco Estrada doesn't figure to have much margin for error.

Estrada has eight quality starts in his 15 outings this year and the Blue Jays have a 7-8 record in games when Estrada has taken the mound.

Three things to know about this game

• The Blue Jays have averaged just 3.3 runs per game during Estrada's starts and are hopeful they can begin to give him more cushion the remainder of the season.

• Vargas has allowed the fourth-lowest average in the American League with runners in scoring position. In those situations, hitters are batting just .183 against Vargas.

• The Royals are 6-3 on Saturdays, marking their highest winning percentage day of the week.

Big Slick celebrity softball game always a hitRudd, Sudeikis, Riggle, Stonestreet take swings for charity

June 23, 2017 By Wilson Alexander/MLB.comhttp://m.royals.mlb.com/news/article/238273738/big-slick-weekend-begins-with-softball-game/

Comedian "Weird" Al Yankovic's nickname might better describe his batting stance, a low crouch in which he raises the bat high above his head. In his first at-bat in Friday afternoon's Big Slick Celebrity softball game at Kauffman Stadium, Yankovic struck out while hacking at a pitch. In the game where rules are arbitrary, he was given a few chances before that appearance.

"Playing today brought back some painful memories," Yankovic said. "As you can probably tell from watching, I have no baseball skills."

However, in his second at-bat, the man behind the parody tunes "White and Nerdy," "Eat It" and many others laid down a swinging bunt and beat the throw to first base. He then kept running toward the field level stands, giving high fives along the way. The crowd cheered.

"I'm batting .500, right?" Yankovic said. "If I did that in the Major Leagues, I would be making some serious coin."

Yankovic and over two dozen other celebrities were at the game, which was a silly affair meant to cause a laugh while raising money for Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, one of the nation's top pediatric medical centers.

What Rob Riggle, Paul Rudd and Jason Sudeikis began eight years ago as a celebrity poker tournament and party to raise money for the non-profit hospital has since raised over $4.5 million.

Children's Mercy Pediatrician-in-Chief Michael Artman said the money has been used to help remodel the hospital's bone marrow transplant unit, provide family spaces and play rooms, purchase an entertainment system for every oncology bed and buy more than $500,000 in advanced early detection equipment.

Though the softball game, which included a home run that rolled through a temporary fence in the outfield, a fake fight at third base and a walk-off home run from Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, was enjoyable for the thousands of fans who arrived early before Friday night's Royals-Blue Jays game, the goal of this game and the rest of the weekend's events is to continue raising money for the hospital.

"It's really good to see people from Kansas City coming back and raising money for a good cause," fan Michaela Weihe said.

Earlier in the day, four of the five hosts of the weekend-long event -- Eric Stonestreet, David Koechner, Rudd, and Riggle -- visited Children's Mercy. That, they said, is the best part of the weekend. Playing inside a stadium that they grew up going to is just an added bonus. For that reason, Riggle added they'll likely return to Children's Mercy on Saturday morning.

Said Stonestreet, "Raising money for the hospital and raising money for these kids is an honor."

Royals score four runs in ninth to stun Blue Jays, get record back to .500

June 23, 2017 By Pete Grathoff/KC Starhttp://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article158009144.html

As the Royals’ improbable ninth inning unfolded on Friday night, second baseman Whit Merrifield began to do the math.

“I counted out in my head that if it worked out, I was going to get to hit and I had confidence in our guys to get the job done, and they did,” Merrifield said. “I had a chance and took advantage of it.”

Merrifield, the seventh batter in the ninth inning, delivered a two-run double as the Royals scored four times and stunned the Blue Jays 5-4 in front of a sold-out crowd at Kauffman Stadium. Merrifield thought it was his first walk-off hit since 2010 when his single for South Carolina won the College World Series against UCLA.

The Royals (36-36) got back to .500 for the first time since April 19 when they were 7-7.

It was their second straight improbable victory, coming two days after Salvador Perez’s eighth-inning grand slam shocked the Red Sox in a 6-4 Royals win. The Royals are an American League best 14-6 in June, and now two games out of a wild-card spot and three games behind the AL Central leading Cleveland Indians.

At one time, the Royals were 10-20, but they have won 10 of 12 to get back to the even point in the standings.

“That’s always your goal, especially when you are (10) games under .500 at one point, is to get to .500 and then you can seriously start to think about competing,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.

Toronto led 2-1 going to the ninth inning and tacked on a pair of runs against Joakim Soria that seemed to doom the Royals.

ESPN noted that the Royals had been 1-335 since 2010 when trailing by three or more runs in the ninth inning or later. The only win was last year when the Royals scored seven in the ninth and beat the White Sox.

But the Royals were not deterred. With one out, Salvador Perez doubled, but Mike Moustakas popped out. The final three hitters in the Royals lineup, who were all batting below .200 at the time, were going to have to lead the charge.

And that’s exactly what happened. Brandon Moss battled back from a 1-2 count and walked, and Alcides Escobar followed with an RBI single.

Left-hander Aaron Loup relieved Ryan Tepera for the Blue Jays, and the Royals’ Alex Gordon lined a single to center that scored Moss to make it 4-3. Jays manager John Gibbons summoned Jason Grilli to face Merrifield.

Merrifield smashed a double to the wall in left and Escobar scored easily. Gordon raced home and beat the throw from cutoff man Troy Tulowitzki as the 38,848 fans roared their approval.

Royals third-base coach Mike Jirschele said he had no doubts about his decision to send Gordon.

“I was going to send him all the way,” Jirschele said. “As soon as Whit hit the ball, I knew it was going to get to the

wall. He (Toronto’s Dwight Smith Jr.) was going to have go back and make a good throw into Tulowitzki. Gordo was halfway there (to third).

“As soon as Gordo was halfway, I decided we were going for it. Make them make two perfect throws to get him.”

It looked bleak early despite a strong start from right-hander Jakob Junis, who allowed two runs on six hits in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out four, walked two and hit a batter. It was the best of his five starts in his rookie season.

The Blue Jays got their two runs off Junis in the fourth inning. Former Royal Kendrys Morales was hit by a pitch and scored on a double by Tulowitzki. Tulowitzki took third on a flyout and scored on a wild pitch.

The Royals got a run back in the seventh.

Lorenzo Cain led off with a hustle double on a ball hit to center field. Eric Hosmer battled back from an 0-2 count and grounded to second, where the Blue Jays’ Ryan Goins booted the ball as Cain took third.

Perez’s single brought home Cain and cut the deficit to 2-1. Blue Jays starter J.A. Happ came back to retire Moustakas on an infield pop-up and strike out Moss. Danny Barnes relieved and got Escobar to hit a fly to center fielder Kevin Pillar to end the threat.

It seemed like the Royals’ best chance at a win, but they proved otherwise in the ninth inning.

And while the walkoff hit was Merrifield’s first in the majors, this time he got the keepsake. After Merrifield’s single won the 2010 College World Series, a UCLA player kept the ball and has refused to give it to the Gamecocks.

But when Tulowitzki’s throw trickled past Russell Martin and Merrifield’s teammates stormed the field, a Royals employee ran to the backstop and grabbed the souvenir. It was authenticated and given to Merrifield.

Things are working out well for the Royals these days.

Vahe Gregorian: Royals back to the future with another great escapeJune 23, 2017 By Vahe Gregorian/KC Starhttp://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/vahe-gregorian/article158011889.html

Their mojo rising from the dregs of a 10-20 start, the bunch that animated the art of the great escape in 2014 and 2015 furnished a new chapter in style on Friday at Kauffman Stadium.

The Royals hoisted themselves back to .500 for the first time since April 19 with a 5-4 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in a game that offered a dynamic microcosm of the way back:

They entered the ninth inning trailing 4-1 and lugging an 0-29 record when behind that late.

Then with two outs and Sal Perez on second base, the game would be left on the shoulders of the beleaguered 7-8-9 men in the order:

Brandon Moss, who has struck out in more than one-third of his at-bats this season; Alcides Escobar, who just in the last 48 hours had creeped above a .200 batting average and Alex Gordon, who entered the game hitting .188 and largely has been a shadow of his best all season.

In the dugout, manager Ned Yost could only hope the Royals could honor the mantra that got them through the berserk American League wild-card comeback against Oakland in 2014 and the elimination-game rally against Houston in 2015 and so many other times on their way to winning that year’s World Series.

“ ‘Let’s just kind of see if we can keep the line moving,’ ” he thought.

Naturally, Moss walked, Escobar blooped a single and Gordon thumped one back through the middle to cut it to 4-3 and bring Whit Merrifield to the plate for what would become a rousing walk-off double.

Suddenly, the Royals are 14-6 in June, the best record in the league in that span, and they are over a hump to a restart plateau at 36-36.

Now, he said, “you can seriously start thinking about something.”

All because the Royals followed their dramatic rally for a victory on Thursday, courtesy of Perez’s eighth-inning grand slam, with an encore comeback for their 21st such comeback this season.

That resurrected resolve has a lot to do with why the Royals are 26-16 since the April fiasco, fresh testament to the fact that the DNA of those special teams still surges through this one.

“Just their fight, their will,” Yost said, echoing terms we heard aplenty in 2014 and 2015. “They don’t quit until the last pitch is thrown. They don’t lose focus. They just keep battling right to the end.”

In this case, it got darker just before the dawn.

Trailing just 2-1 in the seventh, the Royals left two men on as Moss struck out for the 57th time in 155 at-bats and Escobar flied out.

Then they squandered Merrifield’s one-out double in the eighth before Joakim Soria surrendered two runs in the top of the ninth.

Which, as it happened, just set the stage for better theater.

“We’ve done this many times as a team,” Gordon said. “So it’s not like this is an unusual situation for us.”

Confident as they might have been, the numbers suggested otherwise when it came to Moss up with two strikes and two outs.

“You just try to keep your head on the ball and do something — don’t be the last out,” he said. “You don’t want to let your team down, you don’t want to let your fans down and you just try to grind out an at-bat.”

Even after he worked a walk to keep it alive, the odds were dubious.

But then Escobar and Gordon came through, and by the time Merrifield stepped to the plate who could doubt what was about to happen?

As Gordon rounded third with the game-winning run, Moss just hoped Perez wouldn’t run out on the field too soon.

Now here they are, at last back where they started — improbably and dramatically enough to start rendering the seemingly debilitating April an afterthought and conjure visions of a team with a certain something once more.

With the game against Blue Jays on the line, Alex Gordon comes through for RoyalsJune 24, 2017 By Alec McChesney/KC Starhttp://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article158014314.html

Alex Gordon has been here before.

With Friday night’s game on the line, the Royals trailing 4-2 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays, Gordon stepped to the plate against left-handed reliever Aaron Loup.

Brandon Moss and Alcides Escobar had just put together two fantastic at-bats to keep the Royals’ hopes alive. Moss stood on third, Escobar on first.

“Loup is a tough lefty, so if you get your pitch to hit, don’t miss it,” Gordon said. “I know (Loup) likes to come with a first-pitch fastball, so I was just looking for that pitch and not trying to do too much with it.”

Yes, Gordon has been here before.

And on the first pitch he saw, Gordon, a three-time All-Star, laced an RBI single to center field to bring the Royals within one run of the Blue Jays.

Gordon, who is in the midst of his worst season at the plate as a big leaguer, eventually scored the winning run from first base on Whit Merrifield’s walk-off double.

“We’ve done this many times as a team, so it’s not like this is an unusual situation for us,” Gordon said. “We have confidence until the game is over that we are going to do everything we can to come back and battle our tails off.

“That’s what we did tonight.”

Gordon, who is regularly batting ninth in the lineup for the first time in his career, has just three home runs and 13 RBIs, while posting a .189 batting average.

But Gordon is not worried about where he bats in the order, as long as the team wins games.

“I don’t care (about the batting order), I just want to win games,” Gordon said. “That’s what everyone should be focused on, just trying to do anything that you can to help the team win.”

With the victory, the Royals are .500 (36-36) for the first time since being 7-7 in April. And Gordon, despite his lackluster average, has played a role in the Royals’ resurgence.

Including Friday’ night’s game-winning run, Gordon has now scored 12 runs in his last 15 games and has seven extra-base hits in his last 16 games.

Royals sign former Brewers closer Neftalí Feliz and drop Chris YoungJune 23, 2017 By Pete Grathoff and Alec McChesney/KC Starhttp://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article157888404.html

When the Royals hired Dayton Moore as general manager in June 2006, he was the Atlanta Braves’ director of player personnel.

One of the players the Braves signed late in his tenure was a right-handed pitcher from the Dominican Republic by the name of Neftalí Feliz.

“When I first saw him, I thought he was Mariano Rivera,” Moore said Friday. “That’s what I thought. I remember it like it was yesterday.”

That was 2005, and while Moore soon would join the Royals, Feliz was traded by the Braves in 2007 to Texas, where he was a key member of consecutive pennant-winning teams with the Rangers.

Moore signed Feliz again, this time to a free-agent contract with the Royals on Friday. To make room for Feliz on the 40-man roster, the Royals designated pitcher Chris Young for assignment.

Feliz, now 29 years old, never became another Rivera, a fact Moore acknowledged Friday.

But Feliz, the American League Rookie of the Year and All-Star in 2010, helped lead the Rangers to the 2010 World Series, recording 40 saves and posting a 2.73 ERA in the process.

The following season, he saved 32 games as the Rangers again advanced to the World Series, but they were beaten by the Cardinals.

More recently, Feliz struggled in 2015 while splitting time with the Rangers and the Tigers (6.38 ERA), but found some success with the Pirates in 2016 (3.52 ERA). After starting the 2017 season as the Brewers closer, Feliz was demoted and had a 6.00 ERA in 27 innings this season.

Milwaukee released him on June 19.

“Neftali has a power arm, and he’s healthy,” Moore said. “He also had a lot of success last year. It was pretty easy for us to move forward with this.”

Feliz’s struggles have stemmed from giving up the long ball. In just 27 innings for the Brewers, he allowed eight home runs, which is tied for second most in the MLB by a reliever in 2017. In 2016 with the Pirates, Feliz gave up 10 home runs in 53 2/3 innings.

In contrast, during Feliz’s two best seasons (2010 and 2011) in Texas, he allowed just nine home runs over 131 2/3 innings.

Royals manager Ned Yost said for now he plans to use Feliz out of the bullpen in low-leverage situations.

“It’s a low-risk, high-reward move,” Yost said. “We know that he still has the good arm. It’s fluid, and it’s effortless. (Pitching coach) Dave (Eiland) has seen a couple of things that are small, minor things that he thinks will help (Neftalí) quite a bit.”

Feliz signed a one-year, $5.35 million deal with the Brewers last offseason, but the Royals will only have to pay the prorated portion of the league minimum.

He is pleased to be with the Royals.

“I am very happy to be here in Kansas City,” Feliz said. “I am thankful to God and to the organization for this opportunity.”

After nearly quitting baseball, Bubba Starling is closer than ever to the big leaguesJune 23, 2017 By Sam Mellinger/KC Starhttp://amp.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/sam-mellinger/article157870629.html

Past midnight, still in full uniform, Bubba Starling sat in the batting cages, clutching his cell phone and texting his parents that he wanted to give it all up. No more baseball.

His parents kept asking him to call, but he kept tapping out responses on the screen. He couldn’t take it. The failure. The pressure. Forget it. Maybe he’d play football. Maybe he’d do something else. But this? This wasn’t working. Finally, he called.

A mother can tell so much just by hearing her son’s voice.

“He was pretty much at rock bottom,” Deb Starling said.

That was in April. Bubba Starling is today, if this keeps up, in the middle of one of the most interesting and in some ways surprising seasons of any of the thousands of men in minor-league baseball. He is here with the Omaha Storm Chasers, the Royals’ Class AAA affiliate, playing the best baseball of his career immediately after playing the worst baseball of his life.

He is closer to a big league call-up than ever before, immediately after feeling like he wanted to quit.

Starling signed for a Royals-record $7.5 million as something of a folk tale out of Gardner Edgerton High School. Back then, his talent was tantalizing. He signed a football scholarship to play quarterback at Nebraska, and major college basketball coaches wanted him on their teams, too.

He hit 500-foot home runs, ran over linebackers, dunked over power forwards, and caught fish in his spare time. In the 2011 draft, the Royals actually targeted pitcher Dylan Bundy with the fifth overall pick. When he was gone, a Royals official called Starling the most important draft selection the franchise would make in years.

On May 7, through 26 games of his sixth full professional season, Starling was hitting .133 with a .209 on-base and .205 slugging percentage, this after five largely disappointing seasons. He was miserable, on the field and

off. He turns 25 in August, no longer young in the world of baseball prospects, already older than seven men who’ve played for the Royals this season.

But since May 7, a span of 35 games, he is hitting .333 with a .367 on-base and .508 slugging percentage. Starling is as close as he has been to a major-league call-up. The worst baseball of his life, immediately followed by the best.

Mostly, Starling has pointed to a changed batting stance to explain the success, and the timing lines up. Hitting coach Tommy Gregg asked him to stand more upright, and hold his bat lower and further back — not unlike Cleveland Indians star Jason Kipnis.

The run of success started the very first game he tried it, so it’s tempting to believe, and we’ll get to that part of the story too.

But Starling also knows it didn’t matter how he stood, or where he put his hands, when he was wrecked mentally to the point of wondering if he should quit.

“I know where I want to be, and that’s playing baseball,” he said. “But at that time, when you’re struggling so much, it’s like, ‘Man, should I even be out here?’ You just have doubts.”

Bubba Starling might already be ready to play defense in the major leagues. One baseball personnel man said Starling is already a better defensive center fielder than Gold Glover Lorenzo Cain. Another, told of that evaluation, said, “It’s close. Bubba has better tools. Much better.”

Bubba Starling is freakishly athletic, even by the standards of professional sports. Baseball may have been his third best sport. He stands 6 feet 4 and 210 pounds, and has the best arm of anyone on the field in almost every game he plays. If not for teammates Terrance Gore and Raul Mondesi, he might be the fastest, too.

One baseball personnel man said Starling is already a better defensive center fielder than Lorenzo Cain. Another, told of that evaluation, said, “It’s close. Bubba has better tools. Much better.”

But for all of Starling’s gifts, his personality is often a bad fit for baseball’s unrelenting grind.

“Sometimes I put too much pressure on myself,” he said.

That can be compounded by his physical talents. He’s a pleaser, and knows what’s expected of a bonus baby drafted to his hometown team. The next 15 players taken after him in the 2011 have made the big leagues, including stars Francisco Lindor, Anthony Rendon and George Springer.

That was never to be Starling’s path, not this quick, anyway. He was a part-time baseball player entering a world where he competed against others who’d dedicated their entire lives to the sport.

The Royals saw him as exceptionally talented, but also raw enough that a big-league career was far from a certainty. When they drafted him, one club official expressed belief in Starling’s future, but added, “you might see him struggle for a while but when he gets it, it could happen quick.”

Sports have always come so dang easy to Starling, so this was something new, and he was nearly six full years into that struggle when he called his parents that night from the batting cages.

We all have our struggles, and our down moments, but Deb and Jimbo Starling could tell this was different. At first, they told their son to call George Brett or Mike Sweeney.

“I’ve talked to them,” Deb remembered Bubba saying. “I’ve tried that already.”

Deb thinks Bubba got some of that personality from his parents. They were hard on him growing up, Deb more than anyone. They expected a lot, and most times got it. They’re proud of their son, for a million reasons that have nothing to do with baseball, but this was as big a challenge as they could remember.

“You’re being tested,” Deb remembered telling him. “I don’t know why, but you’re just being tested. Things aren’t easy. I don’t know why that is. You need to reflect on all of that and figure it out.”

Deb doesn’t think Bubba was really going to quit. Bubba doesn’t, either. He needed some positivity in his life at that moment, and his parents were there. But that’s all easier to say now, because Bubba is crushing his way through the Pacific Coast League.

This is real, too. Or at least as real as it could be. The Royals have not had substantive talks about calling him up, but they know he would help them defensively, is immensely talented, already on the 40-man roster, and playing well.

Brian Poldberg, Omaha’s manager, said that if his bosses asked his recommendation he’d tell them to give it a shot. His answer would’ve been fundamentally different five weeks ago.

“You have to put him there to find out,” Poldberg said. “If something happens, he’s as ready right now as he’s ever been.”

At least some of that is a new approach at the plate. Gregg’s mechanical fix had some real baseball reasons behind it. He thought the old stance had Starling too tense, his hands needing to do too much before the swing, his timing often slow and forcing him to commit to pitches too early.

This is simplified, Starling with an extra fraction to decide, which means he’s spitting on pitches he used to swing and miss. That makes an incredible difference. He used to be an automatic out with two strikes. Now, he’s battling. Teams used to shift on him, knowing everything was going to left field. Now, he’s hitting line drives the other way.

It’s a confluence of at least three factors. The new stance freed his hands, the talk with his parents freed his mind, and something he heard from a Royals official gave him an extra boost. It came from J.J. Picollo, assistant general manager, with whom Starling has grown close.

Picollo was direct, and accurate. He told Starling to quit caring about what other people think. Quit trying to impress people. Just do what you’re capable of doing.

“I was like, ‘Shoot, yeah, why am I trying to impress all these people?’” Starling said. “I feel really, really comfortable now. I have some great guys around me who’ve helped a lot,

too. I just want to keep going up and up. Yeah, I feel great right now.”

In his last 35 minor-league games since May 7, Bubba Starling is hitting .333 with a .367 on-base and .508 slugging percentage for the Class AAA Omaha Storm Chasers.John Sleezer jsleezer@kcstar.comNobody can know how this story will turn out. Starling is working on six weeks of hitting like a future star, and maybe that’s all this is. Six weeks in six years.

But the timeline does line up with what the Royals suspected when they drafted him — years of struggles, but if this is now him “getting it,” this could be his career progressing quickly.

“I hear people say that,” Starling said. “And I mean, yeah, it’s success because I haven’t done a lot in the minor leagues so far. But I think I’m capable of doing a little bit more than that.”

There’s that personality again. The pressure he puts on himself. That’s good, to a point. Nobody succeeds in professional baseball without having high expectations. But nobody succeeds in professional baseball by focusing on the negative, either.

Starling thinks he’s getting better at that balance. The people around him do, too. Coaches, Royals officials, his parents, friends.

“He just needed to let the mental take its toll and focus on the positive,” said Cam Gallagher, Omaha’s catcher and Starling’s roommate.

The progression of baseball prospects is impossible to predict, but step back for a moment, and it looks and sounds like a young man growing into a big-leaguer. He was always going to need time, not just because of his relative inexperience when he was drafted, but also because of how hard he can be on himself.

One thing that’s always encouraged the Royals is how he is with his coaches and teammates. He is humble, supportive, and never misses a chance to work. At home and in the dugout before plate appearances, he mimes a drill Gregg taught him to sync his legs and arms.

He is easy to believe in, then, despite the results of the last five years. With prospects, nothing matters as much as the moment, and in this moment Starling is as high as he’s ever been.

This is now an emerging success story that nobody would have guessed even a month ago. The man with so many physical gifts, but an internal dialogue that often worked against him, is at the moment standing on the other side.

“Yeah,” he said. “I’m excited. We finally came to a point where something’s working for me. It’s comfortable.”

If and when that call-up comes, Starling will face an entirely new and bigger challenge. The grind and expectations in the big leagues dwarf those in the minors. His coaches think his major-league career could play out like a quicker version of his minor-league one — struggles in the beginning, then success later and quickly. Who knows? They’re all excited to find out.

It’s a conversation they did not imagine having a short time ago, not when Starling was thinking of giving it all up, no way of knowing how much he would soon have.

MINORSChasers Fall to Memphis 8-4 in Front of 7,936Stout fires 3.2 shutout frames in relief, Schwindel drives in 2June 24, 2017 By Andrew Green/Omaha Storm Chasershttps://www.milb.com/storm-chasers/news/chasers-fall-to-memphis-8-4-in-front-of-7936/c-238431812/t-196093384

Memphis designated hitter Patrick Wisdom drove in four RBI, including a homer, while Storm Chasers first baseman Frank Schwindel brought in two runs in the Redbirds' 8-4 victory over Omaha in front of 7,936 fans on Friday evening at Werner Park.

The Redbirds got on the board with a pair of tallies in each of the first two frames. The opening frame was highlighted by RF Nick Martini 's run-scoring base knock and Wisdom's RBI single to left, the first of his four RBI, with Memphis later taking advantage of an error and bases-loaded walk to double their advantage to four.

The score remained the same until the sixth, when the Storm Chasers plated two courtesy of DH Ryan O'Hearn's RBI double to left, followed by an RBI groundout from Schwindel to make it 4-2. Memphis answered right back, however, when Wisdom launched a three-run blast to left, his 13th longball of the season to open the Redbirds lead to 7-2. Single scores from Omaha in the eighth and ninth frames thanks to RBI doubles from Schwindel and SS Raul Mondesi , respectively, were not enough in the defeat.

Memphis 1B Luke Voit (3-3, R, 2 2B, RBI, 2 BB) recorded a game-high three knocks, while Martini (2-4, R, 2 RBI) and Wisdom (2-5, R, HR, 4 RBI) each collected multi-hit efforts. LF Billy Burns (2-5, R) and 2B Ruben Sosa (2-3, BB) joined Mondesi (2-5, R, 2B, RBI) in tallying two hits each for Omaha.

Redbirds righty Josh Zeid (2.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, BB, 2 K) earned his fourth victory of 2017 in support of starter Luke Weaver 's 3.2 shutout frames. Storm Chasers starter Josh Staumont (1.1 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 6 BB, K) suffered the defeat, while southpaw Eric Stout (3.2 IP, 2 H, BB, 3 K) stalled Memphis with 3.2 scoreless innings of relief.

Kansas City Royals left-hander Danny Duffy is expected to begin a Major League Rehab Assignment with Omaha and start on Saturday evening at Werner Park against Memphis, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. CT. The Redbirds are expected to counter with LHP Marco Gonzales (2-3, 2.97).

Drillers Top Naturals, Snap StreakTulsa ends 6-game losing streak to Northwest Arkansas with 8-2 winJune 23, 2017 By Tulsa Drillershttps://www.milb.com/drillers/news/drillers-top-naturals-snap-streak/c-238395208/t-196093322

The streak is over for the Tulsa Drillers. Northwest Arkansas has been a nemesis for the Drillers this season, winning 12 of

17 meetings between the two clubs, including the last six. Tulsa finally ended the losing streak Friday night at ONEOK Field with an 8-2 win over the Naturals before a crowd of 7,705 in downtown Tulsa.

Starting pitcher Josh Sborz played a big role in the victory, matching the longest outing of the season for a Drillers pitcher. The Tulsa offense provided Sborz with plenty of support thanks to home runs from Wynston Sawyer and Tim Locastro.

As they have done in five of the six games in their winning streak versus the Drillers, the Naturals scored first in Friday's game. In the top of the second inning, Donald Dewees singled, stole second and scored on a two-out base hit by Carlos Diaz.

The Drillers took their first lead in the third inning with a pair of unearned runs. With two outs, Tim Locastro singled and eventually scored to tie the game when Naturals first baseman Zach Walters failed to backhand a ground ball from Jose Fernandez. After the error, Jacob Scavuzzo doubled home Fernandaz to put Tulsa in front.

The Naturals quickly responded to tie the game at 2-2 in the top of the fourth. Dewees led off with a triple and scored on Nick Dini's sacrifice fly.

Sawyer put the Drillers in front for good in the bottom half of the fourth. The Tulsa catcher belted his fourth home run of the season to straightaway centerfield to make it 3-2.

Another run in the fourth bumped the lead to two runs as Erick Mejia singled and scored on a ground out by Edwin Rios.

Locastro gave the Drillers some breathing room in the sixth. After Johan Mieses reached safely on another error from the Naturals, Locastro delivered his fourth home run of the year to make it 6-2.

It was enough offensive backing for Sborz who delivered his best outing of the season. The right-hander worked seven innings, allowing just the two runs on six hits. Sborz walked two batters and struck out six while improving his record to 3-4. The outing equaled the seven innings from Scott Barlow earlier this week in a victory over Springfield.

The Drillers added two more runs in the eighth off reliever Andrew Edwards, who allowed only one hit but walked one batter and hit two others. One of those was Locastro who was hit by a pitch for the 21st time this season, a Tulsa professional record. He is moving closer to the Texas League all-time record for times hit by a pitch in a season. The TL mark has been held by Ed Miller for over 100 years. Miller was hit 27 times while playing for Galveston during the 1916 season.

Reliever Yaisel Sierra followed Sborz to the mound and completed the victory with two shutout innings. Sierra has not allowed an earned run in his last seven outings, dating back to June 2.

The game took only 2 hours and 15 minutes to complete, making it the shortest game of the season for the Drillers.

Tulsa and Northwest Arkansas will resume their series Saturday night at ONEOK Field with the third game of their four-game set. The pitching matchup will feature Chris Rearick (0-1, 7.20 ERA) for the Drillers against Corey Ray

(5-4, 4.15 ERA) of the Naturals. Starting time is again scheduled for 7:05PM with a Tulsa's Channel 8 Grand Slam Saturday Fireworks Spectacular scheduled for after the game.

Bullpen Holds Strong as Rocks PrevailFour two-out, run scoring hits fueled the Rocks over SalemJune 23, 2017 By Wilmington Blue Rockshttps://www.milb.com/blue-rocks/news/bullpen-holds-strong-as-rocks-prevail/c-238423086/t-196097164

The Wilmington Blue Rocks (40-32/ 1-1) scored four unanswered runs late in the game against the Salem Red Sox (41-30/ 1-1) to win 4-3 and gain their first victory of the second half on Friday night. Nathan Esposito paced the offense with three hits and an RBI, while Wander Franco knocked in the go-ahead run on one of his two singles. All four Blue Rock runs came with clutch two-out hits down the stretch.

The Rocks mounted a slow comeback in the sixth and headed to the top of the eighth inning tied 3-3. Cody Jones led off the frame with a double and was moved to third on a sacrifice bunt. After a walk and a strikeout, Franco came to the plate and lined the first pitch he saw into left field to score the go-ahead run and give the Blue Rocks a 4-3 lead.

Salem jumped out front in the second inning, when Jeremy Rivera singled home a run from third to make it 1-0. In the bottom of the third inning, the Red Sox took advantage of an error, a single, and three wild pitches to score two runners and add to their lead 3-0. With runners on first and second and two-outs in the sixth frame, the Blue Rocks finally tallied a run to make it 3-1 on a single from Roman Collins. An inning later, after two straight walks, Chris DeVito laced an RBI single into right field, and Nathan Esposito followed suit by doubling home a run to tie the game 3-3.

The Blue Rocks bullpen was back on track Friday night, pitching six shutout innings of relief. Matt Tenuta threw three scoreless frames, while All-Stars Yunior Marte (W, 3) and Richard Lovelady (S, 7) closed the door in last three innings. Jared Ruxer, who started the game and did not factor into the decision, surrendered three runs on six hits and picked up three strikeouts over three innings or work.

The Blue Rocks face Salem for game three of the four-game series on Saturday June 24 with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at Hayley Toyota Field. LHP Cristian Castillo (4-3, 2.80 ERA) takes the hill for Wilmington while southpaw Matthew Kent (5-3, 4.37 ERA) gets the start for Salem. Fans can listen to the game as Matt Janus will have the call on 89.7 WGLS-FM.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

Friday night's 4-3 victory marks another one run win for Wilmington. The Blue Rocks have played in a Carolina League-high 30 one-run games so far in 2017. No other club in the ten-team loop has played in more than 25 single-score affairs. Incredibly for Wilmington, the Rocks are now 16-14 in such contests, after having won 12 of the last 13. The Rocks also tallied 14 hits on the night, making it the sixth time in seven games Wilmington has recorded double digit hits. In those games, the Blue Rocks have a commanding 20-9 record.

Wander Franco continues to be a run producing machine for the Blue Crew. After driving in the go-ahead run in Friday's win, he now has driven in eight runs over his last five games while hitting a ridiculous .555 (10-for-18) in that stretch. In his last ten games, he has hit .371 (13-for-35) and has recorded a hit in all but two games during that span. The two hits collected in Friday's game makes it the fifth multi-hit game for Franco during his seven game hitting streak.

Matt Tenuta has continued his late inning success as an arm out of the bullpen. In his sixth appearance for the Rocks, he allowed no earned runs while striking out three batters in three innings of work. It marks the third relief outing in which Tenuta has not surrendered a run and pitched three frames. In his six appearances, the lefty has not allowed more than one run in an outing, totaling a 1.84 ERA in his time with the Blue Rocks.

The Blue Rocks picked up their sixth win against the Red Sox in the twelve games played between the two Northern Division rivals. As of late, the Blue Rocks have had the edge, winning six of the past seven meetings, dating back to the home-stand sweep by Wilmington at the end of the first half. Over those seven games, the Blue Rocks have outscored Salem 34-to-15. Overall, through the first 12 meetings between Salem and Wilmington, the Blue Rocks have scored 63 runs, while the Red Sox have tallied 49. Friday's 4-3 win also marked the first one-run victory for the Blue Rocks over Salem, who had won the previous four one-run games.

THEY SAID IT: Jamie Quirk

"I loved (our team's reaction to Thursday night's loss). Getting down early like we did, we had baserunners but we just couldn't get that big hit early. We kept pressure on them offensively. We finally came through and got some big hits. The bullpen was outstanding. Matt Tenuta was absolutely huge for us. (Jared) Ruxer was off, he didn't have his changeup tonight and it hurt him. Tenuta came in and did a great job. Of course, (Yunior) Marte and (Richard) Lovelady did their thing. When you can throw that many innings out of your bullpen and get zeroes, you have a good chance of catching up.

"They keep coming at you. We had runners early, we just couldn't get a big hit. We knew that we could get on base and that was the big thing, we just kept coming. The resiliency is awesome. We talk about it all the time, the one-run games that didn't go our way earlier have been in the last two months. We are battle tested. Defensively we played great. Huge double play by Nicky Lopez and D.J. Burt in the seventh inning, that was huge. Wander Franco has been great. He has been a different guy the last three weeks.

"(Nathan Esposito) has been great, I have no fears playing him. I've been picking left handed pitchers for him. He has really been hitting well off of left handers, but he got the big hit tonight off the right hander! Esposito has been playing great, I have no problems when he is in there. It allows us to rest Chase Vallot and get him in the DH spot. He has been great for us."

Nathan Esposito, Catcher

"(Rallying late) is huge, especially against a good team. We started off hot (on Thursday) and (Salem) came back and stuck it to us pretty good. For us to find the momentum and the power to come back in game two and beat them like that in a close game, that's huge for the rest of the series and road trip. (Matt Tenuta) did a great job tonight, they couldn't hit

his stuff, it was moving around a lot. For him to come in and pound the zone, that's so big out of the bullpen. If you can throw strikes with multiple pitches, it's pretty hard for the hitters to guess. Tenuta did a great job for us tonight and kept us in the ball game.

"(On the double play in the seventh inning) It was a huge play. I knew the pitch that we threw got in on the hitter a little bit and then I saw it off the bat and I thought, uh oh. Nicky Lopez is just so unbelievably quick. The way he gets to the baseball is so grace and remains me of A-Rod in his good old days. D.J. Burt got rid of it quickly and it was an unbelievable double play, huge momentum builder.

"I'm just trying to do my thing. You aren't trying to do too much, not trying to pull off. Just keep getting the barrel on the ball and catch as well as I can."

Legends rained out; doubleheader SaturdayJune 23, 2017 By Lexington Legendshttps://www.milb.com/legends/news/legends-rained-out-doubleheader-saturday/c-238346348/t-196097274

Friday night's game between the Lexington Legends and the West Virginia Power in Charleston was rained out. The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader Saturday at Appalachian Power Park. The first of two seven-inning games will begin at 6:05 p.m. Saturday.

Mets Offense Too Much for Royals in Friday LossKingsport scores early and often in 16-1 winJune 23, 2017 By Matt Krause/Burlington Royalshttps://www.milb.com/b-royals/news/mets-offense-too-much-for-royals-in-friday-loss/c-238388450/t-196097136

The explosive Kingsport Mets offense was too much for the Burlington Royals to handle on Friday night at Burlington Athletic Stadium. The visitors posted 16 runs on 22 hits to take a 16-1 win.

Kingsport (2-0) scored five runs in the first inning and led 10-0 in the middle of the third. With two first-inning runs already home, the Mets had two runners on and one out for C Juan Uriarte , who blasted a three-run home run to left center field to push the lead to 5-0.

An inning later, CF Anthony Dirocie collected a two-out, two-RBI double to extend the advantage to 7-0, and an RBI single from DH Danny Hoy and a passed ball accounted for the final two runs of the inning.

The Mets reached double digits with a sacrifice fly from LF Wagner Lagrange in the third. RHP Carlos Hernandez pitched well for the Mets, scattering a hit and two walks over five shutout innings. He struck out five and earned the win.

Burlington (0-2) scored its lone run of the game in the sixth inning, when CF Michael Gigliotti led off with a single, and advanced to second on an error. A pair of wild pitches from relief RHP Ronald Sanchez allowed him to come in and score.

Burlington RHP Kevin Lenik tossed two scoreless innings of relief, striking out a batter, and LHP J.C. Cloney made his professional debut with three strikeouts over two innings.

The Mets added single runs in the seventh and eighth innings, and set the final score with four in the ninth. Dirocie hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning, and Uriarte followed with his second long ball of the game.

SS Jeison Guzman hit a triple in the eighth inning for Burlington for his first hit of the season.

The Royals attempt to avoid a sweep on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. at Burlington Athletic Stadium. RHP Ismael Maldonado starts for Burlington against Kingsport RHP Ezequiel Zabaleta.

MLB TRANSACTIONSJune 24, 2017 •.CBSSports.comhttp://www.cbssports.com/mlb/transactions

SATURDAY, JUNE 24, 2017

TEAM PLAYER TRANSACTION

New York Yankees Chris Carter Designated for

Assignment

New York Yankees Tyler Austin Called Up from Minors

Tampa Bay Rays

Wilson Ramos

Recalled From Minors, Rehab Assignment

Tampa Bay Rays

Wilson Ramos

Removed From 60-Day DL, (Recovery from right knee surgery)

Tampa Bay Rays Derek Norris Designated for

Assignment

FRIDAY, JUNE 23, 2017

TEAM PLAYER TRANSACTION

Arizona Diamondbacks

Rubby De La Rosa Purchased From Minors

Arizona Diamondbacks J.J. Hoover

Placed on 10-Day DL, (Right shoulder inflammation)

Arizona Diamondbacks

Louis Coleman

Signed to a Minor League Contract

Arizona Diamondbacks

Oscar Hernandez

Designated for Assignment

Baltimore Orioles Darren O'Day

Removed From 10-Day DL, (Right shoulder soreness)

Boston Red Sox Jhonny Peralta

Signed to a Minor League Contract

Boston Red Sox Doug FisterAcquired Off Waivers From from Angels, Los Angeles

Boston Red Sox Hector Velázquez Sent to Minors

Cincinnati Reds Luis Castillo Called Up from Minors

Cincinnati Reds Amir Garrett Sent to Minors

Cleveland Indians Adam Plutko Sent to Minors

Cleveland Indians Cody Allen Reinstated from

Paternity Leave List

Detroit Tigers Francisco Rodriguez Released

Detroit Tigers Matt den Dekker Purchased From Minors

Detroit Tigers Bruce Rondon Called Up from Minors

Detroit Tigers Alex Presley Placed on 7-Day DL, (Concussion)

Houston Astros Reymin Guduan

Called Up from Minors

Kansas City Royals Neftalí Feliz

Signed as Free Agent, ( 2017)(one-year contract)

Kansas City Royals Chris Young Designated for

Assignment

Los Angeles Angels

Eduardo Paredes Called Up from Minors

Los Angeles Angels C.J. Cron Sent to Minors

Los Angeles Dodgers Chris Hatcher Placed on 10-Day DL,

(Thoracic nflammation)

Los Angeles Dodgers Ross Stripling Called Up from Minors

Miami Marlins Martín PradoRemoved From 10-Day DL, (Strained right hamstring)

Miami Marlins Martín Prado Recalled From Minors, Rehab Assignment

Miami Marlins Christian Colon

Designated for Assignment

Minnesota Twins

Trevor Hildenberger Purchased From Minors

Minnesota Twins Dillon Gee Purchased From Minors

Minnesota Twins

Ehire Adrianza

Placed on 10-Day DL, (Abdominal issues)

Minnesota Twins

Alex Wimmers

Designated for Assignment

New York Mets Asdrúbal Cabrera

Recalled From Minors, Rehab Assignment

New York Mets Asdrúbal Cabrera

Removed From 10-Day DL, (Sprained left thumb)

New York Mets Gavin Cecchini Sent to Minors

Oakland Athletics

Marcus Semien

Sent to Minors, For Rehabilitation

Philadelphia Phillies

Mark Leiter Jr. Called Up from Minors

Philadelphia Phillies Casey Fien Placed on 10-Day DL,

(Right rotator cuff strain)

San Diego Padres Miguel Diaz Placed on 10-Day DL,

(Strained right forearm)

San Diego Padres Carlos Asuaje Called Up from Minors

San Diego Padres

Yangervis Solarte

Placed on 10-Day DL, (Strained right oblique)

San Diego Padres

Héctor Sánchez

Removed From 10-Day DL, (Right foot contusion)

San Diego Padres

Héctor Sánchez

Recalled From Minors, Rehab Assignment

San Francisco Giants Bryan Morris Designated for

Assignment

San Francisco Giants

Conor Gillaspie

Recalled From Minors, Rehab Assignment

San Francisco Giants

Conor Gillaspie

Removed From 10-Day DL, (Back spasms)

San Francisco Giants

Eduardo Nunez

Placed on 10-Day DL, (Strained hamstring)

San Francisco Giants Steven Okert Called Up from Minors

Seattle Mariners

Felix Hernandez

Removed From 10-Day DL, (Right shoulder bursitis)

Seattle Mariners

Andrew Moore Sent to Minors

Seattle Mariners

Felix Hernandez

Recalled From Minors, Rehab Assignment

Tampa Bay Rays

Colby Rasmus

Placed on 10-Day DL, (Left hip tendinitis)

Tampa Bay Rays

Shane Peterson Purchased From Minors

Toronto Blue Jays Devon Travis

Transferred to 60-Day DL, (Bone bruise, right knee)

Toronto Blue Jays Cesar Valdez Sent to Minors

Toronto Blue Jays Ian Parmley Purchased From Minors

Washington Nationals Wilmer Difo Called Up from Minors