KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Chris Sale shut down the Kansas City Royals while pitching into the ninth inning, and a rag-tag bunch of Boston Red Sox filling in for injured starters pounded their way to an 8-3 victory Tuesday night that moved them into first place in the AL East.
Sale (9-3) gave up a homer to Mike Moustakas in the second and a two-run shot to Jorge Bonifacio in the ninth before departing two outs shy of his second consecutive complete game. He allowed four hits and fanned 10, pushing his major league-leading strikeout total to 146 this season.
More importantly, he got a win after going the distance in a 1-0 loss to Philadelphia last week.
Xander Bogaerts and Sandy Leon each drove in a pair of runs for Boston, which got plenty of production from a lineup missing Pablo Sandoval, Dustin Pedroia and Mitch Moreland to various injuries.
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) – Kansas State has added graduate transfer Mawdo Sallah from Mount St. Mary’s to provide some front-court depth following the dismissal of Isaiah Maurice from the men’s basketball program.
Wildcats coach Bruce Weber said Tuesday that Sallah, a 6-foot-9 forward, had signed a financial aid agreement. He will be eligible to play immediately and have two seasons with Kansas State.
Sallah helped Mount St. Mary’s to the Northeast Conference regular-season and tournament titles as a sophomore last season. The Mountaineers defeated New Orleans in a First Four game in the NCAA Tournament before losing to top-seeded Villanova in the first round.
Sallah was born in Gambia and moved to the U.S. when he was a child.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Whit Merrifield drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, Eric Hosmer hit a two-run homer and the Kansas City Royals beat the Boston Red Sox 4-2 on Monday night for their eighth win in nine games.
Jason Hammel (4-6) pitched seven sharp innings before turning it over to Mike Minor, who loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth. No. 9 hitter Christian Vazquez proceeded to send a slow bounder toward third base that Cheslor Cuthbert fielded cleanly and fired to first to end the threat.
Kelvin Herrera worked around Andrew Benintendi’s triple in the ninth for his 16th save.
Red Sox reliever Blaine Boyer (0-1), who wriggled out of a jam in the sixth, gave up Merrifield’s bouncing RBI single in the seventh.
Norton quarterback Jace Ruder has announced on Twitter that he will continue his football career at the University of North Carolina.
The 6-3, 205 pounder tweeted Monday that he has verbally committed to the Tar Heels.
Ruder had originally committed to Tulsa before Christmas, however he changed his mind after receiving other multiple offers.
As a junior, Ruder completed over 50-percent of his passes for 1,598 yards and 14 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He also rushed for 746 yards and 16 touchdowns and won the 300 meter hurdles at the state track meet last month.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Royals and first-round pick Nick Pratto agreed Monday to a contract that includes a $3.45 million signing bonus, and the high school first baseman will head to Arizona to begin his professional career.
Pratto was chosen with the 14th overall pick out of Huntington Beach, California, and flew to Kansas City with his family to make his deal official. He signed it before the Royals opened a series against the Red Sox and then toured Kauffman Stadium, where he hopes to play in the future.
Pratto will head to the Arizona rookie league Tuesday morning.
Slipping on his new Royals jersey brought back some found memories for Pratto, whose Little League team had the same nickname. Pratto later led a collection of California players to the Little League World Series in 2011, hitting the game-winning single in the title game against Japan.
A night after hitting six home runs to beat Haysville, the Hays Larks used singles and doubles to do their damage in a 7-1 win over the Aviators. Chandler Coates pitched seven strong innings, allowing just a single run on a home run by Haysville’s Brandon Lankford. Jace Selsor drove in the Larks’ first run of the night with an single in the second, scoring Colin Simpson. An inning later Simpson drove in Trey Ochoa for a 2-0 lead.
Coates (2-1) kept the bats of Haysville idle until the seventh when Lankford pounded the first pitch of the at-bat over the 405 sign in center field. The Larks got the run back in the bottom of the inning to go back up 3-1 when Ochoa scored for a second time when Jacob Boston hit a sacrifice fly to right field.
Highlights
Ryan Kotulek came on in relief in the top of the eight inning and worked himself out of trouble. In a 3-1 game, following a lead off single and a sacrifice bunt by Haysville, Kotulek picked off the Aviator’s Dylan Hutcheson at second base. It was the second successful pick off of the night for the Larks pitching staff.
The Larks then opened the game up in the bottom of the eighth. Jonathan Soberanes drove in Spencer Packard with the bases loaded. Another run scored on the play when the Aviators didn’t field the left fielder’s throw, allowing the ball to roll the back stop and Alex Weiss to score pushing the lead to 5-1. Clayton Rasberry then doubled up the right field line with two outs scoring both Selsor and Soberanes for the 7-1 difference.
Coach Frank Leo
Coates went seven innings allowing just two hits, one run, striking out four and walking two. Kotulek and Kent Hasler each pitched a scoreless inning. The three pitchers allowed just three hits combined. Packard recorded three hits while Simpson and Soler added two each in the ten hit attack. Haysville used five pitchers with Cooper Cantwell taking the loss despite allowing just two runs in the five innings of work.
The Larks have won five consecutive games and move to 8-4 overall and 8-3 in the Jayhawk League. Haysville falls to 5-9 both overall and in league play, losing seven in a row. Hays is off tomorrow before heading to El Dorado Tuesday for a three game set.
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Jason Vargas earned his 10th win, most in the majors, and Salvador Perez hit a three-run homer as the Kansas City Royals beat the Los Angeles Angels 7-3 on Sunday.
Mike Moustakas had a three-run double for the Royals, who went 7-2 on their California road trip and scored at least seven runs in six of those victories.
Vargas (10-3) gave up three runs and eight hits in six innings. Facing a bases-loaded jam with nobody out in the sixth, Vargas was able to limit the damage to one run before departing.
Perez launched a drive to center field for his 14th homer of the season, leaving Cameron Maybin to climb the wall for show as part of a four-run outburst in the fourth.
Moustakas doubled in the third with the bases loaded, giving him 19 RBIs this month.
DODGE CITY, Kan. – The Hays Monarchs American Legion baseball team jumped out to an 8-1 lead after two innings and beat Beloit 15-4 in the fifth place game of the Dodge City Baseball Club Tournament Sunday afternoon at Cavalier Field.
The Monarchs (9-4) hit 15 singles in the game with three each from Tate Garcia, Chase Werth and Luke Ruder. Garcia drove in four runs and Ruder three.
Chase Werth allowed four runs (two earned) on five hits with seven strikeouts and three walks in the complete game five inning victory.
The Monarchs overcame an early five run deficit to beat Great Bend 12-8 in their first game Sunday. The Monarchs scored seventh and three in the fifth to build a 12-5 lead. Great Bend rallied with three in the top of the seventh.
Tate Garcia had four hits and drove in three. Chase Werth also knocked in three despite going hitless. Trent Mayo allowed all eight runs on nine hits with two strikeouts and two walks for the win.
The Monarchs are off until June 26th when they play a doubleheader in Hoisington.
DODGE CITY, Kan. – Beloit scored six runs in the bottom of the third inning to take the lead and beat the Hays Eagles Senior American Legion 9-5 Sunday at the Dodge City Baseball Club Tournament.
The Eagles (13-6), who had won 11-straight entering the tournament, finished o-4 on the weekend.
Brady Kreutzer and Grant Coffman all had run scoring singles in the third inning to give Hays a 4-1 lead. The Eagles (13-6), scored three in the top of the third to take a 4-1 lead. Coffman finished 3-for-3 and drove in three.
Brett Herrman allowed five runs on seven hits with two walks and no strikeouts and suffered the loss.
The Eagles are off until Thursday when the travel to Garden City for a doubleheader.
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Albert Pujols, Cameron Maybin and Luis Valbuena each homered and Alex Meyer dominated for six innings, helping the Los Angeles Angels beat Kansas City 9-0 on Saturday to snap the Royals’ six-game winning streak.
Maybin hit a leadoff homer in the first inning, Pujols had a two-run shot in the fifth and Valbuena added a three-run homer in the seventh.
Meyer (3-3) pitched the best game of his young career, allowing two hits and a walk while striking out nine.
Rookie right-hander Jake Junis (2-1) got the first loss of his career, surrendering five runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings. He did not walk a batter and struck out six.
HAYS, Kan. – The Hays Larks hit six home runs and hand Haysville their sixth straight loss, 13-2 Saturday night at Larks Park night.
Trevor Boone started the home run barrage with a solo shot in the first. Clayton Rasbeary opened the third with another solo shot to push the lead to 2-0. Spencer Packard and Mikey Gangwish both hit two-run blasts later in the inning to push the lead to 6-0.
Jacob Boston’s two-run homer in the fifth pushed the lead to 9-0. Colin Simpson would add a two-run bomb over the right field scoreboard later in the inning giving the Larks (7-4, 7-3 Jayhawk League) a 13-0 lead.
Starter Walter Pennington (2-1) picked up the win. The Colorado School of Mines freshman pitched five scoreless innings with one strikeout and two walks. Dylan Schneider and Chad Smith both pitched a scoreless inning of relief. Brad Sugg allowed two runs with four strikeouts over the last two innings.
The Larks and Aviators close out the series Sunday night.
DODGE CITY, Kan. – The Hays Monarchs American Legion baseball team couldn’t hold on to an early 3-0 lead and lost 4-3 to Russell Saturday at the Dodge City Baseball Club Tournament at Cavalier Field.
Brady Dinkel’s one-out single scored two with one out in the bottom of the seventh to give Russell their second straight walk-off win over a Hays Legion team. On Friday, they picked up a one-run victory over the Hays Eagles.
The Monarchs (7-4) scored three in the first on doubles from Clayton Renz and Trent Mayo.
Ricky Hockett allowed all four runs (two earned) on six hits with six strikeouts and three walks and suffered the loss.
DODGE CITY, Kan. – Butler Country scored six runs in the top of the sixth inning to beat the Hays Eagles Senior American Legion 14-11 Saturday at the Dodge City Baseball Club Tournament at Cavalier Field.
The Eagles (13-5) scored three in the third to pull within a run then scored six in the fourth to take a one run lead.
Brett Herrman went 3-for-3 and drove in three runs. Brady Kreutzer and Palmer Hutchison both knocked in two runs.
Hutchison was the last of four Eagles pitchers and allowed five runs on four hits and suffered the loss.
