MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Alcides Escobar tied a career high with four RBIs on two doubles and Salvador Perez homered to lift the Kansas City Royals to a 6-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Monday night.
Danny Duffy (5-7) gave up one run and four hits in 5 2-3 innings and Mike Moustakas had two hits for the Royals.
Kansas City (43-39) has won three of four and is off to its best start since 2003.
Yohan Pino (0-2) gave up four runs and seven hits in 5 2-3 innings for the Twins.
Eduardo Nunez had two hits and an RBI in his return from the disabled list for Minnesota, which has lost six of its last seven games to drop into last place in the AL Central.
The Royals entered the night 3 1/2 games behind Detroit in the division and 1 1/2 games out of the AL wild card.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The Kansas City Royals have signed 42-year-old outfielder Raul Ibanez, nine days after he was released by the Los Angeles Angels.
The Royals made several moves Monday before their game at Minnesota.
Ibanez and infielder Christian Colon were added to the roster, and infielder Pedro Ciriaco and outfielder Justin Maxwell were designated for assignment.
Ibanez batted just .157 in 57 games for the Angels, but 10 of his 26 hits were for extra bases.
He spent three seasons with the Royals, starting in 2001. This is his fifth team since 2011. Ibanez hit 29 home runs just last year for Seattle. Colon was recalled from Triple-A.
The fourth overall pick in the 2010 draft was batting .296 with 48 runs, 14 doubles and 14 steals in 74 games for Omaha.
Five Hays Larks had two hits apiece as they defeat El Dorado 8-1 to take the weekend series two games to one. The Larks have won four of their last five to improve to 14-9 overall and 10-9 in the Jayhawk League. The Broncos drop to 8-12 and 6-12 in league play.
Frank Leo Postgame Interview
Game Highlights
Brett DeGagne pitched four scoreless innings in his Larks debut. The University of North Dakota sophomore allowed three runs while striking out three and walking three. He worked around a two-out double in the first inning, then worked around back-to-back walks to start the third, stranding runners at second and third. Craig Larkin gave up a run on three hits in two innings of relief for the win. Austin Unrein and DJ Carr retired the final nine batters to close it out fir the Larks.
Aaron Cornell led the 13-hit attack going 2-for-4 with a homer, two RBIs and two runs scored. His two-run shot to left field in the seventh gave the Larks their final margin. Tyler Detmer was also 2-for-4, driving in two with a two-out single in the fourth to give Hays a 6-0 lead.
Derek Birginske, Zair Koeiman and Nate Olinger also had three hits for the Larks who close out their five-game homestand Tuesday against Dodge City at 7pm.
In other Jayhawk League action Sunday… Wellington swept Dodge City 5-4 and 2-1. Derby defeated Liberal 7-2.
Omar Infante delivered another big hit against the Angels, singling home the winning run with one out in the ninth inning that lifted the Kansas City Royals over Los Angeles 5-4 Sunday.
Lorenzo Cain hit three doubles for the Royals, finishing with four hits and two RBIs.
An error by second baseman Howie Kendrick set up the game-ending hit by Infante, whose grand slam Friday night helped beat the Angels.
Omar Infante celebrates after his game-winning base hit lifted the Royals past the Angels. (Courtesy Kansas City Royals (Chris Vleisides)).
Infante’s single came against Los Angeles newcomer Jason Grilli (0-3). Pittsburgh traded its former closer to the Angels on Friday.
Greg Holland (1-2) struck out two in the ninth.
Alex Gordon was hit by a pitch with one out in the Kansas City ninth. Salvador Perez followed with a grounder to shortstop Erick Aybar, but his throw glanced off Kendrick’s error and sent Gordon to third. Infante followed with his single.
Kole Calhoun led off the game with a home run against Jeremy Guthrie. The Angels added another run in the first on Cain’s error in right field, and Los Angeles took a 3-0 lead into the fourth.
Albert Pujols opened the Angels sixth with a hit to left field and tried to stretch it into a double. He jogged into second, didn’t slide and was thrown out by Gordon.
Aybar homered later in the inning to make it 4-all
After the Angels loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh, Kelvin Herrera was summoned to face Pujols and retired him on a fly ball.
The Royals won challenges in the third and fifth inning and both resulted in double plays being converted.
Cain’s two-run double highlighted a four-run fourth off C.J. Wilson.
Wilson faced 22 batters and 12 reached base seven hits, four walks and a hit batter in 3 2/3 innings. Angels starting pitchers combined for only 11 2/3 innings in the three-game series to create a work overload for the bullpen.
NOTES: The Royals open a nine-game, 10-day, three-city trip Monday in Minnesota. They have only four games against Detroit in the next 24 days at Kauffman Stadium. … Angels RHP Garrett Richards, who starts Monday at Chicago, is 4-0 with a 1.05 ERA and holding batters to a .203 average in his first five June starts. … The Royals are 42-39 at the halfway point of the season. That is their most victories at the midpoint since 2003, when they were 43-38.
Hays Hurricanes swimmer Megan Flavin placed first in 4 events and broke the pool record in the 50 free at the Western Kansas Swim Club swim meet in Lakin, Kansas on Saturday, June 28th. Flavin’s time of 28.66 broke the previous record of 28.96 held by former Hurricanes swimmer Amanda Groff.
Hurricanes swimmers who placed in the top three in individual events are as follows:
Kallyn DeWitt (age 12): 200 IM (2nd)
Megan Flavin (age 12): 50 Free (1st), 50 Fly (2nd), 50 Back (1st), 50 Breast (1st) & 100 Free (1st)
Ana Goodlet (age 14): 100 Back (2nd), 100 Breast (2nd), 100 Free (1st)
Ben Rajewski (age 17): 200 IM (2nd), 500 Free (3rd)
The Hays Larks scored five runs in the second inning then held on to defeat the El Dorado Broncos 6-4 to even their Jayhawk League series at a game apiece. The Larks improve to 13-9 overall and 9-9 in league play. The Broncos fall to 8-11 and 6-11 in the Jayhawk League.
Frank Leo Postgame Interview
Game Highlights
Hays strung together six straight hits in the second inning. Kevin Czarnecki started the rally with a one-out double. Derrick Mount
Aaron Cornell, Michael Burns, Tyler Detmer and Cooper Langley all followed with base hits.
The Larks added another run in the sixth. Aaron Cornell singled with two outs then stole second and third. He scored when catcher Jonathan Schmitz dropped a popup.
The Broncos tallied a run in the sixth then added two in the seventh with a two-out homer from Schmitz. The Broncos scored again in the eighth after a leadoff double and one-out groundout.
DJ Carr pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to close out the game and pick up his first save.
Nick Goza picks up the win to end a personal two-game losing streak. The senior to-be at Delta State allowed three runs on six hits over six innings. Goza gave up a leadoff single to start the game then didn’t allow another hit until the sixth. Goza struck out four and walked one to move to 4-2.
Aaron Cornell led the Larks eight hit attack with three singles, three stolen bases and two runs scored.
The two wrap up the series Sunday night at 7pm. It’s Military Appreciation Night with all veterans and active military personnel honored prior to the game. Admission is free courtesy of the VFW and the Kiwanis Club.
The Hays Eagles Senior American Legion scored three runs in the second inning and got a solid pitching performance from Layne Downing to defeat Ada, Oklahoma 8-0 at the South Plains Classic baseball tournament in Oklahoma City. The win advanced them in bracket play but their final game was rained out. The Eagles finish the tournament with a 4-1 record and improve to 15-6 on the season.
Layne Downing fires a complete-game three-hit shutout, striking out seven and walking three. Downing gave up a leadoff single in the second but came back to get two strike outs. He walked two and gave up a hit in the third but got a strike out to leave the bases loaded in the third. Ada had a leadoff double and a walk in the fourth but Downing came back with a fly out and groundout to work out of the threat.
Downing doubled to drive in the Eagles first run of the game in the second. Jake Sedbrook added a two-out two-run double later in the inning to put Hays up 3-0. They would score two more in the fourth and two in the fifth then add their final run with a bases loaded walk to Kade Parker to end the game by run-rule.
Downing, Marcus Altman and Zack Legleiter all had two hits with Downing, Altman and Sedbook all driving in three runs.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Albert Pujols and David Freese combined to drive in five runs as the Los Angeles Angels beat the Kansas City Royals 6-2 on Saturday for their seventh victory in eight games.
There were two rain delays with the second after the fourth inning lasting 3:58. The game didn’t end until nearly 7 hours after it started.
Pujols, who has 14 RBIs in his past 13 games, singled home runs in the third and sixth innings. Freese, who had three hits, drove in three runs, two in the four-run sixth and the other in fourth. He has six RBIs in his past seven games, after driving in only three in his previous 26 games.
Rookie right-hander Mike Morin (2-1), who went to high school at a Kansas City suburb, allowed two runs on two hits over two innings to pick up the victory.
Royals rookie Yordano Ventura (5-7) took the loss.
KANSAS CITY, MO – The Kansas City Royals announced today that the club has signed it’s 2014 first-round draft choice Brandon Finnegan, the 17th overall selection in the First-Year Player Draft.
The 21-year old Finnegan, a 5-foot-11, 185-pound hurler from Fort Worth, Texas, went 9-3 with a 2.04 ERA (24 ER in 105.2 IP) and 134 strikeouts, helping lead Texas Christian to an appearance in the College World Series. The 2013 member of the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team was selected a Second-Team All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers’ Association (NCBWA) and a Third-Team member by Louisville Slugger this year. He also earned All-Big 12 First Team Honors and was named to the Fort Worth Region All-Tournament team, after tossing the first 7.1 innings of TCU’s first-round win over Siena (2-1) on May 30. The 5-foot-11 lefty had five starts this season where he pitched 7.0 innings or more without allowing a run. Finnegan led the Horned Frogs in strikeouts each of the last two seasons, posting 85 in 2013 to go along with 134 this year.
The El Dorado Broncos successfully executed a suicide squeeze to score the go-ahead run in the 10th inning and beat the Hays Larks 3-2 to take the first game of their three-game Jayhawk League series at Larks Park. The loss ends Hays two-game win streak and their nine-game home win streak over the Broncos who improve to 8-10 overall and 6-10 in the Jayhawk League. The Larks fall to 12-9 and 8-9 in league play.
Both teams scored in the fourth inning off of errors. Aaron Cornell dropped what would have been the final out in the top of the inning and the Broncos Morgan Oliver misplayed a ground ball.
The Larks caught a break in the top of the ninth when a Cameron Knight line drive appeared to fall out of the glove of Cornell, but was ruled a catch for the final out of the inning.
The Larks had a chance to tie in the 10th when Cornell led off the inning with a triple down the right field line. Cornell was thrown out at the plate to end the game, trying to score on Tyler Detmer’s fly ball to left.
The two teams play again Saturday night. Admission is free courtesy of M&D Incorporated and Eagle Communications. It’s the annual Larkstoberfest with bierocks, noodles and beans and more available as well as a polka band. Sunday is Military Appreciation Night.
The Hays Eagles split their two games on Friday at the South Plains Classic baseball tournament in Oklahoma City and finish pool play at 3-1. The Eagles beat Tuttle, Oklahoma 12-8 then lose to the Oklahoma Outlaws 12-4. They are now 14-5 on the year and will begin bracket play at 10am Saturday.
Hays rallied from a 6-3 deficit with five in the fourth and four in the fifth against Tuttle Trenton Henningson picks up the win in relief, allowing two runs on two hits over four innings, striking out four and walking five. Zack Legleiter went 3-for-5 with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored.
The Outlaws score 11 runs in the first inning in the second game. Hays would rally with four in the fourth but it wasn’t enough. Kade Parker takes the loss, allowing all 12 runs on 11 hits, striking out two and walking three. Kaden Rohr drove in two runs.
The Ellis American Legion baseball team split their first two games of a tournament in Garden City, losing to Columbine, Colorado 7-6 then beating Dodge City 6-5.
Easton Smith takes the loss in the opener with Cole Pfeifer going 2-for-3 at the plate. Will Crabill gets the complete game win in the second game. Scott Pfeifer led the way going 2-4 with a triple.
Ellis plays Colby at 4 pm Saturday to end pool play.
