Baseball Guru
09-23-2003, 01:06 PM
BOB DUTTON , The Kansas City Star
The Royals clinched their first winning record since 1994 and kept their flickering playoff hopes alive Monday night with a 12-6 bludgeoning of the Detroit Tigers at Kauffman Stadium.
“Everybody is still staying positive and doing everything we can to finish strong,” said first baseman Raul Ibanez, whose three hits included a two-run homer in the first inning.
“We're going to play hard to the end.”
All that offense, which included 16 hits, didn't benefit starter Paul Abbott, who left the game in the fifth because of a strained left oblique muscle that will force him to miss his final scheduled start.
Jeremy Affeldt, 7-6, got the victory with two innings of scoreless relief before Jason Grimsley and Al Levine finished.
The Royals, by winning, improved to 82-74 with six games remaining. They were 64-51 in 1994. Their last winning record in a full season was 84-78 in 1993.
They were 62-100 a year ago.
“It's pretty exciting to go from 100 losses to a successful season,” said third baseman Joe Randa, who went three for three and is batting .396 over his last 34 games.
“This city has been through some bad times, but it's seen a lot of good things out here this summer. Hopefully, we can keep things together and bring a winning team back out next year and keep the momentum going.”
The victory pulled the Royals to within five games of first-place Minnesota in the American League Central. The Chicago White Sox are also five games back.
The Twins didn't play Monday.
“Our goal when we left spring training,” manager Tony Pena said, “was to win the division. We're still at it. What's going to happen, we don't know. Baseball is a game with a lot of surprises. Anything can happen.”
The 16 hits triggered the Krispy Kreme doughnut giveaway, which requires a dozen, for the 26th time in 74 home games. Rondell White led the attack with four hits and three RBIs.
The Tigers, meanwhile, lost for the 10th straight time and fell to 38-118. They must win five of their last six to avoid tying the major-league record of 120 losses by the 1962 Mets.
Abbott took a 4-1 lead into the fifth but exited with the bases loaded and no outs. He allowed a leadoff single to Ramon Santiago and then slipped to the ground while trying to field Alex Sanchez's bunt single.
After Warren Morris followed with another bunt single, which loaded the bases, Pena sent assistant trainer Frank Kyte out to examine Abbott.
After a brief conversation, Abbott departed.
“I was already tight,” he said. “By the second inning, I was already feeling it. But you feel tight in parts of your body, and you pitch through it.
“But on the last pitch I threw, it grabbed. I couldn't even field the ball.”
In came Affeldt, who had faced 30 straight batters without allowing a hit. But the first thing he did — even before throwing a pitch — was commit a balk. One run scored, and the other runners moved to second and third.
Bobby Higginson's sacrifice fly then made it 4-3 before Dmitri Young's RBI single tied the game.
“That balk — that was all my fault,” Affeldt said. “I've got to be mentally tougher in that situation. I felt bad for blowing Abbott's runs. I've been a starter, and I know what's that's like.”
But Detroit's little burst only seemed to annoy the Royals. They quickly regained the lead by scoring twice in the fifth, when they chased Tigers starter Gary Knotts, 3-8. Then came a five-run sixth, against four Detroit pitchers, that put the game away.
The Royals have now won eight of their last 10, although they actually lost ground in that span because the Twins have a nine-game winning streak.
“It's a shame Minnesota got hot so late,” Randa said. “The Twins just caught fire at the right time.
“But we're not hanging our heads in here. We knew going into this last stretch that we weren't going to get down on ourselves because we've done a lot of positive things this year.”
The Royals clinched their first winning record since 1994 and kept their flickering playoff hopes alive Monday night with a 12-6 bludgeoning of the Detroit Tigers at Kauffman Stadium.
“Everybody is still staying positive and doing everything we can to finish strong,” said first baseman Raul Ibanez, whose three hits included a two-run homer in the first inning.
“We're going to play hard to the end.”
All that offense, which included 16 hits, didn't benefit starter Paul Abbott, who left the game in the fifth because of a strained left oblique muscle that will force him to miss his final scheduled start.
Jeremy Affeldt, 7-6, got the victory with two innings of scoreless relief before Jason Grimsley and Al Levine finished.
The Royals, by winning, improved to 82-74 with six games remaining. They were 64-51 in 1994. Their last winning record in a full season was 84-78 in 1993.
They were 62-100 a year ago.
“It's pretty exciting to go from 100 losses to a successful season,” said third baseman Joe Randa, who went three for three and is batting .396 over his last 34 games.
“This city has been through some bad times, but it's seen a lot of good things out here this summer. Hopefully, we can keep things together and bring a winning team back out next year and keep the momentum going.”
The victory pulled the Royals to within five games of first-place Minnesota in the American League Central. The Chicago White Sox are also five games back.
The Twins didn't play Monday.
“Our goal when we left spring training,” manager Tony Pena said, “was to win the division. We're still at it. What's going to happen, we don't know. Baseball is a game with a lot of surprises. Anything can happen.”
The 16 hits triggered the Krispy Kreme doughnut giveaway, which requires a dozen, for the 26th time in 74 home games. Rondell White led the attack with four hits and three RBIs.
The Tigers, meanwhile, lost for the 10th straight time and fell to 38-118. They must win five of their last six to avoid tying the major-league record of 120 losses by the 1962 Mets.
Abbott took a 4-1 lead into the fifth but exited with the bases loaded and no outs. He allowed a leadoff single to Ramon Santiago and then slipped to the ground while trying to field Alex Sanchez's bunt single.
After Warren Morris followed with another bunt single, which loaded the bases, Pena sent assistant trainer Frank Kyte out to examine Abbott.
After a brief conversation, Abbott departed.
“I was already tight,” he said. “By the second inning, I was already feeling it. But you feel tight in parts of your body, and you pitch through it.
“But on the last pitch I threw, it grabbed. I couldn't even field the ball.”
In came Affeldt, who had faced 30 straight batters without allowing a hit. But the first thing he did — even before throwing a pitch — was commit a balk. One run scored, and the other runners moved to second and third.
Bobby Higginson's sacrifice fly then made it 4-3 before Dmitri Young's RBI single tied the game.
“That balk — that was all my fault,” Affeldt said. “I've got to be mentally tougher in that situation. I felt bad for blowing Abbott's runs. I've been a starter, and I know what's that's like.”
But Detroit's little burst only seemed to annoy the Royals. They quickly regained the lead by scoring twice in the fifth, when they chased Tigers starter Gary Knotts, 3-8. Then came a five-run sixth, against four Detroit pitchers, that put the game away.
The Royals have now won eight of their last 10, although they actually lost ground in that span because the Twins have a nine-game winning streak.
“It's a shame Minnesota got hot so late,” Randa said. “The Twins just caught fire at the right time.
“But we're not hanging our heads in here. We knew going into this last stretch that we weren't going to get down on ourselves because we've done a lot of positive things this year.”