This will be the Royals only trip to Oriole Park at Camden Yards against Baltimore in 2013. Photo Credit: Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports

Series Preview –

Baltimore enters the series with 19-13 record to Kansas City’s 17-11 mark, the O’s are two games back of Boston in the AL East. The O’s are home after a successful road trip out west going 7-3 against Seattle, Oakland and Los Angeles.

Probable Pitching Matchups –

Tuesday, May 7 (6:05 pm): Ervin Santana (3-1, 2.00) v. Wei-Yin Chen (2-3, 3.50)
- Santana was dominant in the game that never happened on Thursday against Tampa Bay
- The “Magic Man” sits at 99 career victories after narrowly missing getting the milestone in his last start

Wednesday, May 8 (6:05 pm): Luis Mendoza (0-1, 7.00) v. Chris Tillman (2-1, 3.63)
- This is just Mendoza’s fifth start of 2013 due to all the off days KC has had during the first month of the season
- The Dozer will be making his third career start against the O’s where he’s 2-1, 5.79 ERA, his first big league win was against Baltimore when he was with Texas

Thursday, May 9 (6:05 pm): Jeremy Guthrie (4-0, 2.40) v. TBA
- Guthrie will be making his first start since his first complete game on Saturday night against the White Sox at the K
- He’ll also be looking to improve his franchise record unbeaten streak which is at 17 straight starts

2013 Results –                               

Last year the O’s went 5-4 against Kansas City, the two teams will only play seven times. The next meeting will be a four game series in July at the K.

TV/Radio –

FSKC will carry all three games this week while 610 Sports Radio will have the radio coverage if you can’t watch the television broadcast.

2013 Schedule v. Orioles –

May 7-9, Oriole Park at Camden Yards
July 22-25, Kauffman Stadium

Team Game Notes –

Baltimore Orioles
Kansas City Royals

We’ve talked a lot about expectations and what’s gone wrong in 2012. Certainly, the Royals ran into some bad luck with injuries and had some gambles that didn’t pay off. Important players regressed. Add it up, and it’s another losing season, even if they won more games this year (72) than last season (71).

We’re used to that kind of thing. The small-market, downtrodden Royals finishing in the lower third of the standings.

Oct 8, 2012; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles outfielders Nate McLouth (9), and Adam Jones (10) and Endy Chavez (27) leap to celebrate their win against the New York Yankees during the ninth inning of game two of the 2012 ALDS at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Orioles beat the Yankees 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-US PRESSWIRE

The Baltimore Orioles can relate. While the Royals have won 70 or more the last two years, prior to 2012, the Orioles had finished last in each of the last five years, never once surpassing 7o wins. There was talent there, but a lot of their lineups looked scraped together by players that seemed to be dumped by their old teams (Chris Davis, Mark Reynolds, Jason Hammel) and one of their best players, Nick Markakis, was hurt for large chunks of the season.

Their rotation had one starter who started more than 20 games. Former prospects Brian Matusz and Jake Arrieta had rough years.

So of course, they won 93 games and finished second in the American League East.

How does this happen, and how can the Royals get some of that magic?

The Orioles scored more runs than they surrendered. They scored more than the Royals did and gave up less than the Royals did as well. So that’s the first step. Their starters were better, pitching more innings, giving up less runners and while the Royals had a strong bullpen, the Orioles’ bullpen was even better. The Orioles were 29-9 in one run games. 29-9. That’s an unbelievable number and it’s no wonder they made such a sharp jump in the standings.

There’s an element of luck there. Based on their run differential, the Orioles would have been projected to finish with an 82-80 record. Good, but not playoff good. They’d have finished a couple spots lower in the the AL standings and Tampa would have jumped over them in the AL East. But 82-80? That’s still pretty good. The Orioles tore that projection up into little bits and finished 11 games better than they “should” have. Credit to them – they still won the games, but maybe they aren’t making a big jump and pulling away from the Royals in the Rebuilding Race.

Like the Royals, the Orioles in 2012 didn’t have a standout starter they could consider their ace. Hammel was acquired for Jeremy Guthrie (go figure, right?) from Colorado and probably fit that description better than anyone. Tommy Hunter had a good rookie year and followed it up with an even better season while with the Texas Rangers, but regressed in 2010 and 2011 after suffering injuries in both years. He was throwing some home run derby this year but at least controlled his walks, but still didn’t have a very good year. Other than Wei-Yin Chen, a rookie signed out of Japan, no Orioles starter threw more than 133 innings.

Even with all of their pitching issues, the Royals bullpen threw only 16 more innings than the Orioles, so, unlike a vast improvement in pitching performance, which spurred success by the Rangers and Oakland Athletics, the Orioles were pretty average as a rotation (though, again, the bullpen was incredible).

The Royals run differential projects that their 2012 record “should” have been 74-88. That’s not much better than the 72-90 they actually finished, but it’s closer to the 82-80 projected for the Orioles.

Both teams ranked in the lower half of teams in getting on base. The Royals, with a .317 OBP, finished eighth in the AL. Baltimore finished 11th with a .311 OBP. Their overall splits weren’t very different on offense:

August 12, 2012; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles center fielder Nate McLouth (9) singles in the first inning as Kansas City Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer (35) does not get the throw in time at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-US PRESSWIRE

Not a lot of difference in those numbers. The Royals made better contact, but the Orioles slugged better. The difference came down to homers versus doubles. The Royals had the third most hits, doubles and second most triples in the AL in 2012. The Orioles had the 10th most hits, seventh most doubles and 13th most triples.

But they hit 83 more home runs. Baltimore finished behind only New York in the AL in the category, hitting 214 to the Royals 131 (13th in the league). Five players hit 20 or more homers. Sure, Camden Yards is more of a home run hitters park and Kauffman Stadium is notably bad for home runs, but that’s a significant difference. While the Royals struck out less than any other team in the AL, they walked less than every other team as well. The Orioles did their share of hacking (Chris Davis and Mark Reynolds will do that), but they also walked enough to balance it out.

It seems that with the decision to let Kevin Seitzer go that the Royals are open to swinging for the fences more, even at the expense of batting average (though ideally maintaining it if possible). They’d be best served to inject some plate patience and allow for the team to walk more. The best case scenario sees the Royals hit more home runs and then walk more at the same time as pitchers try to pitch around them.

The Orioles had a payroll that eclipsed the Royals by $20 million in 2012 but have two of the games best prospects in Dylan Bundy and Manny Machado. The Royals have potential superstars Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Salvador Perez, and a host of other talented young players coming up (though no potential ace coming up the ranks at this point).

The formula fits like this: increase power (and thus runs), prevent more runs (and Anibal Sanchez Will Be Royals Top Target” href=”http://kingsofkauffman.com/2012/10/07/market-fresh-anibal-sanchez-will-be-royals-top-target/” target=”_blank”>the Royals anticipate going after starting pitching this offseason), and carry a strong bullpen (which the Royals have).

A little luck helps, as well.

These teams aren’t very different.  Well, other than that whole wins thing…

Will Smith opens the series for the Royals tonight at Camden Yards against the Orioles. Photo Credit: Kelvin Kuo-US PRESSWIRE

When Last We Saw …

These two teams haven’t seen each other since May 25-27 when they met at Orioles Park at Camden Yards. KC was coming off losing two-of-three in New York against the Yankees but after taking the series in Baltimore finished the trip beating the Indians twice in Cleveland on that nine game road trip.

Season Series …

KC trails the season series 3-2 but did win two of the previous three at Baltimore in May. The season series began in May with O’s coming to town taking the series winning both games.

Royals fans won’t forget the 15-inning game with Jonathan Broxton blowing the save and Nate Adcock saving the ‘pen. The next day Kansas City built a 3-0 lead that Luke Hochevar and crew couldn’t hold onto losing 5-3.

In the first game at Baltimore the birds knocked Bruce Chen out with a five run fifth en route to a 8-2 victory. Jason Hammel handcuffed KC in six innings no allowing a run on five hits while striking out seven. DH Chris Davis went 2-for-4 driving in three runs, J.J. Hardy and Adam Jones drove in two runs each.

Game two of the series saw the Orioles again jump out to a lead of 3-0 but the Royals scored the game’s final four runs. Humberto Quintero of all players put KC ahead driving in Eric Hosmer with a double to the left. Hosmer extended the lead in the eighth driving in Mike Moustakas on a single, also to note Greg Holland picked up the win with Broxton the save.

The final game of the series was back and forth with the teams exchanging the lead. Hochevar took the no-decision going 4 2/3 innings striking out six. Jeff Francoeur gave the Royals the lead with a solo homerun and Quintero added an insurance run with another double that scored Alcides Escobar.

5/16 – Orioles 4 @ Royals 3 F/15
5/17 – Orioles 3 @ Royals 5
5/25 – Royals 2 @ Orioles 8
5/26 – Royals 4 @ Orioles 3
5/27 – Royals 4 @ Orioles 2

Probable Pitching Match-Ups (All Times Central):

Thursday, 6:05 pm – Will Smith (2-4, 6.00)  v. Wei-Yin Chen (10-6, 3.46)
- Smith will be seeing Baltimore for the first time in his career on Thursday night in his eighth MLB start.
- While 1-4 in his last five starts he’s gone 5+ four times, the lone win game at the Angels in which might be his best start going seven innings allowing one run on two hits.
- Chen took a no-decision in his May 27^th start against KC after going six innings and allowing two runs. He’s won his last two starts against Oakland and at Tampa Bay.
Friday, 6:05 pm – Luke Hochevar (7-9, 5.04) v. Miguel Gonzalez (3-2, 3.80)
- Hochevar is 0-1 with a ND this season against the O’s this season.
- In the start at Baltimore he threw 109 pitches striking out six, allowing seven hits.
- Gonzalez will be making his first career start against KC and has alternated wins/losses during his last five starts with the last being a win over Tampa Bay which he went seven innings.
Saturday, 6:05 pm – Luis Mendoza (5-8, 4.36) v. Chris Tillman (5-1, 2.38)
- Mendoza comes in as probably the Royals most consistent starter being 2-4 in his last six starts going back to July 4.
- His last two starts saw him go 7.1 innings both starts which he’s 1-1 (beat Cleveland and lost at Chicago).
- Tillman since losing his long game of 2012 has won four straight starts. Wins have come at Cleveland, Tampa Bay, at New York and Seattle, against the Mariners he went seven innings.
Sunday, 12:35 pm – Bruce Chen (8-9, 5.51) v. Tommy Hunter (4-7, 5.55)
- Chen suffered his fifth loss of the season on May 25 in Baltimore when he allowed six runs on seven hits going only four innings.
- In his career he’s 2-2 against the O’s in five career starts but has only thrown 25.2 innings.
- Hunter has losses in three of his last four starts with a no-decision at New York. On May 16 he also got a ND against the Royals at the K which he went seven innings.

Bruce Chen will look to snap the Royals two-game losing streak in the series opener at Baltimore. Photo Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE

When these teams met last Wednesday and Thursday at Kauffman Stadium, it was KC who was the hotter team having gone 4-1 on a roadtrip on the southside of Chicago and Arlington. Baltimore has been one of the early surprises of the season leading the AL East.

In the quick two-game series, Kansas City jumped out to the lead with the end result being Baltimore coming back late to earn the sweep. Game one went 15-innings which was highlighted in many Royals fans minds of Jonathan Broxton blowing his second save of the season and Nate Adcock surrendering a 15^th inning bomb to Adam Jones in the 4-3 Orioles win.

Game two again KC built an early lead with Humberto Quintero and Johnny Giavotella driving in the runs putting the Royals up 3-0 in the third. The O’s got two back in the next inning with Jones again hitting a homer this time of the two-run variety. Luke Hochevar who pitched well ran into trouble in the seventh inning after back-to-back singles (highlighted by Jarrod Dyson misplaying what should’ve been only a single).

J.J. Hardy who tied the game for Balitmore in game one, again came up with the big hit putting the birds in front for good. Aaron Crow who has been good in relief was unable to help Hochevar out walking Lois Esposito and Xavier Avery back-to-back loading the bases which culminated with Hardy’s hit.

Probable Pitching Match-Ups (All Times Central):     

Friday, 6:05 pm – Bruce Chen (3-4, 4.17) v. Jason Hammel (5-1, 3.12)
- Chen, enters this start having won his last three starts beating the Red Sox, at Rangers and Diamondbacks. He’s reached the seventh inning in each of these starts and averaging five strikeouts and 1.3 walks in these starts. Another thing helping is KC is giving Bruce run support scoring 4.6 runs compared to just an average of two runs in his first six starts.
- Hammel, Has been great so far this season for the AL East leaders starting 5-1 with two no-decisions. He’s 2-0 with a ND in his last three starts beating Boston and Washington while not figuring into the loss against the Yankees. In his last two starts he went five and 5 1/3 innings allowing 6.5 hits in his last two starts and 4.5 runs.
Saturday, 3:05 pm – Felipe Paulino (2-1, 1.42) v. Wei-Yin Chen (4-1, 3.35)
- Paulino, So far in three of his four starts in 2012 he’s not allowed a run, the game he did at Chicago he did suffer his lone loss. Felipe went seven innings last week against Baltimore but the Royals bullpen was unable to hold onto the lead. In four starts Paulino is averaging seven strikeouts which includes nine against the O’s last Wednesday and eight in the Bronx on Monday.
- Chen, Suffered his first defeat at Washington 9-3 in his last start for the rookie out of Taiwan. The six-runs he allowed were a season high and nearly a third of the 22 runs allowed this season. He’s been getting 4.6 runs of support in each start.
Sunday, 12:35 pm – Luke Hochevar (3-5, 6.61) v. TBD
- Hochevar, Sure I and Royals fans have had fun at the former number one pick expense but let’s give him credit as of late. In Luke’s last three starts he’s made it into the seventh inning and seen his ERA go from an even nine to its current 6.61 form. Also encouraging has been his strikeout numbers in the last three starts increasing with 5, 6 and 8 in those games.
- TBD, For now we’ll have to wait and see who Buck Showalter goes to if that is activating someone from the DL or calling up someone from the minors.

Only one team in major league history has lost as many as 23 consecutive baseball games – the 1961 Philadelphia Phillies.  The ’61 Phillies were a historically bad team that finished the season 47-107.  But what would you say if I told you the Royals also had an equally appalling streak of futility, unrivalled in the annals of Major League baseball?  It’s true, I wish it wasn’t, but it is.

The Royals 1969 inaugural season was a great success in almost every way.  Our Boys in Blue opened the year with four wins in their first five games, and finished the season winning five of their last six for a 69-93 record, good for 4^th place ahead of both the White Sox and Seattle Pilots (now the Milwaukee Brewers.)  Lou Piniella was voted the Rookie of the Year.  This rag tag group cobbled together mostly from expansion draft picks or purchased outright from other teams exceeded expectations and put the baseball world on notice that Kansas City’s baseball team was no pushover.

For all the excitement of the new season and the anticipation of future successes to come, there was one blemish that I still clearly remember 43 years later.  The story of THE losing streak began with a win on May 9, 1969 – 43 years ago today.  The Royals visited the Orioles for the very first time at old Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.

Frank Robinson used the Royals as a stepping stone on his path to the Hall of Fame (Image: Joy R. Absalon-US PRESSWIRE)

Royals rookie pitcher, Dick Drago started and finished the game, surrendering only 4 hits and 2 runs to the talented Orioles who featured future Hall of Famers Frank Robinson and Brooks Robinson, as well as Boog Powell, Mark Belanger and company.  The Orioles finished the 1969 season at 109-53 in first place in the East, but lost to the Miracle Mets in the 1969 World Series.  It was a big deal for an expansion baseball team to trot into Memorial stadium and hand the mighty Orioles a loss in their very first game.  Unfortunately, it would be the last loss the Orioles suffered at the hands of the Royals for a very, very long time.

For the remainder of the 1969 season, the Royals and Orioles played 11 more times.  Every single one of them was tallied as a win for the Orioles, including two shutouts.  The Royals came close a couple of times with two one run losses, but for the most part the contests were lopsided.

Déjà vu all over again, as Yogi Berra would say, occurred in 1970.  The Orioles tallied 12 more consecutive wins over the Royals.  It almost became a self-fulfilling prophecy – the Royals expected to lose when they played the Orioles, so they did exactly that.

The 1971 Royals finished above .500 for the first time and were becoming a well respected team.  Many players from the inaugural season had moved on and made way for a wave of talented athletes that would lead the Royals into their glory years.  On April 30, 1971, the first time the Orioles and Royals faced each other in the young season, Baltimore was confronted with a very different team than they had faced the previous two years.  Taking the field for the Royals that day were Amos Otis, Freddie Patek, Cookie Rojas, Lou Piniella, and Bob Oliver.  No longer were the Royals a rag tag group of castaways seeking respectability.  They were now a team on par with the best of Major League baseball.

The game was hard fought with the Royals taking a 4-3 lead into the top of the 9^th inning.  With Tom Burgmeier on the mound, Brooks Robinson singled and made his way around the diamond to score the tying run.  Many thought this game would end the same way the previous 23 meetings of the Royals vs Orioles had ended, with Baltimore finding a way to pull out the victory, as good teams always seem to do.

With two outs in the bottom of the 9^th, Paul Schaal singled past 3^rd base.  Gail Hopkins’ pinch hit single pushed Schaal to 3^rd.   The shortest man in professional baseball, 5’5” Freddie Patek and his .253 batting average came to the plate with the game tied, two outs, and the winning run on 3^rd base.  And then, just like David bravely facing Goliath, Patek promptly drove a single to the right centerfield gap.  And with that, the Royals longest ever streak of frustration and futility was over.

The following morning on May 1, 1971, the sports section of the Kansas City Star described the feelings of relieved Royals fans with the banner headline, “23 Skidoo.”  The streak was over and the Royals had pointed themselves in the right direction for a season that would set them on a path toward playoff and World Series success within a few years.

Character is built on the back of challenge and adversity.  No doubt these early Royals had become well versed in all aspects of patience and perseverance during their first few years.  In the end, Royals fans were rewarded with a team that rooted for each other and knew the meaning of teamwork, the benefits of common goals, and the payoff of hard work.

Fast forward to 2012, and as Yogi Berra would say, I believe it’s déjà vu all over again.

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We'll Always Have 1985 but what about other teams?

Fans of the Kansas City Royals know that it’s been 26 years since the franchise last played in the postseason (something that always seems to come up when we play the St. Louis Cardinals), which did result in a world championship. Granted I was only a toddler at the time, but at least I can say that the baseball team I root for has won a title.

Yes, there have been a couple other seasons-1994 strike shorten season and the 2003 Tony Pena overachievers-but it has been few and far between. While we’re loyal to the cause and the coming seasons that will hopefully end the drought, let’s look at teams who have it worse than the Royals.

First let’s assess the franchises that have longer title droughts than Kansas City in major league baseball. Of course it’s the Chicago Cubs who bear (see what I did) the weight of a 103 years and counting drought which for non-fans can be annoying or maybe that’s just me. Sure they are eternal optimists on the North side of Chicago, but with all the advantages of being a big market team should have figured out how to win a title during this period of time.

Next up are the Cleveland Indians who haven’t won a title in 63 seasons, but with the success they enjoyed last year, they may make the postseason sooner than later. Getting into the playoffs means anything can happen.  If the Indians can make the postseason, look out, because they will be a team KC competes with.

The great state of Texas has had recent brushes with a trophy with the Rangers representing the American League the last two seasons and the Astros representing the National League in 2005. Neither team could seal the deal and it appears the only title the Astros will be competing for over the next few years will be for the worst record in Major League Baseball.

Next we have club 43 of the Milwaukee Brewers, San Diego Padres and Washington Nationals. The Brew Crew made the World Series in 1982 and if you haven’t noticed suffered several losses after last year’s postseason run. San Diego lost to the Yankees in 1998 and are in a holding pattern in my opinion from ending that drought. Washington seems to be building closer and closer to being a playoff team, but they have yet to reach a World Series.

The Seattle Mariners, who like the Nationals, have not made the World Series at all and have a 35-year drought they started off post-Kingdome life with some success early in their tenure at Safeco Field. The Pittsburgh Pirates are on year 32 of not winning a championship which must be rough with the Penguins and Steelers successes.

Baltimore Orioles are on year 28 and the Detroit Tigers haven’t celebrated in 27 years.  These are polar opposites with the O’s in the AL East and the Tigers spending money plus living in the AL Central as you all know. At least the Cubs, Indians, Pirates, Orioles and Tigers have championships to celebrate unlike the fan bases of the Rangers, Astros, Brewers, Padres, Mariners and Nationals (I don’t doubt they are still waiting in Montreal).

I hate to continue to bring up the Nationals but they haven’t made the postseason in 30 years which is the longest drought in MLB. At least both Washington and Kansas City have hope in the coming years to end their futility, because again, once you get into the playoffs anything can happen. It’s not known if commissioner Bud Selig will add wildcards which would help both the Royals and Nationals. We are closer to the start of the season and seeing if any of the mentioned teams can end these droughts that they and their fans don’t like having constant reminders of.

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They’ll probably omit the attempt to go from first to third by Aviles on a Mark Reynolds error that cost the Royals an out.

The barren wasteland of Royals offense from innings three through seven might be overlooked too.  Jake Arrieta ran up his pitch count to 45 after two innings and still managed seven innings.  He shut down the Royals in order in five of those innings (facing the minimum in the sixth on a Billy Butler double play after Alex Gordon singled).

And while the Royals didn’t get a break to go their way when Aviles’s shot to the gap lodged under the padding on the left field wall for a ground-rule double, it’s not the reason they lost tonight.

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