Royals Report: 3 Things About Game 2 Loss vs. Boston

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The Royals failed to pull off the double-header sweep by losing the second game 5-2 to the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday night at Kauffman Stadium.

The loss drops the KC Royals to .500 at 20-20, while the Red Sox climbed to 25-16. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Royals.

Tne night saw the two Kansas City Royals debut in the big leagues, as well as a solo bomb from catcher Salvador Perez. Paulo Orlando continued to hit, going 1 for 2 with a walk to push his average to .340 and secure his hold on the right field job.

As long as he keeps hitting, Orlando is going to keep Jarrod Dyson on the bench and prevent the KC Royals from calling up hot hitting AAA outfielders Brett Eibner and Jorge Bonifacio.

For the Red Sox, center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. extended his hitting streak to 24 games with his seventh home run in the second inning off Edinson Volquez. Bradley’s streak is the longest one in MLB so far this season.

May 17, 2016; Kansas City, MO, USA; Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz (34) stands beside Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Edinson Volquez (36) as he is presented a painting of himself in the World Series and a case of Kansas City barbecue sauces before the game against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports /

Forty-year-old David Ortiz likely played his last game at Kauffman Stadium in game 2, since he’s announced he will retire at the end of the season during spring training. The Boston DH is a probable inductee into the MLB Hall-Of-Fame at Cooperstown with 513 home runs in his career and multiple post-season heroics to his credit.

On to my observations about Wednesday’s disappointing game 2:

Next: Whit Merrifield

May 18, 2016; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals left fielder Whit Merrifield (15) hits a single in the fifth inning against the Boston Red Sox at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports /

1) Whit Merrifield Call Up Was A Bit Strange

The KC Royals announced that they had optioned infielder Christian Colon, who had started game1, to Omaha and promoted infielder Whit Merrifield to Kansas City.

Since Merrifield was not on the 40-man roster, the Kansas City Royals had to make room for him and chose designate AAA outfielder Jose Martinez for assignment.

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Martinez, who won the Pacific Coast League batting title by hitting .384 for AAA Omaha in 2015, had been heating up after a slow start to the 2016 season. It’s a big odd that the KC Royals would simply discard him when he was hitting .298/.356/.433.

Yes, Jose Martinez is 28-years-old. Many don’t see him as a real prospect. But he’s a guy that might be able to hit at the major-league level. I’m guessing the Kansas City Royals might be trading him for cash or a low level prospect rather than simply allowing another team that needs an outfielder in the high minors claim him for free.

The 27-year-old Merrifield was hitting .278/.342/.458 at Omaha, which doesn’t seem a whole lot better than Martinez’s numbers. Yet, scouts don’t just look at results, Some guys are AAAA players who are able to thrive at AAA but don’t have the bat speed to succeed in the major-leagues.

Also, Merrifield’s major appeal is that he can play every position on the field except catcher, many of them with plus defense. That almost makes him a perfect utility man. In many ways, his pedigree is much like another versatile, but unheralded prospect named Ben Zobrist—who became a hugely valuable player in the major leagues (including the second half of 2015 with the Royals).

Merrifield did manage to collect his first major-league hit while starting in left field in game 2 Wednesday night.

Good job, Whit. Hope there are many more to come.

Next: Alec Mills

Feb 25, 2016; Surprise, AZ, USA; Kansas City Royals pitcher Alec Mills poses for a portrait during photo day at Surprise Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /

2) It Was Debut Day At Kauffman Stadium With Pitcher Alec Mills Getting The Call

With the double-header, the KC Royals brought up AA pitcher Alec Mills from NW Arkansas as the team’s 26th player. With the Kansas City Royals trailing 4-1 in the eighth inning, manager Ned Yost decided to use MIlls.

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Mills is a pitcher that enjoyed something of a breakthrough last season after suffering an elbow injury and Tommy John surgery in 2013. In 2015, he pitched well at High A Wilmington (3.02 ERA, 111 strikeouts in 113.1 innings) and has continued to succeed at NW Arkansas this year (2.35 ERA in seven starts).

Mills thought he was through with baseball when he was lightly recruited as a high school senior and went to University of Tennessee-Martin as an engineering student. However, he convinced the baseball coaches to give him a tryout and he made the team—and eventually caught the notice of the Kansas City Royals who picked him in the 22nd round in 2012.

The 24-year-old Mills had a bit of a rough introduction to MLB, allowing one hit, two walks, and one hit batsman to allow one earned run in 0.2 inning pitched. Mills got pulled in favor of Chien-Ming Wang with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth.

Though it didn’t go like he hoped, Alec Mills pitched in a major-league game. Few people ever get to say that.

Kudos, Alex. You’ll remember it for the rest of your life.

I’m presuming that the KC Royals will immediately send Mills back to AA at the end of the game.

Next: The Sixth Inning Curse

May 18, 2016; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Edinson Volquez (36) delivers a pitch in the first inning against the Boston Red Sox at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports /

3) Again The Royals Had Trouble Getting Out Of The Sixth

On Tuesday, Yordano Ventura was looking good after giving up only one run through the first five innings. However, he ran into trouble with two outs in the sixth inning allowing a three-run bomb to Boston third baseman Travis Shaw.

The home run turned a comfortable 5-1 lead into a narrow 5-4 margin, eventually prompting Ned Yost to bring in reliever Luke Hochevar to escape the inning.

The Royals failed to pull off the double-header sweep by losing the second game 5-2 to the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday night at Kauffman Stadium.

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