NewsRoyals enjoying late-season success
Kansas City (60-88) at Chicago (73-76), 1:05 p.m. CT
By Jesse Temple / MLB.com
09/20/09 12:10 AM ET
CHICAGO -- Perhaps White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle was on to something on Friday when he suggested that Royals players ought to be informed they are out of the playoff race at the start of the season. That way, they can relax and do what they do best in that situation -- win ballgames. "Somebody needs to tell those guys at the beginning of the year they are out of it and they would go to the playoffs and win the World Series," Buehrle said following Kansas City's 11-0 thrashing of Chicago on Friday. "It seems like every year, that last month, they play their best baseball against teams trying to win the division." The factors for the Royals' late-season success are numerous. Better starting and relief pitching, timely hitting, assistance in key situations from the team's September callups and most certainly a sense of playing loose. All of it, no doubt, has led to improved play in the season's final month. In fact, when the Royals have hit September in each of the past two seasons, they've played like a title-contending team bent on wreaking havoc in the American League. The Royals are 10-7 in September, and if that record holds, it will mark the first month in which Kansas City finished above .500 since going 12-10 in April. The Royals, who have won nine of their past 12 ballgames, will look to extend that string of victories in the rubber game against the White Sox on Sunday afternoon at U.S. Cellular Field. Royals right-hander Robinson Tejeda takes the hill against White Sox righty Freddy Garcia. Tejeda is 2-0 with an 0.55 ERA in three starts after making 29 appearances in relief this season. Kansas City played well enough in the early portion of this season to be tied for first place in the AL Central as late as May 15. But the Royals steadily plummeted toward last place from there. From May to August, they went 38-71. During this month, however, Kansas City took five of six games from Detroit, the first-place team in the AL Central, and has crept within striking distance of fourth-place Cleveland for the first time since July. "I think a lot of it is confidence and just having fun," Royals outfielder Josh Anderson said. "The clubhouse is loose right now. The guys are having fun. We're having fun every night. Everybody expects to do well. I just think the team chemistry is pretty good and we're getting some really good quality starts from our starters." Last year, the Royals finished September with an 18-8 record, prompting many pundits to declare Kansas City the odds-on favorite for the AL Central crown in 2009. Of course, that prognostication did not materialize, but it doesn't mean September is not important in building toward next season, according to Royals players. "I definitely think it carries over," Anderson said. "I think how you finish kind of just sets the tone going into the winter, and it sets the tone in everybody's minds as to what you're capable of. "Everybody's competing for jobs, and all of us here want to do well and finish up strong. In a lot of peoples minds, we're getting ready for next year, kind of making a statement, saying, 'Hey, this team can play,' and we can compete with anybody in this division." Kansas City's current success largely is due to improvements in both the hitting and pitching departments. In the month of September, the Royals entered Saturday batting .293, nearly 30 points higher than any other month during this season. And as a pitching staff, the Royals sport a 3.45 ERA, which is lower than the previous month-low ERA of 3.62 in April. For reference, the team's ERA in August was 5.76. "We've always thought from Day 1 of Spring Training that we had parts that we knew we could win, we knew we could play with the teams in our division," Royals outfielder Mitch Maier said. "We just lost that somewhere in the middle there. We weren't pitching as well, we had defensive lapses, or we didn't have timely hitting. We just had one phase of our game, it seemed like, every day it was something different. "Now, you can see what happens when we start putting it together and being more consistent." Pitching matchupKC: RHP Robinson Tejeda (3-1, 3.09 ERA)
Tejeda made his third straight successful start although he lasted just five innings against the Tigers on Tuesday night. He held them to one run but ran up 102 pitches in the process and had to depart with the Royals ahead, 8-1 (the final was 11-1). Tejeda extended his personal scoreless streak to 23 innings before giving up a run in the fifth. A blister on his pitching hand contributed to lack of control with his changeup and he had to lean on mostly fastballs. He doubts the blister will affect this start. CWS: RHP Freddy Garcia (2-2, 4.41 ERA)
Make it five straight quality starts for Garcia as he returned to his old stomping grounds on Tuesday at Safeco Field and helped defeat the Mariners. Garcia gave up three runs on seven hits over six innings, including a home run from Ken Griffey Jr., while striking out one and walking one. The only rough start for Garcia out of his six since returning to the White Sox came during his debut on Aug. 18 at home against the Royals, when he allowed five runs on seven hits over 4 1/3 innings. Garcia has a chance for redemption Sunday, carrying a career 8-12 record and 6.26 ERA against the Royals into the series finale. Tidbits
Kansas City's streak of seven straight games with at least 10 hits came to an end Saturday night, when it tallied just five hits in a 13-3 loss against Chicago. ... Billy Butler is hitting .349 (22-for-63) with 16 RBIs in 16 games in September. He finished Saturday 1-for-4 with a solo home run off White Sox starter Jake Peavy. ... Royals manager Trey Hillman said that reliever Juan Cruz should be available to pitch Tuesday against the Red Sox. Cruz threw a 25-pitch session of batting practice and did not feel any shoulder pain. He has been out with a strained right shoulder since Aug. 5. ... Mark Teahen, who has not played in six consecutive games because of muscle spasms, took ground balls at third base during the Royals' pregame drills. Hillman said Teahen probably would not play in Sunday's series finale against the White Sox, but he could return to the lineup for the series next week against the Red Sox. "[On Friday], he shagged some fly balls," Hillman said. "He looked OK swinging the bat. He wasn't as free as I would like for him to have been. I didn't monitor him and watch every swing, but I watched the majority of them from afar. He's closer. He'd have to have a heck of a day [Saturday] for me to put him in that lineup [Sunday]." Tickets
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• Monday: Royals (Lenny DiNardo, 0-1, 5.23) vs. Red Sox (Tim Wakefield, 11-4, 4.22), 7:10 p.m. CT
• Tuesday: Royals (TBD) vs. Red Sox (Paul Byrd, 1-1, 5.79), 7:10 p.m. CT
• Wednesday: Royals (Luke Hochevar, 7-10, 5.79) vs. Red Sox (Josh Beckett, 15-6, 3.80), 7:10 p.m. CT
Jesse Temple is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
